#it's one of the distinctive characteristics of it

[oneirophasia]

I'm feeling less dissociated now but that's sort of what I was pre-thinking about yesterday, and what I meant by "illusory agency". I think what's consistent across dystopias is that the protagonist is a member of an oppressive society, but there are a couple of unrelated dynamics in how the author chooses to portray that: How much agency does the protagonist have within their society? And, does their society have the potential to change?

I'm not sure either of these strictly disqualifies something from counting as a dystopia, because I can think of examples of every combination.

No agency, no change: The Trial, The Castle (and basically everything Kafka ever wrote), 1984 - the protagonist is a subject with no meaningful control over their life or the world they live in

Some agency, no change: Brave New World (Mustapha Mond), Minority Report, Blade Runner (and pretty typical of Philip K. Dick generally I think), The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, Cyberpunk 2077, Warhammer 40K - the protagonist enjoys certain freedoms and privileges as a result of their involvement within the social order, but has no influence on a scale that would change anything, in some cases even if they are literally its highest authority

No agency, coincidental change: The Handmaid's Tale - nothing lasts forever but all the protagonist can do is hope to live long enough to see it

Some agency, coincidental change: Fahrenheit 451 - Guy Montag defies the norms he's supposed to violently enforce, but all he can do is leave and survive once society collapses under its own weight

Some agency, meaningful change: Metropolis, Snow Crash, The Hunger Games, The Matrix, Papers, Please - the protagonist accesses a social position that they are able to use to create new norms and sometimes participate in the actual destruction of the old ones

Agency especially is tricky, because someone who clearly has no agency at all does not usually make for a particularly engaging protagonist. This is especially true in games, where the player's ability to control what their character does is a defining characteristic to the point that games that don't offer that are often dismissed as "not really a game", but also true of more linear mediums as well. The protagonist's social role isn't indicative of their narrative agency, either - if anything, the Papers, Please inspector has less authority than Winston 1984 does, but in some endings is capable of wielding it to influence events in ways Winston never considered possible.

I'm inclined to say that whether the protagonist's life allows them luxuries the audience wishes they had might be a useful distinction within dystopias, but probably unimportant to whether something "counts" as a dystopia to begin with. The only examples I listed that I'd consider not in the dystopian genre are The Matrix (the setting is a dystopia, but the lens of the story quickly shifts to people fighting it from the outside without having to live in it and Star Wars isn't a dystopia either) and possibly Omelas (and that's largely because so much of it is about this exact issue of what utopia and dystopia even are).

there's a problem with a lot of dystopian fiction where the dystopia is actually both cooler and less dystopic than real life and i keep fucking noticing that and it's driving me mad

[thelastspeecher]

I've been meaning to make this post for a while and I'm finally getting around to it.

In my humblest of opinions, "Ya Got Trouble" from The Music Man is one of the finest musical songs in history. Does it have the most swelling melody, wild harmonies, and an insane finish? No, but a song doesn't need those to be good. And in fact, how good it is despite lacking those traits just further proves how well it was written.

The most distinctive aspect of the song, something that we see a lot in The Music Man, is that there isn't actually a huge amount of singing. It does have music the entire time; the orchestra is chugging along quite excellently. But most of the song is rapid-fire speaking in a slightly sing-song manner. Rhyming doesn't really kick in until near the end, when there's proper singing. This doesn't make the song less engaging, however. In my opinion, this makes the song more interesting. Sometimes, proper musical songs can be boring. If you've listened to enough of them, you can predict the melody or the lyrics. But you can't do that with "Ya Got Trouble", because it doesn't have rhyming or much melody.

Tied into the sing-song speaking is the fact that it is a very difficult piece to perform from a technical standpoint! The speaking has to be at a specific pace and tone that takes a LOT of work. I've heard the song a million times and even memorized much of the lyrics, but the only parts of the song I can reliably perform along with when listening are when it slows down. Harold Hill is talking FAST. But he also has to be CLEAR. Combining speed, enunciation, and acting takes practice and skill.

Despite the singing not kicking in until the end, there's still a sort-of chorus, and it's the part that people who've heard the song know best. "Trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool!" It's so dang memorable and distinctive. The wording in general is done so well. It really does come off as it's supposed to: a conman playing to his audience until he has them eating out of his hands.

In addition, while a lot of the song contains cultural references that can be difficult for modern-day audiences to catch (the musical was written in 1957 and takes place in 1912), the general message still comes across incredibly well. You don't need to have heard of "Captain Billy's Whiz Bang" before to understand that it's some joke book full of "inappropriate" content for kids, because the song provides the context. With how many specific cultural references there are in the song, it's no small feat that the song is still intelligible.

Finally, and I'll admit this is a bit of a personal thing here, but when the singing does kick in near the end it's in the classical musical style. Nothing against the sound of modern musicals, but I do so enjoy the classical style you hear in pieces like Annie Get Your Gun, The Music Man, and The Sound of Music. Timeless harmonies and melodies.

[voidcat]

calling togame "my little seahorse" and watching as he tries to figure out what the fuck does that mean bc its too specific to be a cutesy nickname and he has never heard you specifically show interest towards marine biology and such

[cheesey-rice]

Yin/yang is literally such a core philosophical concept that i feel like is just like lying at the center of human thought in that it's that same thing of greek mythology in people trying to describe the beginning of existence as chaos, just that there is a formlessness to everything, nothing has inherent meaning (a theme in buddhist philosophy as well) but things begin to have meaning when there is a delineation. A very basic one is myself and others. This is the foundation of human experience, the idea of experience being an existence separate from that which is not existence. Yin/yang as a concept is reflective of the fact that in the human way of thinking, lines are drawn between two things. As a human, if you look at one whole of something and make a division, you can divide them into two things. So the sky could be divided into night and day, when one concept is divided into two concepts, one of them will resemble 阴 and the other will resemble 阳 based on our perception of it. The thing that holds over from this discussion of human thought is not really that all people will associate the same things with the aspect of 阴 and the aspect of 阳, but that the nature of 'meaning' is that it is derived from divisions of a whole. Yet, because this meaning/division is an invention of perception, Yinyang as a concept reminds the human thinker that true and absolute division is not a reality that new perception cannot change. To have a concept of what is good, you need a concept of what is bad to differentiate the two. Yet, because of this, you can't just say that all things in your concept of what is good will always be good and all things in the concept of what is bad will be bad, because these are just verbal labels and communicative constructions we're trying to use to understand how we feel about the world around us. And that even though there may exist a division between two things, those two things will still be connected by the fact that they are a part of the whole of something else. the Yinyang is a circle with lines drawn between to the two parts, but the two still take upon the form of that circle.

[birrafrgrances]

How Impulse Perfume Can Become Your New Signature Scent

Finding a signature scent can be a game-changer when it comes to perfume. A fragrance that's uniquely yours, that makes you feel confident and glamorous, and that is always in style. 

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Signature Scents: What Makes Them Unique?

A signature scent is more than just a fragrance – it is an expression of your personality, style, and attitude. It is a scent that's uniquely yours, one that you feel confident and comfortable wearing every day. 

What defines a signature scent? Here are some characteristics:

Uniqueness: A signature scent should be distinctive and stand out from the crowd. It should be a scent that you can not easily find elsewhere.

Personal Connection: A signature scent should evoke emotions and memories. It should be a scent that you associate with happy times, special moments, or personal experiences.

Consistency: A signature scent should be consistent in its quality and performance. It should be a scent that you can rely on to make you feel confident and glamorous.

Read more: The differences between summer and winter fragrances

Why Impulse is the Perfect Signature Scent

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Finding a signature scent can be a game-changer for anyone who wants to make a statement. With its unique blend of fresh, floral, and warm notes, Impulse is the perfect choice for anyone looking for a fragrance that's both elegant and approachable. 

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[moonwoodhollow]

Spice Market №2—a San Myshuno Shell by Moonwoodhollow. Spice Market №1 was definitely in need of a neighbouring lot, which would fit just as well as the first lot into the Spice Market and I hope I did it justice! While I wanted both lots to go well together, each one of them needed to have distinctive characteristics so for this lot you'll also get two 'classic' brownstones + a former harbor factory. Oh and 6 empty shops/businesses that you can fill with whatever you like!

More screenshots, info + download link under the cut!

So what do you get?

Spice Market №2 is a 30x30 lot best placed in San Myshuno in the Spice Market neighbourhood. The lot is currently set as a residential lot, but you could set it as a residential rental, or with the new pack combine a residential lot with a business. The lot consists of 1 apartment, that comprises 2 floors. The factory could potentially be used as a residential space as well, it has 2 rooftop terraces and consists of 2 floors. The 2 brownstones have 3 floors and a rooftop terrace each.

-> a tip: The brownstone townhouses aren't very big, because the size of the lot wouldn't permit it, but if you'd like to play with them and have more than 2 sims, I'd advise you to combine the 2 brownstones into one home. That way it should be more spacious.

There are also 6 businesses/shops/cafés/restaurants/etc. shells. 1 of these is in the basement, while the others are all on the 1st floor and potentially have more floors.

I also added a Chinese food stall next to the factory, that does work, but you'll need to click on it and pay for someone to arrive and work there (100 Simoleons, I believe).

Uses items from the following packs: looks best with almost all packs. But a tip: take a look at the build in the gallery and click on the packs to see the items I used from that pack, it might also look good with fewer packs.

Download: google drive (455mb) | and up on the gallery: aeromantica (but you’ll need the cc from the drive folder)

Is the cc included? yes.

TOU: Please don’t claim as your own or put behind paywalls etc. If you find any issues please let me know + tag me if you’ll use the building, I’d love to see it in your games.

If you like what I do and want to show your appreciation, I have a ko-fi!

[kaurwreck]

I think you're right that it's significant, and I think Mori is clever to recognize that Akutagawa is a rook.

Like a rook, Akutagawa is powerful, but generally contained and often undercut by his predictability. However, because he's keenly aware of his own constraints, and because others often aren't (especially regarding variables they've internalized as known), he's able to play into and against his own predictability to paradoxically surprise them.

He moves within the confines of his rigidity to shape outcomes, sometimes more effectively than his more dynamic opponents and peers. Rooks do that too, if you let them.

Me, knowing nothing about chess, probably overthinking the significance of referencing akutagawa in this scene, but is going to look it up later anyways

[nineslugs]

Kee are incredibly varied sophonts. As a whole they represent not a species, but a species complex. Not all kee can successfully reproduce with one another depending on how distantly related they are, but all types of kee can interbreed with at least one other group. This can lead to gene transfer even between groups that cannot successfully hybridize.

Even within a single kee group there can be a lot of variety in coloration and markings (melanism, piebaldism, dilute color, etc.), which I will cover later.

Six distinct groups of kee currently exist, all descended from an extinct ancestor that began to diversify about 2mya. These groups are as follows:

Dextral/Narrow Wing

Average Wingspan and Weight N-type: 36in, 1.0lbs T-type: 25.5in, 0.7lbs

Dexral kee are closest related to the ancestral ur-kee from which all other kee descended, existing nearly unchanged for longer than any other group. They are also the most common kee group found outside of their biotope. They can reproduce successfully with all groups of kee but don’t hybridize as easily with Little Island and Proximal kee.

Their n-types are very similar in appearance to Sinestral and Middle Island kee but their t-types have a characteristic dark cap and long, straight beak spike.

Sinestral/Broad Wing

Average Wingspan and Weight N-type: 36in, 1.0lbs T-type: 31.5in, 0.8lbs

Sinestral kee are most closely related to Dextral kee but also readily hybridize with Proximal kee. Unions with all other groups often produce sterile hybrids.

Both n and t-type Sinestrals have a domed profile to their head thanks to thicker integument along the top. Their t-types have an upward curved beak spike and darkened integument around the upper beak. Their wings are slightly broader than those of Dextral kee but they have a largely identical flight pattern.

Central Islands/Long Wing

Average Wingspan and Weight N-type: 51in, 2.8lbs T-type: 43in, 1.8lbs

Central Islands kee are the physically largest of all kee. They also have much longer necks and wings, making them look even bigger still.

They are most closely related to Dextral kee and can form viable hybrids with them and Sinestral kee. Hybridization with Middle Island kee results in sterile offspring, and their greater genetic distance from Proximal and Little Islands kee leaves them incapable of reproduction.

Unlike other kee groups, who have shorter wings for bursts of speed and maneuverability, Central Islands kee have long wings better suited for soaring and longer distance flight. This aids their more migratory lifestyle, traveling between the larger keeland central islands and the many smaller islands surrounding them. Their coloration is naturally the most blue among all kee in order to better blend with the sea and sky. They tend to have more lightweight clothing and personal effects than other groups of kee since they spend more time in flight.

Proximal/Cold Weather

Average Wingspan and Weight N-type: 26in, 0.8lbs T-type: 26in, 0.8lbs

Proximal kee live closer to the biozone’s central ice sheet than any other group. Adapted for the colder climate they have much thicker, fluffier integument than other kee groups and smaller wings to prevent heat loss. They fly in short bursts and are very maneuverable, but can’t fly as long distance as most other kinds of kee.

Unlike other kee, who tend to have slightly smaller t-types than n-types, Proximal n and t-types are roughly the same size.

Due to their relative genetic isolation from other groups, Proximal kee cannot reproduce with either Central or Little Island kee. Crosses with Dextral or Middle Islands kee usually produce sterile hybrids. Proximal kee can only readily reproduce with Sinestral kee.

Out of all kee Proximals are the most likely to pierce their patagium for clothing use. Kee usually live in warmer climates and wear minimal clothing, most often around the head, arms, and neck. Since Proximal kee live live in a colder climate they need to affix clothing around more of their body and patagium piercings allow for clothing to be worn more tightly around their core, conserving heat and leaving the wings and patagia unobstructed.

Middle Island/Curl

Average Wingspan and Weight N-type: 33in, 0.9lbs T-type: 31.5in, 0.7lbs

Middle Islanders are most closely related to Dextral and Little Island kee, both of with which they can successfully reproduce. With all others they usually yield sterile hybrids.

While Middle Island n-types look very similar to n-type Dextrals and Sinestrals, their t-types are very distinctive. Their beak spike and flanges are elongate and downturned, and their integument forms dark “eyebrows” on their mask (these eyebrows are also present to a lesser extent in n-type Middle Islanders).

Along with their striking faces, t-type Middle Islanders have very elongated integument around the edge of their wings and hind leg fins. While this slightly hampers flight it is a good show of a Middle Islander t-type’s health and is considered the mark of a promising cliquemate in Middle Islander cultures.

Little Island/Crowned

Average Wingspan and Weight N-type: 25.5in, 0.7lbs T-type: 24in, 0.7lbs

Little Islands kee are physically the smallest of all kee, both by weight and wingspan; an example of island dwarfism. Ancestrally they come from the dextralmost island of the greater keeland landmass, where they inhabit it’s dense expanse of forest. They have small round wings that help them tightly maneuver in their cluttered habitat.

They can only reproduce easily with Middle Islanders, and have sterile hybrids with Dextrals and Sinestrals. With Proximal and Central kee they are incapable of reproduction.

Little Islanders have similarly sized n and t-types. Their flanges have a unique split appearance in both n and t-types, ending in multiple points. In t-types their darkened eyebrow integument connects to a dark cap on behind the top beak, and the elongate nature of the individual pieces gives them a “crowned” appearance. Their t-types also have elongate integument on the edge of their wings, much like their Middle Islander relatives.

[wettbewerberrr]

The average recipe for netherite has been developed relatively recently through multiple trials (and errors), as well as analysis of samples and texts found in the depths of the bastions, which allowed researchers to determine the composition of the netherite alloy.

Netherite has an extremely high melting point due to the oxide film that forms when metal compound comes in contact with oxygen. Working with netherite requires preparation, which includes dissolving the oxide film, which significantly reduces the melting point and allows for further processing (forging and coating of diamond goods).

A distinctive feature of a high quality alloy is the unity of color. Works of novice blacksmiths often have visible inclusions of gold in the form of small specks or, in the worst case, larger marks of various shapes (although some craftsmen deliberately achieve this effect).

c!Tommy, c!Techno and c!Dream gorgets as examples of variations in netherite alloys

The malleability of netherite is significantly less than that of iron, and therefore does not allow the creation of exceptionally elegant elements. Therefore, a diamond base is most often used to create intricate details on armor (however, this process often requires the participation of a jeweler). However, a significant advantage of armor decorated with netherite is the greater strength of the ornaments compared to the ones made of iron.

After perfecting the initial ratio of alloy components, some craftsmen began to vary their recipes, wanting to achieve characteristic variations in the color and texture of the armor and weapons.

[an-awkward-tangerine]

Just to clear some things up

What "sex is binary" means :

There are only two sexes

Variations of the sexes are not a third sex

Everyone is either male or female

What "sex is binary" DOESN'T mean :

All people are typical of their sex

There is no variation between the sexes

The two sexes are 100% distincts in humans

People with variations should be corrected

Atypical people are "less" of their sex

Sex characteristics can never change

You can only be your sex in one way

Only typical people have a valid experience

[mbari-blog]

Spend a few moments with this regal resident of the deep. 👑

The deep-sea crown jelly, Atolla, is one of the most widely distributed jellies. The genus occurs worldwide, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Most Atolla have a distinctive elongated tentacle that can be up to six times the diameter of the jelly’s bell. Scientists suspect that this characteristic trailing tentacle helps the jelly capture food. As a hungry Atolla pulses along, that long tentacle snags crustaceans or other prey.

Currently, scientists recognize 10 species in the genus Atolla. Some species have unique features that make them relatively easy to identify, but most others can be rather difficult to identify. Some characteristics thought to be species-specific—like the number of tentacles and pigmentation of the bell—have turned out to be less helpful in separating out the species.

Stay tuned for more videos of MBARI’s deep-sea all-stars.

[heich0e]

yuuji calls sukuna a lot.

it's almost like second nature to him now, muscle memory even, so many years since getting his first cellphone; any time he finds himself idle, maybe on his walk home after his part-time job, or on a break between his college classes, he picks up his phone and dials his older brother without thinking. they never talk about anything of importance—maybe just what yuuji did that day, or some gossip he overheard, or what the two of them should have that night for dinner—but he still makes the call.

sukuna always acts annoyed when he answers, greeting him with a characteristically terse 'yeah, what?' that yuuji never pays any mind to. but he still answers the call—at least most of the time—and that simple truth speaks volumes in and of itself.

sukuna's phone rings at a few minutes past 1am, and his little brother's name lights up the caller ID.

"yeah, what?" sukuna snaps groggily, holding his phone up to his ear. he'd passed out on the couch soon after he got home from work, a half-drunk and now room temperature can of beer left abandoned on the table in front of his spread knees. yuuji's babbling starts as soon as the call connects and his brother greets him, and it takes sukuna a moment to make sense of him.

"—'n now i can't finder!"

"the hell are you talking about, dumbass?" the elder of the two grumbles, scrubbing a hand across his face. his brother's voice is panicked and hard to understand.

"we got spliddup at the bar, 'n now i dunno where she is anymore—"

"don't know where who is? fuck, are you hammered?" sukuna complains, sitting himself upright on the sofa as he wipes sleep from the corner of his eyes, suddenly a bit more awake than he was when the phone first rang.

yuuji says your name with a croaking, worried voice, and sukuna sighs exasperatedly. he stares down pensively at the can of beer he forgot to drink on the coffee table, then his eyes flicker to a framed photo hanging on the wall across the room—the glass smudged, frame slightly crooked, and photograph sun-bleached from the years it's spent hanging there.

"just..." he grunts as he pushes himself up to his feet, "fuckin' send me the address and stay where you are, idiot."

it's not hard to find his little brother once he arrives to the address yuuji sent him—especially since the youngest itadori brother is waiting (as promised) right by the entrance of the familiar bar near the university campus where both you and yuuji attend classes. it's still busy for so late in the night, but the clubs are closed now and little bars like this are the only places still open. sukuna's not even sure what the difference is anyway, because the lights here are still dim and the music is loud and there are still people dancing off to one side of the establishment, so the distinction between the two seems tenuous if not entirely negligible. but as someone who's spent his fair share of nights in bars just like (and including) this one, he's usually not really one to complain.

but tonight's different.

yuuji is teetering a bit when his brother arrives—an unusual sight, considering he's usually pretty good at holding his liquor.

"shit, how much did you drink?" are the first words out of sukuna's mouth when he approaches.

the youngest itadori's cheeks are flushed as pink as his hair, and he grimaces in the wake of the eldest's question—he's always been a terrible liar, especially when it comes to his brother, so he doesn't even bother trying to deny it. sukuna doesn't wait for a response in any case, turning his head towards the thick of the crowd and letting his eyes scan through it.

he doesn't see you.

"where'd you see her last?" he asks, leaning towards his brother to be heard over the music.

"by the bar!" yuuji replies, raising his own voice to overcome the bass. "she said she was getting one last drink, but she never came back to the table."

yuuji's lip wobbles a bit as he concludes his sentence, but he sucks it quickly into his mouth and catches it between his teeth.

"and you looked for her?" sukuna asks again.

"all over," yuuji nods, letting his lip slip out from between the bite of his incisors to reply. "fushiguro's doing another lap. nobara's checking the bathrooms."

sukuna ruffles a hand through his hair, suddenly realizing it's probably a mess from his rudely-interrupted slumber. "maybe she just left or somethin'."

"she wouldn't do that, you know that," yuuji says firmly. there's an insistence burning behind his eyes as he looks to his older brother, and it's the most sober he's seemed all night.

sukuna rolls his eyes, even though he knows yuuji's right—you'd never leave on your own, much less without so much as a goodbye. the two of you have been joined at the hip for long enough he's almost surprised that yuuji wasn't able to find you with some weird telepathic form of echolocation. he swings an arm up over his little brother's shoulders pushing him down a little just to tease him, before using his grip to tug him towards the crowd.

"you track down that little sea urchin friend of yours and i'll take a look around. meet me back here in ten minutes or text me if you find that little pest, alright?"

the bar is harder to navigate the further in sukuna travels from the entrance, the bodies pressing closer together with every step he takes away from fresh night air. he's pissed off, but that's not out of character for him. he's more pissed off than he usually is, considering not even an hour before he'd been peacefully sleeping at home, and now he's glaring at some drunk college kid who just almost spilled their beer on him.

"move," he hisses through his teeth at the wide-eyed kid whose life he can practically see flashing through his eyes as he shoulders past him. sukuna would be lying if he said the look didn't improve his mood at least marginally.

as sukuna weaves through the bodies in the bar, his eyes don't stop looking for you. it's almost startling how quickly he can rule people out—how definitively he can say that someone is or isn't you with just a passing glance. he starts to doubt himself as he reaches the far corner of the bar and begins to round back towards the entrance, an annoying, grating irritation in the back of his mind. worry, maybe, if he were the type.

then he sees you.

just the faintest glimpse of your profile, caught behind the shoulder of the man who has you backed into a corner by a pillar, hidden mostly away from the crowd—at least as hidden as anyone can be in a place like this.

sukuna feels his lip curling into a furious sneer as he takes a step towards you—people move out of his path wordlessly as he trudges over to that dark corner where you're tucked away.

it's only when he gets a bit closer that he's able to read the lines of your body properly. you're teetering, just like yuuji had been—the two of you had probably enabled each other in your intoxication that night like the stupid kids sukuna knows you both to be. but you're also distinctly uncomfortable, pressed up against the wall as if to put as much distance between you and the man hovering over you as you possibly can. your eyes glance off to the side, like you're searching uselessly for an escape.

instead, they meet his.

"sukuna," you gasp out in surprise, and the man you're speaking to glances over his shoulder in confusion. he seems annoyed, and a bit nervous, when he spots the man (taller, and broader than he is) standing behind him with a scowl.

sukuna hears the relief in your voice when you say his name. reads it behind your glassy eyes.

"what are you doing here?" you ask, reaching out towards him clumsily.

the man in front of you puts a hand on your waist—possibly to steady you, more likely to stop you—and it makes sukuna see red.

"hands off," sukuna snaps, wrapping a hand around your upper arm and tugging you into his side away from the creep.

"who's this? you said you don't have a boyfriend," the kid asks you, jutting a thumb towards sukuna accusatorially.

you mumble something quietly in reply about him being yuuji's brother, tucking yourself a bit closer to sukuna as you say it.

"your brother?" he asks as his eyes squint in confusion, having clearly only caught part of your explanation. "you're ditching me for your brother?"

sukuna's anger flares again at the entitlement this little brat has the nerve to display so flagrantly. the older man's hand slips down to your waist on instinct, and then lower still to the curve of your ass, making a show of how his big hand grips into the flesh beneath it. you squeak quietly at the contact, turning and hiding your burning face against sukuna's chest. he keeps his hand right where it is.

the stranger's eyes widen at the inappropriate display before him and sukuna leans in close with a vicious, almost manic grin.

"we're very close."

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Edward Hopper, Approaching a City, 1946. Oil on canvas.

Travel is a recurring theme in Edward Hopper’s art. Actively seeking commonplace subjects, he often gave more significance to the journey than to the destination. “To me,” Hopper wrote, “the most important thing is the sense of going on.” Such is the arrested, lonely feeling of Approaching a City. Characteristically, Hopper did not reveal what lay ahead, and in referring to the work, the painter said he wanted to evoke the “interest, curiosity, (and) fear” that one experiences when entering or leaving a city.

Ultimately, Approaching a City conveys a paradox of contemporary life. The unseen traveler of the image is caught in a curious limbo and isolation between city and country. The railroad made faraway places accessible to ordinary people, but it also made those places less distinctive. Hopper, by asserting the anonymity of the place and not revealing the train’s destination, suggests a future that is at once both predictable and unknown.

Photo: Whitney Museum of American Art Text: Philips Collection

[literaryvein-reblogs]

I'm trying to work on my 'show don't tell' but struggle with describing smells when tackling senses. Do you have any smelly word resources? :)

Some Words to Describe Smell

Acrid - strong, biting (e.g., something on fire)

Ambrosial - fragrant; having a pleasant smell

Antiseptic - a clean scent

Aromatic - having a strong or distinctive smell

Aura - smell surrounding something

Balm - soothing scent

Bouquet - blend of floral scents

Briny - salty

Burnt - unpleasant, smoky, sharp scent

Clean - very light scent, clean and natural

Earthy - recently dug or tilled soil

Essence - basic, natural scent

Fetid - decaying or rotting smell

Fishy - smelling of fish; pungent, strong, unpleasant

Flowery - fragrance similar to flowers

Foul - being odorous and impure

Fragrant - things, such as flowers or spices, with sweet or agreeable odors

Fresh - natural smelling, rather than artificial

Gamy - having the flavor of game; smelly

Gaseous - a chemical odorant, similar to the smell of rotten eggs

Heady - very strong aroma

Lemony - tart, piquant citrus notes

Lilac - rich floral scent combining rose with vanilla

Mildewed - soaked in wetness that has gone stale

Minty - menthol-like smell

Misty - mild fragrance, not overpowering

Moldy - damp, fungus-like odor

Musty - damp, earthy, or stale odor

Odorous - emitting a scent that has a strong distinctive smell whether pleasant or unpleasant

Overpowering - too strong of a smell

Perfumed - artificial fragrance, not natural-smelling

Pheromone - natural scents

Piney - crisp, refreshing evergreen smell

Piquant - pleasantly pungent, sharp, or spicy taste

Plastic - artificial chemical polymer odor

Pungent - strong fragrance

Putrid - stench of decay

Rancid - spoiled; food that has gone bad

Reeking - a strong or disagreeable fume or odor

Rotten - spoiled, rancid, unpalatable

Scented - having a perfumed smell

Sharp - a strong scent

Skunky - noxious smell that lingers; sulfuric (like rotten eggs) odor

Smoky - scent of burning wood

Spoiled - an unpleasant, rotten smell

Stagnant - a stale smell

Stench - stink; a characteristic repugnant quality

Sterile - a sense of cleanliness; the scent of cleaning products

Sweet - sugary smell

Tart - sharp fragrance

Tempting - having an appeal; enticing

Trace - a tiny amount of fragrance

Whiff - a fleeting scent

Wispy - hint of fragrance in the air

Woodsy - characteristic or suggestive of woods; forest-like smell

Olfactory imagery engages the sense of smell. Scent is one of the most direct triggers of memory and emotion, but can be difficult to write about. Since taste and smell are so closely linked, you’ll sometimes find the same words (such as “sweet”) used to describe both. Simile is common in olfactory imagery, because it allows writers to compare a particular scent to common smells like dirt, grass, manure, or roses.

The above are excerpts from this previous post & added definitions from Merriam-Webster and YourDictionary. More related posts you might find useful:

Some Perfumery Vocabulary

100 Sensory Words ⚜ Word Alternatives: Olfactory

Writing Notes: Fragrance ⚜ Scent ⚜ Fragrance Notes

More: Notes & References ⚜ Word Lists ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

All the best in your search for the right smelly words in your writing :)

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

Ao Bing's father and aunty. His father is Ao Guang敖广, Longwang of the East Sea, and his aunty is Ao Run敖闰, Longwang of the West Sea. (lóngwang龙王 means sovereign of lóng龙)

Scholars used to use the word loong but its pronunciation is significantly different from the Chinese character "龙". Long is better but still not the same. The aunthentic pronunciation is more like [lɔ:ueng] and it's pinyin is lóng.

Translators use the word dragon merely to facilitate better understanding, but the Chinese "龙" and the Western "dragon" are vastly different, fundamentally distinct, much like two creatures that aren't in the same dimension.

The Chinese 龙lóng is a sacred mythical creature; they are considered holy beings, existing in a dimension above that of mortals. They hold the responsibility of controlling the wind, lightning, thunder, clouds and rain, regulating the weather, and blessing the abundance of crops. The copulation of 龙lóng with nine other creatures gave birth to various divine beasts, each bearing some characteristics of the 龙lóng, but the true 龙lóng is regarded as the purest and most noble of all.

In China, many people claim to have seen lóng, with plenty of folk records both before and after the founding of the People's Republic. In the internet era, there are also many videos of lóng. One of the most famous is footage taken by a college student on her dormitory balcony on a cloudy day, where a lóng appears in the thunderclouds and then turn its head to gaze the girl. Another notable incident is the CCTV live broadcast of the Gaoyou Lake lóng water spout event (interestingly, CCTV later edited the live footage, changing the scene of a real lóng spiraling and disappearing in a flash to show three ridiculous birds that didn’t follow the rules of perspective). These videos can be found on Bilibili if you want to check them out. I think the dormitory and Gaoyou Lake videos are real like they're truely lóng (the dorm one is especially striking because it looks exactly like the watery ink long on ancient Chinese paintings, with an extraordinary and otherworldly vibe, exuding an overwhelming sense of oppression). Other real videos show that lóng can fly at incredibly high speeds, like lightning. Folk culture says lóng can switch between physical and ethereal forms at will, which is why they can move so fast. There are also many fake videos to get clicks online, so one gets to use their own judgment. It’s widely believed that lóng appeared as early as the creation of the world, and they made a pact with the ancestors of Chinese people and have been protecting the 'Celestial Realm and Divine Land of Huaxia'华夏神州 ever since. In the unique Chinese twelve shengxiao生肖 culture, lóng is the only mythical creature—the other eleven are common animals. Some scholars think that when shengxiao was created, many people had actually seen lóng and accepted that they're real, which is why it became one of the twelve shengxiao.

[nihongonotabi]

In Japanese language, describing a third person’s emotion is different from describing a first person’s emotion: in English, the sentences "I am happy" and "He is happy" are grammatically structured in the same way. However, in Japanese, this direct equivalence is not possible: you can say "私は嬉しいです" (Watashi wa ureshii desu), but you can't simply say "彼は嬉しいです" (Kare wa ureshii desu).

This is due to cultural and linguistic nuances that emphasize the acknowledgment of another's internal state as somewhat inaccessible. In fact, Japanese typically employs expressions that convey a level of inference or indirectness, such as:

Using observational phrases: one might say 「彼は嬉しそうです」 (Kare wa ureshisō desu), which translates to "He seems happy" or "He/she looks happy." This phrasing respects the notion that one can only observe outward signs of emotion, not definitively know another's internal state.

Adding "ようだ" or "みたい": these suffixes add a sense of speculation. For example, 「彼は嬉しいようだ」 (Kare wa ureshii yō da) or 「彼は嬉しいみたいです」 (Kare wa ureshii mitai desu), both meaning "He appears to be happy."

Using conditional clauses: Another approach is to use conditional forms, like 「彼が嬉しければ」 (Kare ga ureshikereba), meaning "If he is happy," which implicitly acknowledges the uncertainty of truly knowing his feelings.

One characteristic of Japanese syntax is its extreme sensitivity to epistemological considerations based on the ego/nonego distinction or the distinction of I/the other. Our knowledge about the mental state of another person must necessarily come from our interpretation of external evidence, and this is well reflected in the Japanese language.

Source material: http://human.kanagawa-u.ac.jp/gakkai/publ/pdf/no157/15712.pdf