#Scientific Translation Services

[humbertorbender]

Contributing to Explorations with Great Scientific Translation

Science has been able to help us in creating a much better world. There have been so many great inventions in the past century that we can't even imagine living without them. This is the kind of impact science can have on the variety of civilizations that we have all over the world. One of the most amazing things about science is that it is being discovered as much as possible in every corner of the world which is why a lot of the information available about the different concepts might be available in a variety of different languages. It is important to deal with things like this so that everything can be done in the right way.

Enhancing your power of communication with the help of translation is going to be the best thing to do because it will be able to help you in understanding the different concepts created for scientific purposes. It is going to be better for you to hire credible scientific translation services that will be able to do the translation work for you with a lot of precision which is going to give you the chance to understand everything in a much better and much more accurate way. 

The Importance of Using Scientific Translation

Once you can get under the influence of the professional services available near you they will be able to help you in understanding the entire structure of the translation process so that you know what is going to happen to the information that you provide them. They will be able to create a whole structure around it so that only the most accurate and high-quality work reaches you and you will be able to use it to your liking without having to worry about anything at all.

Professional translation services will also understand the better tips to translation culture so that they can keep up with the modern trends that are coming up in the translation world. This is going to be one of the best investments that you will be able to make for your education purposes so that you can keep up with the modern scientific advancements that are happening all over the world daily. 

[transcriptioncity]

Back Translation Services and Using a Back Translation Company

The Art and Science of Back Translation Services Translation is the process of converting text from one language to another. This practice ensures that information is accessible and comprehensible to people who speak different languages. Among the various methods of translation, back translation stands out as a particularly rigorous and insightful technique. The Importance of…

[mywitchyblog]

Reality Shifting and Age Changing Explained: A Deep Dive into the "Controversial" Practice

Introduction: Reality Shifting, the mind-bending practice of moving your consciousness/awareness to another reality (known as a Desired Reality or DR), has sparked intense debates within the community. One of the hottest topics? Age changing – the act of shifting to a different age in your DR. This shit has caused so many arguments, especially about ethics and what's "allowed". Let's break down why age changing isn't as fucked up as some people make it out to be, and why those who say otherwise might need to reconsider their stance. I will Mostly talk about agin yourself down since that is what is making the biggest noise

Taglist of various people who i think would be interested in this post (i will update it progresively) :

@shiftersroom You wanted my opinion ? Here is it /pos

@norumis I saw that post of yours

@evangelineshifts and @reiashiftsrealities Talked my project on your discord lol.

@jolynesmom Loved your post about it btw

Warning : READ IT FULLY BEFORE JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS THANK YEW

My Race Chaging Post

Masterlist

Part I: Why Age Changing Isn't Bad

a. The Maturity Conundrum: When you look at the source of this controversy, you'll realize it revolves around the maturity gap between the shifter and their DR . Critics argue that age changing either doesn't alter your maturity (meaning if you're a teen in your DR, you still have the maturity of your Original Reality (OR), essentially making you an adult in a minor's body) or that it's inherently problematic. But here's the thing: when you shift, you fully take on the age and mindset of your DR self. You're not just playing pretend; you actually become that age. If you can get your DR self's memories, abilities, skills, and personality, why the fuck is it so far-fetched to think you can have their maturity as well?

Let's break this down scientifically. Maturity is dependent on brain development, more precisely, the coordinated functioning of four distinct zones:

Prefrontal Cortex (PFC): The "CEO" responsible for planning, decision-making, impulse control, and emotional regulation.

Limbic System: The "Marketing & Sales" team that influences emotions, motivation, and memory, shaping how we perceive situations and respond.

Basal Ganglia: The "Operations" department that controls habits and translates plans into action.

Temporal Lobes: "Customer Service & Public Relations" that processes social cues and guides our interactions with others.

This neurological ensemble shows that maturity is something physical, related to the brain development of an individual. It's been established in the shifting community that you cannot bring physical things across realities, so what makes you think you can bring your CR brain with you?

If that were the case, scripting a different personality, skills, and knowledge would be impossible. This means your DR self has its own cognitive and emotional frameworks developed in that reality. Your experiences and maturity are context-specific (in that case reality specific), so when you shift back to your OR, you regain your OR maturity. Shifting isn't like a permanent personality change; it's more like fully immersing yourself in a different role or life. Which is exactly what happens.

b. Debunking Anti-Aging Arguments:

"If you age yourself down, that means you're attracted to minors/you're a pedophile": This argument is complete bullshit. If there are gay people shifting to be heterosexual, lesbian shifters shifting for men, aro/ace people shifting to experience romantic/sexual attraction they never do in this reality, then aging yourself down and potentially having romantic and/or sexual relationships as a minor with another minor doesn't mean you're attracted to minors as an adult in another reality. This take is a "Hasty Generalization" fallacy – making a broad generalization based on a small or unrepresentative sample.

"Why in this reality are you thinking about dating minors??": This type of take is not what you think it is, baby girl. It's called a fallacy, more specifically the Straw Man fallacy. It occurs when someone misrepresents or oversimplifies an opponent's argument to make it easier to attack or refute. In our case, they're trying to oversimplify something as complex and nuanced as reality shifting, not taking into account valid instances where one would age themselves down.

"Even if you are the same age, you still have the awareness of being an adult, which means you're a predator": And again, another fallacious argument. Seriously, aren't y'all sick and tired of bouncing on my wood all day long? That's not how shifting works, and you know it. We aren't even sure awareness works like this. It's just a theory, plus I can tell that a lot of people with this stupid-ass take haven't shifted at all.When you shift – and let me tell you because I did shift, so I know how awareness works – when you shift to a reality, you don't even realize you've shifted at first because for you, existing, waking up, just living in this reality is something normal, not extraordinary at all. Then something will trigger the fact that you know you've shifted, and from the perspective of you in your DR, you don't feel as if you "originate" from a specific reality. For you, your DR becomes your CR, and subsequently,so does your awareness. You just know there's another reality, another version of you that exists and that you're an adult there. Your existence/consciousness/awareness is like a circle: no beginning, no end, no origin.Plus, according to the concept of infinite realities and possibilities, you can change via scripting how your awareness works. I haven't done that; that's how I and thousand of shifters WHO DID ACTUALLY SHIFT personally experienced/perceived our awareness while in our DR.

"Using shifting to age yourself down to date a minor while being an adult hereand saying 'oh well according to multiverse I AM this age, it doesn't matter ifI'm an adult in a different reality' is similar to trying to pursue someone thesecond they are of legal age when that shit varies in other countries/states": Nah, seriously, do some of y'all have actual arguments to defend your point of view except fallacious ones that have as much value as my nonexistent heterosexuality? The statement equates aging down in a Desired Reality to the practice of pursuing someone as soon as they reach the legal age in this reality, which is a "false equivalence" fallacy. These scenarios are fundamentally different in nature and intent. In reality shifting, the individual adopts the full cognitive and emotional framework of their DR self, becoming that version of them entirely. This is not comparable to someone in this reality deliberately targeting individuals based on legal age thresholds. The intent and context are distinct. Do some of you people realise that an actual predator/creep/pedophile would not age themselves down once they realized they could strike a chord as an adult in their DR without any consequences?

c. Valid Reasons for Age Changing:

Exploration and Nostalgia: Some people age down to relive experiences or explore stages of life they missed in their OR. It's like getting a second chance at living life. Maybe you want to experience high school without the anxiety, or have a childhood free from trauma. This shit can be healing as fuck and the best therapy there is in the multiverse.

Healing and Fulfillment: Shifting to a younger age can help heal from missed opportunities or trauma, like experiencing a fulfilling teenage romance or a carefree childhood. It's a way to rewrite parts of your life that were painful or unfulfilled.Imagine being able to have loving parents if you didn't in your OR,or getting to pursue that dream you gave up on as a kid.

Non-Sexual Intentions: Many shifters change their age without any sexual motives, focusing more on friendships, adventures, or just being in a different stage of life. It's about experiencing life from a different perspective, not about fetishizing youth. You might want to join a high school club, go to prom, or just enjoy the simpler responsibilities of being younger.

Tried to shift since being a minor: A lot of shifters discovered shifting when they were still minors and made DRs whose age corresponded to the one they had in their OR at the time and tried to shift again and again despite the years. Are you telling me that you're going to tell those people to discard those realities the moment they turn 18? Bitch, make it make sense and you cant.

Part II: Examining the Discourse Within the Reality Shifting Community

a. Teenage Shifters : Double standards and hypocrisy. Teenage Shifters need to acknowledge the hypocrisy of them shifting to a DR where they are a married adult with kids one day and then deciding to shift to a reality where they are 15 and dating another 15-year-old the next. This inconsistency becomes even more problematic when they complain about their "maturity" being affected upon returning to their original reality. Furthermore, these same shifters often label adult shifters as "predatory" for shifting to realities where they interact with high schoolers, failing to recognize the double standard in their own behavior.

This hypocrisy extends to their attitudes towards sexual content and relationships. Teenage shifters often defend scripting mature content in their desired realities, arguing that teens naturally have such desires. However, they become outraged when adult shifters express a desire to experience young love again through shifting. This inconsistency is further highlighted by their willingness to engage in adult behaviors with older partners in one reality while simultaneously pursuing teenage relationships in another.

This hypocrisy extends to their attitudes towards sexual content and relationships. Teenage shifters often defend scripting mature content in their desired realities, arguing that teens naturally have such desires. However, they become outraged when adult shifters express a desire to experience young love again (or expereince young love they never did) through shifting. This inconsistency is further highlighted by their willingness to engage in adult behaviors with older partners in one reality while simultaneously pursuing teenage relationships in another.

Moreover, the logic applied to adult shifters - that having a teenage love interest in a desired reality implies attraction to minors in the original reality - is not consistently applied to teenage shifters who frequently shift between adult and teenage experiences. This disparity in reasoning further underscores the bias within the community.

Lastly, the pressure to shift before reaching adulthood in the original reality is a concerning trend. The community's belief that minor-aged shifters can shift to any age creates an implicit urgency to experience various realities before becoming an adult, after which such experiences might be viewed as pedophilic fantasies by the wider community.

Many Shifters who are minors (I do not say that all shifters that are minors are like this, just a huge amount) have a very odd understanding of what shifting is. They often treat it like cosplay, which is not what true shifting is about. They accuse adults who age down of being predatory, yet they:

Age themselves up to be with adults.

Age down adults to be with them.

Have pornstar or stripper DRs, which is ironic considering their criticisms.

This double standard reveals a lack of understanding about the true nature of shifting and the subjective experience of each shifter. It's like they're playing by different rules depending on what suits them at the moment.

Consider this mind-fuck: A 17-year-old shifts to another reality, lives there for 40 years, then comes back and dates someone who's 17 in their CR. By their logic, this makes them predatory because they've lived for 57 years. Conversely, if they return to their CR as a 17-year-old and date a 57-year-old because they're "57 in shifting age," it's still seen as wrong. This highlights the inconsistency in their arguments and the subjective nature of age and experience across realities.

It's like trying to apply the rules of chess to a game of poker – it just doesn't work. Each reality has its own context, and trying to apply blanket rules across all of them is an exercise in futility.

b. The Hypocrisy of shiftok : Oppresive and unfounded dogma, lack of empathy and Cultish Tendencies

The TikTok reality shifting community, colloquially known as "Shiftok," often displays a concerning lack of empathy and nuanced understanding when discussing complex issues surrounding shifting experiences. This is exemplified by the interaction shown in the image below :

In the first comment, an individual expresses feeling emotionally and mentally stunted due to missing formative experiences while growing up(which is true a lack of expereince can stunt someone s well being and developement). They view shifting as a potential way to have those experiences and achieve personal growth. This perspective highlights the therapeutic potential some see in reality shifting. However, the response to this vulnerable admission is harsh and dismissive: "Just bc your childhood got fcked up does not give you the right to fck up another child's." This reply demonstrates the judgmental attitude prevalent in the Shiftok community, where complex motivations are often reduced to simplistic, moralistic condemnations.

This interaction illustrates several problematic aspects of the Shiftok discourse:

Lack of empathy: The responder shows no compassion for the original commenter's expressed trauma and stunted development.

Misinterpretation of intentions: The reply assumes malicious intent, ignoring the therapeutic or self-exploratory motivations expressed.

Imposing rigid moral standards: The response applies a single moral framework without considering the subjective nature of ethics across different realities.

Oversimplification of complex issues: The nuanced topic of personal growth through shifting is reduced to a binary "right" or "wrong" judgment.

Hypocrisy: While condemning certain shifting practices, the community often overlooks similar ethical concerns in other contexts, such as minors scripting adult relationships.

This example shows perfectly the need for more thoughtful, empathetic discourse within the shifting community. Rather than rush to judgment, shiftokers should strive to understand diverse perspectives and the complex reasons one would shift to a specific DR of theirs.Otherwise people will keep thinking that we are nothing more than a cult that seeks to exploit the mental health of broken teenagers and prey on their desperationf for fame and money.

c.The "holier than thou" attitude: The "holier than thou" attitude, also known as moral superiority or self-righteousness, is a mindset where individuals or groups believe their moral standards, beliefs, or practices are superior to those of others. This attitude often manifests as judgmental behavior, condescension, and a lack of empathy towards differing viewpoints or experiences.

In the context of Shiftok, the TikTok reality shifting community, this "holier than thou" attitude is particularly evident and problematic. It applies to Shiftok in several ways:

Moral Absolutism: Shiftokers often apply rigid moral standards derived from their original reality (OR) to all desired realities (DRs), ignoring the concept of subjective morality across infinite realities.

Selective Condemnation: The community tends to harshly judge certain practices (like adults shifting to younger ages) while overlooking potentially problematic behaviors by minors (such as scripting adult relationships in their DRs) or people scripting in trauma abuse or that people get SA ed or are in relationship with problematoc people such as murderers and villains.

Lack of Empathy: As demonstrated in the image, there's often a dismissive attitude towards individuals expressing personal struggles or complex motivations for their shifting practices.

Oversimplification of Complex Issues: Nuanced topics are frequently reduced to simplistic "right" or "wrong" judgments, disregarding the multifaceted nature of personal experiences and ethical considerations in shifting. Shiting at its core is complex, nuanced and multifaceted, no black and white its gray.

Assumption of Expertise: Despite many members potentially lacking deep understanding or personal experience with shifting, there's a tendency to speak authoritatively on what is or isn't acceptable in shifting practices. It's always those who either have never shifted or minishifted who yap the most about shifting like they know it all . Honey you don't , you know nothing you have nothing to talk about shut up and try to shift before opening your mouth on a subject you do not have an expertise about.

Gatekeeping: Some members of the community may attempt to dictate who can or cannot engage in certain shifting practices based on arbitrary criteria or personal biases.

Dismissal of Therapeutic Potential: The community often overlooks or dismisses the potential therapeutic or personal growth aspects of shifting, focusing instead on enforcing their perceived moral standards.

This "holier than thou" attitude in Shiftok creates an environment that suppresses open dialogue, discourages the sharing of diverse experiences, and potentially alienates individuals seeking support or understanding within the community. It contradicts the very essence of reality shifting, which is about exploring different perspectives and experiences across infinite realities.

And also the most concerning consequence of this effect, this hypocrisy, this lack of empathy makes shiftok look like a cult in the eyes of other spiritual communities. I do know and disagree when antishifters make the statement that shifting is a cult but I understand and come to agree with them when they say that shiftok is a cult.

This community that is supposed to help one another is just oppressing bullying and suppressing people when they have an opinion that differs from the dogma big shiftokers imposed on the rest of the community thinking that their word is law and they get to write the rules of a practice that is the antithesis of that .Shifting is the epitome of breaking the chains the constraints of this world and its rules. Plus do some of you lot realise that those people that you worship do not give a flying fuck about you ? These people pray on your desperation to keep you on their page.

Shiftok is nothing more than a living sack of horse shit. All the knowledge and tips are just poorly regurgitated from amino and other shifting spaces that existed far before 2020. They immediately closed themselves to outsiders when they saw the damage shiftok did to the community as a whole. When a cultist, shiftoker claims to have this groundbreaking solution /information about shifting keep in mind that 100% of the time it was already known elsewhere.Just not on shiftok and now they are the new shifting Messiah lmao.

Shiftokers sometimes (more like always tbh) ignore the fact that shifting involves complete immersion in the new reality. If it's possible to gain your DR self's memories and personality, then obviously, you'll also become their age mentally as well. You're not just dropped into that life with no context; you fully integrate into that age and lifestyle. When you shift to your DR, that's your new CR. This reality becomes a DR. This reality is not the baseline for anything.

Some people say their memories of their OR feel far away while their DR memories are front and center, making their DR life feel like their primary existence. This means you won't feel like an imposter, no matter how different your DR is from your OR.

In ancient times, gaining spiritual knowledge like shifting required understanding that you are a soul or consciousness having a human experience. Modern cultists shiftokers often skip this step, leading to judgment and misunderstanding. Shifting should be a tool for self-discovery and growth, not just entertainment. This lack of spiritual foundation often leads to a superficial understanding of shifting. It's not just about living out fantasies; it's about expanding consciousness and understanding the nature of reality itself. By focusing solely on the surface-level aspects of shifting, many miss out on the profound insights and personal growth that can come from this practice. Because of the damage shiftok did on the reputation of the practise it is nearly or impossible to break free of the stereotype of shifter being a bunch of mentally ill schoolgirls shifting to be with the wizard version of Nazis (looking at you girlies that shift for Draco Malfoy or Tom Riddle).

Honestly that is the thing that makes me cackle. The most about shiftok i keep hearing and seeing videos from these cultists shiftokers asking and wondering themselves why is the platform dying and why theres no active discussions like sharing tips story times etc...

Bombastic Side Eye-Do you fuckers realised it is all your fault ? You try and silence people when their opinion differs than the one you have.They experienced something you did not you shame and burn them at the stake for it no wonder why people leave that ghetto ass platform and im scared just like a lot of us here of the massive exodus of shiftokers that will happen once tiktok is banned in the US.

Conclusion:

Age changing in shifting isn't inherently bad. It lets people explore different life stages, fulfill desires, and grow personally. The real issue comes when age changing is done for fetishizing purposes, turning ages into objects for sexual gratification. As long as shifters are respectful, consensual, and not exploitative, age changing can be a valid and enriching part of the shifting experience.

Remember, shifting is about expanding your consciousness and experiencing the infinite possibilities of existence. Don't let narrow-minded judgments hold you back from exploring the full potential of this practice. Stay open, stay curious, and most importantly, stay true to your own journey of self-discovery through shifting.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Hello I am going on a holiday to Eryri next month & I like to read up about an area before going there... do u have any reading or documentary or podcast recs? I'm particularly interested in the ecology & minority language activism & like. Peoples history & rural lives! I know this is stuff u know about in Wales but idk if north Wales is ur region! Míle buiochas ón Eireann!

Fáilte go dtí an Bhreatain Bheag! Or croeso i Gymru. Exciting! Keep an eye on the notes for others chiming in with good recs for documentaries and the like, I'm going to just give a super quick guide

Okay, pronunciation guide for place names and that is here in written form and here in video form. I cannot recommend strongly enough that you try to use the Welsh place names rather than the English translations. Duolingo is flawed but serviceable if you want to hear and learn some basic phrases. If you can at least throw out a 'bore da' to people you pass/shopkeepers, you'll be very well liked. You don't need to be fluent by any means, but Making An Effort is seen as, like, the nicest and politest and most wonderful thing in Wales, and particularly in regions like Eryri.

Because! It's one of the biggest remaining Welsh language strongholds. If you look at language maps over time in Wales, a pattern emerges:

And the current (2021) figures show this:

And you are going to this bit:

So you're heading into the Welshest bit in all of Wales! And the bit with the strongest and longest history of Welsh, too.

Which also means there's a lot of activism-related stuff in that area. It's probably worth you reading up on the history of Tryweryn (which was a bit further east, but sets the scene well); there was also a BIG thing a couple of decades ago where activists would burn down English-owned holiday homes (while they were empty in winter, not, like, with the English in them). This is because, in addition to the usual issues with the social impacts of holiday homes (driving up prices meaning locals can't live there, eroding communities, etc), holiday homes in Welsh language heartlands are a significant and tangible threat to the language. Even today, the issue of holiday homes is an extremely touchy subject, as is the issue of (mostly-English) people moving into the area because "It's so pretty!!!" and then not learning the language.

(Yet another reason they will love you if you Make An Effort)

Historically speaking, you'll be in a chunk of the country that was the ancestral seat of the last kings of Wales (Gwynedd). The final one, Llywelyn ein Llyw Olaf, was ambushed and murdered in 1282, which was the beginning of the end for fighting off English rule. In fact, Owain Glyndŵr later crowned himself king of Wales for about two years, but weirdly, no one acknowledges this as real kingship for some reason - if you google his name, he's always listed as a soldier or military commander, which really opens up a whole "Who gets to say when someone is royalty" debate, but he did actually claim descent from the House of Aberffraw anyway, so ultimately it still links back to Llywelyn.

Ecology! Temperate alpine. There actually isn't a global scientific distinction between hill and mountain, but most countries set an arbitrary height standard. This means it varies from country to country depending on how tall their topology is. Wales, however, bucks this trend, and instead decides based on what is formally referred to as 'land use' and colloquially referred to as 'Vibes'. If it's a hill, it's tamed - if it's a mountain, it's wild. This means Eryri is fairly short by the standards of tedious foreigners who regard mountains as a sort of geological dick waving competition, but it's in fact a whole mountain range; it's also older than Saturn's rings. And, crucially, it's very much sufficiently above sea level to have an alpine ecosystem.

There are three endemic (i.e. not occurring anywhere else in the world) species in Eryri, to whit:

The Snowdon lily. A small and delicate flower growing in protected and inaccessible spots on yr Wyddfa (formally known as Snowdon). Excessively vulnerable to trampling, so the national park keeps sections where it grows fenced off.

The Snowdon beetle. RAINBOW BEETLE.

The gwyniad. A sub-species of whitefish until recently exclusively found in Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake), trapped there after the ice age and now developing its own genetic profile distinct from other whitefish. Some dickhead in the 80s introduced the ruffe to the lake for fishing, and the ruffe eats the gwyniad's eggs, so they've now transplanted eggs to Llyn Arenig Fawr nearby as a conservation measure.

There's also feral goats. And Welsh mountain ponies. Ooh, and, red kites - in the UK red kites were so heavily persecuted they eventually fell to just 7 breeding pairs in Wales. We established a protected zone and hired Nepalese Gurkhas to guard the nests and thus saved it from extirpation so successfully they later translocated Welsh birds to other spots in the UK. It's a big conservation success story, and now red kites are considered to be the national bird of Wales. They have a very distinctive silhouette, too, look for the forked tail.

Oh, and, we have a unique habitat type called ffridd, which you see a lot of in Eryri.

Final wildlife pictures to close:

Anyway - have a great time! Enjoy muchly.

[historicalbookimages]

🦑 The Cephalopod. atlas Jerusalem: Israel Program for Scientific Translations ; Springfield, Va.: available from the U. S. National Technical Information Service, 1975. Think vampires don't exist? Check out the Vampire Squid! He may not drink ur blood, but he's still the "squid from hell"

[laxmiree]

[CN] MLQC Season 2 Chapter 59 Translation [Lucien’s Route (1/3)]

⚠️  SPOILER ALERT  ⚠️

This post contains a VERY HEAVY SPOILER for the chapter that has not been released in EN yet! Feel free to notify me if there are any mistakes in the translation~

I turn around and see Lucien standing behind me, the fine mist enveloping his expression in a haze.

"Would my little lady lie to me?"

A brief silence flows through the air as the pool continues to steam, making every breath sound incredibly distinct.

For a moment, I almost think that Lucien had already discovered my identity before the first night even began.

Translation under the cut!

[Previous Chapter-> Click Here]

—[Prologue]—

Before the summer heat sweeps across Loveland City, the Loveland City Digital Technology Summit, jointly organized by the City Hall and Infinite, officially opens.

This summit is the first online summit held in virtual reality in the history of Loveland City.

The stage is at the center, with audience seats arranged in a circular formation around it. Floating holographic screens are positioned between the stage and the audience.

I look around, and the thousand-seat venue is fully occupied. On the stage, Aether is speaking calmly about the prospects of digital technology and virtual reality applications.

[T/N: just to fill in y’all, Aether is representative of Infinite, the company that develops Odyssey]

Aether: Infinite's scientific and technological capabilities will lead society to new heights in medical care, education, culture, and other fields.

Aether: "Odyssey" is one of our greatest challenges in presenting virtual reality.

Aether: In the future, it might not be the pinnacle of the field, but it will undoubtedly be an important starting point. We are also challenging different technological updates…

As he speaks, some scenes and objects from the Odyssey occasionally appear in the audience.

The life-like presentation catches the eyes of many, and the low murmurs of other attending entrepreneurs can be heard.

??: Indeed, it's pretty impressive. No technology company currently on the market can match this level of technical capability and R&D.

??: It's just that we don't know the development costs…

Taking in these bits and pieces, I poke the chibi black swan "flying around" beside me.

The black swan spins around and pops out a line chart, showing the trend of Infinite's tech product coverage in Loveland City over recent years.

The black line representing Infinite shoots straight up into the sky, leaving a vast and unattainable gap between it and other technology companies.

Looking at such a straightforward image, my thoughts drift far away along with my memories…

From the launch of the Golden Apple 2 capsule pod to the official release of Odyssey, Infinite's technological development has left others far behind.

Even now, other companies are hiring "protection shields" in a desperate attempt to catch up.

I know their ambition has never been just a globally popular game but rather broader and more significant fields.

After the representatives from the relevant fields finish speaking, the host announces on the spot-

Long story short, an announcement is made of a beta test for the new "Carnival Night" gameplay of "Odyssey”, “Carnival Night” is based on the popular board game Werewolf (commonly known in the West as “Mafia”). Participants are transported to a virtual ballroom, and as MC navigates the crowd, she gets a message from Kiro, that has entered the game and encounters some familiar faces, like Gavin and Victor. Each male lead participates in the beta test and chooses a different scenario.

I put away this brochure and picked up several others, planning to study them all. The staff at the service desk smiles and hands me a form.

Staff: Hello, we are conducting an interest survey within the game. Could you please sign under the scenario you're interested in on the registration form?

MC: Sure.

I sign under several scenarios, and when I get to the last one, “Seaside Mansion",  I see a familiar signature — Lucien.

He messaged me the day before yesterday, saying that Infinite sent beta test invitations to the top three players on the in-game achievement leaderboard.

[Yes, Lucien is one of the top players; the chapter before this reveals that due to his deteriorating condition, he spends more time in the Odyssey to free himself from the pain:". The R&S that accompany the chapter shows how he spends his time in the game besides experimenting, which is observing the game, and from this observation, he finds many hidden mechanisms and achieves many hidden achievements along the way. A game world is full of puzzles after all and he's the greatest puzzle solver~]

I look around the crowd but don't see him.

MC: Has he already entered the game?

Thinking this, I also plan to study the brochures I just picked up.

Which one should I look at?

-Choose “Seaside Mansion”

Surrounded by the blue ocean, a seaside mansion with a luxurious design rises from the island.

A group of people from around the world are invited by the mansion's owner to the island, unaware that danger is silently approaching in the shadows…

Players will take on the role of guests arriving at the "Seaside Mansion," tasked with finding the werewolves responsible for the killings on this secluded island.

This scenario is designed for 13 players, with the following roles: Hunter, Guardian, Seer, Gravekeeper, and Hidden Werewolf, each one player; two Outsiders; three Werewolves; and three Mansiongers.

After reading the scenario introduction, I turned to the standard game rules at the end of the brochure:

This time, eight game scenarios are available, and players can select the one they are interested in by clicking to enter.

In all scenarios, everyone must return to their rooms and close the doors by 23:30. The werewolves and unique roles must go out within the system-specified times.

The action times are as follows:

- 23:30-23:59 - Guardian

- 0:00-0:29 - Werewolves

- 0:30-0:59 - Seer

- 1:00-1:29 - Witch

- 1:30-1:59 - Hunter

The werewolves win if the number of good players (human and unique roles) reaches zero. In contrast, the human and unique roles win if the number of werewolves (including the hidden werewolf) reaches zero.

Additionally, each scenario will have designated areas equipped with live-streaming cameras. A prompt will appear on the user panel when entering a live-streaming area, so please be aware.

MC: The introduction is relatively straightforward...

Closing the brochure, I opened the selection interface. Looking at the various scenarios before me, I felt a bit overwhelmed…

[T/N: Before we jump to the next part, here is a quick explanation about the roles!

- Villagers: Their goal is to identify and eliminate the werewolf.

-Werewolves: Their goal is to deceive the villagers and eliminate them.

-Witch: Has two potions, one to save a player from being killed and one to kill another player.

-Hunter: Once they die, they can kill the one player by their choice (usually kills who they believe to be their killer).

-Gravekeeper: can check the roles of the player that has already been killed.

-Seer: each night, the Seer can choose one player to identify their role.

-Guardian: each night, the Guardian can choose one player to protect from being killed.

-Hidden Werewolf: Werewolf that appears as a normal villager when investigated by the Seer or other investigative roles]

✂———————–

—[Lucien's Route - 1: Raging Sea Storm]—

Without hesitation, I pressed the confirm button for "Seaside Mansion."

White light envelops my vision, and when I open my eyes again, the sunlight pierces through the thin mist, falling on the gray-black low cliff beneath my feet.

The deep blue sea water tirelessly crashes against the steep cliffs as if trying to engulf the entire island.

MC: So high…!

I shiver in fear at the cliff beneath my feet and take a few steps back. Turning around, a modern mansion fills my entire view.

The seaside mansion boasts a luxurious design, rising with opulent grandeur and resembling the safest fortress perched on the cliff.

I rush towards the door. As soon as I arrive, the door opens for me, and a butler dressed in a pitch-black suit steps out from behind the door to greet me.

Butler: Welcome home, madam*.

[T/N: fun fact: the Butler calls her with the same title (夫人, read: fu ren) as the one in Lucien's latest Halloween Date 🤧; this title used to refer to a married woman. Interesting that both this chapter and that date have similar kind of ending-]

MC: Ah…?

Although I know the "Carnival Night" mode assigns roles to players, I am still a bit confused when such an address suddenly comes up.

Butler: Madam, you are the owner of this mansion.

The butler hands me a letter as he speaks. I break the wax seal on the letter, and the crimson handwriting catches my eye — “Werewolf”.

MC: …!

Butler: Once all the guests have arrived, you need to conceal your identity as the host and choose one guest each night to be thrown into the pool—

Butler: End their life and offer it to the sea.

I didn't expect to be the werewolf... My initially steady heartbeat skips a beat, and I take two deep breaths to calm myself.

It seems that no other guests have arrived at the mansion yet. With such a "villainous" role, it's better not to be the "first to arrive" and draw attention…

So, I paused my step into the mansion, quickly ran back outside, and planned to hide behind the wall to observe secretly first.

I wait until most players have entered before I pretend to be entering the game myself, lifting my skirt as I step through the door.

Suddenly, my gaze meets a pair of familiar eyes.

Lucien walks through the crowd in white clothes. The sea breeze tousles the strands of hair on his forehead. His silent eyes spot me through the crowd and curve into a smile.

The raging sound of the waves in my ears seems to have instantly dissipated by that silence, and my rapid heartbeat from a few minutes ago gradually stabilizes.

I take a few quick steps to his side, and Lucien naturally takes my hand.

MC: Mr. X, are you good at playing this kind of game?

Lucien: [chuckle] I can only say I'm average; perhaps I might need your help, Miss MC.

If it really is "help," then that would be nice…

Perhaps it's the werewolf identity at work; the game hasn't officially started, but I've already begun scheming in my mind.

I wonder what Lucien's identity will be... Will he be a werewolf like me?

I absentmindedly ponder this while casually chatting with Lucien, and we enter the mansion together.

The butler leads us to the banquet hall, surrounded by a circle of exquisitely designed luxurious pools.

The clear pool water shows a faint aquamarine hue, reflecting off the gilded walls and casting a cold-colored light on us.

A long table divides the banquet hall in half, with a name tag displaying an ID in front of each seat.

Lucien and I sit down according to the name tags. I quietly count the name tags on the long table; there are thirteen in total.

Suddenly, three clear, rhythmic sounds emerge on the bustling long table, interrupting our cautious scrutiny of each other.

Lucien lowers his hand after lightly tapping the dinner bell and stands up from the long table. The light, fragmented into countless tiny ripples by the water's surface, penetrates his deep eyes.

Lucien: As a member of the human faction with a divine duty, I think it’s not too presumptuous for me to start the game abruptly. So…

Lucien's face unfolds into a calm, confident smile, and his unhurried voice clearly resonates throughout the banquet hall.

Lucien: I am the hunter in this game.

MC: ?!

The originally somewhat dull atmosphere in the banquet hall instantly simmers like boiling water.

Everyone seems somewhat surprised by Lucien's decision to reveal his identity at this moment, while I have no interest in participating in the discussion.

It's over. It seems I will have to spend the following nights alone and be forced to keep my distance from Lucien during the day so he doesn't see through my identity…

Although "engaging in a battle of wits and valor" with him is quite interesting, I still prefer being together with him.

I am immersed in my "thoughts" when someone nearby suddenly lets out a disdainful snort.

Player: Huh? Do you even know how to play?

I look up and see a young man with the name tag "Brother Genius" on the table, who is the first to speak against Lucien.

Brother Genius: Revealing your role on the first day? The werewolves will “kill” you tonight, and at most, you can only take one person down with your shot.

He tilts his chin up and shakes his head.

Brother Genius: The human faction is really out of luck, starting without a hunter. Learn from me; only someone with my role can reveal their identity openly.

He gestures with his chin towards the farthest corner.

Brother Genius: Look at us, the two outsiders.

Brother Genius: We arrived at this Mansion only after the werewolves appeared, so we can't be werewolves. We don't have any skills, but we are definitely good people. Do you understand?

The person in the corner, whose identity was suddenly exposed, stands up coldly and abruptly, causing the chair to slide backward with his movement.

The ear-piercing scraping sound makes everyone's scalp tingle, and almost everyone frowns in unison.

??: Idiot.

He had been sitting silently in the corner, and I hadn't noticed him before. Now that I look closer, I see his dark green hair and hollow dark gray eyes...

MC: ...Joker?!

✂———————–

[Some fun fact: Lucien's route is the only one where MC and the ML belong to opposite factions (they're truly Lovepro’s star-crossed lovers ahah🥹); other ML's (and MC) roles in their respective split routes are:

BQ/Gavin: Werewolf MC, "Hidden Werewolf" BQ

LZY/Victor: Guardian MC, "Witch" LZY

XM/Lucien: Werewolf MC, Hunter XM

ZQL/Kiro: Seer MC, Gravekeeper ZQL]

[Also, if it's not predictable already, Lucien already knows that MC is Werewolf; man can read her like an open book after all 😂 I think this is what leads to his decision to reveal his role as Hunter so early because doing so, he can gain others’ trust and have more ‘’control and power” for the sake of protecting her. There's also (spoiler) reason, but you all will know about it eventually~]

✂———————–

—[Lucien's Route - 2: Humid Airflow]—

Past experiences flood my mind, making my scalp tingle instinctively. How did this terribly nefarious person also end up in this game!

He hasn't appeared for so long, and his mind is always full of the lighthouse. How does he even have the time to "waste" here?

If I remember correctly, he's still wanted. How does he come out without changing his appearance?

As if in response to my question, the ID "Joker" above his head flickers glaringly a few times.

I instinctively glance at Lucien. He only casts a fleeting look in Joker's direction before shifting his gaze away.

Hearing what Joker said, Brother Genius seems a bit incredulous.

Brother Genius: ...What did you say?

Joker ignores him, shifts his gaze to Lucien, and speaks in a cold tone.

Joker: Fortunately, this game is at least worth participating in.

After saying that, he turns around and leaves the banquet hall without looking back despite everyone's gazes.

Lucien does not respond to his words at all, simply watching everything unfold calmly.

I quietly watch Joker's back, mentally drawing a big X over it.

Arrogant bastard, I will kill you tonight!

After the scene quiets down, Lucien speaks gently.

Lucien: Since three players have already revealed their identities, I suggest we start the election for the sheriff early.

Lucien: The sheriff has 1.5 votes, and they can also guide and organize thoughts…

At the long table, Lucien explains the necessity of the sheriff in a clear and understandable manner to those who are still confused.

And for those who raised objections to the sheriff system, he accommodates their opinions and adopts a compromise approach.

The more I listen, the more I feel that this Mr. Hunter beside me is like a "kind-hearted God” who calmly accepts and gently gives.

And the weaker players on the field seem to share my sentiment, their faces showing apparent trust.

Ultimately, Lucien is elected sheriff without any suspense due to his revealed hunter identity and charismatic personality. I can't help but sigh.

MC: It'll be difficult for the werewolves…

Lucien: What are you talking about?

I shudder all over, realizing that Lucien has finished the discussion and is now looking at me gently.

I give him a guilty smile, but a dangerous thought arises within me.

If Lucien is willing to "favor" me just a little... Maybe him being the sheriff could actually be a good thing?

With this in mind, I discreetly wink at Lucien.

MC: I was thinking, this mansion looks so big, I have a feeling I might get lost if I'm not careful.

MC: [smiles] Would the newly elected Sheriff X accompany me for a walk?

The clear water surface reflects a faint glow as if whispering unknown secrets.

I did not expect such pools to occupy this mansion's corridor and every room.

No matter where we go, the sound of flowing water never ceases.

The heavy and silent humid air wraps around us from head to toe, causing a wave of discomfort to surge within my heart.

MC: I thought a seaside mansion would be a beautiful, fresh-air vacation spot.

MC: Lucien, don't you feel like we've been swallowed by a giant monster, all sticky and slimy…?

Lucien is observing at the direction of the pool not far away. Hearing my words, an inscrutable smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.

Lucien: Based on the current findings, it is likely that these pools are connected underground, forming some sort of waterway...

Lucien: If these waterways are like circulating blood vessels, then the pools are the organs that transport the blood. In that sense, we do seem to be inside some kind of giant monster...

The hairs on my body instantly stand on end, and I turn and throw myself into Lucien's arms. He catches me as if he had planned it, then gently pats my back.

MC: ...I was already scared enough, and now you're scaring me even more!

Lucien: [coaxing by whispering softly] I just wanted to agree with this imaginative girl's metaphor. Is that not allowed?

Seeing his cunning, squinting eyes, I can't help but let out a huffy little hum.

MC: Let's not talk about this anymore and change the subject!

MC: For example... weren't you worried about being targeted by the werewolves on the first day when you revealed your identity today?

I glance around and ask the premeditated question, only to see Lucien's eyelashes flutter slightly as he responds in an innocent tone.

Lucien: Huh... was I supposed to keep my identity hidden?

MC: Hmph, Professor Lucien, don't play innocent. I know you're a master at these kinds of games.

Lucien: I just don't want to lie in front of you.

He speaks frankly, with no intention of hiding anything. Being gazed at like this makes my heart skip a beat, and I almost want to confide my own secrets to him.

I quickly suppress the impulse, turn away to escape from his gentle allure, and hold his hand to lead him forward.

MC: Alright, alright, it seems you already have your own strategy. You're so intelligent. You definitely don't need a fool like me to worry needlessly.

I speak in a listless tone, with a little wistful expression, when I suddenly hear Lucien's voice.

Lucien: And what about you?

MC: What?

I turn around and see Lucien standing behind me, the fine mist enveloping his expression in a haze.

Lucien: [softly] Would my little lady lie to me?

A brief silence flows through the air as the pool continues to steam, making every breath sound incredibly distinct.

For a moment, I almost think that Lucien had already discovered my identity before the first night even began.

...No, I can't lose my composure first! I secretly pinch my palm, look straight into his eyes, and smile.

MC: Professor Lucien is so smart; how could my little tricks ever fool you?

MC: Why not take a guess?

After all, more than winning, I want to enjoy this game with you in a "special way".

✂———————–

[Dang, the way he said, “would my little lady lie to me?” 🤧🤧🤧, you can almost hear his insecurity and sense of feeling wronged(?). 😂 This is one of many instances in this chapter that show, under his calm and composed demeanor and how he acts as if everything is under control, he isn't as in ease as he appears to be🤧 there's still a possibility and choice that the MC might want to win and abandon him to achieve that, and her not answering his question definitely doesn't put his heart at ease. He will respect her choice, whatever it may be, yet selfishly, he wants her to choose to trust him and 'be with him' instead of winning]

✂———————–

—[Lucien's Route - 3: Sneaks through the night]—

As night falls, I quietly leave the door and see a bald man and a slim young man standing in the corridor from afar.

MC: You must be my teammates, the Ferocious and Superior Baldhead* and... Super Mousy*, right?

[T/N: not sure if it's deliberate, but the name… I'm going to scream lmao. The bald man's complete ID is 邪魅狂狷的光头. While "光头" (guang tao) literally means "bald head," it's also a term that lovepro players use to refer to the neighboring game 光与夜之恋 (guang yu ye zhi lian), also known as Light and Night. The slim man's ID is 超人鼠鼠; in Chinese slang, "鼠" (shǔ) is often used to describe someone timid, cowardly, or passive. It's like a person behaving like a mouse, often in the context of being overly cautious or submissive. Anyway, after this, I'll refer to the mouse guy as Mousy and the bald guy as Baldhead]

The bald guy responded with a grunt through his nose, and the slim guy timidly greeted me.

I remember these two; the bald guy is indeed "ferocious and acts superior" as his ID suggests, while the slim guy seems socially anxious and introverted, barely speaking during the day.

Baldhead: Stop wasting time discussing. Let's find someone who talks a lot and kill them first!

The bald guy speaks up domineeringly, leaving no room for doubt, while the young man timidly opens his lips but says nothing.

I can't help but sigh inwardly; how are we supposed to defeat Lucien and Joker with teammates like this….

However, they don't seem good at logical games, so maybe I can try to induce them.

Not giving them time to think and possibly connect the dots to Lucien, I quickly nod, showing a look of agreement.

MC: I agree. And I already have someone in mind.

Both of them look at me, and I try my best to put an air of authority.

MC: I suggest taking out Joker first. I've played other games with him before... and he's a very tricky player.

MC: You can also sense his attitude today, right? He's very dangerous. Eliminating the smart ones first will increase our chances of winning.

I deliberately mention Joker's attitude during the luncheon; sure enough, both the bald guy and the slim young man frown.

Baldhead: It'll be him then! D*mn it, daring to act arrogant in front of me, he won't live through the night!

I can't help but feel a secret delight inside. Joker, oh Joker, you never thought there would be a day when you'd be "at someone else's mercy," did you?

We hit it off and head towards Joker's bedroom together.

The lights in the mansion are dim at night, making the pool seem even more unfathomable. I nervously swallow hard.

At this moment, Baldhead, who was walking in front of me, suddenly stopped. Mousy and I almost bumped into him but managed to steady ourselves.

Before I can ask, I see from beside him that a bedroom door, which should have been tightly closed, is wide open about three meters away, with someone standing in the doorway.

At this time, only werewolves are supposed to be out and about. How can there be someone else outside?! My heart jumps to my throat as I hear that person speak.

Brother Genius: Oh, finally, you're here. I've been waiting for you wolves for quite a while.

...it's the Brother Genius who was mocked by Joker in the banquet hall earlier today.

Brother Genius: I have discovered the biggest loophole in this game. Now... just watch and see!

A brass candlestick is suddenly pulled out from behind him, and in the blink of an eye, it is plunged into his own body.

MC: ….?!

Everything happens so suddenly that we don't have time to react, and Brother Genius falls right in front of us.

Still in shock, we step forward to check, and he is indeed motionless.

Mousy: How... isn't it true that only the wolf can commit suicide in "Carnival Night"? How did he manage it? Did he find a bug in the game?

Like the blood, an uneasy atmosphere spreads from the still soft corpse before us. Just then, the three of us simultaneously receive a private message.

Butler: There are 10 minutes left until the werewolf activity time ends.

Mousy: What... What should we do... The system doesn't seem to show any issues. Should we still follow the plan to kill someone?

Baldhead grits his teeth, seemingly making up his mind.

Baldhead: We're already here, let's go!

Even though I am still slightly confused, I follow them, stiffly walking towards Joker's room.

I input the werewolf's fingerprint and press down on the door handle, but the door remains firmly shut.

Seeing that I am not taking further action, Baldhead shoves me aside and forcefully presses the handle, but the door still won't open.

Could it be another bug, or...? I ponder momentarily, then suddenly think of a possibility, and my heart sinks instantly.

MC: ....Could it be that he is being guarded? Since the werewolf's fingerprint can unlock it, the Guardian might be able to add another lock...

Baldhead curses and, still unwilling to give up, tries other doors, but none of them open.

Eventually, the werewolf's activity time ends, and we can only return to our respective rooms in defeat.

I lie down on the bed with a headache. The werewolf's action failed, and Brother Genius inexplicably "committed suicide"......

Trouble keeps piling up, and I feel like my brain is about to burn out.

The pool inside the room reflects a cold, icy light. I toss and turn, not knowing when I finally manage to fall asleep.

When the rapid knocking sounds for the third time, I groggily wake up and open the door.

Lucien walks straight in, the worry in his expression not yet completely gone. He relaxes only after seeing me.

Lucien: Did you sleep uncomfortably?

I look at his slightly disheveled cuffs, clearly showing he hurriedly threw on his coat to rush over, and I can't help but open my arms to hug him.

MC: I was a bit nervous and didn't sleep well... but now that I see you, all those feelings have vanished.

Lucien wraps his arms around my waist, allowing me to hold him tighter.

His clean and pleasant scent wraps around my tense nerves, making me unable to resist nuzzling closer.

Although the tension wasn't due to fear of being killed, last night was really too frightening.

Just at that moment, a scream comes from the other end of the hallway.

??: Brother Genius is dead!

I shudder all over, pretending to have just relaxed only to be scared again, and bury my head in Lucien's shoulder.

Lucien's hand moves up to my chin, and he looks me in the eyes. I can clearly see my own unease reflected in his eyes.

Lucien: [in a gentle tone] Were you scared?

MC: Mm...

——Not because of them, but because I have to walk through a night without Lucien. I purse my lips and hold Lucien tighter, yet I seem to hear his barely audible chuckle.

When Lucien and I arrive at the banquet hall, I notice that everyone's faces look rather pale, and there is little discussion.

Although it is just a game, the solemn atmosphere brought by "death" grows even more chilling with the constant sound of running water.

I sit down with an uneasy expression, my heart filled with doubts.

Before coming to the banquet hall, Lucien and I went to see the crime scene.

To my shock, Brother Genius, who was dead by the door last night, is now found inside the room.

The butler claims that Brother Genius fell victim to a werewolf last night, but this is clearly not the truth.

...Could it be that he really exploited some loophole in the game, and the game's rules tacitly allowed his actions?

Just when I am puzzled and unable to figure it out, someone nearby breaks the silence.

Red Nose: It's almost time to vote. Why is no one talking? I'll go first.

A guy wearing a clown nose accessory anxiously taps the dinner plate with a spoon.

Red Nose: Could it be that the wolf targeted "Brother Genius" because he exposed his identity as an outsider…

The middle-aged man sitting at the head of the table hears this and slowly shakes his head.

Uncle: "A gentleman does not deceive in the dark." I suggest we all play openly; that would make the game much simpler…

[T/N: basically, the uncle would rather have everyone reveal the role, while the red-nosed guy is afraid that if anyone reveals their role, they will get targeted. Hmm, I wonder why-]

The two begin to discuss it heatedly, and soon, Red Nose's increasingly sharp voice turns it into a one-sided argument.

Watching the human faction fall into disarray, I wish they would argue even more fiercely. However, when I look up, I see Lucien's thoughtful expression.

Lucien: Based on your discussion, I believe that Brother Genius's death is not the worst situation.

Lucien: Please don't forget that his identity was that of an outsider, and the seer is still among us.

Red Nose: So what, are you suggesting that the seer should reveal themselves like you?

Red Nose: Seer, I don't know who you are, but if you didn't identify a werewolf last night, don't reveal your identity!

Facing Red Nose's targeting, Lucien merely shows a gentle smile.

Lucien: I can't control the seer's actions, but since we currently lack sufficient clues, I have a suggestion for everyone to consider.

Lucien: Tonight, I hope the seer can verify the identity of whoever is willing to prove themselves first.

✂———————–

—[Lucien's Route - 4: Banquet Social Season (Non-story/a.k.a Stage part)]—

Every banquet is an encounter.

✂———————–

—[Lucien's Route - 5: Misty Water Mirror]—

Whoever is willing to prove themselves first...?

What does that mean? I pause slightly and then hear the uncle burst into hearty laughter.

Uncle: Good! Great idea. With so many people present, the seer does indeed need some "hints!"

Lucien: So, who is willing to be verified by the seer tonight?

Lucien's lips curve into a relaxed smile as if he is merely making a casual suggestion.

However, alarm bells go off in my mind, and the fork in my hand unconsciously scrapes the plate twice.

Could he really just be signaling the seer hidden in the crowd to start working? No, based on what I know about Lucien, there's definitely more to it than that…

I instinctively want to stay silent; we still don't know who the seer is. What if I'm the only one who raises their hand, and the seer really investigates me? But…

My heart is beating faster and faster, and my mind is whirling.

Until an almost terrifying thought suddenly flashes through my mind, exploding within me.

——Could Lucien be setting up a trap? This trap targets not only the wolves but also the humans.

If I think outside the perspective of a wolf and view it from a human's standpoint, only the wolves wouldn't want to be verified by the seer...

With this thought, I impulsively raise my hand, cold sweat running down my back.

Whatever, I'll take the gamble!

MC: I am human. If the seer doesn't have a suitable candidate, they can verify me tonight.

It seems my action also encouraged others, and soon, more people raised their hands.

As the first to raise my hand, I openly look at their faces, only to notice that the uncle is also observing in secret.

He was so supportive of Lucien's suggestion, yet he didn't raise his hand... Doesn't he want to prove his identity first?

As I ponder this, Red Nose suddenly stands up from his seat and almost shouts from his throat.

Red Nose: Stop doing foolish things! How can you be manipulated by a few fancy words and consider exposing yourself?

Exposing...? In a flash, I suddenly realize Lucien's trap for the humans—the seer, who isn't good at scheming, risks being exposed because of this!

Unfortunately, such shallow and aggressive rhetoric would only enlighten someone with ulterior motives like me. Who else would want to listen?

Joker: Ridiculous.

Leaning against the wall, Joker speaks coldly, casting a glance at everyone present as if looking at a group of monkeys in a zoo.

Finally, his gaze falls on Red Nose.

Joker: Your stupidity makes you useless in information sharing, only capable of creating arguments and stirring emotions.

Joker: Even if you are not a wolf, your voice is redundant for the human faction.

After speaking, Joker ignores the discussions and Red Nose's curses that follow, crossing his arms and closing his eyes as if to sleep.

.......even though the situation is favorable to me, I still feel that he is more of a "shit-stirrer" than the werewolves.

The interruption leaves everyone a little unsure for a moment, and Lucien takes the opportunity to speak up.

Lucien: In deduction and confrontation games, good people always hope to prove their innocence regardless of skill level.

Lucien: Therefore, those who actively seek to have a voice are naturally more eager to prove their identity first, thus leading the direction of the voting.

The cold, shimmering light blurs his expression, drawing more attention to his firm words.

Lucien: Actively seizing the right to speak while not wanting to be checked... If there is still no reasonable explanation, then it's very likely a wolf trying to confuse the humans.

Immediately, everyone’s hands shot up in unison as if driven by a death warrant.

I watch as Lucien steers the situation, effortlessly controlling everyone's emotions, making me feel both proud and nervous.

Then, everyone's eyes converged on the one person who had yet to raise their hand.

Red Nose breathes heavily, his bloodshot eyes glaring fiercely at Lucien, his face full of unwilling rage.

Red Nose: If you're going to vote, then vote!

As expected, Red Nose is unanimously voted out. The attendants take him to the edge of the banquet hall's pool and push him in.

Like the empty stomach of a giant monster finally capturing its nutrients, the calm water surface surges and engulfs his body violently, a striking crimson color spreading across the water.

The pool becomes very bright instantly, but just as quickly, it calms down again. The vivid red water reverts to a pale aquamarine, just as it was before.

Obviously, such a display in the game doesn't relax anyone. People start to leave one after another, unwilling to stay any longer.

I walk to the edge of the long table and turn back to take another look at the uncle, who remains in place.

He sits at the table enjoying his dessert, his brow relaxed, and he seems much more at ease than before the luncheon.

I go over his behavior today in my mind, and an answer becomes apparent to me.

Lucien: [gently] Are you feeling better?

Lucien walks toward me, naturally taking my hand, and I instinctively avert my gaze from the uncle.

MC: Hmm, much better~ Maybe because I ate something, I feel more energized!

My palms are still sweaty from the luncheon, and although I let Lucien hold my fingertips, I never dared to fully open my hand and interlock fingers with him.

Lucien's long fingers gently squeeze my fingertips, seemingly unaware of my little thoughts.

It's just that the time he spends gazing at my face seems... a bit longer?

Lucien: But your complexion is still a bit pale. Have some more sugar.

Lucien picks up a glass of juice from the table and hands it to me. I happily take it and drink a sip, then immediately frown.

...Why does it taste so strange? It's not good at all.

Lucien: Don't like it?

MC: ...No, of course I like anything Professor Lucien gives me!

As soon as the words leave my mouth, I feel a bit regretful. There was no need to explain something so trivial; I'm being overly cautious…

Lucien just smiles slightly, his eyes as gentle and profound as always.

But perhaps due to the mindset of a werewolf, I have the feeling that he is subtly punishing me for lying.

...With him by my side, I have to be even more careful with every move I make.

[When she doesn't answer last night, he understands why. He understands her choice, hesitation, and pain. So, he still comforts her with so much care. However, he can't help but still feel a bit wronged that MC doesn't trust him enough to tell him the truth and chooses to endure everything alone, so that not-so-palatable drink was his small retaliation.... this fox can be a bit petty sometimes skskks]

[Next Part-> Click Here]

[quillpokebiology]

hi!! my best friend is a Turtwig (and he's soon to be a service Pokemon. Would you mind doing Turtwig Facts?

Turtwig Facts

-The scientific name for Turtwig is "Folium Firma" which roughly translates to "Steadfast Leaf"

-Turtwig rarely eat in the wild and instead get their energy from photosynthesis

-Turtwig is apart of the Testudines family, with their closest relatives being the other turtle starter, Squirtle! They're both descendants of the ancient pokemon, Tirtuga

-Turtwig live in forests around ponds. They're actually quite good swimmers, and swimming is actually very healthy for them as it's another way they can get water

-It is well known that Turtwig's shell hardens due to how much water it gets. But, Turtwig hatch with a very soft shell that hardens as it's exposed to air and as they drink more water. If a Turtwig has a soft shell despite drinking enough water, it could be a sign that it is sick

-When they hatch, Turtwig ride on their Torterra parents back; thriving off of the leaves and grass that grows on Torterra's shell

-Turtwig have roots growing next to their veins. A lot of grass types have these, but I still find it very interesting

-Like a lot of grass types, Turtwig eggs are laid and buried underground. But, instead if hatching fully, the first thing to coke out of their egg is the sprout, which pops out underground. The sprout then releases a pheromone, alerting the Torterra to come back to their nest (if they're away)

-Turtwig became Sinnoh's starter pokemon due to deforestation, killing off a lot of them. They became starter pokemon because they're easy to train, but also to raise awareness to deforestation in Sinnoh and to protect them from poachers

-While they're not water types and don't go underwater much, like their cousin Squirtle, Turtwig are able to hold their breath for up to 45 minutes

-According to some professors, Turtwig have been around for 111,000 years and are virtually unchanged

-Turtwig cannot go into their shell. This is because they do not have a bottom shell

[seniorpollinationtechnician]

Meet the Townies: ᴏʀɪᴏɴ

Orion, otherwise known as the Operations for Research, Intelligence, and Optimization Network, was composed of a specialized group of Sixonians tasked to study and understand other planets and lifeforms. Their primary mission was to gather intelligence, conduct biological research, and develop new technologies to enhance the capabilities and knowledge of their race. The team consisted of (from left to right) Jorlan Vex, Lieutenant Zerath Veylor, Doctor Velana Krynn, and Zyri Solith. Before being offered a position on the ORION team, Jorlan attended the prestigious Korthis Institute of Technology, where he specialized in advanced systems engineering and quantum mechanics. After graduating with honors, Jorlan was employed by the Orbitex Industries, where he worked on developing cutting-edge technology for space travel. He led multiple successful projects that secured him a spot within ORION. As the team's systems engineer, Jorlan was responsible for maintaining and enhancing the team's technological equipment. Following his graduation from the Kharis Military Academy, Zerath was a member of the SPECTREs (Special Planetary Exploration and Combat Tactical Response Experts) where he served with distinction for several decades. He participated in numerous high-risk missions. During one such mission, Zerath sustained a severe injury to his lower limbs. The injury left him with limited mobility, forcing him into early retirement from active military service. While adjusting to his new life away from the battlefield, Zerath received an unexpected offer from in search of security officer. Despite his injury, Zerath immediately jumped at the chance. As the security officer, his primary responsibility was to ensure the safety of the team during their missions, handling any security threats and leading defensive operations if necessary. Velana attended the Valtara Academy of Sciences, where she majored in xenobiology. Her exceptional performance and passion for extraterrestrial life earned her a scholarship to the Sixonian Institute of Extraterrestrial Research (SIER), the leading institution for space biology and alien ecology studies. At SIER, she conducted research on extremophiles and their potential to survive on other planets. Her doctoral thesis on the adaptability of alien microbial life forms received widespread acclaim and set the stage for her future career. The Sixonian Institute of Extraterrestrial Research, recognizing the growing need for a dedicated team to explore and study new planets and alien life forms, greenlit the creation of ORION with the intent to combine the best minds in various scientific and technological fields to conduct in-depth research and ensure Sixam's continued dominance of exploration. Dr. Velana Krynn was selected as the team's xenobiologist due to her unparalleled expertise and proven track record in alien biology. Her role in ORION involved studying the physiology, behavior, and ecosystems of extraterrestrial species. Zyri was an employee at the Sixonian Intergalactic Communication Bureau where she specialized in xenolinguistics, semiotics, and interspecies communication. Her groundbreaking research on deciphering alien languages and developing universal translation algorithms garnered the attention of the Sixonian Institute of Extraterrestrial Research, earning her a place on the team. As the team's Communication and Linguistics Specialist, Zyri is responsible for establishing and maintaining communication with alien species. Her tasks included decoding and interpreting alien languages, developing translation protocols, and ensuring clear and effective communication during missions. The team, once celebrated for their discoveries and technological advancements, are now largely seen as the catalyst for Sixam's downfall.

[fandomtrumpshate]

By the Numbers! With Bonus Fan Labor info -

Signups close later this evening … shall we see where things stand with just hours to go?

At present, there are 686 creators signed up with 928 auctions in 295 fandoms, PLUS 116 creators willing to work in ANY fandom.

Guys. GUYS. That's more than 100 offers more than last year!

Offers break down as follows: 598 Written fanwork (fic, fan poetry, etc) 136 Fan art 105 Fan labor (beta services, translation, Brit-picking, typesetting, etc) 60 Podfic 18 Other Digital Fanwork 7 Video

A bit of info on our fan labor offers —

Among our fan laborers are folks offering assistance with cultures in: various US states South Asia Russia Mexico England Germany France Canada Italy as well as with: Catholicism Judaism

Additionally, there are offers for specialist knowledge or sensitivity reading for: Disability LGBTQIA Sports Autism non-combat PTSD Emergency Services Blindness Accounting and taxes Medical equipment Engineering Sex work Law and court procedure Medicine (trauma and general surgery) Scientific knowledge Teaching Tea and Coffee History Art history (generally European) Asexuality Libraries BDSM Leather/kink Forensics Funerary services Shibari Type 1 Diabetes Choir and theater Musical instruments Chronic pain/illness Knitting Dance Hiking Immigration/Xenophobia Familial abuse Sexual abuse Bookstores Alpaca and sheep management Smallholding

AND we have various translation offers for: Catalan Chinese Filipino French German Italian Portugese Russian Spanish Vietmanese

In our supported orgs, most creators are opting to leave the choice to their bidders. Those who are specifying orgs are most often selecting MECA, Sherlock's Homes, In Our Own Voice, and Never Again Action. Orgs that could use more love are Together Bay Area, Deploy/US, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, Bellingcat, and Pollinator Partnership.

Stay tuned for a last look at both listed and unlisted fandom rankings in the last hours before signups close … which is SOON!

But for now — signups are OPEN!

[colinmkl]

Kamen Rider NRV Lore Dump!

Manticore

Manticore LLC is a major medical technology company. Publicly, they are most known for their artificial organs and limb prosthesis as well as several other medical devices and equipment used in hospitals worldwide. Less widely publicized are their numerous military contracts, developing cutting edge medical treatment technologies but also advanced weapons, drones, and other offensive hardware.

Nanoderm

The scientific breakthrough that lead Manticore to dominate in the field of med-tech is the invention of micro-sensors that are capable of reading brain signals in the nervous system and translating them into data a computer can interpret with absolute precision. These microscopic sensors can be integrated into programmable nanomachines that interlock in a mesh that forms durable skin-like material called Nanoderm.  If an exposed section of human tissue is covered in Nanoderm and then allowed to heal, the Nanoderm will become integrated with the tissue like a layer of natural skin. Any impulses or signals sent by the brain to that part of the body will be received by the Nanoderm and translated into data. That data can then be read as motor commands by a Manticore prosthesis. Basic prosthesis models can receive this data via magnetic nodes embedded in the surface of the Nanoderm but more advanced models, capable of finer dexterity/expanded functionality, require a “bone spike,” a rod-like data plug that interfaces with a port in the Nanoderm area that is connected to more advanced sensors. The socket and sensor hardware is imbedded in the body through a surgical procedure.

The catch with the Nanoderm system is it must be applied to the body before the exposed tissue heals over and the exposed nerve endings have a chance to close off, or in other words, while the wound is “fresh”, otherwise the healed tissue must be cut away and a fresh wound made. This means that in emergency situations a patient or their next of kin must make a snap decision to undergo the expensive Nanoderm compatibility surgery as part of their emergency treatment. Of course some insurance plans will cover some or all of this cost. Additionally Manticore has deals with some insurance providers that the surgery come standard with higher end coverage plans, forgoing the need for patient consent. Manticore has exclusive patent rights to the Nanoderm system, meaning once you are Nanoderm compatible, you are locked into the Manticore ecosystem of prosthesis and devices. Additionally your devises can only be serviced by Manticore certified technicians and only Manticore doctors are trained in Nanoderm patient care.

Remote Command (RC)

Manticore is a sprawling corporation with many secrets. One such secret is the Remote Command program. A project Manticore has been working on behind closed doors, the Remote Command program involves research into sending brain signals over great distances without a physical connection between the sensor and the receiving devise. With RC a person could control a prosthetic arm in another part of the world as though it were part of their body. This is achieved by broadcasting the impulses across a proprietary electromagnetic wave length to the receiving nodes. The signal travels point to point and back again at light speed. The potential RC has for the future of drone warfare is staggering, not to mention the potential for profit.

Sensitive as this information is, there’s another layer. All Nanoderm currently in use by people around the world is capable of receiving Remote Command. With the right inputs it can reshape its self, self-replicate, and even, under certain conditions, send signals back to the user’s brain, causing brain damage or, theoretically, controlling them. Whether this functionality of Nanoderm was an intentional feature or not is unknown to anyone currently employed at Manticore but the company has no pans currently to use the Nanoderm in this way. What is known, however, is that if this function ever becomes public knowledge it would be disastrous for Manticore, not to mention the chaos that would ensue if a bad actor were to exploit this function for malicious purposes.

Manticore Special Security (Spec-Sec)

Manticore LLC has secrets, and it has enemies. To protect its secrets, combat its enemies, address the threats to public safety those things pose, (and protect its corporate interests), Manticore formed the Manticore Special Security Division. More than just your standard private security outfit, Spec-Sec is a fully equipped task force and strike force designed to identify, target, track, confront, and nullify any threat to the company and its assets. Thanks to Manticore’s history of generous donations and good standing with local police forces, the Spec-Sec Division is able to operate with a certain degree of discretion, allowing them to carry out operations without interference from police or the legal system. Lead by Special Security Director Sloane, her hand-picked crack team of Special Officers have carried out dozens of high risk operations with ruthless efficacy and, so-far, minimal casualties. Spec-Sec utilizes the most cutting edge technology and weaponry Manticore has, often before it’s even close to market ready. In some cases necessity dictates that Spec-Sec operations serve as ad hoc field tests for experimental equipment.

Core Drivers, Data Boosters, and the Kamen Rider program

The Core Driver is a piece of technology that was developed as part of research into the use of Nanoderm to enhance a soldier’s physical performance on the battlefield. The concept was to temporarily cover the user’s entire body in a layer of Nanoderm mesh that could respond to the signals from the user’s brain in such a way that would increase their strength, speed, perception, and reflexes. The solution was the Core Driver, a device that would house the billions of Nanoderm nanomachines and serve as the computational core for the whole mesh network. Along with the Core Driver was the Data Booster, a flash drive-like device shaped like a syringe. The data booster contained the information that told the nanomachines to deploy from the Core Driver and cover the user. Additionally the Booster came with its own payload of nanomachines that, when the plunger of the syringe was depressed, would also be deployed through the Core Diver and take the form of armor and weapons. Basically, a user need only insert the Data Booster into the Core Diver, clearly speak a voice authentication phrase, and depress the plunger and they would instantly be wearing a powerful yet flexible armored body suit. The project was called the “Kamen Rider program” after the masked visage of the user’s armored faceplate (“Kamen” being the Japanese word for “mask”).

The Project had its drawbacks, however. For one a user would need to already be Nanoderm compatible for the suit to work at all, meaning, practically speaking, the user would need to be an amputee, and the prospect of convincing soldiers to sacrifice a limb to use the Driver was deemed a “hard sell” and the idea of a approaching a freshly maimed soldier with the offer of further combat, well, that wouldn’t be a good look either. The second and most important drawback was the simple fact that the Kamen Rider program was far, FAR too expensive to be profitable, and the thousands of man hours it took to produce just one Core Driver meant mass producing them to sell by the battalion, as Manticore had planned, was simply out of the question.

The Kamen Rider Program was not completely abandoned, however. The first completed Core Driver, designation SVR (Special Versatility Rider model or “Sever” colloquially) is currently coded to Director Sloane of Spec-Sec, who happens to be a double transfemeral amputee. With the Director’s input, the device and the suit itself have been modified heavily over its years of use. It now features the ability for additional Data Boosters to be employed, loaded with weapons and tools in the form of appendages that attach to highly advanced versions of Bone Spike sockets on the suit at the amputation sites of the Rider’s body. The nerve signal enhancing properties of the suit allows the Rider to manipulate these complex, non-human-like appendages with a natural ease and minimal adjustment period.

A second Core Driver has just recently been put to use in the field at Spec-Sec. The first Kamen Rider designed from the ground up with Spec-Sec modifications. Designation NRV (Neo Rider Variant or “Nerve” colloquially) is encoded to the Division’s newest member, Special Officer Nat Agbayani. A right shoulder disarticulation amputee, he was promoted to the Special Security Division from the internship program in the research wing by the COO of Manticore himself… wait what? That can’t be right…

The existence of any other Core Drivers, in use or otherwise, is classified.

Thanks for reading

[welcome-to-green-hills]

Hey mystery! Time to flex the big brain of yours with a science question. I’m sure that you’re familiar with the recent change in ages for Sonic and co. All of their ages were removed. So my question to you is how old would Sonic and his friends be since he’s now meant to be seen as TEENAGER?

Hello, my dear!❤️✨

This is a very interesting question. And I say that because it's a very... controversial (?) topic in the fandom at the moment. For those of you who are not familiar with the matter, the ages for many characters on their Sonic Channel bios were removed back in October (Bevan, 2022). Even characters like Vector and Rouge, who have notoriously been viewed as adults in canon, do not have a defined age anymore. This was a decision made by SEGA of Japan (SoJ) to keep the characters ambiguous with ages. For some characters, we can still infer that they’re strictly teenagers, like Sonic (Game Informer, 2022. 05:00 to 05:08). Maybe a little bit older, but not by much. It could range between 13-years-old to 19-years-old. It’s really up for interpretation with some fans, especially since the actors for the Sonic series are focusing on deeper voices.

Disclaimer:

I am more than happy to answer this question, but I’m afraid that I’m very limited on how I can answer this. Ages displayed throughout the series has always been a fickle thing. And that’s okay! I’m assuming that this ask is geared towards Game!Sonic rather than Sonic Wachowski, since his canonical age is 13-going-on-14 (Fowler, 2020). If this ask is geared towards me debunking the "age argument," then you might get a different answer. That, and I'm not gonna buy into the B.S. that comes from it.

The problem here is that I'm being asked to apply scientific logic to a fictional character. That's all well and good, but I'm limited in resources. That, and I'm making assumptions on how physiological traits work with an anthropomorphic animal. I'm basing my conclusions on human physiology. While this may seem logical for the ask, I don’t necessarily know how “fair." This would be considered more of a headcanon rather than a scientific explanation to your question. If there was more of an understanding of the Sonic characters’ anatomy, then I would be comfortable with giving a strong answer. They best that I can supply is a hypothetical scenario that might supply a content answer. “Content” meaning that’s it’s fine, but gives me enough wriggle room to debunk/empathize in the future.

I must also stress that an average does not mean the "perfect model." No singular person is the same. There is no such thing as normal. When I say that something is of average comparison, I'm translating it to a general starting point. I need a base to go on in order to build on top of my reasoning and data.

References:

For this ask, I will be looking at cranial structures and comparing them to both human, anthropomorphic animals (Sonic). Data that is generated to answer this ask comes from existing games, interviews with game developers, and anthropological research.

The methodology and techniques that I’ll be referencing comes from “Bare Bones: A Survey of Forensic Anthropology” by, Michael Warren et al. (2012). This is an excellent book that provides techniques and disciplines to criminologists, anthropologists, and physicians. The Smithsonian: National Museum of Natural History provides a sample of "Forensic Anthropology 101" in their free educational service HERE. I’ll also be referencing different case studies found in cultural anthropology journals. Hyperlinks will be attached in the in-text citations for view.

Methods:

I can answer this question using basic forensic techniques. There are a few different ways to determine an individual’s age when examining skeletal anatomy:

Cranial anatomy

The pelvic girdle (pelvis)

Femur

Mandible

Most archaeologists and forensic anthropologists will answer that the pelvic girdle is the best indicator for identifying an individual's age. The pelvis girdle consists of three main bones: hip bone (ilium, ischium, pubis), sacrum and the coccyx. With this, we look at the level of maturity of bone growth to make an educated guess. This can be identified by the bone's state of fusion. Depending on the identification of the individual, the pubis may fuse or grow robust. If the femur is present with the pelvis girdle, then the collected data becomes stronger. The femur is measured in height from the neck to the head, then the shaft alone to provide an idea of one's stature. All of these together create a plausible stature for one's growth and maturity.

The mandible is touch-and-go. I’ve shared in the past that teeth can provide an idea of an individual’s weight, social/economic status, stature, left/right dominance, and types of bite when chewing food. The state in which teeth grow in can give us an indication of age. This is just as good as observing one's age with a pelvis girdle. If not, maybe a bit better! However, this only works if there's a certain amount of teeth present and a record of growth is present. We look at an individual’s molars and premolars in order to determine a rough estimate in age. On average, wisdom teeth come in between the ages of 17 to 25 (Renton et al., 2016). Some are late bloomers, others are early birds. X-Rays can help us identify where the teeth are currently and provide a projection of when they'll appear. As long as there is recorded data on how teeth grow and when they come in, it's easy to determine how old someone is.

Finally, we have the calvaria. For the sake of sanity, I will be referring to this as the “cranial cap." This is the top crown of the head with four major bones that shapes the skull. These bones feature the frontal bone, two parietal bones, and one occipital bone. Along the top of the cranial cap we see these squiggles that separate the bones. These are called “sutures.” Sutures can be defined or barely visible due to the state of mend. Through maturity, these bones mend together to create one bone rather than four. These are not signs of damage done to the head, these are signs that show the state in which a child is growing (Warren et Al., 2012). Sutures are a result of an infant's cranial cap fusing together after being birthed. To put simply; the less defined they are, the older that one supposedly is.

OBSERVATION:

As explained in the “Methods,” section, the cranial cap and mandible appear to be a more logical choice when determining Sonic’s age. I am fortunate for the small crumbs given to me from Sonic CD (1994) and Sonic Unleashed (2008). Both of these provide a good picture of Sonic’s biological estimation on age range. I will not be referring to Evan Stanley’s interpretation of his skull. I do not feel that this is necessary, nor canon. This is Ms. Stanley’s interpretation of Sonic anatomy and fan art.

Mandible

Right before it's initial release, Sonic Unleashed's opening cinematic was meant to have a darker tone. Initially, the beta version of the scene depicted Sonic being electrocuted in his super form as he's infused with Dark Gaia energy. This scene was also meant to show his skeleton during the painful transformation. Screenshots of the scene are available online. One particular shot shows enough of Sonic's mandible to identify canine, incisor, premolars, and molars. The image above shows that at least ONE wisdom tooth (third molar) is present. Other signs of third molars is not visible due to angle of shot.

In the animated short titled "Night of the Werehog," we're given a good shot of Sonic opening his mouth and showing his fangs. Way in back are three molars (Image has been brightened and highlighted for view). Since one confirmed wisdom tooth is present in the shot, we could infer that Sonic is at least 17-years-old. Not fifteen. Seventeen is the average age for when we see wisdom teeth begin to grow in.

Cranial anatomy/Cranial Cap

In Sonic CD (1993), there is a particular scene where Sonic is electrocuted once again. [Fun Fact: one would not be able to see Sonic's skeleton if electrocuted, you'd see his nervous system instead.] Once again, players are able to see Sonic's entire skeletal system. The problem with this example is that it's pixelated art. Pixel art can range from being detailed works of art, or simplified icons that have symbolic meaning. The skeletal anatomy that we see of Sonic in the CD title is not enough for me to draw a conclusion on how old he is. It's merely a representation of a shock taking place.

For a better representation of a cranial cap, we should refer to the beta version of Sonic Unleashed once more. Sutures on Sonic's skull are a tad harder to make out in the image due to how saturated the scene is. A wonderful example of seeing Sonic's cranial suture can be seen at a side profile. The one closes to the sphenoid bone (eye socket) is a cranial suture. Again, this one is up for debate since the quality of the photo is poor. For the sake of sanity, we'll claim that this is a suture.

Examining the suture, we see that it's less defined. This does not mean that the sutures disappear completely. As we grow older, the bone fuses. If Sonic were younger, then the sutures would be more defined. Here, they've fused quite finely. This leads me to believe that he is out of the child phase (1yr to 12yrs) and into Adolescence (13yrs to 17yrs).

Femur & Pelvic Girdle/Pelvis

Generally, there's a model that can be used to display what a mature individual looks like compared to an adolescent when observing a pelvis girdle. Here, it's a bit harder for me to make an assumption because there's a lacking model of what adults and adolescents look like for anthropomorphic animals. This is a query that I've faced when trying to examine Sonic's skeletal anatomy. Of course, measuring a femur and weighing the density of bone could provide some insight on Sonic's estimated age (Shipman, 2018).

In a real world, that would require lots of money and an actual subject that is the equivalent to Sonic's height and weight (canonically, Sonic is 100cm tall and weighs 35kg). You'd then have to figure how much the bone density changes when someone stands up, sits down, lies down, and so forth. Plus, I don't know Sonic's level of body fat to even begin doing a simple calculation. It's a bit of a headache the more that this is tackled upon. That is a lot of data to collect for a talking blue hedgehog.

Measurements of the femur to the pelvis are fine and dandy, but the data is inconclusive. A simple measurement could be off by a single year or three. Once more, it's kind of hard to capture a crisp picture of the pelvis girdle and femur. I feel that gathering data from this perspective is inconclusive.

Discussion:

I must stress that this isn’t meant to be as in-depth or taken seriously. I must also stress that many social groups around the world have different approaches and cultural definitions to what it means to be a teenager. This is a common topic that I try to educate people about when it comes to cultural norms and social practices. Most western cultures consider that teenagers starting at 13yrs of age and ending at 17yrs of age before becoming a legal adult at 18yrs. Some western cultures even extend the age gap to 13yrs to 19yrs. Cultural and social teachings of how we define what is and isn’t a teenager could easily be defined as “adolescence.” We refer to this as adolescence, it allows us to have an extended age gap of 13yrs to 19yrs (Ember et Al., 2017). It all narrows down to how these practices and beliefs are taught within one’s community.

Some fans headcanon Sonic and his friends are growing older, others younger… or even stick with the Western interpretation of him being 15-years-old. Sonic's age has always been ambiguous, meaning that it's not narrowed down to a specific number. The query that I've faced is that there is a lack of official material that displays this easily. The information that I have shared in this post works on a plausible theory that he's older than 15. However, gaming manuals have almost always made it a point hat hes 15/16 (Sonic Heroes Game Manual, 2003). The point now is that he's a teenager. He will always be viewed as a teenager in this canon. To me, Game!Sonic is definitely older. He clearly shows characteristics of being an older version of himself (the strongest supporting evidence here being his teeth), but still within the range of being classified as a "teenager."

My goal here is to not enforce one way of thinking. The most that I can do is supply the data and leave you, the reader, to make your own conclusions. I hope that this answers your question, my dear.

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[peregrination-studies]

24 books in 2024

It is 2024, and I am here yet again with my bookish hopes and dreams!

I did this challenge last year (available here), and in 2022 (available here), and I'm STOKED to do it again this year! As is my way, I have been planning and revising this list for some time. My Goodreads overfloweth with ideas.

As always, if you have book recs, please send them my way! And, if you're participating in the challenge this year, I'd love to see your lists!

Without further ado, I gladly present to you my 24 in '24 book list:

Sci-Fi and Just for Fun :)

1) Randomize by Andy Weir (read April 2024)

2) Next by Michael Crichton (read May 2024)

3) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (read April 2024)

4) With a Little Luck by Marissa Meyer (read February 2024)

Environmental Science/Ecology/Books Relevant to my Studies

5) Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth by Buckminster Fuller (read April 2024)

6) Must Love Trees: An Unconventional Guide by Tobin Mitnick

7) Scientifically Historica: How the World’s Great Science Books Chart the History of Knowledge by Brian Clegg

8) Letters to a Young Scientist by Edward O. Wilson

Reading Around the World

9) The Eighth Continent: Life, Death and Discovery in the Lost World of Madagascar by Peter Tyson (Madagascar)

10) Everything is Wonderful: Memories of a Collective Farm in Estonia by Sigrid Rausing (Estonia)

11) Willoughbyland: England’s Lost Colony by Matthew Parker (Suriname)

12) A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa and Daniel Hahn (Translator) (Angola)

Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge/Classics

13) The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (read April 2024)

14) The Second Sex by Simone De Beauvoir, H.M. Parables (Translator and Editor), and Deirdre Bair (Introduction)

15) Gidget by Frederick Kohner

16) Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Recommended by Friends

17) Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (recommended by @hedonism-tattoo and many, many others)

18) Howl’s Moving Castle by Diane Wynne Jones (also recommended by many people now. @permanentreverie posted about it recently tho, and that was what really made me decide to include it on this list!) (read April 2024)

19) Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (recommended by @daydreaming-optimist ) (read April 2024)

20) The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (recommended by @kaillakit) (read May 2024)

Eco-Psychology

21) Ecopsychology by Lester R. Brown

22) Against Purity: Living Ethically in Compromised Times by Alexis Shotwell (read April 2024)

23) Radical Ecopsychology: Psychology in the Service of Life by Andy Fisher and David Abram (foreword)

24) Sight and Sensibility: the Ecopsychology of Perception by Laura Sewall

Bonus

25) Bride by Ali Hazelwood (read February 2024)

26) Open Heart Surgery by Johanna Leo (read March 2024)

27) A Short History of the World in 50 Books by Daniel Smith

28) Candy Hearts by Tommy Siegel (read February 2024)

No pressure tagging: @daydreaming-optimist @kaillakit @permanentreverie @noa-the-physicist @silhouette-of-sarah @captaindelilahbard @senatorhotcheeto @the-bibliophiles-bookshelf @skyekg @of-the-elves @obesecamels @courageisneverforgotten @willowstea @its-me-satine @deirdrerose @notetaeker @theskittlemuffin and anyone else who wants to do this!

[apenitentialprayer]

When Materialist Soviets Just Didn't Get It

Scientific atheists believed that their technological and scientific successes would obviously disprove the validity of religion because the two are fundamentally in opposition. Official Soviet ideology stated that "religion exists where knowledge is lacking, religion is opposed to science." […] Scientific atheists viewed any technology as evidence of atheism because it demonstrated that humans could work "miracles" that were not performed by God. At the very first attempts to industrialize the newly created Soviet Union, scientific atheists seized on the introduction of new technologies as a source for their anti-religious propaganda. For example, farming technology became a means to convince rural residences of their outdated reliance on religious concepts. An anti-religious pamphlet printed in the first Five Year Plan period was entitled "Prayers or Tractor" and a widespread poster crudely elaborated on the alleged contradiction between "cross and tractor." The alternative, "religion or tractor" with which the communists operated, never existed in the minds of the people for who this propaganda was intended. The illusions about "atheist tractor" were therefore soon shattered, especially when peasants affixed crosses to them and when priests celebrated thanksgiving services at their arrival in villages. As this instance demonstrates, scientific atheists simply did not understand the nature of religious belief. The fact that a tractor exists does not translate into a disproof of God and, ironically, Kolarz points out that farmers often interpreted these agricultural advancements as gifts from God. Similarly, scientific atheists thought that atheism was empirically proven because God remained unseen or because certain religious stories were scientifically inconceivable. Following World War II, Soviet officials started a campaign to produce natural-scientific arguments against belief in God. For instance, Soviet scientists placed holy water under a microscope to prove that it has no special properties and [… i]n one of the most famous examples, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin proclaimed upon his return from the very first space flight in history he did not see God in space. Aeronautical technology was often presented as proof of atheism and Soviet leaders viewed every flight as an "assault on heaven." In the Russian language, as in many others, there is only one expression for both "heaven" and "sky" and "assault on heaven" therefore meant both the technical conquest of the air and the conquest of space where God was supposed to live . . . However, before the atheist propaganda was able to exploit the "conquest of the stratosphere" it suffered a tremendous setback when the stratosphere plane "SSSR" crashed after having reached the height of 22 kilometers. As the communists considered these flights to be a challenge to religion . . . the more simple minded believers considered the accident and death of all three pilots as an act of divine punishment. [...] As there examples illustrate, scientific atheists did not recognize the nonempirical character of religious concepts and stories. In most cases, atheist proselytizers had little or no knowledge of actual religious doctrine. In fact, a visitor to the Soviet Union in the 1960s reported that "no atheist ringleader has ever dared to allow those under him to study the Bible, even for the purpose of spying out the enemy's territory in order to more easily conquer it." Under these conditions, atheist recruiters were largely ignorant of the nonempirical tenets of religious belief, which led them to only attack the supernatural using empirical arguments.

- Paul Froese ("Forced Secularization in Soviet Russia: Why an Atheistic Monopoly Failed")

[absolute-immunities]

increasingly convinced that Morton Horwitz is a moron

it’s really irritating to hear someone is banging on about context and language and history and then gets them all wrong

for example:

Take the concept higher law—When Thomas Jefferson invoked the ‘self-evident ... truth’ of an ‘inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ in the American Declaration of Independence, he sought to weave together at least four different historical strands or layers of meaning: first, the seventeenth century Whig fundamental law tradition derived either from immemorial custom or from an ancient constitution existing before the Norman invasion; second, Thomistic natural law, whose content consisted primarily of specifying a person's social duties in an organic community; third, the seventeenth century social contractarian conception of natural rights existing in a state of nature and exercised by atomistic individuals against the State; forth, a conception of rights in which Newtonian scientific laws were gradually transformed into Kantian moral laws.

beyond the dubious proposition that Jefferson was trying to “weave together” any “strands or layers” of meaning, most of this is unfounded

“Thomistic natural law” was simply not present in Anglo-American imagination, much less its discourse

the language of the Declaration, and the discourse of which it was a part, was in the key of public law, the law of nations, of the publicists Vattel, Wolff, Pufendorf, and Grotius

these publicists, men of Protestant education and Protestant service—Vattel, of Basel, Geneva, and Saxon service; Wolff, of Leipzig, Jena, and Prussian service; Pufendorf, of Leipzig, Jena, and Swedish service; Grotius, of Leiden and Dutch service—could not, by any stretch of the imagination, be called “Thomistic”

Pufendorf, whose survey of the history of the field in The Law of Nature and Nations (Basil Kennett trans., 5th ed. 1749) (1672) has full chapters on the Chaldeans, Thales, and Anaxagoras and Archelaus, treats of the scholastics, and the whole Roman middle ages, with a single dismissive aside at the end of his chapter on the Neoplatonists, short enough to excerpt here in full:

Aristotle had hitherto but very few Followers: He was scarce known in the Western Parts of the World, till towards the Beginning of the sixth Century. The celebrated Boëtius, by translating some of that Philosopher’s Writings, laid the Foundations of that prodigious, and truly despotic Authority, which the Peripatetic Philosophy became afterwards possessed of; and which, even to this Day, in many Places, it ftill maintains. The Arabians, in the eleventh Century, grew fond of it, and introduc’d it into Spain. From thence sprung the Scholastic Philosophy; which spread itself all over Europe, and, with its barbarous Cant, became even more prejudicial to Religion, and Morality, than to the speculative Sciences. The Ethics of the Schoolmen, is a Piece of Patchwork; a confus’d Collection, without any Order, or fix’d Principles; a Medley of divers Thoughts, and Sentences out of Aristotle, Civil and Canon Law, Scripture, and the Fathers. Both good and bad lie there intermix’d, and confus’d; but so, as that there is much more of the latter, than the former. The Casuists of the succeeding Centuries, made it their sole Business to excel their Predecessors, in vain Subtilties; nay, what is worse, in monstrous, and abominable Errors; as all the World knows. But let us pass by these unhappy Times, that we may, at length, come to that Age, wherein the Science of Morality was, if I may so say, rais’d again from the Dead.

“passing by these unhappy Times,” which, for the author, included the full millennium after the death of Boethius, Pufendorf renews the narrative with Francis Bacon

if that was how the Continentals treated the scholastics—and Vattel and Wolff do not even condescend to mention the scholastics, though Grotius, writing in the infancy of his field and under the protection of a Catholic prince, allows them a handful of cordial notes—still less could the English be thought “Thomistic”

Blackstone, educated in the civil law, who littered his Commentaries with references to Roman and canon law, to Domat and the decretals, to the Institutes, the Novels, and the Codex, and who made some few sparing references to Montesquieu and Locke, made, across the whole of his Commentaries, his vast survey of the public and private laws of England, which begins with the natural rights of man, precisely zero references to Thomas, and zero to the Thomists

they simply did not matter

despite the Thomists’ insistence on writing the revered Thomas into our history and insinuating him into our thought, this is a dialogue in which Thomas did not take part, and a discourse in which Thomism has no place

the “seventeenth century social contractarian conception” is presumably a gesture at that mainstay of the American syllabus, Locke, who was an irrelevance in public law

the “contractarian conception” is, again, more properly grounded in the eighteenth-century publicists, in Vattel and Pufendorf

here Horwitz’s suggestions are, again, totally inapt,

but I’ve tired myself out confirming that the public and natural law background to this public and natural law text bears no marks of “Thomistic natural law,”

so, rather than make any further analytic or conceptual arguments, or address the balance of the misconceptions and crude errors that Horwitz has knit together here,

I’m just going to gesture towards the text and say “get a load of this guy”

[historicalbookimages]

🐙 The Cephalopod. atlas Jerusalem: Israel Program for Scientific Translations ; Springfield, Va.: available from the U. S. National Technical Information Service, 1975.