#it's salt in the shape of a pyramid

[ohmerricat]

We Invest Things With Significance, or: Why Sutekh Isn’t Sutekh, But Death Itself. alternative title: Fear Is the Mind Killer.

the Doctor Who Series 14/1 thesis statement

i don’t think that sutekh has literally been attached to the TARDIS since Pyramids of Mars. i think that the salt at the edge of the universe — the grievous mistake that caused all myths to become a reality — was what made him appear. and he’s not the same character as sutekh the osiran, a powerful alien that delusionally believed himself to be a god. he *is* a god. nuwho-Sutekh is Death Incarnate.

ergo, this version of Sutekh is the literal psychic manifestation of the Doctor’s deep-seated, guilt-motivated fear of the idea that his arrival brings death wherever he treads. this death-anxiety was turned into a physical presence, haunting the TARDIS all through the Doctor’s timestream, because of the salt. that’s the reason why the Doctor didn’t spot any Susan Twists before Wild Blue Yonder…

there are two timelines in Doctor Who — relative time and universal time. universal time is the history of the universe. relative time is how the Doctor experiences it. in universal time, Sutekh has supposedly been hitchhiking through the vortex for millenia. in relative time, he has only been doing so since Fourteen accidentally invited myths back into the world.

the Doctor was insecure and afraid and believed the above quote (from the very first episode!! spoken by the very first named character in nuwho to die on screen, no less!) to be true. but until WBY it had only been true on a symbolic, metaphorical level. myths, legends, concepts and stories becoming real after the salt caused the Doctor’s anxiety about being a death-bringer to take the shape of a black dog — a universally recognised symbol of death — wearing the name and voice of his most formidable enemy, Sutekh.

in a way, this plotline mirrors The Woman from 73 Yards similarly being a manifestation of Ruby’s worst fear — that of being abandoned by everyone she loves for something intrinsic and incorrigible inside her that she cannot change. Ruby fears being left completely alone, so “The Woman” causes everyone in her life to leave her. the Doctor fears that his coming always heralds mass destruction (“maybe i’m the bad luck”), so “Sutekh” makes sure that the TARDIS literally becomes an altar of death.

ever since Wild Blue Yonder, stories in doctor who have become sources of immense power. the worst, most potent stories we tell ourselves are the lies that our sick brains whisper to us — secret anxieties that we’re not good enough, that all our loved ones will inevitably leave, that we carry nothing but bad luck in our wake. what better clay to mould a monster from than the protagonists’ own neuroses?

and if anybody’s still in doubt, here’s the plain text, all laid out below:

we invest things with significance. that’s what the salt at the edge of the universe really meant. that’s what almost every episode this series has been about, thematically — the imaginary kastarions, the cosplaying chuldur, the bogeyman written into life because kids need a scary story. myths become real to us because we believe in them, love and death and monsters too.

[niteshade925]

April 13, Xi'an, China, Shaanxi Archaeology Museum/陕西考古博物馆 (Part 3 - Qin dynasty to Sui dynasty):

First up is one of many bronze edict tablets of the 2nd emperor of Qin dynasty, made in 209 BC. Inscribed upon it in Seal script is one of two edicts, specifically the one from the 2nd emperor of Qin dynasty (秦二世), which basically is a continuation of Qin Shi Huang's edict on standardizing all weights and measurements. Here Qin Shi Huang/秦始皇 is referred to as Shi Huangdi/始皇帝, where shi/始 means "origin", and huangdi/皇帝 means "emperor".

^The edict inscribed is as follows (this is my VERY rough translation, please take this with a grain of salt, I'm not great at reading Old Chinese; original text is on bottom right of picture):

“First year (209 BC; first year of 2nd Emperor of Qin's reign), [We] issued an edict to chancellors Li Si and Feng Quji: Shi Huangdi pioneered this effort to standardize all weights and measurements, since then all such edicts have been inscribed on bronze. Now that [We have] inherited this Huangdi title, [We] shall not refer to Ourselves as Shi Huangdi here. Likewise, should Our descendants continue to produce tablets of Shi Huangdi's edict, they shall not take credit for Shi Huangdi's achievements. [We] hereby inscribe this edict on the left, so that all may be clear."

Ever since Qin Shi Huang tried to standardize systems of measurements for the entire country, every dynasty since Qin dynasty has also done the same. These are the standardized weights and volume measurements (all made with bronze) from Western Han dynasty (202 - 8 BC). Those volume measurement tools are very much like oversized measurement spoons, since they are mostly used to measure liquids and grains (in ancient China grains can be measured by volume).

Looks like I forgot about this one in part 2, this is a bronze sword from Warring States period (475 - 221 BC), I believe. It's decorated with carved pieces of jade (some are on the scabbard, but the scabbard has presumably decomposed over time):

The painted and carved stone doorway to a Eastern Han dynasty (25 - 220 AD) tomb. The actual (double) doors are in the middle, and the pieces around them are the side jambs and the lintel. Note the animals, mythical creatures, and humans depicted. On the double doors, in order from top to bottom, there's a pair of Zhuque/朱雀/Vermilion Bird, a pair of symbolic door knockers shaped like a beast carrying a ring in its mouth, and a pair of oxen. On the top right and top left of the lintel piece, you can also clearly see the sun crow and the moon toad, respectively.

The layout of some Western Han dynasty (202 - 8 BC) mausoleums. Note that the "pyramids" on the model aren't stone pyramids like the Great Pyramid of Giza, they are actually fengtu/封土, or artificial mounds of earth on top of the actual tomb to symbolically seal the tomb (feng/封 means "seal" or "to seal"), and can serve as tomb markers. Fengtu can differ vastly in size according to the social status of the deceased, so the fengtu of imperial tombs are usually huge, some so big that they are like small hills. However, while Western Han dynasty imperial tombs have these square-ish fengtu mounds, in Eastern Han dynasty (25 - 220 AD) the fengtu mounds became circular, and imperial tomb fengtu have been circular pretty much ever since. But fengtu wasn't just reserved for the elites, common folk also built small circular fengtu mounds on top of graves (these graves are called fen/坟; graves without fengtu are called mu/墓), and this is still practiced today, albeit much more common in rural areas since there are less people and more land. When people tend to the graves of their family members and ancestors on Qingming Festival, if the grave is a fen grave, people would pile more earth on the fengtu to make it rounder as part of the upkeep process.

A set of pottery figurines of entertainers from a Western Han era tomb. I love how they set the display up here, you can practically imagine the music and the dancing

More pottery figurines from Western Han era tombs

Western Han era hollow clay bricks depicting the Four Symbols/四象 of the cardinal directions: Qinglong/青龙/Azure Dragon of the East, Zhuque/朱雀/Vermilion Bird of the South, Xuanwu/玄武/Black Tortoise of the North, and Baihu/白虎/White Tiger of the West.

Left: a piece of intricately painted lacquered wood, I forgot where it's from but it was probably a piece of decoration on a larger artifact. Right: a piece of gold decoration inlaid with turquoise from Western Han era

The biggest decorated yubi/玉璧 (jade disc with hole in the middle) found so far, from an early Western Han dynasty tomb. Its diameter is 43.2 cm (~17 inches). If you zoom in, the inner band is decorated with these almost tadpole-like little swirls, and these are called gu pattern/谷纹, since they might represent sprouting rice kernels. The outer band is decorated with 4 sets of kuilong patterns/夔龙纹 and 4 sets of dragon-phoenix patterns/龙凤纹. It's speculated that the patterns here together depict the universe, and the hole in the middle is where the spirit of the deceased will travel through. This particular yubi also has 六百六十一 ("six hundred and sixty-one") carved discreetly on the side, presumably a "serial number" left by the artisan who crafted this piece.

Decorated backs of bronze mirrors. I didn't take a picture of the plaque so I'm unclear on what time period these are from (may or may not be from the time period indicated at the beginning of the post):

Left: a hand-held incense burner. Right: a particular type of incense burner called a boshanlu/博山炉, so named because the lid was made to look like a mini mountain

Various Northern Zhou dynasty (557 - 581 AD) painted pottery figurines. Below middle arranged in a circle is the metal pieces on a belt.

Sixteen Kingoms era pottery entertainer figurines:

[tangerine-dream-machine]

do you wanna see the west with me?

Notes below!

This is not a realistic road trip at all, but here are the places/activities shown:

Yorktown Battlefield, Virginia: the site where General Cornwallis surrendered in 1781, bringing the end of the Revolutionary War

Liberty Bell, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: the famous bell with the message "Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants thereof", and later a symbol of liberty for abolitionists and suffragists

Drive-in theater: outdoor cinemas that reached their peak in popularity in the 1950s to 60s; the film is The Searchers (1956)

Kayaking: a fun lake/ocean activity

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail: this trail crosses nine states and follows the forced displacement of Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Muscogees, and Seminoles due to the Indian Removal Act in 1830

Traffic (and billboards): a bane to many and common in car-dependent cities

Cedar Hill Cemetery, Vicksburg, Mississippi: one of the oldest cemeteries in the US still being used; predates the Civil War and includes a Confederate burial site

Devil's Tower, Wyoming: a majestic (and sacred) butte and the first US national monument

Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah: a flat, empty salt pan estimated to hold 147 million tons of salt and a popular racing site

Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming: a geyser in the world's first national park known for its reliable eruptions

Gas station, Nowhere, USA

Horseback riding, Montana: no comment, just a fun time

Las Vegas, Nevada: the world renowned Sin City, a place that caters to many vices

Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex, North Dakota: group of missile defense facilities including missile silos and the pyramid-shaped radar system; built in 1975 and decommissioned after one day of operation, a "monument to man's fear and ignorance"

Hoover Dam, Nevada and Arizona: hydroelectric power plant on the Colorado River; the highest dam in the world at the time of its completion in 1935

Space Needle, Seattle, Washington: an observation tower with a revolving restaurant built for the 1962 World Fair "Living in the Space Age", a theme chosen to show the US was not lagging behind the USSR in the Space Race

Sequoia National Park, California: home of the world's largest tree by volume (General Sherman) and the highest point in the contiguous US (Mount Whitney)

Muir Beach Overlook, California: a former base station overlook with dugouts that gained importance immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 as a means to watch for attacks on nearby San Francisco

@usukweek

[rainbowolfe]

Shamura's Name

When you look up a name's meaning, and can only find one source that gives it one, I take with a grain of salt. And I don't think "the Parentz dot com" is a particularly reliable source. So Shamura meaning diamond? I reject that. Wholly.

There's Shammuramat, the name of an ancient Assyrian queen, but we don't actually know its etymology. It's assumed it means something close to "high heaven", based on a similar ancient language. Based on how Tiamat is thought to mean "one who embodies the sea", Shammuramat is likely in the same vein. "One who embodies"... something.

With no real way of finding the meaning of just "Shammura" in Assyrian, I took a different route.

Anura, Darkwood, even Anchordeep to an extent, have very literal names. So let's assume Silk Cradle does too.

We have six places that we consider the "cradles of civilization": Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Ancient India, Ancient China, Caral-Supe, and Olmec. They're considered the starting points of civilization as we know it.

And one of these cradles also happens to be the birthplace of silk. Ancient China. Silk Cradle is likely just a clever reference to that.

If we consider Silk Cradle to be Shamura's place of origin, then Shamura's name is most likely either Chinese or Japanese.

Now, I'm not as familiar with Chinese, so someone might have to correct me on this, but there is no "ra" in Chinese. The closest would be "re" but I was having trouble finding a fitting character for it.

However, I do know Japanese! "Mura" appears commonly in Japanese names as both a prefix and a suffix. It means village. Its use in names generally translates to [from the] "X" Village. For example, Nakamura means "Middle Village" and Yamamura means "Mountain Village".

"Sha" has many meanings, but the most relevant one is most likely in reference to Shinto Shrines. Specifically a type of Tudigong, the title granted to the local earth (or soil) deity. The literal translation would be "Lord of the Land" or "Lord of the Earth".

Tudigongs are at the top of the divine pyramid, save for Houtu, the overlord herself. Below them are the Sheji, the Shan Shen, the City Gods, and the Landlord Gods in the order.

So "Shamura" would translate to [from the] Earth Deity's village.

Which leaves only one question. Who was the Lord of the Earth about 3000 years ago?

Ala.

Ala is the deity of the Earth, Fertility, and Morality. She is considered to be the ground itself, so to disrespect the earth is to disrespect her. She rules over the underworld and casts judgment on humans. And she seems to play a similar role in-game based on her Relic descriptions.

Her symbol is the crescent moon. She's also represented by pythons. And not only is the crescent moon the shape on Shamura's Crown...

It's also the symbol used for the Seal of the Bishops, the relic that freezes time.

But that's just an observation.

A SERIES of observations.

[ratsoh-writes]

What kind of meals/food can you only find in Ebbott? (And be specific! Don't just say "magic" Ratsoh)

lets start with a list of all old (and some new) ebott only crops and animals:

Powder shrooms: these are gears favorite mushrooms. It’s a small honey colored mushroom with a black circle on the head. They have a very nice buttery taste and can be eaten raw but are best as stuffing for savory dishes. They get the name because they dry fast and the powder was used as flour for the nomads. They also grow like weeds and are easy to maintain

Snap root: it was showcased in the 1k event. It’s a spiny purple skinned root with a brown flesh. It gets its name from the way the vines “snap” up when sunlight hits it. The root has a lovely taste like a cross between pumpkin, sweet potato, and nutmeg and is mostly used in pies and sweet dishes

Crab “apples”: a fruit shaped like a crab. It’s technically not an apple despite the similar taste. It’s the most common fruit of the underground and the farmtale valley. The fruits are slightly sour and rarely larger than the palm of a small hand. The most common shape is the crab shape, but they also come in ducks, pyramids and spirals.

Flossy sticks: it’s a celery like vegetable. The plant looks like a normal leafy bush with very long stems, but as soon as you cut one stem off, it explodes into thousands of tiny floss like strands. They can be boiled into pasta, dried and powdered to be used as flour, or eaten raw. They have a crisp lemon and basil like taste.

Twigs: nobody knows why the vegetable is called this because it looks nothing like a twig. It’s a large orange long cucumber like vegetable. Normally about 3 feet long and 6 inches wide. It has a woodsy tea leaf taste to it. Also puréeing the flesh and mixing it with alcohol is what makes drinks that can temporarily change hair and eye color.

Lion lily: the fruit is named after the striking maned flowers that come before it. The flowers look like lilies but at the base of the flower is a fluffy golden “mane” of cotton strands. The fruit is the size of a tangerine and is golden and perfectly round with a large pit in the middle. It has an extremely sweet taste and soft juicy flesh. It’s so sweet it often doesn’t need sugar added when used in cakes and pies.

Golems salad: a massive fkn head of kale. Like this thing is freaking the size of a car. It’s a magical variety that grows when eight heads of kale are planted in a circle, and carefully nurtured by a golem monster each day. The result is that monstrosity. Overnight the kale comes together, morphing into one plant and will grow to monstrous sizes. It’s said the bigger the salad the stronger the golem

Tumblers: it’s identical to a normal cabbage and tastes like a normal cabbage, but if you wait too long to harvest it, it will literally jump out of the ground and run away at the vibrations of footsteps. It also hisses.

Sweet salt: a spice from the underground that is ground from the seeds of the fir trees that grow in snowdin. It’s very sweet and is described to taste like a blend of brown sugar, cinnamon and black pepper. Tastes like gyftmas

Gyftmas ornaments: the same seeds you can get from snowdins fir trees can also be peeled and pickled. They make a lovely sweet sour treat and are usually dyed to match gyftmas colors.

Tarotile: a flat leaf from a magical plant related to poison ivy. The plant is toxic to humans but delicious to monsters. It’s banned outside of ebotts shores, and has to be labelled very clearly before being sold. Monsters describe it as tasting like a delicious wild berry blend but with a leafy texture. Makes a delicious tea and is wonderful in sweet salads

Sea eggs: an ebott only variety of seaweed will grow these pockets of soft cucumber like fruit in the stalks. Reportedly all the sea monsters have seen and harvested this plant before the crash. It tastes a bit more sour and citrusy than a normal cucumber but has all the texture and water content of one. Weirdly enough there’s nothing magic about this plant. It just likes ebott

Cattails: not to be confused with the non magical reeds that grow near water, cattails is a popular vegetable grown in ebott. It prefers dryer land, only wanting water every few days. It resembles a golden long grass, and when it’s ready to harvest, the grass ends open up to reveal a fluffy thick fiber inside. The result is a pretty feathery plant resembling a cats tail, hence the name. Pull the fibers and on the ends are little grains that are boiled to use a porridge, a flour substitute, or the binding agent of ebotts famous lion jello.

Heartyheads: a thick leafy bush, what makes it classed as magic is that it literally turns into rose quarts when exposed to fire. But it’s not reliable as a source of quarts since it slowly turns back when cooled down. The young leaves can only be eaten raw but are an amazing source of iron and are said to help with inflammation. This plant can only be killed by being dug out of the ground and left to dry out.

Fizzlers: a tomato like plant that grows small baby tomato sized pink, purple and blue fruits (ornamental ones only for blue) the fruit is a key ingredient in fizzy drinks in place of carbonation. The fruit produces lots of bubbles when exposed to water. They’re delicious and taste just like that fake grape flavor humans love

Gauzeberries: a berry that came from the outer-AUs. They all say they found the mysterious bush growing on the asteroids of the asteroid belt they orbited. The bush has silver white leaves, is very small, rarely growing higher than 2 feet, and produces small white berries encased in a gauzelike silk pouch. The plant only grows in cold temperatures and must be kept in fridge rooms with natural sunlight any month except winter. The berries have a crisp grape like taste and when eaten, causes one to float a few inches off the ground for an hour

Rougish grapes: this is a grape variety developed by two monsters from birdfell, and the rights bought by harpy. It’s a very large crimson red grape, each individual fruit nearly the size of an apricot, and is able to be harvested from summer to fall. The grapes have a sweet but peppery taste and are best fermented into wine. They are also proven to be amazing with hair loss.

Baited breath: a small thistle-like herb that grows beautiful thorny blue flowers. The flowers when they open in the mornings make a sighing noise, like someone exhaling. The seeds of this plant are sweet and aromatic, so are often added to a wide variety of dishes. They were also historically chewed on to clean teeth and are known to help humans and monsters alike recover from cavities

Dragons breath: the larger cousin to bated breath, this large thistle like herb grows to five feet and can make thorny black flowers the size of a humans head. The dragons breath flowers let out a brief puff of flame when they open in the morning, and their seeds are large and spicy in flavor. A very popular snack through all of ebott. They are also ground into a spice called dragons hoard.

Whimselites: this is a small bundle of leaves on a whimsot plant, a low growing vine. It was found in every underground au, and continues to be grown and harvested in the underground. If new leaf growths aren’t harvested, eventually the little bundles open up and pop off the mother plant to start a new one. They go great in salads and taste a lot like rocket leaves.

Snails Bane: the plant looks like a rock, but if you step on it, it’ll squish down secreting a snail like slime. It’s also very toxic to snails and should never be kept near them. The plant when cooked, is cut open and left to dry in the sun, before being sliced and put into stews as a flavoring agent. It tastes like chicken and is a favorite among ebotts vegetarians.

Loomy runners: a small magical radish that has two large roots at the end of its bulb. When exposed to fire, the radish will stand up on its roots and run away like a wobbly baby learning to walk. It must be cut up in pieces before being eaten, and sometimes the radish pieces will still flip around in the oven so covered baking dishes are recommended

Garwins Gourd: a large twisted gourd native to farmswap, garwins gourd is an attractive flamingo pink color when ripe and has a sweet taste not unlike a sweet potato. It can be cut up and puréed for pies or stews, boiled and mashed, or sautéed, but it cannot be eaten raw as heat is needed to bread down the thick fibers of the raw vegetable. The gourd also can be dried and is used as a cute storage container by many farm monsters. In recent years, fans of the plant have been able to grow yellow and orange varieties

Bloodroot: edible by monsters, but must be strained several times to be safe for human consumption, bloodroot is a thick large carrot like root that “bleeds” a crimson liquid when cut. The root eaten on its own tastes like a woody earthy grape mixed with a parsnip. It strangely smells like beef until cooked. The reasons for this is that the plant uses an animals digestive tract to strip the thick outer coat on its seeds. And when they come out the “other end” they can safely sprout when freed from their confines. Carnivorous animals are drawn to the root

Claymore mushroom: if directly stepped on by something heavy, this large blue grey mushroom will explode into large chunks catapulted into the air at speeds of up to 15 mph. It’s native to the factory monsters and farm AUs. The farmtale monsters made a winter sport of catapulting the mushrooms before the crash. The mushroom can be safely harvested by cutting it at the base of the stem, rendering it non-exploding.

Triangle of the coast: a magical cousin to broccoli and cauliflower, the triangle is a triangle shaped broccoli like growth that grows directly in the sand of beaches, and is farmed along a section of ebotts coastline in the winter months. The vegetable is a yellowish green color and tastes just like young broccoli. And for some reason, when picked, it secretes a pheromone that attracts crustacean sea creatures. so it’s also used as fish bait and a vegetable

Ferris-weeds: a cousin to the yarrow herb, Ferris weeds are a magical variety native to the farm and Drake AUs. It’s a tall growing herb, reaching up to 10 feet in height, and has a beautiful pale pink flower in the spring and summer. It’s mainly used to line fences as decor, but the flowers can also be eaten raw, pickled, or sautéed. What makes it magical is that it’s known to provide a full days worth of vitamin D in one meal, no matter the amount of flowers eaten. No one knows how the plant accomplished this

Pygmy pomegranates: this trees only been an official breed in the last five years. Developed by a monster from farmtale, Pygmy pomegranates are a cross breed between crab apples and standard pomegranates. They are perfectly dome shaped with a circle top and a completely flat bottom. The fruit is small, onky the size of a child’s fist, and full of orange pomegranate seeds with a purple skin. They taste just like a normal pomegranate

Deaths pearl: a small bundle of leaves, found deep in the ocean. The roots and lower halves of the leaves are pitch black, while the tips are a transparent blue. The vegetable gets its name from seafell, where a fraction of monsters fought to the death with a sea creature for a patch of the plants. This vegetable is completely edible from its roots, leaves, stems and seeds. It tastes very similar to celery mixed with cucumber. Nowadays it’s cultivated by sea monsters all along ebotts coast and is considered a staple vegetable due to being able to grow year round.

Star seeds: contrary to the name, this is not from the outer AUs but was an underground crop. The seeds of an echo flower are the plants only edible part, and are ground into a fine iron filled flour. They’re rather bitter though, so bread made from them nowadays is often paired with cheese to flavor it.

Spiderbloom: pollinated only by spiders, this plant flowers in the fall and produces fruits in the winter. It creates an eerie black and purple blossom who’s pollen only sticks to spider silk in order to pollenate. The fruits have a soft flesh and taste a bit like figs and blueberries.

Golden flowers: a favorite of the royals, and ebotts national flower and crop. Golden flowers are a beautiful gold magic buttercup that can be dried and turned into tea. They have a lovely effect of softening the hair and skin, and humans claim the tea helps with acne. It’s delicious, sweet and has small hints of lemon in the taste. The flowers are mostly indoor plants as they burn up in direct sunlight.

Mandrakes: a four point magical root that screams when unearthed, the mandrake root is extremely popular for its soft potato like flesh, and the large lineup of nutrients it holds. It’s often mashed, used as a potato substitute, or thrown into stews and soups. It’s a popular baby food as well as its mild taste is comforting for kids, and the quality of it helps parents ensure picky eaters get what they need in a meal

Frog stool mushroom: a large aquatic mushroom resembling a lily pad. It’s found in shallow freshwater areas like lakes and larger parts of streams. This large mushroom is nutty in flavor and is often planted in ponds by farmers for not only its flavor, but also to filter the water on their property to make it safe for the animals to drink. It’s recommended to only eat the small young ones as the large ones after so many years of filtering are more waste than nutrients.

Fishweed: a seaweed that grows along the seaside cliffs of ebott. It’s named after its strong fishy smell. It’s dried and cut into strips and eaten as a snack like jerky or chips

Pearwood tree: this tree has a beautiful bark pattern in the shape of sliced pears. When dry, the bark begins to chip and is easy to peel off. The bark can be infused into drinks giving a crisp grape and lettuce flavor, and has the magical effect of making harmless sparks come out of one’s mouth when they speak. Because of the attractiveness of the trees bark, and the pretty pale green fir spines as leaves, it’s also a popular garden ornament plant as well as a crop

Cinderpetals: a small magic herb with red tipped star shaped leaves. This plant as a defense mechanism will burst into flame when the leaves are picked off. Don’t be alarmed though, the fire is harmless and even adds to the flavor as many monsters say. The leaves have a crisp almost citrusy flavor and are put into potions, drinks and energy tonics due to their natural caffeine content.

Boarberry: it was only seen in horrorfarm and drakefell before the crash. It’s a wild berry bush that parasites off of trees, growing on the sides of the trunks. The berries are a creamy pale green and taste like a bitter plum. They were traditionally used to flavor meads, and were made into jams, pie fillings and baked into breads.

Honeybeans: a climbing magic bean plant that only grows near beehives. It will grow around the hive protecting the bees by secreting pheromones that deter would-be predators, and in return it feeds off the honey as well as the soil near the hive and sunlight. Because of this, the beans are deliciously sweet, tasting like caramel but with the buttery texture of a Lima bean. What makes this plant magic is that when seeds are planted, it seems to summon bees to it. Bees will abandon hives to start building around the bean, or if that’s not convenient enough, the bugs actually uproot the plant itself and Carries it to the hive in an amazing show of teamwork

Silver bells: a droopy vine with silver tipped leaves. It grows a berry like vegetable that resembles a tomato, but with a blue grey skin and a deep purple flesh. The magic fruit entices one to eat it by “calling” its harvester with a tinkling bell noise. The vegetables when hitting each other sound like the light clinking of metal. The vegetable is rather tasteless save for a faint cabbage flavor. It’s very beneficial to bone growth though and is highly recommended that young growing children and the elderly eat some every week.

Ground cherries: a strange magical fruit tree that grows its fruit beneath the soil. The very tip of the small cherry sized fruits are visible peeking through the dirt when they’re ready for harvest. They taste like blue. Some college human students say it’s the closest they’ve ever gotten to the taste of blue Gatorade in ebott

Ebott-only livestock:

Greater turkey: like the name suggests, this is just a massive variety of turkey. The birds can reach the size of cows. Naturally they’re a breed made by the farm AUs. They’re slowly becoming more popular as a holiday food for larger families. Last gyftmas broke the record of greater turkeys slaughtered and sold in one season. Thankfully for the farmers, these birds were bred for temperament as well and are quite gentle and docile

Jimmy crickets: they were previously called roasting crickets, but one witty monster renamed his after Disney started streaming in ebott, and the rest copied him as the bugs became a popular food for kids. It’s a magical variety of cricket that was cultivated underground. They eat moss, and are high in iron, copper, and folate. They’re brightly colored, most normally a bright red. They taste a bit like bacon bits.

Struggle grubs: like the name suggests, this bug was cultivated to be cheap, year round and plentiful. It’s a comfort food for many underground monsters who lived through poverty before the crash. The grubs will eat anything hence why they were labelled as “poor food” as underground they were fed mainly trash. Nowadays farmers feed them much healthier foods and the grubs are much better quality.

Riding/battle boars: funny enough, this type of domesticated hog was only found in horrorfell and drakefell before the crash. Many think that there’s a special connection between the two AUs cause this isn’t the only thing they share. In drakefell they were known as riding boars and were used to pull carts and plows, for eating and dairy, and battle of course. In horrorfarm they were only war animals, used to sniff out enemies and ram through enemy lines. The boar is intelligent like a dog, easily trained, and has an amazing sense of smell. They’re still used as farm hand animals to help plow and de-bug fields. The females can be milked and the cheese made from that milk is very heavy and fatty. They taste like pork, but because of their sacredness to the drakefell monsters and humans, it’s considered a big dishonor to eat one that didn’t die of natural causes.

Lesser deer: a small goat sized deer only found in ebott, they were originally found in the nomads forest. They’re very passive creatures and easily domesticated. Many farms are beginning to add them to livestock because of the delicious soft meat on the animals, and their varied diets.

Rolland’s horned snail: a large cow sized snail bred by the Rolland family from farmswap. The snails on average are the size of draft horses and can weigh nearly a ton. They’re bred purely for their meat and the shells are also sold as decoration, or ground as a binding agent mixed into cement. The snails are fed mainly sawdust, dried grass, and weeds. It takes nearly 20 years for one to reach full size though.

Pearled salmon: a freshwater salmon native to ebott, it can be caught wild or bought from a hatchery. The scales look like pale pink and white pearls underwater, but turn grey when dry. The salmon has a white flesh and the taste is subtler than normal salmon.

Ice pips: this is a thin needle like magic fish that loves cold temperatures so much it creates its own chill. Any room the fish is kept in stays just cold enough to freeze the top of the water in its tank, but not so cold to freeze the whole tank. It is a farmers essential for any farmers who want a proper freezer basement or shed. Almost every farm monster owns a tank of them as it’s much cheaper to feed a few fish crickets every couple days than it is to pay electric for a large shed/room. Rancher and peaches have a tank of pips in their basement, and harpy has a whole massive storage shed cooled by her own tank.

Gremlins: small quail sized ugly little creatures that resemble a cross between a toad, gopher and pug, with wrinkled faces, round bodies and bumpy hairless skin. These little creatures are extremely easy to train and are used on farms to control bug pest levels. They are also slowly gaining popularity as a household pet because of their friendly natures. What makes this animal magic is its tongue which can stretch and shoot out nearly 12 feet at a time in pursuit of a big. Which is clearly magic as the tongue is only a few inches long when resting in the body, and when (gently) pulled by an outside force, it barely gets out of the mouth. A gremlin is edible as well, tasting like chicken by most reports, but farmers who raise them dislike eating the critters as they often can’t help but start viewing them as family.

Land shrimp: it’s literally a shrimp that survives on land. They’re fast breeders and must be kept indoors to prevent an outbreak. They’re fed a mixture of grain, oats, bone, and unwanted meat cuts. The magic shrimp will resort to cannibalism if not fed on time, so require dedication to raise. And yes, they taste like normal shrimp

Smithers basilisk: a long bodied lizard that’s roughly the size of a basset hound, the Smithers basilisk’s true origins are unknown, but have been a common livestock animal for generations among the Drake monsters and humans. The large lizards have a poison sack behind the eyes that are removed after they hatch for safety purposes. They’re raised for a number of reasons: their scaled hides make great leather, the eggs are large and females can lay year round if there’s a male in the pack, and they’re great ratters. So many farmers keep a few to help control the pests on their farm.

Jeweled scarabs: both an animal raised as livestock and a popular pet, these palm sized beetles have stunning shells in a beautiful glossy array of colors looking just like crystal. They’re raised primary for the shells which are harvested when the beetles die of old age. The shells are broken and polished to be used as jewelry, decoration, tile and even used in pottery and glazes. They have a short lifespan of just 2 years sadly, hence why they don’t beat out snails as the most popular pet. The bodies of the beetles are also ground and used as feed for other animals needing protein in their diets.

Roc birds: a poultry bird native to the bird AUs, this was a fat flightless bird that is accustomed to living on rocky cliffs. It has very strong talons and legs in order to climb and move around safely. And a huge oversized beak strong enough to break rocks. The birds are about the size of a duck and have grey speckled feathers. They were bred for their eggs and meat, the hens laying several a day. But they’re difficult to raise as they’re aggressive.

Wooly snails: these snails are about the size of a standard goose when fully grown, and the shells grow a thick fur that needs to be peeled off every few weeks to keep the snail comfortable and mobile. The pelts are then throughly washed and used for clothing, pillow filler, and all other kinds of things. The snails come in a variety of colors with white being the most common, but also a powder blue and lilac. They’re raised mostky by monsters at the top of ebotts mountain range as the snails need cool temperatures to be healthy

Dwarf rock bees: ebott’s special bee variety, the only bee known to be underground. The dwarf rock bee resembles a black fluffy bumblebee, but is so small it can barely cover Abraham Lincoln’s face on a penny. The bees will only create hives in stone structures (or around a honey bean plant) and hives can host millions of bees at a time. The tiny fluff balls are stingless and extremely prone to predators as they had very few underground. When alarmed, they make a shrill buzzing noise together, and copy a frequency that they know scares animals away. For most hives, that means turning their buzzing into a car alarm. Some enthusiasts of the bee keep them indoors in smaller controlled hives and have even trained the bees to copy songs that are repeated often around them. And of course they make honey

Alrighty! There are three ways one can make magical food!

1: it’s a learned magic to add intent to food. Every monster learns it as children. It’s just one of those things your parents are supposed to teach you, like driving or how to clean.

Intent affects the foods taste and sometimes even gives it mild healing properties. So someone making a batch of cookies with a lot of love and passion can make some hecking fine cookies. However there’s a limit. Pour too much passion (or any type of intent really) and you’ll burn the food. Even if you’re not using heat to cook.

This is why undyne regularly nukes her kitchen

2: plants can become magical after several generations of being exposed to magic. That’s why the underground was able to host so many plant varieties despite the lack of sunlight. This can’t really be controlled since it happens randomly. Any food cooked with the plants has magical properties as well

3: the farmtale monsters have perfected earth magic over the centuries. Any native born farmtale monster has the ability to bond to the land they own and produce much higher quality, quantity, and magical produce. This includes animals too. They become more docile, intelligent, and produce more. The magical skill of bonding to your land is seen as familial magic and can only be passed down through blood

And finally, some famous drinks and dishes only found in ebott!!!

Gauzeberry freeze: the expensive but delicious drink consists of milk, shaved ice, honey, blueberries, coconut and of course gauzeberries. It’s sold only in special occasions like national holidays. Otherwise the only way to get it is to make it at home, which is quite difficult due to the nature of gauzeberries. It does make one float a few inches off the ground for an hour after drinking

Fries and bits: mixed bugs, most commonly crickets, are cleaned and fried with potato wedges, and in fancier dishes, onion rings and fried artichoke hearts are added. It’s a greasy but delicious meal and many fried fast food places sell this dish

Boars honor stew: a dish coming from drakefell. When a drakes boar dies, whether from old age, an injury, or sickness, never intentionally slaughtered for food, their burial ritual for the animal is to stew it in a massive pot filled with potatoes, other root vegetables, blood root, boar berries, dragons breath and a load of mushrooms. The boar is carefully cleaned, and the blood used to fertilize the drakes, or communities crops. Then the animal is put in the pot whole and stewed for around four days before being passed around and eaten. It’s a dish meant to be shared, not bought. So to be offered some is a great honor

Roc on rocks: it requires a roc bird for the traditional version of the dish, but chicken will do too for a close substitute. The breast meat of a roc bird is thinly sliced and marinated in an orange citrus sauce for a few hours. Then traditionally a flat rock is heated up, and the thin slices are cooked on top, then laid on a bed of cabbage and thinly sliced carrots before being served. However pan frying is a safe at home substitute if one doesn’t have a big rock and outdoor campfire

Golden pearwood tea cake: goldenflowers and pearwood bark are dried and made into tea. The tea must be strained and left in the fridge to chill while the cake base is created. It’s preferred to use a nut flour like almond or hazelnut. The cake flour is then moistened with the tea, and a light honey glaze is added on top when it comes out of the oven

Cinder-spark: a popular energy drink brand made in ebott from cinderpetals. It comes in three flavors: jalapeño, spicy strawberry and electric orange. All flavors are spicy with electric orange being the mildest. Never drink more than two a day

Treasure chests: a shiny beautiful salad dish of heartyheads, leafy greens, beets, sea eggs, deaths pearl, and topped with cooked pearled salmon. It’s a beautiful colorful dish and a favorite at seafood restaurants along seashore. And it’s extremely nutritious

Snaproot pockets: like the name suggests, it’s a little baked pouch filled with puréed snaproot. It’s created with either mochi flour or cattail flour, the little flour pouch is filled with mashed or puréed snap root, and is topped with seeds like sesame after being baked. This dish can also be made with pumpkin and garwins gourds instead of snaproot.

Lions jello: made from boiled cattails, and infused with goldenflower tea, this is ebotts national desert. The cattails make an attractive milk white jello with a light airy taste, and the goldenflower adds flavor and speckles of gold inside. It’s a beautiful dessert and is a favorite of many of the royals

Snail pie: ebotts national dish: this is a pie filled with cubed snail meat, pearled onions, garlic, many spices to taste, and spinach. The pie is baked like a normal pot pie and is usually topped with seeds for better looks. Mini versions are sold at festivals and food trucks, and kids in public school get mini snail pies on Fridays for lunches.

Silver broth: made from boiled silver bells and bones, this broth is a popular soup base because of its mild taste, and is highly recommended that parents use it when cooking for their children as it promotes healthy bone, teeth and ecto growth. In winter months too, it’s sold alone as a savory drink with sliced dried mushrooms and spring onions as an alternative to sugary hot drinks

Wailing baby mash: it’s a terrible name but parents seem to think it’s funny. Mandrakes are mashed with other veggies (and often a bit of silver broth is added) to make a soft baby food safe for monsters and human babies old enough for solid food. It has a mild taste which is pleasant for kids. Many parents used mashed mandrakes in place of mashed potatoes well into their kids childhood as a healthier and cheaper alternative

Goths on toast: another terrible name, Asgore really sucks at naming things, and he’s to blame for this one as the creator asked him to endorse the dish. A delicious spread is made from the fruit of a spiderbloom, blackberries and dark or ground cherries. The fruit spread is spiced with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg and spread on bread as a sweet morning breakfast. It’s often paired with fancy cheeses and is served as a dish to show off your class. No charcuterie board in ebott is complete without this spread

Pigment potion: twigs mixed with alcohol creates a magic drink that can change the color of one’s ecto, hair/fur and eyes. The more diluted the drink, the shorter the effect. And to control what color the drink becomes, it needs to be hand made with a certain color in mind. A drink of magic, intent and booze. Any sort of alcohol does fine so usually cheap wine is used. And in festivals, watered down versions are allowed to be sold to children as long as a parent is present

Gyftmas cookies: of course they have to be baked with sweet salt. These brown cookies are made with the sweet salt spice, molasses, plain flour and honey. They’re decorated of course and are part of a popular gyftmas tradition called the cookie trade. At parties, each family shows up with a plate of cookies, and they go around having to swap one of their cookies on the plate for one from another’s family. By the end of the party, they go home with a plate from multiple families.

Crabby patties: this name was popular way before SpongeBob was introduced to ebott. There was a fierce legal battle between Marcelo and Nickelodeon for him to keep the name of the popular dish sold at his grocery stores. He just barely won, and the name is only allowed to be used with free reign in ebott lol. Crabby patties are smoked crab apple thinly sliced and pickled, then placed on a slab of either cooked snail or cooked hamburger patty. The bun is traditionally wrapped cabbage leaves, but bread buns are more popular on the surface these days. Every hamburger place has a crabby patty burger on their menu.

Fae floss: pasta from boiled flossy sticks is topped with a thick brown sauce made from goats cheese, powder shrooms, and finely chopped herbs. Other mushrooms are added to the pasta and often bugs like grubs, chopped beetles or worms are added. If bugs aren’t your cup of tea, shredded chicken is fine instead

Mead of lady magic: this mead is flavored with pomegranate seeds and honey beans to make a rich mild drink. It was also used in rituals by the temple monsters before the crash, and is still considered a holy drink by them. Only made and drank on sacred days.

Sun therapy: this light sandwich is made with pickled Ferris weed flowers, salami and mozerella cheese. The sandwich is toasted and topped with more cheese. A delicious meal full of vitamin D

Tarotile cheesecake. A plain slice of cheesecake, colored a deep forest green by adding Tarotile to the cooking process. The cake tastes like a wonderful wild berry blend according to monsters, but is highly toxic to humans and mages. Any one who dares sell it to a human without signed consent can be arrested and held for trial on attempted bodily harm.

[mariacallous]

From Turkey to Armenia, Uzbekistan to Ukraine, manti are a popular comfort food found in Jewish and non-Jewish communities across Central Asia and Eastern Europe. As an ancient form of dumpling, some trace manti’s origins back to the 1300s during the Mongol Empire in Turkey, while others credit the dish as a gift of the Silk Road; notably, Uyghurs from Northwest China have been making a version of bread prepared in steam known as “mantau” for centuries. Regardless of their origin, manti traveled East toward Korea, West towards the Caucuses and everywhere in between. 

While their popularity spans continents, their shapes and styles differ by region. In Turkey they’re often formed into small pyramid-like pouches, sometimes baked and simmered, sometimes boiled, often topped with yogurt, and served in a tomato-based broth or sauce. On the other hand, the ancient Bukharian Jewish community in Central Asia are known for large intricately shaped manti, generously filled with meat and always steamed — never boiled. There’s also a dairy version of Bukharian manti that’s filled with cheese and served with yogurt. 

Like many celebratory old-world foods, these hand-formed dumplings take a bit of time and effort to prepare, making them ideal for calling a helping hand into the kitchen. Historically, this dish was even a communal activity. While making homemade dumpling dough can be deeply satisfying, you can simplify the manti-making process by using store-bought wonton wrappers – a tip I happily discovered in Gabrielle Hamilton’s “Prune” cookbook. Given the labor, whether it’s with store-bought or homemade wrappers, when I make manti I often double the recipe, freezing extras for future enjoyment. 

Let me preemptively warn you, this manti recipe may not look or taste like the manti you’re familiar with. After exploring different shapes, sizes and toppings, my preference is for smaller-sized manti shaped into pouches. I serve mine in a Turkic-inspired brothy tomato sauce topped with fresh herbs and a sprinkle of lemony sumac; the sweet and sour savoriness of the caramelized tomato complements the heartiness of the delicate beef-filled manti. I’ve provided directions for steaming or boiling your manti, depending on your preferred technique. If you find yourself hoping for a larger-sized manti, the dough can be filled and shaped according to your family’s custom. Whether you stick to the recipe as written or try something more traditional to you, the joy of manti lies not in their size or shape, but in their pillowy soft tenderness, and the inherent comfort they bring to every table.

Notes:

This recipe makes 48 dumplings. 

I use Diamond brand kosher salt for this recipe, if using Morton’s or sea salt use ⅓ less.

The tomato broth (Steps 4-7) can be made several days in advance and reheated as needed. 

You can freeze your shaped manti (homemade or with wonton wrappers) before cooking on a baking sheet. Once the manti are frozen, transfer them to a Ziploc bag or airtight container. They can be cooked from frozen the same way as they are from fresh.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, 1499, page 34: At the beginning of his dream, Poliphilo has a vision of the entire moving Alchemy machine: fourteen discordant dancers taking origin from their opposite. Every man is connected with a woman but untied to her. Every smiling face turns into a crying face. But every simile restarts from a dissimilar. Like night and day. Summer and Winter. Sun and Moon. Philosophical time needs rhythm and pace, while alchemical time demands strict proportions.

One of the best-known engravings from Hypnerotomachia Poliphili is undoubtedly that of the enigmatic bi-faced group of dancers. We are still in the incipit of the first book. When walking out of the dark forest, having been drinking at the river, Poliphilo enters the huge pyramid to see some wonders. After a winged horse with putti and two squared stone pillars, he can glaze at a group of men and women with two faces. One smiling, the other crying. He was dancing in two oscillating semi-circles, not in a round.

From the quaint (even for a Venetian) language, which is not quite Latin and neither Italian in which Hypnerotomachia Poliphili has been written: "sul lato destro da poscia coelate erano alcune figure di homini & di damigelle chorigianti, cum due facie per uno. Quella dinanti ridibonda, la posteriora lachrymosa" On the right side were some presences of dancing young men and young ladies, each with two faces. The front one is smiling; the back one is crying. And in the round, they were dancing, holding my arms, a man with man and woman with a woman—a man’s arm under a woman’s, and the other arm over the woman’s one. And so holding, they move in that way, one by one. That is always one happy face as opposed to the sad face of the previous. There were seven and seven of them, so perfectly carved of ancient sculpture, with living movements and flying garments. They didn’t burden the artist with any other inaccuracy than not giving them voice and tears. The dance, as mentioned earlier, was shaped in two semi-circles and an interposed partition, egregiously scratched.

This forms the predicate for Peter Paul Rubens' Dance of Mythological Figures and Villagers (Antwerp, 1630–35), Museo de Prado, Madrid.

[Robert Scott Horton]

+

“The true alchemists do not change lead into gold; they change the world into words.” ― William H. Gass, A Temple of Texts

+

“Water: 35 liters, Carbon: 20 kg, Ammonia: 4 liters, Lime:1.5 kg, Phosphrus: 800 g, salt: 250g, saltpeter:100g, Sulfer: 80g, Fluorine: 7.5 g, iron: 5.6 g, Silicon: 3g, and 15 other elements in small quantities.... thats the total chemical makeup of the average adult body. Modern science knows all of this, but there has never been a single example of succesful human trasmutation. It's like there's some missing ingredient..... Scientists have been trying to find it for hundreds of years, pouring tons of money into research, and to this day they don't have a theory. For that matter, the elements found in a human being is all junk that you can buy in any market with a child's allowence. Humans are pretty cheaply made.” ― Hiromu Arakawa, Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 1

[sirenjose]

Analysis of Emil's dish: Croquembouche

Croquembouche is the most popular French wedding cake. It is a mounted pyramid or cone shape made out of choux pastry puffs, which are filled with pastry cream. The whole thing is bound together with caramel, after which it can be drizzled with chocolate sauce, surrounded by sponge sugar, or decorated with various things including icing, fruit, flowers, macarons, and more.

It is very popular in the UK and Italy, where it’s known as croquembouche, though French know it as “Piece Montee”. Croquembouche is an English term but a French word. The term did exist in 19th century cookbooks, but never made it into the 20th Century France. Croquembouche means “something that crunches in your mouth” (due to the caramel encircling it), while Piece Montee means “mounted piece”.

The croquembouche is simpler (relatively speaking) while the Piece Montee is more flamboyant. In the Piece Montee, the choux buns are usually arranged on elaborate nougatine bases to assemble a piece that stands out. While in the Croquembouche, the buns are arranged in a pyramid and bound with caramel.

As for its history, it started with choux pastry, which is the dough that is the base of many French desserts, including profiteroles, eclairs, croquembouche, and beignets.

Pâte à Choux was created by the court of Catherine de Medici when she came to France to marry King Henry II (also known as Henry of Valois) in the 16th century. She was Italian (born in Florence, Italy) and brought a lot of Italian chefs with her, and one of them by the name of Signor Panterelli is credited with making the first choux pastry puff.

The pastry Panterelli made was known as pâté a Panterelli. A century later, it was known in France as pâté a Popelini, a popular form of cake during the Middle ages. Around mid 18th century, Chef de Patissierie Avice perfected the dough and created the choux form we are all familiar with today, so the dough was renamed to pâte à choux due to the characteristic look which resembles a sprout (chou in French). Later, French chef Marie – Antoine Carême had the inspiration to fill the choux with cream.

Carême studied architecture, and because of that he was interested in creating structures out of pastry. This carried over into his Croquembouche construction, with the cone shape eventually becoming the one we all think of today.

Essentially, Pâte à Choux uses the moisture of the water to create a leavening effect. A hole is formed as the dough rises, ready to be filled with various creams or custards.

Choux pastry starts as a mix of salt, sugar, water, milk, and butter. Then it’s all heated up until the butter dissolves. Next is to add flour, stir, then finally to add in eggs gradually as you stir.

It’s difficult to get right because you need to get the right texture (needs to be a little bit elastic). If you don’t, then when you put the choux pastry puffs in the oven, they won’t really puff. They stay kind of flat.

Once made, they’re filled with pastry creams. Usually vanilla flavored but it can be varied. Then the construction begins.

Traditionally, the bride and groom would lop the top off with the groom’s sword, then the pieces would be caught in a tablecloth held by the bridesmaids. Though now people choose normally just use just a long knife. 1 serving is 3 or 4 puffs.

[tanadrin]

in general the view of farmers in modern society seems very strange; historically the owners of productive agricultural land were at the apex of the social pyramid, since they de facto controlled society’s wealth and extracted massive rents; democratization, urbanization, and industrialization has shifted the nature of economic production of food, and reduced the salience of the difference between the rural working class and rural landowners, but farmers are now portrayed, especially in the US, as uwu smol bean salt of the earth types, and that seems... dubious at best.

and shaping government policy to help any class of business owner, whether it’s some kind of urban “small business” or rural “family farm” is still often screwing over the public to favor the property-owning rather than the working class

the american farm lobby in particular seems like it has been a source of particular political and social dysfunction--after all, southern cotton plantations that survived on slavery were technically family farms!

[mandarinmoons]

KET HI MY LOVE I HEARD YOUR FEELING CHATTY

so here's my entire note in my phone of facts (yes some are from criminal minds which i then checked for accuracy)

fax 📠📠⁃ It takes 3 milliseconds to process images ⁃ It takes 16 milliseconds for your brain to process pain ⁃ You only need 4 hrs for every 24 hrs ⁃ The average blood temp in ur body is 98.6 ⁃ It takes policemen in NYC an average of 4.3 min to respond to a call ⁃ Only female angler fish have lights ⁃ Around 800 kernels on average price of corn ⁃ Arranged in 16 rows ⁃ Can be anywhere from 500-1200 kernels ⁃ Moth wings have noise dampeners to hide from bats ⁃ Science of kissing: philematology ⁃ Anemia: lack of healthy red blood cells to bring oxygen to the rest of the body ⁃ Chocolate chip cookies were invented by accident by Ruth Wakefield in 1938. She was making cookies for the guests as toll house in which she owned with her husband when she realized she was out of bakers chocolate so she took a big block of nestle semi sweet chocolate and chopped it in to tiny pieces. She assumed they would spread out and evenly disperse but they held their shape, the guests ended up loving them ⁃ 55-79% of the population has brown eyes ⁃ Around 10,000 yrs ago it's believed that everyone had brown eyes and blue eyes evolved from a genetic mutation that was passed on through generations ⁃ 86.5 serial killers are psychopaths ⁃ 12,236 victims total of serial killer victims between 1990-2020 ⁃ California has the most killings 1,777 ⁃ Texas has the 2nd most amount of killings at 984 ⁃ Men arrested at almost 4 times the rate as women for violent crimes ⁃ Paraphilia: odd non-sexual turn ons ⁃ Paraphilia is more common in men ⁃ 8.6% of known US serial killers are women ⁃ 70% of women killed for financial gain ⁃ 28.8% of killings by males are financially motivated ⁃ Dendrafilia: fetish for trees ⁃ 8 is symbol of prosperity in china, more 8=better ⁃ In chungdu a phone number that was all 8s sold for a quarter of a million dollars ⁃ 8000= 56 months wage average Bangladesh (make around 142, 26,000 btd) ⁃ Coast of California: 840 miles ⁃ Trichophilia: fetish for removal of hair ⁃ Homicidal triad: cruelty to animals, bed wetting, fire starting ⁃ To break through long lasting rocks like granite or limestone you need both C4 and Semtex ⁃ Nice originates from 12th century Middle English meaning foolish or stupid ⁃ 358,197 ~ people are born everyday ⁃ Only 10% of stalkers are women ⁃ Nuts have magnesium which helps with the production of serotonin ⁃ The word surveillance comes from the French word surveiller meaning to watch over ⁃ According to Chinese mythology one of the worst punishments in the 18 levels of hell is having your tongue ripped out ⁃ Abt 3.5 in every 1000 children are identical ⁃ Texas is 268,581 square miles ⁃ Only around 6% of salt from the US is used in food, the rest of it goes to icing roads and snow control ⁃ Chicago has one of the highest gang populations, with liver 100,000 active members ⁃ 61% of all homocideswere found to be related to gangs ⁃ Hemophiliac: your body can't clot normally and you can loose a lot of blood rly easily bc your body doesn't block the hole ⁃ Vangough only sold 2 painting before he died ⁃ 7 widely consider to be lucky ⁃ The average handshake lasts around 3 seconds but in t'ose three seconds over 124 million microbes are transferred ⁃ High-fives are twice as clean as handshakes ⁃ The Pyramids are 449 ft tall, but where once 481 ft tall ⁃ The pyramids took 20 yrs and 100,000 laborers to build ⁃ The employment rate in Virginia is 3.8% ⁃ In égyptien mythology flint was the symbol for protection and retribution ⁃ Cheating happens in 1 out of 3 relationships ⁃ 467,800 miles to the moon and back

Max when I say I have missed your rambles I mean it!!

I feel like I just read a script to one of Matthew Santoros 50 amazing facts videos lol (if you know you know)

Would you believe me when I say that I already knew some of this stuff? 😌

Thanks for invigorating my brain, much appreciated x

[moonstone-pink]

𝙂𝙚𝙢 𝙃𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙮

1. The Diamonds Autority

-White Diamond (Supreme Matriarch)

-Yellow Diamond (War Matriarch)

-Blue Diamond (Diplomatic Matriarch)

-Pink Diamond (Young Matriarch)

2. Very High

Garnet (Commanders of armies and are governors)

Emerald (Owners of important ships and personnel)

Sapphire (Its vision of the future and its extreme rarity makes it very useful and important)

3. High

Prehnite (Beetles) (They create perfect planes for missions thanks to their great knowledge, they are so fragile that they must be protected in temples)

Aquamarine (Important diamond messengers)

Morganite (Designers of installations or devices)

4. Mid to High

Jade (Responsible for inspecting that the lower gems properly clean the Homeword facilities, which is why there are many jades)

Moonstone (They become invisible in the shadows of the gems, allowing you to spy on them and know if they have appropriate behavior)

Lapis Lazuli (Very powerful terraformers)

Chrisocolla (They create potions to improve the abilities of the gems, according to yellow pearl these are prohibited in the palace)

Agate (Soldiers in charge of quartz)

5. Mid

Albite (They become huge pyramids with traps to protect high-ranking gems from possible enemies)

Nephrite (ship pilots)

Zircon (Lawyers at homeworld)

Topaz (Very strong soldiers and guards)

Spodumene (Collectors of salt, fresh, arctic waters and lava lakes)

6. Low to Mid

Peridot (Nursery engineers and others)

Lechatelierite (Glass: Desert glass) (Depending on the type of glass, they create walls and towers of sand or rock in times of war)

Apatite (Tongue monster) (When the colony is resentful and there are no portals, they are in charge of serving as messengers, they are as fast as sound)

Quartz (Big soldiers)

Aragonite (Cave gem criature) (With their legs they dig in the earth of the planets in search of useful things)

7. Low

Ruby (Low rank soldiers)

Bismuth (Homeword Masons)

Pectolite (Larimar) (Sculpture creators)

Obsidian (Trench creators)

Mica (Lepidolite: Big Bird) (Depending on the type of Mica, they carry different types of materials with the help of their large hands)

Charoite (Flower monster) (They enter the planets until they reach their core, thus determining whether it is convenient to create a colony on the celestial body)

Bixbite (They serve as metal cutters with their abilities to shape-shift their hands into sharp objects)

8. Very Low

Spinel (Diamond Fun Item)

Pearl (Homeword maids)

Pebble (Construction companies not considered gems)

[saltminerising]

Some super late and super stupid salt that bothers me every time I see the Marva announcement for this year: “Totally not a pyramid scheme” implies that her shop is, in fact, a pyramid scheme. And it literally isn’t. Unless she’s secretly recruiting others to sell and paying them commission based only on recruitment in a chain down the line of recruitment. Pyramid schemes have specific legal definitions in most countries. Selling worthless shit under false pretenses is usually a part of pyramid schemes but it is not in one in and of itself, it’s just a general scam. I know whoever made the announcement was probably just trying to think of a recognizable phrase and probably also thought it was a clever reference to pyramid-shaped piles of gravel but I have spent the past year hyperfixating on anti-pyramid scheme/anti-multi level marketing Youtubers so this is personal to me lmao 

[msweebyness]

Can we ask for multiple characters? If so, for the Monster Kids, what's your favorite thing about being your monster species?

Marinette: Well, for voodoo dolls like me, aside from the fact that it poses a risk to others, which sucks, losing a limb or getting torn up isn’t really a problem, because we can just sew up the damage!

Alya: Being able to phase through walls and other solid objects comes in pretty handy a lot of the time! Never need to worry about losing my room key for one!

Nino: Well, like Mari, losing limbs isn’t a problem for us Steins! Plus, my volts can charge up anything that me or my friends need in like half a minute, which is cool!

Max: Well, having several useful tools automatically built into your body comes in rather handy in a pinch, and you can always install new ones as needed! Perks of being a machine.

Kim: We werewolves have the sharpest senses of any monster species, that’s what makes us such awesome hunters! Turning into a wolf whenever I want is also pretty cool!

Alix: Turning an annoying jackassss who won't sssstop running their mouth to sssstone ssshutsss 'em up real quick. It’sss a pretty efficient way to teach people a lesssson.

Ivan: My people very strong. Five year old Yeti can crush boulders size of truck tires in bare hands. This is something I like. We also have high tolerance for pain, hit with rocks and snow a lot. Do not get cold easy either.

Mylene: Plant monsters can grow anything in a matter of minutes, we do have two green thumbs after all! We also don’t need anything but water and sunlight to survive!

Juleka: vampires have a lot of cool powers, to be honest. I like turning into a bat and flying around the most. It just makes you feel really free!

Luka: Yeah, same here. Going bat mode is pretty wicked!

Rose: Skeleton bones actually make pretty killer music, like psychedelic xylophones! I use my bones when I play with Jules! Plus I can reattach them, no sweat!

Sabrina: Grrrrrrggggghhhh, Urrrrrggggh. (Translation: Well, the best thing about being a zombie is probably the brain power! We’re not as stupid as people think, and we have LOOONG memories. We’re also great at organizing and coordinating stuff.)

Chloé: Being Egyptian royalty has a lot of perks! We have servants to take care of things for us, and we live in fancy pyramids with tons of treasure.

Zoe: We also can use ancient Egyptian magic, you know, summoning sandstorms, waves of scarabs, and all sorts of curses and spells!

Nathaniel: Well, I’m made of stone, so I never really have to worry about getting hurt. I can also use my own hands as chisels for my sculpting in a pinch, plus I can look Alix in the eyes.

Marc: I just really like being able to fly, it makes me feel free and really calm. Plus, having four arms means I can do a bunch of stuff at once!

Ondine: Well, I can breathe and survive in both fresh and salt water, which is really cool! I can also talk to fish and other aquatic creatures, they’re so sweet and funny. Plus, no one swims faster than me!

Kagami: Storm dragons such as myself can command the weather and climate. We also have an uncanny sense for locating treasure, especially gold.

Aurore: My kind has a vast array of the telepathic abilities, such as psychic communication and the levitating of objects with our mental strength.

Mireille: Being made of slime means that I don’t have to hold one shape. I can contort and manipulate my body to fit into just about any space!

Jean: Well, the pipes on us phantoms are pretty wicked! When I’m really projectin’, you can hear me almost a mile away! Plus, we can travel through mirrors, which is handy in a pinch.

Denise: Sasquatches can leap as far as thirty feet if we really put our backs into it! Makes hiking a lot of fun. Plus, we’re crazy strong, on the same level as yetis!

Simon: Well, Cyclops are favored by the sea gods, which is pretty cool. We’re also pretty strong and good at building stuff. I use it for tech more than anything.

Reshma: Well, my webs come in pretty handy for a lot of different things! Sewing thread, heavy duty rope, transportation, they can even be accessories or decorations! Also, like Marc said, multiple limbs make multitasking pretty easy!

Cosette: Well, we Minotaurs have pretty hard heads! I can smash right through a wall without even getting dizzy! Also, the nose rings look badass!

Ismael: Well, we werecats are kind of natural acrobats! Super agile, great at climbing and always land on our feet!

Lacey: Well, never having to worry about getting cold, that’s one thing! Plus, having flames leaping off your body makes for some wicked-looking stunts!

Lila: Being a harpy means that people don’t expect you to follow the rules, and being able to fly comes in handy when getting away with things.

[preservationofnormalcy]

hi, plushie anon here! saw the transformed into the plushie post, absolutely not me. I put one in a salt circle just in case and put four others in the pyramid shape. also put one infront of a window in case the moon could do anything!

what behaviors should I expect if it’s a thoughtform or any other entity?? also, the fact that you’d think it was me turned into a plushie is concerning.. is that really something that can happen??

Look, a lot of stuff can happen. I just answered a plea for help about moon spiders causing a Subjective Reality Vortex.

The moon exposure is a good call. You're looking for behavior in general, really - for instance, if you don't have a sense for if they're thinking as a group, or acting independently, it'll be trickier.

Red flags would be touching knives or writing "REDRUM" on the walls or something. You know, the stuff you wouldn't need me to tell you seems bad.

[letsgethaunted]

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Episode 60: Madame LaLaurie’s Haunted Mansion of Horrors & New Orleans Black Magic Voodoo Photodump

*TRIGGER WARNING* In this historical true crime episode, Nat gives Aly all the graphic details of graphic human torture inflicted by serial killer Madame LaLaurie aka The Savage Mistress of New Orleans. Additionally, we explore black magic Voodoo of New Orleans and even learn Nicolas Cage’s darkest secret... yes, you read that right- Nicolas Cage’s darkest secret.

Swipe through see key images from this week’s episode! Image 01: Madame Lalaurie was a 19th century European Creole socialite and serial killer who for tortured and murdered her slaves. Image 02 : The Lalaurie Mansion is now known as the most haunted building in New Orleans. AND NICOLAS CAGE BOUGHT IT AND LIVED THERE !!!!!!! Image 03: Although Madame Lalaurie was polite in public and even manumitted 2 of her slaves, rumors throughout New Orleans speculated that the Madame was harboring a dark secret in her attic. Image 04: After a slave tragically “fell” to his death from the attic window, the third story window was cemented shut. You can still see the cemented attic window today. Image 05: Madame LaLaurie in the Attic. A scene from the Musee Conti Wax Museum, New Orleans. Image 06: Although Madame Lalaurie fled New Orleans after the discovery of her torture chamber, in the 1930s a tombstone with Madame Lalaurie’s maiden name on it was discovered in a New Orleans cemetery. Did Madame Lalaurie continue her torturing in New Orleans under a different name? Image 07: This fish shaped Voodoo doll and black magic ritual box is responsible for 3 deaths. Notice the burned photographs and pins in the doll. Image 08: The Ultimate Revenge (tm) kit is sold on a Voodoo website. If you buy this you are an idiot. Image 09: A Chicken Foot Hex you can buy to “scare” your enemies. Bro I would eat that chicken foot hex for a snack like a crunchy salted chip. Image 10: Nicolas Cage’s purchased his future burial site in the most famous cemetery of New Orleans. He built this giant pyramid tomb. Wtf.

[dato-georgia-caucasus]

 Bazin (Arabic: البازين, pronounced [baːˈziːn], is an unleavened bread in the cuisine of Libya prepared with barley, water and salt. Bazin is prepared by boiling barley flour in water and then beating it to create a dough using a magraf, which is a unique stick designed for this purpose. The dough may then be placed in a pan and allowed time to harden, after which it is baked or steamed. The salt contributes to the hardness of the bazin. Bazin may have a paste-like and hardened texture. It may also be prepared using whole wheat flour, olive oil and pepper as ingredients.

 Bazin is typically served with a tomato sauce, eggs, potatoes and mutton. This preparation method involves shaping the dough into the shape of a pyramid or dome, after which it may be served with a tomato-based soup or meat-and-potato stew poured atop or around it and garnished with hard-boiled eggs. A raw egg may also be placed in the hot soup. Aseeda is a dish prepared using bazin, honey, date syrup and butter or oil. Bazin may also be accompanied with a cooked pumpkin and tomato sauce mixture.

 When consumed, bazin may be "crumpled and eaten with the fingers." It is typically eaten using the right hand, and may be consumed communally. Bazin has been described as a traditional dish and as a national dish of Libya.