#This is about G3 specifically btw

[adorkabledemon]

Why is it that werewolves seem to be the only werecreatures without tails? Every other form of werecreature we've seen so far has a tail, but none of them are wolves. Where's my fluffy tailed werewolves, Mattel? Where are they???

[dduane]

Today's auroral shenanigans

Relatively speaking, yesterday night (May 11/12) was a bit of "not much" for aurora-watchers, compared to the night of the 10th/11th. (Which, to be fair, was a most unusual event, and it wouldn't be surprising if it wasn't equaled for a long, long time.)

Nonetheless, the Sun continues to be in an interesting mood at the moment... specifically the big sunspot region AR3664, which is the one responsible for the auroral extravaganza of May 10th. You can just see it in this next image, getting ready to rotate away from us around the Sun's rightward limb.

(For those interested in scale: that complex of sunspots is about fifteen times the diameter of the Earth. You could drop the whole planet into the middle of the biggest one and lose it. A timelapse video of its growth is over here at YouTube, if you're interested.)

As AR3664 continues to spit out CMEs and flares, the NOAA has issued a geomagnetic storm watch for today, tonight and tomorrow—with the suggestion that conditions like those of the night of the 10th may in the relatively short term be about to repeat themselves.

This is a "watch" rather than a "warning," reflecting some uncertainty over exactly how the various incoming coronal mass injections are likely to behave on reaching Earth orbit. (Also, the CMEs aren't being aimed straight at us, but off to one side as the sunspot region rotates further and further toward the sun's edge: so this adds somewhat to the unpredictability of it all.)

The animation below comes from the SOHO spacecraft's LASCO C3 coronagraph instrument. It starts on May 10th and runs through until early on the morning of May 12th. You can see the newest incoming CMEs right at the end of it.

(BTW, I think the two bright objects to right and left of the Sun are probably comets passing through, as LASCO images normally mask out any planets that would be in view.)

Anyway, as for what this means for auroral activity tonight? It's tough to tell as yet. The planetary K index (which expresses the relative strength of geomagnetic storms) has dropped back down into near-baseline levels at the moment.

But when those new CMEs and the solar wind associated with them hits the atmosphere, things may change suddenly.

We'll soon see...

And an afterthought: AR3664 will soon be off around the Sun's edge, and invisible to us. It'll be interesting to see what happens to it after that.

The Sun takes 27 days to rotate, as a whole: the poles take longer, the equatorial regions a shorter time. In a couple of weeks or less, what will greet us, rotating around toward Earth's POV on that left-hand side? Will AR3664 have dissolved and vanished away, as sunspot groups so often do... or grown even bigger?

ETA 1, 12 May 2024, 1820 UT: Like a kitty coughing up hairball after cosmic hairball, AR has popped yet another X-class flare.

ETA 2, May 13 2024, 0100 IDT / 0000 UT: New G3 storm warning dropped.

[mijlen]

Finally finished with my latest custom doll!

It's a glam take on Minty from My Little Pony (G3), specifically A Very Minty Christmas.

Lots of details went into this doll, and it took far and away longer than any doll I've made before. I lost track, but the hours spent easily go above 20.

Details about the construction below the cut!

Face and body

I started with a Vandala Doubloons base for the face mold, which I sliced open 😱 to create my first set of inset eyes. I just love Vandala's face mold, it's very unique and cute compared to others in the MH line (My base stock box dolls have all been super well loved, btw, so no I didn't destroy a mint in box Vandala. I would NEVER!!) The body was a headless stock box Abby, but I only decided to do that after trying and failing to do a peg-leg transplant on Vandala. It didn't matter, in the long run, since I was going to be painting the entire body anyway. Lots of coats of mint green artist's acrylic, cut with lots of flow builder medium, and about three coats of Mr. Super Clear between those coats of paint, and I had my base.

I knew the silhouette and hair I wanted for Minty from my earliest concept sketches, and looking at them I realized: this silhouette won't look "right" on a standard MH slimline. So it was time for some Apoxie sculpt! I gave her some bust and butt implants, as well as some hip and tummy augmentation to round things out in a way that would better serve the design. Then, more paint and Mr. Super Clear to make the body cohesive.

Hair

The hair is entirely acrylic yarn. Not only wefts, but I also achieved the voluminous high pony look by needle-felting a ratted base, around which the rest of the wefts were attached. Then, I had to curl them. This was by far one of the most time consuming parts of the process, but I love the outcome. I used the hot chopstick technique. That is, heating up a metal chopstick with a straightening iron, and twisting individual strands of hair around it. It keeps the hair from scorching, and allows for some truly tiny, glamorous curls.

Clothes

The gown is hand-sewn, but definitely not removable lmao. It's hard to get such a tight fit on such a tiny doll without using stretch material, and I was using costume satin, so I just glued the bodice down once I'd done all I could with darts and alterations.

The skirt went through a few iterations, with different colors being layered in for the trumpet skirt including sheer mint green, sheer white chiffon, and different shades of pink satin. And yes, those were all fully sewn as I made the decision. 😭 Eventually I went with three tiers in the basic hot pink as the rest of the dress, figuring I would add the contrasting color pops with beading.

Oof, the beading. It was a lot of hand beading. Bedazzling? idk what to call it. All I know is that many hours were spent over a pile of rhinestones and beads with a wax pencil and some Liquid Fusion glue, listening to extremely long YouTube video essays as I worked. The more I added, the more I WANTED to add, and I decided not to pull punches.

I added some volume to the skirt with stiff tulle and a half-assed cage skirt made of armature wire. You can't see it, anyway - it's the EFFECT that matters. Speaking of things you can't see, she's just wearing some unembellished hot pink G1 Draculaura boots. 😂

Details

The accessories, including the peppermints and the Here Comes Christmas Candy Cane, were all made with Apoxie sculpt, hand painted/detailed, and varnished. Perhaps my favorite little detail are her "acrylics," which I added using a technique I saw Hextian use in a video - you touch a dab of hot glue to the doll's finger, then pull it back slowly, and trim once dry. This creates a really fun effect of fake nails.

So yeah. This doll was a labor of love, and I'm so glad I didn't take any half-measures along the way. I'm very proud of her. Hope you like her!

One more note: YES I realize the irony of not having any SOCKS involved in an MLP Minty design. I really do regret this, and agonized over it a LOT. I considered making a “pajamas version” of this same doll so I could do a socks-themed outfit, before I realized the dress would need to be glued on. 

[nugulover69]

Go-onger vs gekiranger movie livewatch notes (spoilers for all of gekiranger btw)

-Gou lost Bae in India and he does not care nor does anyone else care. that fly cured you of your werewolf disease you ungrateful bitch

-Hant hit on Miki when she would visit the curry shop he worked at. milf liker Hant

-The Engines and Jan talk in the same cutesy baby language incroyable

-Jan is immediately willing to trade Long's Ball Prison in exchange for the baddies not zapping Speedor. Sosuke has done worse things to Speedor but Jan's dainty kitty heart doesn't need to know that

-Jan scaling a building like spoider man

-Retsu and Gou playing the piano with their toes. big win for the Fukami liking feet freaks

-The baddies being able to hammer Long's Ball Prison into an Engine Soul shape is so concerning. why is it so malleable. i know its for the funny but still

-Ken's horndog behavior for girl yellows is mostly Not Funny Didn't Laugh but him giving Saki a ginkgo leaf with a smile drawn on it was cute

-Ran poking Gunpei's cheek also very cute. i too wish i could do that

-Jan being the reasonable one opposite Sosuke is so WeirdChamp. feral turned domesticated cat vs unneutered batshit orange tomcat

-Go on Wings already know beast fist because of course they do

-There are also plentiful Renn and Hant feet shots. toku foot perverts rejoice

-POV you are just a little upside down hater

-Actually I think teaching beast fist to the go ongers is a dangerous idea. they should NOT have this power they WILL do stupid shenanigans with them

-Sosuke getting his geki powers not though training but by being really passionate about saving Speedor. they would be so yaoi if Speedor wasn't a sentient toy car

-Incredible Blueisms on display here

-THE LONG IS OUT I REPEAT THE LONG IS OUT. WOW IT WAS THAT EASY HUH

-Go on Wings trained under Gorie Yen specifically what is this lore

-Bruh it was literally that easy to revive Leo and Mele lmao that doesn't cheapen their deaths at all

-Oh but they're going to perma super hell after this aight sure

-2 minute roll call babeyyyyyy

-Long's bipedal hydra form is so silly looking. tho i guess anything would be a downgrade compared to a horse hydra

-Bae is back from India (in a turban) no thanks to WORST FRIEND EVER GOU

-God the go on mechs are so ugly

-"Engine beast grand prix" sounds like a wild mario kart track

-Jan's hair is very long and pwetty

-Unhand him you purple furry

-Just as well Natsume's favorite food is egg tarts bc it seems Renn canonically cannot cook anything that isn't egg based. also Gunpei being so proud of buying the eggs ough kawaii doggy

-Jan doing Bomper's "bom bom!" ahhhhhhhh kitty

-Genki reds genki redding

-Oh neat they included some bonus live event footage. G3 princess rap and engine formation rap goated

-LMAO THERE'S A PREVIEW FOR KR DECADE HERE? also shinkenger. wow 09 sure was a while ago huh. don't like the passage of time much

Closing thots: cute lil movie! nothing particularly amazing or funny but the contrast between "competent and sensible people" gekis and "heads full of sawdust" go ongers was amusing enough. i would say that bringing Leo and Mele back from the dead AND releasing Long from his Ball Prison kinda cheapened the ending to geki but man. its sentai it ain't that serious lol

6/10 not enough genki red shenanigans for my liking. maybe Jan and Sosuke should have kissed a lil idk

[aristotels]

Every anti-Slavic/anti-Eastern European depiction in North American media I can think of (not counting the spy movies like James Bond and Austin Powers)

Rocky movies - Ivan Drago is just "the big bad Russian" and we're meant to take it seriously.

Taken - Basically "Big Strong Eagle Daddy Must Save His Damsel Daughter from The Albanian Mafia Barbarians".

Hostel - Slovakia is full of people who'll scam, lure in, and torture tourists at will

Are You Afraid of the Dark? (Canadian) - I love this show, but the episode "The Tale of the Nightly Neighbours" doesn't sit right with me because it basically portrays the new Ukrainian family moving in next door as Satanists who hide their evil plans during the day but at night hunt people down for their dark magic. Luckily, they never pulled a "Slavic cult" thing again, so the series is good but if you want to watch it, skip that episode so you don't insult yourself.

Emily in Paris - This show is known for mocking everybody who's not American and straight: French, gay, Chinese, Black, Latinos... and Ukrainians in season 2 with Petra being the joke.

Monster High G3: Turned Draculaura and Abbey into Filipino and Indian which isn't the problem, but made them Americans when they're supposed to be Romanian and Russian. It was cherry picking because the other character racebent was made Colombian when she was Australian. But the Slavic girls are Americanized. Suspicious...

Hannibal Lecter is a Lithuanian cannibal, but this may not bother you depending on who you ask.

Orphan: Esther arguably promotes anti-Estonian sentiment with her being a psychotic serial killer who escaped an asylum and has the body of a child, which she uses to manipukate parents. She even (IN HER KID BODY!!!) takes on the role of a femme fatale in one scene.

I have found multiple good or more positive portrayals of Slavs that I can tell you in another post but I just wanted to get this off my chest. AYAOTD is specifically bad because this can easily make children discriminate against Eastern Europeans. In that episode, it's not like "they're evil demons/witches who happen to be Ukrainian" it's almost like "we do that in Ukraine, that's normal". They even say themselves they're from Ukraine. Yeaaaaahhhh.

thank you for your input!

i havent seen good/positive portrayals anywhere. all ive seen has been very negative usually, or even if theyre positive characters (like in casa de papel, where there was a serbian guy who was great) theyre still portrayed as not speaking english (spanish) and being basal or dumb.

i've added some more examples to my post https://aristotels.tumblr.com/post/690582106573799424/discrimination-of-slavs-isnt-xenophobia-its

and there is the thing that made me write the post, craig of creek where the russian boy speaks about him in third person and is a dumb big bully, which is really offensive.

btw if anyone has any more examples, let me know or tag me. i really want people to start taking this issue seriously.

[cyber-therian]

I find it really neat that she is a fictionkin of the new Spectra doll (I am assuming the g3 one that was recently leaked?)! As well as being a fictionkin of Draculaura the character herself (albeit an AU iteration of the generation one Draculaura) I also am a dollkin, more specifically her wave one signature doll that is in this Pinterest image -> https://pin.it/4NyFnrSJ5 however I assume that is psychological unlike Draculaura herself who is spiritual (past life, but I still identify as her). It has taken me a lot to open up about being her due to the fact that I used to be in the fandom, that and I was always afraid of being judged by it. I'm starting to open up and honestly have been thinking of retheming my nonhuman blog just a little to reflect her. :>

- @batty-babbles

can i just say ur so cool for that like honestly.. ur really awesome. i totally get why you left the community btw a lot of fans are… terrible people. super proud of u for trusting me enough to tell me about this tho :33 if u do decide to retheme i think its gonna look amazing (from what ive seen, youre really good at making themes/designs)

yes she is a kin of the leaked doll! tho its less dollkin and more, she kins spectras whole character but the “face claim” is of the doll!

[strawberrybabydog]

I have a quick question wrt @g3 r3gr3$$0r$. I enjoy "childish" things (stuffed animals, and the like). Is it simply the presence of said items, or is it more in conjunction with the action that triggers you? Btw, I'm sorry if this ask triggers you.

its the act of purposeful age regression itself & the community around it

age regression is actually a trauma response, but around the 10s it became A Thing that people do on purpose and built identities around it. i dont have any feelings about it as a trauma response, because the trauma response and the community arent the same thing & barely even behave the same way for the most part

enjoying things associated with childhood or nostalgia isnt age regression. i mean, i collect stuffed animals & other toys myself. the only items i associate with age regression are adults using sippy cups or pacifiers and other community-specific things