#I guess ukraine is thinking the same thing

[marithlizard]

If you are ever again tempted to call another person "cringe" because they do not meet your lofty standards, then please stop and read the messages above first. Then recalibrate. Elon Musk is the richest man in the world. He holds enormous influence over the incoming US president and is being granted his own new government agency to do whatever he likes. How does this man, who has indirectly caused the deaths of thousands in various ways, spend his spare time? He makes sockpuppet accounts with names like "Aaron Dittman" and posts about how great that Elon guy is. He replies to his own posts from his sockpuppet accounts to agree with himself. And today he's doing it on 4chan.

I can't decide whether "Elon is a father who gets a lot of sex" or "kek you frens later, anons" gets the award for Most Cringe Thing Anyone Has Said Online Ever.

(ETA: Never mind, apparently he also used to roleplay as his own toddler son on social media as some kind of kink thing and I refuse to learn more. The award is cancelled.)

[radioactive-cloud]

those past few days are really testing my patience with some of the takes and opinions i've seen on the internet and i'm so fucking done with all of this i just want to delete all my accounts from everywhere and live somewhere in the woods (as far away from russia as i can) and to never come in contact with another human being again

[metalobrukht]

You all DO NOT fucking understand.

A “what did I do-o-o-o 😭😭😭 I'm just a little guy, I'm apolitical, what do you want from me-e-e-e 😭😭😭😭” russian is not a “good” russian. It is a product of russian propaganda they've got going on inside the country. It is what they've been brainwashed to think like. Their government feeds them contradicting lies and punishes for speaking up, so they sit quietly, not even wanting to learn about Kursk.

They went on a protest when there was no electricity due to infrastructure damage. They went on a protest abroad when a russian nazi singer got blocked on Spotify. Why don't they protest the war while living in Britain? Why do they either not give a fuck or attack Ukrainians abroad? It is THEIR choice to see Chechnya, Georgia, Ukraine, Syria and then ploof on their backs receive belly scratches that Western folk happily provides.

They don't engage, then visit Crimea in the summer and run in complete bewilderment with tears on their faces when there's a bomb. What war? They're apolitical, guys. How could you? What did they do? Of coooourse they can call a Ukrainian a cowshed animal and still be apolitical (in russian of course, so you, their western friend, don't think bad of them). They can mock any language that got trapped under the empire however they please and not notice any oppressive undertones. You all did not hear what they think about Belarussian or Ukrainian — NOT when they're confronted, but when they speak in their space and in their language.

Image 1, “Dead languages of russia”

Image 2, “Guess why the fuck there are so many nationalities in ruzzian empire and why is that their culture is being erased. A bonus question: by whom? An extra hard question: do ordinary russians think that these people have the same social status as them? Do they think that some nationalities are subhuman?”

Of course they call for “peace”, because, you see, war is bad, because fuck the war! — because it's a surface-area nice thing they can say to get friends, because they're too “pure” to follow up with “they should give up so the killings stop giving me a bad reputation and I DO NOT GIVE A SINGLE SHIT about death when it's not on my Twitter feed”.

I know what a Westerner would think about this. At the very, very best, literally peak compassion I've met maybe twice, it would be: “Damn this is xenophobic, but I bet they're going through a lot right now, so I won't tell them that they're wrong”. And the funny thing is that I am not wrong. They're just nice to you, because your nation is not the funny one that belongs in the stables. If they're an opposition, they just want a better russia, not a free Ukraine.

And I'm talking about “leftists” here (not sure if it's the correct term, like, politically), the ones being befriended and cherished online. Shit the openly genocidal ones produce, which are many, is far beyond Western comprehension.

[fanartka]

Heartstopper and Jayvik crossover

I really love Alice Oseman's Heartstopper series and I think Charlie and Nick are very similar to Viktor and Jayce. Especially in matters of caring for your partner and “Did you eat well today Charlie/Vik?” So here's a crossover where Viktor and Jayce met in high school.

I'm still not entirely sure what kind of activities they were involved in, whether it was sports like in Heartstopper or maybe they are now in the back room of the laboratory. Hmm, why not, let's imagine that Viktor is not yet lame and a wonderful runner, like Charlie. Perhaps because in Zaun running fast is an excellent skill for survival. They play some Piltie game like rugby, and once a boy from a group of bullies intentionally bumps into Vik and breaks his leg so that now he not only can’t play rugby, but has to walk with a cane. I can imagine Jayce's feelings, but beyond all the despair, guilt and rage, he would be an incredibly caring and supportive partner (sorry for this little angst moment).

But for now they are happily kissing in the back room, not at all expecting that Miss Young will suddenly catch them. I really like to imagine them as teenagers in love. I absolutely adore the couple Charlie and Nick, they are such a cuties, and I am very grateful to the author Alice Oseman for showing what a healthy relationship should be.

And many thanks to my Sunshine @slasher-art , who introduced me to both fandoms, watching them with you was a great happiness❤️🩷.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to buy volumes 4 and 5 yet, they were quickly sold out in Ukraine, so I’m waiting for an additional edition, but those pages of the comic that are in the author’s account intrigued me incredibly.

Jayvik has some kind of magic of its own - they fit perfectly into any universe, any fandom, with them it would probably be possible to make a crossover with even Robinson Crusoe, even with the game Plants vs. Zombies.

And now, re-reading Heartstopper, which I fell in love with because of Charlie and Nick, I can easily imagine Viktor and Jayce in their place. Just imagine how Vik gets bullied at school because he's gay from Zaun who doesn't even have a last name (until Jayce suggests his own, of course😏), how Jayce chivalrously defends him, how they start liking each other more and more, and how Jayce desperately tries to find a book about bisexuality because Google hasn't been invented in their world yet.

By the way, when I started translating phrases from Ukrainian back into English, I realized that they could be translated differently from the original, and I started looking for the right page from the author and guess what? Some pictures in my book and the one posted by the author do not match! I wonder if it was because the book was still available for pre-order at that time and Alice Oseman later changed some pages for printing?

So if anyone here has the third volume in English, I would be very grateful if you open page 590 and write whether your pictures are the same as in my book or the same as in the author’s account (whiter version up here⬆️). By the way, I really like the softer color of the pages, so I made the background a little different. And I'm going to redraw some more moments I like there.

Fans of Charlie and Nick, Viktor and Jayce and anyone else are welcome to comment, I really love discussions, even if we have opposite opinions, the main thing is to conduct the discussion civilly.

[boreal-sea]

okay sorry you don’t like the word Zionist I’ll come up with a new word and it’s weirdassbitch btw and guess whatZzz ummm yeah you fit the bill. I don’t know man 😭😭😭😭 the fact you’re only posting about gofundmes when it’s about Israeli hostages or only ever being like “okay yeah what’s happening to Palestinians is bad” in conjunction with “so about this anti semitism we’ve been having…” means you’re obviously biased you’re just biased and hey… hey holds your hand it’s okay ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ We can work through this… together *looks away shyly* also I’m like Jewish like by blood. I didn’t even have to convert sorry I’m laughing converts you’re valid but boreal I guess I’m just like…. Better than you at being Jewish? Idk btw and hey maybe the reason why antisemitism is rising is because you guys are all like yeah so we deserve Israel because we lived there 1000000 years ago and if you hate Israel you’re anti Jewish soooo yeah…. Yep maybe having being Jewish synonymous with a genocidal state isn’t smart idk just my thoughts. I think having Jews live all across the world is so beautiful it brings a tear to my eye… I think shoving us all in one place is gay as hell to be frank. Whwtagevrr. I was born in USA born and raised and my family came from Ukraine. I have zero claim to a plot of land 6000 miles away just because I wanna have a sick ass vacation home. maybe that’s why you converted I’m just joshing around it would be funny though if you went through all that just to build a cute little Resort on stolen land. I don’t know boreal. I think I’d just rather have my BLEGH :P, not a :•]

I have not posted a single gofundme for Israeli victims. I’m not sure why you’d make up that lie? Please feel free to look back in my blog as far as you’d like, you won’t find one. It’s even in my blog description that I do not reblog gofundme posts.

I do post links to organizations that directly help Palestinians in Gaza. I have done so fairly often. I don’t recall ever posting a link to aid organizations that only benefit Israelis.

Do I often talk about antisemitism and Gaza at the same time? Yes. These two things are inextricably linked. What is happening in Gaza right now wouldn’t be happening without antisemitism.

Am I biased? No more than the average human being on Earth. I personally consider the folks screaming “Death to Israel!” to be a lot more biased than myself, as I am simply calling for peace between Israel and Hamas. I wanted a peaceful solution from the beginning. You can even find posts on my blog right after Oct 7th where I compare Israel to the USA after 9/11 and state my fears that Israel will have a disproportionate reaction. I loathe the political posturing of both Netanyahu and Hamas and I hate that they both dragged this out so long. Netanyahu wanted this to look like Trump’s victory, which disgusts me. And Hamas allowed their people to suffer for over a year! They’re disgusting, too. Every leader involved in this conflict failed their people.

Our personal feelings about whether or not native people like the Jews “deserve” to live in their homeland is irrelevant — Israel as a country exists here and now. Though it does bring up the interesting question: do you think if the USA just waits long enough, native Americans will also lose their landback rights? How long will that take?

Jews don’t really live “all over the world”. Nearly half live in the USA, and the other half in Israel. This is because all the other countries were so violently antisemitic to the Jews living there the Jews had to flee. In fact, after Israel was founded, a lot of countries literally forced their Jews out under threat of death.

Jews still suffer from antisemitism all around the world, and did so even before Oct 7th. The increase in antisemitism since Oct 7th hasn’t exactly made diaspora Jews feel safe. “A country you’re not even a citizen of did a bad thing, so now I’m going to firebomb your elementary school” isn’t fertile ground for cooperation, is it?

I don’t agree with everything Israel has done. I don’t have to. I think it is a country in crisis that needs major reforms, much like the USA. But I don’t scream “death to America!” either. I live here. I want to make it a better place. I want them both to be better, to live up to the ideals they espouse. To be free, and safe, and prosperous.

I want Gazans to be able to go home. I want them free from the cruelty of Hamas, which has allowed its people to die and suffer since it took power in 2005 and refused to hold any more free elections. They are tyrants. I want Palestinians in the diaspora to come home, too. I want them to have a safe, prosperous country where their culture and children can flourish!

I want peace. If that makes me a “weirdassbitch”, then so be it. I’ve been weird my whole life, anon!

[timeslipcamp]

flower meanings part 2 🌸🌼

this got away from me lmao i didn't realize how many cards have flowers. there's probably going to be a part three smh

spoilers through ep 15 because i can't keep my mouth shut

as stated in the other post these are all guesses and i'm trying my best to reference multiple sources blah blah blah

i have a new crack theory because of these

oh rui, my beloved rui. lots of yellow, which is almost always associated with positivity in these flower meanings. he tries so hard :')

i'm seeing yellow and peach roses, yellow orange and white daisies, a few sprigs of baby's breath, and either kerria or yellow carnation in his pocket. behind him on the wall we've got a single white rose on some...halesia? the shape is a little wack but. who knows

yellow and peach roses have both been discussed previously, but yellow roses are typically friendship and loyalty and peach are for sincerity and admiration. daisies have also been discussed (white ones are for innocence, purity, and "your secret is safe with me.) baby's breath is the same minus the secrets.

white rose - like many other white flowers, it represents innocence and purity. oh rui. they can also be associated with loyalty and remembrance.

yellow daisy - typical yellow with joy and cheerfulness, also can signify loyalty, friendship, and sometimes new beginnings. one site called them the perfect get well soon flower lmaoooo

orange daisy - tumblr deleted half of my draft again this is my villain origin story. anyways the meaning for this one is a little scattered but it basically means joy, friendship, and happiness

i'm still not sure if this is a yellow carnation or kerria so we're doing both

kerria - also called the japanese rose, it usually is associated with wealth and prosperity. it does however also have medicinal properties, which is cool.

yellow carnation - i just started laughing out loud when i looked this one up. this is a flower you give someone to convey remorse, rejection, and regret 😂 poor rui dude

alright this white viney plant at the back has been bothering me the whole time. helasia's meaning is humility...which like...i guess....but also after staring at pics of it i don't think it's right. but also...it really just looks like it's white petals kind of hovering on a vine. not beating the ai art allegations with this one :/

i settled on moonflower - usually symbolic of love, magic, and mystery, and guess what this one witchy site said!! "...symbolic of all the cycles in life and love, living and dying each night."

back at it again with the cycles!!!!! dabs

you thought i was done? jokes on you IM NEVER DONE TALKING ABOUT RUI!!!

anyways i talked about purple roses in the last but they represent mystery and enchantment and love at first sight. similar to how i fell for rui

how tf is he holding that bouquet

the actual next one is haku and writing this one was interesting. in the bouquet itself we've got white and blue roses, lisianthus, a lil bit of baby's breath, blue periwinkle?, and in his pocket are yellow daisies and star of bethlehem. i'm not even going to attempt to ID those pink things in the background.

baby's breath, white and blue roses, and yellow daisies all mentioned above.

lisianthus - a great cheap alternative to roses! in victorian flower language they were said to represent a flashy or showy person lmao. other meanings include charisma, admiration, and for declarations of romantic feelings.

blue periwinkle - beginning friendships, everlasting love. in ukraine, you give them to newly weds to help their marriage last longer. in some parts of the world, it's also called graveyard vine.

star of bethlehem - once again, pretty similar to other white flowers with the purity and innocence. these ones, however, also carry the meanings of honesty and forgiveness.

why are you asking for forgiveness, haku?

oh jin here we go again. my beautiful princess with a disorder. if that's foxglove i'll scream

in the bouquet we have purple (and maybe white?) roses, potentially baby's breath but that looks a lil yellow, and either white or light purple lillies. maybe pink roses? lighting makes it hard smh. in his pocket he has white roses and serbian bellflower. and then hanging is purple foxglove 🙃

purple and white roses and baby's breath addressed previously (purity innocence remembrance enchantment love at first sight) i'm still not sold on that being baby's breath though. that lowkey looks like the false solomon's seal that was in zenji's pocket.

lighting artistic interpretation blah blah blah

just in case those are pink roses, those have also been addressed but they're basically like the less intense version of a red rose. "i love you but i'm chill about it."

white lillies are typically a funeral and wedding flower, they symbolize new beginnings, rebirth, and like all other white flowers, purity and innocence. new beginnings, love that for him. just in case it's purple, purple lillies symbolize romantic and mysterious love and also royalty

serbian bellflower - on one side of things it represents humility, loyalty, and everlasting love. the other half of meanings have it as endurance and stability. this is a cute one for jin

purple foxglove - this one is crazy. foxglove is heavily associated with magic, healing and death, and especially purple is associated with mysticism. in victorian flower language, however, purple foxglove represents insincerity and immorality. yikes. what a beautiful wedding

bonus jin post! purple irises on the bathroom counter.

purple is typically a color associated with royalty, and these flowers also symbolize strength, wisdom, and positive change. irises also symbolize AND I DON'T WANT THE WORLD TO SEE ME CAUSE I DON'T THINK THAT THEY'D UNDERSTAND--

and holy shit i think that's it. there's a couple that have small bouquets (jin with some blue roses and jiro with a red peach and pink rose) and then rui with a tree, but idk if those really count. they dont seem super significant idk

i might do a post about the tarot cards next, this was super fun lol

damn i am gonna have to make an archive link so i can navigate my own posts huh

as always, if i missed anything pleaseeee let me know, asks and dms are always open!

[jacensolodjo]

I love certain people but if at any point the thought process is 'besides the invasion of Ukraine, russia is actually okay because it stands up to the USA/West etc.,', I'm gonna have to wonder where the FUCK y'all have been the past fucking 100+ years aka YOUR ENTIRE LIFE russia has been not okay.

I want y'all to think long and hard every time, EVERY TIME, russia is in opposition to something the USA/west does. (always be suspicious why they are against it. believe it or not a country isn't always against something because it is morally/ethically right to be against it. they are against it because they don't like the other country. Surprise! while you may shrug and say 'same difference' haha read on) and then WATCH WHAT THEY DO. you WATCH. they will do THE THING THEY JUST CHIDED THE WEST ON DOING. Maybe a month later, maybe two months. Who knows. BUT THEY WILL DO IT!! IT IS THEIR THING!!! Or even better, IN THEIR HISTORY they have done the exact fucking thing they just chided the west on doing. And no I'm not even gonna say 'oh a hundred years ago they did this thing'. But they did this thing they are chiding the west on within living memory. or are ACTUALLY ACTIVELY DOING IT!!! While saying to the world 'ohhhh bad evil West, you no good West, how AWFUL!!!' They will shake their finger about war crimes and GUESS WHAT THEY ARE DOING RIGHT NOW??? They don't get to sit there and say SHIT while they do the same thing they're saying is bad. Any other country pulls that, they get hung out to dry. russia does it? Why is it okay?

It's called fucking whataboutism and it is still alive and well in russia. It was invented there and you are FALLING FOR IT EVERY FUCKING DAY. Because why? Russia is not your friend. Russia is killing the people you say you care about. Russia is killing people. EVERY DAY. Just because one day it also says it is against the shit you are does not mean you start going "yay russia! you tell 'em russia!"

Russia knows what you dislike about your own damn country, about the West, and it mocks you for agreeing with it for going 'bad West'. You earn points with absolutely no one. You merely look silly when, inevitably, russia does the bad things it does later after you have praised it for saying the same things you do. When it was advantageous for it to go 'bad West'. Or when it does something politically that you say is awful when the West does it. Because, again, it is STILL bad no matter what country does it.

After it has murdered Ukrainians. Chechens. Georgians. Siberians. Jews. Muslims. Gay people. Trans people. Black People. Asian people. The people you claim to give a fuck about. The people it has been murdering for decades. For centuries.

You want to sit there and go 'yay russia' because it happened to go 'naughty West'? Imperialism is Imperialism is Imperialism. Just cause it's a different flavor of it doesn't mean a goddamn fucking thing. It does the same bad shit you hate the West for doing. Russia just wears an ushanka while doing it.

I grew up with 'russia bad'. Idk when things stopped with 'russia bad'. But can we go back to 'russia bad'? Being anti-USA/West does not make some entity good. Take that fucking thought out of your head. russia bad. say it with me. russia. bad.

[dontforgetukraine]

"In response to attacks and accusations being directed at our film, 'Russains at War,' and myiself, I want to be clear that this Canada-France co-production is an anti-war film made atg great risk to all involved, myself especially. I unequivocally believe that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is unjustified, illegal and acknowledge the validity of the International Criminal Court investigation of war crimes in Ukraine. The suggestion that our film is propaganda is ludicrous given that I'm now at risk of criminal prosecution in Russia. I also understand and empathize with the pain and anger that the subject matter may provoke in those who have suffered from this conflict. My mother emigrated to Canada, from Russia, so that we could live in a country that is devoted to freedom of expression and human rights. My hope is that our film can be assessed and discussed based on its scope and not agendas and assumptions beyond its frame, and that ultimately such discussions contribute to the war's end." —Anastasia Trofimova, Director/Producer, Russians at War (Source)

Bullshit. She's a director and producer for RT with most if not all of her films funded by RT. I guess she apparently wasn't vetted by the Canada-France co-producers.

Even if promoting Russian propaganda wasn't her intention, it can't be separated from the content. The damn trailer has soldiers saying propaganda narratives in it. (Kyiv Independent)

"Russia and Ukraine have always been inseparable. I miss the brotherly Union" reinforces the false narrative that Ukraine cannot exist as an independent state, that Russia and Ukrainian history are inseparable. Even Putin has said similar things.

“I came (to war) today so that my kids don’t go tomorrow,” conveying the belief that their military aggression in Ukraine is somehow just.

"An order was given. We went." Ah, yes, I was just following orders. Where have we heard that one before, I wonder. Not only that, it reinforces the narrative that ordinary Russians are powerless and blameless in this conflict. This isn't their war, but Putin's war. Fuck that. We know many sign up willingly such as for the money or a clean slate if they are a convict.

You can't separate the propaganda ordinary russians have been stewing in for decades and don't fight back against from this film, sweetheart. It's part of the damned context and you don't get to ignore that. Either she actually realizes that but doesn't want to say it, or she's a useful idiot. It doesn't matter which, because the result is the same.

"The fog of war is so thick that you can't see the human stories its made of."

Yes we can! This isn't the era of WW2. We can see it on Telegram! All the war crimes that are willingly committed and recorded and posted pridefully! All the ethnic slurs said to Ukrainians! All the interviews between journalists and POWs. The translations by volunteer translators showing what "ordinary Russians" on the street actually think about Ukrainians and the war. Even what the families of russian soldiers think. Never before have these stories been more accessible. That's not agendas or assumptions.

We. Can. See. It.

Just because you don't like what's in the information space doesn't mean it's not supremely relevant to the topic you're trying to shape into a narrative.

[arminreindl]

Pachycetinae: The Thick Whales

Oh look I'm way behind not only on my work with wikipedia but also in regards to summarizing it on tumblr. Good thing, three of the pages I've worked on these past few months can just be summed up in one post because they are all one family.

So Pachycetinae, at the most basic level, are basilosaurid archaeocetes, the group that famously includes Basilosaurus and Dorudon. Reason I've picked up the articles in addition to my usual croc work, basically a friend and I noticed how lacklustre many pages are and stupidly decided to start revising all of Cetacea (pray for me).

Currently theres two genera within the group. Pachycetus aka Platyosphys aka Basilotritus, which is a whole mess I will get into at the end for those interested, and Antaecetus, which I'll just call "the good one" for now. Among those are three species. Pachycetus paulsonii (or Basilotritus uheni) from continental Europe (Germany and Ukraine mostly), Pachycetus wardii (Eastern United Staates) and Antaecetus aithai (Morocco and Egypt)

Picture: Pachycetus and Antaecetus by Connor Ashbridge

So the hallmark of Pachycetines, as the name would suggest, is the fact that their skeletons are notably denser than that of other basilosaurids. The vertebrae, the most abundant material of these whales, are described as pachyostatic and osteosclerotic. The former effecitvely means that the dense cortical bone forms thickened layers, while the latter means that the cortical bone, already forming thickened layers, is furthermore denser than in other basilosaurids with less porosities. The densitiy is increased further by how the ribs attack to the vertebrae not through sinovial articulation but through cartilage, so adding even more weight to them. Overall this is at times compared to manatees, famous for their dense skeletons.

Pictured below, the currently best preserved pachycetine fossil, an individual of the genus Antaecetus from Morocco.

Now there are some interesting anatomical features to mention that either differ between species or just can't be compared. For example the American species of Pachycetus, P. wardii, shows a well developed innominate bone, basically the fused pelvic bones. This is curious as one would think of it as a more basal feature, with derived whales gradually reducing them. The skull is best preserved in Antaecetus and has a very narrow snout. One way to differentiate the two is by the teeth. Pachycetus has larger, more robust teeth while that of Antaecetus are way more gracile and is thought to have had a proportionally smaller skull (in addition to being smaller than Pachycetus in general).

All of this has some interesting implications for their ecology. For instance, why the hell are they so dense? Well its possible that they were shallow water animals using their weight as ballast, staying close to the ocean floor. This would definitely find some support in the types of environments they show up in, which tend to be shallow coastal waters. There are some Ukrainian localities that suggest deeper waters, but that has been interpreted as being the result of migration taking them out of their prefered habitat.

Now while pachycetines were probably powerful swimmers, their dense bones mean that they were pretty slow regardless. And to add insult to injury, they were anything but maneuverable. Remember those long transverse processes? Turns out having them extend over the majority of the vertebral body means theres very little space for muscles in between, which limits sideways movements.

From this one can guess that they weren't pursuit predators and needed to ambush their prey. What exactly that was has been inferred based on tooth wear. Basically, the teeth of Pachycetus show a lot of abrasion and wear, not dissimlar to what is seen in modern orcas that feed on sharks and rays. And low and behold, sharks are really common in the same strata that Pachycetus shows up in. Now since Antaecetus had way more gracile teeth, its thought that it probably fed on less well protected animals like squids and fish.

Below: Pachycetus/Basilotritus catching a fish by @knuppitalism-with-ue

The relationship between pachycetines and other basilosaurids is wonky, again no thanks due to Pachycetus itself being very poorly known. Some studies have suggested that they were a very early branching off-shoot, in part due to their prominent hip bones, but in the most recent study to include them, the description of Tutcetus, they surprisingly came out as not just the most derived basilosaurids but as the immediate sister group to Neoceti, which includes all modern whales. Regardless, in both instances they seem to clade closely with Supayacetus, a small basilosaurid from Peru.

And now for the part that is the most tedious. Taxonomy and history.

Remains of pachycetines have been known for a while and were first described as early as 1873 by Russian scientists. To put into perspective how old that is. The material's history in science predates both World Wars, the collapse of the Russian Empire and even the reign of Tsar Nicholas II. Now initially the idea was to name the animal Zeuglodon rossicum, but the person doing the actual describing changed that to Zeuglodon paulsonii reasoning that it would eventually be found outside of Russia (something that aged beautifully given that Ukraine would eventually become independent).

And this is where the confusion starts to unfold. Because at the same time people unearthed pachycetine fossils in Germany too, which would come be given the name Pachycetus (thick whale) and be established as two species. Pachycetus robustus and Pachycetus humilis, both thought to be baleen whales.

Pictured below: Pierre-Joseph van Beneden who coined Pachycetus and Johann Friedrich Brandt who described Zeuglodon paulsonii. Beneden easily has the better beard.

These latter two names however were later rejected in 1935 by Kuhn and lumped into other species, whereas Zeuglodon paulsonii was elevated to a full on new genus by Remington Kellogg in 1936. For those curious, Platyosphys means "broad loin", in combination with the species "Paulson's broad loin" to the amusement of some friends of mine.

And then people stopped caring and we have a nearly 70 year research gap. Eventually Mark D. Uhen found fossil material in the United States, but interpreted those fossils as being part of the genus Eocetus, naming them Eocetus wardii, a move that many following researchers disagreed with.

Then in 2001 a new species of Platyosphys, P. einori, was named. It's bad, moving on. More importantly, we got the works of Gol'din and Zvonok, who attempted to bring some clarity into the whole thing. To do so they rejected the name Platyosphys on account of the holotype having been lost sometime in WW2 and picked out much better fossil material to coin the genus Basilotritus ("the third king" in allusion to Basilosaurus "king lizard" and Basiloterus "the other king", isn't etymology fun?). They erected the type species Basilotritus uheni and then proclaimed Eocetus wardii to also belong into this genus, making it Basilotritus wardii.

This move was however not followed by other researchers. Gingerich and Zhouri maintained that regardless of being lost, Platyosphys is still valid and can be sufficiently diagnosed by the original drawings from the 19th and early 20th century. And to take a step further they added a new species, Platyosphys aithai (weird, why does that name sound familiar).

Then Van Vliet came and connected all these dots I've set up so far, noting that the fossils of Platyosphys are nearly identical to those of Pachycetus. This lead to the fun little thing were "paulsonii", applied first to Zeuglodon in the 1870s, takes priority over "robustus", coined just a few years later, BUT, the genus name Pachycetus easily predates Platyosphys by a good 60 years. Subsequently, the two were combined. Platyosphys paulsonii and Pachycetus robustus became Pachycetus paulsonii (simplified*). Van Vliet then deemed humilis to be some other whale and carried over Basilotritus uheni, Basilotritus wardii and Platyosphys aithai into the genus Pachycetus. *Technically Pachycetus robustus was tentatively kept as distinct only because of how poorly preserved it was, making comparisson not really possible.

Then finally in the most recent paper explicitly dealing with this group, Gingerich and Zhouri came back, killed off P. robustus for good, sunk Pachycetus uheni into Pachycetus paulsonii for good measure and decided to elevate Pachycetus aithai to genus status after finding a much better second skeleton, coining Antaecetus (after the giant of Greek myth).

And that's were we are right now. Three species in two genera, but only one of them is actually any good. So perhaps at some point in the future we might see some further revisions on that whole mess and who knows, perhaps Basilotritus makes a glorious comeback.

To conclude, sorry about the lack of images, despite the ample history theres just not much good material aside from that one Antaecetus fossil and I didn't want to include 5 different drawings in lateral view. Obligatory Wikipedia links: Pachycetinae - Wikipedia Antaecetus - Wikipedia Pachycetus - Wikipedia

Ideally Supayacetus will be the next whale I tackle, distractions and other projects not withstanding (who knows maybe I'll finally finish Quinkana)

[txttletale]

yo i really like your content and agree with you on most things but i don't really know what you mean with that last one. my friends from ukraine both oppose the war's existence but would rather not be violently annexed by an imperial power so of course they, with little other options, support resistance efforts.

it's really hard for me to understand what you're going for because if ukraine stopped fighting back it'd just get taken by russia. maybe i just have bad brainfog, but it's hard to understand what you're asking us to do and believe. should we try and take out both the russian and american imperialist powers at once? but that's unrealistic and unlikely to happen in the near future, no matter how much i personally support it, which i do.

i guess my question is, what's an actual realistic thing we should support in the meantime? we can't just pretend that somehow revolution will take out both american and russian imperialist interests immediately, so. it's like, well yes we should have a better world playing by better rules, but how do we do the right thing when we are bound by the rules now.

i have friends who have family who died in the war, and sometimes it feels like bloggers i otherwise trust say things that sound suspiciously close to "ukraine should stop this pointless fighting and give up." which i am aware isn't your intention, and i want to be an effective anti imperialist and have the correct and informed opinions on stuff like this, but i am having a very hard time understanding what you are trying to say.

i really promise i am not a concern troll or nato apologist or anything, i just also have personally been struggling with what to support and how to save innocent lives. i hate war and i wish we could magically create a situation in which ukraine didn't have to rely on horrible things for self defense. i just don't know what to do or believe because my friends would rightfully hate me if i said ukraine should stop defending itself.

i mean, first off: don't worry, you obviously don't sound like a concern troll or a nato apologist. this is an eminently reasonable question -- healed's law strikes again. & i certainly don't blame you for worrying that marxist-leninists are apologists for russian imperialism, because unfortunately many self-proclaimed marxist-leninists have been deceived by the frankly paper-thin figleaf of 'denazificaiton'--even as putin, puppet of the russian bourgeoisie denounces lenin & the bolsheviks & the soviet union with every speech he makes. it sucks!

first of all, i think the important thing here and the central point of disagreement is on what constitutes 'ukraine'. liberals and nationalists alike consider nations to be fundamentally one whole: that all the people of ukraine together constitute 'ukraine', and so 'ukraine as a whole' has consistent interests, and acts as a one--the ukrainian government represents this unitary ukraine armed forces of ukraine fight for this ukraine.

but the marxist analysis of the nation is completely different. from the marxist perspective, the nation is split across class lines. ukraine is not 'ukrainians', but in fact 'the ukrainian working class' and 'the ukrainian bourgeoisie'. now, of course, there are further contradictions even within these classes--there is a faction of pro-Russian bourgeoisie, and a faction of pro-Western bourgeoisie. but remember, we must apply the same analysis to these countries too: the 'pro-Russian' Ukrainian bourgeoisie do not wish to submit to Russia's working class, but to their oligarchs. the 'pro-Western' Ukrainian bourgeoisie are not opening the nation's economy to the European and USAmerican working class, but to their bourgeoisie. so the bourgeoisie are, in every case--even when split among themselves--only ever in league with other sectors of the bourgeoisie.

so, through this lens, how do we see the war in ukraine? well, i think that the union of communists in ukraine must have a far better handle on this than i, because they're living through it: so i will quote their analysis and then elucidate on it in relation to your question.

The puppet regime in Ukraine participates in this war in the interests of Ukrainian oligarchs, who have made themselves completely dependent on big capital of the West and NATO, who have turned the Ukrainian army into an advanced military unit of the Western bourgeoisie. The war is not about "the Ukrainian nation," not about "the Ukrainian language and culture," not even about "European values". It is a war for the united interests of the Ukrainian and international bourgeoisie, which coincide in their desire to destroy the economic and political power of the Russian bourgeoisie. No interests or rights of Ukrainian workers are protected by this war. Both Ukrainian and Russian workers in this war have only the right and obligation to go to the front and die so that one group of the world bourgeoisie defeats the other and gains more monopoly rights to oppress the workers, both in their own country and in the defeated countries. […] For the working class of Ukraine, this imperialist war has the most tragic consequences. It lies on the shoulders of the workers the role of "cannon fodder" and the inevitable deaths in the fighting, mass impoverishment, unemployment, complete restrictions of rights and freedoms for the sake of protecting the interests of the Ukrainian big bourgeoisie, the oligarchs and the interests of the Western bourgeoisie in destroying and robbing Russia and seizing its natural resources. This will inevitably be accompanied by the destruction and seizure of Ukrainian industrial and natural resources, including in the case of Russia's success. The same fate awaits the vast majority of the Ukrainian petty bourgeoisie. The big bourgeoisie has already bought its children out of the war and taken them abroad, just as it took its capitals out. But that is not the main point: the big bourgeoisie is profiting from the war under Zelensky, just as it profited under Poroshenko: stealing finances, making money from reselling weapons, supplying the army with uniforms, food, repair work, humanitarian aid, etc. In war the bourgeoisie makes billions of dollars, while the mobilized people have to be equipped and fed by relatives, friends and volunteers – which is clearly not enough. As in peacetime, but even more brazenly, the bourgeoisie is getting rich off the bones of the working class!

—Union of Communists of Ukraine, On the War and the tasks of the working class

that is to say--the russian army, which is funded by the russian bourgeoisie, is fighting to establish the exclusive right of that russian bourgeoisie to oppress and exploit the ukrainian people. meanwhile, the ukrainian army, funded by the ukrainian and western bourgeoisie more broadly, are fighting to maintain the exclusive right of the ukrainian and western to oppress and exploit the ukrainian people. already, ukrainian public assets are being put up in a fire sale for western buyers--(and of course, should russia's offensive have been as succesful as they'd hoped and this war already over, they'd be doing much the same thing for the benefit of buyers among the russian bourgeoisie).

this is what is meant by 'inter-imperialist' war. it's easy to say 'well, the ukrainian army isn't imperialist--it's fighting for the nation's independence!' but in terms of real economic interests there is no 'the nation'. the ukrainian army isn't fighting for the ukrainian working class (which of course includes themselves!)--the government that pays them and the states that equip them wouldn't do so out of any sense of interest in the well-being of the working class. we can see this clearly as the western imperialist powers now start to equip the ukrainian army with depleted uranium shells, which will poison swathes of ukrainian land and cause sickness and death among the people this army purports to be fighting for. the goal of the ukrainian state and army isn't to protect any working class people--only to protect its total right to the economic exploitation of those people.

it's this that the ukrainian state is afraid of when it fights not to cede territory, not the (surely real, to be clear!) brutality from the russian state that would face the inhabitants of any such ceded territory. in fact, funding nazi groups that operated in those areas before the war and will surely continue to operate afterwards, the ukrainian govenrment makes it clear that brutality against the inhabitants of its eastern provinces alone does not phase it, so long as the ukrainian bourgeoisie (& their western bourgeoisie patrons) continue to be the ones profiting off the region's people and resources.

elsewhere in the article the UCU observe the same thing that can be observed by those outside of ukraine by listening to the words of zelenskyy and the ukrainian government's allies--that even the goal of 'protecting its people' [read: protecting exclusive economic/extractive access to those people] has been sidelined by the dream of a total or partial obliteration of the russian bourgeoisie entirely--not for any moral or anti-imperialist reason, but simply so that the ukrainian/western bourgeoisie no longer have competition.

[...] the goals of warfare are changing. If at the first stage of the civil conflict the Ukrainian regime aimed to restore state control over the Ukrainian territories, where this control was lost, then at the second stage it aimed to destroy Russia as a condition for the existence of Ukraine.

—ibid.

so--now that i've really dug into the precise nature of this war and why it's being waged on both sides, i'll answer some of your points directly:

if ukraine stopped fighting back it'd just get taken by russia "ukraine should stop this pointless fighting and give up."

both of these positions, both the one you hold yourself and the one you worry about others expressing, assume that what the ukrainian armed forces with NATO backing and full-throated embrace of fascist paramilitaries is doing constitutes 'ukraine' 'fighting back' against 'russia'. but it doesn't--it represents the ukrainian bourgeoisie fighting back against the russian bourgeoisie.

so, the big question--do i think that the ukrainian proletariat should abandon armed resistance against the russian invasion? absolutely not!

genuine popular resistance against the russian invasion is heroic and commendable--i am under no belief whatsoever that in the face of imperialist war the ukrainian people should not arm themselves and fight against the imperialists. i just reject the framing of the actual war as prosecuted as constituting this, because, to go back to what i've already established, there is not in fact one 'ukraine' but two--only one of which constitutes in a mieaningful sense the ukrainian people. i don't believe (and neither do the UCU, whose analysis i base mine on somewhat) that 'the war' as you ponder 'supporting' constitutes the ukrainian proletariat arming themselves or fighting against imperialism on their own behalf, but rather being armed by the bourgeoisie and fighting on their behalf.

and obviously i'm not an idiot who's blind to the actual numerial and material realities. the communist, anti-imperialist movement in ukraine, just like in most of the world, is completely dwarfed by imperialism and its footsoldiers. 'the ukrainian proletariat as self-armed acting organization rising up and challenging both imperialisms and freeing itself from both sets of bourgeoisie' is not something that's gonna happen tomorrow, and it's not an immediately actionable plan--no ukrainian communist can wake up tomorrow and say 'well, today i shall hit the big proletarian revolution button'.

the realities are that as the meeting ground between two imperialisms, ukrainian communists have to make decisions about which one they can most ably fight, might need to temporarily align themselves with or allow themselves to benefit from the ukrainian bourgeoise state--but never support it. like any bourgeoise state, a communist should know the ukrainian state is an enemy of the proletariat. yes, the pressing material realities on the ground might well make cooperation with that bourgeoise state the best temporary option--but 'cooperation' should never mean 'support' or 'loyalty', and should be done only tactically with ultimately loyalties remaining above all else with the working class.

in fact, refusing to offer the government and army a show of support and valorization is a key element of creating the conditions--radicalization, agitation--that would allow the proletariat to effectively rise up and truly combat imperialism, rather than choose under which imperialist heel they would rather be ground into dust. don't support an end to the war on either imperialist bloc's terms, but rather on proletarian terms--understand that the state of ukraine is not on the side of the ukrainian people, except tangentially, in individual moments of necessary alliance. raise awareness of the true war, the class war, and resist the ukrainian state's claims to stand with the people when it pursues the interests of the bourgeoisie.

tldr: the anti-imperialist position is not that the ukrainian proletariat should not be fighting, or that their fight is not worth supporting. the anti-imperialist action, therefore, is to draw the most awareness possible to this division within 'ukraine' among the working class themselves, make them aware of the realities of the economic condition. this is of course the foremost anti-imperialist and communist task across the entire world, because it is only through creating organizations of the working class that will fight for the working class can international imperialism be dfeated.

i'll leave this answer off by adding what the UCU said about this very topic in the same statement i've been quoting:

We understand the complexity and danger of these tasks, which inevitably cause repression on the part of the bourgeois political regimes. That is why workers' and communist organizations will need to develop illegal forms of class struggle along with legal ones in order to set and implement such tasks. The UCU has been forced to conduct its work in illegal forms since 2014. Many workers' and communist organizations may consider these antiwar tasks impossible because of their organizational weakness and lack of influence on the working class. However, historical experience shows that a correct and honest formulation of the tasks of the working class in conditions of war – real, not momentary tasks – may not yield success immediately, but will yield gains as the revolutionary situation intensifies. Since the task of destroying capitalist social relations is an international task, the international coordination of workers' and communist parties' actions, including the joint elaboration of tasks for the struggle against the imperialist war of the twenty-first century for the sake of uniting the international struggle against this war, for a communist reorganization of society and world peace, is becoming increasingly important. Proletarians of all countries, unite! 

[tozettastone]

Today's frustration is that the ALP and the Coalition are both floating the same dumb plan that varies only in the details (as usual). They're keen to cut the numbers of international students studying at Australian universities on the basis that we have a housing affordability crisis and if you can reduce the number of people arriving in the country who need housing, you can free up housing for everyone else.

On the surface that might briefly appear sensible, which is what you hope when you advertise to swing voters I guess. Except there's these three things that no politician seems to want to mention:

First: The cause of the housing affordability crisis is not increased migration — it's the collapse of our residential construction industry. Construction insolvencies were at a record high in 2023 and 2024. Stopping international student numbers doesn't address this problem, probably because this problem emerged from both the administrative structure of the average construction company and the supply chain disaster brought about by COVID-19 lockdowns, chip shortages (needed for auto manufacture etc) and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and is therefore somewhat harder to fix than 'urgleblurgle foreigners stealing our homes.'

Second: International students in Australia take on part time and casual roles in our hospitality and retail sectors and contribute massively to that cohort of essential workers. I would love for retail and hospo workers to get paid more so I guess devastating the supply of employees in this sector would boost their value and, technically, make this kind of a mixed blessing? But it's not great for the sector as a whole, and I think it's important to point out that international students are not, as seems to be the narrative, leeches who take from our society: they pay money to be here, and then they frequently do valuable work in our communities.¹

Third, and, speaking with brutal pragmatism, the most important: if you take a second to look up Australia's top 25 exports on the DFAT website, you will see the first mention of education related services right underneath iron, coal and gas. Education is not only one of our most important exports, it's also one of the few that ISN'T an enormous green transition risk for our economy.

Forget the racism, cruelty and xenophobia² (and forget gutting half our national research funding) for just a second: this plan is likely to make Australians poorer.

Anyway, the Coalition's is a more severe cut to international student migration than the ALP's. I guess. So there's that. Ugh.

--

¹ I'm not getting into the politics of viewing people as opportunities for productivity here. I'm addressing a persistent point made by other people (and media outlets) who seem to feel it is in their interest to pretend they don't understand the basics of cause and effect.

² "[J]ust a second" because, obviously, those flaws in our culture are what make international students an acceptable scapegoat for the vagaries of circumstance and our failures of planning

[lightningant]

A silly thing in regard to having the vov cover as a poster is that since i live in Ukraine, a lot of people think that Tom is either Vasyl Symonenko or Vasyl Stus, two writers from the 60s, and whenever i point it out like "guess who that is" they always say he looks like one of them

Another fun thing to come out of is it this silly interaction

(For context, this is a tomarrymort discord server, and I often forget to whom i have already reccomend vov to... I just think it is a very good story, and everyone who has read it via my rec has agreed with me, so i keep recommending it. Sometimes to the same people. Whoops.)

awww, ty!!

one of the reasons i wanted to adjust the cover is that he really does look kind of russian 😭 though now as im painting im like oh! elijah wood

[vikenticomeshome]

More "Smile for Me" Plushies from ToyLandByOrlova

Remember this guy? Fashionable Habit from LimboLane's game "Smile for Me"? I got him from a plush-maker out of Ukraine called ToyLandByOrlova.

So, that shop had a few other plushies based on the same game. Not sure if they will still have them when you're reading this. I decided to pick my favorites, buy a few, and talk about them.

And then I just bought them all, because, why not?

So, let's talk about Dr. Habit again. He's dressed up in his work clothes now.

Look at that face, wouldn't you trust that face?

Oh no, you forgot to brush you teeth! You know what happens now!

Yeah, he has multiple layers of clothing, similar to Fashionable Habit. You can see his belly, arms, and legs, if you push the clothes up. Scandalous!

Let's put him aside for a moment and take a look at Nat Vancey. Her hair, eyes, and outfit are all very reminiscent of the character.

I'll admit, when I first saw this one, I was very confused about her chipmunk cheeks. Seriously, what is she storing in them? Is this canon?

I thought maybe it was an interpretation of this sprite where her mouth is branching off her face.

And then, I saw this one.

Okay, so ToyLandByOrlova portrayed her just how LimboLane made her. That's fair.

So, let's talk about local string-bean Mirphy Fotoparat. She's' very tall and leggy.

I haven't gone through Wayback Machine archives, but I suspect that Muirphy was one of the earlier productions from ToyLandByOrlova. Her face seems a bit off. When I originally saw it, I thought that it was done with those ink pens that can write on felt. However, the lines have actually been sewn onto her, which is good. Her mouth-piece does jut out of her face, which is a little awkward. However, you can tell who she is.

Her clothes are also sewn in a way that prevents them from being shifted around, unlike Habit.

And she's got a plushie camera. What sort of photos has she been taking?

Oh.

Anyway, let's talk about Parsley Botch.

So, Parsley gets the saaaaaaame..

So, Shadow Habit is very similar to Fashionable Habit, but he's been done in all black, and he has that smile. He does still have a very scandalous belly. Although, he doesn't have a shirt under his coat this time. I guess it would have been pointless to another layer of black material

Okay, I think I made him happy now. We can talk about Parsley Botch for real. I gotta say, I never really saw this guy as having a massive cushiony chest before.

Like, his whole thing is that he is super hungry, and he works so hard that he forgets to eat. But then, I took another look. I took into account that just because his sprite is flat, that doesn't mean he is.

And, the more I look at it...

His cup size makes sense. I'm sure Martin appreciates them during cuddle sessions.

I love the little detail of the scratch(?) or nasolabial fold (?) on his face.

And here he is from the back.

And now, he's going to sue me for showing you his belly.

I'm so glad that I bought them all.

[suratan-zir]

eurovision talk

I just saw the rehearsal clip…I think there is a solid chanse this will be the first non-qualify for Ukraine :( even if not, then it's the bottom right side of the table for sure

I guess we really had no budget this year? which is fair, all things considered, but it's still sad.

everyone thinks Sweden will win, but I think it might be Austria. I root for Portugal every year as a tradition.

yesterday on the eurovision subreddit i saw the news about the home of one of the backing vocal girls being destroyed, apparently she's from Myrnohrad (small world…) and there were comments like "this is not a coincidence/this had to be deliberate", bless their souls. it goes to show how little people know about the current state of the war. girl, that's not a targeted attack on a eurovision contestant, russians are just flattening Myrnohrad and Pokrovsk the same way they did to most cities and villages they captured before – heavy glide bombs all day every day to turn everything into a moon landscape. my beloved town, my grandma's house, streets where people walked and laughed just a couple years ago – uninhabitable. anyway…

I'm also rooting for Serving (cunt)

[tatarstani]

My fault for reading kiev post article, but I just read an article saying that Russia is creating African elites (what does that even mean??) by providing Africa with Russian-level education to weaken Ukraine is basically what they implying weird I thought all Russians were stupid and incompetent?? But guess not anymore because Russian education system alone can create a whole generation of “elite” Africans apparently they think everything is about them all the time Ukrainian is literally the "i am feel uncomfortable when we are not about me?" meme if I’m not wrong I remember you saying it’s mainly just a economic and military thing ?? Find it weird they put the whole entire African continent down when it’s really like 3-5 countries that they’re talking about 😭 also I’m the same anon who asked similar question before maybe a couple months ago? I like to be educated on all geopolitics but this is the sort of information I can only get from Ukrainian or pro-Ukraine news articles because well no one else cares about this except for paranoid pro-ukraine nato worshipers unfortunately like actually it’s kind of irrelevant on scale to everything in the world i suppose but I like to know of everything lol so I have to ask you because I’m curious and I can’t access a telegram (it’s blocked on my phone by my parents 💔) and I can’t find any Russian news articles I’m just very curious because I can get all sorts of information on everything from different perspectives online except for this which is usually a .ua article or something weird on reddit lol

that is so funny they crash out over everything. yeah russia and many african nation have long standing tradition of african student coming to study here, it happen alot more in soviet union and have been picking up more again in wake of russia strengthening it relationship in africa. russia also provide/fund russian language teacher in some region of especially west africa. i think it like thirty thousand african come to russia to study every year? and 4 thousandish get state funded scholarship to do so let me find article

“Russia to Allocate Over 4800 State-Funded Places for African Students in 2025

Russia will allocate 4816 state-funded places for students from Africa in 2025, Kirill Bogomolov, Deputy Head of Russian humanitarian cooperation agency Rossotrudnichestvo, said on the sidelines of the first Russia-Africa ministerial conference in Russia's Sirius Federal Territory.

“Number of quotas for African students is increasing. In the 2024-2025 academic year, a total of 4,746 state-funded places were allocated for students from this continent, and in 2025-2026, 4,816 places were allocated," Bogomolov noted.

He said that the largest beneficiary countries of the quota in the region in the 2024-2025 academic year were Egypt, Algeria, Angola, Chad, Mali, Congo, Nigeria, Zambia, Benin, Guinea, and Zimbabwe.

Bogomolov stressed that many Africans show good results studying in Russia, but they must develop the "internal institutions" of Africa.

 Earlier, South African Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training Kgwaridi Buti Manamela told Sputnik that his country prioritizes student exchanges with Russia. He added that the African nation's education sector is also focusing on postgraduate student training.”

basicaly just some african student come to study here, russian government give scholarship to 15% ish of them, and that is inherently malicious… somehow.