#very concerning implications but also

[shakingparadigm]

I still can’t get over Lukas alien looking like a dick

right. im so sorry but that inferiority complex and insecurity is warranted. how are you going to look like that and also be a massive creep.

[tollsoftheclockwerkbelle]

sega please do not save maria please do not save maria PLEASE do not save mariaaaaaaa sega PLEASE

[queenlucythevaliant]

We see him come and know him ours

Russia: "Carol of the Russian Children," traditional // Kenya: The Nativity, Elima Njau // France: "Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella," Nicolas Saboly // Haiti: Madonna and Child, Ismael Saincilus // Australia: "The Three Drovers," William James // China: Tryptic by Lu Hongnian // Canadian/Algonquian: "Huron Carol," Jean de Brébeuf

[moe-broey]

Forever thinking about this panel

He will NOT be accepting hugs for any mundane reason and if you try he will react like he's being hunted for sport

But I am ALSO thinking about

He will give a little sympathetic pat on the back........ if you're feeling down ......

Alfonse physical affection seems to vary and is situational 👍

[fullbrave]

going back into the "requesting a bunch of tests from a series of random virtual care doctors who don't know me" mines. wish me luck

[elephantbitterhead]

More stellar canning advice from the UK: "Your rowan jam will keep for up to a year in a cool cupboard and like all jams once opened should be stored in the fridge and used up within a month. Please Note – We do not usually do water bath or other canning methods here in the UK. Our preserves keep perfectly well without this."

Just as their cats are uniquely able to dodge cars & mean children and so must run free, their insects uniquely disinterested in entering open windows and thus no need for window screens, so too are their jams uniquely impervious to spoilage and thus require no proper canning. I wish I could think that this person was an outlier, but unfortunately this is the state of food preservation in this country. There's a lot of similar advice in Germany as well, though I don't know about the rest of Europe.

[bitegore]

ngl i think i kind of was a genius for being like 'yeah this character is a scary killyou cannibal scary killer who scary kills you' and then realizing that the way my worldbuilding works out is that there's a nonzero chance that if you leave literally any body parts over they can just come back, depending on what they believe in their heart of hearts can kill them. Of course she'd start eating her kills. She probably tried normal stuff first and then realized it didn't work and she had to try harder if she wanted to actually keep them dead.

[fellhellion]

it's incredibly apt to me that the spiderverse team specifically drew upon brutalism as the primary style for the architecture of spider society because it's a style simultaneously linked to this notion of raw honesty (because you expose the material laying at the core of the structure) + social wellfare (as concrete was relatively cheaper to use and thus you got a lot of cheaper housing utilising this style), egalitarian by nature - it all looks the same, function over form etc.

but it ended up also getting associated with the structural flaws present in social wellfare systems by virtue of where it was applied as well as it being a style that's quite intense by nature (some would even argue ugly fjdfjk), and thus you get people implicitly associating it with those structural flaws and thinking of it as oppressive, even though the movement wasn't like. intentionally trying to cultivate that impression or be utilised in such a way.

which is interesting to me because that kind of duality works perfectly with the kind of tonal shift miles goes through when operating in that environment. spider society is at first wonderous and bright and brilliant, evocative of endless possibilties and stylistically almost like a large concrete web. but when miles is failed by that system, the large concrete web becomes constraining and suffocating.

hell, the idealogical roots of brutalism even work to an extent with the idealogical roots of spider society. neither was cultivated with the active intent to cause harm, and they're both associated with the desire to promote a future that is providing for the people utilsing it, but ultimately it's a tool. and any tool can be one that, inadvertently or otherwise, causes harm.

[beardedhandstoadshark]

I keep thinking of this AU…If your OCs were in the world of Ranma ½, what would all of them turn into when cold water hits them?

Y'know, I only know Ranma 1/2 from pop culture and like half an episode I got to watch on the anime channel before it got pulled, so I always assumed the gender bending was all there is to it. Turns out other characters got cursed too? And most of them are actually animals? And magical ponds that turn people into the first thing that drowned in them are just a thing? Wild

Anyways there's a cat one so, Mage ( they have beef with cats so it's funny)

Yellow gets the 1/2 (guy where most shenanigans would ensue)

Deniz being something ocean related would be the obvious choice but lowkey? He'd make a cute pig I think. Like a kinda timid one, turn his headband into a bandana, it just fits

Also turns out chimeras and straight up mythological demi-gods are also an option?? Which. Red gets like, whatever comes out a "bird riding lion while holding a squid with a lizard" pond. Need homegirl to be a bit weird, her vibes being slightly Off is half her deal.

And Violet. ...if chimeras and demi-gods are a thing, then she could totally be a dragon, riiiiight...? Maybe not even a Drowned Dragon pond but a "owl eating snake while riding crocodile" pond? Or whatever would come close to dragons? For the themes? And the shenanigans? Pretty please? :<

...i haven't put that much thought into this (for my standards) so idk, you tell me how fitting (or canon-compliant) this all would be XD

[death-rebirth-senshi]

"Don't try to explain it. I don't think I'd understand anyway" well Kaidan if you'd give me a second I think you'd find it quite easy to parse actually, especially for a man of your intelligence.

[ivanhoe-dont-do-it]

when the smoke clears from this Drake Kendrick beef we’re gonna have to have a serious talk about y’all’s apparent hatred of biracial ppl

[unikhroma]

the tenna-ramb lore supercut

for those who are curious about their canon relations! things to note:

- ramb is in charge of watching toriel to make sure she's still asleep. he's one of the people who tenna's talking to through his antennas during the chapter (you'll see the scene that reveals this in this post)

- ramb's light world form is a power strip and tenna's is of course the TV in the living room. it's possible that the TV is connected to said power strip since there was flavor text saying that the TV's plugged back in in chapter 2, when it wasn't in chapter 1. yes i have also been wondering what the implications of this are

- tenna didn't know what to assign ramb to do at first and he says something that backs up that it was for negative reasons

the shit talking pippins might seem unreliable for info but remember: from a writing standpoint, there's a reason he's there and it's to tell you more about him

tenna's side:

context for this stuff:

this is when tenna is seen speaking to ramb for the first time after round 1. toriel was located and he's reminding him of some plan they've already arranged.

▲ tenna getting mad at ramb about toriel after round 2. ...not sure what the implications of him paying ramb's electricity bill is, or if this is one of those things where he's just saying whatever. also, "they" seems to be the knight, as tenna says he was instructed by them to keep the fun gang busy. guess they both know about the knight

made a gif of the end of the scene cause i think his animations are important. the "!" bubble seems to imply that ramb said something that pissed him off or he hung up on him

▲ happens at the tail end of the race to toriel. i think this speaks for itself

ramb's side:

▲ ramb's dialogue if you say "super fun" when he asks how the games were after round 2

▲ ramb's dialogue if you get Z-rank. the electrifying line seems to be in reference to tenna due to tenna using the same word with emphasis in the cutscene following the one where the electric bill is mentioned

▲ ramb insulting tenna's game the first time you talk to him in the S-rank room

parallels and dichotomies

- both tenna and ramb miss spending time with kris and want to appeal to them to see them have fun again

- they've both held onto the past very tightly, with both of them reminiscing about kris, asriel, and the holiday kids visiting. with tenna, he primarily remembers the family watching TV together, and ramb remembers kris and friends playing games together.

- tenna is afraid of/nervous around kris and is insecure about whether or not he's doing a good job entertaining them with his games and challenges. on the other hand, ramb rarely shys away from being upfront with them and is very sure that his own games will be enjoyed by kris

- at the end of the chapter, they both meet an unfortunate fate. tenna gets dismembered, and ramb turns to stone (...?). however, tenna can have a happy ending if you fix him and give him to mettaton/hapstablook, while ramb's post-chapter fate is left vague and concerning to make me and m-chromatic insane specifically (TOBY PUT THE POWER STRIP ON THE PHONE

and:

it makes me insane that i can't find the in-game source of these lines, i just know they're from a different pippins than the one that shit talks ramb

tried to find more inklings of them talking about each other but i think i got all of it. hope you enjoyed another Long-as-Hell Ramb Post From UNIKHROMA

[a-very-tired-jew]

I do love seeing all the antisemites scream about pine trees in Israel whenever there's some sort of ecological issue or disaster going on or they want to use them as "proof" that Israel is a white European colonial project. Why? Because I've never seen them say what pine trees are the culprit. It's always some allusion to pine trees being non-native to the region and that they were planted to make the country "more European" or something like that. The articles are written in English for a Western audience that has pines in their backyard and are likely associated with the winter months in their culture. The implication here is "how could your Winter Xmas Pine Tree survive in the desert?!" which leads to the colonial assumptions and so on and so forth.

This entire schtick plays upon the general populace not understanding anything about ecology, range distributions, species, and other biological concepts. Most people see the term "pine tree" and assume it's the same pine trees they've seen their entire lives. The concept of different species all being colloquially referred to as "pine tree" is not a common conception.

So if you're reading any of those articles or posts that scream about colonialization because of "pine trees" then you need to stop and ask "what species?" Because the JNF has planted 3 particular pines - The Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), the Turkish Pine (Pinus brutia), and the Canary Pine (Pinus canariensis).

All three species are endemic to the Mediterranean region and are subtropical species. Meaning, all three have distributions that include Israel in their native range and have a biological history of being there. At one point or another many of them were cut down for some use (from what I understand, primarily for ship construction during the Ottoman Empire). In fact, the Aleppo was almost wiped out from its Middle Eastern distribution until it was brought back (and the three species are all closely related and adapted for the climate in the region).

Now, I've seen variations of the land shouldn't have been greened, they cut down native forests, they drained swamps, etc, etc... as criticisms. I even had the "they shouldn't have drained and greened the swamps" as an argument, barring the fact that the swamps only existed because the native forest was cut down for use by the Ottoman's and as such caused environmental degradation and change.

And the thing is, there's valid criticism for planting so much pine. It's a very dry tree species that catches fire easily. Especially when it becomes sick and/or damaged. There's also concern that it's planted in parts of Israel that are not suitable for said tree species. But at no point are they a foreign invasive species. They are native to the region.

However, what stands out the most to me is that never do one of these articles, blog posts, rants, or antisemitic screeds mention Eucalyptus.

That's right.

Eucalyptus, a genus (or Tribe) primarily endemic to Australia, was brought in to drain swamp, wetlands, and marshlands and make them habitable. And not just one! But multiple species were introduced for this purpose (Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Eucalyptus gomphocephala, and Eucalyptus torelliana).

Not a single writing has ever mentioned these trees, and that should be a big warning flag that what you're about to read is mired in half truths, falsities, and lies of omission besides outright ignorance. Solely focusing on pine trees is to elicit the response I mentioned above in Western audiences who only associate "pine tree" with their winter time and climate. It's a malicious technique to manipulate the reader and come to a false conclusion and assumption that will stoke their outrage at the "colonial" behavior of planting "colonial non-native" trees.

[lycandrophile]

i clicked on the original tweet just to see if anyone else felt as weird about it as i did because at this point i’m just tired of seeing people going on and on about trans men dating cishet men who try to convince them not to transition as if it’s a funny joke about a trans man doing something silly and not a manipulative and generally very unhealthy relationship dynamic that can hurt the trans man involved really deeply (as forcing someone back into the closet tends to do.)

did i find anyone else feeling that way? no. there were a few people pointing out that it was weird in general, and plenty saying it’s a weird thing to say about a cis woman, but nothing expressing any sort of concern about the tired stereotype it’s perpetuating.

but you know what i did find? replies like the one in the second screenshot, using the tweet as their chance to tell the world how much they hate trans men and how repulsive they find the idea of ever being compared to us. and replies like the third one, shaming trans men in relationships like that as if the fact that they’ve found themselves in an unhealthy relationship makes them deserving of public shaming, as if their relationship is hurting anyone other than them.

stereotypes like this just feel like yet another way of indirectly calling us stupid little girls who don’t know what’s good for us, and the fact that a picture of a woman is being used (even jokingly!) as an example of what trans men “like that” look like should make the implications of rhetoric like this all the more obvious.

it’s relationships like these that keep us miserable in the closet for so long and drive up our sexual assault rates even more. they’re not funny and if anyone is going to be making jokes about them, it certainly shouldn’t be people who have never been in that situation. if you actually cared about us you’d be looking for ways to support the trans men you know who are in relationships like that instead of hopping on twitter to joke about how stupid they must be.

i don’t care if it’s a joke. if it victim blames trans men for the transphobia we face in our personal relationships, adds to the common idea that we can’t be trusted to make decisions about our own lives, and invites even more blatant transphobia against us by people who unabashedly admit they see all trans men as “disgusting and phony”, it’s not fucking funny.

(i also want to note that the people making these jokes never like to mention that this also happens to trans men in relationships with queer women. they also hate those trans men, of course, and are happy to express that when they get into fights about trans men who date lesbians, but they’ll never talk about it in the context of this particular stereotype. it’s always a man being manipulative in a relationship and pressuring trans men to not transition, as if a woman would never be capable of such a thing.

they also like to conveniently ignore the existence of older trans men who transitioned after already being in a committed relationship with a cishet man and were able to make that relationship work despite their transition, because acknowledging that would require recognizing that trans men can be in seemingly contradictory relationships and genuinely be happy with their partner. who needs nuance when you can simply choose to judge all trans men for our relationships regardless of what they’re actually like?)

do you think they also would call me “a trans man being purposefully misgendered” with this kind of vitriol because i’m still living with parents who don’t recognize my gender instead of moving out before i’m ready to be financially independent? at this point, i’m starting to feel like they might, with the way every decision a trans man ever makes is the subject of a public debate and people have decided that trans men are secretly using being misgendered as a weapon to somehow hurt other trans people.

as a general rule, i’d say the only people who should be making “X looks like a trans man” jokes about literally anyone/anything are trans men, and posts like this show exactly why those jokes being made by anyone else (even by other trans people) just isn’t a good idea.

[onehelluvafan]

Is Octavia afraid of Stella?

This brief scene of them together in Mastermind confirmed for many of us something we’d long suspected—that Stella is not close with nor very maternal towards Octavia. But after watching this a few times, I think it might go even deeper than that. I think there are subtle hints that Octavia might actually be afraid of her.

There is evidence as early as Loo Loo Land that even when Stella was more involved, she may not have been a source of comfort for Octavia.

When baby Octavia is crying for them at the beginning of the episode, Stella says, "You get up," before Stolas sighs and goes to comfort their daughter.

There’s been some debate in the fandom that maybe this exchange was more about “taking turns” than anything else. But the sigh that Stolas gives is clearly a reaction to her response and he is already sitting up before she has even finished her sentence.

I think the implication is that he was going to get up either way and is annoyed that she has no interest in comforting Octavia, whether it be alone or together. The intensity of the sigh may also indicate that this was a regular occurrence at the time.

In the same episode, there is a photo and drawing of just Stolas and Octavia. Then later, in The Circus, we see a another photo of just the two of them.

The only pictures we see that include both Stella and Octavia are family photos with the three of them together. Over the span of 17 years, these are the only two photos that seem to exist and she is not physically touching nor looking at Octavia in either of them.

In Mastermind, Octavia is clearly very upset, but there's more being shown than just her hesitation to embrace Stella.

When she first runs from the television, Stella swoops in front of her so forcefully that there is a *whoosh* sound effect. Octavia briefly puts her hands up as she comes to a stop, so that they don’t collide.

Then, arms back down at her sides, she stands there for a moment with a look of confusion and concern on her face. At first I assumed that this was her reaction to being blocked from the doorway, but then I realized that they are in Stolas’ palace, where she wouldn’t expect her mother to be in the first place.

But the thing that startled me when I first noticed, happens when Stella reaches out to engulf her in a hug. Octavia's reactive instinct is to raise her hands, palms facing outward, and back away.

Once in Stella's embrace, she then stands there limply until she begins to cry. Only after that does she move to hug Stella back, but even then, there is another moment of hesitation when her arms are halfway up before she finally embraces her back.

It makes sense for her to be startled and confused at first, but seeing her recoil when Stella raises her arms, paints a concerning picture.

To be clear, I don't think it's meant to imply that Stella has actually hit Octavia before. Honestly, if she had, I think we can all agree that Stolas would have absolutely kicked Stella's ass straight out into the stratosphere.

We do know, however, that she has seen Stella be physically violent towards Stolas. While it’s possible that she’s never witnessed them fight previous to his cheating, she was at least exposed to it enough afterwards to be completely unfazed when her mother hurls an imp at him in Loo Loo Land.

So, I suspect that, on some level, she does not feel entirely safe around Stella.

Either way, I think we’re supposed to assume from their exchange that Octavia has likely never been comforted, or possibly even held, by Stella before.

Because the fact remains that, even after finding herself merely in an embrace, she still hesitated to accept comfort from her own mother.

[local-hellhound-steals-spaghetti]

Let's talk about zoo animal welfare for a second...

(And I want to preface this by saying I have a 4 year Bachelor degree in Animal Science (focusing in welfare and behaviour with a major in Canine and Equine Science) before I got sidetracked into zoo animals and did 3 internships working with wild canids, ungulates and marine mammals - this involved both hands on behaviour modification/desenitisation as well as hands off behavioural observation and welfare study. I worked for 2 years as a marine mammal specialist and worked specifically in facilities to improve husbandry, behavioural training and welfare practises.

I also worked in a facility in the Asia Pacific, working to improve welfare standards for bottlenose dolphins and continued to work with cetacean welfare researchers after this. I also did a course in zoo management, husbandry and welfare and this involved working in an accredited zoo facility learning things like exhibit design, behaviour management and husbandry with multiple species.)

So a few points to say about zoo animal welfare when discussing zoo standards and practises:

The average person does not have the expertise to do behaviour observation and welfare evaluation in zoo animals - that's why when the general public visits a zoo and says "the animal looks sad" it's worth being skeptical of that claim. But it doesn't mean a gut feeling about a zoo's quality can be completely invalid. Just that it might be worth researching further or seeking more information.

However, with experience, it is possible to analyse behaviour in the context of welfare. And context to that behaviour is always important (for example, Moo Deng showing stress related behaviour towards the specific context of being touched or followed around by her keeper - very much an indication of poor handling practises)

Poor animal husbandry and welfare is not limited to specific countries or regions, however it can be more normalised and accepted under the influnce of cultures and laws. Or even just the culture of the zoo itself such as the "this is the way we've always done it" places.

Being an accredited zoo is a start to good welfare, but it doesn't make any sort of welfare concern obsolete. And accreditation is supposed to ensure that welfare concerns are addressed but because they are mostly run as a volunteer based organisation, they often don't have resources to check into every concern (unless it's a government funded organisation)

A zoo contributing to conservation research is great, but not if it is at the expense of the animals' welfare - welfare should always be prioritised, with research and conservation efforts to follow.

Welfare is a state that is in flux. So a negative welfare state can move into positive welfare state under different influences.

There are multiple factors that influence zoo animal welfare: enclosure/habitat, expression of natural behaviour, guest interaction, diet, enrichment, water quality, hygeine ect. It'll rarely just be one factor, though it does depend how salient that factor is.

Just because a keeper or management of a zoo have been there for a long time, doesn't mean they can't be criticised - it is possible to be still using outdated practises and believing in methodologies and management practises that need updating - that's the whole point of continued education

Having limited resources can often impact welfare. Giving a facility the resources they need to improve is a good start to improving welfare.

Even if an animal is being handled in an inappropriate way for a short time, that doesn't mean that can't have long term implications for welfare eg. if every time your dog jumped on you when you got home and you smacked him in the face once before going on with your day, that doesn't mean that your dog won't learn negative associations with your arrival just because it was one time.

Best practise husbandry of zoo animals involves:

Use of positive reinforcement based voluntary husbandry and health care

All interaction based on choice and voluntary interaction that is reinforced with primary reinforcement such as food

Mostly hands off approaches for the species that require them (ungulates, large primates, large carnivores)

Relatively stable social groups with aggression only in specific situations/contexts that are normal for the species

Back areas for animals to rest outside of public view

Species appropriate habitats to meet species specific behaviour requirements

Five freedoms of welfare being met but goes above and beyond the bare minimum

Poor zoo animal husbandry involves animals:

Being forced into anything such as presentations, education programs, medical procedures/gating

Any use of physical punishment such as chasing, slapping, pushing or poking - negative reinforcement such as bull hooks are also fairly outdated in handling species like elephants

Being excessively handled, chased and touched/restrained for no reason (eg. for social media videos)

Showing signs of avoidance and aggression constantly towards their keepers

Have constant conflict happening in their social groups

Are living in enclosures that are not suitable for their specific specific needs - size is only one factor in this. Substrate, habitat design, water quality ect. are also things to consider.

Are too close to the public/at risk from the public

Have no areas to retreat from the public/rest away from potential stressors

Have no enrichment program/no daily enrichment

Those are all flags that there could be some poor welfare happening and that a zoo is not prioritising welfare

Okay there's the ramble of the day done. Feel free to ask questions for further clarification if needed.