#unfortunately i cannot find the original source to these pictures

[pyretta666]

[thebrightestwitchofherage]

A brief History of Mizrahi Jews in Arabic countries and Their expulsion

A\N: While I am an Ashkenazi Jew, I have done A LOT of research, and have both Iraqi friends and relatives to corroborate this with. Also, I'm petty - an Iraqi user who comments regularly on my posts seems to forget about his own country's Jewish history... Well, I hope he forgot instead of the more likely reality: It seems like Arabic people nowadays aren't aware of Jewish history in their countries since they either killed to expelled them all. Thus is born the constant argument that all Jews originated in Europe and are merely settlers in the Middle East.

I realized that what may be obvious to me won't be obvious to others since I'm a history nerd who grew up in Israel with plenty of rich archeological evidence and resources surrounding me. I'm happy to make these posts in hopes of educating others and contributing my part to ending antisemitism and prejudice. ___________________

You might have seen the following picture in one of my previous posts:

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Unfortunately, in this case, it concludes hundreds of years of discrimination, violence, and exile for Mizrahi Jews. * It is important to note that numbers are slightly varied between sources, but the meaning is clear.

In a nutshell- all throughout history, the fate of Jewish people in countries where they weren't the religious majority was the same:

Discriminatory laws, blood libels, being blamed for disasters > violence & murder > Pogroms * > and eventually- exile or mass murder AKA ethnic cleansing \ genocide.

Pogrom-  the term refers to violent attacks by local non-Jewish populations on Jews in the Russian Empire and in other countries.

Every Jewish community has its own Pogrom. While my side of the family might immediately think of the Kristallnacht or persecution & pogroms in Hungary, it is different for Jews from different backgrounds. You can read about a few cases of forced conversion to Islam here.

A brief History of the land of Israel

The land of Israel has always been considered a strategic passageway, and so many empires throughout history have conquered it:

* I simply cannot accurately write 3000+ years of Jewish history in the land of Israel. I found that this video summarizes it perfectly.

Exile from the land of Israel

Jews were exiled from the land of Israel numerous times since the Assyrian empire conquered Israel in 732 BCE, to what we call "the diaspora" גולה. It was not by choice and we were persecuted everywhere we went.

Jews were not allowed to legally return to Israel until 1948 when the British mandate over the land of Israel ended and Israel was formed. Yes, even during the Holocaust.

The Jewish answer to exile - Aliyah עליה There have been 5 waves of illegal immigration from all over the world to the land of Israel before 1948, recorded in modern times.

Chart taken from Wikipedia (their chart was the best I could find in English)

Forced Conversion

Whether in conquered Israel or in exile, Jews were often forced to convert to either Christianity or Islam. The choice was between conversion or death.

*You can read more about some of the forced conversion of Jews during history here and here.

First Case study- The last jew of Peki'in, Margalit Zinati

Peki'in is an ancient village in the upper Galilee, Northern Israel. Nowadays, its population is mostly Druze.

Peki'in has had a Jewish presence since the Second Temple period, until Arab riots in the 1930s*. Meet the remaining member of the Zinatis, the only family who returned. (aish.com)

*Read more on the Arab riots of the 1930s here and here. Margalit is currently the last Jew living in the village of Peki'in . She is the last direct descendent of the Zinati Cohen family. The Zinati family's origins are dated back to the Second Temple era. The former Jewish community of Peki'in maintained a presence there since the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). That is when the polytheistic Persian Empire conquered the land of Israel. For reference- that was approximately 500 years before Jesus was even born! "During which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and ended with the First Jewish–Roman War and the Roman siege of Jerusalem." (Wikipedia)

As an adult, Margalit chose to not marry so she could stay in Peki'in and continue her family's Jewish legacy in Peki'in. She later became in charge of the ancient synagogue in the village and turned her basement into a visiting center \ museum of Jewish history in Peki'in- "House of Zinati". in 2018, she lit up a torch as part of Israel's 70th Independence Day Torch lighting ceremony (which is considered an honor given to influential and trailblazing people).

-Margalit Zinati pictured in the Peki'in Synagogue yard, 2016 Picture taken from Wikipedia, uploaded by Deror Avi.

Second Case study - Iraqi Jews (Babylonian Jews \ יְהוּדִים בָּבְלִים)

Iraqi Jews are one of the oldest documented Jewish communities living in the Middle East. It is estimated that they originated around 600 BC.ת

The Farhud الفرهود הפרהוד

Unfortunately, Iraqi Jewish history ended in the same pattern I've described earlier. The Farhud was the violent mass dispossession against the Jewish population of Baghdad, Iraq between 1-2 June 1941. was the pogrom or the "violent dispossession" that was carried out against the Jewish population of Baghdad, Iraq, on 1–2 June 1941, It immediately followed the British victory in the Anglo-Iraqi War.

Background for the Farhud:

WW2- At the time, many Arabic countries in the Middle East agreed with Nazi ideology.

History of violence towards Jews.

The Anglo-Iraqi War (2–31 May 1941) - caused rising tension, and as usual, it was turned on the Jews.

personal family ties to the Farhud My relative was born in 1939 in Iraq, to a big upper-class Jewish family. Unfortunately, the mass exile of Jews in the 1950s didn't skip her family: she was stripped of her belongings and exiled to Israel along with her family. In the 1950s there were approximately 140,000 Iraqi Jews. As of 2021, there are only 4 left.

----------------- Please feel free to add anything I missed in the notes. And as usual - remember I am a human being. If you cuss or harass me, I will block and report you.

______________

Online Sources: * https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/865383 - Hebrew article, Title means "Sad ending to a magnificent history: Only 4 Jews left in Iraq".

What was the Farhud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhud

History of the Jewish community in Baghdad https://cojs.org/the_jewish_community_in_baghdad_in_the_eighteenth_century-_zvi_yehuda-_nehardea-_babylonian_jewry_heritage_center-_2003/

What are Pogroms?https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/pogroms?gclid=Cj0KCQiAkeSsBhDUARIsAK3tiedM7DuwIaSQX-kRxvXTgCDxN6-zqeo_DNNFgyanSYGyGOhwu_0vfrkaAg6REALw_wcB

The last Jew of Peki'in, Margalit Zinati https://aish.com/the-last-jew-of-pekiin/

Arab riots of 1930s- https://www.gov.il/en/Departments/General/ben_zvi_30 https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-1936-arab-riots

Israel's history from ancient times & timeline : https://www.travelingisrael.com/timeline-land-israel/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=iiUIWnU-Ofk

Second Temple era - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Temple_period

Forced conversion of Jews across history- https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt18mvnct.7?seq=4

https://academic.oup.com/book/32113/chapter-abstract/268043723?redirectedFrom=fulltext

[aquamarine-oceanfront]

Summary of events related to Murder Drones' apparent debut on Prime Video (and a possible merch drop?)

Not the prettiest title, but there's been a lot of odd goings-on in the past few weeks, and I felt like compiling what exactly has been happening in a single post for ease of reference. I'm not 100% sure all of it is connected (or even indicates any future events, necessarily), but I'll make sure to indicate that when I get to it.

If you're short on time, here's my hypothesis: Murder Drones will debut on Amazon Prime Video on May 16th (this upcoming Friday at the time of writing). Coinciding with this, Glitch will announce new merchandise (including a Solver Uzi plushie).

Below is my evidence & thought process, arranged chronologically:

April 25: @foggy_dragon on Twitter posts the following:

Judging from this reply, this doesn't appear to be an existing trailer - it's one that the general public hasn't seen before.

April 26: Around the time of LVL UP EXPO, Amanda Hufford (voice of Ragatha in The Amazing Digital Circus) posts two pictures of various Glitch staff members and voice actors together. Both were taken in or outside of a Hot Topic - the first is what I'm focusing on.

Look in the background (to the left of Michael Kovach, wearing N's hat) and you'll find something unusual:

What appears to be a Solver Uzi plushie! There haven't been any official ones before, so this caught a lot of fans' eyes pretty quickly.

April 28: Twitter user @Endoropolis makes the following claim:

The accompanying photos and video show the store featuring two copies of a Glitch poster on either side of the entrance, which are indeed visible in Amanda's earlier photograph.

April 30: According to this Reddit post, @primevideoit on Instagram (the official Italian account for Amazon's streaming service) uploads an image outlining new additions to the platform in the month of May. One of them quickly garners attention:

For what it's worth, I have seen at least one other screenshot of this post without the red scribbles, lending credit to its legitimacy:

(Unfortunately, I don't have the source for this iteration.)

According to the same Redditor cited before, the account deletes the post within a few hours. (There are no archives of it, unfortunately, so I cannot personally verify these claims.)

May 1: @primevideotr, the platform's official Turkish Instagram account, posts their own set of images promoting their forthcoming offerings that month - once again including Murder Drones and claiming it'll come out on the 16th. (This time I did see it myself - here's a Wayback Machine archive of the below image.)

(As an aside, a lot of people took note of the "S1" appended to the title. I don't think this by itself indicates plans for a second season - it seems like that's just how these accounts refer to every TV show. I'm less certain about the "original series" branding, but I'd assume that refers to it simply not being on any other paid streaming service.)

May 2: The Italian Prime Video Instagram account reposts their May schedule, now bereft of Murder Drones. Fans flock to the comment section in response.

~May 6: The Turkish Prime Video Instagram post is edited to remove the image with Murder Drones. (Compare this archive from the day before with this one from the 6th. While you can't see the rest of the images, take note of the way the number of dots indicating how many images are in the post decreases by one between them.)

~May 8: Kevin Lerdwichagul, CEO and co-founder of Glitch Productions, posts the following image as an Instagram story:

Many take notice of the timing (after all these apparent leaks) and wonder if Luke's Murder Drones hoodie is indicative of anything. (The counter-argument I saw: maybe he just likes wearing it?)

May 12th: Glitch's official Twitter account posts an N-related meme:

Nothing very out of the ordinary in of itself, but - again - the timing gets people wondering.

May 13th: The same account retweets two different pieces of Murder Drones fanart:

This, I'd say, is rather out of the ordinary at this point - the account's been largely focused on The Gaslight District for the past month, a natural byproduct of that show's pilot finally premiering. Similarly, the account's profile picture reverted back to normal (after spending quite some time as a Gaslight District-themed variant).

So that's where we're at now. I can't imagine the announcement would take much longer, since the Prime premiere date is fast approaching - we'll see for sure soon enough.

[sadquickchristmassnowman]

Hiiii I have a community question I wanted to ask!!

Abed mentions all sorts of movies and tv shows through out Community, but I just wanted to know if maybe you have like a list of which ones are real and which ones he seemed to like more than others.

I can only think of the dark knight because of the dvd Annie broke, and the Star Wars movies (except he apparently hates the prequels) and cougar town!

great question! sorry for the delay on a response.

so, he mentions/references an insane number of movies and tv shows throughout the series, and I unfortunately do not have a list of every single one. although, I am (VERY slowly) working on an in-depth episode-by-episode analysis of the entire series, and listing every pop culture reference is a subsection in that. but that's not helpful right now. moving on

I don't have the picture, but there's this questionnaire abed filled out (outside of the show, it must have been uploaded to a website as promotional material for the show). he says his favorite movie is a tie between:

ghostbusters (1984, comedy/horror)

an american werewolf in london (1981, horror)

back to the future (1985, sci-fi/comedy)

blade runner (1982, sci-fi/action)

stand by me (1986, adventure/comedy)

stripes (1981, comedy/war)

star wars (1977, sci-fi/fantasy, also called "a new hope")

star wars: the empire strikes back (1980, sci-fi/fantasy)

star wars: the return of the jedi (1983, sci-fi/fantasy)

ferris bueller's day off (1986, comedy/drama)

jaws (1975, thriller/adventure)

raising arizona (1987, comedy/crime)

jurassic park (1993, adventure/sci-fi)

seven (1995, crime/mystery)

the matrix (1999, action/sci-fi)

the goonies (1985, adventure/comedy)

the breakfast club (1985, comedy/romance)

real genius (1985, comedy/sci-fi)

better off dead (1985, comedy/romance)

the fog of war (2003, documentary/war)

pulp fiction (1994, crime/thriller)

(btw if anyone knows what I’m talking about and has the screenshot please rb with it! I cannot for the life of me find it lmao)

I believe this is a list he apparently made in 2009, either in the first few weeks of school or right before the school year started. so it's possible he would answer differently as the series progressed. also, I do take some of these extra-canon things with a grain of salt, as on the same form he said his favorite place on campus was study room D or something, when obviously they definitely meant to write study room F. so, the credibility of my source for this information isn't exactly rock-solid. although, he does mention a lot of these movies on screen, and expresses love for many of them (the most notable ones probably being star wars episodes IV-VI, the breakfast club, and pulp fiction)

as you can see from the list, abed particularly loves american movies from the 80's. just a trend I thought I’d point out.

here's a few others he mentions loving, or just pretty notably references:

the dark night (2008, action/crime, as you mentioned)

rudolph the red-nosed reindeer (1964, musical/animated, is the whole basis of 2x11 abed's uncontrollable christmas)

the shawshank redemption (1994, horror/crime, is the basis for his plot with troy, annie, and shirley in 4x05 cooperative escapism in familial relations)

freaky friday (I believe it's the original one from 1976 specifically, but it's been remade a bunch. comedy/fantasy. it's the basis of abed and troy's story in 4x11 basic human anatomy)

rambo/first blood (series starting in 1982, action/thriller. abed talks about how messy the progressive series titles are in 3x14 pillows and blankets)

ocean's eleven (2001, crime/thriller, the basis for the heist scene from 3x21 the first chang dynasty)

hearts of darkness (1991, documentary/war, abed mentions it while pointedly filming dean pelton's production of his greendale commercial rather than helping with the commercial itself. similarly, hearts of darkness filmed the making of apocalypse now)

apocalypse now (1979, war/action, see the above explanation)

die hard (series starting in 1988, action/thriller, abed mentions wanting to do a die hard homage for christmas multiple times throughout season 4)

good will hunting (1997, thriller/romance, troy and abed's story in 1x24 english as a second language is filled with references to this movie. abed is doing homages on purpose, troy is not)

my dinner with andre (1981, comedy/drama, abed does a very elaborate homage at jeff's accidental expense in 2x19 critical film studies)

indiana jones (raiders of the lost ark, temple of doom, and the last cruscade only. he mentions loving the first three indiana jones movies in 1x04 social psychology)

aliens (1986, action/adventure/sci-fi, he and troy dress up as an alien and ripley in 2x06 epidemiology) (side note, I believe they're specifically referencing aliens, which is a sequel to alien. could be wrong though)

blade (1998, horror/action, they watch it over the course of 3x15 origins of vampire mythology after troy and abed assert multiple times that it is an amazing movie)

I think he generally talks about movies more than he talks about tv shows, but he does mention quite a few of them. some notable mentions are:

friends (1994, sitcom, mentions at least twice)

m*a*s*h (1972, sitcom, mentions in passing in 1x05 advanced criminal law, and references throughout 1x13 investigative journalism)

the cape (2011, action, mentions throughout 4x13 advanced introduction to finality)

who's the boss (1984, sitcom, is the premise of his whole storyline in 2x20 competitive wine tasting)

LOST (2004, sci-fi, mentions at least twice)

obviously there are a LOT more, but I just tried to list some of the most important ones, plot-wise and for understanding of his character. hopefully I’ll be able to get back to everyone with a super long list of every tv show and movie he ever mentions lmao, but that'll take a while. (there are lists online that say they list every movie and tv show abed has ever mentioned, but ngl I don't 100% trust those, so I’ll make my own lmao. but I put the link to one of them if you're curious. here's another one too)

at this point anyone who has seen community knows there are some really really big ones that I haven’t mentioned yet. pieces of media that are INTEGRAL to abed as a character. I was saving them for last lmfao. they are:

kickpuncher

inspector spacetime

cougar town

if I had to pick a holy trinity of media for abed, it would be these three things. these are EASILY the things he talks about the most, which is interesting, as both the kickpuncher movie franchise and the inspector spacetime series are completely fictional, and only exist in the community universe. (this is probably so they can show abed actually watching some of the shows/movies he talks about, without the obvious copyright issues that come with playing clips from an already existing movie/tv show on your screen. they kind of do that with blade in 3x15, but they only play vague fighting sounds, and never show their tv on our screen. anyway. not relevant.) to answer one of your questions from the ask, I believe those two are the ONLY fictional pieces of media abed talks about. as far as I know, everything else he mentions is real, including cougar town.

kickpuncher is obviously reminiscent of sci-fi/action films from the 80's, like robocop. like I said earlier, taking their place so that they could have a more substantial role in abed's on-screen life without any copywrite worries. it's a whole franchise, so there are multiple movies: kickpuncher, kickpuncher 2: codename: punchkicker, kickpuncher 3: the final kickening, kickpuncher: detroit, kickpuncher: miami (?), and kicksplasher (?). kicksplasher is apparently shown as a poster on abed's wall, and I’m assuming it's from the same franchise, although that could be wrong. the point is there's a very elaborate universe for kickpuncher, and it's a big part of abed's, and later troy's, film taste. the first time they mention it is in 1x15 romantic expressionism, when abed, troy, shirley, pierce, and chang all get together in abed's dorm room to make fun of stupid movies together. it's funny that it was introduced as a stupid movie to watch ironically, then troy and abed both end up genuinely loving it lmao. classic

inspector spacetime is obviously reminiscent of doctor who. they're both british sci-fi series that have been running for decades. doctor who uses a police box to travel the multiverse, while doctor who uses a telephone box. doctor who has malicious daleks who chant "exterminate," while inspector spacetime has blorgons who shout "eradicate." the concepts of the shows are obviously the same, with the actor for the doctor changing every season, etc etc. they're essentially the same exact show, but, like I said before, changed slightly so they can world-build without getting copywrited. there is something a little bit silly about this, though. it's definitely a continuity error and it's up to everyone whether they want to accept it as canon or not, I guess, but there's an episode where abed is actually wearing a doctor who t-shirt. (it also references bill and ted, but the doctor who part is what's relevant.) here's some pictures:

awesome shirt tbh, but it is a little bit funny that is essentially makes it true that doctor who and inspector spacetime both exist in the community universe. and, these pictures are from the cold open of 4x11 basic human anatomy, which is way after inspector spacetime is introduced to the show (3x01 biology 101). so, is inspector spacetime just a rip-off of doctor who? is abed a fan of both shows? if he is, clearly he likes inspector spacetime better. anyway. I would guess that this wasn't intentional. but that is definitely a tardis on that shirt. maybe it's just a classic season 4 continuity mistake. oh well. I guess that's just how the cookie crumbles. anyway.

cougar town time! yes, it's a real show. I didn't think it was but it is. what's not real is cougarton abbey, the short-lived british remake that britta gets abed into in 3x01 biology 101. but yeah. it has 6 seasons and is streaming on hulu, if you're interested. I’ve heard it's not good but who knows for sure. something cool about cougar town is that abed is actually in an episode. let me be clear: not danny pudi. ABED. it's similar to the story abed tells about being invited to the cougar town set and shitting his pants while having an existential crisis about the layers of reality. here is a youtube clip of the scene. I found out about it while stalking danny pudi's wikipedia page months ago, you know, a typical sunday afternoon activity, and I saw a cougar town credit on there. I didn't even know it was a real show at that point so you can imagine my surprise lmao. anyway. idk if you knew that already but it's one of my favorite community easter eggs. so funny.

okay! I hope this is enough information to suit your needs, and I am once again opening the floor to anyone who wants to add anything 💯 this was fun, thanks for the ask, and stay fresh everyone ✌️

[falloutboyfan18]

when you post a clip and people reblog it, all they see is the clip, they don't have a link to the source video. unless you put the link on every clip you post the source will get lost

May I ask which video are you talking about ? if you’re talking about the new interview with Patrick Stump . I had posted the link to the video first in a separate post before I even started posting clips and screenshots that I took of the video in separate posts, so I didn’t really think about putting the link in if I had already posted the link in a separate post, but if you want, I can edit my screenshots and videos and put the link in to those as well.

Also, if you’re talking about other videos, I usually try to put in the tags where the videos is from,so like if it’s from fuse, I put on the tag fuse interview, the reason why is because I can’t find the original video that shows the full interview. I have small clips of certain interviews that I had saved on my Google Drive from years ago, and I have tried to look for it for the full videos of it, and I unfortunately cannot find the full videos. That’s the other reason why in the tags I do put credit to the owner. Also, I do that in photo’s that are not mine. I always put credit to the owner if I can’t find the photographer’s name from the photoshoot, or if I can’t find the names of the person who has taken certain photos , also if someone sees a photo that’s theirs they usually reach out to me and tell me that it is their picture if I can give them credit and I do give credit to the people that have asked or even when they ask me to take it down I do take it down. I always try to give credit and give the source as well but like I said most of the videos and stuff that I do have are from years ago that are saved on my google drive and it’s just clips , I have spent hours looking for full interviews, and I can never find them because either the website is no longer up or the interview. The full Interviews honestly are just gone.

[x-on-the-calendar-business]

ryan ross iceberg (tier 7)

tier 1, tier 2, tier 3, tier 4, tier 5, tier 6, tier 8

deep waters:

light up skechers fancam:

this is a fancam made by twitter user fleetwood_wac. the background song is skechers by dripreport, and i think it was a tiktok song? (i don’t have tiktok) in 2020/2021, it became famous on ryan ross stan twitter. i don’t think the original tweet is still up, but aryn has it in this reply.

side note, if you weren’t on ryan ross stan twitter in 2020, you were sorely missing out.

go figure. to late honey:

this is a quote from one of ryan’s livejournal posts from july 3, 2005. it’s SO iconic.

zrosswald:

this refers to ryan/z berg/alex greenwald. i think it’s meant to refer more to their friendship; the golden trio, if you will. however, i’m sure there are people who genuinely ship them all together, just like rydan.

they have been a tight group for a while, as z and alex both played with the young veins some. also, ryan and alex made appearances at z’s prom events.

eta: as i suspected, this is definitely a real ship.

here's a tumblr post explaining the ship dynamics a bit more. this blog has a lot of zrosswald content if you're interested!

kale:

on thanksgiving of 2011, ryan tweeted this:

in 2021, it became a meme in the ryan stan twitter community, and people tagged gordan ramsay in the tweet, asking his opinion on ryan’s cooking.

first male model for mac:

the story goes that in the fever era, the makeup company mac offered ryan a spot to be their first male model. unfortunately, he declined. according to the comments on a livejournal post i found, ryan discussed this in a 2006 spin magazine interview [i]. there were scans of the interview, but sadly, they’re not available, like most pictures on lj. it hasn’t been archived either.

the same commenter says that article doesn’t specifically mention mac, though. mac did offer ryan free products, but he doesn’t say if he accepted them [i].

so, it’s unsure if ryan was offered to be mac’s male model (unless there’s another source i’ve missed) or another brand’s. either way he turned it down. my guess is that the mac idea came from the fact that he used mac’s products back then.

beef with pete wentz:

after the split, brendon got pete in the divorce.

in a MTV interview that ryan did in 2009, it says “…he wishes Urie and Smith well and still considers them both to be his friends…The same cannot be said, however, about his former boss -- Decaydance Records honcho/ Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz -- who seems to have clearly aligned himself with the Urie/Smith camp following the split" [ii].

in the same interview, ryan specifically says:

"I haven't spoken to him in a while, since this happened. I guess I've been meaning to call him back. He called me, but I've missed a lot of phone calls this week," Ross said. "We're not sure [whether Ross' and Walker's new band will be on Wentz's Decaydance Records]. I'll have to talk to him, but obviously from what's happening online, I think he's ... he's written a lot about them. I don't know if they're working together on their stuff. I'm not really sure, but it's been awhile since we've spoken. It's strange. It's kind of weird" [ii].

the author of the article speculates that ryan and pete’s friendship is over [ii]. i can’t find the source for this, nor can i remember what the specific comments were, but i swear that pete did make some shady comments about ryan at one point.

however, it does seem that their relationship is not on negative terms currently. in 2016, pete tweeted this and this about ryan [iii] [iv]. also, this year (2023), pete mentioned ryan in a video fall out boy posted of pete reviewing his old fashion! you can watch it here:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fall Out Boy (@falloutboy)

i’m also going to link an article i found that chronicles ryan and pete’s entire relationship, which is an interesting read (although i get the feeling they’re a little biased against ryan…).

ryan’s pet turtles:

i can’t find the post or comment, but on a lj post, ryan commented “this reminds me of when my dad ran over my pet turtles with the lawn mower. thanks.”

“i went to high school with ryan:”

i have two sources for this, and i’m not sure of which one is the original. however, this one is the one i remember seeing first (around 2014).

on tumblr, someone sent in an ask saying essentially the same thing, also in 2014.

i know that both are referring to the same thing; i’m just not sure if the first pic is based on the ask, or if the ask is based on the image. either way, the sentiment is the same.

honestly, i don’t think this story is true. still funny nonetheless

hot girls eating pizza:

this is another one i cannot find a source for anywhere (not even a tweet mentioning it), even though i was able to in the past. i apologize.

but i’m pretty sure that what this is about is a tweet/social media post in which he referred to hot girls eating pizza.

if anyone has a source or more information on this one though, please let me know!!

(i was going to dm the creator of one of the icebergs i referenced to ask her, but twitter won’t allow me to send dms to someone who doesn’t follow me unless i pay for twitter blue. i’m committed to explaining this iceberg but not enough to give elon musk my money i fear)

sent to an island:

in an alternative press interview from 2018, z said that on christmas eve, she shipped ryan off to an island to clear his head. ryan says, “true story” [v].

kate moss playboy:

in the following picture from ryan’s instagram, you can see a kate moss playboy on the table.

hentai:

in the fever era, panic did interviews for a japanese magazine. someone ran ryan’s portion through an image translation, and it brought back something about hentai.

eta: update, twitter user givememallce bought the actual magazine from japan and provided us with translations of this image and the questions the band was answering! they also included the answers from the rest of the band if you're curious about those [vi]. so the biggest shoutout to them and their service.

fake wedding with z:

in 2009, ryan and z pretended to be married. ryan tweeted a picture of z with a wedding ring, called her his wife, and also tweeted a quote of her calling him “the best husband ever” [vii].

later, he tweeted that his wife left in the middle of the night. he then had a revelation:

the best part is that all of these events took place within a single day.

here’s the masterpost with all the details:

not actually 5’11:

this is a conspiracy that ryan is lying about his height.

one piece of evidence was that brendon is 5’9, meaning ryan would be 2 inches taller than him. however, in a lot of photos they look to be relatively the same height.

the other piece is that multiple fans who have met ryan said that compared to their own heights, he can’t be 5’11. i don’t have specific sources of people saying that, but i know it was discourse on twitter at one point.

next is the final entry in the iceberg, where we get into the most obscure stuff the iceberg has to offer and finish this thing up.

tier 8

references:

[i] https://bandfandom-ref.livejournal.com/133181.html

[ii] https://www.mtv.com/news/1fedpk/exclusive-ryan-ross-talks-about-leaving-panic-at-the-disco

[iii] https://twitter.com/petewentz/status/794988164901261312

[iv] https://twitter.com/petewentz/status/795025751930114048

[v] https://www.altpress.com/ryan-ross-z-berg-the-bad-list/

[vi] https://twitter.com/GIVEMEMALlCE/status/1695649402663363028

[vii] https://pathetic-at-the-disco.tumblr.com/post/180912208431/ryan-ross-and-z-bergs-wedding-masterpost

[moeteki]

IMPORTANT: Regarding the use of my Nitro+Chiral/BL/BLVN Scans

I know I do not use Tumblr at all in the past year (but plan to be active on here again soon), but I feel as if I need to put this on here as well, given that what I want to say has to do with scans I have uploaded and provided onto here in the past.

If you’re going to reupload any scans of mine I did in the past (and future), I ask for a link back to my postings.

(cont. below)

Reason why I am saying this is that I recently came aware of a Twitter user reuploading some of my old scans without linking back or credit. This user, whom I will not name for privacy for now, has been doing this not only with my works, but my other friends/mutuals within the Nitro+Chiral fandom. It's severely saddening and disappointing, and I'm speaking up not only for myself, but my friends/mutuals as well.

I do not have an issue with sharing my scans; I share them and for the reasons of wanting others to see content that may be hard to get a hold of. What I DO have an issue with is the lack of credit/linking credit. I know what my scans look like; I do them a particular way.

I understand how hard it is for many fans especially (in the N+C fandom outside of Japan) to get hands on items, and I don’t mind the sharing of my scans I created for people to have access, but all I ask at the very LEAST is a link back to my original upload. Just a link. That's all I ask for.

I want to provide content for people who cannot afford/be able to get their hands on it due to items being so old they are out of production. Not crediting me is a major disrespect as I have put a lot of money, time and effort too, into providing scans of content. A lot of my items I have purchased have come from Japan itself, it's an expensive and long time going out in effort to search for a lot of the stuff I have gotten. I've even pulled all-nighters translating content (in the past).

Because of this, I have decided from here on out, when I do upload a scan it will be watermarked in some form. Scans will have watermarks on every single page possibly in multiple areas (mostly hidden), and translations from here on out will have hidden watermarks if they are done solely by me. My translations already come with a credit page, but that doesn't seem to be enough anymore unfortunately.

I was planning on returning part-time to translating and providing scans of content in the next coming months due to time in my personal life finally letting up. What I was not expecting, however, was an individual pretty much reposting my old scans without credit. I hate to do this, but all they had to do was literally just post a link back to my scans.

So the good news, expect this account to become more active in the coming months (hopefully) with new scans and translations and such. Unfortunately though, what will be provided will be watermarked from here on out.

If the individual whom I am referring to happens to see this, since they seem to be pulling content from Tumblr mostly (which is why I am popping on here to say something); please just credit where credit is due. Not just with my stuff, but other's as well. Saying "idk who OP is" is not the right thing to do when you know you are posting content you haven't scanned or taken pictures of yourself. Reverse image search to find the sources.

I hope you understand, and I appreciate you all that have stuck around and continue to. Hope to be active on here again soon to provide content for you all.

Much appreciated, Mellow (Meru)

Reminder that I am far more active on my Twitter.

[blackjackkent]

OK so. Rakha's primary objectives now:

find Balthazar, use Balthazar to find the Nightsong, disable Ketheric's immortality, exact revenge on Ketheric for tadpole

follow up with Halsin about Art Cullagh and the shadow curse

actually get the tadpole removed somehow

follow up on the whole Gortash situation since he's apparently also involved in this mess

Unfortunately, of these objectives, the only one she actually has a lead on is the business with Halsin. (I do have a quest marker for the Thorm Mausoleum, but I am choosing to believe Rakha doesn't actually know where it is, since it gives good reason for her to wander around and find all the other sidequests on this map.)

So that means going back to Last Light. Rakha is not happy about this. The last time she was there she spent the whole time struggling against the beast in an attempt not to kill Isobel, and she doesn't really another visit will go any better.

HOWEVER... she hates the Shadow Curse even more than she fears the beast (although not by much). And Halsin is working on a way to end it.

She hasn't told Wyll or any of the others about Sceleritas, or about the urge to kill Isobel in particular. The whole business is uncomfortable and frightening, in a strange way she wouldn't have pictured of herself at the beginning of this journey. She does, however, deliberately keep to the lower floor, hoping to avoid exposing herself to more temptation.

There are plenty of people to talk to there besides Halsin, too - the prisoners from Moonrise made it to the inn, and Jaheira is still there as well, looking grimmer and more tired than ever.

-----

Quick cycle through the available conversations. Still very weird hanging out in Last Light without the tiefling kids or Alfira or Rolan, but Lakrissa is here! Although she doesn't have much to say.

"Things in Moonrise were... bad. Real bad. Thank you - for getting me out of there."

On a lighter note, Danis also made it back, so we can go see him and Bex have their sweet reu wait fuck, paragraph canceled, I forgot Bex is dead too. :( Fuck.

"She's dead. Bex. How can she be dead? After everything - Elturel, the druids, this place... it makes no sense at all..."

:( This fucking sucks. And the more so for Rakha because she knows there was no purpose in these deaths, and yet the beast exults in the back of her head at the news of each one.

-----

Jaheira, tell me some good news.

"The shadows haven't consumed you. Good."

I mean, I guess that counts.

"I saw Ketheric. He regenerated before my eyes."

"Gruesome, isn't it? I'm glad you survived the encounter, at least. Did you learn anything more?"

"Not yet. Parts of the Tower aren't open to me yet."

Jaheira smiles faintly. "The great General is paranoid. Good. That means he's protecting something. I'll wager it's the source of his invulnerability. He'd protect that at any cost."

"Ketheric is calling himself a 'Chosen of the Absolute' now."

(A/N: I actually kind of forgot that Ketheric name-dropped the word "Chosen" during his little "mad dog" spiel to Rakha. Makes me think Rakha, quick as she is, has probably made the leap that Gortash is one of the other Chosen (since she knows from the original Absolute encounter that there are three total).)

"Chosen." Jaheira looks tremendously unimpressed. "That's three masters Ketheric has served. Our paladin isn't very picky. He's aligned himself with mind flayers, but I cannot see what he gains. Perhaps we can force it out of him once we have him up against a wall."

Deep down, Rakha suspects that when she finally has Ketheric at her mercy, even her hunger for knowledge won't be enough to slow her blade down. But she doesn't say this out loud.

[mutation86]

Autism: How can we better communicate with those diagnosed?

Research Post No.1

Many people have shared common knowledge of autism–some people diagnosed with it have trouble in social settings, or they must have things laid out a particular way. Some show signs more than others depending on where they lie on the spectrum. 

Ultimately, though, no matter how much knowledge one may possess of the disorder, most can only do so much as interact with and help those around them who do have autism. So, knowing how to communicate with those with ASD is objectively the most important thing a neurotypical person should know in that field.

That does require knowledge of the fundamentals of the disorder, awareness of the statistics, and an understanding of an autistic person’s challenges. Genetic origins are simply something that’s of interest to this workaholic science nerd.

Pictured throughout the post: Violet Evergarden, who is often thought to have ASD, but this is not confirmed.

Part 1: Basics of Autism

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is known as a developmental disorder that typically develops in the first two years of life–whether it is properly diagnosed or not. It’s a life-long condition, but there are treatments and services that can make day-to-day life with ASD more manageable. That being said, it’s something that varies between each individual who has this condition; hence why there is a spectrum. Some risk factors include having a sibling with autism, older parents, certain genetic conditions, and a very low birth weight.

Here’s a general outline of the three levels of ASD:

Level One 

It can be challenging to communicate with neurotypical people. Saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, keeping up with back-and-forth conversations, experiencing social anxiety, and burnout from masking for long periods of time (acting neurotypical) all present as difficulties.

Additionally, in comparison to others their age, those with ASD may struggle with moving from one activity to another, trying new things, organizing and planning, and gaining independence.

Level Two

Individuals may present with even further difficulty in communicating in social settings with neurotypical people (such struggles are listed above).

Self-stimulation (also known as stimming) is what some with ASD may do for internal regulation. One example of this is pacing.

Please note: just because someone paces does not mean they are autistic.

Level Three

Unfortunately, individuals with this level of autism are at risk for neglect, abuse, and discrimination; they often cannot express themselves properly and struggle with daily life in general. 

To diagnose autism in young children, typically, general developmental screening is done during well-child checkups, with specific autism screenings completed at 18 and 24-month checkups. After that, there is an additional diagnostic evaluation, which determines what services will be most useful and has a team of multiple professionals behind that decision.

Diagnosing older children and adults is seemingly less common, but nonetheless just as critical. Older children and adolescents will discuss their social difficulties (facial expressions, sarcasm, etc), while adults may also find that their autism overlaps with other disorders (ex. ADHD) when discussing communication challenges, restricted interests, and the like.

Now, I may like numbers, but I believe that statistics often help exemplify the full extent of information conveyed. Here are just a few.

1 in 36 children and 1 in 44 adults have autism, and boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed.

The average age of diagnosis is five years old.

74% of autistic children graduate with a diploma.

Part 2: Genetic Details

This part is less essential for common knowledge, but when I read that autism can have genetic origins (2-4%), I couldn’t help but satisfy my hunger for mutations by…finding a bunch and summarizing how they are the source of autism.

ADNP syndrome: a condition that causes a variety of complications, people may present mild to severe intellectual disability and delayed development of speech and motor skills. It’s also associated with mood disorders or behavioral problems such as anxiety, temper tantrums, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or sleep problems. Many will have distinctive facial features, hypotonia, and feeding difficulties in infancy. Other issues include gastroesophageal reflux, vomiting, constipation, obesity, seizures, and heart abnormalities. Mutations in the ADNP gene result in abnormal chromatin remodeling.

ARID1B gene (chromosome 6): provides instructions for making a protein that is part of the SWI/SWF complexes, which regulate chromatin remodeling. Typically, the SWI/SWF complexes regulate gene activity, but they can also repair damaged DNA, replicate DNA, and aid the growth, division, and maturation of cells. Subunits can also act as tumor suppressors. The specific relationship between ASD and the variants of this gene isn’t known, but they’re thought to alter gene expression and normal brain development. This happens when ARID1B does not have enough of the protein or it cannot remodel properly.

ASH1L gene (chromosome 1): provides instructions for creating the enzyme lysine-specific methyltransferase 2H, which functions as a histamine methyltransferase (modifies proteins called histones). Histones bind to DNA and give them their structural shape, and when methylation occurs, these enzymes control the activity of certain genes. Some mutations involve changing an amino acid in the lysine-specific methyltransferase 2H enzyme. Others delete genetic material in the ASH1L gene or send a premature stop signal (which leads to an abnormally short enzyme, nonfunctional). The resulting changes can affect brain development and increase the risk of ASD.

CHD2 gene (chromosome 15): provides instructions for creating chromodomain DNA helicase protein 2 and regulates gene activity through chromatin remodeling. Mutations impair this gene, affect brain development, and increase the risk for ASD.

CHD8 gene (chromosome 14): provides instructions for making a protein through chromatin remodeling. This protein (as well as the genes it regulates) helps control the development of neural progenitor cells, which give rise to neurons, proliferation, and differentiation.  Essentially, this protein controls the number of neurons in the brain. Mutations impair this function, for excess neurons are associated with ASD, but the exact relationship is unknown.

DYRK1A gene (chromosome 21): provides instructions for an enzyme crucial for the nervous system; in this case, a kinase (adds a phosphate group (oxygen and phosphorus atoms) to other proteins through phosphorylation), which is involved in many processes in cells. In neurons, the DYRK1A enzyme is involved in the formation and maturation of dendritic spines from dendrites (specialized extensions of neurons essential for the transmission of nerve impulses). Dendritic spines: small outgrowths that further aid the transmission of nerve impulses and increase communication between neurons. People with ASD with a mutation of this gene may also have intellectual disability, speech problems, anxiety, microcephaly, epilepsy, characteristic facial features, hypotonia, foot abnormalities, and gait disturbance

POGZ gene (chromosome 1): provides instructions for making a protein found in the cell nucleus, which belongs to a group of zinc finger proteins. They include amino acids and one or more zinc ions (folded configuration makes stabilization and binding with other molecules possible). Attaches to chromatin to alter the structure to affect the gene expression outcome. Mutations prevent effective chromatin remodeling, which alters the genes associated with brain development. Can also lead to White-Sutton syndrome.

SHANK3 gene (chromosome 22): provides instructions for a protein that plays a role in synapses, which connect to neurons and allow for communication; also involved in the maturation and formation of dendritic spines. A disruption between neurons is thought to cause ASD (variations in other genes and environmental factors are also listed here).

SYNGAP1 gene (chromosome 6): provides instructions for making the protein SynGAP, which is found at synapses, where cell communication takes place; essentially acts as the wiring responsible for the brain and is responsible for rewiring to maintain memory and learn (protein is critical during early brain development). Behavioral abnormalities characteristic of ASD may come from changes in synaptic adaptation.

In summary, many genes associated with ASD either play a role in brain development (production, growth, and organization of neurons) which causes there to be either the wrong number of neurons produced or an altered function of synapses when there is a mutation. At other times, ASD can affect the regulation of certain genes and proteins.

During brain development, people with ASD will have more neurons than normal and have an overgrowth in the cortex. Abnormalities occur in the frontal and temporal lobes of the cortex, which play a role in emotions, social behavior, and language.

Part 3: Difficulties and Challenges

Those diagnosed with autism typically present with difficulty communicating and interacting with other people; have restricted interests and repetitive behaviors; and symptoms that affect their ability to function in school, work, and other areas of life.

Social communication/interaction behavior:

Making little or inconsistent eye contact.

Appearing not to look at or listen to people who are talking.

Infrequently sharing interest, emotion, or enjoyment of objects or activities (including infrequent pointing at or showing things to others).

Not responding to or being slow to respond to one’s name or other verbal bids for attention.

Having difficulties with the back and forth of conversation.

Often talking at length about a favorite subject without noticing others are not interested or without giving others a chance to respond.

Displaying facial expressions, movements, and gestures that do not match what is being said.

Having an unusual tone of voice that may sound sing-song or flat and robot-like.

Having trouble understanding another person’s point of view or being unable to predict or understand other people’s actions.

Difficulties adjusting behaviors to social situations.

Difficulties sharing in imaginative play or in making friends.

Restrictive/repetitive behavior:

Repeating certain behaviors or having unusual behaviors, such as repeating words or phrases (a behavior called echolalia).

Having a lasting intense interest in specific topics, such as numbers, details, or facts.

Showing overly focused interests, such as with moving objects or parts of objects.

Becoming upset by slight changes in a routine and having difficulty with transitions.

Being more sensitive or less sensitive than other people to sensory output, such as light, sound, clothing, or temperature.

That’s not to say there aren’t strengths to ASD. Some include:

Being able to learn things in detail and remember information for long periods of time.

Being strong visual and auditory learners.

Excelling in math, science, music, or art.

Part 4: How We Can Help

In the end, this information is great and it’s certainly a good way to deepen one’s knowledge of autism. But this is a tumblr post, so chances are, it won’t do much in actually aiding one’s ability to connect what they’ve learned to acting on it. Knowing how to interact is key. 

Ways to Build Relationships and Rapport

Be patient while having a conversation, giving the person time to answer.

Always strive to be encouraging and compassionate.

Learn about their favorite interests, games, or hobbies and try to find common ones.

Be aware of the tendency of autistic people to speak at length about their favorite topics, which may require some gentle prompting or redirection.

Sustaining conversation can also be challenging. Offer choices, suggest topics, or bridge the conversation to a topic you know they can discuss.

Offer concise directions or clear choices.

Example: “Would you like to take a walk or ride our bikes?”

Provide specific praise such as “I liked the way you waited for me before leaving the room” instead of a vague “good job” so they understand what behavior you are seeking from them.

To make your own communication clearer, share with the individual what you want them to do rather than what you don’t want them to do.

Don’t be offended by a lack of eye contact, motor tics, or a lack of understanding of personal boundaries.

Understand that autistic people like routines and schedules.

Autistic people tend to think literally, so it’s best to avoid idioms and slang.

How to be a Friend to Someone with ASD

Simply ask how you can be a good friend, colleague, etc. 

Listen and don’t be quick to give an answer or response when spending time with your autistic friend. Simply be there to give them a listening ear–you may have to wait longer for a response or weed through a lengthy explanation, but you will learn something new in the end.

Support them if they ask for help. Be sensitive to what they want and need, not just how you think they should improve or behave.

Try not to talk over or about them when others are around.

Help them work on social skills by trying to engage them in conversations with yourself and others.

Find discreet ways to give social hints. Build up their confidence in the same way that you would support any other friend in a challenging situation.

Try not to jump in and make decisions for your friend in a social situation.

Prevent uncomfortable situations (avoid busy times in public).

Part 5: Notes

I think that people often underestimate how nuanced ASD is in terms of how many different considerations one can make–there’s no shortage of acts you can perform to be kind. The tricky part is recognizing what you can change, in my honest opinion. 

I was motivated to begin this blog with autism not only because delving in depth on a “common” disorder is always rewarding, but also because a friend of mine has been diagnosed with it. I had known this for a while, and yet, a few months ago I grew irritated that they couldn’t understand me. Not only am I a workaholic and immune to the effects of caffeine (the world is bleak), but I’m supposed to be the one who works to communicate in a way my friend can understand fully, not the other way around.

So, I decided I wanted to educate myself on autism beyond the basics, and in doing so I learnt about parts of ASD that people often gloss over (which I hope I displayed so here) as well as accomplishing my main goal: know how to better communicate with my friend based on what I know.

A side note, though: this may be common sense, but I didn’t do this research to dictate how we should constantly act around those with autism–the feeling of being given special treatment is resented by many. It really depends on the level, but generally, being aware of some of the “tips” above when communicating is rather challenging in a moment may be helpful. Essentially, it should boil down to what feels right, I suppose.

Ultimately, I have a long way to go until I can consistently make “research papers,” but I think this research of fairly tertiary sources with the purpose of summarizing the information and clearing up some basic misconceptions is a great start. If anyone with knowledge of ASD has any corrections or helpful information to add, please (kindly) let me know!

Psst...the CDC seems to have some pretty good info on what I may have not covered, so feel free to check it out!

Living with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Sources

Autism Spectrum Disorder - National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Understanding the Three Levels of Autism

Interacting with Autistic People | Milestones Autism Resources | Cleveland, OH.

Communication tips

Autism statistics and facts | Autism Speaks

​​Autism spectrum disorder: MedlinePlus Genetics

Data and Statistics on Autism Spectrum Disorder

[ssoupcup]

to avoid annoying my friend by bombarding him with multiple pictures of rocks, here's a bunch of cool geological stuff i saw in the cliffs and the beach on my walk today with lengthy explanations ! i forgot to use things for scaling in all of these so I'll just be going off what i remember unfortunately. but yeah i really just wanted to rant about my special interest because i don't live near cliffs so this is the perfect opportunity to do some geology bc I MISS MY GEO LESSONS!!!! also this is all just from memory. if im wrong about something that is why lmao

we start off with a fun little symmetrical gentle anticline. nothing too remarkable but i was nevertheless happy to see it.

some pretty visible soil creep :3

a LOT of landslips happen along this coastline (clearly), probably due to the poor cementation of the rock. its pretty young (deposited within the last 2 million years according to which papers I've read) so it's had less time to. you know. cement. its also mostly muds and clays, so they get easily waterlogged and effected by weathering which causes the landslips.

here's some more slumps and such. i *think* i saw some slump rotational slides but i don't know if i got pictures and if i did i don't remember enough about them to identify them from the images.

cont'd from above. ^^^^

also just here is some REALLY COOL folding at the base of the cliff no im serious just look at that series of folds. this one actually had a random person in the photo too so there's some idea of scale. like just look at that big eroded anticline up top and below is the other folds. YIPPEEE

so originally i thought there was a lot of tilting which technically there is but i think its mostly due to the landslips and such. i think portions of the cliff have collapsed or slipped which causes these parts of the rock face to drop down whilst still remaining in tact. you can kinda see it in these?

there is also a lot of clay which i found out is from the forest bed formation which dates from around 2ma to 500,000 years ago. its generally up to about 6m thick. the clay itself is from freshwater deposits (i think some of the stuff i read said there used to be a river there with its source being in the pennines but don't quote me on that.)

i wish id gotten closer to the cliffs to see what the rocks and sediment are like but i was walking with my sister and my dog and both of them wanted to get going lmao because the walk itself was about 2 and a half hours. for fluvial deposits at this distance from the sea, assuming this area was once the site of a river mouth, i would expect to see generally well sorted, well rounded grains, or a lot of muds. there were definitely a lot of muds present which could indicate a river mouth but it may also just be from the forest bed, and the same goes for the clays. i think i read somewhere that the clays are from 0.5 to 0.8ma, and may be indicative of a river bed since its literally the smallest grain size (platy particles which are hard to erode due to their shape. ALTHOUGH. some clays are more likely to become waterlogged and swell which can cause more cliff failures (i THINK its due to gaps between bonds but im not too sure. something like Kimmeridge clay? nope i looked it up that's a specific deposit of clay. im thinking about 1:1 and 2:1 clays - specifically kaolonite (1:1 which allows for minimal swelling) and montmorillonite (2:1 which allows for more swelling as water can penatrate the spaces). i cannot for some reason find anywhere what kind the clay here is and i don't know how to assess it myself or if i even can/could assess it so. that just remains as a tangent.))

i looked it up. i am correct about river mouth muds and clays.¹ the clays and muds are indeed from fluvial deposits. there's also floodplain stuff. i love being correct about things i like. AYO I just saw it was also an estuary look at me slaying. although that wasn't hard to guess since this is a modern day coastline and this geology is very recent lmao.

there's also glacial deposits which includes banding i believe in the rocks but im going to be real with you, i didn't do near as much research into that can't remember shit about it. here's what i think might be it though lmao. glacial stuff is characterised most often by poor sorting, generally very angular grains and such which makes up glacial till. id put a picture in but i reached the limit now im writing this bc this post was not written chronologically. here is what probably is the till.

then here's a formation i simply enjoyed the look of. we also saw a seal :3

I don't have all the references because some of this is just from my own knowledge and understanding but here are some of the papers i used to research. i can't be bothered to do proper harvard referencing, and i don't think anyone particularly cares or are going to look at them but here's them just in the off chance someone did want to look at them lmao

¹ i know wikipedia isn't a reliable source for academic research or papers but this is a tumblr post in which im literally just ranting about my special interest. this is the source.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromer_Forest_Bed#:~:text=The%20Cromer%20Forest%20Bed%20is,and%200.5%20million%20years%20ago.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.north-norfolk.gov.uk/media/3128/appendix_a__n_norfolk_coastal_environment.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiD4pWd8oGBAxWeWkEAHaXbBHYQFnoECCQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3jvgi8XAq_s53_CYKqeQVZ

(looked at whole paper but specifically referenced pages 4, 5, 15, 16, 20, 21)

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/16198/1/Trimingham.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiD4pWd8oGBAxWeWkEAHaXbBHYQFnoECCUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3Q21XXFHJQbRppkKhEc1LT

[whereareroo]

THE FACTS PLEASE

WF THOUGHTS (8/14/23).

“People are entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts.”

That’s a famous line that has been used by many intellectuals. It became popular in the 1980s when it was repeatedly used by a scholarly U.S. Senator from New York, Daniel Patrick Moynihan. The quote did not originate with him. Intellectuals had been using various versions of the quote since the 1940s.

Regardless of origin, it’s impossible to disagree with the point of the quote. Facts are facts. You’re not entitled to change the “facts” because the truth gets in the way of your opinion.

We have a major problem in America. It’s very difficult to get a firm fix on the facts. It should be easy. We should be able to get the true facts from all media outlets. We can’t. To suit its needs, every media outlet plays games with the facts. It’s extremely annoying. It’s also dangerous. Democracy depends upon an informed citizenry. Citizens cannot be properly informed if they can’t get the straight facts.

As an example, let’s talk about oil production in the United States.

Conservative and Republican news outlets constantly claim the U.S. oil production was reduced by Obama, greatly increased by Trump, and that it has now significantly fallen due to Biden’s “green policies” and his war on energy. That claim is repeated over and over again. I’m sure that you’ve heard the spiel.

Because it’s such a controversial topic, Progressive and Democratic news outlets don’t report on U.S. oil production. They happily report about green energy and climate change. Seeking to avoid problems, they don’t talk about oil production. Why talk about a topic that might hurt Biden?

The facts about U.S oil production recently came to my attention. I’ll give you the facts. You’ll see why I’m so frustrated with the media. I’m sick of the games.

President George W. Bush was the former governor of Texas and he had deep ties to the oil industry. Nonetheless, oil production was higher under his successor, President Obama. In fact, it hit record highs under Obama. Our latest oil production record was set in 2019 under Trump. This year, with Biden in the White House, that record will be beaten by more than 500,000 barrels per day. Our oil output in 2023 will be 12.8 million barrels per day. In 2024, also with Biden in the White House, we’ll set another new record at 13.1 million barrels per day. We produce more oil than any other country in the world. Saudi Arabia, the #2 oil producer, only produces 10 million barrels per day.

Do you see the point? Oil production is rising in America. Biden isn’t killing oil production. I only discovered these facts because I’m a nerd and I read the fine print. Why is it so difficult to find the facts about this important issue? Why don’t we all know that, by far, we’re the #1 oil producer in the world?

Because the media plays games with the facts, Americans are frequently in the dark. With the facts, we can see the whole picture. With respect to overall energy policy, the picture is quite positive. The facts show that America can do two things at the same time. In addition to fighting climate change and actively pursuing green energy, it can be the #1 oil producer in the world. Unfortunately, the truth doesn’t advance the political agendas of the media outlets.

We all need to be smarter about our media consumption. Try to ignore the “spin” that is embedded in media reports. Look for facts. Dig for the facts. Check multiple sources. Develop the skills that are necessary to separate the facts from the opinions. Armed with the facts, we can be better citizens.

[weirdass-shiptournament]

WELCOME TO THE (UN)OFFICIAL WEIRDASS SHIP TOURNAMENT‼️

DO YOU:

- Have a rare pair so rare they never interact in canon? Or even exist in the same canon?

- Is literally only known by a small circle of friends and is completely incomprehensible to the average onlooker?

THEN THIS IS THE POLL FOR YOU‼️

THE SUBMISSION RULES ARE:

- CANNOT interact in canon! We are talking the obscurest of obscure. I need to have to hunt these character down and edit them into a photo in order for them to be valid. If I google their names together and can easily find official pictures of them hanging out it’s invalid(exceptions can be made depending on circumstances)

- CAN be from different source material. Literally anything goes!! Anime character and Spongebob? OKAY!!! Two characters from the same show who’ve never interacted?? YES!! I’m looking for ships you need to explain the development of. There needs to be a lore.

- CANNOT have a mass following. Once again, I’m looking for ships that can only be comprehended by a group of friends with insider knowledge. So things like BBC Sherlock’s mormor, despite being a ship wjere one of the characters technically doesn’t exist, doesn’t count on account of being immensely popular and having several hundreds of fics made for them. WE’RE TALKING WEIRD. RANDOM. OBSCURE. There’s gotta be like 5 fics of them MAXIMUM(exceptions can be made if they’re all by the same one or two very dedicated ppl)

- ALL SUBMISSIONS WILL BE JUDGED BY DEDICATION NOT NUMBERS!!! I want you FIGHTING for your LIFE to justify why your blorbos are not only weird but extremely valid to ship. I want to see essays with the same passion and effort youd put into your English paper worth 50% of your grade.

AND THE POLL RULES ARE:

- NO REAL LIFE PEOPLE. streamers count.

- I have full control of who gets in or not. Once again, we are going by dedication, not numbers. Please don’t be upset if your blorbos do not make it in. I f things go well, I’ll probably do this again, so you’ll likely have more chances to see them submitted.

- I DO NOT HAVE ENCYCLOPEDIC KNOWLEDGE OF EVERY MEDIA EVER. while i will go out of my way to do background checks of any character I don’t recognize, I’m not very smart. If a ship gets in that’s in some way notably problematic, I assure you I did not know!! Please just DM me about it if it happens!!!

- I don’t want to see any trash talking towards other opponents. This is a for fun poll! Please have fun. Discover new weird ships to have. Form weird ship polycules with the opponents and kiss or smth. If I see any vile behavior in the polls you will be blocked.

- unfortunately I am a human bound by feelings and bias. This was originally just going to be a ‘weird a3 ships’ thing before I decided to branch out since I doubt I’d get many submissions sticking to one fandom. If you see a lot of a3! Specific ships thats because I have a lot of friends who are all individually buckwild about certain weird ships.

- ALL PROPAGANDAIS NOT ONLY BELOVED AND ADORED BUT ENCOURAGED!!! GO APE!!!

THE SUBMISSIONS WILL LAST UNTIL MAY 15TH GMT -4‼️ (<- linked here)

(Should a date be needed I will specify later down the line. I will give more than enough time with a heads up for when I close submissions, so you do not have to worry about being too late to submit your blorbos.)

I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE SPECIAL SHOUTOUTS TO @pinkandbluebracket @redandyellowbracket @a3outfitstournament AND @greenhairandpronouns-tournament FOR MAKING POLLS SEEM FUN AND SILLY AND THUS MY ENCOURAGEMENT TO MAKE MY OWN!!! ALSO BECAUSE TAGGING SEEMS CUSTOMARY

[villainanders]

agh i wanna hear about your cousland so bad!! what kind of person is she what’s her relationship w sir gilmore why did she side w the templars 👀👀

ahh i hadnt checked my askbox in a few days so just saw this but thank you for asking anon i love you!!

her name is roisin cousland and she's been very fun to play so far bc i didn't have much of a vision for her at the start beyond "cousland who marries Alistair but has leliana as her mistress at the end". (also this picture - the source of which i cannot find its from pinterest - which made me go FUCK i need to start my cousland playthrough) so seeing the way she's been developing has been very fun.. she starts out as, while very capable and a talented warrior and seemingly cool under pressure, deeply privileged and frankly naive about the reality of the world. she sees no reason why she can't live a charmed life as a ladyknight and eventually a great lady in her own right!

of course this all comes crashing down in the most horrific way imaginable in her origin as she suddenly basically realizes that she has been in an entirely different genre than she believed. you thought this was chivalric romance? this is dark fantasy bitch! this fucked up world ate everyone she ever loved so she needs to bite back, and hard, before it eats her too. basically roisin is grappling -- and badly so -- with how brutal she needs to be survive in a world that is fundamentally unjust beyond anything she imagined. that's why she sides with the templars -- she doesn't want to see the mages hurt, but she saw horrors beyond comprehension in the tower and imagines that a response that echoes that same swiftness and brutality must be the only way to respond.

but at the same time she's still kind of naive and getting used to living outside of her nobility bubble.. funniest part of this playthrough was when they met bandits on the road and i realized she would not realize she was being robbed so she just earnestly paid their tax not realizing how weird it was or how expensive it was. (it's one highway tax, alistair, what could it cost? 500 silver?)

i'm still playing in relatively early stages of the game so I'm not totally sure where this is going from here, though i imagine she's going grow past this stage of her grief and understand that mercy and hope have their place as well (this is making me realize it might be cool to do the dalish quest last so making peace can be the conclusion to that arc... hmmm) but we shall see where it goes. right now I'm obsessed with her dynamic with zevran they make me laugh every time they talk because roisin only let him live bc she was fresh out of ostagar (s/o to zev asap mod) and having just witnessed a SECOND brutal betrayal with unimaginably bloody consequences, was really starting to settle into "the only way to save the world is to start REALLY playing dirty. even if it means working with this awful reprehensible assassin. i might need someone this morally bankrupt to win" but ofc as she very slowly begins to start talking to zevran she starts to realize that assassin = evil is not as simple as she thought and that she unfortunately sees a lot of herself in this guy that seems so different from her. so i think that's going to be an important friendship in how she ultimately grows

as for her and gilmore, they were childhood friends growing up, but i think their relationship is probably going to break down a bit as time goes on. I'm still getting to know him via the mod, but the impression i have right now is that he's still very idealistic despite what he went through in highever, and i think it's going to upset and frustrate him to see someone he loves coping with the same thing in such an opposite way, in the same way it's currently pissing off roisin that he isn't drawing the same conclusions about the world from their experience that she did

[pompompurindazai]

Heyyy 🥰

Okay okay, a thought: Dazai has a similar mind to Mori's, but the day Oda dies he decides to let his emotions influence his decisicion. Which means he's actually a highly emotional person, right? But what if part from his great suffering comes from him not being able to UNDERSTAND all his emotions. What if he has a sky-high analytical intelligence and is therefore skilled at deciphering other peoples' emotions, but can't seem to understand and hence accept himself?

Summary: Dazai is an highly emotional person? And his intense emotions are what is causing his suffering?

Ooo this is a very interesting thought Jade!!😌

Mori and Dazai are definitely quite similar, they are complex and intelligent characters that are seemingly logic driven with the tendency to look at the whole picture of a situation!

But I actually do highly agree with you that Dazai is actually a highly emotional person🤔 I have always felt that about him. But I don't believe that I have enough evidence to support my claim unfortunately, at least canonical evidence, but I will still talk about my thoughts below cause I’ve been thinking about this a lot. But my belief is actually opposite to yours, I believe that his suffering comes from being too sensitive to his emotions and understanding and feeling them too deeply. But I would love to hear your thoughts as well after reading this!

We can see this with Oda of course, as you’ve said! The fact that Oda's words and his death alone is able to drive him out of the mafia, despite not really knowing about what the future could hold and all the uncertain factors that could happen if he left the mafia, somewhere where he is extremely familiar with to one that is unpredictable kinda shows that he is an emotional person. Because this is definitely not a rational decision, and as you said one driven by emotions.

Another thing that I think might have actually shown that he may actually be, originally, an emotional person is that he numbs himself of emotions. Yes perhaps it may seen paradoxical, but sensitive people are actually more prone to suffering from emotional numbness surprisingly, or so I've read. Because it is in human nature to defend against pain, and with emotional sensitive and intense people, it is extremely easy to be able to feel everything around them. And I personally believe Dazai is actually a sensitive person (I will talk about why I feel this more later), and this coupled with his high intelligence is extremely self destructive to him. 

This is because as you said he has a sky-high analytical intelligence, I mean he is able to at a young age of 15/14 to understand the idea that there is no point in the act of living. He is able to see the deepest truth in life, and a knowledge of the universe beyond our common understanding that some of us are not even able to comprehend in a lifetime, thus showcasing his absolutely high analytical ability. But the understanding of the hopelessness of the world, and the lack of a meaning in living in this life is what is hurting him the most, especially if he is extremely sensitive. This would explain his utter hopelessness and emptiness he feels. Also may explain why his emotions are stunted or seemingly so, as it may actually be his own mind using it as a self-defense mechanism to prevent further sources of pain and suffering. 

This can also be supported by a quote from Dazai-sensei himself in one of the short stories from Blue Bamboo (I believe it is The Samurai and the Mermaid) which says “how I envy those self-satisfied commoners who, seeing nothing and comprehending nothing are convinced they know it all. There are in this world things of such mysteries and awesome beauty that the small minded cannot even imagine them. There are, yet he who discovers them risk falling into a bottomless hell”.

Him being highly emotional could also explain why he is such a good strategist, as we’ve seen throughout the anime. Dazai in his plans doesn’t simply manipulate people to do what he wants them to do, I’m not saying he doesn’t because it can definitely be seen that he does in a few different cases. But in a lot of scenarios especially in his long term plans, we actually also see him predicting how other people will react to different situations presented to them rather than him guiding them like pawns on a chessboard to establish his plans. (Prime example of this is his plan with Chuuya in Dead Apple). 

So the main question you may be asking right now then is probably, where did the assumption that he is emotionally sensitive come from in the first place then? I have this assumption because Dazai-sensei himself is a very emotionally sensitive person, this can also be observed in No Longer Human as well. 

One of the quotes from No Longer Human that could support this is “The weak fear happiness itself. They can harm themselves on cotton wool. Sometimes they are wounded even by happiness”. You can also see it subtly in this quote "For someone like myself in whom the ability to trust others is so cracked and broken that I am wretchedly timid and am forever trying to read the expression on people's faces”. The fact that he is always trying to read the expression on other people’s faces shows that he fears rejection, and is extremely anxious about how other people see him and view him, but also at the same time craves acceptance.

“I have always shook with fright before human beings. Unable as I was to feel the least particle of confidence in my ability to speak and act like a human being, I kept my solitary agonies locked in my breast. I kept my melancholy and my agitation hidden, careful lest any trace should be left exposed. I feigned an innocent optimism; I gradually perfected myself in the role of the farcical eccentric.” Here’s another quote from No Longer Human, once again fearing and is extremely anxious of what others think about him and seems to be sensitive to criticism and being called out as an outsider, and being different, and the mask that he wears is actually a defense mechanism used to protect himself.

Of course No Longer Human is not the only source that shows Dazai-sensei’s sensitivity. Other short stories have also showcases similar themes such as this. His short story 《候鳥》 I wasn't able to find the English equivalent wrote 「太敏感的人會體諒到他人的痛苦，自然就無法輕易做到坦率。所謂的坦率，其實就是暴力。」 It means people who are too sensitive can understand the pain of others, naturally they are unable to be frank. For "frankness" is equivalent to violence.

I also remember somewhere it talked about Dazai-sensei being too anxious to visit someone as well and was pacing outside of their house? I don't remember where I read it though and I can't find it again😭

Therefore from these many examples, I have a few that Dazai is actually a sensitive person judging by how much he is also described as such in other articles; and Yozo as well in academic journals and articles I have read.

And so I believe that he may be able to feel emotions quite deeply, not only that but also understand the world deeply as well. And it is this deep understanding that is the source of his despair, his difference from other humans, because they are not able to understand him on that level. It is actually the fact the he might be too human that he ceased to become human. But the reason why I am still thinking about whether or not this is true is mainly because how he treated Akutagawa, which I feel doesn’t really fit this idea.

[mcrcki]

Was that [OZGE GUREL]? Oh no no, that was just [SOFIA], a [CANON CHARACTER] from [GONCHAROV (1973)]. They are [THIRTY] years old, use [SHE/HER], and [ARE] aware that they are not actually from Washington DC. Too bad they can’t stray from this city for long.

** i need to be utterly and completely serious for a second, while this is a real character i will be playing (not a joke), this movie is fake!! this movie is basically tumblr folklore and has sparked the conversation of what is ‘real media’ when there is an accepted storyline, lore, characters, quotes, a SOUNDTRACK, and ‘leaked scripts’, what does it matter that the actual movie isn’t tangible media. the fandom is. also considering it has almost more works on ao3 than avatar !!!! i will absolutely open that debate of what is a real media or not. BUT with that said, i will be tagging anything with sofia in it as ‘unreality’ just to help with anyone who this may bother, considering the source material (or lack there of.) but pls understand i am so deadass serious about how much i love sofia and goncharov (1973). **

how long has your character been here

about a week as of 11.24.22 !!

what is your character's job

unfortunately, once you become comfortable with a lifestyle, it does have a way of constantly dragging you back in. so, despite wanting to be out of it, sofia has found herself back inside the crime ring within the city. it’s different to the mafia scene in 70s italy, but she is finding her footing none the less.

where has your character been pulled from in their fandom

i’ll be pulling her from the end of the ‘movie’, when she is seen taking katya’s boat from the harbor, smuggling paolo out as they both escape naples and the chaos that she found herself wrapped up in. driving the boat into the night is how she found herself here, suddenly no longer in italy and finding herself here in modern day dc.

has any magic affected your character

nope!! she’s still herself, no memory alterations!!

and any other information you might find useful for us and the other members to know!!

okay so , like i said in the disclaimer , sofia is from a fake movie created by tumblr users and literally is the resurgence of the idea of passing on stories just from word of mouth and nothing more, how so many folklore stories were originally told. the fact that the tumblr user base has come together to create folklore and just like banded together to create this fandom out of literally nothing is the funniest thing ive ever seen and also genuinely so inspiring that there is so much freedom in this kind of fandom!!!! but !!! lemme explain a little about goncharov and sofia’s part in it. (in case you cannot tell i am hyperfixating and a special interest has been unlocked, i am unstoppable now. fueled by a fake mafia movie from the 70s)

how does one simply explain goncharov .. these links should help. here’s a power point , a couple posts for lore breakdown , and a google doc that explains scene breakdowns and characters

SO basically : the setting - alternate reality1970s naples italy, we are following a russian mafia crew who is attempting to create a footing in the italian mob scene. the soviet union had fallen in the 70s in the movie, so the main characters had left russia to escape the political unrest. but, we have our main players here - goncharov (robert de niro) , mario ambrosini (al pacino), andrey (he’s in love with goncharov), katya (goncharov’s wife, sofia’s soulmate), sofia (loml, mario’s implied sister, katya’s soulmate, queen, wants goncharov out of the picture), ice pick joe (henchman, best character in this movie). 

“overrun with homoeroticism”

i unfortunately do not know all the lore of goncharov, mario and andrey as well as i know katya and sofia and i should not be held accountable for that. i saw to women who deserved better and deserved to be in love and what else was i supposed to do?

sofia grew up in an orphanage, raised by nuns in russia. this is where she met katya originally. said orphanage burned down when they were teenagers, and sofia saved katya from the flames.

she had a difficult life after that, found her way to crime not long after escaping the fire, because it was easier to fall in with the mafia lifestyle than continue to live on the streets. 

she does have a prosthetic leg after an accident in her youth.

she’s good at what she does! but she doesn’t like doing it! she wants a different life! she wants to be more than just a pretty face with a gun!

smokes a lot. will light your cigarette for you, but for the price of one kiss unless you’re katya. and then, it’s whatever you want, whenever you want. 

sofia wants katya to leave the mafia world with her, she wants to give her the life she deserves outside of all of this. she knows she is loyal to her husband so she won’t, but man does she wish katya would choose her in the end. 

there’s an entire scene of them at a fruit stand where katya mistakes a pomegranate for an apple, and it sparks a conversation about the symbolism between apples and pomegranates and the biblical implications of the two fruits. sofia explains the whole ‘descent into the underworld’ and it fuels a lot of katya’s actions as she falls deeper into the mafia world. 

also !!!! sofia accidentally spills wine on katya’s white dress and she really looks at this woman and goes “you look better in red” , im in love. IT ALSO FORESHADOWS KATYA’S EVENTUAL DEATH WHERE HER DRESS TURNS RED WITH BLOOD. AND HER SHIFT FROM THE WIFE TO THE FEMME FATALE. JUST SO GOOD. the symbolism scorsese can create *chef’s kiss*

the other major scene sofia has is the boat scene, where katya gets shot and falls over the edge. it almost destroyed sofia thinking she lost her when she barely even had her yet. it’s a big reason for sofia wanting to get katya away from all of this, knowing that goncharov will only bring about her sun’s end. 

in the end , she just loves katya and wants the best for her, but she can never have her, and when she loses her, she’s lost her entire world. and so she tries to escape italy, before any ghosts can catch up with her. leaving in katya’s boat , she takes off into the night as end credits roll over her escape. which is where we find ourselves now. 

life in dc :

sofia has only just arrived but she is having a time and a half trying to adjust to being in america , let alone being in a completely new time. 

she is going to be doing what she can to blend in. 

she is nothing if not resourceful and adaptable. and while it won’t be easy, she does everything with confidence that it’s hard to tell otherwise. 

will be finding a footing in the crime scene here in the city, and unfortunately is very good at her job, despite not wanting to be in this life anymore. it’s what she knows, and it’ll be easier to be comfortable for now. 

gives the best advice, even if you don’t think it is at the time. 

big mysterious older sister vibes for those she allows close to her

is closed off, but willing to make exceptions if people try

has a way too nice penthouse for someone who refuses to explain where they get their money from

still mourning the loss of her sun.

connections :

crime associates

any criminal types wanna be friends? i promise she’s fun to hang out with!

roommate

i do like the idea that she just has a roommate despite not needing the money at all, and just sort of likes the company every now and again. she does get very lonely, so it’d be nice for her to have someone

employee (s)

she definitely hires people for p much everything from cleaning, to cooking, to bodyguards, etc. so, hmu

friends

just let her be your vaguely bad influence bestie

rich girl club

this feels self explanatory but it sounds fun !!!! 

charity case

someone she tries to help, be it with a job (into the criminal world), with money, or even just connections !!!

[rallamajoop]

How (not) to say ‘fuck’ in Etruscan (and other things I cannot believe I spent so much time tracking down for a throwaway joke in a Witcher slash-fic)

Buried in chapter 4 of my fic Something Nice is a joke which, as much as it amused me, no-one else is going to get unless I explain it. So here we go.

For the last few people in this fandom who haven't heard yet: The Witcher 3's vampire-language is Etruscan. To my knowledge, there's never been an official statement from CDPR to confirm this, but the evidence (ie. that basically all the vampire vocab can be found in online Etruscan sources) seems pretty solid. To explain why this made me go oooooh that's so NEAT, we need a little context.

Context!

The Etruscans (in my admittedly far-from-expert understanding) were a people who lived in Italy back before the Romans got around to conquering-slash-assimilating the rest of the peninsula, and the language they spoke is one of the most frustratingly mysterious of the ancient world. Most dead languages are at least related to something modern linguists have a decent handle on, but Etruscan seems to have been related to almost nothing else spoken – it may even have pre-Indo-European roots (a whoooole other tangent I am in no way qualified to cover).

Surprisingly, we do owe our modern Latin alphabet in part to the Etruscans, since the earliest Roman alphabets were adapted from the Etruscan (who got it from the Greeks, who got it from from the Phoneticians, and so on). The Etruscans may even be the reason we're stuck with so many weirdly redundant K-sounds (not only K and C, but X and Q, which are really just 'ks' and 'kw' with an overblown sense of superiority).

But being able to sound out every surplus K-word from an Etruscan inscription isn't much help nowadays when there are no surviving Etruscan dictionaries to tell us what it actually means – not even a decent Etruscan Rosetta stone to give us a push-start. So while modern linguists may rattle off Ancient Greek fluently or puzzle out Egyptian hieroglyphs from thousands of years before the Etruscans even had an alphabet, the Etruscan vocabulary available to us nowadays remains embarrassingly limited. Bits have been figured out from context or thanks to loanword exchanges with their neighbours (plenty of ancient Greeks and Romans certainly spoke Etruscan, even if they failed to write it down), but a lot is still as mysterious to the experts as it would be to you and me.

So why to I love the idea of using Etruscan as the Witcher’s vampire-language so much? Basically, if you want a language that will sound both old and reliably alien to anyone listening to it – be they the mainstream English-speaking market or the original Polish-language audience – Etruscan is a damn good call. You're not going to have much vocabulary to draw from, but it's not like there's a lot of vampire-chatter in the game anyway. It's a cool little easter egg for fans nerdy enough to try and figure out what they're saying.

Translations and Sources

You aren’t going to find a lot of great Etruscan language sources on the web – few of the easily-discovered online sources on Etruscan vocab appear to have been updated within the last ten years, and lord knows how consistent some of these are with current scholarship (let alone how sure linguists can be about anything with a task like this). All the same, have some links you may find useful:

Etruscology – Brief, but more readable than most

Lexicons.ru Etruscan Glossary – Probably one of the best collections of many terms in one place

Maravot.com Etruscan Language pages – Hard to navigate, but gosh there are a lot of vocab here I have not seen elsewhere

Old, Tripod-hosted Etruscan Glossary – I think these are mostly just the same terms from the Lexicons page, but in harder-to-use format

Etruscan word search – Decent, but not the most extensive vocab

Introduction to the Etruscan Language – Looks to be from Maravot.com, but in pdf format

Paleoglot.com’s Etruscan tag – Blog by an actual linguist who regularly discusses Etruscan material, and who even created their own translation applet! – which was, unfortunately, in flash, and is thus no longer usable. (There is a certain irony that even the tools available online to help you understand Etruscan are written in a language that is now no longer supported or understood by any modern browser.)

Not that translating what’s in the game is going to be easy, oh no. Take, for example, the oh-god-please-don't-kill-me ceremonial greeting Geralt has to offer to the Unseen Elder to survive that meeting – "Eclthi, lautni ama".

'Eclthi' is apparently a "demonstrative (locative)" (’here’, ‘there’, etc). "Lautni" is trickier – it means a freed slave, but may also imply a familial relationship or a client of sorts, while the root “lautn” apparently designates simply “possession.” House slaves in the ancient world were often considered part of the family, and freed slaves were an important class in many ancient cultures, who often maintained relationships with their former masters, so you can see the internal logic, but what sense was the Witcher using it in? It’s hard to know.

"Ama" is possibly worse – most translations seem to have taken it as "to be", but sometimes also “to love”, or even "now" or  "meanwhile." Then you hit the question of Etruscan grammar, and I have no idea where I’d even start. So, with a little creativity, you could probably translate that phrase as anything from "take this and consider me a friend" to "meanwhile, this is family" to "a demonstration of love from your slave." I mean, you've got the same general theme going there regardless, but there's a lot of ambiguity in the inflection.

For what it's worth, I feel garasham's translation efforts are easily the most convincing I've seen – they have the above line as “Here I am a slave / a friend / kindred” FWIW. (Mind you, given the wiki doesn't even try to do more than offer you one possible meaning for each word, there's not exactly much competition out there).

So, bringing this all back to that fic and how to say ‘fuck’ in Etruscan...

I've already gone to the web's Etruscan dictionaries once while I was writing Forget-Me-Not, seeking inspiration for a 'real' name for "the Queen of the Night" from the first Witcher game. Neither 'queen' or 'night' got me far, but the Etruscans did apparently have a goddess of the moon called 'Aritimi, Artume or Artames', which worked pretty well. If anything it's almost too close to the better-known Greek goddess Artimis, who was obviously a relative (ancient cultures bleed into each other even when they're not bleeding all over each other, nothing new there), but I'm not going to be picky.

However, being a) a giant nerd, who b) writes a lot of smut, and c) is no more mature deep down inside than the rest of us, I couldn't resist seeing if I could find some slightly more obscene vocabulary. Did the Etruscans have a word for, say, 'fuck'?

Alas, if they did (and I mean, they totally did, c'mon), the web wouldn't tell me about it. Nor could I find much else relating to sex or genitalia (male or female), or even a decent word for 'thrust'.

On the flipside, there were a couple of different terms meaning 'plough'. And anyone who's played – well, any of the games, but especially Witcher 2 – would probably realise exactly why that filled me with so much glee.

Speaking of which, here, have a picture which is in no way related:

The fact that the various Etruscan terms meaning ‘plough’ could also apparently be translated as things like “to worship“ or “to act through movement, including ritual acts,” or that an important mythological figure was “a prophetic child who sprang from a freshly plowed furrow” was in no way discouraging.

The word I ultimately picked was 'esari'. Admittedly, variations on the prefix ‘ar-’/‘ara-’/’aras’ were much more consistently attested to throughout the various online Etruscan dictionaries as ‘terms meaning plow’, but figuring out how to convert an Etruscan prefix into a satisfying word is officially where even my enthusiasm for all this nonsense gives out. Esari was, by comparison, already a much more solid-sounding term, so let’s go with that.

Why go to all this trouble anyway? Well, the honest answer is “entirely for my own amusement”, but the nominal excuse comes right back to “so I could give Regis and Geralt this little exchange during a sex scene.”

"Unless you have any particular objection," said Regis, moving to straddle Geralt's body, "I thought we might engage in some esari... hm, what was the equivalent term in your language again?" The vampire leaned in close to Geralt's ear as he made a show of remembering his answer, "Ah, yes—I thought I'd fuck you."

Never let anyone tell you you never learnt anything from porn!