#1. animating in a realistic environment

[creaturrcraze]

practice anim. [feat. hl sfx !!]

[teaboot]

in WHAT universe is rising of the shield hero less of a dissapointment than spy x family? ppl glaze sxf a bit too much but theres few anime worse than Incel Isekai 20472.

anyway. if you want something actually good, frieren, odd taxi, and my roommate is a cat. havent watched ascendance of a bookworm yet but i hear incredible things.

Oh yeah no ROTSH felt like ABSOLUTE dogshit episodes 1-5ish, I have no idea why I kept watching cause the MC was so cringe but I’m enjoying it quite a lot now! (I was actually checking my inbox before catching the next ep, lol)

I’m actually really happy with how they showed the MC’s immaturity and flaws and all the stupid and confusing common isekai tropes in a realistic light- And I’m kinda sorry you didn’t keep watching too ‘cause it absolutely lays bare all that stupid “chosen one” crap about halfway through s1. You stop cringing at the awful stupid incel asshole shit E3 or so and start GENUINELY LIKING him, which is wild!

It’s not perfect media obviously- I kinda REALLY don’t like some of it- but it focuses a lot on personal responsibility and thoughtfulness and working within the context of your environment, learning to heal relationships, and the importance of diplomacy and communication.

What I REALLY like is the central theme that being a hero doesn’t mean everything you do is correct- but that people WANT TO BELIEVE everything you do is correct, so being a symbol isn’t so much a ritzy ride as it is a HUGE responsibility that one shouldn’t be eager for.

Also, I don’t want to give any spoilers, but I’m at a point now where they’re starting to touch on the idea that there’s a difference between fighting for an idea and fighting for PEOPLE, and I’ve never really seen that done well before so between that and the twist here that’s being foreshadowed I’m genuinely SUPER EXCITED to see where they’re going with it.

Also- even WITH all the “pretty girls love the hero” trope- if you watch long enough you’ll notice how they PLAY with the trope without investing in it. There’s genuine respect between the characters, and several times the MC makes it clear he sees some of them as family, that he’s not into kids and it’s creepy when others are, and there’s no fanservice panty shots or surprise “oops I’m naked” shit. It really does show by example how a REAL good-hearted protagonist should- or would hopefully- realistically act in the circumstances of an unrealistic isekai type series. There’s been pretty much zero actual romance or any interest in romance shown by the character after episode 1-2. (At least as of s2e1)

And I love that! It’s incredibly character-driven. It feels like the MC genuinely might fuck up, that there are real stakes, that the correct path is unclear, and I want to see if what I’m hoping for will happen. The MC is selfish and closed-off and heartless sometimes and TOTALLY has a cruel and pragmatic streak, and the narrative takes full advantage of that to force him to confront those issues. Some of his vices are even advantageous, as they would be in real life!

Spy X Family didn’t do anything for me. It appeared to be what it said on the tin. I never got any real sense of stakes or depth or personal development, or of reoccurring thematic elements or symbolism or overlying message, or any kind of statement that was poignant or meaningful. It came off as a fun story, but not anything exceptional or different.

I couldn’t bring myself to care much because it was pretty clear that the good guys were right and they were gonna pull something off and have a happy ending and live a cute little family life with a mom and a dad and a daughter and a dog. It was never surprising or curious and I never felt emotionally intrigued or invested or attached.

They’re both enjoyable, but I like Rise of the Shield Hero more because it’s been proving me wrong in exciting ways and making me think about why I feel the way I do, and I like that in a series.

Spy X Family is fine, I don’t think it’s BAD, it just didn’t scratch the itch for me personally.

If you watched like 15 eps and hated it the whole time that’s fair but if you stopped at e2 I’d super recommend giving it another shot!

[kiasims]

60+ overrides you NEED in your game 🫧

watch here ♡

kia in her tumblr era? lol

but I just wanted to share some of my favorite override mods with you guys 💗 hope you guys enjoy

start-up overrides ♡

1. pink aura opening screen override by Irene Noir

2. ghost loading screen by Wotunciba

3. loading screen tips replacement by Kiasims

4. refreshed dynamic main menu by Simmatically

5. 'rainy hearts' font override by Kiasims

cas overrides ♡

6. vyxated mirror cas background (soft-pink) by Dumbabie

7. controlled cas position by Northernsiberiawinds

8. more cas columns by Weerbesu

9. yearbook gallery pose overrides by Yun-Sims

build mode overrides ♡

10. build-buy pencil override by Vyxated 

11. build-buy gizmo override (soft-pink) by Vyxated

ui overrides ♡

12. pastel ui override by Vyxated

13. ice cream plumbob override by Xiaoboluo **

14. ui poses override by Blaccdot

15. childrens ui mood replacements by NV-Games

in-game overrides ♡

16. better basketball override by Coco Games

17. shoe removal animation override by ThePancake1

18. black tv replacements by AlexisAriel

19. reality dating show override by Coco Games

20. movie overrides by Midnitehearts

21. watching tv override by Simkatu **

22. nap replacement poses by Beverlyallitsims

23. ps2 game and controller override by Bknysimz

24. nintendo switch game controller replacement by AroundTheSims4

25. iphone 12 override by nuribatsal

26. phone app replacements by Coco Games (search for ‘overrides’ on her patreon to find the rest)

27. realistic bank override by [Taylor] (requires SNB Bank mod)

28. phone wallpaper overrides by Coco Games

29. single selfie overrides by Dearkim

30. paired selfie overrides by Dearkim

31. bouquet override by Complexsims **

32. samsung jet vaccum override by Kikovanity

33. food texture replacements by Utopiasims

34. modern glass replacement by Coco Games

35. green sponge override by Ellcrze

36. method all purpose surface spray override by Kikovanity

37. functional hair care overrides by [Taylor] (requres bathroom clutter kit becomes functional mod)

38. computer desktop override by Simkatu

39. computer game overrides by Ebonix

40. reading animation override Simkatu

41. black art painting overrides by Slimmazsims

42. lush facial masks override by PlayWithSyd

43. singing animation override by Simkatu

44. dance override 2.0 by Steven Studios **

45. energy failure animation override by NV_Games

46. faint animation replacement by NV-Games

47. squishmallow overrides by Bellassims

baby overrides ♡ 

48. invisible bassinet override by Sixam

49. baby bottle override by Coco Games

50. byebyebaby rug hider override by BuildBuyMode

51. sippy cup override by Cecesimsxo **

52. realistic birth overrides by [Taylor] (requires realistic birth mod)

environment overrides ♡

53. terrain overrides by K-Hippie

54. cloud overrides by Moriel

55. red bridge override by Simmatically

56. newcrest building replacements by BoyBatterfly

57. san myshuno city buildings override by Bloomverse

58. san myshuno billboards override by Ebonix

59. del sol valley billboards replacement by JrenaeGaming

university overrides ♡

60. hbcu text edits by AlexisAriel

61. university food cart replacements by AlexisAriel

(18+) 62. real drink names override by Basemental (requires basemental drugs)

63. red cup juice keg override by Ebonix

64. uno card override by Skillfulsimmer

(18+) 65. elfbar override by [Taylor] (requires basemental drugs)

[winterjart]

Pines Family (descendants) two hundred years later.

More of the Late Falls AU. I actually did get to sketching up some characters! So yay, yay! More lore under the cut about each character.

My math is probably not the best on this in that top corner, I drew this and thought it out at about 1 in the morning, pfft. But just know it's like, six generations later, pfft.

Henry Pines

Personality + Basic Info: 62 years old. Super pragmatic and sensible. Personality very much encourages the kids to stay planned, on task, and realistic. And to also get them to get along with each other a little more. As a result though, he can be kind of stubborn. Surprisingly extroverted, can be seen at karaoke nights or chatting with the locals. A bit of a "yes man". (Secretly still a huge nerd though in the shadows.)

Occupation & Residence: He doesn't work or live at the shack most of the time. He is a doctor and well-respected in the town. Lives in his own residence and/or home in Gravity Falls. Frequents the Mystery Shack upon pure coincidence though to help the family living there. The families are good friends, and one summer (occasionally every other summer) they actually ask him to run shop + take care of things while they are away. He accepts.

Lena Pines

Personality + Basic Info: 13 years old. Ridiculously smart and very academic child. Wants to learn as much as she possibly can about the environment regardless of any dystopian themes it may have. Despite their similar interests and focuses on nature, she doesn't get along very well with her sibling.

Occupation & Residence: Staying with Henry at the shack for the summer with her brother. When she's not there though, she lives with her brother and her parents back home in Pennsylvania. (They're a long way from home, you could say! They have to fly to Gravity Falls.)

Rory Pines

Personality + Basic Info: 12 years old. Probably the least afraid of all the Pines to be himself, even if he gets bullied for it by others. Enjoys any and everything about reptiles and other often overlooked small animals. He also does have a pretty big secret. Rory also, despite their similar interests, doesn't get along with his sister either.

Occupation & Residence: Staying with Henry at the shack for the summer with his sister. When he's not there though, he lives with his sister and his parents back home in Pennsylvania. (They're a long way from home, you could say! They have to fly to Gravity Falls.)

[jirishnesensei]

Mirio Togata x Reader | Isekai AU [18+]

Warming up to you ch1. Falling

⊱ Pairings - mirio 3rd year student x reader

⊱ About - Boku No Hero Academia was your favourite anime. You watched it every week when a new episode came out, but what if you were transported into the world? Having no clue how you got there and you're being accused of being a part of the League Of Villians. Suffice to say, it's not the best way to start the show.

⊱ Warnings/tags - 18+ (eventually), fluff(for the most part), angst, smut, fem reader, romance, pining, SLOW BURN, swearing, friends to lovers, death, jealousy, she falls first he falls harder, mirio is mean (with reason), first everything, sassy mirio, fangirl reader, unrequited love, feel good fic, lots of mundane, but can also be serious, realistic growth

⊱ status - ongoing

⊱ chapters - 1/x

⊱ word count - 2.2k

⊱ Masterlist

You couldn't wait to get home after your long day at work. The constant retail environment is always a kick to the face with the dramatic customers and irritating pop music, but an episode of Boku No Hero Academia was playing tonight so nothing was getting your spirits down.

You took a turn onto your street, bouncing your leg in pure joy as you bit down on your chapped lips from the winter cold. You couldn't help but speed up slightly so you could prepare the popcorn with a steaming cup of hot chocolate. 

As your foot lightly pressed on the accelerate, you glanced for only a second before a white blinding light flashed straight into your eyes, obscuring your view of the road. You instinctively screamed and swirled, adrenaline pumping your body to press the brake as hard as you could. You expect an impact, eyes shut tight waiting for the pain to follow- but nothing came.

As fast as fear struck you, a gust of wind replaces it and is blowing on your back with such intensity that it feels like it's hitting your bare skin. You open your eyes again and there's nothing quite like having your sight engulfed by blue and the sensation of falling out of the sky. Weightless and deafening with the wind echoing in your ears.

You scream at the top of your lungs because who wouldn't? The only thought bypassing your fear is that you didn't want to die, screaming louder as the tears lift off your face, stolen by the cutting wind. You tried horribly to steady yourself, managing to look to the side through billowed hair with widened eyes.

There really is nothing as far as your eyes can see. Just a sky so saturated that it doesn't even look real. You were endlessly falling, and you may have found solice in that fact if not for the civilization that appeared before your very eyes. A landscape with mountains, buildings, green as far as the horizon. A structure you can definitley die from.

You had stopped screaming by now. Lips quivering as you somehow forcibly accepted the situation. 

Meanwhile, you didn't know that you were falling right in front of a busy campus, students filing out indicating the end of the day. Some of them spot your falling body and waste no time to yell and point for someone to save you.

A student with lanky green hair is the first to take action. His instincts kicking in quicker than he can think to analyse, he drops his bag and immediately lunges in your direction, but as this green haired student runs to your rescue, another student with bright blonde hair curling with the wind, follows everybodies line of sight and notices Midoriya Izuku coming to save you, but he happens to be a senior in this campus and he could tell, he wouldn't make it. So he too dropped his bag, readied himself with a sharp inhale and then completely submerged himself into the ground before anybody around him could notice. This otherworldly trick gave him the momentum to propel himself into the air just where your body was going to land.

You expect your thoughts to disappear once you hit the ground, painless and instant and in some way relieving, but for some reason, the bitter taste of death takes long enough for you to open your eyes and then widen once more when your body is suddenly swiftly incased in a pair of strong arms, like you hadn't been falling 100 miles per hour. You look over, firstly in fear, only to come face to face with the character that you were not even 5 minutes ago eager to see on your t.v.

"Are you okay?" The said character had expeditiously landed back onto the ground, your dry and battered body held protectively in his warm arms while you couldn't stop gaping at his concerned blue eyes. He's looking at you, worry and confusion evident in his cartoonish features.

And then you blacked out. For more reasons than one.

---

When you finally came to in a room, it's quiet and peaceful. You're covered in warm blankets and the first thing your senses pick up on is a rose scented air freshener and then quiet muffled noises coming from outside the room you occupied, but you're too comfortable to pay attention to it. Humming in contentment, burying yourself deeper into the ridiculously soft bedding. The fear that once filled your entire being, dissipated with the knowledge that it really was just a dream.

As if you had seen Mirio Togata just now...what a weird thing to conjure up. You can now make out the sound of monitors beeping and the strong scent of anti-septics lingering in the air. You must be in a hospital after the crash. Thank god you survived...your car is going to be such a pain to replace, though. Yeah, that's what occupies your thoughts in a world that favours practicality over your own life.

You finally adjust to the light above your head and once you could look around to take in your surroundings, it was terrifiying how quickly that same crippling fear from before had gripped your heart and lodged into your throat.

Your body shoots up, cracking with a loud and unpleasant pop that makes you groan in pain, clutching your side even though it was your entire body that felt sore.

Pain and dizziness aside, your eyes trembled across the room, something needed to make sense, but you couldn't find a thing. Only the thick, distinct lines that seem to outline everything in your vision. No fucking way.

"You're awake."

Shrieking as you clutch the blanket, you look to the voice beside you. On your right was an extremely short, professional looking old woman... but to you she was not some random old woman... but Chiyo the Recovery Girl.

"Before I lose you again, do you remember your name?" 

Your mouth hung in disbelief, seemingly incapable of doing anything else other than gape at her. A woman you believed to be pure fictional is just casually asking for your name, and based on her expression, you're not making the best first impression.

"Close your mouth young lady! It is rude!"

She clapped your mouth shut from the chin with her unnaturally large, syringe-like cane, then took a clipboard, pen poised, waiting for your answer you think.

"it's (y/n)..." wait, should you have used an alias?! you definitely wouldn't be on their system.

Before you could spiral any further on your very first decision, the two boys who had tried to save you earlier came through the door and you were rightfully shameless in the way you stared at them, you weren't paying attention to a single word that was undoubtedly coming out of their mouths.

M-midoriya Izuku...

M-mirio... t-togata??

I must be dreaming right? Right!?

"Hey, are you okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost." Mirio was the one to ask and came forward to touch your hand, just barely with the tip of his fingers before you immediately pulled it back.

Holy shit... that felt so...so real!

There's a compelling need to now look down at your own hands, finally recognizing how they were no longer human looking. No, no, no… Your hands were just like an anime. A smooth colour with no blemishes or fingernails. Thin and soft and everything a human hand shouldn't be. You subconsciously touch your cheek. Wondering how you must have looked like right now. You felt like shit but you're sure you looked far from it. With those unnervingly huge anime eyes and perfectly proportional facial features. When you look back up at the characters watching you, they're worried obviously. If you really have fallen into the world of My Hero...you couldn't be in safer hands, yet safe is far from what you felt as you try to navigate the situation.

"H-how...?" You ask, barely above a whisper. "This can't be real." Your eyes were stinging now and probably looked red from not blinking after so long. 

"What can't be real?" Mirio asked you again, his voice grazing against every logical neuron in your brain. Leaning slightly closer to hear your hoarse voice and his sudden scent of leather and earth eats away at you. You gulp the non existent saliva that was left in your mouth. Dry lips curling into mockery. 

"What can't be real?" You look at him, his strikingly creased brows above his unusally shaped eyes, then at Chiyo who seems to be ready for literally anything despite how impossibly short she is and then finally at Midoriya, who has natural green hair, huge eyes and literally. no. lips. You officially bust a blood vessel. "let me tell what cant' be real, for starters, it's you! it's this place! I'm dreaming right? Hell, I really must have died!"

You're uncontrollably laughing in that typically fashioned 'villain just got caught', burying your fingers into your already disheveled hair. They all look at you, confused beyond words at your sudden outburst.

"Miss (y/n), where is your family?" Chiyo asks through your agitation.

"My family?" You repeat, pausing for moment, for a split moment where you fianlly think about what's actually real. You look out of the large clinical window beside you where a fictional land, a fictional world greets you. It was clear as day you were either dreaming or had died, and in either scenario you highly doubt your family tagged along. The ephiphany somehow grounded you.

"Ma'am, I have family, but they definitely aren't here." This was the moment that you had accepted finally losing your shit. You would have at least thought that when you did, it wouldn't be in an anime. You look back at the two fictional characters and point at them rudely. 

"You're not real. Non of this is real. It doesn't make a single bit of sense and I'm not falling for it. Where's the lamp, huh?" you look around, "There's gotta be something out of place here before this starts to damage me permanently." You murmur that last part.

Chiyo sighs behind Midoriya who hasn't said a single word yet, too upset over how clearly distraught you were, "We're going to have to take her to the orphanage since she doesn't remember anything-"

"No wait you can't-!" You quickly clamped your mouth shut when you realized just how crazy you sounded. Like old man Mcgucket crazy. "Look, I don't know what the hell is happening but you can't stick me in an orphanage. I'm over 18 anyways."

The two boys look at eachother and then at you. You could see they had no idea what to say. Did you break the coding for the show? Maybe it's malfunctioning cause you're here. Whatever it was, you didn't know what the hell to say to any of them either, but convincing them to leave you be has to be the first option.

"Listen, I don't know how I ended up here, I swear. I was driving my car, I think I crashed and then suddenly I was falling from the sky. That doesn't sound so impossible, does it?"

"Where do you propose we put you then?" Recovery girl cuts you off. You were getting scared now.

"I-I don't know... I'm just as confused as you are-"

"I can take her in..." Midoriya finally speaks. You looked at him almost as in shock as chiyo does. Did you hear him right?

"Midoriya you can't take her in." Chiyo says, "You're living in the dorms now and what if she is a part of the league of Villians? No one just-"

You start to zone her out. 

League Of Villians? She thinks I'm a part of the league of villains!? Oh god, I'm screwed, I'm seriously screwed. I won't even last a day here if they throw me in jail, I can't have that happen!

"I'll take her in Recovery Girl." Your thoughts get cut off by Mirio Togata himself. You looked at him with the same look of disbelief that you had shown Midoriya, only you feel smaller under his gaze because he was a lot more sure of his answer than he was. No hesitation, no smile. This was the complete opposite of what they had portrayed Mirio as in the anime. Recovery Girl was about to protest, but he continued.

"I can handle my own pretty well, and if she is a part of the League Of Villians, then she'll get nothing from me." The menacing tone in his voice sent shivers down your very soul. You were questioning whether it would be safer to go to jail instead with how he looked at you.

With all the ways to get isekai'd, this was by far the last way to do it.

"Are you sure?" Recovery girl warned. "She could easily outmatch you if you're not careful, boy." Now all of their eyes were on you, as if waiting for you to pop out of your disguise and cackle like a villianous maniac, except for Mirio. He seemed 100% ready for anything. If you didn't know any better you would say that he looks vengeful. He nods once. Still not breaking eye contact.

"I'm sure."

"Alright... take her with you and report straight back to me tomorrow. I'll inform Aizawa." Recovery Girl starts to shoo everyone off with the flick of her hands. Mirio takes that as his cue to step forward and you instinctively lean away.

Wait, is this the right thing to be doing?

"Can you stand?" Mirio asked, holding his hand out that you're honestly skeptic of touching.

You try to ignore his tone as you mull over your options. Well... you don't have many options. Glancing at him, a part of you wonders if he's anything like the person you've seen on TV. Sweet, comforting, definitley not brooding. Logically speaking he'd still be your safest bet if you're really in a world where quirks are a thing so maybe you should see where this leads? 

Nodding meekly, you choose to ignore his hand, and rather pull the covers off, noting how you were still wearing the clothes you had on when you drove home then stepped onto the floor, instantly stumbling forward due to the lack of feeling in your legs.

Mirio swiftly grabbed your waist and hand to keep you steady, and the contact made you flinch away at his touch. Forcing yourself to regain your balance so that you could stand on your own two feet and he noticed. It was honestly scaring the living daylights out of you with how real he actually felt.

"And one more thing." Chiyo came over just shy from your side, staring at you blankly to the point where you could hear crickets outside the window. Your mouth is opened to ask if there's anything you can do before you yelp, mistakenly bumping back into Mirio when her lips bizarrely stretch forward from her face and travel all the way to your cheek to activate her quirk on you.

"There. You can take her now."

You could already physically feel your body healing on overtime. Gaping back at Chiyo as you followed Mirio to the exit of the U.A building. 

Once you were outside, oh there was nothing in this world that could stop the sure to be sparkle and fear in your eyes.

What the actual hell... I'm really in an anime. 

⊱ Take me to the Next chapter!

Dividers by - @cafekitsune and @enchanthings-a

[cosmicwavelengths]

here's why i liked lis: double exposure

[DE SPOILERS BELOW] this is unpopular, but double exposure is overhated. even with the absence of pricefield and the incredibly weak ending (which is a huge sticking point to many people in this community), there's a lot of good things about DE that got overshadowed with hate. so here 's what i liked about it!

Hannah Telle, her voice acting was great as per usual and her nomination at the game awards was definitely deserved (even if she didn't win)

At the beginning of the game, if you right click to rewind, Max will say something like “old habits die hard” and that was a nice call back

Aged up Max, it was great playing as her again and I think the art team nailed her character design compared to how she looked in LIS1

Safi, Vinh, Amanda, Loretta, Moses, & Gwen were great characters

Someone Was Listening by dodie SLAPS, and the use of the song when Max shifts into the Living World for the first time was amazing

The VFX for Max’s timeline shift ability was sick, and the timeline shifting was fun to play with

Realistic animations and a great snowy environment- huge props to the art teams, I just wish we got to see more of it

Safi’s voice acting and motion capture overall, her actress did a great job

The one conversation at the start of Chapter 4 between Safi/Max talking about their powers

Detective Alderman showing what happens if you interact with the split timeline

The twist with Max holding the gun, that was chilling

The concert scene with Amanda was fun, and I liked going on the date with Vinh

The scene where Safi, Max, and Vinh expose Lucas (so deserved)

I loved the friendship between Safi and Max, I wish we got to see more of that before she died. Safi on her own is an interesting character and I’m interested to see what D9 does with her after this

The sequence where Max chases Max (Safi), it was such a rush it was exciting

Safi’s power in Chapter 5 freaking out and causing her to shapeshift into different people

The darkroom nightmare scene in Chapter 5, I was actually flipping out bc I was worried Jefferson was gonna jumpscare us

Moses and the gingerbread house scene was so emotional. It really showed how close he was to Safi.

Moses’ reaction to Max picking the ‘nerdy and dirty’ mug lmao

As with all the games, I liked reading the texts and Crosstalk messages. The journal was cool to read to see what happened after the events of LIS 1, but I wish it was as comprehensive as it was previously. But I chalk that up to Max being too busy to keep a proper journal

Also, it’s so nice to see Max as a professional, established photographer! I was worried she’d be doing other stuff and stepping away from photography, but it’s so cool to see her transform from a meek art student to an award winning photographer. Character progression wins!!!

[excessively-english-jd]

On Woolly Mammoth De-Extinction

So. My thoughts on mammoth de-extinction.

Let's start at the beginning. What is de-extinction? It's basically what it says on the tin: bringing a species back from extinction. De-extinction has been a popular topic for decades, particularly since the release of 1993's blockbuster Jurassic Park which famously featured the concept. Since then, a lot of research has gone into the science around the theory.

There are a few proposed methods to facilitate de-extinction: cloning, genome editing, and selective breeding. Of these cloning is the most widely talked about, and also the only method which would result in a 'pure' de-extinction instead of a hybrid species, which can be important to distinguish depending on the goals for any given de-extinction project. However, each most certainly has limitations. Cloning often results in a lot of health problems [1] - even Dolly the Sheep, arguably the most successfully cloned animal, died prematurely due to health issues tied to her clone status. While cloning is an older technology and has a bit more history behind it, it still isn't particularly successful. Genome editing is a relatively newer technology, with a lot of trial still needing to be done. Currently, although there have been leaps in synthetic biology, and an array of genome editing and genome recreation has been done, this has mostly been in the realm of bacteria and viruses, which have far simpler genomes than more complex animals such as mammals [2]. Finally, selective breeding may have some successes, but requires a lot of chance and a lot of time. So overall, de-extinction is a science in its infancy, and currently has very few real, tangible successes.

So why do we want de-extinction? There are a lot of reasons.

In a world where we are increasingly aware of our impact on the planet, there is a desire to 'fix' our mistakes. Many species, like the dodo or the Tasmanian tiger, have gone extinct directly due to human threat or due to unnatural pressures introduced by humans. There is a societal guilt felt here, which some people may want to rectify. This is a theoretically noble intention, but ultimately tends to place emotive reasoning over logic and practicality.

Reviving extinct species could also potentially help to revive extinct ecosystems and environments. This is one of the biggest arguments being used by Colossal for resurrecting the mammoth [3] - an aim to also resurrect the mammoth steppe ecosystem. We'll revisit this. The theory here is to recreate a natural balance that has been lost, similar to proposed reintroduction programmes. A success story in terms of restoring ecological balance would be the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone [4] - keystone species such as apex predators or large megafauna can influence a whole environment including animal populations, flora assemblies, and even soil properties. With extant species this absolutely is a good path forward, although it does require careful management - with extinct species this becomes a little more difficult. In a joyous occasion, I get to quote Ellie Sattler: "the question is, how much can you know about an extinct ecosystem? And therefore how can you ever assume you can control it?". How can we be sure our actions will have the outcome we want? It's a delicate balance.

Yet another facet is the possibility of learning more about the species we de-extinct. This is why dinosaurs come into this conversation so often despite the (sad) fact that it's not realistic. When you have an animal that has been extinct for so long that there's no living memory of it, little or no historical record of it, no bodies and no closely related or similar species, natural human curiosity runs wild. What did it look like? Sound like? What colour was it, how big was it, how fast? What was it like to co-exist with? The older a species is, the further removed it is, the more this curiosity is raised. Sure, the Yangtze River Dolphin is extinct, but we remember that being around. Sure, a passenger pigeon is extinct, but we have paintings and accounts, we have modern pigeons. Now a dinosaur? Sure birds exist, but they're so far removed from Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops that they just don't compare. There's huge differences and we want to learn about them. But here there will always be the question of: how much is real, and how much is created? How can we know how much a recreation is the same as the original? The question of nature and nurture has to come in here - whether we're enacting some form of Forbidden Experiment [5] on extinct species and how that will affect what we might or might not learn.

To once more return to Jurassic Park (sorry), I feel there's one more possibility to acknowledge: profit. In our current capitalist society, de-extinction is expensive. It takes time, resources, manpower, and equipment. This is not cheap and of course, anyone investing in it is going to want to see returns. Of course, a lot of scientists will be in it for passion, for knowledge, for advancements. And perhaps generating profits will be for good cause - like a zoo charges entry to fund its conservation projects, a de-extinction project could charge fees to fund further research and additional applications. De-extinction could be like the panda - a public facing, popular and charming money machine to fund smaller, less appealing projects, creating a funnel into other projects [6]. However, there is also the possibility that knowledge gets hoarded with a price on its head, and it could be that interest shifts more to increased revenue rather than ecological betterment. I won't harp on this point, but I think it's worth acknowledging.

This brings us back around to mammoths and the specific efforts to bring them back from extinction. How do these considerations apply to this project?

Cloning was once, I believe, proposed for mammoth de-extinction. The problem to my memory is a lack of intact mammoth cells. Without a well preserved cell with genetic material to transfer into an egg cell, a clone cannot be created. However, a complete mammoth genome has been sequenced - in fact, several have been, and there's quite a few papers published [7]. That means we know the full genetic code of the mammoth. Colossal, the main company working on mammoth de-extinction, is going in this direction: using genome editing to, one day, create a hybrid elephant with mammoth traits encoded into its DNA [3]. Immediately, I want to point this out - this will be a hybrid animal, with mammoth-like traits. There is a question here as to whether this is actually de-extinction, or actually a kind of artificial evolution. The animal might look superficially like a mammoth, but is it a mammoth? Can we learn anything about mammoths by observing this animal? Will this give us a glimpse into the past? I'm going to keep referring to this hypothetical animal as a mammoth just for clarity's sake here, but this point should stand.

This leads into another concern - will this animal behave like a mammoth? Obviously, there are no extant mammoths, so how will a baby mammoth learn to be... a mammoth? Elephants are complex social animals, who pass on knowledge. In Africa, it is known that elephant matriarchs can be instrumental in teaching younger generations about locations and foods that can be important during exceptional droughts [8]. We don't know how much nature and nurture affect us, let alone other species - did mammoth matriarchs teach their youngsters where the grazing was best in the thick of winter? Did a young mammoth learn what food could or could not be eaten by watching their herd? Will a mammoth, 4000 years separated from the last generation of mammoths, act the same way? Eat the same food? Follow the same migration patterns? Will the surrogate elephant family be able to cater to the social needs of a young mammoth, or is there some unique mammoth behaviour or instinct that we aren't aware of, which an elephant herd will not provide?

Here we come to ethical questions about quality of life. Keeping elephants in isolation is agreed to be cruel and damaging - a social animal needs access to its social group. Perhaps a solution to this mammoth problem is simply to create a lot of mammoths, which seems to be the intent - but that still leaves a lot of infant mammoths with no adult mammoths. There is that possibility that a surrogate elephant family cannot provide this necessary socialisation. Can they even provide the right nutritional demands? Will elephant milk properly sustain a baby mammoth? Additionally, the current proposal is to have the surrogate mother be an African elephant, as they are larger and more able to potentially carry a mammoth baby. But African elephants live in savannahs on an equatorial continent. That will not be a suitable habitat for young mammoths, but is the Arctic circle a particularly suitable place to house African elephants? Are these species able to cohabit for the decade or so it takes for a young elephant or theoretical mammoth to truly mature? The world is very different than it was 4000 years ago when the last mammoths roamed; is the climate still suitable for mammoths and the flora they ate? Have the air quality and UV radiation levels changed too much? Are there new diseases that a mammoth may not be capable of fighting off? Basically, is the modern world truly capable of supporting a theoretical population of mammoths in a way that allows them to be healthy, happy, and without suffering? I don't know the answers to these, I haven't researched enough into specifics, but these are just some examples of the questions I would have.

The theory of this project is to reintroduce the mammoths to Siberia, where they will facilitate a return of the mammoth steppe habitat. As a large megafauna animal, it's thought that they are a keystone species in allowing this habitat to exist, by clearing plains, trampling certain vegetation, and packing snow and ice. The aim is for the mammoths to clear areas of Siberian forest and allow the steppe to reform. There's two problems I have here: one species does not an ecosystem make. What about other coexisting species that might have contributed? Woolly rhinos? Deer, bison? What about predator species like the cave lion or sabre cats? Hell, Neanderthal humans were part of this ecosystem, do we know that they didn't contribute to maintaining the steppe? In Australia some habitats are suffering because Aboriginal land management is no longer being used - the same thing has happened in parts of North America where Native peoples have been driven off their land and not been allowed to continue maintaining it [9]. Humans are part of their ecosystems. Is a mammoth really going to be enough to revive this habitat? Second: what about the species who already live there? It's not like Siberian forests are empty. Have you ever heard of the Siberian tiger? They're an endangered species, and one of their major threats is a loss of habitat due to deforestation, particularly in the Russian Far East. Other animals live in this ecosystem, like bears, and deer, and moose. Are we going to enact extinction on these animals, just to bring back the mammoth? This ecosystem has evolved. In the absence of mammoths and the steppe habitat, forests have taken over, populated with new animals that evolved to fit into the niches left open. This is, at the end of the day, a natural process on Earth. Something ends, and something else takes over.

Now why do we want the mammoth steppe back? Because, the theory is, it could help tackle the climate crisis. Mammoth-packed ice and snow would thaw slower in summer months. Large open plains covered in snow increase the albedo of the Earth, reflecting more light and heat away. It is thought that mammoth steppes were a carbon sink, which would hold carbon and reduce the amount of it going back into the atmosphere contributing to the greenhouse effect. This is a great theory, but as mentioned, there are problems with it. The mammoth steppe was, at the height of the mammoth, a massive ecosystem that stretched across most of Eurasia and into North America. Where the hell are we going to put all of that now? Those areas are inhabited, either by humans or by other species. Sure a small reserve could be made, but will that small reserve actually have a noticeable impact on the climate? What's the game plan for if it turns out to do nothing, or very little?

Also, surely, there are easier, more efficient, more proven, and less expensive ways of tackling climate change. Why not invest this money into overhauling infrastructure to be more eco-friendly? Solar power, wind power, green land management, reforestation, low-carbon alternatives? Putting caps on industrial power use and source, abolishing fossil fuels, enforcing use of sustainable materials? There are bigger and better impacts to be made elsewhere, and maybe those should be focused on first. We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Our world is warming faster than ever, and not enough is being done to reverse or prevent this. But we also live on a warming Earth as the planet recovers from an ice age - in its time, it will continue to get warmer and warmer. This is a natural cycle which is seen throughout (geological) history. Does it not seem cruel to bring these animals into a world not suited for them, when it is currently only set to get worse? Is it ethical to bring them back from the purpose of 'fixing' this? Especially when it will take so much time to see the theoretical benefits - this isn't going to be achieved overnight - and could lead to suffering in the meantime.

So, ultimately, I have several reservations about mammoth de-extinction. I've probably missed things out here, or not explained with full clarity. I have based this mostly on my own pre-existing knowledge and basic surface research, and this isn't my specialty, so perhaps some of this isn't as relevant as I think. I've also just rambled for several thousand words, so forgive me for errors. But, to summarise:

Will a created mammoth act the same as a true mammoth? Can we guarantee that a mammoth in the modern day will act how we hope it will?

Can a mammoth be cared for adequately? Can its physical, spatial, environmental, nutritional and socio-emotional needs be met?

Is it cruel to create a mammoth when it will be unique and alone, isolated from it's own kind? Will infant mammoths suffer for the lack of adult mammoth care?

Are current climatic and environmental conditions correct to sustain mammoths? Could damage be done to them if it is not?

Is there space for a mammoth population? Are there large enough areas with the correct conditions?

Are we sacrificing extant species and environments for the sake of reviving the mammoth? Is that justifiable in a climate of rapid biodiversity loss?

Could these resources be better applied? Should we advance this project while the climate crisis is still so severe?

Is it ethical to create an animal for the purpose of theoretical climate control? What are the consequences if we do not see the benefits we hope for?

Could this technology be misused, or restricted for the sake of greed, power or influence? How are we guaranteeing that the benefits will be shared and used well?

Is there anything we can learn from resurrecting the mammoth? Will a modern mammoth really tell us anything about mammoth behaviour, biology, or ecology?

Is this even going to really be a mammoth? Is this truly de-extinction?

Now I do want to just mention that there are some potential benefits. Primarily, the technology being developed for this project is wonderful, and could be used for many applications. Colossal does, it seems, have plans to implement their technology for the conservation of elephants. I do think that de-extinction could have its place - but I personally think we should first focus on near-extinct or recently extinct species, lost within the past 100 or so years, to minimise some of the risks above and to prevent further loss of biodiversity on our planet. I think that the choice of mammoths is purely one of iconism and publicity, but technically that can be useful in conservation, so long as resulting resources are then properly redistributed.

To finish off, here are some articles and papers which cover the topic:

"Meet the ‘woolly mouse’: why scientists doubt it’s a big step towards recreating mammoths", Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00684-1

"A mammoth undertaking: harnessing insight from functional ecology to shape de-extinction priority setting", D. J. McCauley et al: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.12728

And the sources I cited:

1 - Cloning Fact Sheet, National Human Genome Research Institute, https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Cloning-Fact-Sheet

2 - Synthetic Biology, National Human Genome Research Institute, https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/policy-issues/Synthetic-Biology

3 - Mammoth project page, Colossal Laboratories and Biosciences, https://colossal.com/mammoth/

4 - "Trophic cascades in Yellowstone: The first 15 years after wolf reintroduction", W. J. Ripple & R. L. Beschta, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320711004046

5 - Language Deprivation Experiments, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_deprivation_experiments

6 - Flagship Species, Wikipedia, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagship_species

7 - "Complete genomes reveal signatures of demographic and genetic declines in the woolly mammoth", E. Palkopoulou et al, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25913407/

8 - "Elephant Memories May Hold Key To Survival", ScienceDaily, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080811200337.htm

9 - "Traditional ecological knowledge and restoration practice", R. Senos et al, https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/50696

[bogboy420]

ok so i hav THOUGHTS and FEELINGS abt ep 4 of tadc that r honestly kinda difficult 2 put into words? but im gonna try

so i actually genuinely liked this episode even tho it was kinda difficult 2 watch (in a good way!!) but then after watching it i immediately went into the tags 4 tadc and specifically tadc ep 4 2 c what every1 else was saying abt it and tbh i think that was a mistake? like now tbh the problems i hav w the fandom r kinda almost overshadowing the actual content of the episode 4 me which is rly sad bc the episode was a rly good 1

okay so i may as well get this out of the way and accept that im probably gonna get hate 4 it but i gotta say smth that ik basically no1 else is gonna agree w me on,,,

GANGLE WAS NOT THE VICTIM OF EPISODE 4!

and i don't just mean that in the "she wasn't a victim of jax's antics this episode" way i mean like,,, i keep seeing ppl still doing the "oh no poor baby" thing w gangle even w this episode and like? it's tiring!? tbh i honestly thought this episode was the 1 that would get ppl 2 c in gangle what i was seeing in gangle the whole time tbh which is that gangle is the embodiment of weaponised "im just a girl" white woman tears

also 2 get this out of the way since ik the fandom is kinda split on this 1 yes i hc gangle as white, i feel like her character would b different if she was asian both in how she interacts w anime and in her design

so okay 2 explain that, if gangle was japanese i don't think her design would include the european comedy and tragedy masks so heavily and it would be more likely that her design would instead be modelled after japanese kabuki masks since she wouldn't hav the same connection 2 the european comedy and tragedy masks as a european person would and we see that cultural signifiers do in fact change in the character designs with pomni who i think likely is supposed to be asian, her jester costume is more similar to asian styles of clothing than european and her hair is in a style that's very popular with asian working women, now because im not asian and i don't know a lot about cultural signifiers in asian culture aside from what i've heard i could be wrong about some things here and if there are any asian people who would like to correct me please feel free to, just to be clear bc i keep having this problem across my blogs WHEN I SAY IF U R IN A MINORITY GROUP IM TALKING ABT U CAN CORRECT ME THIS DOES NOT EXTEND 2 PPL OUTSIDE OF THAT MINORITY GROUP WHO WANNA START BEEF W ME OVER NOTHING!

so okay in my head gangle is a white girl, this is relevant 2 how she weaponises toxic positivity and then weaponises her crying, white women hav been doing this 4ever and it's how i was able 2 c her being like this from a mile away, i knew she was gonna b like this the whole time but it feels like every1 else in the fandom keeps falling 4 it idk, like at least 4 me this episode rly highlighted how gangle and jax r narrative foils of each other

jax is abrasive and rude and wants ppl 2 think he's just an asshole bc he doesn't know how 2 connect w ppl on a deeper lvl but realistically all he would do if he had a bit of power over some1 would b 2 mess w them a bit bc of him being chronically bored

gangle if she had even a tiny bit of power over some1 would literally b micromanaging them and incredibly controlling and abusive but wants every1 2 think she's harmless

jax when he bullies the others it's clear that it's him lashing out bc of a lack of control in his life so he acts as a bully 2 try 2 feel like he has a dagree of control over his environment

gangle when she starts treating the others badly it's when she's finally in a position of power

gangle is literally being an abusive manager this episode but every1 is more focused on the fact that jax was a bully in the previous episodes 2 notice! hell even some ppl r glorifying gangle's actions! like wtf!?

like okay, early in the episode jax throws ragatha into the deep fryer, that's bad we all know it is, w that being said we also know that physical damage in this world is not permanent and that ragatha will b fine even tho she's having a bad time of it, jax is very clearly doing this as a way of lashing out bc he doesn't like that the adventure they r doing 2day is working at a fast food place

gangle,, seemingly doesn't care abt what's happening 2 ragatha? and is more focused on punishing jax's behaviour, telling him off and then having a conversation w caine who is "upper management" 4 the adventure abt how she wants a punishment 2 b awaiting jax 4 his behaviour at the end of the day, she then also delights in holding this power over jax the entire episode, it's worth pointing out i think that gangle never bothers 2 get ragatha out of the deep fryer and is even shown walking away from ragatha still in the deep fryer showing that she really doesn't actually care about the fact that ragatha is being hurt

later gangle consistently keeps piling work onto jax throughout the episode and seems to delight in holding this power over him, jax gets more and more tired and depressed throughout the episode and eventually stands up for himself but in a way that is less violent than usual, gangle tries to get him to do a job that isn't in his job description, jax then points out that that should be handled by the people who's job it is to do that, gangle then asks jax "doesn't he want to be a team player?" and other office buzzwords that managers often use 2 coerce employees into doing work that isn't in their job description, jax then says no and that he doesn't care abt any of this which is a very normal attitude 4 a fast food employee 2 hav and that's when (if i remember correctly) gangle sends him 2 the brainwashing room also this bitch has a brainwashing room where she tries 2 brainwash jax but no1 cares bc every1 is still defending her 4 some reason!?

another thing that i think is relevant is that i hc jax as having ASPD bc i hav ASPD myself and i relate 2 jax a lot bc of this and hav noticed ways in which jax's behaviour is very similar at times 2 how my ASPD symptoms show up, there r some differences obviously since jax is living in a video game simulation where physically harming ppl leaves no permanent effect and i don't live in that situation but the cycle of messing w ppl around u 4 entertainment, lashing out when things don't go ur way and then not being able 2 connect w those around u thus making u less able 2 control these behaviours in the future and making u lash out more is very real, the chronic boredom is there, the irritability is there, jax using messing w ppl as a primary source of entertainment and also a primary way of trying 2 connect w those around him is there

this is relevant because this would mean that jax is being punished by gangle for showing symptoms of ASPD, smth that he can't control not just that but while gangle is the main villain every1 is kinda a dick 2 jax in this episode, pomni assumes that jax must hav an ulterior motive when he asks how she's doing, zooble basically tells jax that his actions r making it more likely 4 caine 2 kill them all (which i don't think caine would do but zooble seems 2 think he would) and ragatha says that she hates jax but doesn't want jax 2 hate her and basically confesses that being the actual reason why she pretends 2 b nice 2 him, (also yes i say pretends and not tries since she gets mad at jax earlier in the episode 4 smth that jax points out "was actually a mistake that time") and the thing is? jax isn't even surprised, he knows that ragatha hates him already he just also knows she wouldn't say that if she was sober

also side note i rly need ppl 2 stop saying that gangle's brain washing was successful and that's the only reason jax was more friendly/agreeable/less of a bully this episode like no, it's bc he's depressed af this episode also pls stop saying that gangle brainwashing jax would b a good thing if it made him act differently that's legit such an ableist thing 2 say omg

anyway i think im gonna leave this here 4 now bc i woke up not long ago and this post is getting long so idk lemme know if any of this is coherent ig? lol fr tho i hate gangle and i don't understand y u guys like her and hate jax so much

edit: seems like i may not hav made it super clear but i hc jax as being a black queer man as a black queer man myself, i didn't make that very clear initially bc i legit 4get that not every1 sees him that way, idk man 4 me as a black queer guy the coding was there and gangle picking on him in the workplace i think was definitely partly motivated by her doing that white woman thing of seeing a man who doesn't hav as much power as her in society and then leaping at the opportunity 2 abuse that power in the work environment as a perceived "revenge" thing

[praxcrown5]

Geology and the World of Cars: Part 2

Last time, we tackled metamorphic rocks. Today, we're gonna learn about igneous rocks! My favorites! Grab your aluminized suit and hug your Blade plushy, 'cause things are gonna get HOT.

Note: Any time you see information followed by an asterisk (*), it is a reference to my own, personal WOC headcanon.

Igneous rock formation is the easiest for humans to comprehend because the basic principals--melting and freezing--are very familiar to us AND happen on time scales that our silly, monkey brains can actually understand.

Behold! An igneous rock!

In all seriousness, if not for being man-made, this horrifying Spongebob popsicle could be classified as an igneous rock!

How?

Igneous rocks form from the cooling of molten rock (called magma or lava depending on whether it is underground or above ground, respectively).

Ice, believe it or not, IS an igneous rock. This is because the ice crystals that comprise it meet all the criteria to be classified as a mineral: They are naturally occurring, inorganic, crystalline solids with definite chemical compositions. To make ice, or any other igneous rock, a molten medium must be chilled to its "freezing point." Water has a freezing point of 32 Degrees F (0 degrees C). At this temperature the movement of individual water molecules is so slow that they start bonding with other water molecules into a repeating, three-dimensional lattice which we call a crystal.

As crystals continue to form and grow at the expense of the melt, they start bumping into other crystals, fusing with them along their edges. Once all the water has been used up, we're left with a solid composed of thousands of interlocking ice crystals.

Igneous rock forms in basically the same way, except that the freezing temperature of molten rock varies between 1,100 and 2,400°F (600-1,300°C)! This is why if you ever see scientists getting close to fresh lava, they wear special, heat-resistant suits that look like they'd fit in to any 1950's era science fiction motion picture.

*Note* I'm not going to into the details of magmagenesis (the formation of magma)...it could be it's own article, tbh. Suffice to say that molten rock is only generated in very specific environments along very specific plate boundaries. Volcanoes are the surface expression of magmagenesis, and most of them can be found in a belt of tectonic activity that "rings" the Pacific ocean, hence it's colloquial name "The Ring of Fire." Most of y'all don't need to worry about a volcano popping up in your backyard...

Ok...so let's apply what we've learned so far to the World of Cars, starting with volcanism.

A "volcano" is a mountain created when "volcanic materials," such as ash and lava, pile up over a fissure in the Earth's crust. There are many different types of volcanoes, each with their own eruptive styles and geomorphology (aka physical traits).

The only actively erupting volcano we see in the WOC is the unnamed mountain in Cars on the Road Episode 1: Dino Park.

Lookit how 'dorbs it is! Such a cute, widdle guy....

Note the steep sides and "cone" shaped profile. This shape is characteristic of "stratovolcanoes," a family of volcanoes that are built from alternating layers ("strata") of hardened lava and "tephra" (fragmented rock of varying sizes). Normally the slopes aren't as steep as what's depicted here, though there are exceptions (Ol Doinyo Lengai, Goma, etc...). Compare this to the much more realistic depiction of Mt. Fuji--also a stratovolcano--in Cars 2.

Fuji's sleek and beautiful cone was built on the remains of older volcanoes over a vast swath of geologic time (the earliest eruption on record was from 12,000 BE (Before Exodus--4.12 million years B.P.*). It warms my heart--no pun intended--that the animators really did their best to convey her size and natural beauty on the digital canvas.

Evidence of Plutonic (i.e. underground) processes: Piston Peak National Park (PPNP):

PPNP was modeled VERY heavily off of an Old World landmark: Yosemite National Park. After analyzing DOZENS of screencaps, it appears that the underlying geology is comparable to Yosemite, and I headcanon that the modern V6 valley is located in approximately the same location as Yosemite, albeit different due to a combination of time, terraforming and geologic processes.*

Piston Peak National Park is located within the heart of the Sierra Nevada, a massive, 300-mile long mountain range in California.* Most of the rocks in and around the valley are classified as "granitoids" AKA granite-like igneous rocks.

Most of you may be familiar with the word "granite." Maybe your ma installed some fancy, new "granite" countertops or you were touring a building that had "granite" floors. Notice I'm using a lot of quotation marks here...mostly because the word "granite" has become something of an umbrella term that folks use whenever they encounter something made out of sparkly rock. To a geologist, the word "granite" brings to mind an igneous rock that is "coarse-grained" (its component minerals are large enough to identify without a microscope) and contains the minerals quartz, alkali feldspar and plagioclase feldspar in a specific proportion (see graph below):

So...what does the rock actually look like? Below is a sample of rock that was collected from a long-since weathered landform called Half-Dome (close to where modern-day Piston Peak is located*).

Each speck of color you see here is a different mineral: The pinks and whites are various feldspar minerals, the grey-ish white ones are quartz and the darker minerals are hornblende and biotite. And while there is no scale bar in this image, the largest black mineral is about .5-1cm long. Big enough that you can see it without a microscope. To get crystals this big, magma must cool slowly...and usually that means staying underground for 10s or 1000s to millions of years (otherwise it would cool so quickly that the mineral crystals would be microscopic).

Now that we know what type of rock we're dealing with, let's zoom out a bit and look at ancient Yosemite and it's modern equivalent, V6 Valley.*

Most all of the rock that you see in these images is granite or granodiorite. That's a hell of a lot of cooled magma, well over 100 square kilometers of it. And due to the course-grained nature of the rock, all of it should have originated as huge, underground magma chambers that cooled slowly over tens of thousands of years.

So...how did it get to the surface?

The short answer is regional uplift. Most of the solidified magma (AKA "plutons") was emplaced during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Much later, during the Neogene period, new tectonic forces caused blocks of the now mostly-solid Sierra Nevadas (and the underlying igneous rocks) to rise upward. This exposed the rocks to greater amounts of wind and water erosion. Westward-flowing streams, especially, began to carve down through the rock creating deep, v-shaped valleys. Many times these rivers cut down a LOT faster than their "tributaries" (the smaller streams that flow into a larger one), creating "hanging valleys" and waterfalls. The waterfall at Augerin Canyon is an excellent example.

Other interesting features:

Desquamation (essentially, "removing or loss of scales"):

Remember how all this rock used to be deep underground? Once all of the overlying rock and sediment (collectively "overburden") was removed, the rocks were exposed to surface pressures, and began to to depressurize, breaking along curved fractures, creating an onion-skin like appearance to many exposed rock surfaces.

Image above: Desquamation on granite in Ancient Yosemite.*

Images above: Desquamation on modern Canopy Dome, Piston Peak and on the canyon walls near the park entrance!

Bonus Cabbie butt for...aesthetic reasons.

*Bonus geology--not igneous related*

Another thing you'll also notice in PPNP is that large swaths of rock appear to have been smoothed out. While you could chalk this up to animators not having the time/budget to render "accurate" rock texture, this type of erosion is VERY common in mountainous areas that have been affected by glaciers. A "Glacier" is channelized ice that flows downhill under its own weight. As the ice descends, it picks up sediment, everything from boulders to clay, and then drags it over the topography. Rugged crags are rounded or carved into sharp blades or spires (if they weren't covered), and v-shaped canyons and valleys take on U-shaped profiles (check out the group shot below).

I'm certain that if we zoomed in on some of the exposed rock, we'd also see "glacial striations" and/or "glacial polish," where the rock was scratched and/or polished by the sediment laden ice.

There's also some cool, structural stuff going on elsewhere in the park (Thunderbolt Bluffs and Rail Ridge...), but we'll discuss them in a future essay.

Ok, back to igneous stuffs...

Hot springs and Geysers:

Hot springs and geysers (collectively called "geothermal" features), are manifestations of volcanic activity. They form when groundwater, heated by magma or hot rock deep under ground, reaches the surface. A geyser differs from a hot spring in that the heated water flashes to steam and explodes upward in a stunning spray of steam and mist. Gasket Geyser is one such example.

The only feature in the park that appears out of place is Piston Peak, itself.

Piston Peak is a combination of two, different geologic landforms: a "hoodoo" and an "arch." Unfortunately, these delicate features require specific conditions to form: Variation in rock type (usually layered, sedimentary rock) and minimal moisture. The rocks in and around V6 valley are similar enough, compositionally and structurally, that they erode in a more uniform way compared to, say, the rocks in Monument Valley. Furthermore, there's quite a bit of water present in PPNP, flowing as rivers, and falling as rain or snow. Ice that forms within a crack or fracture can actually wedge the rock apart over long periods of time, a process called "frost wedging." Combined with desquamation, and Piston Peak should have been reduced to a pile of rubble within a few centuries. The same holds true for the arches inside Augerin Canyon (below). They're simply much too delicate to exist in a climate with severe winters that can dump as much as 15' of snow during a single event.

It is possible that these features were carved from existing features to accent their natural shapes, but since we don't have any canon evidence for that, such an assumption falls withing the realm of conjecture/headcanon.

That's all I got for now. Stay tuned for WOC Geology Part 3: Sedimentary Rocks.

Cheers!

Praxyw

[stimmingandstruggling]

rating the tkdb houses based on whether i would enjoy hanging out there for a day

Frostheim: bad. the cold isn’t an issue but the judgmental environment is. everyone is intimidating and i feel like a middle schooler again. gets a couple points for luca. 2/10

Vagastrom: somehow less intimidating than frostheim but oh boy still not great! as long as i dont go to the pit i should be okay. i awkwardly stand around the garage all day. bonus points for the opportunity to call leo a bitch to his face. 3/10

Jabberwock: in large quantities, this would absolutely be overstimulating, but i think i can handle it for a day! pretty scenery, cool animals. i think towa would recognize Autism Comrade and not strike me down. overall i would have a great time and just be very tired at the end. 9/10

Sinostra: this is my hell. romeo is screaming. there are gunshots. ritsu is reading out every single law. i sit down at a poker table and immediately collapse from the pressure. i wake up the next morning disoriented and broke. 0/10

Hotarubi: despite not being my favorite house, this is an easy winner. i have a great day. drink tea. get serenaded. yeah it’s raining the whole time but that just makes it extra cozy. i bring a journal and write for three uninterrupted hours. my mental illness is cured. 11/10

Obscuary: this is entirely dependent on whether or not ed leaves his room that day. the garden is sick as hell. i love the haunted house vibes. i could sort laundry and watch a movie with rui. or i encounter mr personal space is a suggestion. 1-7/10

Mortkranken: sighhh. i love yuri a lot so i want to say perfect no notes. but that’s not true. i’m a computers and math stem guy, not biochem. i would love to just hang there and work on my own projects. and i want a lab coat. but our sciences are very different. 10/10 in my heart but realistically 6/10

[mostly-mundane-atla]

I hope it's okay to ask about non-atla things

I'm doing research for a story that's basically an alternate history where Antarctica is populated similarly to the northern circumpolar regions. I'm having a bit of trouble with some of the logistics though, and I'm hoping you might have insights or suggestions?

In an environment without wood, and from what I can see no flint, how would one start a fire? And what fuel might be used to sustain it? (I know there's coal an oil, but I can't find anything that specifies if Antarctica has flint)

What sort of foods have the best protein/energy content for this kind of lifestyle? (physical and harsh) Am I right in assuming that animal fat/blubber would be a good source of this?

How would they craft tools? Like, how are knives and such traditionally crafted from bones and how would stones be incorporated? Also, in an environment without wood, how would they get the first hunting weapons? Would it be realistic for them to use something like slings?

How is meat traditionally prepared? Like, the drying and freezing and such. I've been trying to find more information on this, but can't really find anything that covers food preparation methods specifically.

If there's anything else you think is important to share please do! I'm trying to make this feel as realistic as possible, and since the Arctic and Antarctic are similar in environment I'm hoping to gain some insight of the general environment and certain cultural factors that are tied to a harsh/difficult environment

I hope I worded this all well

Another wonderfully formatted ask!

1. An environment without trees and bushes is not an environment without driftwood, and driftwood can be made into a bow drill. The spark could be sustained on rendered animal fats.

2. Fats are a great way to maintain energy required to survive in such a harsh environment, as are eggs from birds and fish Skin can also provide vitamin c to make up for the lack of fruit. This is why maktak is such a valued food in the far north.

3. Knapping and grinding an edge on to stones can make blades for knives, spears, and similar tools that can carve into ivory, bone, antler, driftwood, and other materials Bow drills can drill holes to allow tying and joins. Cordage and rope can be made of sinews or grasses, though i believe sinew is the more durable of the two materials. Slings make sense and so do bolas and harpoons. Also, for more domestic tools, needles can be made wing bones and shovels are can be made of large animals' shoulderblades.

4. Meat can be cut into thin strips and then dried on a rack, kept frozen, fermented in a pouch underground, or boiled in a pot carved from wood or skin pouch by heating rocks and placing them in the water.

I hope this covered everything. If you have anymore questions, please feel free to ask!

[taxidermycanine]

5 VIDEO GAMES FOR THERIANS.

i'm going to try to be as inclusive as possible like my last thread :0) enjoy!!

1 •

for my other wolf therians (or canine therians in general) out there — wolfquest !! live the life you were meant to live in this realistic wolf simulator. find a mate, hunt, raise pups, and defend what's yours!! this game is $20 on steam and itchio, it comes with the OG game too if you ever want to play the older version :03

you can play with up to 8 friends on multiplayer, there's a saga in the works (the completed version of the game), DLCs for those with extra cash to spare, and 88 achievements on steam for those who love collecting things!!

as someone who plays this game every day, and has been playing since i was a small child, i highly recommend this game not only from a therian perspective, but also because it's extremely fun to play!!

2 •

for any lynx therians out there, i recommend shelter 2 !! play as a mother lynx striving to keep her cubs alive and fed as you hunt prey, explore the wildlife and prepare for other animals trying to harm you and your young.

this game is incredibly pretty and, from my own experience, runs on even the shittiest computers with relative ease.

and yes, you can name both you and your babies :03

this game is $25 on steam and has a DLC for $10, it has 26 achievements and doesn't take too long to complete!!

3 •

if you're not a wild animal, but still feline, then i suggest you get the game stray !!

control an orange cat as you try to find your way back to your clowder after falling into a pit away from them. explore your environment, which can get pretty dangerous at times, so be careful!! but it isn't all bad out there, you'll meet friends, and people that love you.

story aside, this game is extremely fun to play and easy to control. i'm not a cat therian, but playing the game i felt immersed in the world, i felt like i WAS the cat. this game is $30 on steam :0)

the best part? you can meow. constantly.

i recommend a computer that can handle games with high graphics for the best results.

4 •

for any geese (or ducks) out there, you should get untitled goose game !! love mischief? even better, that's ALL you do in this game. steal things, make things hard for the townsfolk, honk and wear hats!! it's even multiplayer, double the irritability!!

this game is extremely fun and lighthearted, my favorite part is how you can collect things in it!! i love building a mountain of stolen goods and running around aimlessly as a silly little bird.

it runs well on all computers from my own experience, and you can buy it for $20 on steam!!

5 •

and last, but not least, meadow !! this game was produced by the same developers that made shelter 1 & 2 :0)

play as multiple animals in this online world, unlock different skins and new critters to play as, meet and make new friends, explore the environment around you. this game is suitable for all and one of the cheaper ones on this list at $10.

it runs easily on most software and is wonderful to play if you need some time to wind down in the evening after a stressful day due to the muted colors, calm environment and interesting style :03

[weathermanpolls]

Adeptus Astartes: The second ancestor of all powered armour, and the proliferator of Space Marines. They are genetically-engineered epic space knights. They can survive atmospheric entry with nothing but a jetpack, have motorcycles that are basically tankettes that let them rove the battlefield, but their most important power is space magic and plot armour. Despite, or in fact, BECAUSE of the space magic, they have the hardest science fiction setting, to the point that their epic, holy boltgun works entirely on existing technology.

Bianco Angelo: Ascended human wearing a suit of armour animated using demon magic, creating one of the most unique enemies in video games history.

Bonta-kun: Teenage combat vet that can only think of combat is giving a mascot outfit, and what does he do? Turn it into Powered Armour. This is downright silly, but the bulky outfit gives more than enough room for the mechanical aspects. It's a notable outlier in a world filled with either epic space knights or realistically mundane powered armour.

Exo-Frame: One of the first attempts to create something other than powered armour and mecha. It was created as a North American competitor with anime, but just wasn't good enough to actually be much more than a Saturday morning cartoon. Most of the things getting reboots nowadays are either: a) already fantastic, and therefore the reboot has to be as good as one of the best stories ever created, b) terrible, with no attempt to make it better, c) good, and obviously being remade for woke bullshit points. Seriously, Exo-Squad is the property that could be done fantastically with a reboot. Stop being a cartoon, and be an animated medium.

Hard Suit: Mass Effect is a hard science fiction setting that gets caught up in Lovecraftian cosmic horrors. Like everything else, it tries to make the science as hard as possible, and as such makes it the most plausible suit for future combat. They can survive in space, and most planetary environments, have impact-resistance as good as they can manage without severely limited their ability to move as infantry. It also includes a whole host of tools that are integral to pretty much everything, to the point that every hard suit can be used to weld a ship back together, can help interface with a ship's controls, coordinate communication and fire control, etc.

Iron Man: One of the few powered armours that actually take flight into consideration, and shows how powerful an individual that can fly would be. His suit actually uses every part of itself as a flight surface, and can kill dozens of mundane soldiers all around him in a split second.

Landmate: An attempt at creating plausible powered armour. Too focused on what was plausble to think of the possible, it turns out feeling incredibly mundane. This is probably the first time that powered-armour felt visceral and real.

Mjollnir: The predecessor of the mundane video game powered armour. This managed to skirt the line between making the use feel like a super human, and making the user feel like an ordinary soldier going to war.

Mobile Infantry: The ancestor of all powered armour, and as powerful as you can get without space magic or plot armour. They have jump jets, (introducing the concept), that let them move at 60mph while jumping over tall buildings, have orbital drop pods that peel away, leaving clouds of debris, and allowing them to survive atmospheric entry, they carry peewee nukes, might be the ancestors of laser swords, (Heinlein loved being vague with details like this), and most importantly of all, can do everything infantry can. This last part is something that is almost always ignored. You can apparently still dance a jig and crack and egg without breaking it, (assuming you could do these things before hand). They also use space flamer throwers before they were cool.

Mobile Suit: The creator of the mecha genre, explicitly a byproduct of Mobile Infantry, (including the fact that Sunrise actually did a Starship Troopers show beforehand). Heinlein was notably lacking in details about how big powered armour was, and the mobile suits are almost a viable variation. Other than the fact they are basically walking tanks, that can do little in the way actual infantry. Note: I'm not including Gundams, because they are powered by plot.

VF-1: They take a mecha and let it transform into a space fighter. This gives it the capability to fly across a continent before engaging in pseudo-infantry combat. This is something no one else even TRIES to do without space magic, super hero technology, or plot armoury.

Was Warmech the first steam powered armour? No. Maybe? But it's by far the most interesting.

Note: If you are wondering why something is missing, it's likely because someone else had a similar concept sooner. Like Fallout heavily uses powered armour, but doesn't actually do anything interesting with it.

[oil-rigging]

I’m gonna talk some more because I really want to talk Psychonauts instead of doing meaningful work.

Why is it always when I’m not crunched for time that I can’t think of ideas? I find myself setting arbitrary time constraints for myself and instead of being productive with them I’m just panicking over whether or not I can complete a relatively simple task WELL in a time limit I set for myself.

And now, while you’re piecing together how the hell task-based anxiety relates to Psychonauts, I throw Compton Boole at you like a bowling ball.

STRIKE! Or, Spare? I don’t bowl often.

We all have a little Compton Boole in our heads, I think. Someone who lightly taps your cheek whenever you’re having a rest and reminds you that there are better things you could be doing with your time. Some people can just manage their little Compton better than others.

No shame in it, it’s not like you can control crippling anxiety. That’s your chemical imbalance and therefore your business. I was just putting myself on the spot because it’s more ✨ethically responsible✨.

Given that anxiety is primarily a fear disorder, it’s unsurprising that most studies on it are run on animal models —which is elaborated on in a 2009 research paper on neuro-circuitry of fear and stress disorders by Drs. Shin and Liberzon. Obviously, much more has been discovered since, seeing as sixteen years is a long time for developments. Regardless, this is about the rats.

The main difference between rodents (and most animals) and humans is that humans have a tendency to have fear responses to things that aren’t clear, unconditioned stimuli— as well as phenomena such as anticipatory anxiety, which is evidence (one piece of many) that animal models aren’t all that accurate in human study.

In other words: humans react anxiously to stimuli that (and I am not attempting to reduce the impact of anxiety, because it is very real) does not exist.

Here I raise you the Compton Boole-shaped bowling ball that I just threw at you.

Any of this sound familiar?

Compton is anxious, and we see that from the get-go. The way he speaks has a quavering quality to it, his voice seems to crack every other sentence. We learn what he’s anxious about, and it’s quite literally all in his head, and self-imposed on top of it.

Ram It Down is a prime example of setting oneself up to be anxious, even unwittingly. Compton has put himself in an environment that is:

1.) “Broadcasted, Timed, and Judged”, as it’s on TV. This is an environment in which judgment is not only expected, but encouraged. Tell me you haven’t watched a competitive cooking show and not judged a contestant for one thing or another. It’s not even a conscious effort, half the time. We even go so far as to face off against the entity: judgment. Not to mention the Actual Cooking Show Judges that are present and consistently heckling us. It’s clear that Compton fears judgment— he says it himself!

Also— the time limits. Nothing bad happens when you don’t complete the dish within the time limit. You can take your time, it’s fine. Again, with the arbitrary time limits he sets for himself when the task isn’t actually requiring a time crunch.

2.) The goats. In some contexts, goats mean creativity, and drawing back to Hinduism— the transformative powers of fire. Both of which seem to fit with Compton’s love of cooking.

However, there’s also the negative meanings. The obvious— relating to or of the Devil… though we don’t particularly see any religious references in the game or in Compton specifically. Another negative meaning that I feel has more prevalence is the concept of the scapegoat, in which a goat is burdened with sins and outcasted… perhaps, to a psycho-isolation chamber.

But a more likely and probable cause for the goats is that goats are rumored to eat anything, even things that are realistically inedible. While this isn’t necessarily true— I have experience with goats that prove that they’re rather picky— it’s still a way for Compton to put himself down, or perhaps give himself some hope. ‘They’ll eat anything’ in a positive connotation vs. ‘They’ll eat anything’ bemoaning his situation.

3.) It’s taking a lot of the joy out of something he finds comfort in; cooking! Cooking is —from what I researched, at least. Correct me if I’m wrong— the less precise of the culinary arts, focusing more on flavor than the chemical reactions necessary to make baking work. Cooking shows and baking shows, at least to me, seem like they bring a lot of joy to the art, where I get to see how people from different backgrounds and contexts get creative with their food.

But not everyone wants to be on television. Not everyone wants to cook outside of their home kitchen, with the tools and ingredients they’re familiar with. Not everyone wants to be put on the spot, have their methods and ideas harshly judged by people you don’t know, and to seem so small in comparison to some hot-shot public chef’s giant ego… in a literal sense, for Compton.

All in all, this guy set himself up for anxiety and stress without even thinking of it. He’s coming in expecting failure, and some meddling kid goes and proves to him that he’s significantly more competent than he thinks, and that his friends love him dearly (and all blame themselves for their group’s collective shortcoming. Except Otto. Because Otto’s well adjusted).

Which means that if you feel too anxious to function, sometimes all it takes is a little help from someone you hardly know, and trusting them to help you work through it :]!

I don’t know when this turned into life advice, because I’m not a qualified therapist. I’m just a college kid who likes to write about psychology and see all of the cool studies that people have run solely in the interest of helping their loved ones and people around them. I feel like Compton Boole is a love letter from the Psychonauts Devs that reads: ‘if he can do it, so can you.’ I feel like the whole game echoes that in almost every aspect.

That got surprisingly deep. I have no important exams this week, so I’m getting anxious over nothing until I have something substantial to worry about. But for now? We can let ourselves relax. I implore whoever is reading this, also, to go relax.

[hemi-demi]

Hi! I absolutely adore your art style and was wondering if you have any tips for a beginner?

Hihi! Honestly, I thought about it for a bit, and I think my tips for new artists aren't much different than the ones for established artists. I've been making art in one way or another pretty much my whole life, but I still feel new to it half the time, which in all honesty I think is how it should feel.

So, some general stuff that I hope helps:

1. Don't spend a lot of money on it when you start out:

Super tempting to buy a bunch of expensive tablets, software, etc, but can be daunting when you're brand new.

Just start with whatever you have! Pencil and paper, or even drawing with your finger on your phone (like my friend @the-awful-dread-that-leaves, wtf how do you do that?) just use whatever is available to you!

Also, pen and paper can actually be great practice. Can't undo your mistakes, gotta work around them. Flexes a lot of creative muscles.

2. Study real life and study other artists:

Figure drawing from photos or real life, still life's, perspective practice, all that stuff helps a ton. Even if you like very simplified styled which stuff like mine tends to lean towards, it helps so much to know what realistic proportions should look like before you go messing around with them. A big chunk of my early childhood work was pretty much all charcoal and pastel portraits, trying to be as realistic as I could.

But I also really loved anime as a kid and would try to match people's styles, and that's the second part of this. Just look at and dissect as much art as you can. Find out what you like, what you don't like. Try to draw something just for yourself in those styles, feel the way your hand moves when you do.

Try to reverse engineer how they did something, or if the artist is active on socials, just ask them! Can't speak for all of them, but many are happy to talk about their process. And getting helpful feedback from other artists makes a huge difference, no matter how long you've been making art.

3. Just draw as much as you can

I was doing vector art mostly for several years before the TMA brain worms kicked in, and starting to draw again when I would just passively doodle in sketchbooks felt like I had to retrain all my muscles.

My hyperfixation has helped so much, honestly. Gave me something very specific to want to draw again, and I try to draw at least a little if not every day, then every other day.

I do try to branch out and draw other characters, or incorporate environments so I'm not stagnating myself to the same poses and blorbos forever, but I also let myself indulge when I just want to get something down on paper. Whatever gets you drawing more is going to be good for your skill over time, so just chase whatever drives you!

Hope these are helpful!

[goose-on-the-loose]

The Darkest Hour - Styracosaurs in a Wildfire Paleoart Process Breakdown

It’s been a long time since I’ve shared my art on this account (at some point years ago I just forgot to), but I thought that this might be a great opportunity to start posting my art again! This is my first attempt at paleoart, and I think it’s worthy of sharing. It’s for my showcase at my art school, so there were time restraints that stopped me from adding elements that I would’ve liked, but ultimately I’m quite satisfied with it.

For any budding paleoartist (or anybody really) who’d like to see my process, I put it all below the read more! @a-dinosaur-a-day (hope you don’t mind me @/ing you, i originally meant for this post to be an ask but it got too long haha)

I started off knowing that I wanted to depict some kind of ornithischian for a number of reasons. Two of the biggest reasons were that 1) I simply like them more than theropods and sauropods and 2) My senior showcase is all about showing animals in ways that the viewer hasn’t seen them before, and most people don’t really think about ornithischians except for if they’re being preyed on by a theropod.

I then narrowed my choices further by looking at different formations and what species they have. I looked up what formations parasaurolophus was in (since it’s one of my fav dinosaurs and I was thinking of making it my subject) and I saw the dinosaur park formation. Looking at the different species found there and the type of environment they lived in, I knew this formation was going to be my choice. 

I couldn’t narrow it down to one species yet, so I decided to think of some scenarios ornithischians might find themselves in first. I thought, “Oooh, what about some dinosaurs escaping from a wildfire?”, since the storyline could easily be conveyed, the lighting would be interesting, and I could get creative with the composition (flames and burning debris can create arcs to guide the viewer’s eye).

I did some very quick simple thumbnails and sketches to get the feeling and flow of the lines. I saw some paleoart by Marzio Mereggia and I remembered one of his parasaurolophus pieces that I really liked. I also looked at the composition of the fire scene from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron for inspiration. (the tiger doodle had nothing to do with it, i just wanted to draw a tiger) The shapes and silhouettes of these species weren’t really clicking for me, so I looked back on the list and saw styracosaurus. I looked at some paleoart and realized that the silhouette and shapes of their frill and horns could really draw the viewer’s attention.

So, I drew the top thumbnails and showed them to my teacher. He liked all of them, but especially liked the middle one, so I drew a larger version of it, making sure to elevate the best parts and communicate the story. I like to use highlighters when thumb-nailing because it helps me break down the background, middleground, and foreground while also giving attention to the focal points. I was satisfied with this layout, so I drew an even larger version of it that would be the same size as the piece of wood I would be painting on.

I wanted to add more dimension so I changed the placement a bit. I don’t have much to say on this one, except for the final project has less background detail because each piece in our showcase has to be finished within a certain amount of time, this is also why the adult styracosaurus doesn’t have scale detail. I would’ve liked to add it, but I have to be realistic with my time.

I then drew the sketch on the piece of wood, and then my teacher cut the excess wood off.

Painted the background and also changed the shape of the face horn to be more accurate. I believe that styracosaurus’ horns changed with age and each individual’s grew in their own slightly different way. I do regret not pushing the dark ground colors further back.

Started trying to figure out the colors in class here.

Did this all the next day, took about 6-7 hours. 3 during class and the rest in my dorm. I changed/added to the rest of the face colors later, but the beak stays the same. I still really like the way I painted the beak.

This was after 3 more hours of class time. I changed the face horn color and made the frill horns match it. I also started focusing more on highlights and shadows. This is the last photo I took during the process.

With the final version, you can see that I warmed up the highlights to match the fire and I dulled them out too (adding yellow to purple desaturates it). I also went over the background again, making the colors more vivid and adding a glow to the fire. Ngl I do regret not adding that glow to the fire on the trees, but oh well. Live and learn ig.