#New Latin Compounds

[interretialia]

Nova Iuncta Verba Latina / New Latin Compounds

equipuella -ae f. “horse girl”   [equus “horse” + puella “girl”]   [equo- + puella-] stems   [equi- + puella-] o becomes Connecting Vowel i   [equipuella-] new stem   [equipuella] nominative singular

(Fons Imaginis.)

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - September 11, 2023

Sorry for not sending last week's issue as I got covid again :/ I passed it, so here's the best things that happened last week :)

1. The IRS plans to crack down on 1,600 millionaires to collect millions of dollars in back taxes

The IRS announced on Friday it is launching an effort to aggressively pursue 1,600 millionaires and 75 large business partnerships that owe hundreds of millions of dollars in past due taxes. The newly announced tax collection effort will begin as soon as October. “We have more hiring to do,” Werfel said. “It’s going to be a very busy fall for us.”

2. The NGO African Parks announced it would purchase the world’s largest population of privately owned white rhinos

Africa’s beleaguered rhinos have been thrown a significant lifeline with the announcement that nearly 2,000 semi-wild rhinos owned by South African rhino breeder John Hume will be “rewilded” into reserves across South Africa and other parts of the continent over the next 10 years.

3. Mexico supreme court decriminalizes abortion across country

Mexico’s supreme court has unanimously ruled that state laws prohibiting abortion are unconstitutional and violate women’s rights, in the latest in a series of victories for reproductive rights activists across Latin America.

Wednesday’s ruling came two years after the court ordered the northern state of Coahuila to remove sanctions for abortion from its criminal code, a decision which prompted a tortuous state-by-state process of legal battles. So far 12 of Mexico’s 31 states have decriminalized the procedure.

4. The first human organ created inside an animal opens the door to manufacturing ‘spare parts’ for people

It is a historic image. A team of researchers in China has successfully generated a blueprint of a human organ in another animal for the first time. The experiment, conducted with humanized kidneys in pig embryos, represents a step toward the still-distant dream of using other mammals as source of organs for transplants.

5. Study Shows a Single Dose of Psilocybin's Astonishing Impact on Depression and Could Change Medical Treatments of Mental Health Forever

Psychedelics are making a comeback, and this time, they're dressed in the respectable garb of clinical research. Recent studies have reignited interest in these substances, particularly psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, as a potent treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD).

6. Missing cat reunited with owner after it disappeared during Alaska flooding

Twenty-six days after he went missing, an adorable black and white cat named Leo has been reunited with his family. Brave Leo went missing after historic glacial flooding swept away his home and all his owner's belongings.

7. Dogs perform Mozart with orchestra in Denmark

A classical music festival in Copenhagen, Denmark, has opened with some canine additions to the orchestra.

---

That's it for this week :)

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[ausetkmt]

Pharmacist Lunsford Richardson made Vicks a household name throughout the nation, but his popular product did not do the same for him.

Even in his native North Carolina, where his most celebrated of chemical concoctions has been right under our stuffy noses and on our congested chests for generations, the mention of Richardson’s name elicits blank stares from all but those who study and cherish history.

Richardson’s salve, Vicks VapoRub, helped the world breathe easier during the devastating influenza pandemic of 1918 and during the countless colds and flus of our childhoods, yet most of us couldn’t pick Lunsford Richardson out of a one-man police lineup, much less a who’s who of medical pioneers.

Why didn’t Richardson — by all accounts a creative inventor and smart businessman — ever become as famous as those vapors packed into the familiar squat blue jar?

Because his name wouldn’t fit on the jar.

That’s one version of the story. According to company and family lore, Richardson initially dubbed his promising new product Richardson’s Croup and Pneumonia Cure Salve. Realizing that this name didn’t exactly roll off the tongue nor fit when printed on a small medicine jar, Richardson changed the name to honor his brother-in-law, Dr. Joshua Vick. Another account suggests the inventive druggist plucked the name from a seed catalog he’d been perusing that listed the Vick Seed Co.

The truth may never be known. What is known, though, is that Lunsford Richardson created a medicinal marvel for the ages, the likes of which may never be equaled.

Croupy beginnings

A Johnston County native born in 1854, Richardson loved chemistry and hoped to study it at Davidson College. The college’s chemistry program at the time wasn’t as strong as he’d hoped it would be, so he studied Latin instead, graduating with honors in three years. He returned to Johnston County and taught school, but it wasn’t long before the young man’s love of chemistry got the best of him. In 1880, he moved to Selma to work with his physician brother-in-law, Dr. Vick. It was not uncommon in those days for doctors to dispense drugs themselves, but Vick was so busy seeing patients that he teamed up with Richardson, allowing him to handle the pharmacy duties for him. Richardson relied on his knowledge of Latin to help him learn the chemical compounds required to become a pharmacist, and that’s when he began to experiment with recipes for the product that would become Vicks VapoRub.

It wasn’t until Richardson moved to his wife’s hometown of Greensboro in 1890 that his magical salve and other products he created began to take off.

“He was a man of great intellect and talent,” says Linda Evans, community historian for the Greensboro Historical Museum, which has an exhibit devoted to Richardson and Vicks.

“Druggists at the time fashioned their own remedies a lot, and he created a number of remedies, in addition to his magic salve, that he sold under the name of Vick’s Family Remedies. He was obviously a man of such creativity.”

In Greensboro, working out of a downtown drugstore he purchased (where he once employed a teenaged William Sydney Porter, the future short story writer O. Henry), Richardson patented some 21 medicines. The wide variety of pills, liquids, ointments, and assorted other medicinal concoctions included the likes of Vick’s Chill Tonic, Vick’s Turtle Oil Liniment, Vick’s Little Liver Pills and Little Laxative Pills, Vick’s Tar Heel Sarsaparilla, Vick’s Yellow Pine Tar Cough Syrup, and Vick’s Grippe Knockers (aimed at knocking out la grippe, an old-timey phrase for the flu).

These products sold with varying degrees of success, but the best seller in the lineup of Richardson’s remedies was Vick’s Magic Croup Salve, which he introduced in 1894. And by all accounts, necessity was the key to its success.

“He had what they referred to as a croupy baby — a baby with a lot of coughing and congestion,” explains Richardson’s great-grandson, Britt Preyer of Greensboro. “So as a pharmacist, he began experimenting with menthols from Japan and some other ingredients, and he came up with this salve that really worked. That’s how it all started.”

Another version of the story suggests that all three of the Richardson children caught bad colds at the same time, and Richardson, dissatisfied with the traditional treatment of the day, which included poultices and a vapor lamp, spent hours at his pharmacy developing his own treatment.

Richardson’s salve — a strong-smelling ointment combining menthol, camphor, oil of eucalyptus, and several other oils, blended in a base of petroleum jelly — was a chest-soothing, cough-suppressing, head-clearing sensation. When the salve was rubbed on the patient’s chest, his or her body heat vaporized the menthol, releasing a wave of soothing, medicated vapors that the patient breathed directly into the lungs.

Vicks in the mailbox

In 1911, Richardson’s son Smith, by now a successful salesman for his father’s company, recommended discontinuing all of the company’s products except for Vick’s Magic Croup Salve. He believed the salve could sell even better if the company stopped investing time and money in the other, less successful remedies. He also suggested renaming the salve Vicks VapoRub, according to the company’s history timeline, to “help dramatize the product’s performance.” Richardson agreed, and a century later, the name’s still the same.

Meanwhile, Richardson intensified his marketing efforts by providing free goods to druggists who placed large orders and publishing coupons for free samples in newspapers. He also advertised on billboards and sent promotional mailings to post office boxes, addressed to Boxholder rather than the individual’s name, thus earning him the distinction of being the father of junk mail.

In 1925, Vicks even published a children’s book to help promote the product. The book told the story of two elves, Blix and Blee, who rescued a frazzled mother whose sick child refused to take nasty-tasting medicines. Their solution, of course, was the salve known as Vicks VapoRub.

Expanding and experimenting

As successful as the marketing campaign was, nothing sold Vicks VapoRub like the deadly Spanish flu outbreak that ravaged the nation in 1918 and 1919, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans. Loyal Vicks customers and new customers stocked up on the medicine to stave off or fight the disease.

According to the company’s history timeline, VapoRub sales skyrocketed from $900,000 to $2.9 million in a single year because of the pandemic. The Vicks plant in Greensboro operated around the clock, and salesmen were pulled off the road to help at the manufacturing facility in an effort to keep up with demand.

As the flu spread across the nation, Richardson grew ill with pneumonia in 1919 and died. Smith took over the company. Vicks continued to grow, buying other companies until Procter & Gamble bought it in the 1980s. Through the years, Vicks continued adding new products to its arsenal of cold remedies: cough drops, nose drops, inhalers, cough syrup, nasal spray, Formula 44, NyQuil. And whatever success those products attained, they got there standing on the broad shoulders of Richardson.

Richardson will never be a household name, but his salve has held that status for more than a century — and may do so for the next hundred years. And for Richardson, were he still around, that ought to be enough to clear his head.

A cure-all salve

Vicks users have claimed the salve can cure and heal many maladies. Even though Vicks doesn’t say the salve works for these problems, people still believe.

Toenail fungus: Rub the salve on your toenails, cover with socks, and sleep your fungus problems away. Cough: For a similar fix to a nagging cough, some believe rubbing Vicks on the soles of your feet can fix the problem. Dandruff: Rub Vicks directly on the scalp, and your flakes may just disappear. Chapped lips: Petroleum jelly is one of the ingredients in Vicks, and some say the ointment can help heal cracked lips. Mosquito bites: If you smooth Vicks on the red bumps on your legs and arms, it can supposedly take the itch right out. Warts: Dab Vicks on the wart, cover with duct tape, and it may fall off in a few days.

Greensboro Historical Museum 130 Summit Avenue Greensboro, N.C. 27401 (336) 373-2043 greensborohistory.org

See historical Vicks VapoRub bottles and learn about Lunsford Richardson.

[linguisticdiscovery]

Ways English borrowed words from Latin

Latin has been influencing English since before English existed!

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of ways that English got vocabulary from Latin:

early Latin influence on the Germanic tribes: The Germanic tribes borrowed words from the Romans while still in continental Europe, before coming to England.

camp, wall, pit, street, mile, cheap, mint, wine, cheese, pillow, cup, linen, line, pepper, butter, onion, chalk, copper, dragon, peacock, pipe, bishop

Roman occupation of England: The Celts borrowed words from the Romans when the Romans invaded England, and the Anglo-Saxons later borrowed those Latin words from the Celts.

port, tower, -chester / -caster / -cester (place name suffix), mount

Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons: Roman missionaries to England converted the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity and brought Latin with them.

altar, angel, anthem, candle, disciple, litany, martyr, mass, noon, nun, offer, organ, palm, relic, rule, shrine, temple, tunic, cap, sock, purple, chest, mat, sack, school, master, fever, circle, talent

Norman Conquest: The Norman French invaded England in 1066 under William the Conqueror, making Norman French the language of the state. Many words were borrowed from French, which had evolved out of Latin.

noble, servant, messenger, feast, story, government, state, empire, royal, authority, tyrant, court, council, parliament, assembly, record, tax, subject, public, liberty, office, warden, peer, sir, madam, mistress, slave, religion, confession, prayer, lesson, novice, creator, saint, miracle, faith, temptation, charity, pity, obedience, justice, equity, judgment, plea, bill, panel, evidence, proof, sentence, award, fine, prison, punishment, plead, blame, arrest, judge, banish, property, arson, heir, defense, army, navy, peace, enemy, battle, combat, banner, havoc, fashion, robe, button, boots, luxury, blue, brown, jewel, crystal, taste, toast, cream, sugar, salad, lettuce, herb, mustard, cinnamon, nutmeg, roast, boil, stew, fry, curtain, couch, screen, lamp, blanket, dance, music, labor, fool, sculpture, beauty, color, image, tone, poet, romance, title, story, pen, chapter, medicine, pain, stomach, plague, poison

The Renaissance: The intense focus on writings from classical antiquity during the Renaissance led to the borrowing of numerous words directly from Latin.

atmosphere, disability, halo, agile, appropriate, expensive, external, habitual, impersonal, adapt, alienate, benefit, consolidate, disregard, erupt, exist, extinguish, harass, meditate

The Scientific Revolution: The need for new technical and scientific terms led to many neoclassical compounds formed from Classical Greek and Latin elements, or new uses of Latin prefixes.

automobile, transcontinental, transformer, prehistoric, preview, prequel, subtitle, deflate, component, data, experiment, formula, nucleus, ratio, structure

Not to mention most borrowings from other Romance languages, such as Spanish or Italian, which also evolved from Latin.

Further Reading: A history of the English language (Baugh & Cable)

[lcatala]

A look at the etymology of the "arithmonyms" from the Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir, arranged by difficulty level.

Easy:

-Deuteros = Ancient Greek δεύτερος (deúteros) "second"

-Dve = Pan-Slavic две/dvě "two"

-Tettares = Ancient Greek (Attic) τέττᾰρες (téttares) "four"

-Chatur = Sanskrit चतुर् (catur) "four"

-Pent = Ancient Greek πέντε (pénte) "five"

-Quinque = Latin quīnque "five"

-Sextus = Latin sextus "sixth"

-Hect = Ancient Greek ἕκτος (héktos) "sixth"

-Sex = Latin sex "six"

-Septimus = Latin septimus "seventh"

-Asht = Sanskrit अष्ट (aṣṭa) "eight"

-Oct = Latin octō "eight" or Ancient greek ὀκτώ (oktṓ) "eight"

-Nav = Sanskrit नव (nava) "nine"

Intermediate:

-Dyas = Ancient Greek (late medieval pronunciation) δῠᾰ́ς (duás) "the number two, couple, pair, diad"

-Tern = Latin ternī "three each, three at a time"

-Trinit = Latin trīnitās "the number three, triad, trinity"

-Tetra = Ancient Greek τετρᾰ́ς (tetrás) "the number four, the fourth day", or τετρα- (tetra-), prefixed form of τέττᾰρες (téttares) "four"

-Quinn = Latin quīnī "five each, five at a time", or quīn-, prefixed form of quīnque "five"

-Shodash = Sanskrit षोडश (ṣoḍaśa) "sixteen"

-Ebdoma = Ancient Greek (Koine pronunciation) ἑβδομάς (hebdomás) "a group of seven"

-Nonagesimus = Latin nōnāgēsimus "ninetieth"

-Novenarius = Latin novēnārius "containing or consisting of nine things"

-Novenary = Latin novēnārius (see above)

Advanced:

-Tridentarius = Neo-Latin tridēntārius "like a trident", from Latin tridēns "three teeth"

-Zeta = Sixth letter of the Greek Alphabet (although in Ancient Greek numerals it actually represents the number 7, because the original sixth letter was the now disused digamma)

-Heptane = Neo-Greek-Latin compound heptane, "saturated aliphatic hydrocarbon C7H16" (more literally "pertaining to the number seven, seven-like")

-Nonius = Latin Nōnius, a first name derived from the Nōnia plebeian family, ultimately from nōnus "ninth"

-Nova = Latin novem "nine" and/or nova "new" (it's been suggested that the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁néwn̥ "nine" is derived from the root *néwos "new")

Expert:

-Octakiseron = Ancient Greek ὀκτᾰ́κῐς (oktákis) "eight times" + unclear suffix, could have been constructed by analogy with -τερον (-teron, as in δεύτερον (deúteron) "second") and -μερον (-meron, as in ἑξαήμερον (hexaḗmeron) "six days"); alternatively based on or reinforced by the French diminutive suffix -eron, an extension of the diminutive -on (itself a merger of several Latin and Frankish suffixes), built by analogy with words like quarteron "quadroon" (from quartier "quarter, district" + -on); yet another possibility is Ancient Greek εἴρων (eírōn) "one who says less than they think, dissembler, pretender"

-Noniusvianus = not clear, perhaps a portmenteau of Latin Nōnius (see above) and noviēs "nine times", with an adjectival ending -(i)ānus.

-Nigenad = perhaps based on Proto-West Germanic *nigundō "ninth" (variant of the more common *neundō), or one of its descendants (Dutch negende, Middle English nyghend, West Frisian njoggende…); possibly reinforced by Old English nigonfeald "ninefold"

[donniesexceptionalmind]

PLEASE RAMBLE ABT THE PERIODIC TABLE

OMFG I WOULD LOVE THAT

*casually scrolls through my inbox*

*spits my coffee*

Chemistry isn't my favourite science field. In fact, I don't really like it, but it is important for other scientific fields as well, so I do have a compact knowledge about it. And since you all asked so nicely...

⚛️The periodic table of chemical elements:⚛️

Often called just the periodic table, organises all discovered chemical elements in rows (called periods) & columns (called groups) according to increasing atomic number.

An element's period number is the highest unexcited energy level for an electron of that element.

Columns help to distinguish groups in the periodic table. Elements within a group share several common properties & often have the same outer electron arrangement.

It is used to quickly refer to information about an element, like atomic mass & chemical symbol.

The periodic table’s arrangement also allows to discern trends in element properties, including electronegativity, ionization energy & atomic radius.

Dmitri Mendeleev published his first version of the periodic table in 1869, so he is often credited as the inventor.

Over 150 years of scientific development & understanding in chemistry & physics, the number of known elements as significantly risen: there are 118 known elements.

98 elements can be found in nature. The rest were artificially created.

There is a limit, though: the periodic table does not allow to have more than 137 elements since the atoms electrons would circle the nucleus faster than the speed of light (Richard Feynman predicted this).

The periodic table is considered one of the most significant achievements in the history of science.

Some interesting facts to cheer you up:

Carbon is unique in that it is known to form up to 10 million different compounds. Carbon is important to the existence of life!

Francium is the rarest element on earth. There are probably no more than a few ounces of it on earth at any given time.

Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe. Hydrogen & Helium, together make over 99% of the observable universe.

Thorium is named after the Nordic god of thunder - Thor!

Iridium is the least corrosive element: that means it is least bothered about reaction with water, acid, air or other chemicals.

The heaviest naturally occurring element is Uranium with atomic number 92 & atomic weight 238.0289.

There are only two liquid elements in the Periodic Table: Mercury & Bromine. They remain in liquid form at room temperature.

The only letter not in the periodic table is the letter J.

The country Argentina is named after the element silver (symbol Ag), which is argentum in Latin.

Although there is helium on Earth, it was first discovered by observing the sun.

The first ever discovered artificial element is called Technetium. It can be artificially produced in nuclear power stations. It is the lightest element on the table that only holds unstable radioactive isotopes.

There are around 90 metals in the periodic table. The six groups of metals are alkali metals, basic metals, alkaline earth, lanthanides, transition metals & actinides.

I thank you kindly for the sweet inbox messages about asking me to infodump. 💜🎵

I enjoy these A LOT. I get so lost in research & I do learn new things while doing so... it's refreshing!

I might have forgotten to drink & eat....

[catt-nuevenor]

Soap

I am about to get extremely nerdy and excited about ancient soaps. Consider yourselves warned, this is gonna be me getting giddy about tracking a plant through linguistic records, and botanical records.

All who don't want to geek out about this topic, I hope you enjoy your future scrolling and have a nice day. All who do, click the read more and join me down the rabbit hole.

So, soap.

There's an unfortunate belief that we in the modern period are the first descendents of the ape to understand the need of personal hygiene, sterilisation, and washing. This is wrong. We've understood dirt is bad for general health (as in food, water, and wounds) for thousands of years.

Allow me a few examples for the sceptical:

Galen, Hygiene Vol I, Book I. written between 165-175 CE.

And for those looking for something a wee bit older:

Unknown Author, writing style Sumerian dates to Third Dynasty of Ur, c.2158-2008 BCE. Page from Healing Hands by Guido Majno 1992

As Manjo points out in his discussion of this prescription, note the hot water as well as the beer.

I could go on, but I hope you see why I find 'all ancient peoples were dirty and only had a bath once a year,' an asinine statement. So, onto the 'Dark Ages'.

I needed to figure out what compound or substance the Lǽce, or medical practitioners in the story, would use to clean their hands after an examination. I've recently been looking into something of a plant 'shopping list' cross-referencing archaeological records and written records for what came to Northern Europe and when. Here's where I attempt to introduce you all to the term 'archaeophyte'.

An Archaeophyte is a plant that came to the geographical area or region of study before 1500 CE. Any plant that made its way to an area before this date, be with human intervention or without, falls into this category. A plant that arrives after this date is a Neophyte.

An example for the UK; Corn Marigold, Chrysanthemum segetum for all you folks who want to see me fight my way through Latin, arrived in the UK first in the Iron Age (in this context being about 940 BCE to 43 CE) as evidenced by archaeological finds, with later examples occurring in a Roman, then medieval context.

See Archaeolophytes in Britain, Preston, Pearman, and Hall for sources and more information

Right, so I've been constructing this list of plants I can use in the story. My rules are that it must occur in a Pre-Roman context North of Frankfurt, Germany, and West of Warsaw, Poland. The reasoning for this ruleset is too complicated to go into in this post, so just try and accept this as my baseline.

I started to go through this list this morning, looking for a plant that could be used for cleaning hands in a medical setting. I looked at Yarrow to begin with, it being an Archaeophyte for the area with archaeological evidence dating back to the Neolithic period (10,000-4,500BC) in the context of feasting at stone henge. It has limited scientific write up, but there is some evidence to suggest that it has antibacterial properties, anti-inflammatory properties, and may help with the staunching of wounds (see Medical Plants, Simmonds, Howes, and Irving 2016, Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, and Culpeper's Complete Herbal modern edition edited by Steven Foster, 2019).

So far so good, but not in anyway perfect. Then, while flicking through one of my books to locate yet another entry on yarrow to triple check my notes, I skimmed past an entry for a plant called Soapwort. To say I sat and stared at it dumbfounded for a while is an understatement.

My first thought was that the suffix 'wort' was a very good sign. 'Wort' comes from the Old English 'wyrt', which basically means a usable plant, be that edible as food, used in dyes, or applied in medicine. However, Old English speakers are infamous for making new compounds up of familiar elements to suit imported objects or ideas.

What I should have done next was to look up the etymology of the word 'soap', but I didn't. Instead, I went running back to the 'Archaeophytes in Britain...' article and did a ctrl F search for the Latin name, 'saponaria officinalis'. As soon as I typed it in, my heart sank.

Soap - Saponaria

That's a little too close for comfort, implying that the names were not only related, but likely came from the Old Latin, indicating that I was dealing with a re-emerging Roman export. Briefly, the Anglo-Saxons, the speakers of the Old English Language, came to the UK sometime in the 400s CE, after Rome withdrew. There is a marked dip in Roman culture, architecture, goods and especially language in this time, indicating some think, that the Roman settlers were not widely integrated with the Brittonic peoples. Latinised, or Late Roman, culture and influences do not really re-enter the UK until the Christianisation of the Anglo-Saxons some time later. When it did re-emerge, the Latin was favoured in academic contexts over the Old English, and for this reason I choose to use the Old English as a good waypoint for pre-existing features.

Back to the article on Archaeophytes. There is no known record of soapwort in the UK before the 1500's CE. However, it is found in Germany and Poland as a 'native' species, meaning that it predates 1500 CE, and reached the geographic area without human intervention (this can be discerned through where a sample is found, for example bog or wetland pollen deposits, or ancient forest remains). This slots it nicely into my 'can use' category.

It was only at this point that I decided to look up the etymology of 'soap'.

Soap <- Sope Middle English <- Sápe Old English <;- Saipá Proto-Germanic <- seyb- Proto-Indo-European

Which rather made all the fussing I did about Roman and Latin mute. -_-

The Anglo-Saxon's called Soapwort either leáþorwyrt or grundsópa by the by, meaning literally lather wort and ground soap.

The plant Soapwort contains large amounts of Saponin (about 20% when flowering, according to Wikipedia). This produces a lather when in contact with water, and basically breaks down various cell membrane components. That's about as far as my limited grasp of biochemistry leaves me high and dry, I'm afraid, but hopefully you get the idea.

In short summary; the Lǽce in the story can literally use soap, and I should always look up etymologies before I go traipsing through academic papers. Hope those who made it this far found it interesting!

Photo Credits to TeunSpaans Wikipedia

[fimproda]

Gwynriel fic chapter titles

As I did for the Elucien fic, I'm emerging from my hiatus just to drop this thing and then going back into hibernation as soon as I hit post.

Nucleosynthesis

Prologue – Hydrogen

Chemical element with symbol H and atomic number 1. Stars such as the Sun are mainly composed of hydrogen in the plasma state.

Chapter 1 – Phosphorus

Chemical element with symbol P and atomic number 15. Its name, taken from Greek mythology, means ‘light-bearer’ (Latin Lucifer), referring to the ‘Morning Star’, the planet Venus.

Chapter 2 – Sodium

Chemical element with symbol Na and atomic number 11. It’s a highly reactive metal and an essential nutrient for many living beings.

Chapter 3 – Chlorine

Chemical element with symbol Cl and atomic number 17. It’s extremely reactive, strongly oxidizing, and corrosive.

Chapter 4 – Chromium

Chemical element with symbol Cr and atomic number 24. Its name is derived from a Greek word meaning ‘color’, since many chromium compounds are intensely colored.

Chapter 5 – Nitrogen

Chemical element with symbol N and atomic number 7. Its other suggested name, azote, comes from a Greek word meaning ‘no life’, suggesting its use as an asphyxiant gas.

Chapter 6 – Iron

Chemical element with symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron and iron alloys have been historically used to make weapons, and their low cost and high strength often make them the materials of choice to withstand stress or transmit forces.

Interlude – Sulfur

Chemical element with symbol S and atomic number 16. Hell is thought to ‘smell of sulfur’, likely due to its association with volcanic activity.

Chapter 7 – Fluorine

Chemical element with symbol F and atomic number 9. It’s extremely reactive, as it reacts with all other elements except for the light inert gases.

Chapter 8 – Lithium

Chemical element with symbol Li and atomic number 3. Lithium-based drugs are useful as a mood stabilizer and antidepressant in the treatment of various mental illnesses.

Chapter 9 – Argon

Chemical element with symbol Ar and atomic number 18. Its name is derived from a Greek word meaning ‘lazy’ or ‘inactive’, as a reference to the fact that this element undergoes almost no chemical reactions.

Chapter 10 – Cobalt

Chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. Cobalt-based blue pigments have been used since antiquity.

Chapter 11 – Carbon

Chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. Its unique characteristics enable it to serve as a common element of all known life.

Chapter 12 – Oxygen

Chemical element with symbol O and atomic number 8. Many life forms require oxygen for cellular respiration, and it’s a fundamental element for combustion.

Epilogue – Helium

Chemical element with symbol He and atomic number 2, the first of the noble gases. Large amounts of new helium are created by nuclear fusion of hydrogen in stars.

Remember that Nucleosynthesis and its companion Elucien piece, Sol niger, are intricately connected.

What happens in Nucleosynthesis's prologue, interlude, and epilogue also happens in Sol niger, and these chapters share the same titles in the two stories.

[maximoffhimbo]

Chlorokenisis | Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Warnings: pure fluff, tiny amount of blood. Mentions of death

I can’t think of a description to this story lmao, I absolutely love it though, I think it’s really sweet.

-

You’d been able to manipulate plants since birth, I mean, you came out of your mother with a sunflower growing up your leg. Oddly enough, as well as manipulating plants you could also grow them on your body. Different moods would often sprout different flowers. If you were happy they tended to be bright and colourful, if you were sad they would often be wilted or grey.

You’d been an avenger just over a year now, finally the team started to feel like a second family. Natasha was practically your mother for god’s sake.

The battle of Sokovia wasn’t good, I mean obviously it wasn’t good. You were there, shadowed by Nat. Your job was to help civilians and get out. You’d been introduced to an insanely fast man called Pietro. He was annoying but he was kind and you got on well. As the battle waged on Pietro saved you and a young boys life by running in front of an oncoming fire of machine guns. Nat took the young boy to the evacuation ship whilst you dealt with moving pietro. Vines began encapsulating the young man, holding him in place as you walked through the wreckage. Small groups of flowers created a pathway for you and the man to get to the ship. It was a horrifically somber moment, one that you knew you’d forever remember. You knew Pietro had a sister, Wanda. You hadn’t met her but you knew about her abilities and how she apparently was an emo, thanks to Pietro’s constant joking about her. One on the ship you made sure to keep Pietro’s body secure, the vines visibly tightened.

═.♥.══════

Upon landing the team helped evacuate people and get them somewhere to stay. You remained with Pietro. You stood with him in the quinjet. He was on a cold metal table, you knew if Wanda were to see this it’d devastate her even more. You began to sprout small blue and white flowers from your skin (another strange gift you had). Carefully arranging them around the boys body. After an hour you had created a flower bed. Consisting of an array of colourful flowers. You sat next to him until the team returned.

═.♥.══════

“…Pietro?” You heard a small voice whisper from the entrance to the jet.

You shot up, locking eyes with the small brunette girl.

No more words were exchanged. She made her way to her dead brothers body, her makeup had smeared and she looked white as a ghost.

You moved next to her, careful to not intrude on her space. You held your hand out and closed your eyes. A beautiful red orchid began to grow from your palm. Wanda watched you carefully. Curious as to what you were doing. You carefully plucked the flower and held it out for her, without looking away from Pietro.

“D-does that not hurt?”

You turned to Wanda with furrowed brows.

“Does what hurt?”

“When you pick the flower from your hand” her sokovian accent hypnotised you. Even in a state of misery, she was still entrancing.

“I-um-n-no not really, it tickles a little”

Wanda nodded.

“Would you like to lie with him?”

Wanda looked at you, with tears in her eyes, she nodded. Within seconds soft vines and flowers had created a small bed next to Pietro’s.

═.♥.══════

Weeks went by at the avengers compound. Wanda was grieving her last family member. You didn’t push her, everyday you’d leave a new flower at her door with a detailed note describing the flower and the meaning behind it.

Monday -

Good morning Wanda! Here’s a Gladiolus, also known as the Sword Lily. It’s a type of flower from the family of Iridaceae. It is one of the 300 species from this family. Most of these species are native to sub-Saharan Africa, while around 10 species are native to Europe. The name gladiolus originates from the Latin term ‘gladiolus,’ which means ‘small sword.’ The name is a reference to the shape of the flower’s leaves. This flower symbolizes strong character, moral, integrity, honour, and faithfulness.

Gladius is also the root for the word ‘Gladiator’. Gladiolus is a long-lasting plant with a sturdy stem which is a reminder of how strong we can be, both our personal character and our physical body.

Have a good day!

-Y/N

Wanda read your note with a smile. Everyday for the past three weeks you’d left a new flower at her door with a detailed little note on scrap paper. Some days you drew small diagrams of the flowers. Some days you drew the flowers and included it with your note. In all honesty Wanda had developed a crush on you, she thought everything you did was adorable. Everyday she’d see you outside the compound. Everywhere you walked a small flower path subconsciously grew beneath you. So you didn’t wear shoes. Even indoors the flower path would occur. Your powers were truly a mystery to all of the avengers, but especially the young witch.

═.♥.══════

“Okay Y/N, defend yourself!” Steve yelled.

The team were doing training exercises for a mission the following week. Every avenger was there, including you and Wanda.

As soon as the words left Steve’s lips you summoned a dome of vines and thorns around yourself. The other avengers were stood off to the side watching you. “I’d kill for those powers” Clint said nudging Natasha. Nat only rolled her eyes and continued watching you, you sprinted around the room leaving a trail of flowers in your wake. You were summoning huge vines and plants across the room, leaping from one to another. You were practically Spider-Man but with plants. Finally, up next was combat. The one area that terrified you.

“Okay Y/N, I want you to give me everything you’ve got”

You nodded at Steve, before summoning thorns to sprout from your skin. A protective barrier but also a weapon. You swung over and over again at Cap, your vines managed to yank his shield from his grip and hurl it towards the other side of the room where the other avengers were.

“Woah” Tony’s eyes were practically bulging out of his head. “I did not know he could do that thorn-skin thing”

Wanda watched you with amazement. She felt guilty for thinking you looked hot like this. She felt guilty for feeling better, lighter even.

The team watched as you and Cap finished training. As you walked towards the showers, Wanda decided to follow you. “Wanda! You still need to finish training!” Nat’s voice rang over deaf ears as Wanda ventured after you. She walked into the room that was warmer than the rest of the building. “Y/N?” You appeared from behind a locker, towel wrapped around your waist.

“W-Wanda hi”.

She watched as you wiped your hands on the towel, a small amount of blood showing up on the white towel. Wanda’s eyebrows raised, “are you okay?” She asked moving closer to you. You furrowed your brows and looked at her like she was crazy. Wanda motioned for your hands. “Oh! I’m fine don’t worry. Sometimes I catch myself on the thorns. Kinda embarrassing” you laughed awkwardly hiding your hands behind your back. Wanda walked closer to you, she reached for one of your hands. “I could help you clean your cuts if you want” she blushed deeply and looked down at the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the word. Your eyes widened and you nodded so fast you probably almost got whiplash “yeah, o-okay”.

Wanda had sat you down and began to clean your small scratches with a damp paper towel. “Does it hurt when the thorns burst through your skin?” She asked while she focused on not hurting you. You chuckled, “Um no” you chuckled again this time a little quieter. “They don’t exactly burst through my skin, to be honest, I don’t know how it works. It doesn’t hurt though.” Wanda nodded silently. Suddenly a small red rose appeared on your arm, then another, then a small pink tulip, then another rose this time pink. Wanda looked up at you with furrowed eyebrows. “Oh sorry it’s like a sneeze” you said while awkwardly laughing and clenching your teeth.

Once she’d finished cleaning you up she looked at the flowers. She quickly brought her eyes back up to yours. You looked deeply into each other’s eyes for a few seconds before Wanda broke the eye contact and jolted up. “I have to finish training” she said before hurrying out of the room. You audibly groaned. God damn it why were your powers so embarrassing.

═.♥.══════

A few days later wanda was sat in the kitchen talking with Natasha. They were talking about everyone’s abilities and eventually you came up. “Y/N’s powers are pretty hard to understand, I don’t even think he understands them half the time. I mean when he feels a strong emotion, different flowers will pop up on his skin.” Wanda looked at Natasha and began to think about the other day in the shower room with those pink and red flowers. “The other day I was helping him clean his hands and red and pink roses…And tulips appeared on his arm.” Natasha practically choked on her coffee before bursting into a fit of giggles. As Natasha was stuck in her fit wanda began to think about the entire situation. That’s when she realised you probably liked her, that’s why the flowers appeared. She smiled like an idiot before bolting to the gardens behind the compound.

Like always, there you were. Sat in the middle of a patch of wild flowers. All the flowers in the garden faced you wherever you went, almost like you were magnetic to them. Wanda walked slowly up to you, the flowers, the sun, you, everything was beautiful. You were beautiful.

“Y/N” wanda said while approaching you. You looked up at her, genuinely smiling. “Hey”

You stood up and moved over to her, a small flower path beneath you.

“Y/N, I just wanted to say thank you for helping me after Pietro’s…D-death. You made me smile every morning reading those notes.” You moved closer to Wanda, yellow flowers sprinting from your legs. “I learn that if you feel something strongly, flowers sometimes appear on you.” You looked down at your legs and blushed bright red. “Sometimes I guess” you muttered. Wanda gently stepped closer to you, now you were inches apart. She reached a hand up to gently cup your cheek. “Can I, can I kiss you?” You nodded. As soon as your lips touched, bright red, pink and yellow flowers sprung up, all over the gardens of the compound, all over your legs and even one large red rose on your neck. Wanda chuckled while pulling away. “I feel the same way Y/N”

═.♥.══════

I hope you enjoyed reading! I’d give anything to have these powers 😫 I might make this a series. It depends if people like it :)

[interretialia]

Nova Iuncta Verba Latina / New Latin Compounds

ὁ ἀλλαντώνης -ου / allantones -ae m. “sausage-buyer”   [ἀλλᾶς “sausage” + -ώνης “-buyer”]   [ἀλλαντ- + -ωνα-] stems   [ἀλλαντωνα-] new stem   [ἀλλαντώνης] nominative singular   [allantones] ἀλλαντώνης Latinized

(Fons Imaginis.)

[scholastic-dragon]

Hi, just saw you’re Hellboy Jealous writing and wondered if you could do one of Abe being jealous and insecure, his s/o had a life in human society before joining the BPRD and when confronted that they can go and do more with someone else than what he can give in the BPRD he feels insecure and pushes his s/o away for awhile until they seek him out and reassure him, ends up all fluffy!!

I hope you can work on it, if you do thank you so much and take your time, I’m sure I’ll love it! See you later ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Abe my beloved!!! Absolutely!!

I think this is my favorite Abe story that I've ever written.

Abe Sapien x Gn!reader

The Push and Pulls of Love

Word count: 1.7k

Warnings: jealous!Abe, bit of angst, ends in lots of comfort and fluff, first "I love you's", spelling mistakes

Summary: Abe starts to pull away from you, worried you'll want a "normal" relationship.

Abe felt your presence the moment you stepped onto the elevator, coming down to the lower levels of the compound.

Quickly crawling out of his pool, he dried himself off, excitedly walking down the spiral stairs in the library.

As he reached the bottom, the doors flew open, and your form appeared, still in your uniform with a tired smile.

"Hello, my love," He greets, throwing the towel over his shoulder, approaching you. "How was your day?"

"Same as always, Hellboy called Liz in the middle of our mission, almost gave away our cover." You give a dry chuckle, slumping towards him, your feet must've been aching from being in those boots for so long.

"Hmmm," He hummed, leaning in to give you a kiss, gasping when two of your fingers press against his lips to stop him.

"Have you had eggs today?" There's an amused glimmer in your eyes that he misses.

He clears his throat, standing up. "Um, well, yes," He quickly reaches into the pocket of his bike shorts, taking out his tin dish and quickly eating a mint.

You walked around him, moving to a comfy chair and undoing your boots.

"How was your day?" You ask, groaning softly as you undo each loop of the shoelace. He turned around, fidgeting with his hands, trying to not feel embarrassed about his breath.

"It was alright, I finished that Latin book I started the other day,"

"Oh, that's great, hun, have you started any new ones?" Getting one boot off, you sigh in relief, moving onto the next one.

"Uh, yes, I decided to try French, I've been wanting to read it for a few months now,"

The second boot went a lot quicker.

"Oh that's awesome, baby," You stand and stretch your arms above your head. "I'm gonna go take a shower,"

You grab both your boots in one hand, approaching him with a tired smile.

"Alright-"

"And you're coming with me," You say over him, chuckling as his eyes widen and he swallows, simply nodding and allowing you to take his hand.

You lead him out of the library, down the hall to your "shared bedroom" It's actually your room but you wanted him to feel included. You knew he was slightly jealous that Liz and Hellboy got to share a room but you couldn't.

Abe couldn't help the pang in his gut, first his breath and now his hands. You're an affectionate person, always having an arm around him, on his thigh, touching his face, wherever you could.

But you couldn't interlock your fingers with his because of his webbing. It broke his heart the first time you tried, seeing your face ever-so-slightly fall when you realized. You'd told him countless times before that it didn't matter, you could still hold his hand, and that was enough for you.

It shouldn't have to "just be enough" You deserved everything and more and sometimes he felt he couldn't give that to you.

Finally reaching your room, you close the door behind him, placing your boots by the side of the bed.

It's a blur as you bring him into the bathroom, start the shower and pull him in behind you.

He's not used to warm water so you put it on the lowest temperature you can bear and hold him close, tucking your face into his neck.

He should be happy- he is happy. But there's that uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, that dread, that Itty bitty voice telling him he's not enough.

He shouldn't feel that way when you're holding him so close, naked, taking a shower with him.

"Is something wrong?" You pull away, arms resting on his shoulders. You look ethereal, warm and soft eyes, hair slicked back, water trickling down your temples, eye lashes clumping together.

"What?" He shakes his head, realizing his arms went slack at your side, he splays his palms on your soft skin, pulling you closer. "No, no, love, I'm fine,"

"You're tense," You comment, hand coming up to cup his jaw. He leans into your hand, unable to stop himself.

"I'm afraid I'm not enough for you," He whispers, you barely hear him over the sound of the water.

"What makes you think that?"

"It's stupid things..."

"They aren't stupid," Your tone hardens, quieting anything else he wanted to say. "If something is bothering you, I want to know. Nothing you ever say is stupid, Abe,"

"I-I can't kiss you whenever I want because of my diet, and I can't hold your hand the way you want and we dont share a room like Red and Liz do," He rambles, voice cracking as he goes. You listen intently, heart breaking at how hurt he seems.

"Baby, I love you and I don't care that we aren't like Red and Liz. We can still hold hands and kiss whenever we want, we just have a few speed bumps along the way, all relationships have them. This is both of our first relationship like this, and we're just trying to figure it out, nothing wrong with that," You smile, warm and inviting. It should've killed any and all doubts in his mind.

He exhales, pulling you flush against him, tucking his head into your neck. The Jealous feeling reered its head back through his gut, up his spine and into his brain, eating him alive. "First relationship like this,"

Your first non-human relationship. You'd had others before, of course you had, you're amazing and truly an angel on Earth, but the thought that he was the exception made his stomach turn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following weeks he became consumed in guilt. Everytime he held you, kissed you, he could only think of your other relationships and how different his must be.

He started to pull away, constantly having excuses to not spend time with you.

"I'm sorry, love, I've got to finish these work reports,"

"HB and I are being sent out on a late night mission, I won't be back till morning, darling,"

"I'm just too tired, Y/n,"

"I only have one chapter left, then I'll join you for dinner,"

After each excuse your pet names got less and less, you could see he was fighting an inner battle. He flinched when you held him, kissed him, reached for him.

Did he not want to be in this relationship anymore? Had you said something or done something to upset him?

It was moments like this you wished you had his powers, just read his mind and figure out whats going on.

It's not until one late night, when he's reading in your room, and you ask him to shower that you finally break.

"I'm going to take a shower," You hang your sweatshirt on the coat rack on the wall by the door. Glancing at him over your shoulder, smiling. It dripped seeing he didn't even bother to look up at you.

"Okay,"

You turn, rubbing your hands together, ignoring how sweaty they were. "Do you want to join me?" You whisper, knowing what his answer will be but still wanting to be hopeful.

"No, it's alright," He still doesn't look up from his book.

"Why?" Your voice trembles, feeling your resolve break, tears misting your eyes. At that he looks up, seeing you in tears he immediately stands, setting his book down on the seat. "Why won't you?"

He stutters, looking to the ground. "I-I....uh,"

"I know you're not reading," Your hands lower, clenching at your sides. "You haven't flipped the pages in over five minutes." You shakily inhale, letting all the past weeks stress fall from your eyes, blurring your vision. "Why have you been avoiding me? Pulling away? I don't know what I did-"

"You did nothing," He steps forward, chest aching seeing you cry. "I'm dealing with things-"

"What things?" You sob, aggressively wiping your eyes with the butt of your palm. "Things you can't tell me because they're about me?"

"It's me, it's all me," He states, his own voice cracking, his throat bobbing as he pants. "I've been pulling away because I know I'm not good enough for you. I'm not what you deserve and it's eating me alive,"

"And who are you to decide that?" Your words shock him. "Who are you to tell me what I want in a relationship? If something bothered me, I would've told you!"

You step forward, taking his hand and pressing it to your chest. "Read my thoughts."

"No, I can't, I said-" He doesn't make any attempt to pull away, only shaking his head.

"Read. Them."

He swallows any attempt to say no to you, pressing his hand firmly against your chest, searching your thoughts and memories for him.

He sees your first meeting, how interested you were in him. Your first date and how excited you felt when he complimented your outfit. The butterflies in your first kiss. How you stare when he's not looking, how you find it endearing that he started eating mints to kiss you more often. How you love the feeling of your smooth skin against his scales.

Tears spill from his eyes, he holds back a sob. Coming back to the present moment, seeing you standing in front of him.

"I love you, Abe," You sob, wrapping your fingers around his hand, stepping closer to him, face inches away from him. "I love you so much, you're the best thing to ever happen to me and I couldn't imagine my life without you,"

The Jealous feeling in his gut broke, he collapsed forward. Wrapping his arms around you, holding you tighter then he ever would allow, showing the twisting feeling eating him alive was wrong: you were here, in his arms, telling him that you loved him.

"I love you, darling, so much," He sobbed, burying his face into your neck. "You're my everything."

You pull away, cupping his face in your hands, using your thumbs to wipe away his tears.

"I'm sorry, I was jealous," He whispers, sniffling.

"If you ever feel that way again, please tell me, don't pull away," You plead. "I can't handle you avoiding me,"

He shakes his head, inhaling deeply. "Never, I'll never do it again, I hated it too," He puts his hands over yours. "Is that offer to join you in the shower still on the table?"

You both laugh softly, nodding you lean in and kiss him. He kisses you back, wrapping his hands around your back, pulling you flush against him.

Giggling you pull away, tugging on his hand and pulling him into the bathroom with you, closing the door behind him.

[misfitmagpie]

Let’s talk about The Magnus Protocol logo

Or what we can see of it from the Kickstarter exclusive t-shirt design anyway. Do note, I am going to dig up everything and anything I can think of, whether it may be relevant or not. I also want to note that I am not an expert on the things I am about to reference, I have a dabbling interest in many things, and enjoy looking stuff up. Now let’s take a closer look.

I have isolated the new logo from the old Magnus Institute logo, and put it against a black background for better viewing.

The Latin text on the lower banner "Non vacillabimus", google translate gives "We will not falter" as a result. Though I've seen different interpretations/translations floating around. So I'm sure someone more versed in Latin than I am can say more on the nuances here.

The laurel wreath, which are pretty straight forward. Associated with victory, honour, peace, and achievement. Common on coats of arms and crests. Laurel was associated with the god Apollo, and seen as a cleansing and protecting plant, it was the Romans who later adopted it as a symbol of triumph.

The triangle in the centre with the smaller triangles within reminds me of an inverted Sierpiński triangle, a fractal with ever smaller triangle iterations within.

The rule of this fractal is the repeated forming of triangles by taking the middle of each side and connecting them. However in the logo the triangles are not fully formed, and instead more shaped like arrows or diamonds.

In the centre of the triangle there seems to be a circle with shapes around it: triangles with crosses underneath.

They look like the alchemical symbol for sulphur/brimstone. In alchemy sulphur is seen as an active male element, something that brings about change. It is seen as having hot and dry properties, like the element fire, and is also associated with the sun.

On the left there appears to be a claw and fur, likely depicting a lion. This parallels the royal coat of arms of the UK.

On the right there is a split hoof and fur, likely of a classic depiction of a unicorn. This parallels the royal coat of arms of the UK.

The letters on top only have the A fully visible. However after inspecting it, it seems to be written in a typeface similar to Castellar Std Roman. Based on the shape of the letters of such a typeface, and the letter snippets we can see, we can guess that the half visible letter on the left is either an O or a Q, and the one on the right is either a R or a B (note how the middle arm curves slightly down, suggesting a bowl of a B or a tail of an R). Further between the half visible letter on the left, and the letter A there is enough space for another letter. So you have O/Q • _ • A • R/B.

On the top left corner of the centre there is a curved line that does not match the two exterior circles, so there's another round shape in there.

In the central circle we can make out the bottoms of two more shapes. While I can't immediately think of what the left one might be.

The right one gives us more to work with.

It could be another alchemical symbol, potentially of mercury (the counterpart and opposite of sulphur according to alchemical ideas), sulphur, or the symbol for Venus. Or less likely but potentially a compound symbol. Another possibility is a cross crosslet, or a Cross of Lorraine. Though given the amount of space from the centre of the circle, I'm not so sure about the cross crosslet. It’s worth nothing that it has pointed diamond ends, like the passion cross (meant to refer to Christ’s suffering on the cross as the points represent nails), which in heraldry is called Cross Aiguisé (French for “sharpened”) or Pointed Cross, or Cross Urdée (from ‘urde’, heraldic term for “having points”). Not sure what it could mean for The Magnus Protocol though.

There’s also 10 circles on each side of the triangle, resulting in 30 in total. Though not sure how this is relevant.

Not entirely sure about this triangle with the circles...

If anyone has any idea about what this might reference, I am definitely open to reading it, because I have spent hours searching and haven’t come up with anything that matches halfway decently. There’s also those weird little 3 dark lines on the right side intersecting with the other line. Not entirely sure what that is but it feels a little out of place as the centre of this image is pretty clear and sharp compared to the outer edges.

And lastly these little things appear 5 times on a side of the triangle, so if the pattern repeats itself, it should come to a total of 15. I don’t have much to say here. They remind me a little of carved pateras you can find on antique furniture or architecture. It looks a little like a pointed quatrefoil (4 leaf structure/shape). Could be a clue, could just be decorative.

What does this all mean put together? No idea honestly. But I wanted to share the things I have noticed so far.

[officiallordvetinari]

Here are 10 featured Wikipedia articles. Summaries and links are below the cut.

The Astronomica (Classical Latin: [astrɔˈnɔmɪka]), also known as the Astronomicon, is a Latin didactic poem about celestial phenomena, written in hexameters and divided into five books. The Astronomica was written c. AD 30–40 by a Roman poet whose name was likely Marcus Manilius; little is known of Manilius, and although there is evidence that the Astronomica was probably read by many other Roman writers, no surviving works explicitly quote him.

The Apollo 15 postal covers incident, a 1972 NASA scandal, involved the astronauts of Apollo 15, who carried about 400 unauthorized postal covers into space and to the Moon's surface on the Lunar Module Falcon. Some of the envelopes were sold at high prices by West German stamp dealer Hermann Sieger, and are known as "Sieger covers".

The Battle of Hayes Pond, also known as the Battle of Maxton Field or the Maxton Riot, was an armed confrontation between members of a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) organization and Lumbee people at a Klan rally near Maxton, North Carolina, on the night of January 18, 1958. The clash resulted in the disruption of the rally and a significant amount of media coverage praising the Lumbees and condemning the Klansmen.

Canadian heraldry is the cultural tradition and style of coats of arms and other heraldic achievements in both modern and historic Canada. It includes national, provincial, and civic arms, noble and personal arms, ecclesiastical heraldry, heraldic displays as corporate logos, and Canadian blazonry.

General Gregor MacGregor (24 December 1786 – 4 December 1845) was a Scottish soldier, adventurer, and confidence trickster who attempted from 1821 to 1837 to draw British and French investors and settlers to "Poyais", a fictional Central American territory that he claimed to rule as "Cazique". Hundreds invested their savings in supposed Poyaisian government bonds and land certificates, while about 250 emigrated to MacGregor's invented country in 1822–23 to find only an untouched jungle; more than half of them died. Seen as a contributory factor to the "Panic of 1825", MacGregor's Poyais scheme has been called one of the most brazen confidence tricks in history.

Aluminium (or aluminum) metal is very rare in native form, and the process to refine it from ores is complex, so for most of human history it was unknown. However, the compound alum has been known since the 5th century BCE and was used extensively by the ancients for dyeing.

The Hitler Diaries (German: Hitler-Tagebücher) were a series of sixty volumes of journals purportedly written by Adolf Hitler, but forged by Konrad Kujau between 1981 and 1983. The diaries were purchased in 1983 for 9.3 million Deutsche Marks (£2.3 million or $3.7 million) by the West German news magazine Stern, which sold serialisation rights to several news organisations.

The Keldholme Priory election dispute occurred in Yorkshire, England, in 1308. After a series of resignations by its prioresses, the establishment was in a state of turmoil, and the Archbishop of York, William Greenfield, appointed one of the nuns to lead the house. His candidate, Emma de Ebor' (Emma of York), was deemed unacceptable by many nuns, who undermined her from the start to the extent that she resigned three months later.

Sir Osbert Lancaster CBE (4 August 1908 – 27 July 1986) was an English cartoonist, architectural historian, stage designer and author. He was known for his cartoons in the British press, and for his lifelong work to inform the general public about good buildings and architectural heritage.

Thomas Edward Neil Driberg, Baron Bradwell (22 May 1905 – 12 August 1976) was a British journalist, politician, High Anglican churchman and possible Soviet spy, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1942 to 1955, and again from 1959 to 1974. A member of the Communist Party of Great Britain for more than twenty years, he was first elected to parliament as an Independent and joined the Labour Party in 1945. He never held any ministerial office, but rose to senior positions within the Labour Party and was a popular and influential figure in left-wing politics for many years.

[tieflingkisser]

Two women killed in Israeli attack on Holy Family parish in Gaza

The Israeli military on Saturday entered the compound of the Holy Family Catholic Parish in Gaza, shooting at anyone leaving the church. The victims are an elderly woman and her daughter who rushed out of the building to rescue her mother. Israel has justified the attack, claiming the presence of a missile launcher in the parish.

Israelis have opened fire on Gaza's Christians. Following heavy bombardment overnight of the area around Holy Family Latin parish in Gaza City, dozens are reported dead, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, and reports continue to arrive that shooting by Israeli snipers continues during these hours. A statement released by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem confirmed that an Israeli sniper murdered two Christian women inside the Holy Family Parish where the majority of Christian families have taken refuge since the start of the war. The victims are Nahida and her daughter Samar who were shot and killed as they walked to the Sister's Convent. "One was killed as she tried to carry the other to safety," the statement said. Seven more people were reportedly also shot and wounded as they tried to protect those inside the church compound. The Patriarchate's statement noted, "No warning was given, no notification was provided. They were shot in cold blood inside the premises of the Parish, where there are no belligerents." The statement also revealed that a rocket fired from an Israeli Defense Forces tank during the morning targeted and struck the Convent of the Sisters of Mother Theresa, destroying the building's generator - its only source of electricity - while a massive fire damaged the house.

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

Remember SH hinted at something big for Scotland in his interview?

It's a new company called...

LATHA ÙR LTD

LATHA ÙR - (Scottish Gaelic) A NEW DAY

LATHA ÙR LTD is an active private limited company, incorporated on 31 January 2023. The nature of the business is Distilling, rectifying and blending spirits. The company's registered office is on Dublin Street, Edinburgh. The company's next accounts are due on 31 October 2024 and fall under the category of the account.

What does this mean?

Distilling, rectifying and blending of spirits: In this class includes the manufacture of distilled, potable, alcoholic beverages: whisky, brandy, gin, and liqueurs- manufacture of drinks mixed with distilled alcoholic beverages- blending of distilled spirits- production of neutral spirits.

Memorandum of association

This is a memorandum of association a type of business document that is used as part of the incorporation process to form SH's new company and helps define the relationship between that new company. A memorandum of association is required as part of the documentation required for incorporation in the United Kingdom. The essential information within a partnership memorandum focuses on stating that certain people [SH+AN] want to form a legally incorporated company and is willing to share capital to finance the company's activities. Depending on the government regulations that apply to the content of the memorandum, it may be necessary to define what the partners will receive in exchange for their investment, such as shares. It’s necessary to identify the name of the company [Latha Ùr] a permanent business address [Dublin Street, Edinburgh] and the type of company they wish to form [private Limited company]

SH said in his SMWS interview he has a couple of projects he's working on (well it seems this definitely isn’t an acting project).

His decision is not surprising, He's certainly no stranger to splashing the cash on his merchandising, but he may not be aware that other, more important things symbolise something really big for Scotland, something culturally known and teamed by Scots, but it's all become a target, his merchandise, and his friends in the Scottish media will be promoting him with free publicity.

With this entrepreneurship, SH will allow his new product development [maybe Scottish GIN] to happen in his new business. Now, will have a distillery for his alcohol may be Scottish in origin, made and distilled in his still distillery. Scotland boasts over 90 distilleries that make their gin with even more planned. This leads to the market becoming so saturated that many brands are ignored in consumer searches for Gin products, even if a newcomer to the market has exactly what the consumer is looking for. Perhaps he hopes his fans will help the company grow, as they have done so far in everything Sam does.

He wants to copy Diageo even with a similar name. Diageo is composed of the Latin word diēs, meaning "day", and the Greek root geo-, meaning "world". LATHA ÙR (Scottish Gaelic) latha, meaning “day” and ùr, meaning “new”. Or perhaps SH expects Diageo to be keen to buy his brand after acquiring spirits firms in recent months. He will spend more time in this business if he wants to secure he’s ready to start trading immediately.

Now, SH will become a member of The Gin Cooperative, where he was judging panel Gin Awards 2022, open exclusively to Scotland’s gin makers and brand owners. Members must be based in Scotland, their gins must be distilled, rectified or cold compound (complete process) in Scotland and The Gin Cooperative will help SH's new brand. I hope he has a good master's distiller. It would be a great starting point.

Everybody knows that starting a business requires cash, and growing a business requires even more—But few people understand that the period over which a company start to grow, perhaps is more than many people would expect. Therefore, while running his startup is to raise more money. This can be done by generating more revenue, with his merchandise. That is his problem without his booze... there is no money, and he can’t balance this better between these contradictions: MPC selling health and the back of the coin selling whisky and tequila that has already become clear that his ads exalt drinking and encourage people to drink alcohol.

In summary, is in the initial stages of business and much work remains to be done, still has a long way to go until his GIN comes out this summer 2023 mentioned in a video shared from a Restaurant in Santa Monica.CA with the sounds of the Pacific Ocean just outside the window, and not in Scotland.

We will see if it will capture the attention of new clients that it has in mind, but also What are his company values (or core values) the fundamental beliefs he holds to transmit to Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

In this new venture SH was teamed with AN, a US resident considered inexperienced in the spirits business, which has one vote and equal dividend payments or any distribution, including a distribution arising from the liquidation of the company in Scotland.

SH always confuses his business relationship, and “mixes personal and professional relationships”. Friends are the companions of adventures, of good times, but would it be proper to undertake with AN? Is his friend a suitable partner? For this reason, it is important to find out which values would AN add to SH's recent company and his cultural vision of the spirits business in Scotland because he seems unreliable.

Why Alex was at EDA Glasgow: in mid-January training with Valbo, while Sam was in New York. Well, perhaps he was passing through Edinburgh to provide additional information required by the agents in charge of Latha Ùr before registering the company.

Now we will see AN donning a kilt at his opportunist visits to Scotland in his inauthentic knowledge of the Scottish industry.

CHIENE + TAIT LLP is located at 61 Dublin Street Edinburgh-Midlothian Scotland, its accounting agent’s address, an independent firm of chartered accountants, tax advisers and business consultants based in Edinburgh, Inverness, Glasgow and London.

This permanent business address it’s his commercial agent’s workplace, not a tourist attraction, filming location or SH’s place of business.

......... The Game is Afoot.

@youmademyollife This is not for Scotland, is for his business. The Scottish Distillers Association (SDA) is clear that to be a Scottish gin, it must be distilled and bottled in Scotland. If SH wants to make gin, using the term “Scottish Gin” and market it as “gin”, the product must meet the requirements established for the category in which it intends to operate. That's why he created his company in Scotland. Everyone in Scotland agrees with that. Every Scottish distiller promotes Scotland, in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

@itsmystreamofconsciousnessblog The situation differs from what you think. The owns Midhope Castle or “Lallybroch” is Hopetoun Estate, the castle is on private property. It’s not for Sale. On another hand, the interest is the sitting adjacent next to Midhope Castle. There will be a new whisky distillery on the Hopetoun estate in South Queensferry. The owner is not Diageo, the investors are others interested, and it’s not SH.

As for AN or Mohammad Ali, he has no experience in the spirits business. He’s SH’s partner with products manufactured by other companies. In a Scottish Gin distillery in Scotland, knowing is one thing and being able to communicate it to others is another kettle of fish. BTW… Every part of the business of alcohol is forbidden by his religion. Be it drinking it, making it or transporting it or selling it. So, he has no knowledge and no certain criteria to be involved in an alcohol-beverage company. Last but not least, It seems unreliable during the period surrounding his divorce.

@youmademyollife Starting a business after his spouse started a divorce, it’s an alert because he cannot spend marital assets without authorisation from the court. Until the court finalises his divorce, it could trace the funding to start the business to his marital estate. Thus, his soon-to-be ex-spouse might own half of his new business, 25%. That means SH continues with his 50% and the Norouzis 50% (25% each). She wants to be a part of the business. I agree, Sam should have prevented that, but he didn’t. SH should have learned whether he could and should have started a new business during AN’s divorce. He’s not reliable on the nowhere side.

[qqueenofhades]

I just saw some article abt a tiktok where a mother asks if her 10 yo's written music piece can be played (yes it can) and she starts with the kid having played violin for 2 yrs but it turns out it's a family thing with parents/aunts/grandmothers involved too...

And the reason I'm bringing this up is because of my university experience. I didn't do anything like AP classes or A levels when I was in high school. My parents have their high school diplomas and they're at very basic levels. I used to attend a different form of tertiary education attended by ppl who had backgrounds a lot more similar to mine, but in academia I'd say 80% of people had university educated people and probably about 10% had at least one parent and/or grandparent with a PhD.

I messed up my MA thesis. I mean, I passed and realistically I know that a lot of what happened isn't my fault (I ran into a serious medical issue which meant my process was delayed AND then my supervisor left after giving me minimal feedback and w/o any sort of decent transfer, after which I was not allowed to get any feedback from the replacement supervisor who was new at my university/in my country).

At the same time, I feel like the situation is definitely compounded by not having any academics in my family. I wasn't raised with the academic sense of thinking (and therefore rely too much on background research because I get insecure!) and I don't have the degree of Background Knowledge that is sort of expected of people when they wanna succeed (and yes languages like Latin are sort of included but the STORIES and HISTORIES are a lot more important, in the sense that learning Latin can be done postgraduate for sure but catching up on many many of the stories and references is a lot more difficult).

I was wondering what your thoughts are on this. I don't know if this really qualifies as a hidden curriculum as technically it ISN'T needed to succeed, but I DO notice that I have had to work a lot harder than my peers for the same outcomes, and the moment I faced setbacks I simply didn't have the type of backup in place (esp with few friends) that other people did have.

Ofc this also isn't to say that people who do have all this background knowledge should be excluded or whatever! It's just supremely difficult to catch up once you're behind, and it really has confronted me with class immobility more than anything else. Jobs in the academic world ARE notoriously difficult to come by, but this is about the step before that - succeeding in programs where previous knowledge DOES really benefit students simply because they're capable of drawing more connections because they KNOW more, and how that should be dealt with. The idea that people who are "behind" in their way of approaching academia and/or the knowledge required being immediately put at a disadvantage (and I know I am and I am a rare case bec most ppl with this disadvantage don't MAKE it to uni in the Netherlands or don't do as well as I somehow managed to do at all), AND the idea they need to catch up in the same amount of time that other students without the disadvantage to catch up... And of course not doing as well be cause we need additional time to catch up!

Like... University to me has been sucu a confrontation with how different classes of people (whether traditional income based or more education based) function and the inequality functions in a way I can't really find the words to express. All I know it's been very difficult and made me feel the odd one out pretty much the entire time I was studying.

How do you feel about inequality in higher education, and I guess also how do you feel about the current postgraduate system (MA/PHD).

Okay, so if I'm understanding your question correctly, you're specifically asking how I feel about how inherited privilege functions in academia, and how this contributes to overall inequality in the discipline/in regard to people involved it?

Obviously, kids from well-off homes, who have access to better education, private schools, personal tutors, cultural/learning opportunities paid for by their parents, etc. etc., all have a big advantage going into university. This doesn't always translate into actual results, but we all know about the nepotism/Ivy League kids who get into Yale while clearly not being very bright (cough cough George W. Bush) because, well, their families have always gone to Yale and it's what they do. I often see people expressing incredulity that particularly noxious American politicians, such as Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and Ron DeSantis (who all went to Harvard/Yale/Princeton etc) act that way, because "they went to Harvard, shouldn't they know better?" This naively assumes that because Harvard is so prestigious, it must therefore teach a more Correct or Intelligent Curriculum, and totally ignores the fact that when Harvard IS in the news, it's usually for some scandal or gatekeeping or corruption, because it's functioning exactly as designed in transmitting the mentality and privilege of the American ruling class. Harvard is prestigious (and very hard to get into) because of that, not due to any extra rigor or merit in its curriculum. If you have that name on your CV, then yes, doors will automatically open for you whether or not You Personally Deserve It. That's just not the way anything works.

As such, academia reflects the inequalities that are already present in society, and it often magnifies them, especially because the long-term pursuit of higher education is, to put it bluntly, almost impossible without equally long-term funding resources. People either have to go into massive amounts of debt, or rely on having the Bank of Mom and Dad to pay for them. If you don't have and/or want either of those, your options are limited. Tons of people quit because they just can't afford to do it, they have no job options afterward, or they're burned out. Academia is a corporate structure just like everything else, and it's certainly not some magical fairyland where everyone is judged only on the quality of their ideas and nothing else. Getting an academic job is all about who you know and how you can leverage your existing connections in the field. So yeah, it can often function as a microcosm of all the other inequalities in society, and produce narratives that are, as ever, beneficial to the powerful.

That said, I do think there has been important and meaningful progress in the last few generations of scholars alone. Diversity, equality, and inclusion statements/institutional values can often sound canned and stereotypical, but the fact that they're there at all, and have broad acceptance across the academy, is remarkable and somewhat underappreciated. Ron DeSantis and his fascist footmen aren't trying so hard to totally destroy higher education in Florida (and if he wins the GOP nomination, across the country) for no reason, and conservatives aren't so hyper-obsessed with their local school boards for the same reasons. There is more awareness of marginalized narratives and dynamics in the academy than there has ever been before, and there is real and important work being done by a wide variety of incredibly diverse scholars. One critique of academia that really gets my goat, and shows me that those repeating it have no idea what they're talking about, is "academia is all old white men at elite universities!" That just isn't remotely equivalent to what things look like in 2023, or what they focus on. What about that guy who couldn't even read until he was 18, who just became Cambridge's youngest black professor at age 37? Obviously, obviously, more work needs to be done across all levels in increasing access and opportunity. But that shouldn't prevent us from recognizing the real progress that has been made, and just why anti-democratic, anti-intellectual forces perceive it as such a threat.

Likewise, academia is an incredibly fusty and outdated practice based on rules and systems originally developed about 1000 years ago, which is why it can be -- to say the least -- resistant to change. So the whole MA/PhD system is predicated on those very outdated systems, but nobody has really come up with a better one. I was very fortunate to have had the support of friends and family, including financially, while I was completing my degrees; without that, I too would not have been able to finish. Likewise, anti-intellectualism and the idea that all information is created equal, that academic expertise doesn't matter, that all intellectuals/college professors must be secretly lying to you for the power trip, etc., is something that often turns up in left-leaning as well as right-leaning spaces (see, uh, Tumblr, which tends to think that whatever is empirically true is whatever aligns with their favorite belief). So I have to push back on that as well as the rest of it, if that makes sense.