#this can encompass several categories

[an-organized-confusion]

I do believe intrusive thoughts come in various genres and shades.

There's violent ones. There's taboo ones. There's impulsive ones (because yes, it has enough overlap with violent/dangerous thoughts to make those be potentially another, if milder, form of them. L'appel du vide IS still uncomfortable, even if you have full awareness of it happening.)

I think ITs can be associated with trauma - like flashbulbs of What Happened.

I think some ITs can be tinged by grief, too. Thoughts that don't help one be compassionate to oneself. The should/could/woulds that haunt and threaten to take away your joy and precious energy. Despite rationally knowing that what is done is done. You did the best you could with the information you had at the time. There's no use in excoriating yourself over it.

It's trite to tag this with Remus. But that last part kinda inspired me to write this and contemplate on the whole gamut of ITs Remus could produce. Just using the guy as a reflection/expression tool (like lots of SaSi fans already do.)

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Poetic Genres

Whereas a poetic "form" defines the way a poem arranges sounds, rhythms, or its appearance on the page, a poetic "genre" is something like the poem's style. Many poetic genres have a long history, and new poems almost always seek to explore a new aspect of the traditional style and thus to redefine the genre in some way. The following list is a selection of the major genres of poetry.

allegory A narrative with two levels of meaning, one stated and one unstated.

aubade A song or poem greeting the sunrise, traditionally a lover's lament that the night's passion must come to an end.

ballad Broadly speaking, the ballad is a genre of folk poetry, usually an orally transmitted narrative song. The term "ballad" applies to several other kinds of poetry, including the English ballad stanza, which is a form often associated with the genre.

blason A Renaissance genre characterized by a short catalogue-style description, often of the female body.

cento A poem composed entirely of lines from other poems.

dirge A funeral song.

dramatic monologue This might be called a "closet soliloquy": a long poem spoken by a character who often unwittingly reveals his or her hidden desires and actions over the course of the poem. The "I" of the dramatic monologue is very distinct from the "I" of the poet's persona. Robert Browning was a master of this genre.

eclogue A short pastoral poem; Virgil's eclogues are one of the first examples of this genre.

ekphrasis Originally a description of any kind, "ekphrasis" is now almost exclusively applied to the poetic description of a work of art.

elegy This genre can be difficult to define, as there are specific types of elegiac poem as well as a general elegiac mood, but almost all elegies mourn, and seek consolation for, a loss of some kind: the most common form of elegy is a lyric commemorating the death of a loved one. Greek elegiac meter, which is one source of what we know as the elegy today, is not normally associated with loss and mourning.

epic A long narrative poem that catalogues and celebrates heroic or historic deeds and events, usually focusing on a single heroic individual.

epigram A brief and pithy aphoristic observation, often satirical.

epitaph A tombstone inscription. Several famous poems end with the poet writing his own. (See, for example, Thomas Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard" or W.B. Yeats's "Under Ben Bulben.")

epithalamion A song or poem that celebrates a wedding.

fable A brief tale about talking animals or objects, usually having a moral or pedagogical point, which is sometimes explicitly stated at the end. Aesop and la Fontaine are perhaps the most famous fable-writers.

georgic The agricultural cousin of pastoral, a georgic is a poem that celebrates rustic labor.

hymn A song of praise.

invective A personal, often abusive, denunciation.

lament An expression of grief.

light verse Poetry that is mostly for fun: this can mean anything from nonsense verse to folk songs, but typically there is a comical element to light verse.

lyric This genre encompasses a large portion of the world's poetry; in general, lyrics are fairly brief poems that emphasize musical qualities.

masque Courtly drama characterized by elaborate costumes and dances, as well as audience participation.

occasional verse Poetry written with reference to a particular event.

ode A long, serious meditation on an elevated subject, an ode can take one of three forms.

paean A song of joy or triumph.

palinode A recantation or retraction, usually of an earlier poem.

panegyric Poem or song in praise of a particular individual or object.

parody A comic imitation.

pastoral Originally a poem that depicted an idealized singing competition between shepherds, "pastoral" has come to denote almost anything to do with a rural setting, although it also refers to several specific categories of the genre. Associated genres of varying synonymity are idyll, bucolic, eclogue, and georgic.

psalm A sacred song.

riddle A puzzling question that relies on allegory or wordplay for its answer. Riddles are often short, and often include an answer to the question posed, albeit an unsatisfying one. The riddle of the Sphinx, which Oedipus solved, is a particularly famous example: "what walks on four legs in the morning, two at midday, and three in the afternoon?"

romance An adventure tale, usually set in a mythical or remote locale. Verse forms of the romance include the  Spanish ballad and  medieval or chivalric romance.

satire Ridicule of some kind, usually passing moral judgment.

tragedy This genre originated in ancient Greek verse drama and received extended treatment in Aristotle's Poetics, which made the downfall of the main character one of the criteria for tragedy. The genre has since expanded to include almost anything pertaining to a downfall.

verse epistle A letter written in verse, usually taking as its subject either a philosophical or a romantic question.

If these writing notes helped with your poem/story, please tag me. Or leave a link in the replies. I'd love to read them!

More: Word Lists ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[atzfilm]

𝐚𝐭𝐳𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐦'𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐳 𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 .ᐟ

all works of writing/summaries are not owned by me, and all credits go to the respective writers! this list will be updated periodically with stories i have read ♡ i thought that as a writer myself who consumes talented stories on this site, it would be good for me to show you all a fraction of what i read myself tehe (i read majority poly!teez/mc so that category will be filled!!) ☆

— note: 90% of these fics will contain mature themes, since it's all i read! please read the specific author's notes before reading!

❤︎ - personal favorites

ᴍᴜʟᴛɪ

— ❤︎ mists of celeste (??/reader, several pairings) by @hongism

genre: scifi/space au, pirate au, space pirate!ateez, angst, smut, fluff

summary: sneaking aboard the ship of a renowned space pirate may not have been the best idea, but you’ll have to make do with what fate has handed to you.

notes: as an atiny on tumblr.com, i feel like it's a rite of passage to read moc. it's one of the best written works i have had the privilege of reading. it's gripping, it's heartbreaking, it's filled with yearning and love, and has you hoping that the characters survive this ordeal. san i love you most you can tell by the masterlist alone that she has crafted a whole space pirate universe intricately and with the utmost care. she deals with the trauma of the characters so so well and i cant lie ive cried a lot reading it jdhdksjddj, it's the fic that made me start reading ateez ff, i mean, i started reading before even knowing ateez and i had to have a separate tab open to remember who was who. that alone can tell you how much of a work of art this is. omg, im blabbering, but please read this.

— hotel california (ot8/reader) by @mint-yooxgi

genre: yandere, demon!au

summary: checking in to a hotel ran by yandere!Ateez, the boys decide she can no longer leave

my notes: im not too sure how i came across this work, i think it was an endless scroll of me trying to find something to read, but nevertheless, this story. i have not finished it yet (a great and utter pity) but from what ive read so far. im actually very concerned on how much ive read of this in one night 😨, i think the plot is so so unique, i love a strong mc who does not take any shit whatsoever, i love gaslighting demon!ateez 🙂‍↕️. i had to stare at the wall several times while reading,, felt like jim in the office truly. UGH it's just so good??? i can't recommend enough!! PLEASE READ.

— ❤︎ the answer (ot8?/reader, side pairings) by @berryunho

genre: cult au, thriller

summary: life is great until your best friend goes missing your senior year of university, leaving little more than an apology and goodbye. Months later, you’re determined to find out what happened to him and discover a situation much more complicated than you would have ever anticipated - as in - Kim Hongjoong doesn’t like the word ‘cult.’ He prefers 'sect.'

my notes: i first discovered this fic on ao3 and somehow found out lauren had a tumblr blog but i digress – i found this one night and was so excited that i found something so so unique and different and i am pretty sure i didn't sleep until 4am reading everything omg . it's truly so funny and i adore the main character more than anything, the snide remarks truly encompass and make you feel their emotions? cult leader hongjoong is something else... without spoiling hfjdjf. i beg lauren often for a spoiler because it's just that good. please read.

— OUTLAW (ot8/reader, side pairings) by @staytinyville

genre: wild west!au, smut(?), angst

summary: you thought you would be spending the rest of your life tending to the hotel your family ran. while you knew it was common to see bandits come and go in your town, you felt safe in your home. at least safe enough with a weapon at your disposal. however you were no match for eight men who were known to most as outlaws around the plains. hawt kind of adventures did they go on?

my notes: i started reading this a while back and have yet to finish, but so far the premise is so so so interesting and i love readying cowboy aus rjkfjkdrfkj ITS SO GOOD!!!! I CANT WAIT TO CATCH UP

— sway with me (ot8/reader, wooyoung/reader) by @luvt0kki

genre: sci-fi/space/futuristic!au

summary: former noble turned space pirate, wooyoung was now part of one of the most revered and hunted group of pirates of the galaxy. sure he’s only known them for six months but there’s only so much you could do in a ship when you travel from one planet to the next. the ship was their home, his home…and the members of this crew were friends that he felt he was fated to meet.

my notes: tokki already knows all of this but,,, i started this a month or so ago? and i read the first chapter and i legit lost my mind,,, in the calmest way possible... the first chapter is gripping and it sets a environment that i very much would love to live in??? it's just so so well written, and the reader is very much my type NDFAKKJ ANYWAY... it's told from the pov of wooyoung and i love it??? so MUCH?? please read ok bye

— one more rep (woosan x reader) by @cheollipop

genre: smut, f2l, trainers woosan

summary: san got a little too excited watching you exercise in purple – his favourite colour – and wooyoung was nothing if not a tease. turning their attention back to you, they didn't expect to see you equally worked-up.

my notes: ???? i actually read this a few times,,,, this fic yall.... i cannot... the mental image of woosan in the gym makes me delusional enoughdsjkaskfjksd PLEASE.

— like a dream (yungi x reader) by cheollipop

genre: bf!yungi, smut

summary: with only the orange hues of the lamp illuminating the room, they have you for the first time, and it feels just like a dream.

my notes: yunho and mingi are my weakness,, so the both of them together.....

sᴇᴏɴɢʜᴡᴀ

to be added!

ʜᴏɴɢᴊᴏᴏɴɢ

— horizon by @pxedpiper (ft. ateez/f.reader)

genre: pirate!au

summary: once a princess of a kingdom you loathed to call yours, you have somehow found yourself aboard a pirate ship, stuck on the ocean waves. now you try to figure out how to escape them, but as you continue to journey with them, you find yourself wondering if you even want to.

my notes: i just found this the other day but remembering reading it a while ago! it's so so well written and i enjoyed it sm 🥹

ʏᴜɴʜᴏ

to be added!

ʏᴇᴏsᴀɴɢ

to be added!

sᴀɴ

to be added!

ᴍɪɴɢɪ

— safe haven (mingi/reader) by @atxxzist

genre: bodyguard!au, fluff

summary: your father has had enough of your shit, and hires Song Mingi; his best friend's son, to be your personal bodyguard

my notes: is it possible to fall down the mingi hole deeper than i already have? maybe! this fic pretty much lives in my head,,, endlessly,,,, i love mingi. i love this au so much and i especially love bodyguard aus, i think it's one of my favorite genres and this deepens it.... PLEASE READ.

ᴡᴏᴏʏᴏᴜɴɢ

— rough rider (wooyoung x afab!reader) by @choism

genre: smut

summary: In which you meet a hot twink at a club who has a slightly unhealthy obsession with the 2000's and y2k bimbocore.

my notes: i......... there's no way i can describe this fic... if u yearn for wooyoung the way i do. read this.

— what happened to slow down? (bf!wooyoung x reader) by @ja3hwa

genre: smut

summary: coming back from a house party, you and woo couldn't seem to keep your hands off one another. everything was happening so fast. you two didn't even make it to the bedroom.

my notes: insert a photo of someone throwing a phone and screaming crying, then picking it up to read the rest. thats me kjrfakfajkf

ᴊᴏɴɢʜᴏ

to be added!

[drchucktingle]

tingleverse lore: tingle types

recent post on the four tingler types has got buds talkin about TINGLEVERSE LORE so i thought it would be nice time to talk on the ways of dinosaur, unicorn, bigfoot and living object, since there are some new buckaroos who are just jumpin in the tingleverse deep end OK HERE GOES

four tingle types is not something chuck just now made up it has been that way since beginning. anyway theres several layers of reality in infinite stack and the EROTIC TINGLEVERSE is a group of CLOSE layers (outside these layers is THE VOID but we dont need to talk on right now)

the HORROR TINGLEVERSE is part of the same stack but farther away. it is a separate group of layers with a few similarities to erotica layers (mainly dealing with THE VOID and the consequences of weaving timeline layers) but otherwise a different space within tingleverse stack

anyway back to the erotic layer. the thing that makes these layers unique from our own is the incursion of four sentient species which are the ones listed. i will now go over what each group encompasses because it might not be what you think

first of all, DINOSAURS is not just reptilian creatures it also means ancient mammals (sabertooths and mammoths) and even prehistoric squids and sharks

next is BIGFEET. in the tingleverse bigfeet are a broad species that also includes mothmen and jersey devils and some other cryptids. this is discussed in the the books they are featured in in more detail

UNICORNS are next. unicorns are pretty much just unicorns what the heck can i say. of all the creatures inhabiting the tingleverse they have the least variety but the most beautiful mane and i think thats worth something

last is LIVING OBJECT which a lot of buds seemed confused by in quiz. in the tingleverse, living abstracts concepts fall into the living object category because once they physically manifest they BECOME a living object. so thoughts and ideas that are sentient are living objects

LIVING OBJECT is the most broad group because it can encompass ALL THINGS. it is also the most existential of the species as i think some buckaroos discovered on the TINGLE TYPE test.

i suppose i should put link to the test here also if you do not believe this has been master plan for nearly a decade of worldbuilding rules here is an old shirt with the tingle types on it. one of first shirts chuck ever made

alright buds hope you enjoyed this tingleverse lesson. LOVE IS REAL

[sexymemecoin]

The Expansive World of Altcoins: Exploring the Diversity Beyond Bitcoin

Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, has long dominated headlines and market discussions. However, the world of digital currencies is vast and diverse, with thousands of alternative coins, or altcoins, each offering unique features and value propositions. Altcoins encompass a broad range of projects, from utility tokens and stablecoins to meme coins and more. This article delves into the rich ecosystem of altcoins, highlighting their significance, various types, and the innovative projects that make up this vibrant space, including a mention of Sexy Meme Coin.

Understanding Altcoins

The term "altcoin" refers to any cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin. These coins were developed to address various limitations of Bitcoin or to introduce new features and use cases. Altcoins have proliferated since the creation of Bitcoin in 2009, each aiming to offer something different, whether it be improved transaction speeds, enhanced privacy features, or specific utility within certain ecosystems.

Categories of Altcoins

Utility Tokens: Utility tokens provide users with access to a specific product or service within a blockchain ecosystem. Examples include Ethereum's Ether (ETH), which is used to power applications on the Ethereum network, and Chainlink's LINK, which is used to pay for services on the Chainlink decentralized oracle network.

Stablecoins: Stablecoins are designed to maintain a stable value by being pegged to a reserve of assets, such as fiat currency or commodities. Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) are popular stablecoins pegged to the US dollar, offering the benefits of cryptocurrency without the volatility.

Security Tokens: Security tokens represent ownership in a real-world asset, such as shares in a company or real estate. They are subject to regulatory oversight and are often seen as a bridge between traditional finance and the blockchain world.

Meme Coins: Meme coins are a playful and often humorous take on cryptocurrency, inspired by internet memes and cultural trends. While they may start as jokes, some have gained significant value and community support. Dogecoin is the most famous example, but many others, like Shiba Inu and Sexy Meme Coin, have also captured the public's imagination.

Privacy Coins: Privacy coins focus on providing enhanced privacy features for transactions. Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC) are notable examples, offering users the ability to transact anonymously and protect their financial privacy.

The Appeal of Altcoins

Altcoins offer several advantages over Bitcoin, including:

Innovation: Many altcoins introduce new technologies and features, driving innovation within the cryptocurrency space. For example, Ethereum introduced smart contracts, enabling decentralized applications (DApps) and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.

Specialization: Altcoins often serve specific niches or industries, providing targeted solutions that Bitcoin cannot. For instance, Ripple (XRP) focuses on facilitating cross-border payments, while Filecoin (FIL) aims to create a decentralized storage network.

Investment Opportunities: The diverse range of altcoins presents numerous investment opportunities. Investors can diversify their portfolios by investing in projects with different use cases and growth potentials.

Notable Altcoins in the Market

Ethereum (ETH): Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and has become the backbone of the DeFi and NFT (Non-Fungible Token) ecosystems. Its smart contract functionality allows developers to create decentralized applications, leading to a thriving ecosystem of financial services, games, and more.

Cardano (ADA): Cardano is a blockchain platform focused on sustainability, scalability, and transparency. It uses a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, which is more energy-efficient than Bitcoin's proof-of-work. Cardano aims to provide a more secure and scalable infrastructure for the development of decentralized applications.

Polkadot (DOT): Polkadot is designed to enable different blockchains to interoperate and share information. Its unique architecture allows for the creation of "parachains," which can operate independently while still benefiting from the security and connectivity of the Polkadot network.

Chainlink (LINK): Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network that provides real-world data to smart contracts on the blockchain. This functionality is crucial for the operation of many DeFi applications, making Chainlink a vital component of the blockchain ecosystem.

Sexy Meme Coin: Among the meme coins, Sexy Meme Coin stands out for its combination of humor and innovative tokenomics. It offers a decentralized marketplace where users can buy, sell, and trade memes as NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), rewarding creators for their originality. Learn more about Sexy Meme Coin at Sexy Meme Coin.

The Future of Altcoins

The future of altcoins looks promising, with continuous innovation and increasing adoption across various industries. As blockchain technology evolves, we can expect altcoins to introduce new solutions and disrupt traditional systems. However, the market is also highly competitive, and not all projects will succeed. Investors should conduct thorough research and due diligence before investing in any altcoin.

Conclusion

Altcoins represent a dynamic and diverse segment of the cryptocurrency market. From utility tokens and stablecoins to meme coins and privacy coins, each category offers unique features and potential benefits. Projects like Ethereum, Cardano, Polkadot, and Chainlink are leading the way in innovation, while niche coins like Sexy Meme Coin add a layer of cultural relevance and community engagement. As the cryptocurrency ecosystem continues to grow, altcoins will play a crucial role in shaping the future of digital finance and blockchain technology.

For those interested in the playful and innovative side of the altcoin market, Sexy Meme Coin offers a unique and entertaining platform. Visit Sexy Meme Coin to explore this exciting project and join the community.

[mikkeneko]

I decided to make this its own post for two reasons: one, I didn't want to derail a post that is about Judaism with a discussion of a different faith and two, it was really only one of several posts I've seen recently that stuck out to me as being "man, this is way off-base."

This is not so much about "people are saying mean things about this religion and it hurts my feelings!" but it is definitely about "people are making statements that represent a wildly skewed and inaccurate picture of the reality, and I can't tell whether they're being hyperbolic on purpose or think they're genuinely telling the truth." This is not a question of whether any given church is good or bad; this is a question of whether there is or can be a distinct entity that serves as a single unified church or faith in American Christian tradition (spoiler: No.)

Here's the basic message: Any discussion of "the Christian god" or "the Christian faith" or "American Christianity" needs to be taken with a big honking asterisk that there is no single portrayal of God, or Christianity, or spirituality and faith that conveys accurate information about the entire breadth of American Christianity.

There is no single American Christian Church. None. The single biggest branch of American Christianity, Southern Evangelical Baptist, makes up at its broadest 30% of all American Christians (12% of the overall population.) The rest are split between Catholic, Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Adventist, Congregationalist, and a dozen other even tinier branches, before you even get into the more far-out variants that people have ongoing arguments as to whether they even really count as "Christian." (LDS, Unitarians, and possibly Mennonites fall into this category.) Most of the major branches share a lot of common ground, but there's an enormous amount of variation -- they disagree widely on concepts such as the existence or nonexistence of Hell; the mechanics of conversion or salvation; the requirements of baptism or confirmation; whether prostylezation is required, encouraged or even permitted; what kind of sexualities are or are not accepted; God as an active or non-active role in the world; how 'sin' works or if it's even a thing; the existence or not of saints; the divinity or not of Christ; or even the idea of an anthropomorphic God at all. Some are progressive, some are fundamentalist, some are fundamentalist in ways that are completely at odds with the popular perception of what those fundaments are. I personally know one Methodist pastor who also believes and teaches about God as a "oneness of the universe" and have met others who conceive of God as "that which spans the space between the limits of our understanding and the limits of our universe." You cannot categorically state that all American Christians share a common notion on any of these topics.

Other statements I've seen recently that just made me go "what? no?"

That the USA was founded by religious extremists and That's Why America is Like That. Only one or two of the original settlements were founded for this purpose. Some were founded with an explicit purpose of total freedom of (or from) religion; others were entrepreneurial ventures with nothing to say on the topic of religion at all. When the guiding documents of the American state were put together the clause of freedom of religion was included front and center precisely because they didn't want religious extremists to be steering the ship.

That the majority of USAmericans are in cults and don't even realize they're in cults. This requires both an extremely broad definition of “cult” (to encompass pretty much any branch of Christianity, not only the more extremely evangelical ones) and severely over-estimates how many people in the US are practicing Christians (less than half.)

That the "Christian God" is intended to function as a "Great Uniter" into which other faiths can be folded; This is not a Protestant thing. Most Protestant faiths are not syncretic to the degree Catholicism is (or at all,) since there wasn't a motivating political entity backing their creeds to make them so. Again: Not all branches of American Protestantism require, encourage, or even permit prostylezation.

On that note: Not all Christians are Catholic. This isn't news, right? People know this, right? This is one of those things that I always assumed was very common knowledge, and was very surprised to run into people who were not aware of this (who either think that all Christians or Catholic, or else that Catholics are not Christian at all, depending on which side of the equation they're approaching from.) Protestant and Catholic Christianity are very very distinct entities both spiritually and politically, and in the USA, Catholic Christianity is a minority religion and is mostly (though not exclusively) practiced in minority demographic communities. Of 46 presidents so far only one has been Catholic, and a lot of the opposition to JFK's appointment was people being suspicious of his Catholicism since it was thought that his loyalty to the Church might supersede his loyalty to the US. American Christianity is mostly Protestant, not Catholic, and Protestant Christianity does not function at all the way Catholicism does. We had a whole Reformation about this. Any take that refers to "The Church" in America as a single united entity that dictates theology to its outreaching branches is... off-base.

What certainly is true is that a number of individual churches in the US have organized around the aim of consolidating social and political power, have worked at advancing their members to positions of power in order to protect and promote their interests, and thus are over-represented and have outsized influence on the political sphere. The ones that do this, as well as the ones that put emphasis on proselytizing and on money-making, tend to self-select for being the most visible and infamous because their business model is expansive by nature. That's certainly the case for the SEB in the American South, or the LDS in Utah. I really get the feeling when people use these broad terms that they are thinking either of the SEB (again, not even a majority among American Protestants!) or of the Catholic church (even less so!)  But not only do not all Americans agree with those beliefs, they don't even agree with each other.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive (Daily updates!)

By Sarah Jacoby We usually think of COVID-19 as a viral illness that causes respiratory symptoms, like congestion, sore throat and a cough. But, like a surprising amount of other viruses, the coronavirus can also lead to annoying, itchy and even painful skin rashes.

When you see a rash as part of a virus, you're not really seeing the virus go into your skin directly, Dr. Andrew Walls, dermatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and assistant professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School, tells TODAY.com.

Instead, what you're usually seeing "is the virus activating your immune system to a high degree as it's combating the virus," he explains. While it's not a common symptom of COVID, a rash is yet another manifestation of your body's overall immune response to the virus.

And viral rashes aren't unique to COVID-19; other viral illnesses such as measles, chickenpox and hand, foot and mouth disease frequently include a rash.

A rash related to a viral infection is sometimes called a viral exanthem, Dr. Jeffery Gehlhausen, Ph.D., assistant professor of dermatology at the Yale School of Medicine, tells TODAY.com. And the term encompasses an entire category of well-known skin conditions. "This (link) is something that we've known about for, honestly, centuries," Gehlhausen says.

So, if you develop a rash as a symptom of COVID-19, you certainly aren't the first. Here's what to expect — and when to talk to your doctor.

COVID skin rashes Hives Hives, also called urticaria, can be related to allergies. But they also appear after a viral infection, including COVID-19.

The condition can present as raised, itchy red, pink or flesh-colored bumps. They can occur in isolated patches or large clusters. And they can appear pretty much anywhere on the body, including your back, chest, legs and face, Walls says.

Hives also "move around your body quite a bit," Walls says. You could have hives for several days, but the patch of hives may move from area to area, he adds.

When hives are related to a virus, they tend to show up near the end of your infection, Walls says. The timing typically goes like this: Someone feels pretty sick and develops a fever. Then, when the fever breaks and it seems like they're turning a corner, that's when the rash starts to show up, Walls says.

Hives on their own or even with COVID-19 are not necessarily worrying, Gehlhausen says. If your hives require treatment, the first-line option is antihistamines, he explains.

Morbilliform rash (measles-like) A typical viral exanthem is a rash made up of smooth, raised pink dots which can collect into larger patches, Walls says. The rash tends to start on the chest or back. Then, over a few days, it spreads to the extremities. (Some people only have a small area of their body covered while others have very large areas with rash.)

The rash will then reach a peak and “kind of fade away and peel, almost like a sunburn,” Walls says. For some, the rash is completely asymptomatic. But for others, it's very itchy, he adds.

One specific type of viral exanthem that dermatologists have seen with COVID is a morbilliform rash, meaning a measles-like rash. Measles rashes tend to look like small raised bumps that eventually coalesce into larger rashes, which can affect much of the body, before gradually fading away, as TODAY.com explained previously.

Coxsackie-like rash Dermatologists have also seen COVID-related rashes that resemble those caused by the Coxsackie virus, also called hand, foot and mouth disease.

"These are fixed, small, painful, sometimes itchy oval blisters that develop on the hands, feet and the inside of the mouth," Walls explains, "often without a whole lot of rash elsewhere."

However, this is an "uncommon skin manifestation for COVID," Walls adds.

More recently, some strains of the Coxsackie virus have caused "more unusual rashes that may affect a larger body surface area," Gehlhausen says. In other cases, the rash may affect less common areas, like just appearing on the buttocks, he adds.

"Obviously, COVID has evolved over time," Gehlhausen says, "so you may see different distributions of the rash as a result of that."

COVID toes You may remember a lot of talk about "COVID toes" early on in the pandemic. But it's not something dermatologists see a lot of these days, the experts say.

Chilblains — the technical term for COVID toes — is a skin condition that seemed uniquely linked to COVID and not to other viruses, Walls explains. "Sometimes it was linked to autoimmune diseases ... and it was thought to be associated with cold exposure," he adds.

The condition causes small areas of skin on the feet and hands to become swollen, itchy and painful, the Mayo Clinic says. The affected areas may also blister and become temporarily discolored.

Today, experts don't see COVID toes very often, they tell TODAY.com. That could be because people have stopped reporting it, the virus has mutated and is no longer causing the issue, or there was never a link to begin.

For now, "researchers are still looking at whether the swollen, discolored toes are caused by COVID-19," the American Academy of Dermatology says. "It’s possible that COVID toes develop when the person’s immune system reacts to the virus that causes COVID-19."

Vasculitis Vasculitis is an autoimmune condition caused by inflammation of the blood vessels, an it can present as a rash.

Experts have seen some cases of vasculitis with COVID-19, particularly small cell vasculitis, which is the "least destructive" version of the condition, Walls says.

We know that SARS-CoV-2 can affect the cardiovascular system and make blood clots more likely, Gehlhausen says, so it's not surprising that we see vascular rashes in some patients. Generally, he says, vasculitis-type rashes occur in people with more severe infections.

Small cell vasculitis has been linked to many other conditions as well, including bacterial infections (even strep throat) as well as antibiotics and other medications, Walls says. "A huge array of things have triggered small vessel vasculitis in people," he explains.

Thankfully, the condition typically appears as a single episode that fades away on its own. But some people have cases that linger for months or recur down the line, Walls says.

Can COVID trigger or exacerbate other skin issues? In addition to causing skin rashes, COVID-19 infections can also exacerbate or trigger a recurrence of pre-existing skin issues you may have.

That includes chronic skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema, the experts say. Interestingly, these can also flare after a COVID-19 vaccine, Gehlhausen says.

Illnesses, including COVID, are also known to trigger conditions such as shingles and cold sores due to HSV (herpes simplex virus), Walls says. These conditions "like to reactivate when something else is running you down anyway," he explains, which could be not getting enough sleep, stress in your personal or professional life or another illness, like COVID.

COVID skin rashes in children Kids can get skin rashes due to viral infections, including COVID-19. In fact, children are "a little more prone to these skin reactions with viruses than adults are," Walls explains.

"Kids who are experiencing these viruses for the first time are going to be prone to getting these sort of things," Gehlhausen explains. For instance, dermatologists see a lot of kids with various forms of hives-like rashes, such as urticaria multiforme, alongside a viral infection, he says.

When to see a doctor for COVID skin rashes "If you have a rash and COVID, it is absolutely worthwhile to go to see your primary care physician and discuss it with them," Gehlhausen says.

That said, if you have one of the more common rashes — like hives or a measles-like rash — those aren't necessarily "anything scary or concerning," he adds. "They're just types of rashes we know are associated with COVID, so it wouldn't prompt us to manage the virus any differently."

And, if it's on the milder end, you may be able to treat it at home with over-the-counter antihistamines or pain medication.

If your rash is severe, covers a large area of your body or is especially painful or itchy, you should definitely check in with a doctor or dermatologist, Walls says. They may be able to prescribe medications, like topical antihistamines or steroids, to help your skin heal.

The other concerning scenario is if you are generally feeling very unwell along with the rash. For instance, if you have a bad headache, high fever and trouble breathing and a rash shows up, Walls recommends checking in with a health professional.

[problematic-polls]

Do you think studying the concept of autogynephilia is transmisogynistic?

Yes, and I have a gender identity.

No, and I have a gender identity.

Yes, and I do not have a gender identity.

No, and I do not have a gender identity.

Autogynephilia is defined as a male's propensity to be sexually aroused by the thought of himself as a female. It is the paraphilia that is theorized to underlie transvestism and some forms of male-to-female (MtF) transsexualism. Autogynephilia encompasses sexual arousal with cross-dressing and cross-gender expression that does not involve women's clothing per se. The concept of autogynephilia defines a typology of MtF transsexualism and offers a theory of motivation for one type of MtF transsexualism. Autogynephilia resembles a sexual orientation in that it involves elements of idealization and attachment as well as erotic desire. Nearly 3% of men in Western countries may experience autogynephilia; its most severe manifestation, MtF transsexualism, is rare but increasing in prevalence. Some theorists and clinicians reject the transsexual typology and theory of motivation derived from autogynephilia; their objections suggest a need for additional research. The concept of autogynephilia can assist clinicians in understanding some otherwise puzzling manifestations of nonhomosexual MtF transsexualism. Autogynephilia exemplifies an unusual paraphilic category called 'erotic target identity inversions', in which men desire to impersonate or turn their bodies into facsimiles of the persons or things to which they are sexually attracted.

https://web.archive.org/web/20240917173753/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22005209/

[the-cosmos-foundation]

In other news, we've been cataloguing the energy types we've come across over the course of our studies of our own world. Off the top of my head, here's a general summary:

Ambient Pokemon Energy. Source: Any Pokemon. Also known as Life Energy or Aura. As expected, Pokemon exhibit relatively normal energy for their typing, and it tends to spike in ways appropriately produced by their own bodies. Certain stones used for evolution also exhibit these energy signatures, and sub-categories for each type are clearly documented by known scientific communities as a matter of public knowledge. It is ultimately unremarkable due to its prevalence, though strong pockets can have strong effects. TMs are also made to be capable of storing and conveying specifically tuned "pockets" of this energy to convey moves to Pokemon capable of learning them.

Infinity Energy. Source: Xerneas and Yveltal. This is a much more volatile energy that seems to have been caused by a rather deeply entrenched weapon going off within Kalos millenia ago, though the reach of its effects had managed to become felt in both Hoenn and Alola. It is hyper-attuned "life energy" similar to what a Pokemon may normally exhibit, but violently and roughly used in a way that dispersed itself elsewhere, coalescing into evolution stones. It can cause rapid evolution-like changes known as "Mega Evolution" that the Pokemon's body cannot handle for long periods of time and, from cursory scanning studies into the matter, can cause severe pain and panic in the Pokemon. This leads to heightened aggression and a lack of trust of humans if done improperly.

Z-Power. Source: Ultra Space (Necrozma). Discovered in Alola and, rather notably, nowhere else, this energy is either very close or nigh identical to certain energy signatures the Aether Foundation published their findings on roughly three-to-four (three and a half?) years ago. It has a similar energy functionality as Infinity Energy but manifests in rather differing ways: it is more "all-encompassing". Mega Stones holding Infinity Energy only work with specific Pokemon, a similar but more restrictive manifestation of the evolution stones it's bound to. Z-Crystals, meanwhile, are crystallized forms of pure Z-Energy and, should you match the type properly, can be used of any Pokemon that can use it, bolstering both their power by making its "aura flare" and augmenting a move of theirs to have devastating effect. Some have attuned to specific Pokemon, yes, but the majority of these stones affect Pokemon typings instead.

All of the above energy seems to be the same energy under differing effects. They are all, in some fashion, "life energy", something that a Pokemon can either exhibit naturally or that have some source of another being exerting its power over the ambient energy of an area through previous actions taken against or with it. Which leads us to the next kind of energy and what sets it apart from the others.

Dynamax Energy. Source: Eternatus. Also dubbed "Galar Particles" due to their notable appearance in that region and again, rather notably, nowhere else, this is an energy source that does not seem to have the same effects as the above. While it does come from a specific Pokemon and can have a bolstering effect on other Pokemon in the Dynamax phenomenon, some of which even getting specific Gigantamax forms, this does not necessarily lump it in with the other types: it is not life energy or a type of that life energy. It is more accurate to call it terrestrial energy that came from an extra-terrestrial source and spread unnaturally. Pokemon have a clear capability to absorb energy around them, yes, which is how both evolution stones and TMs nowadays are made, but the ambience of this energy, rather than its coalescence, is what separates it keenly. On top of this, it is also something much easier to convert into general electrical power through proper conversion. Other energies here can be harnessed, but they do not function in a similar enough way to be properly wielded in such a way.

Dynamax energy is, as one may expect, clearly in a league of its own. There's just two issues.

It causes the Pokemon distress. Similar to Mega Evolution, if done improperly, the Pokemon will lose their sense of self and promptly go berserk in a way that necessitates a takedown.

It is beholden to one area. Galar Particles are named as such due to this being a very localized phenomenon that prevents other regions from either benefiting or suffering from its influence.

As such, one of our key goals in researching the multiverse is to seek out, study and gradually form an understanding of other types of energy that have come into contact with Pokemon or humans in ways that could help bolster us as a people.

Hope this little delve into the basics of our energy exploration have helped a little bit more understanding be shared!

-- Luna

[genshinemblem564]

Sagau: Power

A list of powers and physical attributes you gain as your power awakens in Teyvat.

Cont.

_______________________________________________

As Teyvat's creator, you have several unique abilities that can be categorized as elemental, passive, physical, and divine.

Elemental: extensions of your simple control over the elements.

• Blitz: like the Shogun, the creator has the ability to infuse their own body with electro, enhancing their speed.

• Storm Call: the ability to conjure a storm of any kind, from a whirling hurricane to a light drizzle, as such it is used to both punish and bless the people of Teyvat.

• Solar Cannon: the ability to call down the light of the sun in the form of a pillar of flames to smite your foes.

• Herbal Potency: any and all plants you cultivate are of the highest quality, medicinal herbs grown by you end up being highly sawt after by pharmacists and alchemists. (Could also fit under the passive category)

Passive: powers that act without any input from you.

• Mind's Eye: this power translates whatever you're reading to your first language, from simple letters to ancient hieroglyphs. It does not help with writing unfortunately.

• Core Temperature Control: this power adjusts your body temperature so you can withstand even the harshest conditions, whether it be the scorching desert or the frigid Dragonspine. You will still feel minor changes in temperature, such as when swimming or enjoying a gentle breeze.

• Regeneration: your wounds heal faster than anyone else's. This power is not instant and it has its limits, as it cannot revive you if you suffer a fatal injury, so caution is still advised.

• Anemo Attunement: like Kazuha and Venti, the wind communicates with you, guides you, warns you, and just over all aids you.

Physical attributes: changes in your appearance due to your powers awakening.

• Wings: a set of feathered wings that grant the ability to fly. These wings can change colors or have certain patterns if you so desire. While the wings can be put away at anytime, this does not remove any built up grime, so proper care is important.

• Markings: appearing mostly on your arms and upper back, these markings glow with elemental energy, not too brightly though, as clothes can still hide them from view.

• Glowing Eyes: these mostly occur when making use of your powers, glowing with the colors of the elements, occasionally giving you artificial heterochromia when using multiple elements at once. Outside of elemental indication, you can control what color they glow, certain colors seem to have a calming effect.

•Aura: when using a great deal of power, a golden aura encompasses your body, this seems to have no effect other than aesthetics and coolness factor. While not being a physical attribute, it's lack of effects lands it in this category.

Divine: powers exclusive to you and your kin, if you have any in Teyvat.

• Wishing: before your arrival in Teyvat, this was used to obtain weapons and new vessels and you were unable to specify your wish, after your arrival however, these wishes are much more powerful, capable of changing the landscape or even fusing worlds together, and while you can specify your wishes now, one must be VERY specific to avoid unintended effects.

• Shapeshifting: while shapeshifting does exist for others, your ability is boundless, you can shift into anything, a wolf, rabbit, falcon, or a dragon. This power can be finicky however, as you have woken up to many strange looks only to realize you have an extra set of ears or a tail.

• Conjuration: as the creator, you can conjure anything you may need at you fingertips, the only caveat being you have to have intimate knowledge of whatever you wish to create, a lack of knowledge can lead to rather bizarre outcomes.

• Purification: the ability to purify any being of harmful energies, such as curses or demon or spirit possessions. In other writings this is often displayed through the removal of Xiao's karmic debt. This has also lead you to attend many funerals to ensure that the departed actually pass on instead of being bound by these negative energies.

Illusions: projections of your memories that have multiple uses from analyzing past events to using your memories of combat to train, you have gotten many eager requests from Tartaglia due to this.

• Reformation: the ability to change your form permanently. Unlike shapeshifting where you merely change your appearance and voice, reformation changes your true form's whole anatomy. The only downside being, you need to demanifest in order to do this, so make sure you know what you want beforehand, if you're gone too long your followers will have a panic attack.

_______________________________________________

Note: these are all major powers and don't cover normal powers like shields and healing. As stated previously, these are free for anyone to use in their own writings, I'm sorry if I'm being a broken record, I just feel the need to say this because I've often worried about using some else's ideas in the past because they never specified. Looking back I realize that was stupid of me, but a panicked mind can hardly think straight. Anyways, I didn't mean for this to become a rambling, I hope you enjoyed this post.

[rabbiitte]

thank you so much for your analysis on Mew - it's so interesting! I feel like there's so much hate towards him right now (and I don't really get why? The SandRay situation obviously isn't his fault?) but he's such an interesting character to me, flaws and all.

You're also the only person I've seen talk about his potential demisexuality, and I was wondering if you could expand on that? There are a lot of comments out there saying that Mew has a really unhealthy attitude to sex because he doesn't seem to want to have it - and spends the first few episodes actively avoiding it. I'm not disagreeing with that perspective entirely, but what's wrong with just not wanting to have sex? I'm asexual so I may be missing something in this fandom discourse - is it Mew's desire for control that's unhealthy, or is the argument that a healthy relationship must include sex? I was so pleased to see your comment about demisexuality, because honestly that's what his whole character screams to me. (I could also be reading into it way too much, we don't get a lot of ace/demi rep!)

Thanks again for the great meta, I love your posts!

You're welcome Anon! I'm glad you found the analysis on Mew interesting. I agree, there's so much hate towards Mew right now and I think it is due to several reasons: a) Mew negatively affects SandRay's development. b) Mew is a difficult character to read and that can make certain people uncomfortable. c) People don't like the actor and resent the fact that he's a central character in the series.

The topic you brought up is extremely interesting and I don't see enough people talking about it, so... Sure, let's talk about Mew's possible sexual orientation! 🤗

Since EP1 it has been theorized about Mew being demisexual due to the following moment:

Demisexuality is a sexual orientation where individuals typically experience sexual attraction only after forming a strong emotional connection or bond with someone. Unlike many other sexual orientations, demisexual individuals may not feel immediate or purely physical attraction to others and often require a deeper emotional connection to develop sexual desire.

Demisexuality is a sexual orientation that is on the spectrum of asexuality. What does it mean that asexuality is a spectrum?

“asexuality as a spectrum” means that asexuality it's not a monolithic sexual orientation (not a single, uniform category that encompasses all people who identify as asexual) and that it encompasses a variety of experiences and degrees of sexual attraction. Asexual people may experience their orientation differently, and that's why we talk about a spectrum. Many asexual people may experience no sexual attraction and others may experience sexual attraction in very specific circumstances. However, this is only one aspect of many that makes asexuality a spectrum.

At the same time, asexuality is a sexual orientation within the asexual spectrum.

Mind you, lack of sexual attraction should not be confused with lack of romantic attraction. A person can be hetero-romantic, bi-romantic, homo-romantic, and so on.

Why do I explain all this? First, in the case that someone who's not very informed is reading. Second, because I think Mew is asexual and not demisexual. It's debatable, what's not debatable is that Mew's sexual orientation is part of the asexual spectrum. However, I think the theory that Mew is demisexual is no longer in line with what Mew has shown in recent episodes. Despite having accepted his feelings for Top and forming an emotional bond, Mew has no sexual attraction for Top. This is also consistent with the fact that Mew is still discovering his sexuality and, at first, he might have thought that after getting to know Top he would experience sexual attraction. In fact, many asexual people used to think at first they were demisexual (because at first you don't want to rule out the idea of possible future sexual attraction).

So, let's get things straight:

Mew isn't sexually attracted to Top. Despite that, like many asexual people, he may consider someone attractive. In this case, he considers Top attractive and, at the same time, he actively seeks a romantic relationship with him (once again, romantic attraction isn't related to sexual attraction). He isn't particularly interested in having or perusing sex. He never manifests enthusiasm, desire or strong emotional reactions (deep desire, passion, excitement, among other) towards the sexual act itself. In the shower scene he tells Top that their sexual encounter was "okay" and, during their first time, Mew simply lies down and lets himself be pleased (in case anyone is wondering, yes, asexual people can feel physical pleasure because they're still people and physical pleasure is a natural response of the body to stimuli).

Actually, Mew is completely fine being a virgin. Even so, he's not sex repulsed so he's fine with the idea of having sex. Although he doesn't have a terrible time doing it, he certainly doesn't enjoy it. And, like many asexual people, he feels pressured to have sex. However, it's important to note that Mew didn't have sex against his will. In fact, like many asexual people who decide to have sex for different reasons, Mew had sex with Top because he considered it important when it came to forming an intimate relationship.

Based on all this information we can say that, although someone's sexual orientation is something very particular that everyone experiences and defines internally (therefore it's difficult to know with certainty someone's sexual orientation), we can say that Mew is a homo-romantic asexual person. This means that Mew doesn't feel sexual attraction but does feel romantic attraction to people of the same gender. In turn, his attitude towards sex is neutral (he neither takes a sex-favorable stance nor rejects the idea of having sex).

Regarding your question about control or sex as something inherent in relationships, I don't think either of these two desires is unhealthy. Actually, we all want to have some degree of control in our lives, otherwise we would live in a constant state of anxiety and panic. Control is unhealthy when it becomes a necessity and an obsession. Control also becomes unhealthy when someone tries to maintain control through questionable attitudes that affect others negatively. I also don't think the idea of not wanting to have sex is unhealthy. Sex isn't a prerequisite for romantic relationships (in fact, there are countless healthy romantic relationships that don't include sex), our degree of sexual attraction doesn't define us. In terms of sexual health, a healthy and positive relationship with one's sexuality involves being able to identify one's own limits and respect them. I believe that the thought of “avoiding sex or not wanting to have sex” as unhealthy is related to the pathologization of asexuality. However, it's of utmost importance to remember that asexuality is not a problem to be solved.

I am sorry to dwell on so much Anon but I consider this topic extremely significant and valuable to discuss. Of course, feel free to disagree with me. I hope I answered your questions!

[gremoria411]

Mobile Suit Generations in the Universal Century

Alright, another lineage post, kinda (I will finish that 00 one eventually).

Now in my post about how the Zaku series changed over time, I mentioned briefly that I don’t really see the Universal Century Gundam series as being much of a lineage, primarily because it’s an absolute mess. However, I do want to do a post talking about the Gundam “line” in some more detail at some point. So I thought I’d make this post beforehand as a sort of preliminary excercise. Because it’s rather difficult to talk about Gundams in universal century without talking about Mobile Suit Generations themselves.

So, What are Mobile Suit Generations?

In brief; as mobile suit technology in Universal Century developed, there were a number of concepts that would revolutionise the entire field, and lead to mobile suit design being completely different as time went on. New technologies, new theories, new design ethos, that sort of thing. And because Gundam units were so often cutting-edge, these new ideas would typically be applied to them. A new generation represents a massive leap forward for the technology, meaning that development occurred very quickly. I’ve thrown around the terms before, typically when talking about fourth-generation mobile suits, but I figured I’d do a post outlining the different mobile suit generations, what their characteristics are, give some examples and talk about any noteworthy oddities.

Disclaimer: as it ever is with UC, there’s a lot that doesn’t divide cleanly here. Some mobile suits are easier to categorise than others, and there can be a lot of overlap between the generations, so I’ll be looking more at broad trends than categorising everything. I’m also gonna skip over a lot of detail here in the name of this post actually being of reasonable length.

First Generation Mobile Suits

Named retroactively and also the easiest to categorise. First-Generation mobile suits encompasses every mobile suit built prior to the Gryps War - Zaku’s, GM’s, RX-78’s, Pale Riders, the Gundam Development Project - all First-Gen mobile suits. First-Gen’s a broad category because it’s every suit on both sides of the OYW, and because mobile suits were still a very new technology there was an absolute range on design ethos and styles. First-Generation mobile suits really only share a timeframe of manufacture, there isn’t really much else to tie them together.

Second Generation Mobile Suits

The only (technically) Mobile Suit Generation to straight-up replace its predecessor and also one of only two generations to incorporate actual definitions (at least as far as I can tell). While the later generations tended to focus on one aspect of mobile suits, Second-Generation mobile suits were an all-around improvement over the second generation. They were characterised by three main features:

The movable frame - rather than just providing structure as was the case previous, the movable frame incorporates all the critical components required to actually move the unit, with the weapons armour and propellant tanks being externalised. This allows for easier maintenance, greater mobility and improved energy efficiency.

360-degree panoramic cockpit and linear seat - technically two improvements, but a “better cockpit” in a nutshell. The 360-degree panoramic cockpit allowed for a much greater field of view for the pilot, especially when compared to the old, cramped cockpits of the OYW, while the linear seat helped reduce the effect of g-forces on the pilot (and also made it easier to eject in the case of being shot down).

Gundarium y alloy - one of several refined versions of the original Gundarium used in the RX-78 series, Gundarium y was lightweight and durable, making it the armour of choice for second-generation mobile suits, allowing them to shrug off blows that would be lethal to earlier models, while remaining manoeuvrable enough that they could dodge such blows.

The most famous Second-Generation mobile suits would be the Gundam Mk-II and the Rick Dias, despite the fact that they each lacked one feature from the above list (the Mk-II had the older titanium alloy ceramic composite armour, whereas the Rick Dias lacked a movable frame). As previously mentioned, Second-generation mobile suits became the benchmark going forwards, and this wasn’t changed until the advent of miniaturised mobile suits in the U.C. 110’s. The Jegan, which would be the mainline mobile suit for the federation for over sixty years, was a Second-Generation mobile suit, typically likened to a mass-produced Gundam Mk-II.

Which brings us to our first oddity I want to talk about - the Dowas Custom. The original Dowas was the final production unit of the Zeon’s Dom line during the One Year War. The precise shakedown of their use and deployment is unclear - the Dowas is derived from the Rick Dom II, which was part of the latewar United Maintenance Plan, but there are reports of Dowas Desert types conducting operations in the wake of the Battle of Odessa - they could be early prototypes, or the Desert units came first and were later refined into the regular Dowas, or the Pezun Dowadge doesn’t count because it wasn’t a production unit…….

Anyway, at least one Dowas unit was brought to Axis by Zeon remnants fleeing A Baoa Qu, where it would be refined and upgraded with Axis’ latest technologies, and then supplied to the nascaent AEUG. That unit was the MS-09SS Dowas Custom, seen in Anaheim Laboratory Log. I won’t spoil the precise details of the hand-off, but you can probably guess from the colour scheme that it involves a certain individual who’s never heard of this Char Aznable fella, dear me no.

But the reason I’m talking about the Dowas Custom here is that it would be reverse-engineered in order to create the Rick Dias, one of the first Second-Generation Mobile suits. But where does that leave the Dowas Custom? Is it First-Gen, or Second-Gen? Well, it’s got Gundarium Alloy Armour (presumably y, since it’s the best one), however we know it doesn’t have a movable frame - neither the original Dom, nor its successor the Rick Dias incorporate one, so it’s very unlikely it has one. So then we come to the cockpit, and I’ve genuinely no idea what kind it employs. So I tend to consider it as an in-between, generation wise.

Third-Generation Mobile Suits

Transformable mobile suits, in a nutshell. Transformable mobile suits were considered an huge advantage during the gryps war, as they allowed for faster deployment, increased scouting range and, in many cases, were able to be transferred from Earth to space more easily than standard mobile suits. The latter half of the Gryps War and early stages of the First Neo Zeon War (Zeta Gundam to ZZ Gundam), are typically considered the golden age of Transformable mobile suits, with such luminaries such as the Zeta Gundam, Bawoo, Messala and Gabthley. Due to the aforementioned advantages, Third-Gen suits continued to develop after this period, giving rise to the Rezel and Delta Plus seen during Unicorn.

Interestingly, what is technically the first Third-Generation mobile suit, the Delta Gundam, was laid down during the early stages of the Gryps War but never built, simply because Anaheim couldn’t figure out how to make the frame work until Kamille Bidan managed to fix the problems with the Zeta, at which point Anaheim was so busy with other projects (like the Zeta Project) that they didn’t have time to review the Delta Gundam until after the war.

However, it is nice to have at least one generation with the relatively simple description of “if it transforms, it’s probably a third-generation suit”

Right?

If it wasn’t for this fucking thing.

Cards on the table, I really like the Gundam Mk-V. It’s nice. But, maddeningly, it’s also one of the only suits that we have an actual, in-universe definition for which mobile suit generation it falls into - “A third-generation mobile suit with the firepower of a fourth”. So it’s a third-generation mobile suit that doesn’t transform. What. Also, It’s the only thing that’s like this - The Gaza-C is a third-gen, because it can transform - The Jegan is a second-gen, because it doesn’t fit into third or fourth-gen categories. Why is a non-transforming suit a third-gen? Very annoying. Based on this, I’m led to conclude that what qualifies a suit as a member of the Third-Generation *has* to be something to do with frame structure, not necessarily transformation, given that the Mark-V doesn’t transform (Or it’s an error on the part of whoever wrote the description).

Fourth Generation Mobile Suits

Speaking of, I should really define fourth generation mobile suits, shouldn’t I? In one word: firepower. Fourth-Generation mobile suits were a product of greatly improved generator output, plus several noteworthy developments in Newtype tech. Any Newtype-specialist mobile suit after the gryps war is most likely part of the Fourth-Generation. The best-known fourth-generation mobile suits would be the ZZ Gundam, S Gundam and Döven Wolf. Axis was a major leader in Fourth-Gen tech, with such units as the Hamma-Hamma and, of course, the Qubeley. Several of these mobile suits were also combiners, such as the aforementioned Gundam’s, though this was later dropped as it led to compatibility and maintenance issues. Fourth-Generation mobile suits were also comparatively rare compared to those of earlier generations - likely due to the rarity of the newtypes that were typically their favoured pilots. The Döven Wolf has the distinction of being one of the few mass-produced Fourth-Generation mobile suits, likely because Axis had the resources to devote to it. Fourth-Generation mobile suits are also unique in that we (arguably) see an upper limit to the technology - the Gundam Unicorn, which is pretty goddamn scary.

Fifth-Generation Mobile Suits

A very easy one here, a) there’s only two mobile suits classed as fifth-generation at present - the Xi Gundam and the Penelope; and b) it’s got a nice, simple definition - fifth-generation mobile suits are equipped with a Minovsky craft system, allowing for unrestricted flight within the atmosphere.

The Minovsky Craft system is essentially how Gundam deals with all those horribly un-aerodynamic flying mobile armours - they incorporate minovsky craft systems, allowing for flight within the atmosphere (like the Psycho Gundam and the Adzam). The Xi Gundam and Penelope however, are actually light and aerodynamic, meaning that they can function more as mobile interceptors as opposed to flying city blocks. Honestly, I don’t have much more to say on this one.

Miniaturised Mobile Suits

Not really a generation per se, but I figured I’d cover my bases here. Miniaturised mobile suits were pioneered by SNRI, the Earth Federation’s in-house weapon development team, in around the UC 90’s to UC 100’s (such as the Loto and Heavygun). It eventually became standard practice after SNRI development data was stolen in UC 116, allowing other manufacturers to develop miniaturised mobile suits.

The main distinctions between miniaturised mobile suits and their forebears is, well, they were smaller. The Gundam F90 stood at only 14.8 meters tall compared to the original RX-78’s 18 meter height. This was due to a miniaturisation of the thermonuclear reactor used in mobile suits, and the development on new armour materials that allowed the armour and mobile frame to be made lighter without compromising its structural strength. Miniaturised mobile suits also used less resources than traditional ones to construct, allowing militaries to get more bang-for-their-buck, as it were (though given the prevalence of large mobile armours in late UC, being able to spend those resources elsewhere may also have something to do with it).

[redux-iterum]

Two naming questions here as someone taking inspiration from your expanded version of the traditional naming system for a few fanclans in other locations:

When it came to making additions to the existing ailuronomy prefix list, how did you go about picking what to exclude or include? I’m curious what your process was in regards to things like animals or plants named directly after human concepts or just after the latin name of their genus, words with 5+ syllables, just prefixes that technically work but sound clunky or unnatural when rolling off the tongue in general.

For prefixes that could potentially encompass a lot of colours (Prefixes like Moth-, Moss-, or Beetle- where there are a bunch of different species with wildly varying colours, or tree-based prefixes where you could be referencing the colour of several things like the bark, the flowers, or the fruit), how do you go about deciding which colour to categorize it under? Is it just a matter of what’s the most recognizable?

While Grey's parameters make for good guidelines, a lot of it can boil down to Your Mileage May Vary.

Compound words are especially this. Definitely don't include things that are compound words that end with a suffix in your lineup, such as Coltsfoot or Strawberry. Some will argue against having Mistletoe- being a prefix, but Mistle- and -toe being a prefix and suffix respectively is dumb, because you're essentially saying "piss-twig", and -toe is a dumb suffix the point of suffixes is flexibility and I am getting off-topic reining this thought back in. You could likely get away with Goldenrodpaw and Rainbowpaw, but I doubt you could get away with Sparrowhawkpaw or Horseradishpaw. Something about the latter two hit different.

For prefixes with over five syllables, I'd advise against it. Four syllables is probably the most you could get away with. Dandelion-, Salamander-, Amanita-, you're running out of space there. Salamanderflower and Amanitawhisker are gonna be a pain to write over and over and over again.

Some prefixes that are human-ish in feel are really hard to disassociate, such as Phoebe- (a bird), so again, YMMV.

For the wide berth of colors, just go with whatever is the most common example in the territory. Most moths are brown or gray or white, so that'll do. Beetles are usually black or brown too, so just focus on like, the really common varieties. If the bug is somewhat uncommon, disregard it for the most part. Maybe have one cat pop up every few generations with the color befitting the moth.

For tree prefixes, it usually depends on its most defining feature(s). Maples and rowans blaze red in the autumn, so they get thrown in the ginger category. Laburnum, wisteria, and cherry have beautiful flowers. Plums, junipers, and oaks have funny fruits and nuts. Larches and pines have their unique needles. And alders and birches have distinctive barks. If all else fails, check their flower or bark, and run with brown.

[necroromantics]

You talk alot about BD, i hope its not disrespectful to ask what differentiates BD from BPD? I do some research for my character too and stuff and i still couldnt grab the difference sowwy

Also, what happens when you have both?

Its never disrespectful to want to learn man, no worries at all :] Bipolar Disorder (BD) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) get mixed up all the time, even by doctors who are real old-fashioned or otherwise uneducated

The best way to approach this question is to take a look at what the DSM-5 describes them each as. (For those unfamiliar, the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition" aka DSM-5, is the guideline doctors in the field of psychology use to diagnose someone with a specific disorder. Not all countries use this, some use the ICD. I live in North America where they use the DSM so Im going off of that. All in all, theyre pretty similar though.)

First off, Bipolar Disorder is classified as a mood disorder, while Borderline Personality Disorder is a personality disorder. They fall under two separate categories of classification.

Im not gonna get into all the different types of BD and whatever cuz I have another post on that, but type1 BD is the most commonly known. Its the "manic depressive" type. You see here that the hallmark feature of bipolar disorder is the presence of mania, which is described in the page from the DSM-5 above. You see how the manic episode is required to last at least a week? That period of elevated energy and mood is called a manic episode. This is the "mood swing" that is experienced in bipolar disorder. It is severe, extreme highs and lows, that last quite awhile. Manic episodes are a bipolar-only experience. If you experience at least one manic episode, you are bipolar. These episodes are all there is to the disorder. Bipolar is about experiencing certain distinct periods of time where you're in a manic state, or a depressive state.

Now if we look at BPD, you see how it has NOTHING to do with manic episodes? BPD is actually also known as "emotionally unstable personality disorder". So the classic volatile emotions, switching up quick, going from happy to sad to angry, being moody, all of that is associated with being BORDERLINE. It has nothing much to do with Bipolar disorder.

And while someone with BD may experience emotional instability during a manic or depressive episode, the difference is that it is episodic, while the emotional instability in BPD is near constant and all encompassing.

Here is what the DSM-5 has to say about differential diagnosis for Bipolar. Symptoms do overlap, but a person experiencing a bipolar episode shouldnt be evaluated for BPD cuz those symptoms would better be explained by the bipolar episode, not by having borderline PD. Make sense?

Someone can be diagnosed with both BD and BPD, since the two are different and distinct disorders. The BPD symptoms would just be constant while the BD symptoms would only come up during episodes.

If you just have BPD, you wont experience manic episodes.

If you just have bipolar, you wont necessarily experience things like intense fear of abandonment and the constant intense emotional instability that defines BPD.

[theizzifromosaka]

I'm Back

Remember when I made those monster categories and said I'd test them out? I went out and looked for some monsters from various sources to try and categorize, and my system mostly holds up.

Here's that post btw, TL:DR the categories were Natural, Extraterrestrial, Paranormal, Artificial and Deific

Reporting my findings, source by source:

Pokemon are mostly what you'd expect. Mostly Natural, a few Paranormal, extraterrestrial and Artificial and a handful of Deific.

There were a few interesting cases I found all in the same vein, where the Pokemon appears artificial or supernatural but is organic

Digimon isn't all that complicated past the initial concept, they're interdimensional beings who can only exist in digital form outside of their home dimension, so they're all Extraterrestrial.

Classic Movie Monsters are once again pretty simple for the most part, but things unexpectedly started to get a bit complicated here.

Dracula, The Wolf Man and The Mummy are all paranormal, Frankenstein adds Artificial to that and the Gill-Man is completely Natural. Surprisingly it was the Invisible Man that threw a wrench into the works, his story is he developed a chemical that rendered him permanently invisible, which I initially made a judgement call on and placed into Supernatural.

Toho is where my earlier judgement call would have to be made again, and where I initially considered making a new category. A lot of weird monsters come from here.

First, a few of the easy ones. Mothra has some vague details in her backstory but it's pretty clear she's either Paranormal or Deific. Jet Jaguar is a human made robot so he's Artificial and Mechagodzilla is a robot of extraterrestrial origin so he's Extraterrestrial/Artificial and many others such as Gigan are simply aliens.

The guy Goji himself, as well as several other monsters such as Biollante and Orga, however, brought up the same issue as The Invisible Man. My phrasing of Paranormal in my previous post was simply "things that should not exist", which ends up encompassing these monsters in a way I didn't really expect.

Godzilla and Orga are monsters who started off much more ordinairy before being mutated in differnt ways, and Biollante and The Invisible Man were intentionally mutated. As a result, I'm considering adding a new category for creatures like this:

Mutant

An otherwise normal creature that has been altered in a significant way, usually ending up as something completely unique

I'm still not sure about this as a category, and I may also change the description to exclude Cyborgs, or the name to better include them, which the description I wrote is vague enough to encompass.

Yu-Gi-Oh also introduces a new complication, though this one's pretty easy to sort out. Specifically, many of its monsters exist in many states which vary the monster's categorization.

The first stage that includes just about every Yu-Gi-Oh monster is the in universe and IRL card games, in which the monster's categorization heavily relies on the card's flavor text if it's present, and must be intuited if not.

The second stage which includes very few monsters is the in universe origins of the monsters depicted on the cards, which don't vary as much as they work very similarly to Jojo stands or Personas from the Persona series. They're mostly supernatural, with exceptions including the Egyptian Gods, who would be Deific.

The same separation concept exists in Scooby-Doo funnily enough (maybe it's a hyphen thing), where there's the perceived nature of the monster, for instance Space Kook being an alien or The Phantom being a ghost, and the creature's true nature as a regular human, which I guess would put them under the Natural category.

Scooby-Doo will occasionally subvert this trope by having the monster being real, such as Charlie the Robot being an actual robot or the Zombies in Zombie Island being real. There are many examples, though the series has been going on for so long it's still relatively underutilized. Other than that it's usually straightforward.

I still need to see if "Mutant" is even necessary, and if it is it needs to be reworked, but my system held up surprisingly well.

[strixcattus]

Conlang Year Days 22 & 23

Had a productive time coming up with proto-forms for flora and fauna terms (especially fauna, there's like fifteen of them), and since my principles for what gets a proto-form were basically the same for both, these two days get their own post.

If you're time-travelling—especially if you're crossing large distances—having a basic word for a particular species of animal or plant is deeply useless. Let's say you have a word for "crow." If you're hanging around in our present day, that's all well and good. If you go back in time far enough, before crows evolved, it's a completely pointless word. If you go forward in time far enough, to the ages after the collapse of human civilization and the rise of corvid sapience, you might be able to keep using that word, but it's not exactly ideal for what you're dealing with.

And what if you veer off into a completely different timeline? What if you end up somewhere where reptiles occupy most of the niches mammals fulfill in our world, and you're hanging out with the lizardfolk learning to take care of their giant lizard cattle and how to avoid the four-foot-tall crocodilians that hunt in packs? Where are your words now?

No, time travellers don't need or want a word for "crow." They need words that encompass three things:

What does it look like and/or do, generally? Is this a tall plant, or is it more of a shrub? Is this a big animal, or is it too small to pay much mind to? Does it fly or swim?

Is it going to kill me? If so, how?

Can I eat it?

Day 22: Flora

There are a couple kinds of "flora" particular to time travellers. Aside from those, basic roots for plants and plant parts say nothing whatsoever about the specific kind of plant, painting them in more general terms.

*sali: Translates as "grass" generally, but it encompasses all small, ground-covering flora—grass, moss, lichen, even small flowers. *nene: Fruit, seeds, nuts, and root vegetables. Essentially, any plant part that can be eaten safely and which isn't a leaf or flower. *kota: The opposite of *nene. All plants and plant parts that are poisonous. *jumini: Trees and other tall plants *pida: Leafy, low plants *jilu: Flowers (or other colorful markers a plant may have) *zaso: Leaves or similar (conifer needles, for instance) *maju: "Lichen" in translation, a kind of flora that is usually imperceptible within a timeline but which can cause major alterations in the events or physics of a timeline *zomo: Timeline Rot

Day 23: Fauna

I'm under no illusion that these two lists are complete. I added three proto-forms to this one while writing up this post. Still, I feel I've covered most anything that I'll need, and if I do end up creating some more forms, I can add them to the final proto-forms post, which... I haven't been closely looking at the preview of each week's prompts, but it seems that'll be in a couple days.

You'll notice that several of these forms are grouped by the general shape of the creature, differentiated by how dangerous the animal in question is—or why it's dangerous.

*kaja: Bird of prey (a note: "bird" does not necessarily mean "bird and bird alone." Anything that flies and is larger than the average insect might end up under one of these first three categories.) *denede: Small bird, like a songbird, for instance *date: Gamebird or large bird in general *jopo: Pest of humans (like an insect which drinks blood) *suti: Pest of food (like a mouse which sneaks into grain stores or a squirrel which attacks garden produce) *zitu: Pest of plants or structures (like a larva which bores into trees, an insect which eats the leaves of crops, or a woodpecker which has decided to set up shop on the side of your house) *kuna: Harmless small invertebrate (pay it no mind) *napa: Large carnivore (might eat you) *kalopo: Large herbivore (might be good food for a group) *mika: Small nonvenomous animal (might be good food for one person) *najato: Small venomous animal (proceed with caution) *kolo: Poisonous animal (never mind, this one isn't food) *dopu: Aquatic animal *poju: Harmless microbe (the average time traveller understands germ theory) *tino: Harmful microbe (and appreciates having a basic word for the things that cause disease) *medu: Outsider (anything that typically doesn't enter into linear time, except for:) *pekule: Time Worm (there it is) *siza: Humanoid (that's you! And pretty much anyone you'll ever talk to!)