#VERY local but also highly atmospheric

[teledild0nix]

we have a spare room in our new house and i work from home, so it's my office, and i've never had my own bedroom (well i did for the 3 weeks in august 1995 between when we moved out of my grandma's house to our new apartment and when my sister was born) and then again for my senior year of college but i was basically living with my spouse off campus at the time so i didn't hang out in My Room much unless we were on the outs which was very infrequent)

anyway, i've been slowly fixing up my office over the last 6 months or so, and. well she's beautiful. i got some pink glass candlestick holders from the dollar tree today and put beeswax tapers in them. i filled up an old jam jar with pink florists sand and attractive selections of my tumbled minerals collection and stuck wooden roses into it (which are scented with essential oils). got all kinds of art painted by my friends hanging up. most of my stuffed animals are in here. got a mini cat tree so my kittens will hang out with me while i'm working. there's a suncatcher in the window so that in the morning, the room is full of rainbows. it's just so pretty in here i love it. some place for me to have the lights very dim and the music very loud. i love it. i want to have my friends over and play spin the bottle.

[ohshi-kaboom]

Murder Drones Rider Au + Uzi fanart

Or should i say... Murder Drive AU HEHEHEHE

This lovely amalgamation was made by yours truly when putting murder drones and pretty bikes on a blender hoping for something fancy. And i did it.

The mechanics are simple! (Haha get it? Mechanics)

Uzi is a moody mechanic (i will get real tired of the word mechanic and so will you.) Working in your local Auto shop: Copper's 9 ! Owned by daddy dearest Khan Doorman! She mostly does repairs and common car maintenance, aaand if she decides she likes you well enough you'll get some neat modifications for half the price! (Its a lie but only she knows that)

In her free time she stays around the back of the store repairing and selling old cars as a hobby that also doubles as a side hustle.

Her life in home isn't as sweet as she would hope for but she's learned to cope, something that she specializes in after her Moms disappearance; Nori Doorman, presumed dead.

Shes the only occupant of a nice little apartment, moving from their parents house a few years after Nori's disappearance and Khan's neglect. Rarely visited by anyone she stays little time in her apartment, either watching anime after a tiring day, eating lunch, showering after a messy oil spill or just existing after closing hours. Youll definitely see her more at the shop doing gods knows what this time. The reson why Uzi doesn't spend more time in the little home shes built herself is because of the atmosphere, too cold and gloomy for her liking, the barren space reminding her too much of her loneliness.

("She looks soo much like Uzi" you all say in unison.)

Nathaniel, or best known as "N" is a Bike racer, youll see him proudly sporting his various motorcycles all earned by his sweat, hard work, and money from illegal races.

N has and incredible set of bad luck, following him like a stubborn rain cloud with every single bike he touches breaking down at some point. No matter how much he dotes over them or how carefull he is; they will break. And thats a promise from the universe, aparently.

He lives in a fairly big house with his other two roommates: Jay, "J" and Veronica, "V". They all participate in their own races, N and V competing frequently while J sits back and collects their winnings. J also participates in rare ocations.

When N is not flying through the streets, or winning the months rent he resides in his little corner of the garage painting, drawing, scrap booking or doing whatever craft he can get his hands onto.

(I will probably add more on N later on)

N and Uzi meet when Ns bike breaks in "the middle of nowhere" according to V, so he just sits quietly besides the road waiting for either backup (V showing up to rescue him after cackling over the phone and then hanging up) or to simply perish. Uzi was heading to the workshop in Railgun (a very beat up, highly modified but very loved minitruck that she herself constructed from other cars parts) When she came across a very puppy kicked to the side of the road sad looking person laying down besides the road by a very nice looking motorcycle. She slows down to take a quick peek to the bike when the person laying down jumps immediately at her side after noticing her slowing down, begging asking for a ride to the closest Auto shop explaining how his bike broke. Uzi (although very begrudgingly) decides to help this weird friendly stranger as her good deed of the year. She parks to the side of the road helping N heave the bike into the trunk and waits until he hops into the passenger seat to begin their way to Copper's 9.

After Fixing N's bike (and getting a tip she will not complain about) She gives the rundown on what the problem of the bike was and how to avoid it. N thanks her (a little too much if you ask Uzi) and parts ways. Uzi not dwelling about it goes on to the rest of her day, not thinking about seeing N again anytime soon.

Not even a week later N shows up again with another bike, this one looking like it went into the devils asscrack and back. Uzi just gives him a glare and gets to work.

That is NOT the last time that happens. (She counts 12 visits in one month, what the hell N?)

So! This is the basic information about my silly little Au, i don't have a name for it yet, I have been calling it Murder Drive for gits and shiggles but i don't know if I should make it the official name of this Au, if you have any suggestions tell me about it!

And I've been thinking about making it a fic buuut I've never written anything lengthy before, and English is not my first language so you can imagine how I feel.

Do tell me how you feel about it, or if you have any asks send 'em my way!

ALSO! THIS IS A HUMAN AU!! YAYAY HUMANS‼️‼️

[nodutra19]

Snowgrave Inspirations?

So we all know the Snowgrave route was inspired, or at least has the texture of being as such, by creepypastas in the sense a game is being broken and has an almost gestalt intelligence in its reaction to being so. Beyond specific references and such, what do y'all think specifically inspired it? I imagine shit like Ben Drowned and Godzilla NES factor in, but I want to provide a unique addition:

Persona 1, or more specifically, Revelations: Persona.

Some set dressing for the uninitiated: Persona 1 has two routes:

The main story is the SEBEC Route, which centers around the demon invasion and transformation of Mikage-cho as a result of the machinations and experiments of the shady SEBEC ("Saeki Electronics & Biological & Energy Corporation") and how one Maki Sonomura stands at the center of all this.

That's the story most experience, but there's a harder alternate route called the Snow Queen Quest, or SQQ for short. This route centers around the titular play which was performed at St. Hermelin High, the school of the game, and how the Snow Queen Mask came to be possessed with a vengeful spirit. But in order to activate this quest, you have to take a number of steps after leaving the school to visit Maki but before activating the SEBEC route, which most people do because of the natural flow of the story; while not the most cryptic or elaborate thing I've experienced, you definitely have to go out of your way in order to experience this part of the game.

While the SQQ is similarly hiemal as Snowgrave since the Queen freezes the school over and attempts to sacrifice a pivotal teacher to bring back the "Eternal Night," the main thing I want to talk about is:

The fact that in the original American release of the game, retitled Revelations: Persona, cut this alternate route out. Now, there's a lot to be said about this release of the game and P1 as a whole. For that, I highly recommend Snickety Slice's videos on it from his Compendium series of essays.

As Snickety Slice says in the SQQ portion of video 3A, which focuses on the American localization of the time, no one really knows why it was cut, by which is meant there is no definitive answer. The most popular theory, as he posits, is that this was done to meet the Christmas deadline, which is a tad ironic considering the atmosphere and setting of SQQ. However, you can actually access a tiny bit of it: if you return to the school, you'll see it's disappeared and when you enter it, an FMV of the school surrounded by three towers and a peak plays. Snickety remarks how confusing this must have been for American players at the time since the actual steps to activate the quest were cut out.

With cheats you can access it, but it's a glitchy, nonsensical mess. I mention all this because of the glitchy theme in Deltarune so far, especially as a result of Noelle's seeming magnetism for the unnerving and dark as revealed in the Spamton sweepstakes and Noelle's posts. I think the details of SQQ and Snowgrave are too disprate to draw real parallels so far, but I get the feeling Toby is drawing from its atmosphere, especially the disconcerting aura of the original American release and the stray FMV. As for the glitchiness, I get the feeling it was all concentrated into Spamton, especially given Spamton's role in the game so far.

I haven't gone through P1 in a very long time, so this is where my rambling ends, but perhaps someone else can draw deeper parallels.

The only real problem is I have no idea how much of Megami Tensei Toby Fox has played. He's a weeb of high caliber, so I imagine he's gone through most of it by now, maybe even early Persona, given how UT's and DT's Talk systems were inspired by MegaTen's demon negotiation, which was present in P1 and the P2 duology, which certainly lines up with his age and background. After all, he gave the Earthbound: Halloween Hack that "Shin Megami Tensei Bullshit."

Also everyone here should check out the PSX OST. It has the best leitmotif.

[judgedarts]

hi!! proud owner of i think 5 atp jojo chibi charms and VERY new artist alley vendor here and i was just wondering, how do you budget/manage costs for non local cons that might have high transportation costs or more expensive tables? do you usually make back what you spent on transport + table/tickets + merch production/ordering + etc at the con or is there a slight loss? this is mainly for my own reference asking someone successful so ty for answering!!!

hey! congratulations on becoming an AA vendor :,) im very honored that you've bought from me before and that you consider me a 'successful' vendor haha!

i'm really passionate when it comes to talking about AA stuff so I'll be putting my answer in the read more since it's pretty long lol!

to be honest, I'm in a very lucky position to be able to travel to conventions beyond the east coast because it can really get expensive T_T i think the most honest answer i can give you is that your first couple of cons most likely are going to be a slight loss for you income wise if you are planning on traveling for a convention - tbh, i generally don't recommend doing a convention out of your state/out of your means if you're very new to tabling. my very first conventions were in driving/public transport distance (i love you new york and new jersey!!!) so i never spent money other than the table cost and ordering product. so if you're starting out and live in a state that has local cons, id HIGHLY recommend doing local events to get experience and cutting down costs as much as you can so you can get the most out of it! if you do intend on doing out-of-state cons because your state doesn't have many small local cons, i totally get it, but again, just try to keep your costs as low as possible. here are some suggestions and things to keep in mind:

1.split costs with a friend

split the table, split hotel fees, split ubers, etc! if you have family/friends in that state, consider crashing at their place for the weekend! maybe treat them to dinner haha

2. save up funds

honestly, there's really no getting around it - you might have to get income from somewhere else besides selling merch @ cons! i worked a part-time job throughout college, did commissions/freelance, and had my store open to save up for cons.

3. remember to deduct all expenses for your business

keep in mind that table fees/travel and hotel fees/products/meals are all deductible. these are considered investments for your business and they're completely necessary for you to run said business so when it comes tax time, you'll be able to breathe a little easier haha.

4. know your limits and be cautious

unfortunately, not all cons are going to be successful or will go your way no matter how much money you pour into it. if you know a convention is going to be out of your means, you can always apply the following year. I've had plenty of cons i couldn't go to because i simply couldn't afford it at the time, but the more money you save up, the more experience you get, and the more connections you make, you'll be able to afford to go and be successful! i'd also do plenty of research about the convention (especially the attendance #s, how previous vendors feel about the con, etc) before you decide to go. 5. have fun!

even though the upfront price can be intimidating, you are still paying the price to travel, visit a city you've never been to, meet new people, fans, your friends, and make connections! not to mention the really inspiring and motivating atmosphere that artist alley can be. i hope that regardless of the money you make you take the time to enjoy the experience to the fullest and appreciate that you are sharing your awesome art with others :,)! i try to make the best out of a con even if i barely make even, and make new friends and connections because trust me, they are so meaningful ^^<3!

besides all that, i highly recommend joining the Artist Alley Network discord if you haven't already - there's a plethora of info, advice, etc that you can take away from there. https://discord.gg/artistalleynetwork i hope this was helpful! if you have any more specific questions I'm more than happy to answer them for you. if they're too specific or i don't feel comfortable answering, i hope you can understand too! good luck with all your AA endeavors - i believe in you and i really hope we will table at the same con soon!

[minimumsky5]

Dionysus, 1.5 billion years after formation, 80 degrees north[1]. A radiokont fights off a roving Nannopraetorion in the foreground, while a much larger placotestan floats by behind it, unbothered by the attention of the roaming single celled predator.

To the casual observer, there has been no greater milestone in the history of life on Earth than the dawn of multicellular life. While the vast majority of Earth genetic diversity lies in its unicellular inhabitants, as well as the greater portion of its biomass, it’s the three clades of life to have achieved multicellular, macroscale sizes that dominate surface ecosystems. 1.5 billion years after formation, life on Dionysus achieves this milestone.

For many millions of years beforehand, the ecosystem of Dionysus was stuck in a series of wild swings. The first predatory genus, Nannopraetorion, developed out of a group of scavengers adapted to consume portions of dead cells, and rapidly ravaged the young, naive ecosystem, reducing the populations of passive chemosynthetic organisms that were relying on the constant rain of complex organics from the upper atmosphere. This was not a very potent source of energy, and so the local producers were simply wiped out by the predators, unable to reproduce quickly enough in the face of a supercharged, heterotrophic lifeform. These cycles of boom and bust continued for millions of years.

Recently, however, a new form of producer has evolved. Developing from a antecessor that lived in the very uppermost layers of the global ocean, for which they developed anthocyanin-like blue pigments for protection against UV rays, this group started to use these pigments to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Initially this hydrogen was used to break down long chain and resistant organic compounds in a vastly more efficient manner, but it didn’t take long before a group of these started using the hydrogen to create simple sugars, though unlike sugars on Earth, these were based on 5 carbon furan rings. Now able to access a much more potent source of energy, these organisms were able to compete with Nannopraetorion. 

For a time, anyway. Even though the ecosystems had stabilized, the mortality rate on these early photosynthesizers was very high, creating a strong evolutionary pressure to develop further defenses against their predators. At the same time, rising oxygen levels provided both an additional threat, and an opportunity. 

Oxygen is a toxin to all life, even modern organisms on Earth. It is highly reactive and liable to break apart many chemical bonds, but that also makes it an extremely potent source of energy for those that can harness it. By a freak mutation, some of the early photosynthesizer cells didn’t fully separate when they split, but this helped both cells by reducing their surface area to volume ratio, bringing down the concentration of oxygen in the cells.

This initial, monumental achievement was rapidly developed, and within a million years a new clade had formed, the Protokonta. Protokonts are defined by having distinct “mother cells”, individual cells that are the only ones allowed to divide to grow the colony, which use chemical signals to inhibit division in other cells. At the opposite end of the group of cells, once sufficient size is achieved, a new mother cell develops, an event which triggers division of the entire colony.

The protokontan body plan was wildly successful, and so the clade would almost immediately split into two subgroups, the Radiokonts and the Placotestans. Placotestans have already radically altered themselves externally, growing two shells of xylan, a polymer made up of 5 carbon sugars. These tests are secreted in a ring around the middle of the colony by specialist cells, and once the colony reaches a set size, each cell detaches from the rest, ready to creat a new colony. 

Radiokonta is the more conservative group externally, as the only visible innovation is a series of radial spines that gives the group its name, but this hides the fact that radiokonts have developed significantly more extensive cell-to-cell communication methods, allowing them to link of the contractile elements of their cytoskeletons to coordinate their movements. This allows radiokonts to warp the shape of the colony in the face of danger, bringing their spines together to form an impenetrable defense. Their spines are derived from the same biopolymers as the placotestans, but each cell other than the mother cells excretes a spine upwards.

The Protokonts are still in the middle of their diversification at this point in the history of Dionysus, and indeed in very recent times a new clade of Radiokonta has emerged which is starting to lose its only newly acquired photosynthetic abilities, in favour of more predatory methods…

[1] I'm going to shamelessly steal the coordinate systems used by The Isla Project for all of my tidally locked planets, as that simple makes more sense when the temperature differences are concentric, rather than latitudinal. To be clear, this means that this scene takes place close to the sub stellar point of Dionysus.

Also, please subscribe to them if you haven't already, it's one of the best spec evo projects I've seen!

[yourbookcouldbegayer]

heya! i'm planning to write my characters (queers and allies) going to a pride parade, but i have never been to one so i'm wondering if you can help me describe the atmosphere and how people interact with each other during the parade? or are there any resources i can look into about pride parades?

tysm!

I highly encourage you to go to one if you are able, but I know it's not something everyone can just do. My experience under the cut

First, it's my impression that they vary vased on how accepting the setting is. I live in the US in a very liberal area, and that influences my experience a lot, given that a) it's 80% either organizations or buisnesses of some kind showing support, and b) I don't encounter a smidgen of hate/counterprotest.

So my Pride starts as a parade down the street and into the park, where it settles and becomes a festival. I personally enjoy the festival far more.

Most people going , who aren't part of the parade, wear something with a flag on it, the rainbow being the most common. But more and more you'll see flags you don't recognize. People give out stickers-- either rainbow flags in different iterations or hearts with several of the most common flags. Wearing pride flags is very common.

There are usually a couple people with shopping carts so full of flags, boards displaying stuffed animals, large pins, and other things for sale. They start going around the parade area early on. This if good is you want a flag before the parade, but I usually avoid them-- usually these are not queer sellers, and are simply reselling products they bought elsewhere. That said, it was the only place last year I found a 7 stripe sunset lesbian flag.

People there are generally freindly, complimenting pride themed outfits and stuff. There are families with kids there as well as young adults.

The parade, for me, is mainly organizations supporting us-- the grocery store, churches, local politicians, the police (🙄🙄🙄 I went stony silent for them), ect. Groups that I loved tto see though was the local POC Queer group, Planned Parenthood, and my absolute favorite, a local social liberation group. I loved that last one so much because someone was shouting protest chants and there were signs calling for change in trans rights and stuff-- 90% of pride is a parade, not a protest, and feeling the protest energy made me so so happy.

Most people marching are in tshirts associated with theor organization that say something about pride. But you also see a lot of people with pride flags, rainbow butterfly wings. There is usually at least 1 float full of, plus a few other, drag queens. There's the gay bar's float with mostly men dressed in very little. There's giant bubbles or bubble guns. People in the parade will toss out candy, flags, support bracelets, ect to the audience-- also condoms, but I didn’t see any this year. But that might've been because I was near a lot of kids.

At the festival you have:

All those organizations have a booth. There is usually free stuff and sometimes spin to win (pay to spin)

However, you also have local small businesses! There's a good amount that make queer stuff, usually a metaphysical booth, jewelry, pins (fun pronoun pins), flags, umbrellas, fans, pretty much anything you can think of that can have a pride flag, including homemade stuff

The shopping carts are around still

There's a whole bunch of food, like food trucks and stuff. Usually these have nothing to do with pride, theyre just not actually homophobic, and are there to sell food. But there was a local cafe these 6 trans owned and operated that I was super happy to see bc I've been meaning to go.

STD testing somewhere

A stage with a band. I think a drag queen from ru paul came to ours (I go to a big one in a state capital). It's very loud so I don't usually linger here but a lot of people go and enjoy the music and whatever else performance happens.

Ours had rides! A swing ride (so popular I skipped it even though that's one of my favorites) and a carousel. Also face painting. We didn't even have those at the biggest local festival of the year

Free Mom Hugs! I learned recently that this is a group and not just shorrts that are worn, but mother+ aged women wear tshirts saying Free Mom Hugs (or Dad hugs, therre are men too).

As for the people... my pride is crowded. People are usually drressed pretty lightly-- gentials are covered but that's about the only rule. Think rave rules-- boobs usually have their nipple covered. Being covered up is just as common though. No matter what the no-kink-at-pride people claim, this largely isn't sexual. It's queer, it's body positivity and acceptance, it's just being yourself. Also it's usually hot out. People are generally freindly, will compliment especially rarer sexuality representation or cool slogans on shorts. You'll see people in drag, a lot of androgeny, mixing feminine and masculine, ect. And there are plenty of people dressed more normally, too.

People don't necessarily act like everyone there is family or are that much more freindly/familiar with each otther than anywhere else. But mostt people there will respond positively to compliments, most people know far more flags than the average person. People assume pronouns slightly less, definitely still do (my enby gf, wearing all trans colors, no pronoun pin, was misgendered a few times) but it's a much safer environment to correct or ask for one's pronouns or respect ones they see.

Only other pride I've been to is in Provincetown, an extremely gay place. From what I remember, this was much more the common folk, much more an assortment of people marching and cheering and not as directly associated with an organization wanting support. I also went to a leather march there, also basically pride, except mainly... y'know. Leather.

There's a post on heere somewhere of someone watching someone on the bus after pride (idk if ot was a freind or stranger) who lookeed so happy and like themselves, theen having to peel off the stickers, hide the rainbows, ect., as they returned home. This will be an experience that still happens for likely a very long time.

That's about all I can think of. I welcome anyone else to share their experiences! I feel like I talked more about the festival than the parade but I like the festival better.

Unlike what people claim, there is no gatekeeping. The idea of people feeling like they aren't allowed is so weird to me because like. There's so many straight people giving support. There's so many people who you don't know theor sexuality. No one is at pride judging anyone for not belonging. If you look like a bunch of straight people there to party, maybe people will think that and move on. But for the most part no one would notice. You don't know someone's sexuality unless they have a flag, or if someone is there with a same-gender partner or not unless you see them kissing. And no one is performing sex scenes, that picture used in the no-kink-at-pride discourse wasn't at pride, no one does that. Did a freind once tie a bdsm knot on a ripe over my shirt at pride once? Yeah. So what? People there show some pride for their sexaulity, that's different.

Good luck with your story!

Mod Emma

[ellecdc]

oh no omg babes i am the anon who asked about hockey i would never block you!!! firstly, i think its really cool (way cooler than me and my hockey habits, but if that's what i get for being only HALf canadian and not having as extensive of a hockey culture in the states :() that you keep up with the non nhl teams, i know usually its more personal and more fun to cheer for the more local teams, and also those dudes literally shred harder than the nhl sometimes! genuinely jealous of u there! also i literally don't have any legs to stand on in terms of nhl elitism (and also as a canadian, my entire canadian family is from alberta so 🙃). my teams are the sharks (literally foul) and the oilers. also you definitely are more plugged into hockey than i am babes i am very casual and random with my watching/supporting. for the lack of response, i just haven't been on tumblr as much this week (and i have adhd, which is mostly to blame) so i completely forgot i sent u an ask! also this ask has literally taken me several hours to draft so like, embarrassing on my end in terms of timeliness. you are valid and cool for cheering on the leafs (go leafs!!), but you are also much more than whatever sports team you like, i follow you because you are literally a wonderfully amazing person full of kindness and insane talent, and beyond the fact that i have literally nothing against the leafs. i am literally in love with u so i think the only thing that would make me block you is if you turned out to be a secret mass murderer or something (which seems highly unlikely so we are good there). i'm truly sorry if my lack of response made you feel uncomfortable or sad about sharing something about yourself, that was genuinely the exact opposite of the intended effect. because i enjoy reading both your stories and replies so much, and also value you as a person so much, i wanted to know more about you and other things you like! and i am really grateful and thankful that you did share about your hockey likes, and also grateful you continue to be so open with us. you have singlehandedly made me the most involved in a fandom community that i have ever been because you have created such a wonderful and welcoming atmosphere on your blog. so again sorry, and thank you for being so freaking cool. OMG i almost forgot about the hockey headcannon thing, as soon as i sent that last ask i was like why didn't i say anything about james and sirius they would absolutely gobble hockey right tf up. mayhaps it would be a bonding/truce between them and barty lol. ig the barty brainrot got to me too much (that fucking smut rattles around my skull so much you'd think i have rattlesnakes living in it. i refuse to believe you have never written smut before the remus fic. you're simply lying). anyways, sorry this is so long, but tldr is that i love you and you are amazing and you could never do anything wrong 🩷🩷🩷

omgomg omg ok I'm gonna respond to this in bullet points:

I was totally taking the piss im ngl; I didn't think you actually blocked me or assume that you were hating on me! I'm sorry hahaha I was making fun of myself really like "typical....cant even make friends properly because I have shit taste in hockey teams" 🤣

oof Alberta - thoughts and prayers my girl (gender neutral), Alberta is Canada's Florida

it's too bad about the oilers too because they have some really great players? but they suck just as hard Toronto, such a shame

"i follow you because you are literally a wonderfully amazing person full of kindness and insane talent, and beyond the fact that i have literally nothing against the leafs. i am literally in love with u so i think the only thing that would make me block you is if you turned out to be a secret mass murderer or something" ok so......what are we? 🥹🫣🤭😘 jk but you're literally so sweet; I'm sorry I made you feel like I was made/upset/offended or, worse, displeased with you cuz I'm soooooooo not and you don't owe me anything - least of all your time or effort in sending me messages 😭 -> also definitely not a mass murderer; far too lazy and don't like the mess, also, I'd likely break a nail - no thanks.

no apologies necessary at all babes, I'm a yapper and loved talking to everyone about it too and was just running my damn mouth

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo love you literally so much, thanks for being here and also for taking so much time to write to me; it's greatly appreciated <3

[rosavulpes]

Dragon of the Darkness Flame

The destructive , eternally burning creature that is bound to Blake's right arm , manifested on his skin in the form of markings no different to a tattoo as he would explain himself if asked .

Encountered during the events of Volume 9 and constrained to him through the use of unique bandages that completely encase his right arm . The wrappings going as far up to his shoulder and then down to his finger tips , keeping the creature's power suppressed to the point where Blake remains in control of it , if at least mostly so .

The bandages were given to him by the Blacksmith at Blake's own insistence , his defiant multiple refusals to have himself separated from the dragon when offered as attempting to keep it under control without them caused him to feel near constant excruciating pain . The antithesis of the Blacksmith's definition of Balance . But Blake saw it as an opportunity , to obtain a strong weapon he could use against Cinder , and Salem . It was the also the reason as to why Blake was able to leave the Ever After with the dragon as the bandages kept it's presence suppressed within his body .

I've included a summary below of my current headcanons , and ideas for how Blake's abilities improved following the acquisition of his new ability .

Physical Abilities :

Partial Heat Resistance - Even with the bandages still on . Blake's body is able to tolerate higher temperatures much better than before even without having to use his semblance to block it out thanks to the dragon's presence within his body . He is not completely immune to burns or scarring when put against very intense external heat if he is without the stamina needed to use his semblance to protect himself from it but your not going to see him sweating in Vacuo even if he's wearing heavy clothing out in the sun .

Partial Flame manipulation - Even with bandages still on . If touching someone with either one of his hands , or if someone is touching his body . He can channel the power of the black dragon through his aura , burning them with it . Expect intense burns .

Partially Enhanced Physical Traits - Even with the bandages still on . He's able to siphon energy from the dragon , bolstering his aura , and his semblance's defensive abilities with it . Allowing him to move faster ( still not as fast as Ruby ) , and hit harder than before . His reaction time is also improved .

Techniques :

Black Dragon Wave ( Dragon of the Darkness Flame ) - The bandages are removed only for a short period of time . The Black Dragon is mostly released from it's bindings , and directly used against his opponent . Physically channeled in the form of pitch black flames that race towards his opponent regardless of the distance . The flames completely consume anything in it's path . Blake doesn't have full control over it , which is why it isn't possible to fully release it in that state . He can only direct it towards the opponent .

White Dragon Wave , Kirin - The name Blake gave to the special variation of the Dragon born of his technique of using the Black Dragon to heat up the upper atmosphere by constantly releasing strong waves of of the Black Dragon Wave . By heating up the atmosphere so consistently , or by already being within the area of one . He's able to create a localized storm cloud . From there , he draws in the ambient energy in the atmosphere into the form of a White Dragon comprised of lightning that he calls Kirin .

It's an attack that can only be used once per fight , and depending on the scenario before a fight , is highly likely to leave Blake drained of aura , and stamina afterwards . The tradeoff being that Kirin's destructive power , for however brief it is , is far greater than that of the Black Dragon's .

Black Dragon Sword - The bandages are loosened , but remain on . Blake focuses the flames of Black Dragon into the form of a sword , in which he can either use an actual sword as the medium ( though it'll likely break afterwards ) or he solidifies his aura as the medium for it . Thanks to the intense heat of the flames , the sword can pierce through heavy armor .

Black Dragon Absorption - ( Click the read more for visual references ) Blake completely undoes his bandages , and turns the Black Dragon free on himself . Absorbing it , trapping it completely within his body without the aid of the bandages . By keeping it trapped within his body , he has access to it's full strength . Blake becomes the Black Dragon itself . All previously listed physical abilities are boosted to their maximum potential as there are no longer an restrictions in place for either of the two .

However , this form isn't permanent and it's duration still entirely depends on how much stamina Blake has to endure the strain it puts on his body . Once the technique expires , he'll be very heavily drained of strength , and likely will not be able to continue fighting .

White Dragon Absorption - more to come in the future .

[sonicasura]

Splatoon 3: Resurgence

An idea that mostly stems from beating Splatoon 3's story mode. If you guys haven't beaten it or rather avoid spoilers altogether then I highly suggest saving a link to this for later as it has major spoilers. For those who are prepared or just don't care then here we go.

We know about Mr. Grizz's plan to bring back mammals from extinction with Fuzzy Ooze. There is some sympathy to do this situation despite him taking it in a massively wrong way. Also I believe he isn't dead nor stuck in space either.

Not everything remains so close inside Earth's atmosphere for long without help so Mr. Grizz most likely crash lands at some point. The changed statue at Grizz.co and the original being in Alterna has to be his doing as well. Lil Judd most likely doesn't know what fully happened even after taking over Grizz.co in Mr. Grizz's place either.

Alterna is very well hidden and only garner attention after the battle with Octavio shatters the ceiling. Judd nor Lil Judd would be on board with the plan either. I do have reasons why Mr. Grizz's take on bringing back mammals wouldn't go well.

Dominance Shifts, when one dominate species is replaced with another, tends to be very hazardous. We have seen how Fuzzy Ooze reacts to Octarians/Inklings/Octolings differently. Those like the Player character are covered in fur to the point of immobilization via becoming a giant hairball.

In the bad ending screen, it's the same for nearly everyone hit by the Fuzzy Ooze. Shaving off the fur undoes the transformation but consider the number of unaffected survivors to the affected population. There won't be enough people to help plus buildings got heavily damaged in the process so any usable equipment might not be available.

Combine immobility with the inability to eat, drink or clean yourself up and we know what happens next. Insurmountable casualties on a world wide scale with the ability of revival highly unlikely as respawn points require power to be usable. Then there are the transformed survivors.

It took a very very long time for marine life to naturally evolve to their current point. Who knows if the Fuzzy can even transition into actual mammals through their descendants? They could be sterile and thus die out or have health complications which leads to death.

Respawn points might not be compatible either plus Salmonids would be affected by such a massive shift that they probably disappear altogether. It means no Golden Eggs or Power Eggs as there's a possibility none of the Zapfish survive either.

Will there be enough resources to support the population? Nearly everything has been contaminated or destroyed. Their diets could have drastically changed so what was once edible might not be anymore.

To put it simply, Mr. Grizz's plan could cause a mass extinction either way and he will be alone on a truly dead planet. Not exactly the result anyone wants. That doesn't mean bringing mammals back is impossible.

His best chance would be something he hasn't thought of: Golden Eggs and Power Eggs. Thanks to Salmon Run, Mr. Grizz has no shortage when it comes to both. We actually have mammal species who lay eggs like the platypus or echidna.

A link that he could use to alter these items to hatch into actual mammalians than Salmonids. Gathering DNA and data of other animals wouldn't be easy but can go smoother if he applies it the same way he did for Salmon Run. Fossilized remains can be found or some DNA from the Polaris could still remain.

All Mr. Grizz has to do is the solve the puzzle for this process and slowly introduce mammals into society. The latter being the most crucial step since he's bringing back a species from extinction. A slow introduction lessens any potential backfire whether it be local/land disputes, resources to housing, and ecosystem changes.

Mr. Grizz can give this plan another shot but under the eye of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. He's going to be found again either way so a non-enemy role is the best shot he's got. Loneliness can be a good motivator when combined with the right words, decisions and chance to earn trust.

It's true that you cannot go back in time to how things once were. Making changes towards the future is plausible. Good intentions won't always lead to hell if you have genuine help from those who can help keep the path set.

What do you guys think?

[noxcantio]

Pages from "The Dance of Death" - by Hans Holbein the Younger

He is best remembered for the magnificent portraits he produced as the court painter of Henry VIII; but a new study of Hans Holbein’s famous ‘Dance Of Death’ suggests that he also had strong anti-establishment views, creating works which foreshadowed modern satire.

What’s striking is how many of his images in the Dance were about social justice. Holbein was part of a movement which was very concerned with radical questions about welfare and reform.

As the leading painter at the Court of Henry VIII, Hans Holbein’s magnificent depictions of royalty and nobility affirmed his status as one of the greatest portrait artists of all time. Few would have considered such works the output of a dissident satirist, deeply concerned about the plight of the poor, and committed to religious reform.

But according to a new study of one of his most famous works, The Dance Of Death, satire was not just an area in which Holbein dabbled early in his career, but a central feature of some of his most important work before he came to England.

Based on new research into the highly-charged climate in which the Dance was produced, the study, by historian Professor Ulinka Rublack, Professor of Early Modern European History and a Fellow of St John’s College, University of Cambridge, argues that it is perhaps the best surviving example of Holbein as a social commentator, using art to mock establishment hypocrisy.

Her portrait of the artist - as an impoverished and angry, but socially and politically engaged, young man - is a far cry from that of the successful painter who produced iconic images of the Tudor ruling class - not least in his famous depiction of a swaggering Henry VIII.

The study forms the commentary to a new Penguin Classics edition of Holbein’s Dance Of Death. It draws on largely unused sources such as local government records from the time at which the Dance was produced. Rublack finds that early in his career, Holbein was part of a group of subversive, passionate artists who were operating in the new medium of print, amid the politically restless atmosphere of Reformation Europe.

“What’s striking is how many of his images in the Dance were about social justice,” Rublack said. “Holbein was part of a movement which was very concerned with radical questions about welfare and reform.”

“Looking at it as satire, rather like a publication such as Charlie Hebdo today, is probably the way to think about what he was doing at the time. Criticising the Pope and Catholic clergy was dangerous stuff; it could be censored and people could be imprisoned for it. But it’s sobering to think nobody was assassinated for it, which has occurred in response to comparable satire in our own time.”

Created between 1524 and 1526, The Dance Of Death was a series of woodcut prints of grisly images apparently demonstrating the folly of human greed and pride. Holbein, who was born in Augsburg, in Germany, produced it while living and working in Basel, in modern-day Switzerland.

As a concept, it was the latest in a long line of such series drawing on the medieval idea of the Danse Macabre, in which a recurring cast of stock characters - such as a Pope, an emperor, a king, a monk and a peasant - are individually shown being “taken” by death, represented by grinning, dancing skeletons.

The idea was to challenge the piety of the viewer, by showing death as the great leveller that comes to all. However rich and powerful we may be in this world, the Dance told its viewers, we are all the same in the next and should focus on spiritual concerns.

Although the Dance therefore often poured scorn on those in high society, it was not explicitly satirical beyond this. Holbein’s version has traditionally been seen in those terms - as a religiously-themed genre piece, and not an explicitly political statement.

For the new study, Rublack examined local sources, such as council records, to trace the socio-political context in which Holbein was working. Although the Reformation had not yet arrived in Basel (it would in 1529), she discovered that there was already widespread pressure for reform.

Part of this involved dissatisfaction with the Church and its wealth. The study found accounts of local guilds refusing to supply churches in favour of serving the needs of the poor. One record, from 1524, concerned a baker who, seeing civic dignitaries visiting the grave of a Professor who had opposed religious reform, openly attacked them as “donkey-milking fools”.

More broadly, the Basel commune had begun to stress equal rights against the traditional privileged elites. In 1525, for instance, a group of local villagers marched on Basel, demanding the right to elect their own preachers, and in opposition to feudal taxes.

Holbein, Rublack says, could not have been immune to this. For one thing, he lived among craftspeople, bakers and weavers who had begun to fight for religious and social change. But perhaps more significantly, he himself worked in an “alert” circle of like-minded artists such as the painter and printmaker Urs Graf.

Rublack’s commentary suggests that the life of this group must have resembled that of a satirical, counter-cultural clique. “One can only imagine an atmosphere of creative fun and irreverence, which thrived on jokes against monks, priests, the local bishop and popes,” she writes.

Stylistically, Holbein’s Dance broke established norms by for the first time presenting the genre in printed miniatures, which the viewer would have to peer at to understand. Seen in the context of the politics of the time, Rublack suggests it would have been “a shocking new viewing experience”.

Senior Church figures, including the Pope, were typically shown as overweight and obsessed with luxuries, extorting money in particular by selling indulgences - a cause célèbre of the Reformation. But the Dance also directly critiqued political and judicial leaders for ignoring the plight of the poor - including perhaps the Habsburg Emperor Charles of Spain in the stock “emperor” illustration.

By reworking the traditional Dance formula and adding tokens and signifiers which pointed to political concerns specific to its time, Holbein’s Dance was not just a piece for religious meditation but an early form of political cartoon, designed to delight, surprise and offend.

His reason for shifting from subversive satire to the courtly portraits of his later career can, Rublack suggests, be explained by his financial circumstances. Like most artists in Basel, Holbein struggled to find steady work as a painter - indeed, the study points out that respected contemporaries had been forced to resort to painting fences and carnival decorations.

Rather than carry on illustrating books and working in print, Holbein clearly harboured ambitions to paint - but this could only be realised through the sort of work he eventually obtained at the Tudor Court. Earlier works from England, such as The Ambassadors, pursue similar themes of death, faith and salvation, but working for the likes of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII broadly put an end to his satirical interests.

“What is impressive is that he could have easily made the decision to give up painting, as so many contemporaries did,” Rublack added. “Instead, he made the very risky decision to pursue painting elsewhere. He seems to have known that he had great works like The Ambassadors in him.”

Source

[anicejuicymurder]

My month in mysteries (January 2024)

Thought I'd start a series of posts, rounding up all the mystery media I consumed at the end of each month! Here's what I watched and read in January 

TV

The Gone

NZ crime drama that sees an Irish detective travel to NZ to work with a local cop when an Irish couple goes missing. It's a decent enough show, though I figured out the culprit very early on, but that's fine. I liked Acushla-Tara Kupe as the NZ cop a lot and the touches of Māori culture. I hope it gets renewed, though, because it ends on a cliffhanger lol

Something Undone

Haven't finished this one! Canadian show about true crime podcasters investigating a cold case. Loved the atmosphere and cinematography, but I found it very difficult to follow and I feel like I missed something somewhere 

Deadloch

Brilliant! Wrote a review post about it here

Fargo

After nearly ten years of being on my watchlist, decided to finally watch Fargo, so I can watch the newest season. I know it's an anthology, but my brain won't let me watch things out of order, even in cases like these. I've only watched two or three eps, though, because I'm finding it difficult to get into :\

The Tourist (season 2)

This is stretching the parameters of this blog a little, but it *is* a mystery haha anyway, I enjoyed it a lot, though I was sad to leave Australia behind. Still, Ireland is gorgeous, and Jamie Dornan and Danielle Macdonald are just wonderful together. If you like dark humour, I highly recommend it!

I also started re-watching Grantchester and Vienna Blood

Movies

Where the Crawdads Sing

This is the kind of thing that should be right up my alley but it just fell flat for me

Maigret

I'm not overly familiar with Maigret—I've never read any of the books and the only other adaptation I've seen is the one with Rowan Atkinson some years back—but this was okay. Fairly subdued, but the costumes are great!

Invitation to a Murder

A little period murder piece in the vein of Agatha Christie (though not as good), that is inexplicably set in England when most of the cast seems to be American. But it was diverting enough and I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to period murder mysteries. I would 100% watch a series of Mischa Barton's character solving murders!

Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Bookshop

The titular Miss Willoughby has a friend who is plagued by the ghost of her dead father and she sets out to get to the bottom of what's going on. Feels a lot like some of the Hallmark mystery movies, but maybe a little nicer looking. It's not a murder mystery, but still has those cosy vibes I love. Again, I'd watch more—it's a very easy 'switch brain off' kind of watch, which I need sometimes

I also re-watched The Last of Sheila, which is just brilliant

Books

Lay Your Sleeping Head by Michael Nava

This is the first in the series of the Henry Rios mysteries (or the rewritten version of the first, which was originally titled The Little Death), which sees Rios, a gay, Latino criminal defence lawyer thrown headlong into a tangle of murder, amongst other things.

I thought it was really well-written and I enjoyed the protagonist a lot! It felt similar to Joseph Hansen's Brandsetter novels and Richard Stevenson's Strachey series—closer to the hardboiled tradition than cosies, but I love both types of detective fiction equally.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Instrument from the University of Bern flies to the Moon

As the second man to step out of the lunar module on July 21st, 1969, the first thing that Buzz Aldrin did was to unfurl the Bernese solar wind sail and plant it into the ground on the Moon. This Solar Wind Composition (SWC) experiment, which was planned, built, and analyzed by Professor Johannes Geiss and his team from the Physics Institute at the University of Bern, was the first great highlight in the history of Bernese space exploration. 

LIMS (Laser Ablations Ionization Mass Spectrometer), another instrument designed at the University of Bern, is to fly to the Moon with NASA as early as 2027, this time as part of a future NASA CLPS lunar delivery. The funding for LIMS is awarded by the European Space Agency’s ESA in the frame of the PRODEX programme (see infobox below). NASA is working with several American companies to deliver science and technology payloads to the lunar surface through the agency’s CLPS initiative. Peter Wurz, Professor for Astrophysics at the University of Bern and Project Leader for LIMS, explains: “We are very proud to be involved in NASA’s CLPS initiative and that our mass spectrometer is going to be used for the chemical study of lunar rocks.”

A highly sensitive instrument for measurements on the lunar surface

LIMS is a powerful instrument for the examination of a wide variety of samples which meets scientific lunar objectives. Andreas Riedo, Senior Project Manager for LIMS at the Space Research and Planetary Sciences WP Division of the Physics Institute, explains: “LIMS uses a pulsed laser system. The laser pulses are focused through the instrument and directed at a sample of scientific interest that we want to study.” With each laser pulse, a small layer of the sample is detached, and some of the detached material becomes positively charged. “These positively charged particles are sent back into the system, where the chemical composition is measured. This means that we measure the chemical elements and their isotopes, which then enable us, among others, to understand the chemical and physical processes on the Moon,” continues Andreas Riedo.

LIMS is to be installed on a CLPS vendor lunar lander platform, which will house a variety of instruments for lunar exploration and technology demonstrations. The CLPS delivery landing in the southern polar region of the Moon will allow LIMS to take stationary measurements on site. Andreas Riedo explains: “This region is particularly interesting, as it contains certain elements whose isotopes allow us to determine the age of the material and therefore date the timing of geological processes. This makes it possible for us to gather a considerable amount of information on the ground that could otherwise only have been generated in laboratories on Earth.”

Andreas Riedo adds: “In addition, no one before us has ever used this measurement technology on a space mission. Not only will we be the first, but we will also obtain a considerable amount of technical information about our system. This will allow us to optimize the system for other scientific questions and other missions; this is similar to what we’ve already done with the Solar Wind experiment at the University of Bern, which could be used both on the Apollo missions and to measure local interstellar gas.” As Andreas Riedo points out, in the long term, the LIMS instrument could also be considered for its application on future space exploration missions devoted to life detection, for example within the Venus atmosphere, on Mars, and the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn.

A close collaboration with industry

In the laboratories of the Space Research and Planetary Sciences WP Division at the Physics Institute at the University of Bern, instruments for space missions have been developed and built in the in-house workshops for several decades, including LIMS. “In this area, we work closely with local industry. We will put a LIMS system that has been ‘made in Switzerland’ on the Moon. The development of LIMS began more than 20 years ago, and it is nice to be able to reap the fruits of several years of its effective use,” explains Peter Wurz. Andreas Riedo concludes: “And it goes without saying that this is an area in which we always benefit from the many years of experience and expertise of the University of Bern in instrument design.”

Funding by the SERI / Swiss Space Office

The Swiss federal government participates in the development of scientific instruments and partial systems as part of the PRODEX program (PROgramme de Développement d’EXpériences scientifiques) of the European Space Agency ESA. National contributions to science missions can be developed and built by project teams from research and industry through this program. This transfer of knowledge and technology between science and industry ultimately also gives Switzerland a structural competitive advantage as a business location, and it enables technologies, processes, and products to flow into other markets thus generating added value for our economy.

Bern’s space exploration: with the world’s elite since the first Moon landing

As the second man to step out of the lunar module on July 21st, 1969, the first thing that Buzz Aldrin did was to unfurl the Bernese solar wind sail and plant it into the ground on the Moon. This Solar Wind Composition (SWC) experiment, which was planned, built, and analyzed by Prof. Dr. Johannes Geiss and his team from the Physics Institute at the University of Bern, was the first great highlight in the history of Bernese space exploration.

Bernese space exploration has been working with the world’s elite ever since: The University of Bern regularly participates in space missions of major space organizations, such as ESA, NASA and JAXA. With CHEOPS, the University of Bern shares responsibility with the ESA for an entire mission. Moreover, the Bernese researchers are among the world leaders when it comes to models and calculations on the formation and development of planets.

The successful work of the Space Research and Planetary Sciences (WP) Division at the Physics Institute at the University of Bern has been strengthened by the foundation of a university center of excellence, the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH). The Swiss National Science Foundation also awarded the University of Bern the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS, which it manages together with the University of Geneva.

[topoillogical]

I've been mentally trying to somewhat classify the loves and love-like types of feelings I experience.

One split that's "easy" to make is romantic/platonic; I say easy since it has clear language and is a strongly demarcated split in our culture, but the quotes are there for the fact that once you really get down to it.... it's hard to define the difference explicitly.

My naive answer would be that romantic = platonic + sexual, but this is clearly not the case: many asexual alloromantics testify that their romantic feelings are different from their platonic ones, yet they don't experience sexual attraction. I believe this.

In my own experience, there are numerous people I've felt platonic and sexual towards, but not romantic towards. I'm also somewhat capable of experiencing asexual romanticism, but not completely -- I cannot remember experiencing anything consistently like this since at the latest middle school, and my asexual romantic feelings today tend to be fleeting (I.e. I'm with my partner and not thinking of sex stuff, so I'm feeling just romance. However this is generally easy to shift into hornytimes with changes in activity or atmosphere, or, like, some good kissing)

Additionally, platonic feelings clearly have a bunch of different manifestations. Familial love feels different from friend love to me, though I wonder if this is simply some factor of *disgust* within familial love? What I mean by this is, with my friends, my affection looks much more fluid between things like romance. With my family members things are highly important and somewhat committed, but very demarcated from romantic.

Anyway, then you have queerplatonic love: this is something I am definitely capable of experiencing to some extent, but find difficult to describe. I read a comic once where romance was distinguished from friendship by the number of "faces" your partner gets to see: if you have like numerous facets of yourself and your life, you dont generally share all of this with your friends, they just know some of your faces. But your partner is obligated to know and love all your faces.

I don't necessarily uncritically agree with this, but I think its representing something important: global integration. A long-term romantic relationship generally has your partner integrate into all aspects of your life (your "faces", but also things like caring for your kids and family, often living together, sharing finances, confiding everything to each other). Friendships tend to feature what I'd call local integration: someone may be your roommate (very integrated into your domestic life) but not someone you confide in or who has met your parents (not integrated into most of your inner life, not into your family). I think the scale of local to global integration is HIGHLY variable and definitely not binary/dichotomous, but that romantic and queerplatonic friendships tend towards global integration while regular friendships tend towards local integration. In my opinion, though, family relationships in western culture actually tend more towards local integration: it's not expected or generally desired for your adult family to live together, and many things might not be shared... but you are still loving each other, and committed to your familial bond.

Under this interpretation, we have:

Platonic bond + local integration + low commitment = REGULAR FRIENDSHIP

Platonic bond + local integration + high commitment = COMMITED FRIENDSHIP, and FAMILIAL BONDS generally slot in here in the culture I grew up in

Platonic bond + global integration + low commitment = SOMETHING KIND OF RARE. I think that global integration tends to imply commitment, in my culture. However this is definitely possible; an example might be a temporary but deep natural connection, like travellers who share communal living spaces with different people at different times, and make deep but temporary connections within these spaces

Platonic bond + global integration + high commitment = YAAAYYY QUEERPLATONIC. I think many familial relationships fall here too, though, which makes the distinction between them and queerplatonicism even more difficult to disentangle -- for example, many sets of twins are SQUARELY in this category, as they share many aspects of their life with each other (global integration). In non-western cultures where the children are expected to stay with their parents and such into adulthood, this kind of relationship is also probably more common... I think people tend to often label this as "emotional incest" in some cases as well, when parents are too globally involved in their adult children's lives (the classic example being mothers doting and fixating on their sons). The fact that people want to classify such a bond as some type of incest is actually very encouraging news for my classification system: I've hit on something we feel viscerally about; global integration.

Anyway, we could also do this for....

Romantic bond + local integration + low commitment = A FLING

Romantic bond + local integration + high commitment = NONTRADITIONAL RELATIONSHIP, something often seen in the poly community, and which I think often maps onto relationships that the aforementioned community describes as "not taking the relationship escalator". The relationship escalator basically describes the increased levels of commitment and integration one sees as a romantic relationship progresses, and many poly people reject this escalator and choose not to integrate certain life aspects with their partner(s), choosing not to live together being a classic example

Romantic bond + global integration + low commitment = AGAIN THIS ONE IS RARE as global integration oft implies commitment, but as in the platonic nomad example, some free love hippie-type groups are often all about this type of love. Personally I find it pretty cool myself. The transience but deepness

Romantic bond + global integration + high commitment = TRU WUV. Basically this is the top of the relationship escalator, this is you and your spouse.

.

Okay, so, this has not solved the original question of how to differentiate romantic and platonic, but I'd argue it has greatly progressed towards an understanding of it through the power of the process of elimination: whatever "je ne sais quoi" differentiates romance from platonic love, it isnt global integration or commitment.

Honestly, I think leaving it as that certain "je ne sais quoi" is fine, though. Romantic love is a very basic feeling, it might be prime-number like in that we can't describe it as a combination of other more fundamental types of love and emotion. This might not be the case -- you're more than welcome to propose a competing theory that *does* break down what romance is, and I'll excitedly consider it -- but it does feel like the case to me, after some thought. Sexual attraction is also probably a "prime" feeling. It's of course notable that romance tends to imply sexual attraction, and to a lesser extent sexual attraction is highly associated with and can imply romance, but this is like how global integration tends to imply commitment, but isn't the same thing at all.

This gives eight types of love with considering platonic and romantic plus the various integration and commitment types, as listed above, and if I added sexual it would be independent of platonic/romantic and lead to their being 16 types of love.

Fortunately, I don't actually think sexual attraction is super entangled with the type of love being experienced, so for specifically *love* classification it can mostly be ignored. However if you want to be less psychological and more sociological its absolutely an important distinction: the relationship types "friends" and "friends with benefits" may feel similar internally in terms of your friendly love, but have vastly different social aspects.

It may be clearer what I mean by this when I say that sexual relations are almost completely irrelevant when discussing romantic relationships: sociologically, a married couple who has sex and are in love, and a married couple who doesnt have sex but are in love, fill pretty much identical relationship slots. This is because our society thinks friendship + sex is a whole unique thing but that relationship + sex is not only normal but automatically expected (and, admittedly, because the overlap of romantic interactions and sexual interactions is much larger.)

Anyway, this lil essay doesn't actually have a conclusion. It's more of a collection of thoughts. Weigh in if you want.

[naturalrights-retard]

With the threat of a World War 3 escalation into a nuclear conflict, while the world’s financial system is on the brink of collapse, it is easy to see why a local, regional news story about the weather will not make national headlines.

But there is a local, regional story developing in California that I guarantee will eventually make national headline news, as the flooding continues with more heavy rain and snow this week, and with local officials declaring that in terms of the flooding and damage, “the worst is yet to come.”

With California producing over half of America’s agriculture, this is indeed HUGE news, as this is also going to affect food prices around the world, since many of California’s agricultural products, a $51 BILLION economy, are exported outside the U.S.

The main reason this is not a major worldwide headline, yet, is because there are still very few estimates as to how high the losses are going to be, since the farming community in California is just trying to survive right now, bracing for new storms that entered the State yesterday and are continuing today.

Total financial losses for the State of California due to flooding that began in January, right now range from $5 BILLION to $30 BILLION.

“The Worst is Yet to Come”

In an aerial view, a person shovels on a snowy roadway lined with snowbanks piled up from new and past storms in the Sierra Nevada mountains, in the wake of an atmospheric river event, on March 12, 2023 in Mammoth Lakes, California. The eastern Sierra Nevada currently is holding 243 percent of its regular snowpack for this time of the year. (Photo by Mario Tama – Source.) Editor’s note: And this photo was taken over 2 weeks ago!! The snow levels are even higher now…

Unfortunately, as bad as things are right now in California’s richest farmland counties, local authorities are warning that the worst is yet to come, due to record snowfall levels in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

For those unfamiliar with the climate and geography of California, snow in the Sierra Nevada mountain range only remains as snow in the winter months, and early Spring.

As soon as the temperatures begin to rise heading into the long, hot summer months of California, ALL of that snow melts.

All of it.

There is no snow in those mountains during the warm weather months.

And so as that snow melts, it all has to go somewhere, and it flows down the mountain rivers and creeks into, you guessed it, the farmlands, which are already mostly under water.

California: The State that Feeds the World

Source.

The California Central Valley produces more food per acre than any other place in the world. And while that fact brings in great profit to the California Mega-Farm owners, it is not natural.

It is the result of decades of a man-made, vertically integrated, highly technical farming system that is totally unprepared for the kind of environmental disaster now happening in California.

In Tulare County, which is the second largest agricultural county in the U.S. with annual revenues of over $8 BILLION, much of the county’s farmland lies (or used to before the floods) where a former lake used to exist, Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River.

Tulare Lake was largely drained in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as the rivers that fed it were dammed and diverted for agriculture.

Due to the flooding, however, the lake has re-emerged, and now covers over 10,000 acres of farmland, and it is still expanding.

Not only is land needed and ways to water the crops in an area that was not traditionally a source of intensive modern farming, but massive amounts of cheap labor is also needed to put the food that is produced there into the supply chains that feed the country.

And no matter what side of the political issue you stand on regarding immigration and illegal aliens, one fact is without dispute: without this cheap farm labor, America would starve.

Now, many of these farm laborers have been out of work for months, due to the flooding, and many may soon just leave and go back to Mexico, or to other parts of the country, as many of them can no longer afford housing to keep staying in California.

This is a developing story, that sadly I am concerned is just going to get worse.

This is but yet another example of how modern-day technology has failed us, and why it is more important than ever to return to traditional and more sustainable farming practices, decentralized and focused more on local, small-scale producers, whose first priority needs to be on feeding their communities, rather than serving the Globalists and their desire to control the world through Big Ag.

[cartograffiti]

September '23 reading diary

I finished 5 books in September, plus 3 re-reads, and enjoyed all of them thoroughly.

Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater is a very charming fantasy of manners romance about a woman who discovers half her soul was stolen by a faerie. Dora's emotions and social skills are unusual as a result, and her family believes she will never marry, but she hits it off with the highest-ranking sorcerer in England and the two of them tackle curses and class issues with a lot of reflection and heart. There are more original romances and fairy-based fantasies, but all the elements together are (like Dora) more than the sum of their parts. Refreshing.

Something Human is the second of A.J. Demas' stand alone fantasy Mediterranean novels I've read, a lovely chewy romance about a not-Greek official and a not-Celtic or Germanic(?) warrior priest who save each other's lives after a battle in which they fought on opposite sides. The first of two parts is my favorite, focusing on their recuperation and fledgling romance while they hide in a deserted temple. They cooperate to achieve political and personal peace, and the narrative has a lot of faith in humanity without making it too easy. Well worth seeking out.

A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel is the second of K.J. Charles's Doomsday Books duology, and while I latched onto the first more strongly, this is still a five-star top-tier of her work pick from me. A troubled teen from book 1 now stars as a hugely likeable adult with ambitions to resolve a mystery introduced then, and he's formulated the perfect plan...if he has to help the warm-hearted, short-fused sexy local earl get a handle on his paperwork in the process, that's not a problem, right? Great atmosphere, thrillingly horny even by KJC standards, and very moving writing about trauma.

The Last Devil to Die is the fourth Thursday Murder Club mystery by Richard Osman. A group of friends, most of them elderly, crack murders together, this time because someone they know was shot in some sort of heroin deal. I solved this case more quickly than previous entries, but not in an annoying way. Don't start with this one if possible, go right to the beginning, but these are highly personable books with wonderful character portraits.

I also grabbed the next Wells & Wong book I needed, First Class Murder. Not my favorite of this series's cases either, because it's a homage to Murder on the Orient Express and at moments it had a slight retread quality, but it's very much its own story. It deals heavily and effectively with Hazel's relationship with her father, and how both of them are treated as Asians in Europe. A favorite character of mine from book 2 reappeared, to my delight, and I continue to be impressed by how much more emotionally honest and sensitive this middle grade series is about the death side of murder mysteries than many written for adults.

My re-reads this month were a Band Sinister canon review for a K.J. Charles fanfic exchange, which remains a favorite, and two of Tamora Pierce's Emelan books, Sandry's Book and Tris's Book. I'm a little behind in the group read of Emelan and am excited to catch up. There's a lot of striking and moving content in this series about craft and personal growth. Sandry's book is noticeably stronger on a plot level than Tris's, but the difference isn't great enough to be a letdown.

[witch-and-her-witcher]

Okay. I want to see what you come up with.

Yenralt +9+40+61+99

dancers + marriage proposal + handcuffed together + western setting | T | Western AU with Magic

I'm picturing an 1870's Colorado for this. Also, I have a concept that since magic is drawn from nature, industrialization would massively disrupt those channels and thus weaken magic usage over time.

--

"Miss Yennefer, I insist that you accept my offer of marriage or I'll - "

"You'll what, good Mayor?"

"I'll be forced to look into the legitimacy of your permit for the operation of this saloon."

The beads of condensation collected on the outside of her mug of ale (a speciality at her saloon, her ice chest stored mugs a luxury not offered for endless miles around) splatter the oak bar top with the force she sets the mug down with.

"Are you threatening me, Val?"

The mayor visibly swallows, his fingers clench the edge of his bowler cap a little tighter. "I know there's no Mr. Vengerberg buried in Tuscon. I've a cousin in the city who confirmed there's no record of your marriage let alone his death. Your right to a permit as a widow is void if that's the case."

Yennefer draws a pattern in the drops of water on the bar top. Keeping a cool head has never been a strong point for the self made woman: not since going through hell on earth to immigrate to this "land of prosperity", not since making a name for herself as an independent woman, and not since what feels like the lifetimes she's lived before the West.

Her saloon, The Raven Feather, just West of the Rocky Mountains isn't much, but the women she employs as dancers and barmaids rely on her for honest employment and the mostly men who pass through her doors are grateful for the oasis she's made.

Like hell she's going to let all of that be taken from her or used against her to tie her down to the mayor she had willingly fucked once - although that had been a clear mistake.

"You, of all men, threatening to take my livelihood away?" She clucks her tongue. "I see we all thought too highly of you."

"Miss Yennefer, I assure you I'm a good man. But you're too strong willed, you can't see what's good for you!"

"And you do?" Her voice seems to echo from another realm and the rage rattling to her very core threatens to reveal too much, too much.

Yennefer smiles, closed lip. She condenses the rage into a tight ball within her until it's a swirling orb of magma instead of free flowing rivers of molten lava. The heat radiates outwards, even tightly coiled she knows it's sitting on a knife's edge, threatening to burst out of her with one wrong word.

"Val, have you ever wondered just how I keep a steady supply of ice for the ice chest you all love so dearly?"

The water begins to shake seemingly of its own volition against the wood grain.

Sweat drips along Val's hairline and it's not from the unseasonably warm temps outside. "You ... Have connections, right? It's no secret you and your girls earn favor with the different mercantiles."

The wrong word.

In the blink of an eye, the water droplets are levitating a foot above the bar top in the combined shape of an arrowhead. The next change doesn't come in a blink, as no one in the saloon dares to move a muscle, but instead in a flick of the wrist the arrowhead solidifies into a sharpened weapon of ice.

Yennefer pulls herself back together just as she whirls the arrowhead at the quivering mayor's eye, stopping it an inch from its target.

"We really thought too highly of you."

Val isn't paying attention to the weapon capable of piercing all the way through to the back of his skull. Instead, he's transfixed on the purple eyes boring into him, now revealed as Yennefer's glamour spell drops in her exertion of magical energy.

"W-witch! She's a witch!"

The cry breaks through the moment, the local's finger pointing at Yennefer like a curse. As a chorus of similar cries erupt within the saloon, Yennefer feels the magma dissolve within her and draw back into the atmosphere. Her fingers quiver and the arrowhead dissolves.

Drawing on chaos isn't what it used to be. What she wouldn't give for the glory days.

-

"I've only one set of the dimeritium, you'll have to cuff 'em together and use a regular set to restrain their free hands to a bar or somethin'."

"Sheriff, it's not proper cuffing a man and a woman together -"

"Neither of them are proper to begin with."

How quickly the venomous nature of human prejudice overtakes neighborly hospitality.

Yennefer spits a mouth full of blood at the sheriff's boots. It earns her another firm slap to the side of the head before she's shoved into the jail cell. Ears ringing, she can't put up much more of a fight as they rearrange her and her cellmate until they're sharing a set of dimeritium cuffs between them.

There's an excess of sweaty bodies assisting in the process and she knows why. Yennefer had heard about the Witcher's presence in the town's jail just before the mayor had come barging into her saloon.

"I'll have to serve a lot less onion in the future," she comments off-handedly as her hearing returns to her and the last of the sheriff's posse exits the cell, their pungent odor unfortunately remaining.

A low chuckle sounds from the body beside her.

Yennefer peers over to assess her rarified company. The black stetson pulled low covers his face, but she's surprised that his stature isn't more like a grizzly bear with the feats she's heard the mutants are capable of. The Witcher is tall, lithe, all lean muscles under his mountain man styled clothing popular in the Rockies, a mixture of functional pieces from trappers, Natives and cowboys.

"I'm Yennefer. Pleased to meet you ...?"

"Geralt." The Witcher's gravelly voice reminds her of the old salty cowboys who pass through on cattle drives.

"How'd you end up sharing a set of cuffs with me, Geralt?"

"A minor misunderstanding."

"Something minor ended with you waiting for the noose?"

"No... A miner hired me to clear out a wendigo, then didn't want to pay up when the job was done. Turned me in for tax evasion. I won't hang, yet, but they want to transfer me to Ft. Carson."

Yennefer blinks. "Oh. Did you... Was that supposed to be a joke, before?"

That pulls the Witcher's attention up, pinning her with a wry smile. She'd heard descriptions of witchers' eyes looking like a rattlesnake's, but she hadn't imagined it would be such an apt description.

She lifts a delicate eyebrow. "Is it true then, the charges they brought you in for?"

"Indisputably."

"And you aren't more motivated to escape before reaching Ft. Carson? I hear they don't take well to those who dodge paying out to the government, especially a nonhuman ..."

"Who says I'm not motivated?"

There's a boyish charm about the Witcher's face that has Yennefer unable to take her eyes away - thankfully she's never been an overly polite woman.

"I'm biding my time, waiting for the right moment. Besides, the food isn't half bad and my stocks were pretty low."

Yennefer sees exactly who he is in the shift of shoulders and the sniff of his nose at the last sentence. She leans her head back and laughs. Running a saloon and living as long as she has, she's met all types, and this Witcher is no different than all the other men she's come across.

"Biding your time? You don't have shit for a plan to escape."

Geralt clenches his jaw for a moment, before softening once more. "Well, do you? This country has a terrible history with witches."

"Of course I do."

"And?"

"And you'll just have to wait and see, dear Witcher." Yennefer makes herself as comfortable as she can against the cell wall. "Now, regale me with the tale of this wendigo."

Geralt huffs and she thinks he'll try to argue so she adjusts herself so she's a little less comfortable, but the spot below her neckline he's been fighting to look away from is more prominent.

"Well, I found the posting asking for a witcher's help outside Gunnison ..."

-

The burst of chaotic energy in the saloon and the following scuffle paired with the dimeritium cuffs left Yennefer drained. She's discovered with only minimal prodding the Witcher will happily prattle on about his adventures and misadventures alike. Something about his presence lulls her further until she can barely keep her eyes open.

At some point Geralt has shuffled closer so it's his arm dangling uncomfortably from the secondary restraint attached to the cell bars and Yennefer who can curl her arms closer to her body and lean her cheek against his shoulder.

"Once I get out of here, I'll lay low with the Ute for a while."

Yennefer hums drowsily.

"You could always come with me."

"The Ute are more open to witches?"

"They don't mind me."

"Hm, tempting offer. Abandon the business I've worked tirelessly to build up to shack up with a penniless Witcher who uses jail time to get a solid meal and a roof over his head?"

"Sounds pretty exciting, doesn't it?"

She looks up then to catch those rattlesnake eyes shining in the moonlight.

"Like a dime store novel."

Geralt chuckles. "We're relicts, you and I. If we don't keep things interesting, if we stop moving, we'll let ourselves settle in some backwater town to rust."

"Oh, and is that what I'm doing? Letting myself rust in this town?"

"You tell me."

A spark hot enough to forge iron lights between them as their gazes hold in the moment.

Without any other outlet to meet the challenge, Yennefer surges forward to crash her lips into his. There's a brief fight for control over the kiss until Geralt finally gives way, letting her take the lead.

Promising.

They're both breathing heavily when the door to the jail starts to rattle. They break apart quickly although it's obvious what they've been doing, Yennefer's lips red and swollen and Geralt's stetson pushed back on his head precariously.

The sheriff is in no state to pay attention to their activities though. He has two dancers supporting him under either arm, both his hands grasping half drained bottles of top shelf booze.

Yennefer swallows a growl, recognizing the bottles as her own. The girls shoot her a wink.

-

The escape is quick and efficient as anything organized and actioned by Western women is.

Yennefer hugs the ring leader. "Triss, you were brilliant. Thank you."

"Don't thank me, we'd all be lost without you, Miss Yennefer!"

Yennefer pulls back from the embrace, fighting the shimmering emotions at the creases of her eyes. "I'm so proud of what you've all become -"

"Miss Yennefer?"

"I was able to take a potion to boost my powers, none of the other towns people will remember what happened in the morning. They'll also know you, Triss, as the owner of this saloon."

"But, what do you mean -" Triss glances across the deck of the saloon's front porch to the shadow of a man holding two horses by the reins. "Are you ...?"

Yennefer toys with the edge of the kerchief tied around her neck that hides her choker necklace from the Old World. "I may not be gone for long and I'll surely need somewhere to come back to when this all goes to hell in a hand basket. Hold the place down for me?"

Triss smiles warmly. "Of course, Miss Yennefer. Stay safe and we'll all be waiting for your return."

Never one for big displays, Yennefer nods matter-of-factly before gathering her things and heading towards Geralt and the horses.

"Ready, Witcher?"

"Ready to get the hell out of here and to a fireside where we can continue what we started earlier."

Taking her horse's reins from his hands, Yennefer ghosts a kiss across his lips before speaking. "There'll be plenty of time for that."

The dust kicks up as they gallop out of town, the wind whipping Yennefer's hair from beneath her straw hat. If she closes her eyes, she can remember a different time, in a different place when she was filled with a similar expanse of possibilities and a hopeless wish to love the man riding beside her.