#and also some of those other boxes are in multiple of the larger boxes?

[aspectpriority]

if we were a smaller system i guess this kinda problem would be solved by just, tagging who was posting, but the thing is that i know at least 10 other parts that are exactly as talkative as i am so it isn't the most useful for navigation and filtering.

If I wasn't worried it would end up in the same "what to post where" issue as sideblogs, I'd consider some sort of collective tag that our headmates could opt into, but in fairness, it would be substantially more flexible than sideblogs. You have to choose where to post something, but you can just. not use a tag if you can't be arsed or don't feel like something Fits.

Unfortunately for anyone reading this, tagging systems are another thing that requires you to Remember to Fucking Do It. and, as you may have gathered, Remembering Things is not our strong point.

Then again, having specific clusters of tags could also be rather enlightening, couldn't it?

[jpitha]

Logistics

Yes, when the humans arrived in the Coalition they brought themselves, and their ships, and their weapons. Those were all very impressive. They showed up with positively gigantic starships - easily two to four times larger than anyone else. When asked, the humans just looked at them, then back to us and said "why not make them big? Don't they look great?"

We could think of a few reasons, but they didn't seem to care about those.

But that's not what I want to talk about. Do you know what was the most amazing, galaxy changing paradigm they brought with them?

Containerization.

I'm serious! The first time I saw them field a colony ship my feathers ruffled and I turned my head in confusion. I was aboard the human ambassador's yacht with a few other Coalition administrators. We had come at the human's behest so they could demonstrate that they were taking our rules about colonizing seriously. Honestly, we probably wouldn't have cared. All they were interested in were planets Class F and lower. The ones with multiple biomes, the ones with heavy gravity, the ones with weather. We let them license the worlds for colonization cheap - ancestors, I think we even let them have the one with storms for free.

Anyway, they asked us to come and observe, and so we sent a few people out, me among them. I was a mid level clerk for the Innari embassy at the main Coalition station, so I was 'volunteered' to attend. It was boring, but it wasn't bad. Good food, a break from paperwork, and a chance to take it easy for a week.

On the second day, the colony ship arrived. It had Flashed in quote close to the planet, entered orbit, and had spent an hour setting itself up. One of the Sefigans looked at the human who was guiding us and asked what we were looking at, if we were just going to see a shuttle go back and forth for a week from the ship.

"A shuttle? Heavens, no. Just watch." and he did that cryptic smile without showing his teeth that they do when they realize they're about to show off.

Just then, while we were watching, the colony ship... flew apart. It wasn't destroyed, or rather it was, but it wasn't destructive. It had turned out that the entire colony ship was thousands upon thousands of boxes. The assembled crowd made surprised noises as the ship quickly disappeared into rectangles all the same shape and size. They disconnected from each other and fell through the atmosphere to the planet's surface. Within a tenth of a cycle, they were all down, and had begun unfolding.

Some were buildings, some contained supplies, and some even had vehicles. As we watched through remote cameras and entire city had sprung into being, where once there was only a joining of two rivers. The colony ship was completely gone - the box that was the command module had set itself up in the center of the city and we watched as the overlay changed from "Ship Command" to "City Command" as it touched down.

Before our surprise could be properly registered it happened again. Another colony ship flashed in and flew apart and landed. And again. And again. In the space of one solar day, three full cities were set up and automated construction vehicles - also the size of the containers - had begun trundling between the cities, setting up utilities and roads. By the time the humans arrived in thirty solar days, there would be places to live, work, and entertain for fifty thousand beings.

Honestly, if that's all they used it for, it would be impressive. But they made everything able to fit into those boxes. When they ordered supplies from human manufactories they ordered them by the container. During the next resupply one of the containers would detach and be delivered, and sure enough, packed floor to ceiling would be the widgets they ordered.

They built reactors that fit the container, so that no matter where they went or what they were doing, it was simple to have more power than one needed.

They even built weapons that fit into the containers. I'm not talking about hand and small arms, but full anti starship missile batteries. They would take one of their boxes, stick it to the side of a ship or a station - it didn't even have to be human made - and out would fold a missile battery, loaded and ready. Next to it they'd plop a reactor container and a matter printer container and in the time it took you to decide what to eat for their midday meal - lunch - they would be able to defend against an attack of nearly any kind.

When called on to aid during disasters, they brought them too. They would bring a modified version of their colony package, tuned for what kind of disaster had happened. Extra hospitals, extra living space, extra power, it didn't matter, because it all fit into those damned boxes.

The other Coalition peoples had to adopt the humans containers, it was too foolish not to. Human ships would only haul containers. They didn't list the ships capacity by hauling weight, they listed them by the number of containers they could haul. If you wanted to sell to humans, you had to fit your wares into a container.

Some other peoples - the Sefigans specifically, but a few others as well - attempted to introduce their own container specifications, but they were almost never adopted. The humans had the infrastructure to haul their own containers, and unless the others fit into the system they just rejected them outright. "Too complex to add" they said. "Just use ours; here have a few for free." They gave away containers like they were atmosphere. When items were shipped from human manufactories they told the recipient to just keep the container "in case you need to ship anything else."

Before too long, all the Coalition was using human containers. The Sefigans complained that they were too large, the Gren complained they were too small, and we Innari looked at the containers with an eye towards economy. We felt they were far overbuilt. We tried to make our own, out of much lighter materials but whenever they were added to a human system, they would be immediately ejected - usually with large dents or bends in them. "Stick to the specs" they'd say. "Our system requires them all to be the same."

Without firing a shot, the humans took over one of the most important and overlooked parts of our entire system. Everyone uses their containers now, it's just impossible to find a shipper to move material without them.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Some Worldbuilding Vocabulary

Abeyance:  When the audience temporarily suspends their questions about made-up words or worldbuilding details with the implicit understanding that they will be answered later in the story.

Absorption:  The two-way street wherein the audience is immersed in the created world and is picking up the author’s metaphoric building blocks to recreate the concept in their head.

Acculturation:  When an adult assimilates into another culture.

Additive:  When something has been added to a secondary world, usually in the form of magic or fantasy species.

Affinity:  A kinship pattern wherein the familial bond is based upon marriage.

Aggregate Inconsistencies:  When audiences pick up internal inconsistencies not within the same story but from multiple sources within the shared universe.

Anachronism:  Details that do not conform to their time period or culture.

Analogue Culture: Real-life cultures that the creator emulates in their work and then applies their fantasy conceits to.

Ancestor Worship:  The belief that deceased ancestors still exist, are still a part of the family, and can intervene within the living world on their descendants’ behalf.

Animism:  The belief that all objects, creatures, and places are imbued with a spiritual essence.

Apex Predator:  The predator at the top of a food web that no other creature naturally feeds upon. Two apex predators cannot exist in the same niche.

Apologetics:  In worldbuilding, the attempt to explain inconsistencies in terms of existing canon.

Appropriated Culture:  Using a culture as a whole that the creator is not a member of. Different from an analogue culture in that the analogue is changed by the creator and used respectfully.

Artifacts:  In worldbuilding, the observable ways a culture behaves due to their cultural worldview. This can include politics, economics, religion, education, arts, humanities, and linguistics, along with many other cultural norms.

Ascendant:  In worldbuilding, a world that the magic is increasing in power and influence.

Assimilation:  When an individual rejects their original culture and adopts the cultural norms and beliefs of the dominant culture.

Author Authority:  When an author demonstrates expert-level knowledge in a field to their audience.

Author Worldview:  What Mark J. P. Wolf calls “not only the ideas and ideologies of the world’s inhabitants, but also those which the author is expressing through the world’s structure of events.”

Autocracy:  A government in which supreme power concentrates in the hands of one individual or polity.

Avatar:  The embodiment of a deity in another form, usually humanoid.

B-C

Bible:  In the field of television writing, a series guidebook that usually includes the pitch, character descriptions, a synopsis, as well as worldbuilding details.

Biome:  The vegetation and animals that exists within a region. Terrestrial biomes include: forest (tropical, temperate, or boreal), grassland, desert, and tundra.

Black Box:  In information processing, when a system is viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs without any understanding as to its internal workings.

Bottom-Up:  In design, where the granular, base elements of the system are created first, then grouping them together into larger constructs over and over until a pattern forms. Also known as “pantsing” in writing and worldbuilding because the creator is building by the seat of their pants.

Callback:  From standup comedy where the punchline in a joke used earlier in the set is alluded to again, eliciting another laugh from the reframing of what was already familiar.

Canon:  The core doctrine for the world when conflicting information arises. Usually what the original creator made takes canonical precedence over subsequent additions. 

Capitalism:  The economic system wherein individuals own the means of production.

Chekhov's Gun:  Often understood to mean that something must be introduced previously if it will have significance later in a narrative, but meant by the playwright that nothing should be included in the story that is not completely necessary. 

Climate:  The temperature and rainfall in regions over approximately 30 years. Classified as tropical (high temperature and high precipitation), dry (high temperature and low precipitation), temperate (mid temperature and mid precipitation), continental (in the center of large continents with warm summers and cold winters), and polar (low temperatures and low precipitation).

Commercial Fiction:  The style of fiction that includes all genre fiction, the aim of which is entertainment. Often fast-paced and plot-driven.

Compelling:  One of the four Cs of worldbuilding, which deals with how well the core concept and subsequent details maintain audience interest.

Complete:  One of the four Cs of worldbuilding, which deals with the sense that the world is lived in, has a sense of history, and continues on even when the story ends.

Complexity Creep:  When material gradually grows in complexity over its lifetime, raising the bar of entry for new people experiencing the material for the first time.

Conceits:  Where a story deviates from reality. Usually the focus of the fiction by being what the author intends on exploring in their works.

Conlanguage:  A constructed language created specifically for a story world.

Consanguinity:  A kinship pattern wherein the familial bond is based upon a shared genetic lineage.

Consistent:  One of the four Cs of worldbuilding, which deals with how well the material maintains its own internal logic as established by the fantasy conceits.

Constructed World:  A fictional world that does not exist but was created by someone.

Continuity:  A gestalt term for perception where the mind fills in obvious blanks to make a unified whole.

Convergent Evolution:  When two or more species develop analogous features to deal with their environment.

Co-Residency:  A kinship pattern wherein the familial bond is based upon shared space.

Cosmology:  The study of mapping the universe and our place in it.

Cost:  In worldbuilding, when a character must risk or sacrifice something for magic to take effect.

Creative:  One of the four Cs of worldbuilding, which deals with how and to what extent the constructed world deviates from the real world.

Credibility Threshold:  Where worldbuilding details must only appear plausible to a general audience rather than demonstrating expert-level knowledge.

Cultural Identity:  An individual’s self-concept as distinct from others based upon nationality, ethnicity, social class, generation, and locality.

Cultural Universals:  Traits, patterns, and institutions prevalent throughout humankind.

Customs:  Informal rules of behavior that people take part in without thinking about it.

D-F

Deity:  The most powerful of metaphysical entities, deities often exist in pantheons, have thematic powers based upon their roles, and few weaknesses or limitations.

Descendent:  In terms of magic, the idea that the most powerful magics are from ages past and that magic is on the decline in terms of power and influence.

Despotism:  An economic system wherein an individual or institution controls the laws and resources of an area.

Deus Ex Machina:  A plot device in which an unexpected power, event, or deity intervenes to save a hopeless situation. 

Differentiation:  When one culture forms part of their identity by contrasting themselves with another nearby culture.

Divergent:  When the creator alters something in the development of the world but it remains very similar to the real world in every detail but this fantasy conceit. For instance, a world that resembles our own but made up of anthropomorphic animals instead of humans.

Divine:  The belief that something is of, from, or like a god.

Democracy:  A government in which the people elect a governing body in some fashion.

Early Adoption:  When an inventor or culture creates a technology long before their analogue culture did in the real world.

Easter Egg:  A hidden message, image, or feature that is meant to be hunted for within the material.

Economics:  The study of production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

Education:  A form of socialization in which we teach the youth what they need to know to become functioning members of society.

Effective Worldbuilding:  When (a) the immersive state is never disrupted for the audience, or when (b) the immersive state is disrupted with a positive result.

Element X:  N. K. Jemisin’s concept of when fantasy elements diverge from the real world. Similar to fantasy conceits.

Emic:  An account of a cultural idea, concept, behavior, or belief documented as if from within the culture.

Empires:  Multinational states with political hegemony over other ethnicities, cultures, or nations.

Encyclopedic Impulse:  The consumer’s desire to know everything about the world or the author’s desire to expound upon all the worldbuilding details.

Ephemera:  Transitionary materials that are not meant to exist for long term, such as advertisements, diary entries, letters, posters, and the like.

Ethnicity:  A group that identifies with each other based on presumed similarities such as a shared language, ancestry, history, society, or social treatment within an area. Ethnicities are not dependent upon, but are often associated with, certain taxonomic traits or physiological similarities within those groups.

Etic:  When cultural ideas, concepts, behaviors, or beliefs are documented from outside the cultural milieu as a passive observer with an eye for similarities between all cultures

Exsecting:  When the creator removes something that exists in the real world from the created world.

Extrapolation:  In worldbuilding, the belief that any fantasy conceit should be followed to its natural conclusion.

Face Validity:  When worldbuilding detail appears believable upon immediate examination. See Credibility Threshold.

Fan Service:  Material included in a story that serves no narrative purpose other than to please fans.

Fantasy Conceit:  What the creator intends to explore in the world, it is where the constructed world deviates from the real world, usually in the form of geography, biology, physics, metaphysics, technology, or culture.

Fantasy Function:  When analogue cultures are filtered through fantasy conceits to populate the created world with its output details.

Fetishes:  Items imbued with cultural significance and power.

First Principles:  Core belief and value systems within a culture that are often unconscious until confronted.

Flavor Text:  Texts within stories, video games, role-playing games, and action figures that add depth by providing a sense of history but do not alter the game mechanics or story in a substantial way.

Feudalism:  An economic system wherein there is a division between the lords that protect the vassals that work the land in exchange for protection.

Four Cs of Worldbuilding:  See Creative, Complete, Consistent, and Compelling.

G-L

Gender:  A social construct of how cultures differentiate the sexes.

Generalist:  When every individual in a society has the same basic job, which is providing their daily caloric intake. A staple of hunter and gatherers and in contrast to specialists.

Generation:  A social cohort group based around the period in which children grow up, become adults, and bear children of their own. Because of this shared timeframe and significant events in their lives, generations often share a similar worldview within the general culture.

Genre Expectation:  The qualities audiences expect of their genres to be considered successful, i.e. is the thriller thrilling or the romance romantic. For fantasy and science fiction, the genre expectation is worldbuilding.

Goldilocks Zone:  The habitable zone around a star where the temperature is right for water to exist in liquid form. 

Group:  Two or more individuals who share a collective sense of unity via interacting with each other because of shared similar characteristics.

Habitat:  The ecosystem or ecological community creatures exist in.

Handwave:  A writing term for explaining crucial events dismissively with minimal details.

Handwavium:  As opposed to the handwave, when everything else in the imagined world fits logically together with the exception of the fantasy conceit, which the audience must then accept to continue on with the story.

Hard Deduction:  When there is no narrator and no character bringing the worldbuilding details to the audience’s attention, who must then piece together the world rules based upon the provided details alone.

Hard Impart:  When information is imparted to the audience through narrative text, usually through the narrator or the internal thoughts of characters.

Hero Props:  Items that are necessary for a scene to take place, making them integral to the story.

Heroic Theory of Invention:  When inventors and discoverers of scientific developments are treated as solitary geniuses rather than products of good luck or a part of a team.

High-Concept:  A term from the film industry meaning an idea needs lots of background details, usually compiled from the worldbuilding, to be explained for the core concept to be compelling.

Hybrid:  (a) In biology, a living thing bred together from two different species, which is not able to produce its own viable offspring. (b) A method the author can employ to get details across to the audience in which it appears they are using a hard or soft impart, but the audience deduces are not correct, which then casts provided information into doubt and adds new nuance.

Iceberg Theory:  The theory proffered by Hemingway that so long as the author is aware of the underlying ideas, they can cut away anything from the story and it will still make sense. Usually interpreted to mean one only needs to reveal 10% of worldbuilding details or backstory.

Illusion of Completeness:  The sense that the world is complete and that all questions can be answered within it rather than the creator explicitly spelling out all the details.

Immersion:  The altered state in which the audience feels they are physically present in a non-physical world.

Ineffective Worldbuilding:  When worldbuilding details become obvious to the consumer, thus breaking the sense of immersion and reminding them of the real world. This can be caused by internal inconsistencies or from reality incursions.

Info Dump:  A sudden overwhelming quantity of backstory or background information supplied in a short timeframe.

Info Dump Equity:  The idea that an author should not reveal worldbuilding information until the audience craves it, thus being able to deliver an info dump without anyone complaining.

In-Group:  The other people an individual identifies with. While they may not share the exact worldview, they share the same first principles in understanding the world around them.

Innovation:  The drive for change, usually technological, but also socially.

Inside-Out:  How audiences process worldbuilding details, in that they pertain to the immediate understanding of the scene, which are then pieced together into an understanding of the world.

Inspired Worldbuilding:  The top form of worldbuilding, which invites additional audience interaction via their imagination after the story has concluded.

Institutions:  Stable organizations of individuals formed for a shared purpose, usually by performing specific, reoccurring patterns of behavior.

Integration:  When an individual adopts the cultural norms and beliefs of the dominant culture while still retaining their original culture.

Interconnection:  When the threads of worldbuilding are tied together cohesively. Part of Sanderson’s third law of magic systems.

Interquel:  Stories set in an existing world but that do not connect with the original story.

Intraquel:  Stories set in an existing world that fill in gaps in the existing story.

Kinship:  How social relationships organize into groups, roles, and families. Usually consisting of consanguinity, affinity, or co-residency.

Limitations:  Checks put upon magical powers, usually in the form of weaknesses and costs. Sanderson maintains in his second law that limitations are more dramatically important than powers.

Linguistics:  The study of languages.

Literary Fiction:  The style of fiction that aims for awards, considers itself art, focuses on the prose, and is usually slowly paced.

Locality:  The small-scale community in which the individuals in a group grew up, usually comprising of a town, neighborhood, or block, which differentiates them from others in the surrounding area.

M-O

Macroworldbuilding:  The first of the stages N. K. Jemisin breaks her worldbuilding process into, which consists of planet, continents, climate, and ecology.

Magic:  Change wrought through unnatural means.

Magic Point Systems:  Magic systems where the casters have a set amount of energy, usually referred to as mana, to spend on their effects.

Magical Thinking:  The belief people can affect change the world around them through thoughts and behaviors.

Mana:  A frequent generalized term for the finite resource magic users spend on their magical effects.

Marginalization:  When an individual rejects both their original culture and the dominant culture.

Mary Sue/ Marty Sue:  Originally a created character for fanfic who has no flaws and is inserted into interactions with the canonical characters. Now an insult leveled at characters consumers don’t like, usually claiming they are overly capable and without flaws.

Masquerade:  A term taking from the World of Darkness RPG wherein the existence of magic is hidden from the general populous.

Metaphysics:  In worldbuilding, dealing with deities, spirits, cosmology, and the afterlife. In essence, creatures and locations that do not abide by understandings of biology or physics.

Microworldbuilding:  The second of the stages N. K. Jemisin breaks her worldbuilding process into, which consists of species, morphology, raciation, acculturation, power, and role.

Monotheism:  The belief in a single deity only.

Mystery Box:  The theory proffered by JJ Abrams that mystery drives audience interest, which will keep them invested in a story so long as they are promised elucidation later.

Mythopeia:  Constructed mythologies, lores, and histories within created worlds.

Nationality:  How an individual relates to their state. A component of cultural identity.

Nominal Change:  A superficial change in the secondary world that contributes nothing to the worldbuilding.

Norms:  What is considered acceptable group behavior and what people should and should not do in their social surroundings.

Oligarchy:  A government in which power rests in a small group of people like the nobility, wealthy, or religious leaders.

One-Off:  An intentional inconsistency meant to highlight the aberration as separate from the established worldbuilding.

Out-Group:  Those that do not share the same collective worldview, which are often mistrusted or viewed with outright hostility.

Overlaid Worlds:  Constructed worlds with real-world locations but with the addition of fantasy elements.

P-R

Pantheon:  A categorization of collected deities based upon the culture that worships them

Pantsers:  Creators who build or write without a clear outcome in mind. See Bottom-Up.

Pidgin Language:  A grammatically simplified language used for trade that comprises vocabularies drawn from numerous languages.

Planet of Hats:  The trope of treating a species or world as monolithic and with one defining trait.

Planners:  Worldbuilders or writers who have a clear plan once they start creating. See Top-Down.

Politics:  The decision-making process within groups and individuals involving power structures.

Polytheism:  The belief of multiple gods, usually inhabiting a pantheon.

Porcelain Argument:  In worldbuilding, the belief that technology stagnates at the level at which magic or a fantasy conceit is introduced.

Portal Fantasy:  A subgenre in which the characters from the real world travel to a secondary world.

Prequel:  Stories set in an existing world that precede the original story. They do not need to connect to the original story but often do.

Primary Sexual Characteristics:  The sex organs used in reproduction.

Primary World:  The real world in which we all reside and draw our experience from.

Prime Mover:  A conceit that cannot be removed without the story world falling apart.

Profane:  Something that is religiously blasphemous or obscene.

Prologue:  An opening sequence in a narrative that establishes background details to create context, clarification, and miscellaneous information for the audience

Promise of the Premise:  The term coined by Blake Snyder for the point in the story when the setup is complete and it examines its core conceits. An author breaks the promise of the premise when the story is not about the promised core concepts.

Pull Factors:  Factors that draw immigrants to an area.

Purple Prose:  Descriptions that becomes overly ornate and extravagant, to the point they break the sense of immersion by drawing attention to themselves.

Push Factors:  Factors that drive immigrants out of an area.

Race:  (a) In biology, a grouping of populations below the level of subspecies, and is rather imprecise in distinguishing the differences between them. (b) In the fantasy genre, usually understood to mean “species.”

Racial Attributes:  The assumption that any one fantasy race shares not only certain abilities like flight or the capacity to speak with animals, but certain demeanors, temperaments, and biases.

Reality Incursions:  When the outside world interjects itself into the created fantasy experience to remind the consumer that this is indeed a made-up world. They usually occur when the consumer has expert knowledge in a field that is not depicted correctly in the narrative.

Reciprocity:  When people respond to actions with similar actions. This can be positive, as in the exchanging of gifts, or negative, as with punitive eye-for-an-eye punishments for crimes.

Relativism:  The belief there is no real objective universal truth and that we base all understanding upon perception and consideration.

Religion:  The cultural system of behaviors, morals, ethics, and worldview in which humans deal with supernatural, metaphysical, and spiritual conceptions.

Retcon:  Short for “retroactive continuity,” the term comes from comic books when previous canon or facts are ignored or contradicted so as to assimilate new stories or understandings in current storylines.

Reverberations and Repercussions:  The understanding that any change within a world creates many expected and unexpected changes to the whole.

Rituals:  Formal customs often involving gestures, words, and objects performed in a traditional sequence.

Rule of Cool:  The understanding that the audience’s willing suspension of disbelief for a given element is directly proportional to its level of “coolness.”

Rule of Law:  The idea that laws extend to the lawmakers as well as the general populous.

Rule of Three:  In worldbuilding, the concept coined by Randy Ellefson in which an author should alter at least three components of a trope to make it their own.

S

Saturation:  Mark J. P. Wolf’s term for when there are simply too many details for the audience to fully absorb, which he maintains makes the world stronger since it invites the audience to reexperience the material again and again to glean something new each time.

Scarcity:  When people put higher value on rare things and assign lesser value to things in abundance.

Secondary Sexual Characteristics:  The distinguishing traits that distinguish the sexes, such as human males’ facial hair or females’ breasts.

Secondary World:  A created world that does not exist.

Selection:  In biology, the preferential survival and reproduction or elimination of individuals with certain traits. Can be either artificial, natural, positive, or negative.

Separation:  When an individual rejects the dominant culture in favor of preserving their original culture, which often leads to minority enclaves within the dominant culture

Sequel:  Stories set in an existing world that follow the original story. They do not need to connect to the original story but often do.

Set Piece:  An iconic scene that exemplifies the story even though it might not actually be necessary to the story itself.

Shamanism:  The belief that specific individuals have access to and influence over the spiritual realm, usually derived by ritual and entering altered states.

Show Don't Tell:  The understanding that the audience prefers to experience the worldbuilding details and storytelling events in action rather than having them explained.

Smeerp:  Unnecessarily renaming something to make it seem exotic. Derived from James Blish’s sarcastic use of the term when describing rabbits.

Smeerp Hole:  When one seemingly minor change contributes to a whole slew of other changes on the author’s part that add little to the audience experience as a whole.

Social Class:  The hierarchal social stratification of groups, usually manifesting as upper, middle, and lower classes.

Socialism:  The economic system in which the workers or government own and manage the means of production.

Socialization:  The process in which a group passes on the worldviews, norms, and customs to their children.

Soft Deduction:  When a character with knowledge of the worldbuilding takes action based upon specific information to get the worldbuilding rules across to the audience.

Soft Impart:  Information presented to the audience not through narrative text but through a trustworthy side character or source. Can often come about from an overheard conversation or explanation from another character.

Specialization:  The divisions of labor and creation of occupations when the population does not individually have to account for their daily caloric intake. As opposed to generalist.

Species:  A group of living creatures capable of exchanging genetic material and producing viable offspring.

Speculative Fiction:  An umbrella term for fiction that inject elements into the story that do not exist in the real world. Fantasy, science fiction, horror, historical fiction, alternative history, and dystopian and utopian fiction are just a few genres that qualify as speculative fiction.

Spotlighted/Lampshaded:  A potentially troublesome concept or idea that is intentionally brought to the audience’s attention before it becomes problematic to highlight that it is intended as a fantasy conceit rather than an accidental anachronism.

Stasis:  The drive to maintain the current order, be it social, political, or technological.

States:  Organized governments overseeing a specific territory that can interact with other states.

Streamlining:  Part of Sanderson’s third law of magic in which worldbuilding details should be accounted for by already existing fantasy conceits instead of creating whole new conceits.

Suspension of Disbelief:  When an audience makes a choice to suspend their critical faculties to allow for a patently unreal concept to be considered logical for the sake of entertainment.

T-W

Taming:  When an animal has been taught to tolerate human presence. As opposed to domestication.

Technobabble:  When a character spouts a number of details to establish their expert credentials in the field. Technobabble is not meant to be understood by either the audience or the other characters, only to establish the character’s authority on the subject.

Terra De Facto:  The implicit understanding that anything that is not accounted for by a fantasy conceit must therefore abide by the rules of the primary world.

Terrain:  The vertical and horizontal proportions of land masses, which includes how high it is above sea level and at what slope.

Theocracy:  A government where the religious leaders and practices control the laws in addition to the religious norms and rituals.

Toehold Details:  Descriptors that specifically trigger the assumption of an analogue culture and time period, and therefore help the audience to mentally populate the scene.

Top-Down:  In design, when the underlying idea or system is formed on a grand scale, then with all subsequent subsystems being added and refined until everything is mapped out. Also referred to as “planner” or “engineer” when it comes to writing or worldbuilding. 

Totems:  Imbued emblems representing a group of people tied to a specific spirit.

Transmedial:  When a story or world exists in multiple mediums.  

Tropes:  Reoccurring motifs, images, plots, and characterization that exist within a genre.

Unchanged:  When the creator does not use a particular fantasy conceit and leaves their created world the same as the real world in regards to this fantasy conceit. See Terra De Facto.

Unobtanium:  In engineering, the term used for materials or technologies that do not yet exist but will one day solve current problems. Frequently used in science fiction worldbuilding.

Upmarket Fiction:  The style of fiction that aims for creating discussion. It often blends literary and commercial fiction, deals with universal themes, has accessible language, and is character-driven.

Weakness:  Limiting factors that diminish the power or the person using it. Part of Sanderson’s second law of magic.

Worldbuilding Capital:  Time and mental energy sunk into a world, which is why authors frequently reuse the existing world instead of forming a new one for subsequent stories.

Worldbuilding Kudzu:  When too many worldbuilding choke out the pertinent information by sheer volume, thus disrupting immersion.

Worldview:   How a society or individual orients their knowledge and point of view towards the world. This includes philosophy, fundamentals, existential postulates, values and ethics, ideology, and attitude. It encompasses the concept of why the world works the way it does and the “correct” way to act within it.

Worship:  The act of religious devotion towards a deity or ideal.

Source ⚜ More: Word Lists

[indestinatus]

The silent art of gif making

The gif above has 32 layers plus 6 that aren't shown because this is part of a larger edit. I wanted to share it to give everyone a glimpse of the art of gif making and how long it usually takes for me to make something like this. This one took me about an hour and a half but only because I couldn't get the shade of blue right.

I use Adobe Photoshop 2021 and my computer doesn't have a large memory space (I don't know what to call it) so usually most of psds get deleted because I'm too lazy to get a hard drive. It doesn't really bother me that much because I like the art so when it's done, it's done. Off to somewhere else it goes.

Here are the layers:

Everything is neat and organized in folders because I like it that way. I prefer to edit it in timeline but others edit each frame. There's a layer not shown (Layer 4 is not visible) and it's the vector art. Here it is:

Now it is visible. I don't plan to make this a tutorial, but if you're interested I'd love to share a few tricks about it. I'm pretty new to the colors in gifmaking but the rest is simple to understand. Here, I just want to show how much work it takes to make it.

I opened Group 2 and here's the base gif. I already sharpened and sized it correctly but that's about it. Let's open the base coloring next.

Yay! Now it looks pretty! The edits are in Portuguese but it doesn't matter. There's a silent art of adding layers depending on how you want the gif to look but you get used to it. The order matters and you can add multiple layers of the same thing (for eg. multiple layers of levels or curves or exposure).

This was pretty much my first experiment with coloring so I don't know what I'm doing (this happens a lot with any art form but gifmaking exceeds in DIYing your way to the finished product) but I didn't want to mess up his hair, that's why the blue color is like that. Blue is easy to work with because there's little on the skin (different from red and yellow but that's color theory). I painted the layers like that and put it on screen, now let's correct how the rest looks.

I was stuck trying to get the right teal shade of blue so yes, those are 10 layers of selective color mostly on cyan blue. We fixed his hair (yay!) we could've probably fixed the blue on his neck too but I was lazy. This is close to what I wanted so let's roll with that.

BUT I wanted his freckles to show, so let's edit a little bit more. Now his hair is more vibrant and his skin has red tones, which accentuates the blues and his eyes (exactly what I wanted!). That lost Layer 2 was me trying to fix some shadows in the background but in the end, it didn't make such a difference.

This was part of an edit, so let's add the graphics and also edit them so they're the right shade of blue and the correct size. A few gradient maps and a dozen font tests later, it appears to be done! Here it is:

Please reblog gifsets on tumblr. We gifmakers really enjoy doing what we do (otherwise we wouldn't be here) but it takes so long, you wouldn't imagine. Tumblr is the main website used for gif making and honestly, we have nowhere to go but share our art here. This was only to show how long it takes but if you're new and want to get into the art of gif making, there are a lot of really cool resource blogs in here. And my ask box is always open! Sending gifmakers all my love.

[atamascolily]

I've been obsessing over this rendition of the Law of Cycles as a kinetic sculpture for a long time, so it's kind of embarrassing to realize there are actually ten witches here, not nine. (In my defense, one is so washed out, it's really hard to tell that there's anything there.) Fortunately, the Rebellion Production Note comes to the rescue again with Inu Curry's original artwork, which is even more interesting to me than the versions that made it into the movie.

Here the "constellation" of witches is juxtaposed with the organ in Oktavia's orchestra. Clockwise from upper right:

HN Elly the Box Witch (also known as Kirsten) from Episode 4;

Sayaka's witch Oktavia's crown made of swords

Nagisa's witch Charlotte's doll silhouettes from episode 3

Patricia (spider witch with the clothesline webs from Episode 10)

Albertine the Scribbling witch (who doesn't appear in the show, but Sayaka fights her familiar Anja in the alleyway before Kyouko turns up in episode 5)

Elsa Maria the Shadow Witch whom Sayaka fights in episode 7

Gertrud the Rose Witch from Episode 1-2

Roberta the birdcage witch that Homura encounters in a flashback in episode 10

Suleika- another witch who never appears directly in the show but Mami dispatches her shadow lion familiars at the beginning of episode 3

Izabel the Art Witch who ensnares Homura in episode 10

None of this is explained in the Rebellion Production Note, by the way; for the designs of the sigils and other information that doesn't appear in the original series, you have to go to the corresponding production notes in the official guidebook "You Are Not Alone Anymore", which somehow I had never seen before. As someone who generally believes works should stand on their own without requiring further research, I am mildly annoyed at once again having to comb through supplementary artbooks in order to interpret this diagram, but such is life as a Madoka Magica fan.

Suleika's name and sigil don't even appear in the guidebook, to the point where the only reason I figured it out was by the process of elimination and the fact that it's a flashlight making the same star-shaped shadows as the lion heads (which are called Ulla). Talk about hidden lore!

Anyway, these ten witches are the ones that I think are most likely to show up in Walpurgis no Kaiten in some fashion or another, with preference given to those who have the most screen time in the original series (Gertrud, Charlotte, Oktavia, Patricia). Those who never appear on-screen in the original series or who only have a very brief appearance, like Albertine, Roberta, and Suleika, are probably less likely to be featured in a larger role, just because the average audience member who doesn't have a PhD in Madoka Studies might not know/remember who they are, but we'll have to see; if nothing else, Inu Curry loves a good esoteric reference.

This is not to say that there won't be witches from other spinoffs in Walpurgis no Kaiten, given that fans have already spotted multiple Magia Record witches in the witch book in the second trailer, but blink-and-you'll-miss-it freeze frame Easter eggs for hardcore fans are an entirely different kettle of fish from meaningful roles. That said, Doroinu Curry directed the Magia Record anime, so, uh, suffice to say that they really, really like Magia Record and it's not surprising that they'd try to slip in as many references as possible. TBD. Patricia was also heavily featured in Magia Record 2x01, which is one reason I ranked her so high on my list.

One thing that's really fascinating about this "constellation" is that Walpurgisnacht is not present in the movie version, even though her elephants appear to pull a pumpkin carriage when the Law of Cycles comes to take Homura away. However, she is present in the artwork in the Rebellion Production Note in the form of the lace curtain above the organ, making her the "stage" upon which the performance takes place. Alternately, the curtain here could refer to Homulilly, who is also associated with lace and curtains, as most of Rebellion takes place in her labyrinth.

Metaphorically, Walpurgisnacht is the dark mirror to the Law of Cycles--both are conglomerations of witches represented by a single entity, but one offers salvation/relief/death while the other offers death and destruction. Given Madoka Magica's tendency to make its metaphors literal, I suspect the two are more closely related than we know, though the mechanics of how exactly that would work remains to be seen.

Another fun tidbit: the captions in the Rebellion Production Note suggest that the "spokes" connecting the witches to each other represent links by fate or some kind of other link that makes them compatible with each other. Thus, Oktavia is linked to Elly/Kirsten because Sayaka fought and destroyed her; Sayaka and Nagisa are partners on the mission to save Homura, but I'm very curious about the other connections there. What do Suleika and Izabel have in common?

Also, I know I've said this before, but wow, does the constellation echo the isolation field that Kyubey puts Homura's soul gem in, so there's something especially poetic about the one being used to destroy the other.

It's still incredible to me I've been in this fandom for four years now and I'm learning new things about Madoka Magica every day!

[bahnloopi]

Hello 👋 I'm the random guy with the idea of whale saiyan subspecies from a month or three back, I've been having more ideas based around other mammalian animals, and I wanted to know what you though about them. I wanna say first that if I make a spelling mistake, I'm very sorry autocorrect beat my ass, also not all of them will be very long.

Beach dwelling saiyans

These saiyan's were inspired by seals. Basically, these saiyans adapted to living on more beach/ocean based environments.

Now these saiyans range in size, some being, 8ft tall 840lbs, and some would range near the teens to 20 ft tall, and being close to 10'000lbs or more but on average, many of these seal-saiyan's would being large, and much heavier thanks to their blubber. Seal-saiyans still have their legs, with webbed feat. Their tales have become larger and evolved to help swim, better, and balance themselves during fights. They are also covered in hair like seals themselves, making them somewhat huggable, but their not squishy. They may look it, but their body is very dense. Now, for a body type, think of them like strong-men, for both male and female seal-saiyans, they chonk but their muscle-chonk, hence their dense frame. Also, many of them have very cute faces, and you can surprise huge a seal-saiyan, besides the elephant seal-bulls, and overall the leopard seal-saiyans.

Savanah saiyans:

These saiyans were inspired by african-wild dogs. They're larger than the earth canine species, but smaller than saiyans, they come in pacts, are very family bonded, and for 5 like the canines themselves, the kids are priority number one. Now then, can you huge the Savanah-saiyan, teachically yes, but you may be missing a limb or multiple, unless they give your permission OVER TIME, you can't touch um especially even get near the kids. If you do gain their trust, then you can start building near the hugs and other things of such nature.

Tropical saiyans:

These saiyans are inspired by capybara's. These are saiyans living near the tropical river of their homeworld. Now they are much larger than the animal and infant, just bigger than baseline sayaians on average, just like the animals themselves and the memes. These big saiyans, semi herbivorous, saiyans are strait vibes, everything you could or cannot do with the previous two, you could do that and more with these guys, now from time to time their are little battles between big males, these guys, do tend to box over territory but besides that, towards outsiders if said outsiders aren't just blatantly disrespectful, their vibes.

So yeah, those are so saiyan subspecies I thought of, I've been thinking of bunch, but I just wanted to throw down a couple anyway. If you get to read this, wanna know your thoughts? Thanks for reading and bye 👋

Hey!

The water ones are I'm trying to wrap my head around but that's just my brain trying to apply the basic Saiyan traits to them to see the functionality but it's not a bad idea, definitely interesting.

The Savanah/Tropics saiyans do peak my interest mainly because I can apply most of my thoughts from the climate and other things they'd be able to do in the space.

Personally, I'm someone who tries to find the most functionality within the environment first if that makes sense. They can do (this) but not (this) because of where they are or what resources are available to them. I'd often weigh the advantages/disadvantages of the environment.

Like how I have the Sentos structured to be "dual-climate" equipped to where they can survive in both a hot tropical and cold climates that limits their number disadvantages because of environment. The worst would probably be is that Sentos' senses are dulled in the snow regions.

Not me knocking you because you're still cooking but this is just how I'd try to dissect to either understand, visualize the concept.

[tohwitchesduels]

LOSERS BRACKET OF WITCHES DUELS - Battle 16 - Battle Royale: Edric Blight vs Jerbo vs Skara

Disclaimer: This is not a popularity contest or which character you prefer, in this tournament, you decide who is stronger/better/smarter/etc. opponent.

information for both opponents under the cut to those who don't know what they can do in their battle:

Jerbo:

Jerbo specializes in abomination and plant magic and doesn't show the capacity for spells of other kinds. He utilises mixed magic to manipulate both the soil and the plants.

Jerbo seems to be quite a knowledgeable and ambitious fella. He doesn't show great fighting spirit though. During this battle, his palismen won't be allowed.

Jerbo is struggling but he's willing to win even if he has two opponents instead of just one.

Vine Attack - Jerb is capable of creating vines from his hands to use as an offensive attack or a way to potentially grab objects. It can go far distance. His vines are also pretty strong.

Abomination Minion - Jerbo is capable of creating an abomination minion for himself. He can create abomination from either soil or abomination goo. His abominations are middle-sized mostly and can do simple tasks. However, it's not uncommon for Jerbo to also lose control over his abominations making them go berserk. Abomination Minion can fight his own battles using brute strength. The minions are pretty quick too.

Abomination Beast - Jerbo is capable of creating a mud-like beast he can ride and use to attack his opponents by ramming head on or devouring them. The beast is much larger than a typical abomination minion and probably more durable too.

Link to more of Jerbo's capabilities here

Skara:

Skara specializes in the bard track. For the purposes of this tournament, I allow Skara to have a powerset established by MoringMark's comics due to him fleshing out her capabilities in the "A Hint of Blue" comic storyline and his comics being beloved by the fan base. And not only. Her instrument of choice is lyra.

Skara is established to be an excellent strategist in ASIAS and she's an experienced athlete in both grudgby and flyer derby. She also did show some fiery spirit in LR and judging by her becoming a new teacher at Hexside, she seems to be quite proficient in magic, granted usually in battles she didn't showcase impressive feats. During this battle, Palismen are not allowed.

Skara here is to take down two birds with one stone. She's becoming ruthless this round.

One of the tools I'm willing to give Skara regardless of everything is flying boots. She can use them for transportation and aerial attacks even when she doesn't possess a palisman during the battle and she can use them to save herself from fall damage if she ever is knocked out midair.

Another tool I'm willing to give her is the bag of tentacles she used in Once Upon a Swap to prank people, she can occasionally throw some of them at the battlefield to create tentacle traps. Skara doesn't control them though so the tentacles could attack her as well.

Arrow Strike - MoringMark exclusive ability. Skara can release a single arrow using her magic which can be used offensively. The arrow is strong enough to pierce through magical barriers. Requires an instrument.

Arrow Storm - MoringMark exclusive ability. Skara can release multiple arrows at once using her magic for offensive purposes. Requires an instrument.

Beat Box Shockwave - MoringMark exclusive ability. Skara can release a shockwave all around herself by beatboxing. She can utilise it to push away anything coming her way, including even her opponents. The range however isn't particularly big though.

Willpower Increase - MoringMark exclusive ability. Skara by playing her instrument can regain her strength and clear her mind. Can be used to refresh herself during the battle. Requires an instrument.

Sonic Whistle - MoringMark exclusive ability. Skara by whistling can release sonic waves that can be used to distract or even immobilize her opponents due to the noise hurting the ears of everyone hearing her whistle. It however won't work on deaf opponents.

Thunder Wave - MoringMark exclusive ability. Skara can create a thunderstorm with lightning directly striking her opponents. It's Skara's strongest offensive capability. Requires her instrument. Skara can release multiple lightnings one after another dealing even more damage to her enemies. Skara can also choose where her lightning strikes too.

Snow Spell - as demonstrated in Something Ventured, Someone Framed, Skara learned how to create snow. She will usually display it as a simple snowball or snow blast attack

Fire Spell - as demonstrated in Something Ventured, Someone Framed, Skara to create snow can also create fire. She will usually use this ability specifically to throw a single fireball.

Link to more of Skara's capabilities here

Edric Blight:

Edric Blight is pretty chaotic and airheaded but can also be clever and sneaky. He can both focus on offense and deception. Granted at times he tends to not think things through and can make rash decisions that can and will blow up in his face. He specializes in Potions, Illusion, and Beast-Keeping magic, making him a pretty strong and skilled all-rounder even if he can be pretty impulsive. During this battle, he won't be using whatever palisman he has.

Edric plans on winning this match without even trying. What are two opponents to him?

One of the tools Edric can use during his battles independently of whether or not his opponent also possesses any, is fireworks. That's right, Edric brings fireworks to the battlefield and can use them offensively. Due to how illegal and unstable they are and how Edric landed in the healing coven multiple times due to them, they're noted to be particularly destructive and unpredictable meaning any outcome can be achieved (either they hurt only Edric, they hurt his opponent or both or neither - the rule of random applies here so do whatever you want with it).

Restraining Magic - Edric is capable of creating a lasso made out of light that can be used to restrain his enemies. We saw it when he tried this with Slitherbeast. However, Edric can also enhance any lasso or tie to specifically bind a particular target he has in mind as of Reaching Out, meaning it can be very difficult even for stronger opponents to break away from his bonds.

Explosive Potions - Edric is capable of brewing potions that explode upon shattering, thus can be used offensively, but also as a distraction and defense (the best defense is offense and the best offense is defense after all). Edric can throw multiple potions at once or in a row. He will usually have multiple at hand.

Transformation Potion - Edric improvised and created a potion that can alter the appearance of the drinker. Edric has the recipe and antidote (plenty of ice packs) at hand to either use this potion or on himself to transform into a stronger and "draconic" version of themselves (demonstrated on Warden Wrath though aside from his appearance and enhanced abilities, he didn't seem to display new ones). The potion allows the user to gain immense strength, sharp claws, spikes, and horns and is much bigger in size, however, it comes at the expense of rational thinking turning the user into a wild animal. So Edric either transforms and hopes and prays he can quiet down his instincts enough to apply ice packs on himself, or he uses it to confuse his enemies and hope they won't hurt him too much. After the potion's effects get canceled, the user of it gets nauseous and is incapable of further fighting. He will usually only have a few at hand though.

Truth Potion - Edric brewed those before battle with enough patience to not mess them up so he can use them safely. Their capacity on the battlefield usually extends to tricking the enemy into either drinking them or inhaling them and making them confess their weaknesses out loud. He will usually have a few at hand though.

Snow Magic - when training with Amity he did display he can use snow to his advantage, though he only used it to sink Amity into the ground, which would be only possible if the area's ground was always snow, but for that, I have a different spell in mind. Edric can create simple snow blasts with it or use it to immobilise his opponents by creating enough snow around them to burrow them in it.

Sinking Magic - Edric is capable of making the ground sink beneath the feet of his opponents if they're distracted enough. He demonstrated it when training with Amity and I'm making it a full-blown ability that can be hard to counter but not impossible if the opponent can dig through any surface. Be it snow or ground (though probably not metals considering how solid and refined they are).

Telekinesis - Edric displays an ability to move objects at ease. He can, in fact, lift his opponents and move them through great distances just fine, granted it works best on distracted opponents. He can also use this ability to throw projectiles of various sizes (though the biggest one probably won't be bigger than your average person who can be tall).

Glamour - Edric can alter his appearance through either concealment stone or even by himself as demonstrated in the illusion classes. The way Edric used glamour in the show however isn't exactly useful on the battlefield as he would usually just enhance his appearance like switching clothes or making himself look posh. So for the purposes of this tournament, I allow Edric to be able to completely alter his appearance to look like someone else. However this ability only comes in handy during battle royales when multiple people are battling, otherwise it's effectively useless in a 1v1 setting. Edric also doesn't gain any new abilities from such a transformation, though it can't be easily dispelled.

Illusion Casting - Edric is capable of casting any illusion of any object or even a living being. Said illusions can interact with the real world just fine (so he can for example create ammo as Amity threw at him "Hex me" papers he created himself and knocked him out with it). His illusions normally are fragile but with his beast magic, he can strengthen to make it harder to dispell them.

Illusion Clone - Edric is capable of creating a clone of anyone he desires, granted it's usually one clone at a time as proven in EGF when he created a clone of Eda. The clone could potentially mimic the abilities of the people they took shape from but it's more than often just an illusion. They could also take upon the personality of anyone they were cloned from.

Trap Illusions - Edric can create illusions that can transform into barriers upon contact with them. This can restrain his opponents while still allowing Edric to be able to touch and affect them (like a Venetian mirror).

Camouflage - Now I'm not sure whether or not Edric can cast it on his own or if it requires a team effort, but in LR once Bump made a stand against the EC, all the other students would appear after the illusion of camouflage was dispelled, so I'll allow all illusion casters that were part of this to be capable to at least hide out of sight temporarily, so Edric now can use this ability to stay hidden for short time during the battle.

Bat Companion - now Edric may not possess a palisman, but he can use his pet bat during battles, sending him out of the attack to attack his opponents or distract them with it. To how much extent the bat will listen is however limited, though enough for the bat to not attack Edric.

Beast Luring - this was more or less proven in Reaching Ou how easier it was to lure out beasts Edric needed using his beast-keeping magic, so Edric could bring back any beast to the battlefield with his knowledge. However, said beasts will probably not listen to Edric at all.

Link to more of Edric's capabilities here

Return to Masterpost

[annerb-fic]

I was thinking about how in the past I have tried to describe my writing process as a sort of weaving or braiding as I try to keep various plot threads woven in and not dropping any of them. But it never felt quite right because there is still a linear quality to both of those activities, and I so far from a linear writer.

But the other day I was doing a jigsaw puzzle and I was like, no, no, THIS is the metaphor for my writing process. Like, a giant jumble of stuff (vague ideas, snippets of dialogue, character beats, plot), all in a giant mess (possibly all from multiple projects all in one box). And I don't know how other people do jigsaw puzzles, but the first thing I do is find the bright, obvious, easily distinguishable areas with maybe weird texture or a vivid color and go through and collect the pieces that might be part of it in various piles. And then I try to put each pile together into something recognizable and guess where it might fit in the larger frame. Like maybe the frame and then four or five very distinct areas. Until you've got something like this:

Like maybe some areas are big, and some are just two pieces together. And sometimes after a while you realize you have a part that's in the wrong place entirely, or upside down! Or, shit, that's from a different puzzle! (okay, that rarely happens. I am careful with my jigsaw pieces, but I am not with my writing.)

And slowly you add more pieces to connect them all, one at a time. Slowly, slowly. A few pieces a day. Here and there. Maybe adding one more piece to one clump and then pieces to a different clump until they connect. Maybe I leave it languishing on the dining room table for a while to collect dust and get trampled by cats. Maybe I go start a different one. (Nope, I don't do that with puzzles. I don't have the space.)

But the puzzle slowly starts to take shape! The pieces go in faster! Only then... At some point I am left with tons of little spaces and a pile of pieces that are all the same uniform color, but are all funky, different little shapes. And it feels like a drag to figure those out (these are the transitions and small filler bits I have just put off over and over again). Sometimes this is where I literally go back and sort all the puzzle pieces by shape and then try them all one by one until they find a place to go. Tedious. Not the most exciting. Easy to get wrong. But we're So Near The End.

And, sure, it doesn't really happen much when I'm doing a puzzle, but if I stretch the metaphor, in writing I can also find pieces that just don't fit and have to go back to the box.

But what TOTALLY tracks in this metaphor is the euphoric feeling of putting the last goddamn piece into place. And you sit there for a moment being like, "oh my god, it's actually done. It's actually freaking DONE!" And you don't know if you need to get up and run around in a circle or just stare in disbelief. Possibly take a nap.

But it is definitely, finally ready to send off to beta. Ah. So lovely. (Not that I have experienced this in a long while. YEARS.)

Anyway. That is a more apt metaphor for my writing process, for those of you who have asked over the years.

It's probably too early for 2024 resolutions or wishes. But I hope to feel this even ONCE in 2024. Yeah, that would be great.

[rottenshotgungames]

Sorry for falling off of the face of the earth for a bit there

Make A Quick Reference

I’ve been quietly toiling away, making design alterations, doing formatting, editing, making character sheets, all of those lovely things that go into publishing a playtest. I’ve walked away from that experience a little wiser, new skills under my belt and an utter hatred for the process of creating form fillable PDFs. I’d like to share some of that hard-won wisdom today, particularly this:

YOU SHOULD MAKE A RULES REFERENCE SHEET FOR YOUR GAME. If it is any larger than two pages, your game needs it. I do not care what your game is, it can be a tactical combat game, an FiTD variant, some chaotic mish-mash resulting in an OSR Lovecraft game, you should make a Quick Reference sheet. There are a lot of reasons why, A LOT of reasons, but here’s 3 big ones:

It really helps GMs and players (this is the obvious one). Having a reference sheet during play makes the game faster, easier, and better.

It forces you to review, revise, and refocus the game’s foundation. You should be doing this regularly as part of the design process anyway, but creating a rules reference will often result in a stark reminder of what the central rules of your games are. If you’ve lost your focus a bit, you’ll figure it out pretty quick.

It exercises your ability to convey information concisely, a necessary skill for game designers and writers. If you’re not practicing conveying the necessary rules of your game in short form, you should be— and making a quick reference will be a wake-up call if nothing else.

That should be enough. If you are not convinced that you should make a quick reference, I cannot help you. Go, live in your blissful ignorance for eternity.

For those who have taken my message to heart, I’m gonna give you a few loose guidelines for making an effective quick reference. These are not hard and fast rules, just things that I use for myself to keep the sheet practical and sharpening.

Include core and common rules first and foremost. This is different for every game, but usually includes one or two important chapters (probably the first one). I don’t personally include character specific options, but to each their own.

Limit yourself to a 2 page spread / single sheet of paper. If you have multiple kinds of play, such as downtime rules or a separation between narrative and tactical play, feel free to create a second 2 page rules reference.

Use boxes and tables. Organize and section related information to the best of your ability.

Limit yourself to a minimum font size of 10 point. This is about the limit of readability on a printed page, for the purpose of accessibility.

Like all rules documents, write the first draft in pure text format.

That’s really it. At the end of the day, any quick reference is better than no quick reference. Whether you eschew these guidelines entirely or specify hard-and-fast rules is entirely up to you. That being said . . . MAKE A QUICK REFERENCE. And if you have a favorite quick reference, or implementation of a quick reference sheet, please let me know in the notes!

Self Promotion

Thank you so much for reading. I really just wanted to get something out, considering how long I’ve been absent. The free playtest for my stealth-action RPG, Footfall, is launching by the end of the day tomorrow! The game is going to include all player facing rules, the rules for enemy creation, and a playable adventure. If you want to be notified when it releases, you can follow me here or on itch at https://rotten-shotgun-games.itch.io. I also have a Discord server where I post about the projects I’m working on pretty regularly, which can be joined with this link: https://discord.gg/wcHnG4V5fH.

Once again, I hope you have a great night and a great day.

[boxturret]

Steamboy Legoes

I think it just so happened Steamboy came in to my life right when Bionicles started to get bad, so around that time I made a lot of M.O.C.¹s based on the various machines from the film.

Since most of my legoes at that point were, in fact, Bionicles, I didn't have all that many parts to work with, so many of my builds were quite unorthodox. There's not going to be much S.N.O.T.², short for Studs Not On Top³, here. Also legoes aren't some holy relic that must be treasured above all else, so I cut, glued, and stuck paper on things as I saw fit⁴.

I also wasn't very good at taking photos that were in focus, so you've been warned.

Steam Automotive

This, being the first big crazy machine you see in the movie, it leaves a big impression. Its scene and music are also amazing so that helps.

I made this thing so many times. The gearing on the front wheels was always such a big thing for me, the fact that for it to move forward the larger gear had to rotate backwards was really eye opening for me at the time.

I was really quite inspired by seeing someone else's build of it, it was motorised and ran on tracks and had the monowheel on a rod in front of it. It was really cool, so much so that I'll forgive the fact that when the Steam Automotive was on the tracks it was in front of the mono wheel. I can't find it anymore, I swear there was more Steamboy stuff on Brickshelf at one point.

The way the machine has two drivers, a guy in the back in a more standard locomotive cab and then this guy in a tiny chair in front of the weird vertical second boiler/smoke box(?) with a head on it, its so interesting.

Honestly over this period the legoes I had was pretty consistent, but as I studied the reference materials I had closer and got a more complete idea of how everything went together my approaches changed a lot.

This was the last version I made, and probably the last M.O.C.¹ I made in general. It has a really different structure to the others, but some things have been retained. Sliding tires over 2x2 bricks and technic bushings to make tubes is a pretty good technique I think. Probably heretical in the church of lego purity though.

This model was kept together over my dark ages⁵, if you can call the period of time between when the legoes go in the attic to when they go on ebay that. I did think about keeping it, but there were too many parts from bigger sets in there, and I needed money to buy Rahi.

Note how by this point I'd just completely given up on miniature figures. They're just...so ugly lol, catering builds to fit those blocky awkward giants in was just not fun.

Most of the other builds are all one-offs after this point.

Steam Castle

Except this one. I tried a couple times to give it more texture, but it was hard at the scale. Not really notable at all. Basically only made it because I had enough black connectors to make a circle.

Return of the Steam Automotive

It happened again.

This was basically made right after I watched the movie from memory, so that's why all the colours are off. The gears still work!

And I took a second crack at it. its such a pleasing design.

Aero Corps.

Structure wise this one is really accurate lol, but trying to fit it with a miniature figure just doesn't' work. I was really happy with the custom wings.

Aqua Corps.

I was really happy with the arms. I bet its illegal, but who cares lol, it works. Never even tried to fit a man in this.

Blimp

This was the biggest thing I made, and thus suffered the most from my lack of parts. It should be noted that the bulk of this stuff was built at once, even though I never took a group shot.

I had one wright flyer set and that's where all the tan panels for the tiny fraction of the air sack came from, the curve was just some click hinges but the panels were so heavy they had to be held held up with strings.

The biggest problem was always things with multiple identical components. It was a stretch to make the 6 fingers of this crab thing even with such a simple construction.

Legged Tank and Steam Trooper

I love this tank that appears in like 3 shots and in 1 is getting blown up and in another is dead. Why didn't I use a minifig for the steam trooper? I hear you ask, well, the backpack was more important for me, and I couldn't have a breast plate and a backpack without a major headache.

The linkages don't really do anything productive, except make it hard to rebuild the boxor in 12 years. But they looked cool.

This one really benefitted from me getting the collector's edition of the movie that came with a booklet that featured some concept art and renders. You barely see this thing in the movie, and certainly not from the back.

Flying Machine

I call this one the "I saw someone make this on brickset using revolvers and it looked really good, but all I have are brown muskets because my lego collection is a couple pirate sets from before I was born, bionicles, and the wright flyer".

British Tank

This was the second version, the earlier one was too bad even for me.

I didn't have the stuff to make custom treads so instead I just used the giant chain from the wright flyer and faked the thickness lol. I think that's a pretty good Union Jack for being done freehand on a tiny flat tile with some not very fine tipped sharpies.

Yes the boiler was held together with rubber bands why wouldn't it be.

Say hello to Mr. "Everyone in this movie has a moustache because its 1866 but I only have one miniature figure head with a moustache".

I was quite taken with how the gun was a separate unit that could be detached.

Monocycle

Ray's a part of it, it can't stay together without him. Its all just wedged in there. I got some very used lego once that had some parts of an old police station from the 80s in it, and some of the pieces weren't even broken! So I managed to salvage the back half of a bike from there.

I also made Edward.

Since I didn't have any brown sharpies I just stuck on some paper coloured brown with a marker. At some point I found that the glue I was using to stick the papers on also could rub the prints off so that was cool, saved sanding. Very few miniature figures from my childhood remained.

And this concludes a short look at my dark past. If for some reason you want to see more, there's some more photos of the older ones can be found on this brickshelf.

I wrote a big post about Steamboy over here, if this didn't scare you away.

Notes ¹Short for "My Own Creation". ²Short for "Studs Not On Top"³. ³Often abbreviated as S.N.O.T.². ⁴If the sight of such things disturbs you please leave the post now. ⁵Fans of legoes liken the part of their life when they aren't buying legoes to a period of scientific and cultural stagnation.

[monaleen101]

Growing strawberries is simple and absolutely delicious! Learn four different methods you can choose from when learning how to grow strawberries, plus what to do with them once you harvest. There’s nothing quite like biting into a freshly grown strawberry. Plucked right off the vine, they are warm from the sunshine and perfectly ripened with that beautiful red colour. I can taste it now! Strawberries are a very versatile fruit when it comes to gardening. They can be a favourite out in the garden for critters, so some of these growing techniques can protect your strawberries so they can ripen to a sweet red on the plant. Here’s everything you need to know about growing strawberries, plus what to do with them once you harvest! Strawberries are in season from late spring to early summer. How to Grow Strawberries: 4 Methods If you have only ever eaten strawberries out of a plastic supermarket box, I’ve got great news for you! Growing strawberries is simple, and the result is a thousand times better than anything you could buy. Keep in mind that no matter how you choose to grow strawberries, you need about six plants per person to make the harvest worth the effort. It’s totally doable, though, because you can pack a lot of plants into unique grow bags, hanging baskets, and containers to maximize the surface area of these plants. They don’t need much room for roots so as long as there is soil space in your design, you can grow strawberries the smart way. I’ll show you exactly how to grow strawberries in four different ways, and some tips and tricks to get the best harvest ever. Ditch the petunias and grow strawberries in a hanging basket. 1. Grow Strawberries in Hanging Baskets Did you know that you can easily start growing strawberries in a hanging basket? It’s true! You can use any hanging basket that you have or even convert a vintage egg basket by lining it with some moss. You can only fit a few plants in here, so you need a few of them or they will mostly be decorative snacking berries. You can also plant a ton of strawberry plants in one of these crazy grow bag-style hanging planters. This one is meant for annual flowers, but you can find grow bags like these that have pockets made for strawberries and it sure produces a lot of fruit in a tiny space! I like gardening in hanging baskets for a couple of different reasons. First of all, a hanging basket planting can help your strawberries drain properly and avoid overwatering. It’s also helpful for avoiding root rot since the water drains out rather than sits. Secondly, growing strawberries in hanging baskets get your fruit out of reach for many pests. This is especially handy if you live in an area with a rabbits or deer. Those cute little critters love to munch on strawberries—and can we really blame them? Remove temptation and save your harvest by lifting them high out of their reach. Here’s an entire post about how to grow strawberries in a hanging basket, as well as many other fruits, herbs, and vegetables. You can buy specialty tiered hanging baskets to maximize your space. 2. Grow Strawberries in Pots Growing strawberries in pots are one of the most classic ways to grow this tasty berry. There’s no wonder it’s so popular – with this method you get to enjoy the flowers from the strawberry plant and then the berry itself in a portable package! You certainly can use a strawberry pot or a tiered container to grow strawberries in. You can grow them in a regular pot of course, but the design of the pots with multiple holes for small plants allows a much larger harvest. A tiered pot allows you to grow multiple strawberry plants in one space. I like to add a watering tube in the middle of my strawberry pots, to make sure that the water gets all the way down to the bottom soil evenly. You can add one by drilling a few holes in PVC pipe and then filling it with sand to slow the water release. Want to learn all about how to grow berries in pots? I’ve got you covered! Here’s everything you need to know about growing strawberries in containers. Without a watering tube, you will need to water your strawberries in containers frequently. 3. Growing Strawberries in a Raised Bed A raised garden bed or planter makes an excellent spot for growing strawberries. You may have seen tiered strawberry raised bed designs where multiple levels are built as steps up the bed to fill lots of strawberry plants in a small space. I grew strawberries in a tiered gardening bed to maximize my small sliver of sun in my backyard. My friend Tanya from Lovely Greens had the great idea to take a single pallet and turn it into a beautiful, functional strawberry planter. I really like this idea because it’s a great way to upcycle, and it also allows plenty of room for those runners to poke out through the slats. Raised gardening beds can also help to keep weeds out. 4. Grow Strawberries in the Ground If you have the space, this is a great way to get a good harvest of one of my favorite fruits. These sturdy plants thrive planted in the ground where they have plenty of room to grow out their runners. They also make tasty, pretty edible edgings, or you can let them vine out and spill over a garden wall or fence. I like to pop them throughout the garden as they are decorative as ground covers. You can see them here in my garden among plants like oregano, blueberries, lemon verbena, and ajuga looking pretty and flowering well in April. My strawberry plants in flower. Tips for Growing Strawberries Growing strawberries is not as tricky as you might think! In fact, when properly planted and cared for, you can enjoy a bountiful harvest for a couple of years before needing to remove the mature plants. Here are a few tips to help you learn how to grow strawberries even if you have never grown them before. A perfectly ripe strawberry. Plant Early Spring / Early Fall Strawberries are one of the first cool climate fruits to be ready to harvest, because the plants can tolerate cool temperatures and light frost. New plants can be planted in early spring. Usually they are sold as bare root runners, and once you have a good supply, they will send out runners you can plant to increase your crop. Soak the roots when you get them to re-hydrate them, about 20 minutes is good, then dig them into well amended soil rich with compost and organic matter. Space them 18″ apart. In the fall, gather the runners and dig them into the garden where you want berries and they will overwinter as perennials in Zone 5-8, and can be planted as annuals elsewhere. Give Room for Runners Strawberries are a plant that propagates through runners. Runners mimic the look of vines with little strawberry plants attached to the end, similar to indoor spider plants. These runners help strawberries spread outwards. To avoid over crowding, lots of surface soil is needed for a strawberry patch so you can plant the runners in between the mature plants. As the mature plants stop producing, the young plants will take their place. When you grow strawberries from seeds, which is absolutely a possibility as well, space you’ll want to plant them at least 18″ apart from each other. Strawberry plants last 3-5 years before dying, so let the runners replacing old plants. Plant Somewhere with Plenty of Sun Berries tend to enjoy sunny spots, and strawberries are not an exception. Whichever method you choose for planting your berries, make sure to place them somewhere with eight hours (or more!) of sun for the best harvest and sweetest berries. The plants will tolerate a bit of shade, but the berries will be fewer and bland. You need good sun for stellar fruit! Amend Your Soil Properly You’ll need slightly acidic soil for strawberries to thrive—about 5.5-6.8 pH is ideal. If you have no idea what your pH balance is, you can easily do a soil test right at home and find out. Fertilize and Water Properly All that time hanging out in the sun can leave your little berries thirsty! While it’s important not to overwater, you’ll want to make sure they get 1-1.5 inches of water weekly. Avoid getting the leaves wet—instead, make sure the water gets to the root system underneath. To keep the plants happy, add a nitrogen-rich, organic fertilizer in the early spring and again in the fall. Strawberries in pots should be fertilized with a liquid fertilizer twice a month. Companion Plant with Care Companion planting can help your strawberries thrive, or if done improperly can hinder their growth. I recommend growing strawberries alongside garlic, beans, lettuce, spinach, or peas. They also play nicely with thyme. Strawberries, just like most other fruit and vegetables, should not be planted alongside fennel. Additionally, strawberries do not do well with veggies in the brassicas family, so plant your cabbage or Brussels elsewhere! How to Harvest Strawberries Once your berries are ripe, red, and ready for harvest, you’ll want to take care to pluck them in the early morning. The fruit should still be slightly cool once you remove it from the vine, then you’ll need to refrigerate immediately. Plus, you can also save certain strawberry seeds for your next planting! Only harvest red strawberries. How to Use Homegrown Strawberries If you are blessed with a bountiful harvest, there are so many ways you can use up your berries. Here are some of my favourite ideas. #1 Make an Infused Strawberry Vinegar Infused vinegar sounds fancy, but it actually is quite simple to make. You simply load up a mason jar with simple ingredients such as your homegrown strawberries, vinegar, and herbs, then let it infuse for about ten days. Easy! Learn how to infuse vinegar with strawberry here. Use this infused vinegar for a salad dressing. #2 Create a Living Strawberry Wreath If you have extra strawberries growing that need to be relocated, try making this simple living strawberry wreath. It’s pretty and practical as your berries will continue to grow. Feast on strawberries and use them as decor. #3 Make an Easy, Low Sugar Strawberry Freezer Jam If you have never made jam before, this freezer jam recipe with strawberries is the perfect place to start! It takes minutes to make and lasts for up to a year when stored in the freezer. Freezer jam is quick to make for beginners. FAQ About Growing Strawberries Do you cut strawberry runners? In your strawberry’s first year, it’s best to cut any runners off before they get big so your plant can dedicate all it’s energy to settling in and producing flowers and strawberries.I like to let my plant set runners the following year. Once they have rooted, you can clip them from the mother plant and voila! You have a new strawberry plant. What to do with plants in pots when they have finished fruiting? I leave my strawberry plants in their pots since they can easily overwinter where I live. If the appearance of the strawberry plants bothers you, you can tuck in some annual flowers to up the appearance. What kinds of strawberries are there? There are three main categories of strawberries: june-bearing, everbearing, and day-neutral. June-bearing strawberries produce one large crop a year and produce lots of runners, making them better suited for a garden bed.Everbearing strawberries produce strawberries throughout the spring and summer, though not as many as a June-bearing strawberry, and are good for containers.Day-neutral strawberries are a new kind of everbearing strawberry that produce more consistent strawberries and are best suited to areas with cooler summers as they will not produce fruit in hot weather. More Edible Gardening Tips   A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants. Source link

[iammeandmy]

Growing strawberries is simple and absolutely delicious! Learn four different methods you can choose from when learning how to grow strawberries, plus what to do with them once you harvest. There’s nothing quite like biting into a freshly grown strawberry. Plucked right off the vine, they are warm from the sunshine and perfectly ripened with that beautiful red colour. I can taste it now! Strawberries are a very versatile fruit when it comes to gardening. They can be a favourite out in the garden for critters, so some of these growing techniques can protect your strawberries so they can ripen to a sweet red on the plant. Here’s everything you need to know about growing strawberries, plus what to do with them once you harvest! Strawberries are in season from late spring to early summer. How to Grow Strawberries: 4 Methods If you have only ever eaten strawberries out of a plastic supermarket box, I’ve got great news for you! Growing strawberries is simple, and the result is a thousand times better than anything you could buy. Keep in mind that no matter how you choose to grow strawberries, you need about six plants per person to make the harvest worth the effort. It’s totally doable, though, because you can pack a lot of plants into unique grow bags, hanging baskets, and containers to maximize the surface area of these plants. They don’t need much room for roots so as long as there is soil space in your design, you can grow strawberries the smart way. I’ll show you exactly how to grow strawberries in four different ways, and some tips and tricks to get the best harvest ever. Ditch the petunias and grow strawberries in a hanging basket. 1. Grow Strawberries in Hanging Baskets Did you know that you can easily start growing strawberries in a hanging basket? It’s true! You can use any hanging basket that you have or even convert a vintage egg basket by lining it with some moss. You can only fit a few plants in here, so you need a few of them or they will mostly be decorative snacking berries. You can also plant a ton of strawberry plants in one of these crazy grow bag-style hanging planters. This one is meant for annual flowers, but you can find grow bags like these that have pockets made for strawberries and it sure produces a lot of fruit in a tiny space! I like gardening in hanging baskets for a couple of different reasons. First of all, a hanging basket planting can help your strawberries drain properly and avoid overwatering. It’s also helpful for avoiding root rot since the water drains out rather than sits. Secondly, growing strawberries in hanging baskets get your fruit out of reach for many pests. This is especially handy if you live in an area with a rabbits or deer. Those cute little critters love to munch on strawberries—and can we really blame them? Remove temptation and save your harvest by lifting them high out of their reach. Here’s an entire post about how to grow strawberries in a hanging basket, as well as many other fruits, herbs, and vegetables. You can buy specialty tiered hanging baskets to maximize your space. 2. Grow Strawberries in Pots Growing strawberries in pots are one of the most classic ways to grow this tasty berry. There’s no wonder it’s so popular – with this method you get to enjoy the flowers from the strawberry plant and then the berry itself in a portable package! You certainly can use a strawberry pot or a tiered container to grow strawberries in. You can grow them in a regular pot of course, but the design of the pots with multiple holes for small plants allows a much larger harvest. A tiered pot allows you to grow multiple strawberry plants in one space. I like to add a watering tube in the middle of my strawberry pots, to make sure that the water gets all the way down to the bottom soil evenly. You can add one by drilling a few holes in PVC pipe and then filling it with sand to slow the water release. Want to learn all about how to grow berries in pots? I’ve got you covered! Here’s everything you need to know about growing strawberries in containers. Without a watering tube, you will need to water your strawberries in containers frequently. 3. Growing Strawberries in a Raised Bed A raised garden bed or planter makes an excellent spot for growing strawberries. You may have seen tiered strawberry raised bed designs where multiple levels are built as steps up the bed to fill lots of strawberry plants in a small space. I grew strawberries in a tiered gardening bed to maximize my small sliver of sun in my backyard. My friend Tanya from Lovely Greens had the great idea to take a single pallet and turn it into a beautiful, functional strawberry planter. I really like this idea because it’s a great way to upcycle, and it also allows plenty of room for those runners to poke out through the slats. Raised gardening beds can also help to keep weeds out. 4. Grow Strawberries in the Ground If you have the space, this is a great way to get a good harvest of one of my favorite fruits. These sturdy plants thrive planted in the ground where they have plenty of room to grow out their runners. They also make tasty, pretty edible edgings, or you can let them vine out and spill over a garden wall or fence. I like to pop them throughout the garden as they are decorative as ground covers. You can see them here in my garden among plants like oregano, blueberries, lemon verbena, and ajuga looking pretty and flowering well in April. My strawberry plants in flower. Tips for Growing Strawberries Growing strawberries is not as tricky as you might think! In fact, when properly planted and cared for, you can enjoy a bountiful harvest for a couple of years before needing to remove the mature plants. Here are a few tips to help you learn how to grow strawberries even if you have never grown them before. A perfectly ripe strawberry. Plant Early Spring / Early Fall Strawberries are one of the first cool climate fruits to be ready to harvest, because the plants can tolerate cool temperatures and light frost. New plants can be planted in early spring. Usually they are sold as bare root runners, and once you have a good supply, they will send out runners you can plant to increase your crop. Soak the roots when you get them to re-hydrate them, about 20 minutes is good, then dig them into well amended soil rich with compost and organic matter. Space them 18″ apart. In the fall, gather the runners and dig them into the garden where you want berries and they will overwinter as perennials in Zone 5-8, and can be planted as annuals elsewhere. Give Room for Runners Strawberries are a plant that propagates through runners. Runners mimic the look of vines with little strawberry plants attached to the end, similar to indoor spider plants. These runners help strawberries spread outwards. To avoid over crowding, lots of surface soil is needed for a strawberry patch so you can plant the runners in between the mature plants. As the mature plants stop producing, the young plants will take their place. When you grow strawberries from seeds, which is absolutely a possibility as well, space you’ll want to plant them at least 18″ apart from each other. Strawberry plants last 3-5 years before dying, so let the runners replacing old plants. Plant Somewhere with Plenty of Sun Berries tend to enjoy sunny spots, and strawberries are not an exception. Whichever method you choose for planting your berries, make sure to place them somewhere with eight hours (or more!) of sun for the best harvest and sweetest berries. The plants will tolerate a bit of shade, but the berries will be fewer and bland. You need good sun for stellar fruit! Amend Your Soil Properly You’ll need slightly acidic soil for strawberries to thrive—about 5.5-6.8 pH is ideal. If you have no idea what your pH balance is, you can easily do a soil test right at home and find out. Fertilize and Water Properly All that time hanging out in the sun can leave your little berries thirsty! While it’s important not to overwater, you’ll want to make sure they get 1-1.5 inches of water weekly. Avoid getting the leaves wet—instead, make sure the water gets to the root system underneath. To keep the plants happy, add a nitrogen-rich, organic fertilizer in the early spring and again in the fall. Strawberries in pots should be fertilized with a liquid fertilizer twice a month. Companion Plant with Care Companion planting can help your strawberries thrive, or if done improperly can hinder their growth. I recommend growing strawberries alongside garlic, beans, lettuce, spinach, or peas. They also play nicely with thyme. Strawberries, just like most other fruit and vegetables, should not be planted alongside fennel. Additionally, strawberries do not do well with veggies in the brassicas family, so plant your cabbage or Brussels elsewhere! How to Harvest Strawberries Once your berries are ripe, red, and ready for harvest, you’ll want to take care to pluck them in the early morning. The fruit should still be slightly cool once you remove it from the vine, then you’ll need to refrigerate immediately. Plus, you can also save certain strawberry seeds for your next planting! Only harvest red strawberries. How to Use Homegrown Strawberries If you are blessed with a bountiful harvest, there are so many ways you can use up your berries. Here are some of my favourite ideas. #1 Make an Infused Strawberry Vinegar Infused vinegar sounds fancy, but it actually is quite simple to make. You simply load up a mason jar with simple ingredients such as your homegrown strawberries, vinegar, and herbs, then let it infuse for about ten days. Easy! Learn how to infuse vinegar with strawberry here. Use this infused vinegar for a salad dressing. #2 Create a Living Strawberry Wreath If you have extra strawberries growing that need to be relocated, try making this simple living strawberry wreath. It’s pretty and practical as your berries will continue to grow. Feast on strawberries and use them as decor. #3 Make an Easy, Low Sugar Strawberry Freezer Jam If you have never made jam before, this freezer jam recipe with strawberries is the perfect place to start! It takes minutes to make and lasts for up to a year when stored in the freezer. Freezer jam is quick to make for beginners. FAQ About Growing Strawberries Do you cut strawberry runners? In your strawberry’s first year, it’s best to cut any runners off before they get big so your plant can dedicate all it’s energy to settling in and producing flowers and strawberries.I like to let my plant set runners the following year. Once they have rooted, you can clip them from the mother plant and voila! You have a new strawberry plant. What to do with plants in pots when they have finished fruiting? I leave my strawberry plants in their pots since they can easily overwinter where I live. If the appearance of the strawberry plants bothers you, you can tuck in some annual flowers to up the appearance. What kinds of strawberries are there? There are three main categories of strawberries: june-bearing, everbearing, and day-neutral. June-bearing strawberries produce one large crop a year and produce lots of runners, making them better suited for a garden bed.Everbearing strawberries produce strawberries throughout the spring and summer, though not as many as a June-bearing strawberry, and are good for containers.Day-neutral strawberries are a new kind of everbearing strawberry that produce more consistent strawberries and are best suited to areas with cooler summers as they will not produce fruit in hot weather. More Edible Gardening Tips   A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants. Source link

[imitationgame77]

A silly short fic...

When MB, ART, Ratthi, and Gurathin play a game of Cluedo

When Amena started at PanSystem University of Mihira and New Tideland (PSUMNT) , Dr. Mensah, Farai, and Tano wanted to come and see her settle down. Arada, Overse, and Bharadwaj had a workshop to run so they could not come, but Pin-Lee, Ratthi and Gurathin came. They had been invited to join a project at PSUMNT, and Pin-Lee has been finalising their contract.

There was a two-hour break before the next meeting, and Ratthi suggested we take a look at the library. The PSUMNT library is much larger than the one in the FirstLanding University on Preservation.

ART has a copy of a large portion of it, but mostly what it and its crew consider relevant to their missions. Others expressed desire to visit some shops – things available on New Tideland being very different from those on Preservation – it was just Ratthi, Gurathin and me who went to the library. (Of course, ART came by default.)

There were media booth, periodical collections from multiple systems, archive storage, non-digital materials section, and more, on multiple floors. I downloaded books, music, and some documentary videos that I have not seen before. I have also managed to scan some of the non-digital materials, tagged for later sorting, and stored them. (ART moved some of these in our shared storage space so that I don’t have to delete files in my archive to make more room.)

At one point, Ratthi called me and Gurathin over to a little room off the non-digital game section. He held an old-looking rectangular box with images of humans standing around with what is generally described as mystified expressions.

“Look what I found.”, said Ratthi, excitedly. “It’s a physical boardgame – I have heard about it in historical material, but never seen one like this!”

Gurathin looked at it with his usual sceptical expression. “’Cluedo’? Find clues and solve a case?”

ART said, Cluedo is an old board game of deduction and strategy, originating from the Earth. Players take on the roles of characters investigating a murder mystery in a mansion. Through strategic movement and deduction, players gather clues about the suspect, weapon, and room where the crime occurred. The game involves collecting and eliminating possibilities through questioning other players and exploring various rooms. Ultimately, players make accusations to solve the mystery. Cluedo combines elements of logic, deduction, and suspense, offering a dynamic and engaging experience as players race to uncover the truth behind the murder mystery.

Gurathin looked startled, but said, “Thank you, Perihelion”, politely. He is still not used to ART hanging around our feed. As an augmented human with advanced feed interface like Iris, he has more in-feed awareness, but don’t forget ART is monster. It can hide its presence when it suits it and surprises humans with sudden comments. I know it’s doing that on purpose.

Ratthi said, “I want to play it. For anthropological research, of course.”

Gurathin sighed, but agreed, knowing that Ratthi can be very insistent.

--------------------------------------

(Transcript of the conversation during Cluedo practical assessment)

Ratthi: Alright, let’s get started. SecUnit, you can go first.

Me: Why do I have to be Professor Plum?

Gurathin: Because you’re the one most likely to hack the system and solve the mystery in two turns.

Me: Fine. I’ll move to the library.

ART: Do you suspect anyone yet, SecUnit?

Me: Not really, but let’s say… Professor Plum with the lead pipe in the library.

Gurathin: The rule states that you’re not supposed to suspect yourself.

Me: Rules are stupid. It’s a valid strategy.

ART: I concur

Ratthi: This is going to be a long game.

(after 6.5 minutes)

ART: Based on the current data, the likelihood of Colonel Mustard being the culprit is 75.27%. I suggest moving to the dining room.

Gurathin: Great, now an advanced machine intelligence is predicting our moves. This is supposed to be a game, not a strategic simulation.

Me to Gurathin: Do you think you can stop ART?

ART: That would be tremendously brave - or stupid.

Me: These are synonyms in humans.

Gurathin: *Sighs audibly*

Ratthi: I’ll just stick to my hunches, thank you very much.

(3.6 minutes later)

Gurathin: I suspect Miss Scarlet with the wrench in the conservatory.

Ratthi: Nope, not even close. My turn.

(4.1 minutes later)

Ratthi: I suspect Mrs. Peacock with the candlestick in the ballroom.

Me: ART?

ART: According to my calculations, there’s a 91.45% chance that the candlestick is not the murder weapon.

(8.5 minutes later)

Me: Alright, I think I’ve got it. Colonel Mustard with the rope in the study.

Gurathin: Are you sure about that? That seems unlikely.

Me: ART?

ART: I concur with SecUnit. The data supports this conclusion.

Ratthi: OK, let’s check the envelope.

(after 4 seconds)

Ratthi: Well, looks like SecUnit won.

ART: Of course it did. It has solved real-life cases of dead humans.

Gurathin: Please don’t remind me.

Ratthi: Next time, we’re playing something that doesn’t involve deduction and strategy.

[mariacallous]

European liberals erupted into cheers in 2019 when the 45-year-old environmentalist and civil rights lawyer Zuzana Caputova was sworn in as Slovakia’s president. Even though she has fallen short of her ambitious goal of rooting out the persistent corruption and cronyism that course through Slovak society, she has chalked up many successes. These have earned her widespread popularity among Slovaks, who seemed to understand her project would always require more than one five-year term.

There’s just one problem: Caputova, facing new headwinds from the election of a new populist prime minister, has announced she’s not prepared to fight on.

Not only was Caputova the first-ever woman to hold the office, but her progressive, pro-European outlook and squeaky-clean biography stood out in a regional landscape stocked with ethnic nationalists, authoritarians, and other questionable operators. Caputova’s tough anticorruption platform was welcome relief to a country that had been rocked by graft, money laundering, and abuse of power scandals, as well as the contracted murder of a young journalist investigating organized crime.

In the course of her five-year term, the newcomer to elected office acquitted herself remarkably well, navigating Slovakia through the pandemic and then the war in Ukraine, a country with which it shares 60 miles of border to the east. Even as Slovakia’s southern neighbor, Hungary, prevaricated and obstructed transatlantic solidarity with Ukraine—a course many Slovak nationalists applauded—Caputova, suddenly head of a front-line state, stood fast. She has remained unflinchingly pro-Western even in the face of an acute energy crisis and hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Her mission to clean up the Slovakian state also notched impressive wins. Dozens of investigations were launched and cases opened up against figures linked to former governments—many of which led to convictions. In August 2023, Caputova—sometimes referred to as the Erin Brockovich of Slovakia—fired the country’s counterintelligence service chief for interfering in corruption investigations. But her anticorruption drive grew larger in scope when parliamentary elections in September 2023 reinstated Robert Fico, the former prime minister and pro-Russian, anti-American populist with the interests of himself and his associates always foremost in mind.

Many supporters expected that Caputova, as the principled, popular face of a new Slovakia, would soldier on for at least another term come elections in March 2024: to finish the job she had started. But Caputova’s tenure, she announced in June 2023, will come abruptly to an end. Her family’s well-being, she said, was behind her choice not to run again. “My decision is a personal one,” she said. “I am sorry if I disappoint those who expected my candidacy again.” In office, she had received multiple death threats, she said. A year earlier, she had already complained about “people who are threatening to kill me are using the vocabulary of some politicians. It does not only concern me, but also my loved ones.”

At the time of her announcement, Caputova polled as Slovakia’s most trusted politician. “I was surprised and disappointed when I heard the news,” said Pavol Demes of a German Marshall Fund fellow in Bratislava, who served as Slovakia’s foreign minister from 1991 to 1992. “Her track record proves that it was not coincidence that people elected her,” Demes said, adding that he believes Caputova would have prevailed again at the ballot box.

Others admit they’re more than just disappointed with Caputova’s “premature departure,” as the Slovak daily Dennik N put it. “Having an opportunity and not using it is literally a sin,” opined the Slovak newspaper Pravda, “especially if it is one that will never come again. … President Zuzana Caputova’s decision not to run can be considered a mistake. At a time when the chaos in Slovak politics has reached unprecedented proportions and the disillusionment among the population is great, the president bears even more responsibility for the fate of the country.”

In office, Caputova often punched back as hard as she was punched by her less principled opponents. She refused to let Fico, in the opposition since 2020, hound and bully her with impunity. In May 2023, she sued Fico for calling her an “American agent” and of “appointing Soros’ government,” referring to U.S. billionaire-philanthropist George Soros and the technocratic caretaker government she appointed in May 2023. Slovak authorities are still pursuing criminal cases involving dangerous threats made against the president.

Caputova’s aversion to the nastier aspects of Central European politics—in 1995 the son of the then-Slovak president was literally kidnapped—is understandable. But Caputova’s presence is all the more necessary today as Fico and his Smer-SD party are back in power and bent on returning Slovakia to its former incarnation. In just four months, Caputova has checked Fico several times. In October, for example, Caputova quashed the nomination of Rudolf Huliak as environment minister by the Slovak National Party, a Fico ally. Huliak, a nationalist, is known as a climate skeptic and opponent of LGBTQ+ rights.

She is currently weighing a veto of the Fico government’s move to dismantle the special prosecutor’s office—the body that handled the most serious corruption cases—and modify the criminal code, which triggered weeks of protests across Slovakia and rule-of-law concern from the EU. By weakening criminal sanctions for financial crimes, Fico could rescue the likes of Smer-allied oligarchs who would otherwise face prison sentences. One opposition politico charged that the law looks as if the mafia itself had written it. If her veto is overridden, which is likely, Caputova could take the issue to the Constitutional Court.

Caputova’s decision not to run thus opens the way for a multi-candidate race, the first round of which will be held on March 23 with, if necessary, a second in April. The vote is likely to come down to two candidates: National Council Speaker Peter Pellegrini, an on-again, off-again Fico ally; and Ivan Korcok, a liberal-minded former Slovak foreign minister and career diplomat. If Pellegrini triumphs, his victory will open the way for Fico to set in motion a pro-Russia political course that will greatly complicate the West’s defense of Ukraine, among other concerns.

Certainly, there would be no presidential corrective to hinder Fico in emulating his strongman counterpart next door in Hungary, Viktor Orban. Poland’s throwing off of its authoritarian leadership last year could have left Orban completely isolated in Central Europe. But Fico, though unlikely to amass the power of Orban’s Fidesz party or act so defiantly as Law and Justice Poland, sees Orban as a blood brother.

“Fico and his followers are fascinated by Orban’s method of governance since 2018,” Juraj Marusiak of the Slovak Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Political Science told Foreign Policy. “They see this authoritarianism as efficient and Orban as someone who takes care of his country’s national interests. This has made Orban creditable in Central Europe beyond Hungary alone.”

And Caputova’s bright light will be missed beyond diminutive Slovakia. Upon her election in 2019, a Hungarian acquaintance said to me that the only reason someone like Caputova could win in Central Europe is because she seemed to have no drawbacks at all: She was politically clean, charismatic, down to earth, and smart. And in office, she learned the ropes quickly. But she wasn’t perfect, apparently—no one could foresee that there would eventually be limits to her will to lock horns with Slovakia’s ruthless profiteers.

Sadly, there’s only one of her in the region. And soon, by her own choice, there will be none.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

The Weird History of Western Animated Movie Sequels

This is a rewrite of sorts of a history post I did on theatrical animated movie sequels in the West (largely the U.S.) a few years ago, and how weird it is... How we went from a handful of sequels over the course of three decades to an *explosion* in them... I'll collect all this fun stuff in a timeline of sorts.

(This list will mainly focus on traditional sequels, not so much films sharing similar themes and FANTASIA being planned as an ever-updating anthology w/ every re-release had it done well initially. And also, theatrical sequels. With the exception of movies re-routed to streaming because of COVID-19. That sorta thing, ya know?)

Late 1930s-Mid 1940s: Walt Disney and his studio entertain the idea of sequels to SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS and BAMBI, titled SNOW WHITE RETURNS and BAMBI'S CHILDREN. Nothing comes of them. If FANTASIA is to be successful, Walt's plan for the film is to update it every couple of years, taking some segments out and replacing them with new ones. And repeating that once more. FANTASIA bombs at the box office upon general wide release in early 1942, so the plans fall through. A feature film BONGO is developed at the beginning of the decade, and at one point it is suggested to be set in the same universe as DUMBO and would feature characters from that film. BONGO eventually became a much pared-down segment of the package film FUN & FANCY FREE in 1947.

1942-1944: Disney and their distributor RKO Radio Pictures release two anthology "package" features, SALUDOS AMIGOS and THE THREE CABALLEROS. During World War II, Nazi influence began to take shape in Central and South America. American filmmakers, including Walt Disney and a select team of his artists, traveled south in part of a larger government strategy to strengthen goodwill between the U.S. and Central/South America. SALUDOS and CABALLEROS are thus "goodwill" pictures, formed up of multiple segments themed around those territories. Both of them feature Donald Duck and Jose Carioca. Because of this, CABALLEROS could be viewed as a "sequel" of sorts to SALUDOS.

April 1946: Disney and their distributor RKO premiere MAKE MINE MUSIC, an anthology of musical segments not dissimilar to FANTASIA. The picture goes into general release in August.

May 1948: Disney and RKO release MELODY TIME, another musical anthology film. The film notably features both Donald Duck and Jose Carioca in a segment called 'Blame It On the Samba', reprising their roles from SALUDOS AMIGOS and THE THREE CABALLEROS. The Aracuan Bird from CABALLEROS also appears during this segment. Like MAKE MINE MUSIC, these two films can be seen as an extension of the FANTASIA concept, and MELODY TIME could be seen as a sequel of sorts of MAKE MINE MUSIC. The Disney company never considered any of these films to be "sequels", at least in a more traditional sense.

We have a long gap here because Walt Disney Productions was the only animation studio in America that was making feature films, and there were plenty of times where they could've ceased doing just that. Couple that with Walt's general hesitance to make sequels, and thus there weren't any animated feature sequels made from the 1950s to the end of the 1960s... Other animation studios in America had attempted to make features, but never got past a small number of them. The Fleischer studio made both GULLIVER'S TRAVELS and MR. BUG GOES TO TOWN in 1939 and 1941 respectively, and their studio was shuttered shortly after BUG's quiet and brief general release rollout in early 1942. The UPA tried their hand at animated features, but only got around to making two, 1001 ARABIAN NIGHTS and GAY PURR-EE.

By the 1960s, more animation studios were making feature-length productions, such as Hanna-Barbera and Rankin/Bass. By 1970, there was at least one new movie from an American house every two-or-so years. A good chunk of them were also based on hit TV shows or well-known properties. Hanna-Barbera did features based on THE YOGI BEAR SHOW and THE FLINTSTONES, there was also a PEANUTS-based movie called A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN. Ralph Bakshi shook up the animation world with his adult independent feature FRITZ THE CAT in early 1972.

A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN and FRITZ THE CAT would be the first American animated movie sequels to get theatrical sequels...

August 1972: PEANUTS movie SNOOPY COME HOME!, a follow-up to A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN involving much of the same key crew (such as director Bill Melendez and producer Lee Mendelson), is released by National General Pictures to poor box office.

June 1974: THE NINE LIVES OF FRITZ THE CAT, a sequel to Ralph Bakshi's FRITZ THE CAT that didn't involve Bakshi, is released by American International Pictures and doesn't repeat the success of the first movie.

August 1977: RACE FOR YOUR LIFE, CHARLIE BROWN is released by Paramount, and doesn't make much of a mark at the box office.

Late 1970s: Despite the success of Ralph Bakshi's rotoscoped THE LORD OF THE RINGS in the fall of 1978, a follow-up is considered but does not materialize due to funding issues.

May 1980: BON VOYAGE, CHARLIE BROWN (AND DON'T COME BACK!!) is released by Paramount to weak box office.

1984-86: After much turmoil, the Disney enterprise sees a major corporate shakeup. Outsider executives Michael Eisner and Frank Wells become CEO and President of the newly-christened The Walt Disney Company, respectively. Upending the old tradition of not making feature sequels, Michael Eisner and the new executives ask the staff of the animation studio what their highest grossing feature was to date. When revealed that it was THE RESCUERS, a sequel to the film is greenlit.

March 1986: A fast-tracked sequel to 1985's THE CARE BEARS MOVIE is released, and only makes a fraction of what the first film - a minor hit in its own right - took in.

August 1987: A third Care Bears movie, THE CARE BEARS ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, is released to equally unremarkable box office.

1988-89: Following the record-breaking, game-changing success of ex-Disney animator Don Bluth's Steven Spielberg-produced AN AMERICAN TAIL in 1986, a sequel is put in development, with Bluth initially tapped to helm. Bluth later broke ties with Spielberg over creative differences, and following the runaway success of WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, Steven Spielberg would set up a new animation studio called Amblimation. They took over the film.

November 1990: THE RESCUERS DOWN UNDER is released to mixed critical reception and weak box office. Within weeks of release, Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg has all the marketing for the film pulled.

May 1991: Computer animation studio Pixar enters a feature film deal with The Walt Disney Company. This three-picture deal, which would later be expanded, stipulates that NO sequels be pitched. Every film pitched by Pixar for this contract is to be an ORIGINAL film, for the sole purpose of introducing new worlds/characters for the company's theme parks and consumer products divisions.

November 1991: Universal releases AN AMERICAN TAIL: FIEVEL GOES WEST, the same weekend as Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. The film flops at the box office.

Mid 1991-Early 1992: Walt Disney Home Video initially refuses, at Roy E. Disney's behest, to release FANTASIA on video formats following its 1990 theatrical re-release. Michael Eisner makes a deal with Roy: Release FANTASIA on video, and a follow-up to FANTASIA will be greenlit. FANTASIA is released in November and pulled by January 1992, selling a record-breaking 14 million units. FANTASIA CONTINUED is greenlit.

Mid 1994: Following the success of THE RETURN OF JAFAR, which was essentially an hour-long direct-to-video pilot for the ALADDIN TV series, Disney Feature Animation does not pursue making theatrical sequels to their animated features. The only exception being FANTASIA CONTINUED, which is Roy E. Disney's pet project. All other sequels are to be outsourced productions, and are produced exclusively for the home video market.

March 1996: A sequel to Don Bluth's ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN, which didn't involve Bluth much like FIEVEL GOES WEST didn't, is released to poor box office.

Early-Mid 1996: Following the success of Pixar's debut feature, TOY STORY, Disney immediately commissions a direct-to-video sequel that is to be made by "B-team" of sorts at a satellite studio, while work on A BUG'S LIFE takes place at Pixar's main building in Point Richmond. (This was before they moved to Emeryville.)

July 1997: Legacy Releasing released a sequel to THE SWAN PRINCESS, titled THE SWAN PRINCESS: ESCAPE FROM CASTLE MOUNTAIN, to virtually nonexistent box office grosses.

February 1998: TOY STORY 2 is changed from direct-to-video project to theatrical feature film, though it will not count as part of Pixar's then extended film deal with The Walt Disney Company. That very contract mandated that all of Pixar's productions be original features, or else they wll NOT count as part of the deal. Pixar and the Disney company also enter a gentleman's agreement, in that Disney will not push sequels to Pixar films *without* Pixar's permission.

Early 1999: TOY STORY 2 is taken over by the staff at the main Pixar building due to concerns over the quality of the story. The film is significantly revised, with the release date mere months away.

November 1999: TOY STORY 2 is released, and becomes the first animated movie sequel to outgross its predecessor at the box office. Despite the film's success, and despite the considerable stress the production was, Michael Eisner refuses to count it as part of the deal. Pixar owner Steve Jobs strongly feels that TOY STORY 2 should count.

January 2000: On New Year's Day of the new millennium, Roy E. Disney's FANTASIA follow-up FANTASIA 2000 goes into IMAX-exclusive release after a world premiere the previous month.

February 2000: Disney makes the unorthodox decision to release THE TIGGER MOVIE in theaters, a production made by the satellite units that otherwise would've gone straight to video. The film is a financial success.

June 2000: FANTASIA 2000 goes into general release. The film does not recoup its costs at the box office, and is generally a dud with audiences.

Around Early-To-Mid 2000: Despite the contractual agita over TOY STORY 2, Pixar is keen to do a TOY STORY 3. However, it is not greenlit by Disney.

November 2000: Paramount releases a sequel to their Nickelodeon-based hit from 1998, THE RUGRATS MOVIE. While RUGRATS IN PARIS does not make as much money as the first movie, it is still a financial success.

Early-To-Mid 2001: DreamWorks, who are about to release SHREK, are already at work on a sequel. When SHREK defies its pre-release odds and becomes a box office smash upon its May release, the sequel goes full-steam ahead. Unlike Disney Animation, whose sequels are farmed-out straight-to-video endeavors, and unlike Pixar who can't make another sequel per their contract with Disney, DreamWorks has none of this baggage and goes right ahead with a SHREK sequel.

February 2002: Disney releases another satellite production, PETER PAN sequel RETURN TO NEVER LAND, theatrically. The film is a box office success.

June 2002: Following the success of the Blue Sky production ICE AGE, released by 20th Century Fox, work is already underway on a sequel. Much like DreamWorks, they too don't have the baggage Disney Animation and Pixar have concerning sequels.

February 2003: Disney releases satellite production THE JUNGLE BOOK 2 theatrically, another financial success.

March 2003: Disney releases satellite production PIGLET'S BIG MOVIE to theaters. Costing double that of RETURN TO NEVER LAND and JUNGLE BOOK 2, the film is a box office flop.

July 2003: RUGRATS GO WILD, the third RUGRATS movie and something of a sequel to THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE, is released by Paramount to poor box office.

Early-To-Mid 2004: Friction develops between The Walt Disney Company and Pixar, making a split between the two seem likely. Per the contract, Disney has first rights to the studio's animated movies that made up the extended film deal. (Everything from TOY STORY to a then-forthcoming THE INCREDIBLES and CARS) If Pixar were to break off from the Disney company, Disney could feasibly make sequels to their films without them involved... And Michael Eisner took full advantage, going back on the gentleman's agreement between the two parties. Disney launches Circle 7 Animation, a CG studio meant to make these Pixar-less sequels. Work commences on TOY STORY 3, MONSTERS, INC. 2: LOST IN SCARADISE, and FINDING NEMO 2. It's largely a hardball tactic to get Pixar to renegotiate and extend their film deal.

May 2004: DreamWorks releases SHREK 2 to record-breaking box office... This is where the game is truly changed... DreamWorks has three more SHREK movies lined up (the first of which aiming for a summer 2006 release), in addition to a direct-to-video prequel about the film's breakout character Puss In Boots.

February 2005: Disney releases one last satellite production to theaters, POOH'S HEFFALUMP MOVIE. Costing half of what PIGLET'S BIG MOVIE cost, it does alright at the box office.

Mid-To-Late 2005: DreamWorks sees another box office success in MADAGASCAR, and greenlights a sequel. This makes it the second ever DreamWorks movie to get a theatrical sequel. (Oddly, SHARK TALE from the year before, despite being a box office success and Oscar nominee, doesn't get a sequel.)

September 2005: After a campaign ran from the outside by Roy E. Disney, Michael Eisner resigns as the CEO of The Walt Disney Company. His successor, Bob Iger, seeks to renegotiate fairly with Pixar. Pixar's final film for the original contract, CARS, is less than a year away from release.

January 2006: In a historic move, The Walt Disney Company announces a $7.4 billion acquisition of Pixar.

March 2006: 20th Century Fox releases ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN to great box office. Another film is on the way.

Early-To-Mid 2006: Following the announcement of Disney's purchase of Pixar, Pixar regains control of sequel production. Circle 7 Animation is shut down, and Pixar immediately begins work on *their* TOY STORY 3 for a 2009 release. Since a MONSTERS, INC. sequel and a FINDING NEMO sequel got to the script stage, Pixar eventually has to make their sequels to override those. A MONSTERS, INC. follow-up quietly begins development around this time as well. In addition to all of this, Pixar head John Lasseter takes over Disneytoon Studios and shuts down all traditionally-animated direct-to-video Disney sequels. This indicates that a future Walt Disney Feature Animation production, now named Walt Disney Animation Studios, will get a theatrical sequel if it's a box office success.

November 2006: HAPPY FEET, released by Warner Bros., is the biggest of the non-Disney/Pixar/DreamWorks/Blue Sky movies of the year and up until that point. Makes a big splash. Sequel likely.

May 2007: SHREK THE THIRD opens and is another blockbuster for DreamWorks.

January 2008: A rather unorthodox development, Big Idea makes a theatrical sequel to JONAH: A VEGGIETALES MOVIE, with THE PIRATES WHO DON'T DO ANYTHING. Universal distributes. It flops upon release.

April 2008: Two years into The Walt Disney Company's ownership of Pixar, a massive movie slate with Disney Animation, Pixar, and Disneytoon productions is unveiled. The game plan is the first announcement of a CARS sequel. This makes CARS the second-ever Pixar film to get a sequel. At the time, this movie is penciled in for a summer 2012 debut. TOY STORY 3 has also moved back a year, to 2010.

Mid-To-Late 2008: DreamWorks sees a new breakout hit with KUNG FU PANDA in the summer, and a sequel success with MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA.

July 2009: ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS is released by 20th Century Fox, and scores excellently at the box office.

September 2009: Three features in, relative newcomer Sony Pictures Animation scores a good-sized hit with CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS. A sequel is planned thereafter...

So now... We see where it all waxes... With that, we'll just look at things year by year...

2010: TOY STORY 3 is released and becomes the highest grossing animated feature of all-time. Earlier in the year, Pixar confirms that they are in production of a MONSTERS, INC. follow-up. DreamWorks sees another breakout hit with HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, a sequel is also imminent. Newcomer Illumination scores big with DESPICABLE ME, a sequel is also inevitable. DreamWorks scores another hit with SHREK FOREVER AFTER.

2011: It's a sequel/franchise film explosion, kinda unprecedented in feature animation up until this point... KUNG FU PANDA 2, CARS 2, and PUSS IN BOOTS all come out this year and make big money. Disney Animation makes a 2D animated WINNIE THE POOH, but it is sadly a box office bomb. HAPPY FEET TWO, from Warner Bros., also bombs. HOODWINKED TOO! HOOD VS. EVIL is belatedly released this year, it is also a money-loser. New films make a splash and are to get sequels.

2012: Two sequels this year, the highly successful MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE'S MOST WANTED and ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT. Disney Animation, after years of misses and mulligans (TANGLED didn't really make much of a profit theatrically, but was a very popular film), notably scores a profitable hit with WRECK-IT RALPH, a sequel slowly begins development.

2013: Plenty of follow-ups here, with MONSTERS UNIVERSITY, DESPICABLE ME 2, THE SMURFS 2, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2, and CARS spin-off PLANES (produced at Disneytoon and not Pixar). The majority of them do pretty good at the box office, some of them *very* good. DESPICABLE ME 2 is named by Universal as their most profitable film ever released, to date.

2014: This year saw the releases of RIO 2, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 and PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE. MADAGASCAR spin-off PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR is deemed a disappointment by DreamWorks, leading to company-wide ramifications.

2015: DESPICABLE ME spin-off MINIONS debuts and is a rare animated feature to cross a billion worldwide, with only TOY STORY 3 and FROZEN having previously done that. Elsewhere, HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2 and THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE OUT OF WATER - a belated sequel to THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE from 2004 - are released and also do well. Notably, Disney Animation announces FROZEN II this year. The first of the post-Eisner animated features to get a follow-up announced, though the WRECK-IT RALPH sequel - announced a year later - opened before it.

2016: KUNG FU PANDA 3, FINDING DORY, and ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE are released this year. The fifth ICE AGE movie does fine, but not well enough to lead to a sixth film. A CG remake of Disney's 1967 THE JUNGLE BOOK - with a single real-life actor - is released this year to massive box office.

2017: THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE, spin-off of 2014's THE LEGO MOVIE, debuts this year and does well. The other LEGO spin-off, THE LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE, doesn't. Elsewhere, CARS 3 does okay at the box office, DESPICABLE ME 3 breaks the billion, and Sony reboots the Smurfs movies with an all-animated film SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE. They deem the film a box office disappointment. THE NUT JOB 2: NUTTY BY NATURE, a sequel to the 2014 ToonBox-produced movie, debuts to muted numbers.

2018: Big year for sequels: Billion-dollar smash INCREDIBLES 2, big hits HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3 and RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET, and... Belated flop sequel to 2011's GNOMEO & JULIET, SHERLOCK GNOMES.

2019: Two Disney smashes in TOY STORY 4, the 99.99% CGI LION KING remake, and FROZEN II, though Universal's THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2 doesn't make half of what the breakout 2016 original made. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD does fine, while THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE 2 and THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART underperform.

2020: COVID-19 impacts the theatrical market, re-routing many films to streaming. TROLLS WORLD TOUR and THE CROODS: A NEW AGE debut this year, ditto a U.S. release of Aardman's first-ever movie sequel, FARMAGEDDON: A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE. A third SPONGEBOB movie, SPONGE ON THE RUN, rolls out internationally before a quiet U.S. debut in the next year.

2021: The theatrical market slowly crawls back upon the unrolling of COVID-19 vaccines. Sequels this year include SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY, THE BOSS BABY: FAMILY BUSINESS, THE ADDAMS FAMILY 2, SING 2, and the unusual SPIRIT: UNTAMED: A follow-up to a TV series that was a follow-up to a flop DreamWorks movie.

2022: HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA: TRANSFORMANIA, TOY STORY spin-off LIGHTYEAR, MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU, and PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH make up this year, as we all know.

2023: SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, PAW PATROL: THE MIGHTY MOVIE, TROLLS BAND TOGETHER, and - notably - straight-to-streaming Aardman sequel CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET that still was theatrical-caliber.

This year/posted in 2024: KUNG FU PANDA 4, INSIDE OUT 2, DESPICABLE ME 4, MOANA 2, MUFASA: THE LION KING, WALLACE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL...

2025: THE BAD GUYS 2, ZOOTOPIA 2, THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS, PLANKTON: THE MOVIE

2026: UNTITLED MARIO FILM, TOY STORY 5, MINIONS 3, PAW PATROL: THE DINO MOVIE, MUTANT MAYHEM 2, SHREK 5, ICE AGE 6

2027: BEYOND THE SPIDER-VERSE, FROZEN III

Also on the horizon: INCREDIBLES 3, COCO 2, THE WILD ROBOT 2, THE BOSS BABY 3, a third LEGO MOVIE, THE SEA BEAST 2, SECRET LIFE OF PETS 3, SING 3, a PEANUTS MOVIE sequel, and probably many more I'm forgetting at the moment...

Basically, the major cracks in the dam were TOY STORY 2, SHREK 2, and ICE AGE 2... Making sequels to animated movies was for a long time not ideal, getting an animated feature out period was at one point a gamble. (Still is, but not like it was many decades ago.) But yeah, a lot was at play for a while and then after it all blew up... Yeah, that's why there are so many of them.

[morbidsmenagerie]

Shipping Scorpions Masterclass

I packed up a large order today and I thought it would be a good opportunity to show my method for shipping scorpions. This is part one of a two part post. This specific breakdown is just going to be about scorpions, but the principles can be applied to multiple kinds of inverts, and this exact method can also be used for most spiders and tarantulas, as well as certain kinds of beetles.

Part Two Here

First thing we have to do is understand some basics about heat transfer. Heat transfer in a box primarily occurs through direct contact (conduction), so the goal is to add as much insulation between the areas of conduction as possible. Dry air is a great insulator, because there is less mass close together in air so less chance for direct atom to atom heat transfer. Paper also makes a good insulator, partially because it has a low heat transfer ability and partially because it can be easily crumpled and form lots of dry air pockets. More insulation is layered on the bottom, because the bottom of the box has more direct contact with the surface that it's either going to be gaining or losing heat from (think of it sitting on outside on the frozen ground or on hot pavement). The other main form of heat gain is from the sun, which is a bit harder to deal with. The sun transfers heat through radiation, and an enclosed space sitting in the sun will easily get an inside temperature much hotter than the surrounding air temperature (think of your car). The thing with insulation is it works both ways, although it slows down the heat gain from the surrounding area, it also slows down the release of heat if the outside temperature is cooler than the inside of the box. This is great to insulate from cold outside temperatures, but in hot environments this can cause heat to slowly build up in the box over time, especially over the course of multiple days and exposure to extreme temperatures. This can also create a "greenhouse" effect if you're using a heat pack during shipping and have a completely enclosed Styrofoam wall around the entire box. The heat pack will continue to release heat, but the heat in the box will have no where to go. If using a heat pack and Styrofoam, cutting some holes in the box or leaving the lid of the Styrofoam off will give the heat some chance to escape, while also appreciably protecting the inside from heat loss through wind or through direct contact with the cold ground.

Because of how these factors play together, shipping in heat is much more dangerous than shipping in the cold. Invertebrates also tend to die quicker in extreme heat, while they can get fairly cold for short amounts of time and just have a slower metabolism for that time. Generally, you should avoid shipping above 90F or below freezing. The most dangerous time is when the box is on the truck at the destination city and being driven around before being delivered, as most of those truck are not temperature controlled, and they would be essentially sitting outside for a number of hours. If temperatures are beyond these limits and the shipping cannot wait, please consider shipping hub to hub (the hold for pickup options) so that the box is kept inside in the destination city. Using heat and cold packs is up to seller discretion, typically I would recommend to try to keep the inside of the box as close to 70F as possible, and determine if the temperatures are extreme enough that a heat or cold pack is the only reliable way to achieve that.

This specific paper pictured here is packing insulation I got from Fedex, but crumpled newspaper, paper towels, or any other kind of paper that can form sturdy insulation with a lot of air gaps can be used. Personally I don't use loose packing material like packing peanuts, and I generally don't use Styrofoam at all, but several other sellers use Styrofoam to reinforce the box and for it's better insulation properties.

For larger scorpions, we line a deli cup with paper. It consists of a folded square of paper towel at the bottom, and a loose ring of folded paper towel around the edge. This provides a space for them to sit in while cushioning their surroundings in case the box is handled roughly. Depending on the species, they may or may not need the paper towel to be sprayed. Arid species shouldn't need to be sprayed at all, while everything else might need a light misting. Regardless, the paper towel should never be saturated. If condensation immediately forms on the sides of the cup or the paper towel is dripping wet, wring it out until its just moist to the touch. Too much humidity makes the air a poor insulator.

The cup is finished off with another square of paper. Ventilation holes should be added, scorpions have very low metabolic requirements and can survive quite a while without fresh air, but it's still better to add them. There should be just enough to provide some air exchange but not so much that it would dry out the inside of the cup too quickly. Some tape on the edge prevents the cup from accidentally opening during shipping, or from the scorpion from pushing the lid open. Only a light amount of tape is needed, too much tape can be a pain to remove and risks sticking to the animal if a lot of it is left on the lid and sides. I use this deli cup method for almost all of the scorpions I ship. For very large scorpions, a large deli cup or a small food storage container can work under the same principles.

How the scorpions are packing into the larger shipping box is dependent on what or how much you're shipping. If it was just a handful of larger containers, they can be safely packed directly into the box. Because I am also shipping several smaller scorplings, I'm using a double containment method to keep the smaller containers from shifting around. We do this by forming a larger version of the deli cup using a food storage container. For small scorplings, I use paint containers. Setting up and packing the smaller scorplings will be discussed in part two.