#this was a LONG one!

[front-facing-pokemon]

gmax sandaconda is the DEFINITION of snootirific. i'm not the nose rater but i have to say gmax sandaconda might have the best snoot in the whole franchise

i saw someone in the tags of one of the posts where i used the word "snootiferous" say that they added that word to their vocabulary. as though it was a word i didn't make up. i totally did make it up and now i keep saying it, specifically in posts on this blog. i have not said it anywhere in my real life but if i can make other folks say it then i think that's the ultimate funny

not getting their models, but rendering the eyes properly. there are two competing and likely theories for why the eyes are so fucked up in gen 9: number one being that the eyes are rendered dynamically in-game as shaders instead of as flat textures like they typically were in past pokémon games so that pokémon can look around, have reflections in their eyes, have more dynamic eyes, et cetera, which means they're much more difficult to render authentically for quick silly tumblr screenshots; and number two being that game freak renders them dynamically as a "security measure" to keep folks online from ripping the models as easily to use them for… whatever they want. such as blogs like this, which are of course extremely harmful to the pokémon company's bottom line and destroying their business et cetera et cetera (sarcasm). either way, the eyes are fucked up, and i either have to find a way to recreate the eye textures from what i am given in the texture files, or i have to find a way to recreate the eyes to the best of my ability using shaders in something like… blender, which is what i've been using for more recent models since gen 7. that puts more work on me for every individual model, and isn't exactly easy for models that i have to rip and convert myself when there are dozens of nodes in the shading panel that i don't know what to do with. for example, here's what quaxly (famously, a pokémon with pupils that can look around, as it appears in a whole cutscene in-game) looks like out-of-the-box when i convert it myself from the model format used in-game:

if you can't tell what's wrong, here's what it's Supposed to look like:

notice the white pupils? those aren't rendered properly in blender, notably because no texture exists for them. no texture even exists for anything you see in the eyes there, but it's all somehow magically appeared in the shading section, by magic. and i am not that kind of wizard

this means very little to me. i just played around with some of the nodes by looking at the strangely-colored textures that were given to me with the .trmdl conversion, and i managed to get something close enough:

but they kinda look like they're looking in two different directions (possibly fine? we'll have to see how they look front-facing) and the colors are slightly off (can anyone tell but me? possibly not); not to mention it likely won't be this easy with every pokémon. pokémon whose eyes are much more complex or have colors i can't easily match, for example, or pokémon for whom multiple parts of their eyes are missing… not to mention i don't necessarily have the time or willpower to be spending hours tinkering with these models every morning to make sure the eyes look right. ideally i can take what i've learned from fucking with quaxly right now to hopefully move forward a bit smoother, and eventually i'll refine a process. but until then, this is what worries me

right, but it's also less funny. the initial concept for this blog, inspired by pokémon like snivy, is that some pokémon look really funny when they're up in your face staring at you. it's a concept everyone loves. but if they're facing away from you, there's considerably less to work with there. they're all Kinda just gonna look the same. they lose a lot of that personality. i suppose i'll consider it if i ever run Really low on options, though

nah. i don't do visual art anymore. that time has passed—now if i do it, it's usually a one-off thing and i never want to look at what i've created again afterward

[walkingstackofbooks]

TOS rewatch - Conscience of the King

Jim is SO certain that Kodos is dead, isn't he? Or at least, in utter denial that he could be anything else. Ohhhhh.

Gosh, the complete CONTROL he's maintaining as he looks up the information, only stroking his hands anxiously.

"Stop." I spoke too soon - he can't allow the computer to continue to say about the massacre. MY HEART IS ALREADY TOO MUCH.

Jim's description of Tom as "with a very long memory". How much of this has Jim blocked out of *his* memory? He appears to have no recognition of Kodos, which I've never really thought about too much before, but how deep is that memory buried?

(Alternatively - and I have no idea if this would track at all with any other episodes - but aphantasic Kirk?)

The way he smiles at Lenore definitely would add to his reputation if it wasn't obviously a ploy to get to the bottom of this.

I've never thought about the fact that Lenore IS Lady Macbeth, either, killing Kodos' "rivals" for him so that his future is clear. I really feel like I ought to have 😅

OH, and SHE'S like the cat who's got the cream when he suggests they leave, because it's like he's handing himself straight to her - far easier than I imagine she'd have thought it would be to trap a Starship Captain!

"At the party you were such a brash young man" He's more than ten years your senior, Lenore. You've been playing Lady Macbeth too much.

Why did she let him take her so close to her murder? Did she just not realise what direction they had come in until it was too late and then was trying to distract him with a kiss once she realised? I guess she is not exactly a professional with this...

Oh, Jim. It always strikes me how Tom is an actual friend to him, still - he clearly knows Martha, and she knows him.

Jim delighting even at this time in making Spock confused about knowing about the pick-up 🤣❤️

Oh, he has really played her so well, even without knowing that *she's* behind the killing - she totally believes he's just a charming captain who has quite fallen for her charm.... Although I guess he's the same, thinking that she's just Kodos' innocent daughter who's fallen for *his* charm.

And again, his startled-ness at Kevin Riley. I guess there's technically no *reason* why he should have known the other survivors who had seen Kodos? With 4000 survivors, I guess it could have been quite random which ones of them saw Kodos.

Okay, with his orders to Spock to send Kevin back to engineering, Jim has definitely entered "fight" mode, and as tactical as he can be he's not thinking with his whole brain here.

"Did it ever occur to you that he simply might like the girl?" "It occurred. I dismissed it." "You would." I don't know what this is but Bones, Spock, I love you.

SPOCK'S SIGH. THAT WAS A FULL ON GRUMPY HUFF. Oh he is SO worried 💔💔💔

I'm guessing Bones isn't worried only because he hasn't been snapped at by Kirk.

Bones really feels like he's trying to avoid this conversation here - either hecan guess the conclusion Spock's coming to and doesn't want to hear it, or he already knows and is trying to protect himself privacy.

Spock reaches out for Leonard's arm! "Over 4000 people" and he has to reach out to TOUCH Bones. SPOCK 💔💔💔

Oh yeah, I think Bones totally knew already about Tarsus. He didn't know the Karidian connection, definitely, and he maybe didn't know about Riley, but I really think he knew about Jim. He barely reacts to Spock saying Jim's name, already steeling himself not to give away that he knew.

Oh, Riley. "Someone talk to me!" Ohhh, bless.

"Something to reassure me I'm not the only living thing next in the universe." He's so melodramatic I love him XD

The disinfectant into the milk is so jarring!

The way you think he might not drink the milk but then he does! Aghhh. The drama!

Spock needing to physically protect Jim by making him completely informed Vs Bones needing to emotionally protect Jim by letting him have a little longer in ignorance.

Bones backing Spock up - "he's doing his job!"

Spock and Jim telling each other to get out and go! And Spock of course coming back after doing orders.

Well that did seem like a murder attempt for sure.

Kodos barely reacting. I guess he knows the name James Kirk, knows this might have been coming.

The fact that Kodos barely looks at the paper but still keeps up the charade afterwards. Argues with Jim about Kodos' motives but pretends Kodos is another man. And it shouldn't work too dissuade Jim yet it does because Jim has to be *surer* then sure, he can have no room for doubt 💔💔

Seriously, Bones, recording your medical log with such sensitive information out in the open like that?!

I guess being raised by a secretive af Shakespeare actor probably screws up your childhood a whole lot. This Lenore and Karidian scene is so chilling.

Her insistence in finishing the play. Her quoting of Shakespeare over her father's body. It's like Shakespeare was the more real world to her.

How long does it take him to process that Kodos saved his life and died for him. Because fucking hell that is a HELL of a lot.

[queensqueercourt]

🖍️,🎼,💐,🍀,🙊

 🖍️ When did you start drawing? Do you remember?  

ever since I could pick up a pencil. The earliest drawing i remember making was a portrait of me I made when I was in kindergarten.

🎼 Your favorite music to draw to right now?

fast-paced rock music. recently ive been listening to miserlou by dick dale and wet by dazey and the scouts.

💐 Do your drawing suit your aesthetics?

id think so for my outfit aesthetics! however my music,,,,ehhhhh not so much

🍀 You wish your art was more..(fill in the blank)

ALL OVER THE PLACE. even the smallest crevices of the canvas filled with meaning.

🙊 Share your latest silly doodle with no context

penis explosion.

[ask game]

[lrndvs]

compliments from girls go hard

[bookwyrminspiration]

god I would be UNSTOPPABLE if I was capable of consistently initiating tasks. just you wait. you'll be waiting a while but just you wait

[kochei0]

I turn to Ares.

Thanks to Tyler Miles Lockett who allowed me to draw inspiration from his ARES piece for page 2! Look at his etsy page it's SICK

⚔️ If you want to read some queer retelling of arturian legends have a look at my webtoon

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Expertise can't help you here.

[smokiedokie]

I opened my copy of The Tale of the Body Thief & immediately had to close it again because of this silly little annotation

[thunderon]

“long hair on guys doesn’t make them less masculine. think keanu reeves, jason momoa, danny trejo, or the guy at your local dive bar who rides a motorcycle”

*the crowd nods*

“so long hair doesn’t necessarily determine masculinity”

*the crowd, more hesitant, still nodding*

“butches can have long hair—“

*GUNSHOT*

[demaparbat-hp]

Arsonist's Lullaby

[great-and-small]

When I was in vet school I went to this one lecture that I will never forget. Various clubs would have different guest lecturers come in to talk about relevant topics and since I was in the Wildlife Disease Association club I naturally attended all the wildlife and conservation discussions. Well on this particular occasion, the speakers started off telling us they had been working on a project involving the conservation of lemurs in Madagascar. Lemurs exist only in Madagascar, and they are in real trouble; they’re considered the most endangered group of mammals on Earth. This team of veterinarians was initially assembled to address threats to lemur health and work on conservation solutions to try and save as many lemur species from extinction as possible. As they explored the most present dangers to lemurs they found that although habitat loss was the primary problem for these vulnerable animals, predation by humans was a significant cause of losses as well. The vets realized it was crucial for the hunting of lemurs by native people to stop, but of course this is not so simple a problem.

The local Malagasy people are dealing with extreme poverty and food insecurity, with nearly half of children under five years old suffering from chronic malnutrition. The local people have always subsisted on hunting wildlife for food, and as Madagascar’s wildlife population declines, the people who rely on so-called bushmeat to survive are struggling more and more. People are literally starving.

Our conservation team thought about this a lot. They had initially intended to focus efforts on education but came to understand that this is not an issue arising from a lack of knowledge. For these people it is a question of survival. It doesn’t matter how many times a foreigner tells you not to eat an animal you’ve hunted your entire life, if your child is starving you are going to do everything in your power to keep your family alive.

So the vets changed course. Rather than focus efforts on simply teaching people about lemurs, they decided to try and use veterinary medicine to reduce the underlying issue of food insecurity. They supposed that if a reliable protein source could be introduced for the people who needed it, the dependence on meat from wildlife would greatly decrease. So they got to work establishing new flocks of chickens in the most at-risk communities, and also initiated an aggressive vaccination program for Newcastle disease (an infectious illness of poultry that is of particular concern in this area). They worked with over 600 households to ensure appropriate husbandry and vaccination for every flock, and soon found these communities were being transformed by the introduction of a steady protein source. Families with a healthy flock of chickens were far less likely to hunt wild animals like lemurs, and fewer kids went hungry. Thats what we call a win-win situation.

This chicken vaccine program became just one small part of an amazing conservation outreach initiative in Madagascar that puts local people at the center of everything they do. Helping these vulnerable communities of people helps similarly vulnerable wildlife, always. If we go into a country guns-blazing with that fire for conservation in our hearts and a plan to save native animals, we simply cannot ignore the humans who live around them. Doing so is counterintuitive to creating an effective plan because whether we recognize it or not, humans and animals are inextricably linked in many ways. A true conservation success story is one that doesn’t leave needy humans in its wake, and that is why I think this particular story has stuck with me for so long.

(Source 1)

(Source 2- cool video exploring this initiative from some folks involved)

(Source 3)

[mangozic]

my dead goth son and his friendly neighborhood personified concept of insanity

[kensatou]

those!!! are!!! his!!!! tits!!! be gentle 👉👈

[wellfine]

Au fucking revoir Mister Prince

[wasabi-gumdrop]

local ladies man’s signature move totally useless against autistic monster enthusiast. more on Kabru’s fumble era at 6