#Spring Applications in Defense

[makingspiritualityreal]

Qualities of the Nakshatras - How do you do what you do?

While the traditional Vedic classification of the qualities of the Nakshatras can be found in many common sources, few of them describe in detail, how that classification is applied in real life. I myself struggled and took my time pondering, analysing and discussing these qualities and their practical application, in order to be able to understand and then explain the reality of those particular Nakshatra traits.

For those who never heard of Nakshatra qualities, these are described as Chara, Sthira, Mrdu, Ugra, Tikshna, Kshipra and Mishra.

It is important to realise, that these descriptions show not just what activities will a given Nakshatra undertake, but how it operates, and if you look at your Moon Nakshatra, you will see that its quality will reflect your basic nature of being. However, that doesn't mean that all Nakshatras from the same group have the same jobs/interests/always do the same thing. It's more about how people "take up space" energetically, the style in which they bring about change.

Chara Nakshatra - "Moveable" - Shravana, Dhanishta, Shatabhisha, Punarvasu and Swati.

The word I would associate with those Nakshatras, more than simply moveable, is "dynamic". You can see it best perhaps in Dhanishta, that is notorious for its amazing natural sense of rhythm and association with dancing and being in the public eye. However, even Shatabhisha, that moves in the shadows, has a certain rhythm to it, coupled with restlessness. The energy here is breezy and flowing, and you can see it in those natives, even if they just sit and talk, that they are decidedly and constantly animated.

Sthira Nakshatra - "Fixed" - Rohini, Uttaraphalguni, Uttarashadha and Uttarabhadrapada.

The energy here is of a person in position of authority sitting on a throne and establishing something durable. I associate this Nakshatra group with authority, because there is something passively steady and indomitable about them. Their authority is a given, they are in their place and they don't feel the need to go out of their way to prove it, instead they build upon who they are. This is why this Nakshatra group in traditional Vedic sources is associated with making firm, long term decisions, as these people lay foundations for things that all the other Nakshatras build upon. Their position of authority comes from the fact, that decision making and authority often goes hand in hand. While the moveable Nakshatras make waves in motion, fixed Nakshatras can change the fate of the entire collective from their steady position with one decision.

Mrdu Nakshatra - "Tender" - Chitra, Anuradha, Mrigashira and Revati.

These Nakshatras relate to feelings and creations that are fleeting yet eternal at the same time. There is a certain contradiction here, as these natives may appear outwardly defensive, but that defensiveness is born out of necessity in a harsh world and hides deep sensitivity, and if you talk to them more, you will see their softer side, their attachment to beauty and harmony, and their fear of losing that serenity. Traditional Vedic sources point out their connection to subtlety of music, delicate, precious newly purchased things or clothing. More than the objects themselves, it's about the thrill of happiness such experiences give you. And even if they last not more than a moment, the reality of these Nakshatras is their sensitivity of creation and perception, their ability to see, that beauty and intricate delicacy can be found anywhere, and while you can never fundamentally shield it from all harm, it will always pop up in the world somewhere else, just like a flower, even if picked, will regrow next spring.

Ugra Nakshatra - "Violent" - Bharani, Magha, Purvaphalguni, Purvashadha, and Purvabhadrapada. 

The main theme of these Nakshatras is conquest, and while of course not all of these natives are interested in traditional warfare, these are the kind of people that occupy 100% of any space they are in and like to set the rules with their presence. Their naturally fierce presence can make them incredibly successful with the demands of the modern world, but even a housewife with Ugra Nakshatra is a force to be reckoned with. The conquest here can have multiple meanings, and gains a decidedly creative, romantic and sexual nature in Venusian Purva Phalguni and Purva Ashadha, to conquer one's object of desire. However, the energy here is really about internally conquering one's own weaknesses and wrestling with the animalistic, expansive desirous aspect of human nature.

Tikshna Nakshatra - "Sharp" - Moola, Jyeshta, Ardra and Ashlesha.

The real task of these Nakshatras is putting other people back in their place. While the fixed Nakshatras have a natural, calm authority coming from status, and violent Nakshatras can be intimidating, sharp Nakshatras automatically gain respect with their presence, because they are so ready to regulate people who are out of line. Their "sharpness" is required for that energy to be effective against others, especially since some Nakshatras like Ugra will not back down easily. However, unlike Ugra, these Nakshatras correct and regulate rather than express desire for outwards conquest, relying more on handling things, that are already out there, making these natives excellent in managerial positions. You can think of it in the context of Ardra being a passionate activist and critic of established social systems.

Kshipra Nakshatra - "Swift" -  Ashwini, Pushya and Hasta.

These Nakshatras operate in short but intense bursts of energy. Hasta is a good example, as it embodies the traditional business transaction - money and goods exchange hands, the deed is done, the seller moves on to the next one. Same with Pushya and spiritual teaching, delivering quick but valuable lessons and moving on to another student/activity/rest. The focus here is on efficiency and maximising good energy through limited and realistic potential.

Mishra Nakshatra - "Mixed" - Krittika and Vishakha.

An interesting aspect of these Nakshatras comes from how Vedic astrologers link them both to laying out furniture, electronics and fire rituals. You would think these two activities have nothing in common, but they are actually the key to the ceremonial nature of these Nakshatras. In modern households, few houses have a fireplace, but fire pits in the middle of the main living space used to be traditional in old houses, to keep them warm and for religious purposes. In the 21st century, a grand television set is god, and coupled with a comfortable couch it is what sets the scene in a home. And this is what these Nakshatras do, energetically, set the scene both for worship and to be worshipped, establishing a relationship between the viewer and the viewed. For that reason, there is a sense of fiery dramatism in these Nakshatras, ready to both worship and be worshipped at any given time.

[downfella]

𓆏   how  you  doin',  explorer?  woah  ...  no  need  to  get  all  shaky,  'kay?  just  gonna  throw  some  easy  questions  your  way!  nothing  too  serious  —  standard  procedure,  comprende?  so,  first  things  first:  riki ishikawa,  twenty-five,  former  camper ?  awesome,  awesome  ...  you  wrote  in  your  application  that  ─  oh  my!  ─  you  see  yourself  as  perceptive  and  abrasive?  sheesh,  talk  about  a  killer  combo.  oh,  yeah,  and  let's  not  forget  your  abilities:  painting, karate, swimming, boxing, & photography .  well,  aren't  you  just  a  jack  of  all  trades?  but  even  the  strongest  oak  in  the  forest  has  a  soft  spot,  right?  being trapped somewhere  and  not being able to see his surroundings  ...  woah,  hey,  this  is  a  judgment  free  zone!  scout's  honor!  welp,  looks  like  we're  ready  to  wrap  this  up.  ah,  wait!  knew  i  was  forgetting  something.  remember  to  slip  that  his little sister’s gemstone ring worn on a chain  into  your  bag.  oh,  how  do  i  know  about  that?  pssht,  you  told  me,  silly!  see  you  'round  camp.

𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗦  ..

full  name:  riki  ishikawa.

nicknames:  nothing  really,  unless  you  like  testing  fate  !

gender & pronouns:  cis  man,  he/him.

sexuality:  bisexual.

age:  twenty5.

date of birth:  october  28th,  1966.

hometown: creeks nest, north carolina.

zodiac sign:  scorpio.

occupation:  freelance  photographer  &  artist.

languages spoken,  in  order  of  fluency:  english, japanese.

family:  masaki  ishikawa  (father,  estranged),  kasumi  ishikawa  (mother,  deceased),  yuki  ishikawa  (older  brother,  status  unknown),  mei  ishikawa  (younger  sister,  deceased).

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘   ..

faceclaim:  nagumo  shoma.

height:  5'11''.

build:  athletic.

hair:  nearly  black,  grown  out  and  frequently  tied  back  in  lieu  of  styling.

tattoos  &  piercings:  too  many  to  count.

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬   ..

(+)  courageous,  loyal,  perceptive,  resourceful,  adaptable,  imaginative,  creative,  bold.

(-)  self-destructive,  rebellious,  irresponsible,  reckless,  cynical,  resentful,  temperamental,  defensive.

mbti:  istp  -  the  virtuoso.

moral  alignment:  true  neutral.

habits:  rolling  his  eyes,  getting  on  the  defense,  cracking  his  knuckles,  speaking  before  he  thinks.

𝗕𝗜𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗬 ..

trigger warnings : car accidents, parental + familial death.

the  ishikawa's  bring  their  second  child  into  the  world  only  a  year  after  immigrating  to  the  us,  riki,  to  be  strong  and  powerful.  but  their  second  son  is  docile  next  to  their  first,  preferring  finger  paints  to  playing  in  the  mud.  father  is  too  busy  building  his  empire  to  notice,  and  mother  is  too  fond  of  his  softness  to  pay  it  mind.  a  year  and  a  half  later,  they  bring  their  third  child  into  the  world,  bright  and  beautiful  mei.  while  the  eldest  busies  himself  with  sports  and  school,  the  younger  two  of  the  ishikawa's  are  two  peas  in  a  pod  from  the  first  spring  mei  is  born. camp  hollow's  river  is  their  parents'  first  attempt  to  socialize  the  two,  force  them  out  of  the  codependency  before it  started  to  bleed  into  their  teenage  years.  it's  futile,  even  if  the  camp  helps  them  make  some  friends  along  the  way.  mei  was  stronger  than  riki,  a  little  bit  more  charming  and  friendly  than  he  was.  they  return  every  few  summers,  and  it's  like  she  never  left,  all  while  he  remains  in  the  shadows  wishing  he  was  anywhere  else.  the siblings become staples at camp. mei with her friends, and riki who never seems to be around. riki  doesn't  remember  when  he  started  to  rely  on  her  too  much,  until  verge adulthood  comes  around  and  a  massive  fight  erupts  between  the  two.  "you're  suffocating!  too  suffocating,  riki! like a shadow that won't leave me alone!"  the  words  are  imprinted  in  his  mind,  whatever  he  managed  to  spew  back,  lost  in  the  grander  moment.  they're  in  the  backseat  of  mom's  car,  arguing  about  some  boy  mei  had  been  hiding  from  him,  because  it  was  easier  than  having  her  nosy  brother  start  asking  too  many  questions.  it's  raining  outside,  screams  louder  than  the  emergency  weather  alert  sounding  off  on  the  radio.  somewhere  between  dickhead  and  bitch,  their  mother  loses  control  of  the  wheel,  swerving  right  into  a  telephone  line.  kasumi  ishikawa  is  pronounced  dead  on  impact.  her  son  sustains  a  broken  leg  and  a  fractured  wrist,  and  her  daughter  escapes  with  a  few  scratches  and  bruises. they  don't  talk  about  that  night.  they  don't  go  back  to  that  camp  either.  at  least  riki  doesn't. there's  an  inheritance  waiting  for  him  the  day  he  turns  eighteen.  something  about  generational  wealth  on  his  mother's  side,  and  his  father,  who's  managed  to  turn  that  empire  of  his  into  something  great,  is  more  than  happy  to  let  his  son  run  free.  instead,  he  gets  himself  a  job  as  a  mechanic  fresh  out  of  high  school,  breaks  spent  on  doodling  in  some  worn  down  sketchpad.  he  doesn't  think  about  camp  hollow's  river,  not  when  there's  a  bad  omen  looming  over  the  place.  but  his  sister  thinks  of  it.  and  of  course  she  does.  it  had  been  where  she  thrived  after  all.  says  she  ought  to  spend  her  first  summer  free  back  there  as  a  counselor. he  doesn't  ask  her  to  stay.  the  summer  of  ‘87  comes  around,  and  every  plea  is  kept  in  the  depths  of  his  mind.  instead,  riki  ignores  the  gnawing  feeling  of  letting  mei  go,  of  finally  being  out  of  reach  where  he  couldn’t  protect  her.  but  he  knew  the  truth,  knew  he  hadn't  been  the  same  old  brother  to  her  since  the  night  their  mother  died.  he's  angry  and  drunk  the  night  before  she  leaves,  profanities  that  leave  his  mouth,  and  a  bitter  conversation  between  the  two.  with  every  shred  of  insecurity,  he  pushes  her  further  away,  right  to  the  steps  of  the  camp  that  both  of  them  knew  so  well.  and  it  was  something  he'd  regret  till  the  day  he  dies  too. 

mei  doesn't  come  back  that  summer.  she  never  comes  back  at  all.  she  dies  with  the  memory  of  her  bitter,  jealous  brother  at  the  hands  of  some  fanatic psycho.  he  closes  every  open  door  after  that,  cashes  in  his  inheritance,  and  hits  the  road.  riki  never  intends  to  return,  especially  not  back  to  creek's  nest.  until  he  hears  word  the camp is  back,  calling  to  him  like  some  sadistic  siren. in their final moments together, mei caved and asked riki to go with her, just like old times. he'd denied her then, told her he had nothing to go back to. but now it feels like he does. redemption, vindication, the ghost of his sister pulling him back in. he drives his beat up chevy back home, and ignores the sinking feeling of the summer ahead.

of  course,  he'd  always  been  his  sister's  shadow.

𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗢𝗡𝗦 ..

guilt!  guilt-ridden!  blames  himself  for  what  happened  to  his  mother  and  his  sister,  not  a  day  goes  by  that  he  doesn't  wallow  in  silence  about  it.  causes  him  to  be  unfriendly  towards  others  and  estranged  from  the  rest  of  his  family  —  has  zero  contact  with  his  father  and  older  brother  (both  of  which,  leading  successful  lives  without  him  anyway). 

while  he  grew  up  sweet  and  gentle,  the  kind  who'd  probably  adopt  and  nurture  a  wild  bunny  and  whimsically  run  through  fields  of  flowers,  present-day  riki  is  an  entirely  different  breed.  knuckles  that  are  permanently  scarred  and  bruised,  tattoos  running  up  and  down  his  arms,  constant  downturn  to  his  lips  with  narrowed  eyes.  if  menacing  had  a  picture  next  to  it,  he'd  be  a  top  contender  on  exterior  alone.

most  likely  to  be  forced  into  manual  labor  rather  than  entertaining  the  children.  he  ain't  all  that  mean  to  them  (at  least...  the  young  ones,  that  is).  something  about  a  potty  mouth  and  an  unapproachable  nature.  some  of  the  kids  have  built  up  an  image  about  him  in  their  heads,  that  he's  an  underground  boxer  (unconfirmed),  frequents  sneaking  out  late  at  night  for  more  than  just  a  quick  smoke  (true),  and  once  made  a  pre-teen  pee  his  pants  (false—  kid  just  got  stranded  before  making  it  to  the  bathroom).

jack  of  all  trades  sort  of  guy.  easily  picks  up  new  hobbies,  throws  old  ones  away.  became  a  mechanic  fresh  out  of  school,  and  was  a  damn  good  one,  until  he  grew  restless  for  something  more.  art's  the  one  thing  that  sticks  every  time.  painting,  drawing,  photography.  makes  decent  money  as  a  freelancer,  and  has  even  managed  to  land  himself  in  a  few  galleries  along  the  years.  his  style  leans  more  abstract,  ironic  considering  his  own  emotional  constipation.  mainly  just  does  doodles  to  pass  the  time  when  he's  bored  and  lacking  in  chores  around  the  camp,  something  better  for  his  hands  to  occupy  themselves  with  rather  than  another  rage-filled  outburst.

[demigodsanswer]

Percabeth teacher AU/Did they or didn’t they

((this gave me brain worms in the grocery store. Made them professors because that's my world))

During his master's degree, Percy had been given the salient advice to never sleep with another academic at a conference. Because you never know who might end up on your job search committee.

Had Percy listened?

Yes, actually. For eight years he'd listened to the advice, all the way through his Ph.D. and a good chunk of his temporary lecturer position.

And then, he stopped listening.

But in his defense, Annabeth (Doctor Chase now) was a beautiful young woman in a sea of eccentric old white people. He'd grown up with her, gone to camp with her, and he'd even taken her to prom. But then she went to Harvard, and he stayed in New York. Now they pretty much only communicated through likes on the rare Facebook or Instagram post. And, one night, through steamy glances across a Marriott ballroom, plastic cups of free wine in hand.

The decision to go home together was quick and wordless, but followed hours of talking about research, catching up on life, and making her laugh.

Annabeth even kissed him goodby in the morning.

And now she was on the other side a very impressive conference table asking him questions about his qualifications for Brown's open tenure-track job. Her presence kept him focused in the interview though. Working with Annabeth Chase would be an exquisite job benefit.

~

ten months later

Pollux watched them from the other side of the room. The Classics department wasn't a stuffy as most people assumed, but it certainly didn't have the gossip that the Drama department had. He worked across both, and often his work intersected with Annabeth's work in ancient architecture ("with an emphasis on Athens," she always added).

But Annabeth and Percy had made themselves the subject of gossip. And Pollux couldn't tell if they knew that.

When Percy's application had been pulled out of the pile -- a younger long-shot candidate who'd spent two years as a Lecturer at Wash U in St. Louis, had a good number of publications, and solid teaching philosophy -- Annabeth had asked if she should recuse herself.

"Do you know him?" Chiron had asked.

"Not well anymore, but we were friends in high school."

Minutes later, Travis had found her prom photos on Facebook with Percy Jackson still tagged. "He was your prom date? That's so cute."

Annabeth looked like she might bludgeon him to death with a priceless artifact and ship his bones to the British Museum for eternal punishment.

"Do you think it will affect your ability to be neutral?" Chiron asked.

"No, I don't think so," she said. And so she stayed on.

But she had been in strong favor of Percy since the moment he arrived on campus.

Now, they were sitting thigh-to-thigh whispering things to each other at the department "Saturnalia" party, utterly unaware of the several people snooping on them.

Pollux wasn't sure if they'd slept together before he'd gotten hired (unless they'd done it on prom night?), but he was squarely on team "they are sleeping together now."

~

three months later

Annabeth was sure she could maintain a professional and adult relationship with Percy. She'd indulged her high school crush for one (exceptional, blissful, wonderful, life-altering) night months before his application had come through, and that was it.

Well, her and Percy's relationship was certainly adult, but was hardly professional.

Sure, professors were allowed to date people in the same school, and even the same department. But Percy and her wanted to keep their relationship on the down-low until it looked less like Percy had fucked his way into a tenure-track Ivy league job.

Plus, Annabeth kind of liked the sneaking around.

Percy, as newest faculty, got stuck with the smallest office, and the only one with now windows. But it had it's perks.

It was the first nice Spring day in March, unseasonably warm, and Annabeth had celebrated with a cute, flowy dress that ended past her shins. One of her students had called it "light academia core." Annabeth assumed it was a compliment.

Dr. Jackson seemed to like it at least. She'd dropped by his office to offer him a ride home (to her home, but what did that matter?), and he'd simply pulled her inside, locked the door, and sat her on the desk. His hands were under it in seconds, and then, after a few "hello" kisses, his head joined his hands.

"I wanted to do that all day," he said with a smug grin as they tried to rearrange themselves after. It was six now. Most of their coworkers were gone, but who knew what undergrad clubs used classrooms in this building. And her students were nosy.

"I've got my own list of things I want to do to you," Annabeth said, tracing her hands up his bare forearms until the met the rolled up sleeves of his button-down. "So grab what you need and come home with me."

[lexicals]

Contextless Flirting Has Won The Day It Seems

(I will in fact give some context: it's a cloud recesses era body swap fic)

I've very nearly finished this in its entirety I think but for now here is the snippet as promised :))

-

"Lan Zhan," Wei Wuxian complained, "Where are you dragging me to now? I haven't even done anything!"

Today, he added mentally. Well - since daybreak.

Lan Wangji did not spare him a glance. "Cultivation," he answered, his meaning quite clear: I will not neglect your core, and you will not be neglecting mine.

Wei Wuxian hung his head. This was so entirely unnecessary. He'd been able to feel as soon as he woke up that Lan Wangji's core was plenty strong - probably stronger than his! - and it would definitely, definitely not suffer from a week or two of slacking. But the Lan were creatures of habit to a fault; he should have expected that Lan Wangji would not suffer to let his body miss a single day's meditation.

To his surprise, Lan Wangji dragged him all the way to the Lan's cold spring. Then, perhaps even more confusingly, he did not undress or enter the water, instead sitting down on a rock near its edge and gesturing for Wei Wuxian to do the same. Not feeling in the mood for an argument, he did, only casting a slightly sour glance over to where Lan Wangji had already closed his eyes and begun to ignore him. It was an odd picture, Wei Wuxian thought - he doubted his face had ever looked so tranquil in his life.

Even if the sun was warm and the breeze refreshing, Wei Wuxian only managed a quarter of an hour before he could take no more and let himself slowly tip onto his back with a thud. When that earned him no response, he began to roll back and forth over the ground.

"Lan Zhan," he drawled, already covering his fresh grey robes with dirt and grass stains. "Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan!"

"Cultivation is performed in silence," Lan Wangji told him.

"You don't have to worry about my core, you know. Jiang Cheng will tell you, I've never bothered to meditate this much before now, and it's perfectly fine. You can feel it's strong, right?"

Lan Wangji fixed him with an odd look. Mostly, it was the usual cold judgement, but there was the tinest sprinkling of something else in there, too faint to identify any which way. "It could be stronger," he said. "If you applied yourself."

"I do apply myself," Wei Wuxian told him, feeling unusually defensive. "I just do it differently to you."

"Drinking alcohol and playing tricks is not application."

"Sure it is. My tricks exercise my mind, and drinking exercises my palate. Fun is also good for the spirit, you know."

Lan Wangji only closed his eyes again with a scathingly doubtful, "Mn."

Wei Wuxian huffed, picking a few blades of grass from his hair. Sitting in the sun had left him slightly sweaty, and he eyed the icy water of the cold spring contemplatively before hopping up onto Lan Wangji's rock and bending down towards him.

"Lan Zhan. Enough. Come swimming with me. Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan. Lan--"

He realised, abruptly, that he was being let away with a much higher level of annoyance than usual. At first, he'd thought it was an allowance due to their situation, but thinking on it further, either the depths of Lan Wangji's patience had tripled since the day before, or...

"Lan Zhan," he said again, squatting cautiously next to where he was still in his lotus pose, rigid and still as a jade figurine, "How come you haven't silenced me yet? Have you finally realised I'm entertaining after all?"

There was a barely perceptible twitch at the end of one of Lan Wangji's eyebrows. Wei Wuxian began to grin.

"Or... could it be that... the Lan silencing spell does not currently recognise Lan-er-gongzi as himself, and so..."

Slowly, Lan Wangji opened his eyes to fix him with a hard look. Wei Wuxian leaned back on his heels. "Ah, was I right?" he asked innocently. "I had hoped Lan-gongzi was just enjoying the conversation, but if I'm being an annoyance..."

"You are always an annoyance," Lan Wangji said, and closed his eyes again. Wei Wuxian took no offense at all, the corners of his mouth curling ever-higher, and he slouched fully onto the ground before reaching over and plucking a stem of tall, flowering grass from near the water's edge, twirling it between his fingers.

"Lan Zhan, do you like anyone?" he asked, watching his face carefully. He was rewarded with a very quickly suppressed flinch, and smiled slyly as he continued to wave the grass in his hand. "Ah, probably not, of course. Lan-er-gongzi is far too busy with his studies for such frivolities, right? Besides, your clan keeps men and women so separated, when would you have ever even spoken to a girl? Even if you wanted to."

Lan Wangji continued to steadfastly ignore him, but the furrow between his eyebrows was growing steadily deeper.

"Of course, if Lan-gongzi did have someone he liked, then all he would have to do right now is ask Wei-gege to go and flirt with her for him, if he was too inexperienced to do it himself," Wei Wuxian continued, tapping the fluffy end of the grass lightly against the end of Lan Wangji's nose. "Lan Zhan is very handsome, and I am very good at flirting. I got that loquat for you, remember? Even though you didn't want it." He trailed the grass down Lan Wangji's face, over his mouth down to his jaw, tickling underneath his chin. "So all you have to do is tell me who it is, and--"

Lan Wangji's eyes opened.

"Wei Ying," he said warningly. Just his name, no more. But Wei Wuxian felt his body go frigid, and then hot. His heart raced inside his chest like a prey animal. Even in someone else's voice, Lan Wangji's tone carried the same frost-burn chill, but this wasn't the hard, immovable glacier wall that he usually presented, no - this was the sound of rare winter days in Yungmeng when the lakes and rivers froze over, when you placed your foot onto a surface that looked solid only to feel before you heard the crack of it threatening to give way beneath you. The sound of the final, unmistakable warning it would give you, and if you didn't heed it, then all the more fool you were when it seized you and dragged you under into the current.

For once in his life, Wei Wuxian heeded. He backed off.

[catenary-chad]

More on that animal/traditional element Components thing from yesterday

Joule- fire- cat

Instinctual, someone with great ability to “feel” intuitively but struggles to explain or communicate it in words.  Seems unpredictable when you do not understand them, even senselessly violent.  Can lead you to things or be very destructive.  Investigates things with the approach of “how can I find a weakness and kill and eat this?” and “how will this find my weakness and kill and eat me” simultaneously.  Small and large animals and objects are both fascinating to her in these bottom-up ways.

Volta- ice(water), snake

The “dark side” of things, associated with the unseen, unconscious and “feminine”.  What people associate with goths, you know… or the opposite of fire.  A sort of necessary evil and consequence, but not malicious.  Natural order that springs out suddenly to keep things in line, like an unseen snake attacking.  The snake is not evil, it’s just the unseen being suddenly and unintentionally attacked and fighting back.

Krupp/Hertz- Earth, mule/donkey (or a large dog)

Instinctual like Joule, but much calmer, “cold blooded” despite being vigilant.  Sometimes seen as dense or stupid, but deeply understands what is truly threatening and has a strong sense of self preservation (and protecting others).  Not paranoid, just sees threats before they come in ways others don’t.  But it can be just as impossible to communicate in words as Joule, even quantifying in numbers is hard, because it’s a feeling and vibe that must be shown and felt.  He likes the idea of robots but is not one.  He likes the idea of Germany, but it’s in the “hip hop loves sampling Kraftwerk” way.  I see him as defensive vs offensive or violent.  

Purse- Air, some kind of counting bird (crow, parrot, pigeon), monkey, or rat

Numbers.  Purse can put a number(or words) on anything once shown it.  He is the theoretical and easily scared when he does not know how it looks or feels in application.  This is short vs the other since I feel like I have a decent grasp of him and don’t have to explain him as much, he’s a typical new engineering student who doesn’t have much practical experience. I just don’t have his animal figured out either. A piece of me is thinking cheetah to because the cheetah/dog buddy combos is a thing irl

Wrench- metal, stork

The one who is truly coldly mechanical.  The mechanic who learned things one way and refuses to consider alternatives, becoming angry when presented with them.  Regulations and improvements are bullshit, why can’t it stay how it always was?  There is that tumblr post about a guy saying “women belong as mechanics, caring for machines is maternal bullshit” which is why I say stork.  The devotion and parental associations are there, yet the associations are deeply sexless.  The stork is a carnivore and can be a harsh creature, not evil, just harsh.  It’s not a cutesy silly bird.

Alternatively, “flamboyant overly chatty nurse Wrench” in my mind is a literal crane, which is a much sillier, more lighthearted bird.  Haven’t explored him as much.  He’s kind of an inverse to mechanic Wrench based on Chuckywrench’s vibe. 

[spectralpixelsredone]

Comprehensive Analysis of Maiden Powers in RWBY

The Maidens in RWBY are hosts to a vast magical power originally bestowed by Ozma (later revealed as Ozpin in one of his incarnations), as detailed on the RWBY Wiki under "The Four Maidens." This magic, independent of Dust or Semblance and not reliant on Aura, grants them a range of elemental abilities tied to the natural world, particularly weather and environmental phenomena. There are four Maidens at any time—Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall—each linked to a season, though their powers are not strictly limited to their seasonal theme. Below, I outline all known powers based on canonical evidence from the RWBY Wiki and related episodes, followed by a comparison to the weather manipulation powers of Nine from My Hero Academia (MHA) at full capacity, as described on the MHA Wiki.

Powers and Abilities of the Maidens

Elemental Magic

Lightning: Amber demonstrates this in "Beginning of the End," using lightning bolts during her fight, showcasing offensive potential.

Fire: Cinder Fall frequently employs fire, creating flames and a giant flaming rock sword in "Downfall" against Raven, indicating both attack and weapon-crafting capabilities.

Wind: Cinder uses wind to levitate and possibly fly in "The Coming Storm" against Neopolitan, suggesting mobility and defensive applications. Raven also unleashes wind gusts as the Spring Maiden in "The Final Word," aiding combat.

Ice: Cinder freezes Raven in "Vault of the Spring Maiden," and Fria’s mastery as the Winter Maiden implies ice manipulation, though not explicitly shown. Winter Schnee, the current Winter Maiden, uses ice-related attacks post-inheritance in "The Final Word."

Earth: Cinder creates a flaming rock sword in "Downfall," indicating earth manipulation for constructing weapons or barriers.

Conjuring Elemental Weapons

Maidens can manifest weapons from their elements, as seen with Cinder’s flaming sword. This ability, noted on the RWBY Wiki, allows for customized combat tools, though experienced Dust users like Cinder can mimic this with Dust, blurring the line between magic and technology.

Influence Over Grimm

The World of RWBY: The Official Companion states Cinder exerts some control over the Wyvern Grimm using her Maiden powers, influencing its behavior. This suggests a limited dominion over Grimm, enhancing her strategic options.

Aura-Independent Usage

Magic persists even when Aura is depleted, as Amber continues using her powers post-Aura break in "Beginning of the End." This resilience sets Maiden powers apart from Semblance, which relies on Aura.

Vault Access

Each Maiden is a key to her corresponding Vault (Winter for Atlas, Spring for Haven, Summer for Shade, Fall for Beacon), unlocking Relic chambers. This is a passive ability tied to their role, not a combat power.

Power Transfer and Spiritual Connection

Upon death, a Maiden’s powers transfer to a new host, often the last person in her thoughts (if female and under ~30), as seen with Penny to Winter in "The Final Word." This process involves a spiritual limbo, allowing a final conversation, which is more a narrative mechanism than a power.

Potential for Full Realization

Winter notes in "The Enemy of Trust" that Fria had "fully realized" her Winter Maiden powers, implying a peak mastery level. This suggests untapped potential for enhanced control or power intensity, though specifics are unshown.

Aura Restoration

Becoming a Maiden restores a broken Aura, as Winter regains her Semblance use against Cinder in "The Final Word" despite prior depletion by Ironwood.

Comparison to Nine’s Weather Powers in My Hero Academia

Nine, a villain in My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, possesses a Quirk called "Weather Manipulation," enhanced by All For One’s power boost to its fullest potential, as detailed on the MHA Wiki. At full capacity, his abilities dwarf typical weather control, offering a benchmark to compare against the Maidens’ powers. Below is a side-by-side analysis:AspectMaidens' PowersNine's Weather Manipulation (Full Power)Elemental RangeLightning, fire, wind, ice, earth; versatile but limited to elements.Lightning, wind, rain, snow, fog, heat waves; broader weather spectrum.ScaleIndividual combat-focused (e.g., Cinder’s flaming sword, Raven’s wind gusts); no large-scale weather shown.City-wide (e.g., creating storms over Nabu Island), affecting environments on a massive scale.MobilityWind-based levitation/flight (Cinder, Raven); limited to personal movement.Flight via wind control, enabling strategic aerial dominance.Defensive CapabilityIce for freezing (Cinder), wind for evasion; situational.Weather barriers (e.g., fog, rain shields) for widespread defense.Offensive PowerHigh-intensity attacks (e.g., Amber’s lightning, Cinder’s fire sword); localized.Devastating storms, lightning strikes, and heat waves; capable of mass destruction.Control Over CreaturesLimited Grimm influence (Cinder’s Wyvern control); not weather-related.No creature control; focus is purely environmental.Duration and EnergyAura-independent but effort-intensive; no stamina limit specified.Energy-intensive; full power strains his body, requiring All For One’s enhancement to sustain.Special FeaturesVault access, spiritual transfer; unique to narrative role.Enhanced by multiple Quirks (e.g., air wall, bullet redirection); no narrative-specific roles.

Detailed Comparison

Versatility: The Maidens’ elemental magic covers five types (lightning, fire, wind, ice, earth), offering combat flexibility, but lacks the broader weather phenomena Nine controls (rain, snow, fog, heat waves). Nine’s ability to manipulate an entire weather system surpasses the Maidens’ focus on direct elemental attacks.

Scale and Impact: Nine’s full power creates city-level weather events, as seen on Nabu Island, while the Maidens’ powers are tailored for personal or small-group combat (e.g., Cinder vs. Raven). The Maidens show no evidence of altering regional weather patterns.

Mobility and Defense: Both use wind for flight, but Nine’s weather barriers provide superior defensive coverage compared to the Maidens’ situational ice or wind shields. Nine’s fog can obscure entire areas, a tactical edge the Maidens lack.

Offensive Potential: Nine’s storms and lightning strikes outmatch the Maidens’ localized attacks in destructive reach. Cinder’s flaming sword, while potent, doesn’t compare to Nine’s ability to unleash widespread devastation.

Unique Traits: The Maidens’ Vault access and spiritual transfer are narrative-driven, offering no combat advantage against Nine’s Quirk-enhanced versatility. Nine’s multi-Quirk integration (e.g., air wall) adds layers the Maidens cannot replicate.

Limitations: The Maidens’ magic is effort-intensive but Aura-independent, suggesting endurance, whereas Nine’s full power, even with All For One’s boost, strains his body, limiting sustained use.

Conclusion

The Maidens’ powers are a potent, elemental-focused magic suite, ideal for individual combat and tied to their narrative role as Relic guardians. At full realization (e.g., Fria’s mastery), they could potentially intensify, but no evidence suggests they reach Nine’s weather-manipulating scale. Nine, at full power, outclasses them in scope, defensive utility, and environmental impact, leveraging a Quirk-enhanced weather system that could overwhelm the Maidens’ localized abilities. However, the Maidens’ Aura independence and unique narrative powers (Vault access, succession) provide a distinct advantage in their specific context, unmatched by Nine’s purely combat-oriented Quirk.

[ebitenpura]

Echani Hair + Textiles

While Echani are quite notorious for their long winter coats, it is their textile industry that flies under the furry radar of the galactic community--yet one that booms during the transition from winter to spring in an event fondly dubbed "The Shedding" by offworld weavers. Entire families will sit down together and collect the fallen hair, forming veritable mountains of it to be used as material. Echani remain one of the only species to be able to use their own hair in textiles, with many different applications in their regular lives.

Echani themselves sport a thick, blanketlike mane with a propensity to shed in several layers as they exit hibernation, but given the average size of adults, these can form extremely massive piles of fur which, as expected, are cumbersome to clean up. Instead of discarding the fur as other species are wont to do, Echani have traditionally saved the spare hair to weave into a variety of prized head adornments, blankets, coats, and other textiles which have as of late become far more popular throughout the galaxy as fashion and superior quality materials. The texture is described as incredibly soft, dense, and woolly, and most premium blends compose of 80-90% Echani fur and that of the Thyrsian armored mule-nerf. Being that Thyrsians sport thinner coats than their pale, arctic counterparts, they have bred the Thyrsian wolfdog, or Echa'yoan, to sport longer coats instead.

Since Echani fur deteriorates at a faster rate than that of typical shearing species, they are held in higher esteem for the difficulty in producing and obtaining such wool and remain a crucial part of Eshan's industry and culture. Echani fur blankets are a popular gift for one to give to friends and family, and an even rarer honor to gift to offworlders. However, as of late Eshan has relaxed its tight defense and allowed outsiders to come and trade for Echani goods and fur, especially during the Life Day season--an important economic time when offworlders form a crucial backbone of the fur market.

[ecosyncrasy]

i am definitely starting to feel intimidated by the amount of stuff i'm trying to get done before the summer. coming out of rot mode after years of trauma induced stasis has got me feeling a little under prepared. feels like very much i'm facing down a a huge wave or some treacherous climb. but i know i'm not helpless anymore – i never was in the first place. just believed someone else's bullshit for much too long.

just got to do it scared. -- and wait for mature student advising to get back to me. which waiting for things is sometimes the most anxiety inducing thing. because all my timelines are dependent on what they end up saying. so it feels like there is way more up in the air than it is.

before January:

get learner's license (Oct 30th)

paint and set up my part of the house (we need to be ready to sell by spring)

hoping to fit some warm up practice of math in here somewhere

have my outline for a personal statement done for my application

if possible take the defensive driving course but it's wait listed.

January but before April:

two 8 week university prep courses begin. (Jan 13 – Mar 7th)

personal statement done

university application done.

April:

two more 8 week university prep courses (Apr 7th to May 30th)

on top of application deadlines. though i'm hoping the advisor will have insight on what i should be doing.

which isn't much but so much of my time is also being eaten up with both jobs that i need to keep until i move. they are both solid positions that pay decently and most importantly have locations throughout the province – so chances of me just being able to transfer are quite high. i'm working 13 shifts in a row that is taking up a huge chunk of November. gotta block out days to paint walls and ceilings. it's all very doable (i think) – i just have to not psyche myself out-- and do it scared.

[juiceedapplee]

Likes:

-Games-

Stardew Valley

Roblox (royale high, bloxburg, dti, bloxy bingo)

Pjsk

Omori

Genshin Impact

Hsr

Sprout Valley

Dol

-YouTubers-

Niji en

Holostars en

Vshojo

Rin Penrose

Kenji

Monarch

Cyyu

Yuzuya

Azeru

Boze vs the world

Smii7y

Kurtis Conner

Danny Gonzalez

Augustheduck

Andy king

Chad chad

Annamarie

Manlybadasshero

Jarvis

Game theory (film, food, and style too)

-Musicals-

Be more chill

Beetlejuice

Kinky boots

Heathers (both vers are good, west end might be my fav)

Mean girls

Into the woods (the old one is better)

Hamilton

Bring it on

Tgwdlm

Black Friday

Npmd

The Oregon trail

-Shows/Movies-

Jjk

Mha

Nanbaka

Haikyuu

Blue Lock

Ohshc

Chainsaw Man

Mob Psycho

Black Butler

Hxh

Bridgerton

The boyfriend

Great teacher onizuka

Secrets in the hot spring

Scott pilgrim vs the world (movie, haven’t seen the show yet)

Trolls band together (got me crushing on a damn troll)

The Lorax

Drink masters

Death note

Saiki K

Saiki K: reawakened

Disenchantment

Mlp movies

Glitter force (I watched it on Netflix, dont know the jp name)

Kakegurui

Everything everywhere all at once

High rise invasion

Legally blonde (both movies)

Hsm (only the first two)

Cruella

-Books-

Tcgf (still reading)

Mxtx (still reading)

Mdzs (still reading)

Svss (still reading)

Remarried Empress

Southern book clubs guide to slaying vampires

Alice in wonderland

-BL-

Boy girlfriend (damn you axel)

Jinx

Perfect Buddy

Shutline

Love leveling

Angel Buddy

Roses and Champagne

Full volume

Semantic Error

Night by the sea

Love Jinx

No love zone

Killing Stalking

Obey me (not the game)

Dangerous Convenience Store

Serious Joke

No Holes Barred (includes a woman, and it’s technically not a bl)

Something’s wrong with my popularity

My darling signed in

Candy Man

Eyes clouded by the tiger

I have to be a good villain

Easy to notice

Kill the lights

Define the relationship

Take off

Angel bunny club

Puppy Love

Shame application

Omega Complex

Mr 100% perfect

Plaything

Don’t say you love me

Love is an illusion

Worst guy in the universe

Attack and Occupy (dropped cuz holy shit)

My hot friend is glowing

Hwanghyeon Text

Dear Door

Jackass

No reason

Raising a newbie to grind them

Galatea through the screen

-Manhwa/webtoons/manhua/manga-

Get schooled/ true education

How to live as a villain

Dungeon reset

Home plate villain

Leveling up by only eating

For my derelict favorite

Eleceed

Trash Count

I obtained a mythic item

World after the fall

Zombie x Slasher

Solo Max level newbie

End of the world is just a game

Duke pendragon

Steel eating player

Dungeon Odyssey

Tyrant of a defense game

Priest of corruption

Lady with one line

Everyone regressed but me

Beginning after the end

S-classes I raised

Bootleg Healer

Teenage Mercenary

Only necromancer

Money Game

Pie Game

+99 wooden stick

Talent eating magician

Max Level Hero has returned

Overpowered healer

Worlds strongest troll

Pick me up

Lazy swordmaster

Resetting lady

Debut or die

Tbate (I haven’t read the chapters from the new artist)

School bus graveyard

Hwarang: flower knight of the underworld

My brothers not so secret boyfriend

Jungle Juice

Disgusted Vampire

I was the final boss

Mono and Mochi

Hectopascal

Viral Hit

Solo Leveling

Solo Leveling Ragnarok

Orv

Villain to Kill

Cinderella Boy

Tax reaper

Deathsitter

Magic Girl Incident

Marry my husband

Return survival

Study Group

Hectopascal

Neon Revenge (I’m still sad it ended so early)

Weak Hero

Becoming the Monarch

Maru is a puppy

My little sister is the demon lord

Mafia Nanny

Hanlim Gym

Return to Player

Paranoid Mage

Born to work retail

World is money and Power

The dickheads

Jackson’s diary

Silho

Ams

Mayo Shonen

My daddy is a villain

Nina’s chest

G.O.D

Swordid

Kids are all right

Class 1-9

Dungeon cleaning life of a once genius hunter

Like mother like daughter

Bad plan man

Forever after

Les piggies

The hammer

[pathfinderunlocked]

Ragnaros - CR22 Elemental

BY FIRE BE PURGED!

Artwork by NightcoreGang on DeviantArt.

In Warcraft, Ragnaros the Firelord is the elemental lord of fire, leader of the Warcraft equivalent of the Plane of Fire. At the original launch of World of Warcraft, he was the final boss of the hardest dungeon in the game, and it took 40 players to take him down.

I assume your Pathfinder game probably doesn't have 40 players, although if it does, and half of them die while fighting this boss, please email me and tell me about it.

I often give generic names to my Pathfinder adaptations of specific named characters, and I considered just naming this enemy "Firelord," but this isn't a species of monster. There isn't more than one of these. No matter what universe your game is set in, this is a demigod. He has a specific name. It doesn't have to be Ragnaros, but it's definitely not Firelord C.

The equivalent elemental lord of fire in Paizo's official setting for Pathfinder is Ymeri. This stat block for Ragnaros is CR 22, while Ymeri is CR 28. That's because this stat block for Ragnaros is based on his appearance in Molten Core, when he was only partially able to manifest and was significantly weakened, due to being on the material plane. And I imagine that's how it would be used in a Pathfinder game as well. The downside, however, is that if you defeat him on the material plane, he isn't dead; he just gets sent home.

Ragnaros - CR 22

Standing tall enough to make an army of humans look like toy dolls, the elemental lord of fire's malevolent face grins viciously at you within the scorching flames that make up his body. A vortex of lava spins around the base of his figure.

XP 4,915,200 NE Colossal outsider (elemental, extraplanar, fire) Init +11 Senses darkvision 60 ft., flamesense, true seeing; Perception +50 Aura feel the flame (300 ft.)

DEFENSE

AC 28, touch 8, flat-footed 22 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +20 natural, -8 size) hp 496 (30d10+330) Fort +27, Ref +22, Will +19 DR 15/— Defensive Abilities elemental revival, melt weapons Immune ability damage and drain, charm, compulsion, death effects, elemental traits, fire, petrification, polymorph SR 33 Weaknesses cold hardening

OFFENSE

Speed 50 ft., swim 50 ft. (lava only) Melee sulfuras, hand of ragnaros +35/+30/+25/+20 (6d6+17/19-20/x3 plus 1d6 fire plus burn plus fire splash) or 2 slams +30 (4d8+8 plus burn) Space 30 ft., Reach 30 ft. Special Attacks burn (4d8, DC 35), constant fire, fire splash, submerge, wrath of ragnaros

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 22nd; concentration +32)     Constant—clarion call, freedom of movement, tongues, true seeing     At will—controlled fireball (DC 27)     3/day—summon and submerge (level 9, 8 greater fire elementals 100%, see text)

Additional Spell-Like Abilities (CL 4th; concentration +14)     At will—walls of lava (DC 30, see text)

STATISTICS

Str 27, Dex 21, Con 30, Int 14, Wis 24, Cha 30 Base Atk +30; CMB +46; CMD 62 Feats Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Dodge, Elemental Focus (fire), Greater Elemental Focus (fire), Improved Critical (slam), Improved Initiative, Improved Iron Will, Iron Will, Mobility, Spell Focus (evocation), Spring Attack, Toughness, Whirlwind Attack Skills Acrobatics +20, Climb +43, Intimidate +43, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, local, history, religion) +12, Knowledge (planes) +35, Perception +40, Sense Motive +20, Spellcraft +32, Use Magic Device +25 Languages Aquan, Auran, Draconic, Ignan, Terran, tongues SQ firelord Gear sulfuras, hand of ragnaros

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Cold Hardening (Ex) Whenever Ragnaros takes cold damage, his damage reduction is temporarily reduced by an amount equal to 1/2 of the cold damage he takes. Multiple applications of cold damage stack to further reduce his DR, although this cannot reduce his DR below 0. This reduction lasts until the next time he takes damage that would otherwise be reduced by his damage reduction, after which his DR returns to normal.

Constant Fire (Ex) As a free action at the start of his turn, Ragnaros can choose a target within his reach that is currently affected by his burn ability, and strengthen the fire to burn hotter. The burn damage dealt to that target increases by 2d8, and the duration of the burn increases by 1 round. Multiple applications of this effect can stack on the same target.

Elemental Revival (Ex) If Ragnaros is slain, his body crumbles to ash (leaving behind any gear he held or carried), his soul returns to a hidden location within his realm, and he is immediately restored to life (as per true resurrection) at that location. If slain within his own realm, he cannot use this ability, and he is slain forever.

Feel the Flame (Su) Enemies of Ragnaros with fire resistance within 300 ft. of Ragnaros have their fire resistance reduced to 1/3 of its normal value. Creatures with fire immunity within 300 ft. of Ragnaros lose their immunity and instead gain 20 points of fire resistance (this resistance does not get reduced). A creature that leaves the radius of this aura regains its fire resistance or immunity.

Firelord (Ex) Ragnaros's servants bow to his will and instinctively follow his commands. As a free action, Ragnaros can grant all of his allies with the fire subtype within 300 feet, except for himself, a +10 sacred bonus to Constitution. Each creature retains this bonus until it moves out of range or until Ragnaros falls unconscious or dies.

Fire Splash (Su) When Ragnaros hits with Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros, and deals 6 or more fire damage with the flaming burst effect (including both the normal fire damage and the bonus critical fire damage), the fire damage is dealt to all creatures and objects in a 20-ft.-radius burst centered on the target of the attack. Targets other than the primary target of the attack can make a DC 33 Reflex save to halve the damage. The save DC is Strength-based.

Flamesense (Ex) Ragnaros can sense the presence and movement of any fire—including creatures with the fire subtype, creatures on fire, and any creature touching the surface of the Plane of Fire—within 300 feet as if using blindsight. In addition, he can see through fire, fog, and smoke without penalty.

Melt Weapons (Ex) A metal or wooden weapon that strikes Ragnaros takes 3d8 fire damage unless the weapon's wielder succeeds on a DC 35 Reflex save. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Summon and Submerge (Sp) As a spell-like ability, Ragnaros can collapse into a pool of lava as a free action, functioning like his Submerge ability, and then immediately begin summoning 8 greater fire elementals as if with summon monster ix as a one-round action (despite the fact that he cannot normally take most actions while submerged). Emerging dismisses the summoned elementals, and Ragnaros immediately emerges if all summoned elementals are killed or banished, or after 1 minute. This counts as one of Ragnaros's three daily uses of Submerge.

Submerge (Ex) As a move action, Ragnaros can collapse into a pool of lava or reform back into his normal form. He can collapse into a pool of lava three times per day. The pool of lava takes up Ragnaros's space and an area on the ground within 20 feet of it, and deals twice Ragnaros's normal burn damage to any creature that touches it. While Ragnaros is collapsed into a pool of lava, he has DR 30/—, gains 30 points of resistance to all energy damage except cold, gains 15 points of cold resistance, and gains fast healing 20. Additionally, if he is affected by any harmful effect that initially allowed for a saving throw, he can make a new saving throw against the effect each round at the start of his turn. However, while submerged, he loses his natural armor bonus and can take no actions except to reform or use his Firelord ability.

If Ragnaros is prevented from taking an action for any reason, he can instead submerge at the start of his turn without spending an action, but loses the rest of his turn. Doing so expends two uses of Submerge.

Walls of Lava (Sp) As a swift action, as a spell-like ability, Ragnaros can create a wall of lava that functions as the wall of lava spell at caster level 4, except that the spell's casting time is a swift action, the action required to cause the wall to erupt is a free action, and when it erupts it can only fire a plume of lava at a target within 15 ft. of itself instead of 60 ft.

Wrath of Ragnaros (Ex) When Ragnaros uses his Whirlwind Attack feat, he can perform a free bull rush maneuver with a +10 circumstance bonus (typically for a total of +61) against each target he hits with a melee attack. This combat maneuver does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

[salvia-plathitudes]

A few years ago, it was hoped that this attritional warfare could be surpassed by a sort of super weapon in the form of genetic modification. A new type of chestnut, with a wheat gene inserted into its genetic makeup, showed remarkably favorable signs of survival in the lab but then floundered when planted in the field.

The chestnut foundation cut support for the project, called Darling 58, in 2023.

NEVER GIVE UP.

Project leaders are aiming for 1,000 chestnuts in New York but have to content themselves with a smaller initial number due to a constrained availability of seeds, garnered from plantings by the American Chestnut Foundation and also from the 230 or so chestnuts that remain scattered in New York itself. The saplings grown from this group are huddled in pots in a fenced-off area in Manhattan and will soon be distributed to successful applicants.

About half of New York’s surviving chestnuts are found in a promising initiative that has taken root in Highbridge Park, a strip of woodland in the upper reaches of Manhattan that slopes down towards the Harlem river.

The New York Restoration Project started work here in the 1990s, a time when the area was a derelict dumping ground for car parts. In typical New York fashion the task of coaxing back an ecosystem has faced a myriad of unusual challenges – from battling invasive knotweed to dealing with a homeless encampment and even a group of resident nudists.

“There has always been something to keep us busy,” said Smith. His group has installed rain gardens, to help stem the flooding risk from the nearby river, removed debris and is in the process of installing a new path to allow locals to enjoy the revitalized park again. On a recent warm spring day, a single rusting car engine sat, like a museum piece, amid a verdant throng of ash, sycamore and sugar maple. Spores from cottonwoods covered the ground like a downy blanket.

The crowing glory of this space, though, is its American chestnuts, planted in 2017 to stunning success. “We didn’t know what was going to happen but this tree here is probably like 35ft tall now,” said Smith, pointing to a chestnut that pierced the thin canopy. The blight still might take hold here but there has been remarkable resilience so far with just two of the more than 120 trees – which are hybrids with a Chinese chestnut variant but still genetically 95% American – struck down by the disease.

The American chestnut was once found in vast numbers from Maine to Mississippi and known as the redwood of the east due to its prodigious size. But 4bn trees were killed off in the first half of last century by a blight introduced from Asia to which it had little defense, spread by spores carried by the wind, rain and animals.

The blight, Cryphonectria parasitica, first spotted in 1904 on trees at New York’s Bronx Zoo, causes necrotic lesions on the chestnut’s bark as it cuts off the tree’s access to water and nutrients until it dies above ground.

Some chestnut roots and shoots remain today, but very few trees reach their full imposing extent, of about 100ft in height and 8ft wide at the base. Decades of scientific and charitable work has sought to resurrect the chestnut, with varying results, and now a new project is turning to the citizens of New York to help restore the species to something of its former glory.

“You can use the wood for anything, it’s a cradle-to-grave tree because you can use it for cradles or coffins, you can fatten your hogs on the nuts,” she said. “I’ve heard it referred to as charismatic mega flora – people are just drawn to it. We have had the ecological tragedy of losing it but it’s also a cultural tragedy. We want to restore those cultural connections.”

This restoration could take decades, though. “We should think of it as a cathedral-building undertaking that will maybe not be complete in our lifetime,” as Smith put it.

But at a time when the de-extinction of lost species, such as the woolly mammoth or dire wolf, is in vogue in an attention-grabbing way, the return of the chestnut has a more pragmatic rationale, its proponents argue.

The tree can soak up vast quantities of carbon, vital amid the climate crisis, and fulfills all of the same roles for insects and birds even if it is crossed with a Chinese or Japanese variant.

“This isn’t a gimmick, we are thinking about the ecological function of the tree,” said Smith. “At a time when we are losing so much of our forests, we can’t be purist about bringing back the most important tree in the north-east. We usually aim really low for conservation efforts in urban spaces, and we don’t have to.”

Next week, I graduate with my BFA in Art. This was my final piece of Illustration coursework. Hoping that it'll be part of the pitch package for a real book before long. 😊

Billions of Mouths to Feed Like most birds, the passenger pigeon was omnivorous, feeding on a wide variety of plant and insect matter. The most important of its food sources were mast-producing trees. A single pigeon could eat half its body weight in a day, and flocks wandered thousands of miles in search of a bountiful harvest; it was this habit of travel that gave the bird its name. Pigeons showed a preference for the mast of the American beech, the white oak, and the American chestnut (a tree whose own catastrophic population collapse, resulting from imported disease, may have played a role in the concurrent decline of the pigeon).

[heathspringsltd]

Premium Medical Spring Parts in the UK: Crafted for Excellence

Engineered for precision and durability, medical spring parts in the UK play a key role in healthcare applications. Heath Springs Ltd leverages years of experience in defense spring manufacturing to deliver springs that ensure optimal performance, making them the ideal choice for both medical and defense industries.

[melbelle313]

Top 5 Grassy Weeds in North Texas

Maintaining a lush, green lawn in North Texas comes with its fair share of challenges—especially when it comes to dealing with invasive grassy weeds. These unwelcome intruders not only make your yard look patchy and unkempt, but they also compete with your turfgrass for vital nutrients, sunlight, and water.

Here are the top 5 grassy weeds commonly found in North Texas lawns—and how to identify and manage them.

1. Crowfoot Grass

Crowfoot grass is a summer annual that thrives in compacted soils and areas with poor drainage. It's easy to spot thanks to its coarse texture and distinctive seed heads that resemble a bird’s foot—hence the name. This weed grows rapidly in warm weather and spreads quickly if left untreated.

Want to get rid of it? Check out our full guide on how to get rid of crowfoot grass.

2. Crabgrass

Crabgrass is perhaps the most notorious grassy weed in North Texas. It grows low to the ground with wide, flat blades and spreads like wildfire once temperatures rise above 55°F. Crabgrass often invades bare or weak spots in your lawn and becomes difficult to manage if not caught early in the season.

Pro Tip: Apply a pre-emergent herbicide in early spring to prevent it from sprouting.

3. Dallisgrass

Dallisgrass is a tough, perennial weed that forms unsightly clumps and can grow taller than your turf. Its coarse blades and prominent seed heads make it stand out, and it tends to thrive in moist, overwatered areas. Mowing only encourages its spread by distributing seeds.

Control Tip: Spot-treat with a post-emergent herbicide formulated for grassy weeds.

4. Johnsongrass

Johnsongrass is more than just a lawn nuisance—it’s classified as an invasive species in Texas. It has broad leaves, grows up to six feet tall, and spreads through underground rhizomes, making it incredibly aggressive and hard to kill.

Management Strategy: A combination of digging out roots and repeated herbicide applications is often needed.

5. Goosegrass

Goosegrass grows in a rosette pattern and thrives in compacted, high-traffic areas of your lawn. It’s usually seen in late spring through fall and resembles crabgrass but has flatter, shinier leaves. Its deep roots make it resistant to drought, mowing, and light herbicide treatments.

Best Defense: Aerate your lawn regularly and improve drainage to prevent compaction.

Keep Your Lawn Weed-Free Year-Round

Spotting grassy weeds early is key to keeping them from spreading. Regular mowing, proper irrigation, and the right fertilization schedule can also go a long way toward maintaining a healthy, weed-resistant lawn. For expert help tackling weeds and maintaining a beautiful yard in North Texas, don’t hesitate to contact your local lawn care professionals.

[ivankahasbeentreatedsounfairly]

The New York Times

By The Editorial Board

Federal judges are not elected by the public. Nor are they supposed to make decisions based on their ideological preferences. Our political system instead vests them with the power to decide whether the president, Congress and other lawmakers are enacting policies that are consistent with previous laws, court rulings and, above all, the Constitution.

For these reasons, the credibility of judges depends on their ability to offer public explanation for the legal basis of their decisions. When judges show their work, the public can assess it by the standards the judiciary sets for itself — reasoning grounded in law and judicial precedent. Without that, judges risk their legitimacy. Clear explanation is especially important for the Supreme Court, which sets national rules that lower courts must follow. When the court fails to make these rules clear, confusion can set in.

The current Supreme Court is creating precisely this problem by issuing many important rulings as brief, unsigned orders on its so-called emergency docket. On this docket (also known as the shadow docket), the votes among the nine justices are not public, and the majorities typically offer little explanation for their decisions. Yet the justices have used the emergency docket this year to hand down a series of rulings allowing President Trump to expand executive power and alter the structure of government.

In following this path, the justices are ducking one of their crucial responsibilities: making persuasive arguments with which we can all engage. This overuse of the emergency docket is a self-inflicted wound. It diminishes public confidence in government when that confidence is already low.

We recognize that the emergency docket is a necessary part of Supreme Court business. It allows the court to address urgent questions that cannot wait months or years to be adjudicated to the end in the lower courts and then fully briefed and argued at the Supreme Court.

For most of American history, a single justice ruled on emergency matters, sometimes after a hearing, with each of the nine justices having authority over a different region. After the court reinstituted the death penalty in 1976, all nine heard last-minute applications to delay executions. The practice of the full court hearing emergency cases became routine in the early 1980s, according to Stephen Vladeck, a Georgetown law professor who tracks the court in a weekly newsletter. Still, the death penalty was long the emergency docket’s primary purpose. The administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, combined, asked the Supreme Court for emergency relief only eight times in 16 years.

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Mr. Trump’s administration has been much more aggressive about seeking emergency relief for a worrisome reason: He has enacted many legally dubious policies that lower-court judges have blocked, on a strikingly bipartisan basis. His lawyers have then selectively rushed to the Supreme Court, asking the justices to overturn certain rulings and allow the policies to go into effect. In his first term, his administration applied for emergency relief 41 times. In his second term, the pace has been even faster. The Trump administration has applied 21 times since January. The math is jarring. Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama averaged one emergency request every two years; Mr. Trump averages nearly one a week.

The justices have been very friendly to these applications. After rejecting the Trump administration’s first three filings this spring, the court has granted the last 18. Some of its decisions are legally defensible. Others may turn out to be temporary, with the justices ultimately judging Mr. Trump’s policy to be illegal after they fully consider it. Yet the overuse of the emergency docket nonetheless has worrisome consequences. We see at least three specific ways in which the court’s new fondness for speed and silence is damaging the American legal system.

The first problem is the lack of explanation, which leaves the public unable to assess the justices’ reasoning and lower courts and policymakers uncertain about the full meaning of the rulings.

Take the decision this month allowing the Trump administration to fire many Department of Education employees. After taking office, Mr. Trump said he would like to close the agency immediately and signed an order with a section called “Closing the Department of Education and Returning Authority to the States.” In response to lawsuits brought by states, school districts and unions, a district court blocked the order, finding that it “effectively dismantled” the department.

The Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court, making multiple arguments. John Sauer, Mr. Trump’s solicitor general, conceded in his petition that the executive branch could not unilaterally abolish the department, which Congress created in 1979. But Mr. Sauer defended the order by saying that it directed closure to the “maximum extent” permitted by law. He also argued that the plaintiffs lacked standing (meaning they did not have a legal basis to challenge the order) and that the lower court lacked jurisdiction (meaning it was not the right forum for the case).

The court sided with the Trump administration, offering no explanation. It did not say whether it agreed with Mr. Sauer’s argument on the merits or his arguments about standing or jurisdiction. It did not illuminate what it would mean to close a cabinet agency to the maximum extent permissible without actually closing it. As a result, lower courts cannot know how to apply the ruling in other cases. Which firings and cuts are legal, and which are illegal? Should other plaintiffs file a new lawsuit? The court gave no clue. Uncertainties also loom over its emergency rulings on cases dealing with immigration, transgender troops and access to Social Security records.

A second problem is the perception of Supreme Court partisanship, which the emergency docket exacerbates. Since 2021, the approval rating for the court has fallen, and people’s attitudes toward it have become more polarized, with many more Republicans than Democrats or independents expressing faith in it. As the court’s Republican-appointed majority rules again and again in Mr. Trump’s favor in emergency matters, the paucity of explanation contributes to a perception that the justices have a thumb on the scale for a Republican president.

It is also striking that the court seemed less willing to grant emergency relief to President Joe Biden than to Mr. Trump. In 2022, for example, the Biden administration petitioned the justices after a district court blocked the Education Department from carrying out Mr. Biden’s student-debt forgiveness program. The justices declined to act, leaving his plan paused for half a year while they considered the case on its normal, slower docket. The justices also declined to take up his administration’s broader complaints about universal injunctions — orders from a single lower-court judge blocking a policy nationwide, as happened with the debt-relief program.

After Mr. Trump took office, by contrast, the justices issued a ruling restricting those universal injunctions. Why was Trump’s Education Department policy an emergency that required immediate relief but Biden’s policy was not? Why did the court allow universal injunctions to block Mr. Biden’s policies, only to restrict them after they blocked Mr. Trump’s actions? Once more, the justices might have had reasons for making these distinctions but have not offered them. By failing to do so, the justices breed doubt.

Another recent emergency case highlighted this partisanship problem in a subtler way. In May the court expanded the president’s authority to remove officials at independent agencies, such as the National Labor Relations Board. This time, the court gave a truncated explanation, saying the president’s constitutional powers include the authority to fire agency heads without cause. But the court made a strange exception. It said the president still must have cause to fire a member of the board of the Federal Reserve. In defense, the court offered one vague sentence: “The Federal Reserve is a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States.”

The lack of meaningful argument arouses suspicion that the distinction has little legal basis and instead reflects the fact that many Republicans favor a well-functioning Fed while being suspicious of other regulatory agencies. Because of the court’s ruling, the president can now dismiss many agency leaders at will; on Wednesday the conservative majority issued yet another emergency order that allows Mr. Trump to fire the Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. These rulings are a sharp break from a previous Supreme Court decision that stood for 90 years, and they end the independence that some agencies had since Congress created them during the New Deal. The court is using the emergency docket to create a more powerful presidency.

The third problem is that the Supreme Court is using this docket to make itself more powerful, too, deciding many of the country’s most pressing political questions in real time. This is a power grab, in which the justices reduce the role of lower courts, where judges are more evenly divided between Republican and Democratic appointees than the justices are.

Last month Justice Brett Kavanaugh invited yet more applications for emergency relief. He wrote that the Supreme Court, not the lower courts, should decide whether a major law or executive action takes effect in the months or years before a final judgment. There are benefits to national uniformity, which Mr. Kavanaugh said is his goal. But the six Republican appointees on the nine-member court sometimes seem to favor a version of uniformity that reflects their personal policy preferences.

Since Mr. Trump first took office in 2017, the Supreme Court has restrained him in important ways. It blocked major policies in his first term, such as his attempt to add a citizenship question to the census. It showed no patience for his ludicrous claims of election fraud in 2020. This year it issued an emergency order prohibitingthe transfer of additional prisoners to a brutal Salvadoran prison. Anybody who dismisses the court as a mere extension of Mr. Trump is being unfair.

Nonetheless, the court has been too deferential to him. It sometimes seemed willfully blind to the ways in which he is different from every other modern president, of either party, in arrogating power and breaking with longstanding legal and ethical constraints on using it. Last summer the justices gave him and future presidents immunity from criminal prosecution for most of their acts in office, a free pass that set aside the principle that no one is above the law. By using the emergency docket to side with him so often, the court is changing its own job and the presidency before our eyes when the country needs the Supreme Court to be a force of stability.

A better approach would be for the court to adhere to stricter standards for deciding which cases are true emergencies. Even in these cases, the justices should hold arguments when possible and always publicly release their votes. They should take the time to explain themselves clearly enough to guide the lower courts, give the rest of us a rationale and distinguish judicial power from political power.

Most of all, the court should think about how its work can bolster the separation of powers to assure the future of American democracy. That is its ultimate responsibility.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/opinion/supreme-court-emergency-rulings.html

[jrfurnace]

Salt Bath Furnace: Precision Heat Treatment for Critical Industrial Applications

Salt bath furnaces are a specialized type of industrial furnace used extensively for heat treatment processes that require excellent temperature uniformity, rapid heating, and precise control. These furnaces immerse the workpiece in a molten salt medium, enabling efficient heat transfer and minimizing surface oxidation. Common in aerospace, automotive, defense, tool manufacturing, and metallurgical sectors, salt bath furnaces offer unmatched performance for hardening, tempering, annealing, and surface treatments.

Their versatility and reliability make them an essential part of modern heat treatment operations, particularly when high-quality surface finishes, distortion control, and fast thermal cycling are priorities.

What is a Salt Bath Furnace?

A salt bath furnace consists of a heated tank filled with molten salt, typically nitrates, carbonates, or chlorides, depending on the process temperature and material being treated. The workpiece is submerged directly into the bath, allowing it to absorb heat rapidly and uniformly.

This method ensures consistent internal and surface temperatures, minimizing thermal gradients that often cause warping or cracking during conventional air or gas furnace processing. Salt baths are particularly effective for small, intricate components that require precision heat treatment without compromising structural integrity.

Types of Salt Bath Furnaces

Low-Temperature Salt Bath Furnace Operates in the range of 150°C to 600°C, used for processes like tempering and austempering.

Medium-Temperature Salt Bath Furnace Ranges between 600°C and 900°C, ideal for annealing and preheating operations.

High-Temperature Salt Bath Furnace Can reach up to 1300°C, used for processes like carburizing, hardening, and solution treatment of steel and non-ferrous alloys.

Cyanide Salt Bath Furnace Utilized for specialized case-hardening processes. Requires strict safety and environmental controls.

Key Features and Benefits

Excellent Heat Transfer Molten salts provide direct contact with the workpiece, resulting in faster and more uniform heating compared to air or gas furnaces.

Minimal Surface Oxidation The molten salt environment shields the workpiece from oxygen, preventing scale formation and oxidation.

Distortion Control The even heating reduces internal stresses and distortion, especially in precision parts.

Versatile Heating Capabilities Suitable for a wide range of materials including carbon steels, alloy steels, stainless steels, and certain non-ferrous metals.

Quick Cycle Times Because of high thermal conductivity, cycle times are reduced, improving productivity.

Process Flexibility Salt bath furnaces can be used for hardening, tempering, annealing, nitriding, carburizing, and more—all within a single unit with appropriate salt selection.

Applications of Salt Bath Furnaces

Tool and Die Manufacturing: Heat treatment of cutting tools, dies, and punches.

Automotive Industry: Surface hardening of transmission gears, shafts, and other wear-prone components.

Aerospace Components: Stress relief and precision hardening of turbine blades, engine parts, and structural components.

Metal Forming: Treatment of springs, fasteners, and forgings to improve toughness and fatigue resistance.

Medical Instruments: Surface finishing and heat treatment of surgical tools and implants.

Common Salts Used in Salt Baths

Different types of salts are used depending on the target process and temperature:

Sodium Nitrate & Potassium Nitrate: For tempering and annealing.

Sodium Cyanide & Potassium Cyanide: For carburizing.

Sodium Chloride & Potassium Chloride: For higher temperature treatments.

Barium Chloride: Used for specialized applications involving alloy steels.

Proper management and disposal of used salts are essential to comply with environmental and workplace safety standards.

Safety and Maintenance

Operating a salt bath furnace demands attention to safety:

Protective gear (face shields, gloves, aprons) is essential to prevent burns and injuries from molten salt splashes.

Regular bath analysis and salt replacement ensure optimal performance.

Ventilation systems must be maintained to manage fumes and prevent accumulation of toxic gases.

Furnace linings should be inspected routinely for leaks or damage that can compromise safety or product quality.

Conclusion

Salt bath furnaces represent a critical tool in the industrial heat treatment landscape, delivering exceptional thermal performance, surface integrity, and repeatability. Their ability to handle complex geometries and reduce part distortion makes them indispensable for industries where precision and strength are non-negotiable.

Whether you're manufacturing cutting tools, aerospace components, or automotive parts, investing in a high-quality salt bath furnace can drastically improve the efficiency and outcome of your thermal processes.