#Inverted Environments

[sarahmackattack]

The Philadelphia water department is studying how best to raise freshwater mussels. Why? So they can raise an absolute shit ton and put them in our rivers. Freshwater mussels are incredibly important for filtering excess nutrients and particulates from water. By deploying a million mussels a year the water department hopes to use these critters to improve our city’s water quality! Right now they raise about 10,000 mussels a year and hope to scale up to a million a year soon!

Edit: These are native species of mussels that belong here!

[constant-and-immovable]

Saw that post earlier that mentioned how Goodsir saw the Tuunbaq and lived more times than anyone else [and yet still feared the lead in the tins more than it] and idk but something about how he isn't spared by tuunbaq but it does, by coincidence maybe, leave him be.

[ferociouslycreativemystery]

Me: I'm fine about my autism now btw, like I've come to terms with my fixated interests, limited tolerances and social inabilities. The alienation it brings is not ideal but it's just a reality I've gotta deal with now that I know it's just a part of who I am. I mean, it's not like an awkward conversation is gonna ruin anyone's life, is it? We'll both move on from it eventually. This is fine!

Also me: physically unable to watch beyond the first word of the first question of The Assembly because oh my god what if someone says something awkward or controversial or someone can't make themselves understood people are gonna get mad and scream about it online and I will freeze up and be stuck in the backlash forever I don't know how to handle conflict AT ALL let's just hide in the corner behind the sofa instead wait what if I became a hermit actually yeah yeah yeah that sounds good let's do that

[tauforged]

Can you eat the urchins. Asking for the Masaru that lives in my brain and is like "CAN U EAT THAT?" whenever i see a sea creagure

i don’t think anyone’s ever attempted to eat ANY of the aliens in whalefall yet but they probably all have a lot of residual radiation in their bodies as they’re scavengers and will be feeding directly on carcasses whenever available, so you will probably turn into the thang from That Thang . HOWEVER if we ignore the whole whale radiation thing i’m sure some species are very tasty if you prep em right. i’ve never had urchins in any form before so i’m not sure what the taste/texture would be like. a good deal of them are probably poisonous on top of it all though so i’d watch out

[sunveerasolarjalgaon]

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[whetstonefires]

The reason I keep banging the Jiang Fengmian drum so hard is not that he did nothing wrong--he's definitely in contention for best parenting in this book but that bar is in the ground--but because most of the takes I see about him are so extremely bad.

If you want to slag him off for trying to make choices that would hurt no one, and winding up properly protecting no one as a result, that's valid! That's an interesting and text-based critique, which opens into his parallels with Lan Xichen!

If you want to blame him for being weirdly over-invested in Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng being bffs, that's fair, that definitely contributed to the weirdness between them. If you want to say he was a poor communicator, that he fundamentally misunderstood his son, that he failed to be emotionally available in a way his kids could get much use out of, even that he should have figured out a way to stop Yu Ziyuan from creating such a hostile environment, all of that is fair game!

If you want to tackle how the worst thing he did to his kids was die I am so interested in how Wei Wuxian went on to abandon A-Yuan by going to his death, and how that might be tied to how his primary adult role model tied him to a boat and went off to a fight he knew he was going to lose.

After his parents had already left him like that once before, presumably less intentionally.

But no, instead I keep seeing that Jiang Fengmian didn't care. That he never expressed affection. That he actively participated in Yu Ziyuan's fucky game of forcing proxy conflict onto the boys instead of constantly trying (and failing) to shut it down, or that he ignored her bad behavior because it didn't affect him, or that he fought with her constantly, or that he was too much of an unmanly coward to stand up to her when she wanted something.

All of which are directly in contradiction to every scene he's in, and several of which manage to invert or erase the actual conflicts between him and his wife that were the source of all that tension.

And which are really interesting, because some of the most intractable elements are ideological--Yu Ziyuan is fundamentally a conservative and Jiang Fengmian seems to want to be an egalitarian, which ofc matched poorly with his hereditary authority as patriarch of a large sect.

The fact that the bit where we get to actually see him failing to parent Jiang Cheng consists of him gently and firmly trying to correct Jiang Cheng's ethics when what was actually needed in that moment was reassurance for the well-founded insecurities that were causing him to be a little bitch, only for Yu Ziyuan to charge in and make everything fifty times worse, is so much more interesting than literally any version of this family dynamic I have seen in fic. It's to the point I'm relieved when writers kill Jiang Fengmian off, because it means they probably won't feel the need to character-assassinate him too badly.

The number of people I've seen come right out and say some variation of 'men can't be abused' is killing me here. No, Yu Ziyuan wanting to hurt her husband does not constitute sufficient proof that he abused her first and deserved it! That's not how anything works!

[indigosfindings]

it's kind of interesting that in super mario 64 the environments become progressively less (aesthetically) hostile further into the game. it's like it inverts the platformer formula (codified in large part by the mario franchise itself!) of transitioning from early-game lush environments (grassy plains, beaches) to climactic hostile ones (castles, volcanoes)

the first two worlds (while bright & grassy) are described upfront as a "battlefield" & a "fortress" and both position their bosses as imposing key figures in these "battles"... then the basement/courtyard levels are the haunted house (with the resident evil fixed camera), the lava world (with "lethal" in its name), the desert (with the sinister pyramid), & the gloomy cave (with the poison maze), and then ddd has Bowser's Personal Submarine, as if to suggest that that stage is one of his Bases (& that the story conflict is Insinuated into the stages)

then the upper floor worlds are like. Pastoral Mountain In Daylight. Grassy Island In Daylight. the literal last two worlds convey few visual cues of danger (platforming difficulty notwithstanding)--it's just a neutral clockwork stage & a cheery whimsical rainbow world. it's just funny that (with the minor exception of wdw) all signifiers of Threat (& pretences of narrative) within the main worlds largely drop off after fire sea

[despazito]

I'm genuinely curious to know your stance on invertebrate owners? Like, tarantulas specifically. I have one but the people who literally horde them kind of make my skin crawl just like bad snake owners do. Thoughts?

i've never kept inverts but the thing is inverts are usually smaller and don't require something like UV basking setups the way many herps do. I can't tell a good tarantula enclosure from a bad one or minimum space requirements, but i think it is mathematically just more feasible to ethically house more tarantulas per square foot of your house than snakes who are noodles and should be given room to fully extend their bodies

from what i've heard bin systems can work well for many inverts because they do prefer dank environments where they can just chill in the dirt or under a log

@zooophagous can give a better answer than me lol

[catboymoments]

Can you talk more about Inverted Fate AU Luz and her relationships with Gus and with Amity? Even though she doesn't have canon Amity's early maliciousness, is she still functionally an antagonist? Love the AU, it's so thoughtful and creative!

Inverted Fate!Toh has a central theme of choosing kindness even when it’s hard to do it, rather than the original show having a theme of knowing when someone is beyond being offered kindness. This is also shown with swap Amity and her journey in the isles in the beginning.

Being raised in the same environment as she did in canon rendered her bitter and still chasing “success” above all else as a witches apprentice, so her early relationship with Luz is very similar to what we know. Luz just wants to help and Amity’s world gets turned upside down by her eccentricities, which she’s… upset about.

(Don’t worry she melts her icy defenses really soon afterward :3 lil miss sour lemon drop absolutely has a sweet center)

[femmefatalevibe]

Femme Fatale Guide: Pleasure-Centric Sex Ed. Facts Every Woman Should Know

Some basic sex education: Decentralized from men and heteronormative perceptions of sexual pleasure.

Important for everyone AFAB with any sexual orientation: heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian, asexual, trans, non-binary, etc. Here are some ways to reclaim your sexuality from the patriarchy and heteronormative gaze.

Understand your anatomy, seriously. The clitoris is the female sex organ responsible for pleasure, not the vagina. While you may think of the bean as an isolated love button, it is actually anatomically analogous to an inverted penis and extends internally through the inside of your vaginal wall and the inner lips of your vulva. If you want to more aptly gauge your state of physical arousal, evaluate for hardness in addition to wetness (yes, it looks like a mini boner, lol).

All female (genital-induced) orgasms are clitoral orgasms. Whether they're external, internal, or both. Like its male anatomical equivalent, every clitoris has its own unique shape and size, which can be best stimulated in different ways externally and internally depending on your personal anatomy. Common pleasure zones include the external head "the clit," the "G-spot" (around 2-3 inches deep on the front of the vaginal wall), the "A-spot" (around 4-6 inches deep on the front of the vaginal wall), and anal region (stimulates clitoral legs for some AFABs).

Remember your brain is one of the most important sex organs. Sex is as (or more) mental as it is physical. According to Dr. Emily Nagoski, it is more common for AFABs to have a responsive desire style (aroused by their external environment/erotic cues that stimulate the 5 senses) versus a spontaneous desire style ("heat of the moment" sexual desire that requires minimal foreplay/build-up for pleasure and gratification).

The cervix height and density changes (and can affect how you experience sexual pleasure) throughout your cycle. If a certain position hurts sometimes and is pleasurable at others – whether alone or partnered, know this is normal. Your cervix tends to sit lower with a firmer texture from the end of your cycle and progressively raises/gets softer (thanks to rising estrogen levels) until it reaches its peak height & softness around ovulation. The cervix opens slightly during ovulation and right before/during menstruation (haven't seen a study researching the correlation between cervix opening and higher libido, but I would love to see one on this due to the correlation here for so many women). Learn what positions and techniques are most enjoyable for you during different times of the month (consider this practice as cycle syncing for your sex life).

[st-silver]

These are Game/Sonic Channel Silver's actual characteristics. The ones highlighted in blue are ones most people have a clue about but I feel most don't fully understand and those highlighted in red are often either missed or straight up inverted into the exact opposite of him.

Strong Sense of Justice (Driven to right wrongs in the world)

Strong Willed Hopeful Optimist. Inspires others

Kind-hearted (Altruist with a strong desire to help others. Empathetic to the state of the world around him. Wants to “protect smiles” and make people happy)

Relentless Determination

Naive (Has a somewhat black and white perspective. Expects people to believe him when he says he’s from the future. Can be unfamiliar with things in the past)

Forthright. Straightforward and Honest to a fault (He can’t lie) Wears his heart on his sleeve

Blunt and Rude (Very Rude)

Focused. Goal Focused. (even during competitions) Straight-To-The-Point Mindset

Proactive

Not trusting. (Hounded Dodon Pa)

High-Spirited (can get loud and carried away when riled up), Passionate

Emotionally Immature. Strong Temper / Easily Angered

Rash and Reckless (Can deal with things too head-on or take on everything himself because of the strength of his feelings which can make him impulsive)

Brash, Abrasive and Juvenile. Quick to insult people (How he’s young and immature)

High Aggression. Aggressive Expressions and Body Language

Headstrong. Confrontational. (Doesn’t take kindly to being like an amateur)

Competitive

Confident in himself. Has a smug attitude about his abilities and trains regularly

Fierce Warrior (fought and struggled for most of his life in dangerous disaster/monster filled environments, almost as strong as Shadow, enjoys brawling, has no regard for pain, immediate fight response when surprised in Generations)

Can be ruthless in pursuit of his goals (has robbed, sneaked and killed before)

Extremely Brave (No regard for his own safety. Fight response to danger)

Values bravery, Dislikes cowardice/cowardly tactics

Very Perceptive and Intuitive (possibly psychic intuition) has been a successful detective and solved problems by thinking in a his major game roles

Introspective and Sentimental

Lives in Good Future Soleanna. Thinks things in Sonic’s time are dated (sometimes)

Enjoys sightseeing, competitions and going on journeys. Likes challenges

Blaze’s equal partner. Skilled competent person that can perform multiple different jobs including being a celebrity genius skating coach

A reliable friend that's protective of the people he cares about, stands up for others and enjoys the peace he protects by engaging in cheerful activities

Shown to like apples/apple flavored things (Ate ration bars in the 06 Future)

Breathlessly enjoys seeing Smiles and Beautiful Scenery (World Peace, the reason there’s a maple leaf on his head) Because of his empathy he is sad to see these things destroyed but is also vicious to anything that threatens them

Blue Skies and people living in prosperity make him feel at peace (in contrast to the apocalyptic devastation and suffering he’s experienced)

Note that all of the above applies at all times. He doesn’t morph into a different character as soon as he’s off duty.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

BMW shows fuel cell and inverter for hydrogen car 

[cucumberteapot]

Spider-man Villains and Hands

If you're paying attention you'll notice often times in Spiderverse that villains are far less expressive with their hands than the heroes. That is unless it's to attack.

Kingpin clicks his pen to relieve rage he's only barely controlling and in Peter Parker's death scene, the only time we see his hands is to kill him.

With Doc Ock, we see her doing a lot of excited gesturing with her hands (pushing up her glasses, studying Peter, etc.).

But after her reveal, it's her tentacles that does most of the talking.

Moving on to ATSV, when we first meet Spot, he's experimenting with his Spots with (you guesses it!) his hands and it's a lot of trial and error. It's also a lot of slap-stick comedy in his first fight with Miles managing to take him out briefly by making him punch himself in the face.

However as he becomes more confident with his powers, we see him use his hands less and less to the point he doesn't need to use a spot to teleport between dimensions. Instead of attacking them, Spot starts fighting by letting the heroes attack him.

And by the end of the film, his mere presence has become such a threat to Miles that all he has to do to invoke fear is stand still. This is why after his colour scheme has been completely inverted, he doesn't fight or do anything with his hands anymore and it's why our last focus on his hands is when he watches it completely turn from white to black.

When we first get a good look at Miguel, we get a close-up of his claws before panning up to his watch. Firstly this shows us how unlike the other Spider-people Miguel is. He has claws and wears a cape. Peter says in the first movie, "Spider-man doesn't wear capes." Then we see a better look at his watch which tells us this character isn't just scary and powerful, but is powerful in their access to other dimensions without having their cells decay - which by the end of the movie proves to be another problem for Miles. Immediately this shot warns us that Miguel is an unstoppable and dangerous person and the sirens in his leitmotif only emphasise that, even if the characters don't realise it yet.

Likewise with Fisk and Doc Ock in the previous Spiderverse installment, Miguel also doesn't have a lot of hand animations outside of fighting and we see this visual language in his meeting with Miles. Miles offers Miguel an empanadas and calls him 'Tio' ("uncle" in Spanish) as an offer of respect and solidarity, but Miguel's response is to grab the box and throws it aside before resuming his stance.

Here Miguel isn't just refusing Miles, he's also refusing the subliminal coding of a heroic character and I feel this has a lot to do with how our human brains work. The way we understand people and animals is by the way they mirror us. We like patterns and to draw parallels to ourselves. When someone is excited, we're excited. When someone's confused, we're confused. When someone's sad, we're sad. And so on. However when we're faced with something that doesn't react how we expect or reacts unpredictably, like Miguel throwing the empanadas back at Miles, it's sets off a warning in our brains. It's kind of like a predator hunting prey, which is the exact dynamic between Miles and Miguel by the end of the film.

However in Miles' mind, he has no idea why Miguel is being so antagonistic towards him. Even when Peter says, "He's always like this." Miguel remains stoic when Mayday is crawling around him and only moves to catch her and hand her back to Peter. Like with the empanadas, this is another example of Miguel's lack of ability to connect with the people in his environment other than through aggression and violence. It's why Miles calls out, "You have claws? Are you sure your Spider-man?" Because Spider-man is defined by his ability to connect with people - hero or villain.

Then we get to another clawed antagonist who hunts Miles for the duration of the first Spiderverse's runtime. Much like Miguel, Prowler's movement is mostly unstoppable aggression. That is until he learns Miles is Spider-man. Aside from presenting as Aaron Davis, Prowler is most identifiable by his giant claws and the camera makes sure of it.

It's only when Aaron learns who Miles is does he take off a claw to hold his hand in his final moments. Unlike Miguel, the claws are not exclusively attached to his suit - they are removable and thus Aaron is able to connect with the people in his environment outside of his identity as the Prowler.

Which finally leads us to our other Prowler, who likewise is able to put on and take off the claws. But where am I going with this?

I feel like in this scene the lighting and colour grading is doing the most work in making Prowler intimidating. Because unlike Aaron's Prowler, Miles' Prowler design is very casual for a villain. Which works for the character but without the claws and the mask, Miles looks just as scrawny as his Spider-man counter-part. It's almost too casual without those key identifiers. Which is why I think we're going to see a lot of Miles' Prowler without the claws and interacting with his family in the next film, as well as dealing with his own identity. Like Aaron in the first film and unlike Miguel in the second, we're going to see how Prowler connects with his environments beyond serving as a antagonistic foil to Miles.

[semidecentpoet]

What gets me ab western mainstream news coverage of the genocide in Palestine—besides the obvious lack of morality—is that it’s, frankly, shit journalism.

(For context, I’m a journalism major with a focus in print reporting. This is literally what I’m going to school for.)

(Forgive me if this is slightly disorganized. Harder to write when I’m pissed.)

My instructors tell me ab the importance of active voice over passive voice all. The. Time. There’s a difference, for example, between “More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed” and “Israel has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians.”

More recently, I’ve had instructors tell me to be more skeptical of official sources (e.g. police), fact-check their claims and get alternative sources whenever possible.

But, from what I’ve seen, a lot of outlets seem to just take Israel’s word as fact without searching for further evidence. For example, when Israel made that claim—with no real evidence—ab the 40 beheaded babies and it was everywhere. And then they said they can’t confirm shit, and now these outlets have to backpedal.

And of course, on top of the blatant misuse of language (beyond just active vs passive voice) and the false/unsupported reporting, there’s the lack of reporting.

I don’t see western mainstream outlets quoting the assholes who call Palestinians “human animals.”

I don’t see them pointing out the sickening abundance of social media posts of Israelis celebrating the genocide, of IDF posing in front of the rubble of what once was Gaza or with the undergarments of the Palestinian women and girls they raped.

I don’t see them setting their headlines ablaze with the countless historic holy sites Israel has destroyed, mosques and churches alike that were some of the oldest in the world. (But when Notre Dame was on fire—)

I don’t even see the context of the more than 75 years of Israel’s bullshit leading up to now.

Where is the coverage of the entire families Israel have wiped out? Where is the coverage of how Israel treats its hostages? Where is the coverage of the Palestinian people’s injuries, physical and mental, and the reason for the lack of proper medical aid?

Countless children in Gaza have to undergo amputations in unsanitary environments without anesthesia. Where’s the coverage?

Who is asking Biden the important questions? Like, if you’re trying so hard for a ceasefire, why has the United States vetoed United Nations resolutions for an immediate ceasefire three times since Oct. 7? Why a temporary ceasefire instead of a permanent one?

How ab Israel’s attack on Rafah during the Super Bowl?? Rafah the designated safe zone?? While airing a $7 million ad?? During what is arguably the most famous and most-watched sports event in the U.S., which has given billions of dollars in support of Israel’s genocide?? How are these outlets not blowing up????? This is a U.S.-funded slaughter during a national event???? Is this not newsworthy enough for you??????????????

Maybe they include some of these things in their articles. But when and if they do, is it a full-fledged story or just a brief?

Is it toward the top of the page or buried lower? (Journalists typically use the inverted pyramid style, which means the most important information in a story is at the top.)

I understand that, as journalists, we have to be objective. But this is not objective reporting. It is clearly biased in favor of Israel. If it were any other country, any other people under siege, this would all look a lot different.

On the topic of objectivity, I’ve heard a few arguments along the lines of, “We can’t pick a side.” But is there truly more than one side to this crisis?

One instructor of mine has said that “both sides” is a false dichotomy, meaning there are rarely ever exactly two sides to any given issue. Sometimes that means there are more than two sides, and sometimes that means there is really only one.

Coincidently, an example he gave of only one side was the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. Even though there are assholes who say otherwise, it was real. It happened. It was wrong. There’s no other way to look at it.

Ik that journalists bending objectivity and imposing morality in reporting is a relatively recent and controversial debate within the media industry.

But.

If we do some actual goddamn reporting—take the numbers and the quotes and the experiences caught on video and add them all together—we start to paint a pretty clear picture of who is the victim here. And who is responsible for the atrocities.

Just bc our government supports Israel does not mean Israel perspective is on equal footing with, much less more important than, Palestine’s.

When Palestine’s death toll is roughly 30 times that of Israel’s, there’s only one side.

This is some pretty shit journalism.

I’d look forward to hearing from other journalists/student journalists what they think ab coverage of the genocide.

Personally, I’m a little heartbroken that some of these outlets I’ve looked up to and dreamed ab being a part of someday have been so lacking in their coverage—to say the least. Especially since journalism is so important and is supposed to be a major means of holding people in power accountable for their actions.

Life’s bitter irony, I suppose.

Free Palestine.