#its so interesting to see how this gene works

[intersectionalpraxis]

"If a pig catches both a human influenza A virus and an avian influenza A virus at the same time, it can spark a process known as viral reassortment — a genetic exchange in which flu viruses swap gene segments." "Those swaps can introduce dramatic changes, producing a new virus with certain properties of a non-human strain coupled with the capacity to infect and spread between people." "The death rate in humans may be upwards of 50 per cent, World Health Organization data suggests, though it's possible that milder infections are getting missed, skewing the case fatality ratio. Still, in a population that's never been exposed, the global impacts could be dire." "More human cases could also be happening under the radar among farm workers who've moved to the U.S. from abroad, don't speak English as their first language, and may be hesitant to seek medical help, he added." "So I think there's probably underreporting on both sides," Armstrong said." "If [H5N1] gets into a population where there's constantly animals going in and out … it might not ever leave."

I've been watching this develop for the past several days, and apart from being terrified most people will not take this seriously (I've seen a handful of people already shout conspiracy on social media and it's alarming to see, as always). What I wanted to point out is that pandemics are going to continue to be our 'normal.' I watched a great video on YouTube a while ago (I believe it was by Vice?) that touched base on how this is going to become our new reality because of multiple factors (such as our proximity to animals, and environments/etc). It was when Covid hit and they did a piece debunking some of the misinformation floating on the internet. If I can find it I will post it here because it was informative and relevant to pretty much any world crisis we will see around any virus that spreads among a human population.

This post isn't trying to fear monger anyone, I just hope more people are aware of what is happening because this is important to talk about. There are already cases (of cows getting this bird flu) in the US, and I won't be surprised if there will be instances in more countries around the world. As usual, keep washing your hands/keeping good hygiene practices, masking up (and if you aren't I hope you consider it), and taking precautions if you do happen to visit/work or go near a pig or poultry farm too:

I'll keep track of this here of course, but please stay informed folks. And also FU to any governments who will try to minimize this or try to diminish the severity until it's too late and community spread happens like Covid because their actions are influenced by capitalistic interests.

Update (April 7th, 2024, 9:32pm EST): to anyone wondering where some of the source information originates from -here is a link to the CDC. They are tracking documented avian virus outbreaks in the US and the public can access it here:

[cat-autism-wizard]

imagine casper high goes to a school trip to a museum a few hours out of the amity park and every senior gets paired up with two sophomores. fentons were paired up which is easier for danny if theres a ghost emergency but still unhappy bc pairing up with your genius sister that you are always compared to in a school trip sucks. and whos the second sophomore you may ask, its wes fucking weston.

danny blames the fenton luck for that. none of them are happy with the arrangement other than jazz. jazz heard about wes but never got to meet him and she wants to psychoanalyze him so shes happy.

at the trip the three of them goes to some kind of a shop and as they were paying, the cashier asks jazz if she brought her brother and his friend. she laughs and says yes then the cashier points at wes and compliments him and jazz about how similar they look and jokes about strong genes.

danny was OFFENDED. at first wes was also offended but after seeing how much it bothers danny he decided to play along. the rest of the trip wes acted like jazz was his sister just to piss of danny. which wasnt that hard wes was the youngest of three, he didnt have a sister but had two brothers (easton who was almost five years older and kyle who was just a year older but wouldnt stop shove it in wes' face that he was older) so it wasnt that hard for wes to act like a little brother. after a while he actually enjoyed 'having a sister'. jazz didnt really mind wes but took a mental note to ask about his family to understand him better.

danny was still pissed (and jealous that he was 'sharing' his sister but he would NOT admit this to anyone) but find it oddly fun to pair up with wes (other than the parts where wes acted like jazz was his sister or trying to ask questions about ghosts). wes knew a lot about different things. especially about the ancient greek. he says its bc he likes searching stuff he sees. and for wes even though he would rather DIE to admit he enjoyed danny's company. as much as people way danny was the stupid one in a family of geniuses wes knew it was wrong. the trip proved it to him once again.

danny wouldnt shut up about how some machines worked and ancients forbid when they entered the space part of the museum danny took over all the explanations with too much details. jazz on the other hand could see how much the two boys would get along if they dropped their stupid beef.

jazz listened both of them infodumping about their interest with a smile on her face, sometimes adding her own opinion or the missed little informations or fun fact about them. on some occasions sam and tucker would flee from their own groups to join them and quite enjoyed it. when wes talked about ancient greek sam would join in and when danny talked about mechanics tucker would join in with him.

in the end of the trip jazz bought little souvenirs for both of the boys and for herself. a little matching key chains. they acted like that was cringe and that they would never use it.

a week later jazz saw that little key chain on danny's pencil case. a few days later she also saw it hanging on wes' bag.

[bewaremirror-fr]

Couldn't sleep last night so I started working on a robot ancient suggestion! I did my best to mimic the fr style but I'm still not sure how to get the lines right. Eventually I want to make art for both poses and some unique genes. The color schemes are based on colors available on fr and are not my original design.

Would anyone be interested if I actually post this to the suggestions forum? I really want to see a robot dragon on fr but I don't know if it would fit into the lore. Let me know if you have any suggestions too!

[ID: Four images of the same drawing of a robot dragon in different colors. The style mimics flight rising dragons with flat shading and lineart. The dragon is sitting on it's hind legs with its wings raised and both sets of arms tucked near its chest. It has three robotic eyes under a mostly flat crest. Its design is reminiscent of a cat and a cicada. The first image is colored like dusty sandstone with blue shadows, its eyes are a vibrant cyan. The second image is colored with the standard copper colors on flight rising. Its body is a warm brown and it's underbelly is a warm grey with teal shadows. The third dragon is colored in cool greys that transition to pal yellow, like a cold sunrise. The dragon's eyes are bright ice white with dark scleras. The last dragon is colored in basic greys. end ID]

[weeb-polls-with-pip]

Autistic Anime Boys Prelims - Propaganda Division - Group 3

Propaganda:

Gene -

"Has a special interest in film and almost works himself to death because he doesn't think his film is as perfect as he wants it to be. He completely botches a project on purpose, an action blockbuster, because he felt like it wasn't respecting the thing he loves the most."

Kei -

"It was the scene in which Makoto and Nao discover that he was able to stuff so many wild plants into his bookbag bc there was literally nothing in it that sold it for me. I can't put it into words. I just see that and I know. I know that boy is autistic."

Arthur -

"His powers are literally fueled by his special interest in knights and chivalry."

Euini -

"I relate a lot to his social anxiety, especially his performance anxiety that occurs when he's being watched by people, particularly due to his stress at needing to follow the plan/do things the "proper" way in order to not feel like he's a failure. he also stands like a lil autistic kid and i appreciate him so much for that.

(LIGHT SPOILERS) basically, he has a test that he needs to take in order to advance as a witch, and he keeps failing it because he cant perform properly while being watched by other people, even though he knows the "right" spells to use and why he's supposed to use them. on his third attempt of the test, he's prepared a "script" to use so that he can follow it and not worry about failing in the moment (in this case, his script is a hand-written book of the proper spells to use and the order in which he's supposed to use them), but when a part of the exam changes, he's no longer able to follow his script. because he's been taught all his life that there's only one proper way of doing things, his way of thinking is very rigid and he's not able to deviate from his plan without panicking. luckily, one of his fellow examinees (richeh from the autistic anime girls poll 💕) is able to convince him to try and change the way that he does things to something that is more attuned to his personal needs- basically change the way that he casts his spells and which spells to use so that he doesn't need to struggle with doing things in the way that everyone says that he should; the way that he cant seem to manage. but, even before richeh helped him with that though, he was still finding way to modify the "proper" spells a little bit to better suit his weaknesses. he was trying so hard to fit in to the mold that witch society gave him, but it just wasnt right for him and he was making it work however he could."

Westar -

"something something Westar's entire character is an anomaly amongst the other denizens of Labyrinth in that he's a big goofball in a world where everything is dictated to the extreme by its ruler. if that's not an autism metaphor of some kind I don't know what is."

Sousuke -

"Sousuke Sagara is an ex-child soldier turned teenage special ops who has to go undercover at a high school to discreetly bodyguard another student. The only problem is that he has no IDEA how to act like a "normal" teenager. Sure, you can say that a lot of his mannerisms come from the whole "raised as a child soldier" thing which, fair, you could make a decent case for (C)PTSD. However, he's also extremely serious and has notorious flat affect and does not understand when other people are joking at all. He's incredibly literal; there's several scenes where he misinterprets what someone says, like the time he asked the art teacher what a model was supposed to do and got a rambling flowery metaphorical response about "becoming one with nature" so he ran off to hide in the woods. Another thing, his social skills are… lackluster at best. He's very blunt, and also a terrible liar for an undercover agent, when the student in question confronted him his strategy was to repeat the same phrase over and over again. One time he's challenged to see if he can pick up any girls, and after a brief misunderstanding his "improved" flirting tactic was to jump in front of them and say "Hi! Would you like to know the names of defense agency spies?" Speaking of, Sousuke has an obvious special interest in the military tech and giant robots he works with. He reads their magazines for fun and was able to rattle off the specs for a model Russian tank. The first time he actually looks happy is when he accidentally starts infodumping in front of the class while introducing himself. One time he got distracted on a mission (and need I remind you, Sousuke takes his job VERY seriously) because he found someone who was also interested in the giant robots and got into a full-on conversation with them and completely forgot what he was doing. It is IMPOSSIBLE to read this boy as allistic. And sure, he might be a little stiff, but he's also very caring in his own awkward way. One time he gave a girl flowers as an apology gift…because they were poppies and he told the girl she could get rich by selling opium on the black market. The "picking up girls" challenge mentioned earlier ended with him helping a grandmother pick out a toy for her grandson. He agreed to pretend to be someone's boyfriend for a day (it went exactly how you'd expect, but it's the thought that counts). In conclusion: stan Sousuke Sagara. and vote for him too."

Katsuhira -

"His entire thing over the course of the entire show is that he doesn't feel pain or emotions like other people. He isn't 'interested in himself' or other people (low empathy) and doesn't realize that the things that happen to/because of him do effect other people, he doesn't realize when people have a crush on him or want to be friends, and all of this is stuff he kinda comes to realize as the show progresses. He struggles to care for himself physically because of the lack of physical and emotional input he experiences, and his friends canonically often cook for him and have to remind him to eat, and is a bit picky about what he eats. He cannot read social cues to save his life and is very blunt and honest when communicating with others, and doesn't talk with much tone or emotion in his voice."

John -

"Is very loud and passionate and says everything he thinks out loud, not understanding why others may see that as weird. Has difficulty controlling his volume, so he's almost always shouting."

Yuuri -

"So he models his entire life around the first celebrity he gets a crush on. He's takes up that celebrity's hobby, he gets the same kind of dog that his crush has, and he definitely has his bedroom wallpaper with his crush's face. But then, he actually meets his crush. And his crush likes him back. Naturally he panics over this and proceeds to deny it for months until his crush straight up kisses him. Then like a day later, he just, buys a ring and proposed to his crush on the spot. He's the guy ever. He's so socially awkward, yet somehow still incredibly cocky."

Yoshimori -

"Baking special interest but does Not Get math my beloved."

[caputvulpinum]

Some of the asks you're receiving are giving me worrying flashbacks to being the only kid in my class arguing that dropping the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was wrong. I hope someone has studied the 'the more unconscionable an empire's actions the harder its people are taught to defend them' effect because it is a doozy. I am also concerned with how many people are not thinking twice before sending messages saying, essentially, 'You're exaggerating the cruelty of the US's occupation of another sovereign nation!' to....a member of an occupied sovereign Indigenous nation. I hope they're not weighing on you too much or dampening your enthusiasm for this project. I am really enjoying your research sauga, thank you for sharing it with us!

Thank you for this ask. I can't honestly pretend that all of this very much has been weighing on me. It's frustrating on a lot of levels but more than that it just kinda sucks and hurts. Especially as someone who is literally Indigenous and doesn't have dark skin? It's a constant battle of trying to not need to prove I'm Native enough versus having to fight for the recognition that I am my culture and I'm not just fucking racefaking, versus the fear that trying to be more visibly Native would just make me look like a racist caricature even though the whole reason I feel that impulse is because to non-Indigenous people, they see Native Americans as a single monolithic caricature and culture. I can't be native because I don't look like the noble savage in their heads. Don't pay attention to history, there clearly has never been a situation where perhaps Natives on the whole got more and more lighter skinned as generations went on. And there's definitely never been any reason for the American government to have extreme incentive in making sure Natives got bred out of the gene pool.

And none of this is actually directly relevant to the pressure, but it's informing how I'm approaching the research, as someone who can empathize with cultural erasure at the hands of fucking taibo, and I think that no matter what, conspiracy or not, cover-up or not, I think that it is incredibly important that more people in the world are aware that leading into the Cold War, Japan was forcibly coerced into giving total power over a significant cultural touchstone/ingredient/way of life to a single foreigner who had a complete lack of respect for what shoyu is, even going so far as to say "I want to change Japan's taste preferences". I cannot imagine a more direct and blunt parallel to settler-colonialism mindset. I truly cannot.

So to be consistently challenged--despite having either corrected or adapted mistakes/misinformation, or on some occasions actually proving that what I am claiming is not a mistake and it was like this--is kind of pinging a bunch of radars. Even beyond the pressure to perform for the sheer volume of interest--I'm used to that, I've not been exactly an unknown figure on this hellsite--there's a pressure to be perfect. To be immediate. I need to give the people the true answers and the end of the story three days ago; I need to give updates; I need to consider whether or not I want to be interviewed by Tech Crunch; I need to do everything except be allowed to let the natural timeline of research actually be its natural timeline.

I can't continue a large portion of research without having received responses back from government bureaus, from research archives, from college professors, from genetic biologisists, from horticulturists, from historians, from translators I'm paying with the money being sent about this project, from the genealogists and archivists and librarians who are also part of it...the list goes on. I can't make official entities of bureaucracy answer me quicker. It just doesn't work like that in real life--but for some unfathomable reason, Tumblr isn't treating what I'm doing like real life. They're treating it like an ARG.

So I suppose all this is to say I'm seriously having to consider going mostly offline for this holiday season. And I'm almost definitely going to try and avoid this project as much as I can during winter break; it's not like I'll be making quick progress anyway, since half of the academic sources I've contacted are already out for winter.

I hope that all of you understand that, for the most part, it's not you all as a group which is so upsetting and frustrating and draining and worrisome. For the most part it is individual responses from individual people, with a background radiation of eyes and pressure and selfishness on top of it, the natural state of existence for being in the spotlight at any given time. And I hope at the same time all of you understand how incredibly grateful, and touched, and honored, and excited I am that so many others are ALSO excited about this project. That all of you are just as eager to get to the bottom of whatever this ends up being as I am. The fact that people are willing to pay attention, even if only for a little while, to someone whose country is being occupied by foreign invaders investigating and finding the truth about what was happening during a different occupation with the same invaders. I think what is being done here is important work. And I'm glad that all of you do as well.

Without your generosity I would not have been able to even remotely gather the strength to push this for the long haul. And I do mean that literally. I started this project with less than $50USD in my bank account and today this is the first time I've ever had more than about $750 to my name. It's not much in the long run but I'm just so used to having nothing to spare that having any feels like the height of luxury. I bought myself a chai frappe today because I was waiting for a meeting to start. And I didn't hardly feel guilty. I can't tell all of you how emotional that made me, but if you've ever had rough times, I'm sure I don't need to.

Thank you all. I'm really excited to see where we go from here.

[cellarspider]

Good lord I take a week off of tumblr and now there’s a lot of you

Hello to everyone who’s just followed me in the past week! Most of you have come from a long ramble of mine on interdisciplinary learning, medieval head trauma, and Gallus’ well-wishings on my recent graduation (https://www.tumblr.com/gallusrostromegalus/727017193756327936), thank you to Gallus for that. Thank you to those of you who’ve commented with kind words as well. Specific shout-outs, links to relevant rambles, and questions are below, in the section “Link Roundup and Shoutouts”.

Yes, this is a post with sections. This is how we roll here.

Introduction to Spider

For those who don’t know, I’m Spider! I’ve just gotten my PhD in Mammalian Genetics, having gotten a Masters in Informatics and a Bachelors in Medieval Studies before that. I’ll quite happily ramble about any of them, with the following caveats: an undergraduate degree means I know the basics, but they may be increasingly out of date. And advanced degrees are increasingly specialized in their scope as you go along—you gain the skills to more easily understand things from related specialties, but you only become truly, deeply knowledgeable on very specific topics. However, these topics are not always limited to the field of study generally expected by the degree-granting institution! My focus ended up being significantly divergent from everyone else’s, which resulted in an interesting challenge of communicating my project to others at the institute.

The field I dove into for my PhD was systems genetics. Rather than studying individual genes and how they function, my work examined the wider view: think the difference between a local weather forecast versus modeling the global climate. Both synthesize vast amounts of information, just on different scales and levels of detail.

Many people love studying the tiny details around individual genes, because they can dig down into the mechanisms that make the gene work, how it might break and cause disease, and maybe how to fix those diseases. My love is for the global view of things, which gives you the ability to characterize general statements about how genes are regulated and modified. It’s a field that’s very hard to study without good data that’s complicated to acquire, so it’s a very exciting subject to work on! I’m looking forward to carrying that on into a postdoctoral study, in which I’ll work with a new lab and learn the dreaded skill of grant writing. I’ll be starting this month!

…As Gallus mentioned, my time until then is very much devoted to Baldur’s Gate 3. Happily for me, the new research group I’ll be joining has also been going nuts for Baldur’s Gate 3, so I’ll have a lot to talk about with my coworkers once I’m back to the lab.

In my free time, I’m happy to ramble upon request about the subjects I love, including but not limited to my fields of academic study, my constructed language hobby, scientific ethics and its portrayal in media, creepy-crawlies (always appropriately tagged for people’s phobias), and Baldur’s Gate 3.

…Lots of Baldur’s Gate 3. (I’ve only just reached the Lost Light Inn, please no spoilers!)

Link Roundup and Shoutouts

For those who are interested to see my ramble about why European medical texts in the medieval period tended to be terrible, it’s available here: https://www.tumblr.com/cellarspider/680342023316930560/hi-please-rant-about-medieval-european-medical

Thank you to all those who dug up the name of the academic text I’d forgotten! Its title, in all its wordy glory, is Injuries of the skull and brain, as described in the myths, legends, and folk-tales of the various peoples of the world, with some comments on the significance and reliability of this information in evaluating contemporary concepts as to their nature and lethality by Cyril B. Courville, 1967. It’s a fantastic book, and good lord that title just does not stop

Thank you to fellow spiders @one-spider-from-mars and @vaspider for their comments. We are many. We are mighty.

Thank you to @belovedbright for the fantastic story of the death of Conchobar mac Nessa via brain trauma inflicted by a brain https://www.tumblr.com/belovedbright/727132485919604736

To @doomhamster's question on whether egg whites were used in the medieval treatment of burns: I don’t know! Unfortunately I can’t access the translation of the medical manual I referred to back then (https://worldcat.org/title/1123716578), and the only version I can find online at the moment is in 14th century French (https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Sloane_MS_1977). Egg whites do appear 33 times in the translation, according to the limited ability I have to search the text, and they show up throughout the book.

[mxlfoydraco]

Which are the Drarry fic that you have re-read more than any other?

These are from my reread pile! The first four several times over. :)

Around You Moves by ignatiustrout (29k)

Harry knew Draco was gay when he invited him to move in. He’s never had a problem with this. So why does he feel so weird about Draco bringing men home all of a sudden?

Number Seven by sara_holmes (253k)

Harry already has small children, an ex-wife, annoying colleagues and an international crime ring to deal with. So when Draco Malfoy reappears after eight years AWOL in France, of course Harry is going to leave him well alone… Right?

Away Childish Things by lettered (153k)

Harry gets de-aged. Malfoy has to help him.

(The Piece) I was Missing All Along by lauren3210 (30k)

Draco and Harry have been flatmates and best friends for years, and Draco thinks life is just perfect that way. But when something comes along and threatens to take all that away, Draco has to decide what it is he really wants, and just how hard he's going to work to get it.

Temptation on the Warfront by alizarincrims0n (180k)

Draco Malfoy is forced into hiding with the Golden Trio and dragged into their search for horcruxes. What ensues is a journey of redemption, unexpected friendships and an unwanted, turbulent romance with Harry Potter. Warnings for swearing, sexual content, and dark themes.

Chaos Theory by Tessa Crowley (102k)

Chaos: when the present determines the future, but the approximate present does not approximately determine the future. One gene varies, one neuron fires, one butterfly flaps its wings, and Draco Malfoy's life is completely different. Draco has always found a certain comfort in chaos. Perhaps he shouldn't.

Hermione Granger's Hogwarts Crammer for Delinquents on the Run by waspabi (93k)

'You're a wizard, Harry' is easier to hear from a half-giant when you're eleven, rather than from some kids on a tube platform when you're seventeen and late for work.

Far From The Tree by aideomai (112k)

The arrival of Harry Potter’s children—snapped back in time, the children themselves guessed, twenty or so years—was the most interesting thing to happen at Hogwarts for years.

Grounds for Divorce by Tepre (122k)

Malfoy finds a coin. Harry finds a letter. A story about histories, a story about families. A story about a lemon tree somewhere in Upper Egypt.

All Our Secrets Laid Bare by @firethesound (2014, E, 150k)

Over the six years Draco Malfoy has been an Auror, four of his partners have turned up dead. Harry Potter is assigned as his newest partner to investigate just what is going on.

Foundations!verse by Saras_Girl (364k)

Harry is about to discover that the steepest learning curve comes after Healer training, and that second chances can be found in unexpected places.

All Life is Yours to Miss by Saras_Girl (114k)

Professor Malfoy’s world is contained, controlled, and as solitary as he can make it, but when an act of petty revenge goes horribly awry, he and his trusty six-legged friend are thrown into Hogwarts life at the deep end and must learn to live, love and let go.

What We Pretend We Can’t See by Gyzym (131k)

Seven years out from the war, Harry learns the hard truth of old history: it’s never quite as far behind you as you thought.

Here’s The Pencil, Make It Work by ignatiustrout (49k)

Harry thinks “Why is Malfoy working in a coffee shop in muggle London?” is a much simpler question than, “Are you going to accept that auror offer and, if you don’t, what will you do?”

Turn by Saras_Girl (306k)

One good turn always deserves another. Apparently.

Running on Air by eleventy7 (74k)

Draco Malfoy has been missing for three years. Harry is assigned the cold case and finds himself slowly falling in love with the memories he collects.

Such Great Heights by aideomai (93k)

Draco Malfoy, wide-eyed and pale and in a decidedly ragged shirt, was crouched next to the pile of whatever the dragon had been eating. Harry threw himself to a halt and yelled, “Merlin, how many times do I have to save your life?”

Dwelling by aideomai (83k)

Curses, James and Lily Potter ride again, several Ministry balls, a teenage Summer of Love, a grim young adult dystopian winter, a few different Draco Malfoys, secrets and the problems re: not having any, alternate lives, impossible lives, real lives, allusions to Dirty Dancing, and just because it's not called the Mirror of Erised doesn't mean you shouldn't know better.

In Pieces by dysonrules (85k)

Harry returns to Hogwarts as the new DADA instructor, only to find his teaching efforts thwarted by a very familiar ghost.

An Issue of Consequence by Faith Wood (20k)

Draco has woken up in an alternate universe. Or he has woken up utterly insane. Nothing else can possibly explain why Harry Potter suddenly seems to think he's Draco's boyfriend.

Save My Wonders by sdk (21k)

Immediately chocolate assaulted Draco's senses. Warm melted chocolate mixed with his mother's roses and... something else. Something new. Freshly scrubbed skin and maybe a faint sheen of sweat. It was so familiar... And it only intensified when Potter came up behind him.

The Devil's White Knight by AngrySpaceRavenclaw/orphaned (64k)

When Harry wakes up in an alternate timeline--a timeline where Voldemort was defeated long before the first war--he discovers everything is different. His parents, his godfather, his friends--and him. Harry must deal with the consequences of who he would have been if he had been raised by his parents, and figure out where he stands with his casual hook up, Draco Malfoy.

What I thought by bafflinghaze (7k)

Draco thought they were in a relationship. Harry thought it was just sex.

The Little Marauders Nursery and Day Care by @digthewriter (9k)

Harry Potter is the proud owner of The Little Marauders Nursery and Day Care and his favourite student is Scorpius Malfoy. Scorpius’s dad might be okay, too.

A Broken but Happy Sound by thusspakekate (7k)

Sometimes we do terrible things for no reason. Other times, we have terrible reasons.

Packing the Flat by marguerite_26 (6k)

Months after their explosive break-up, Draco insists Harry return to their flat to remove his belongings.

[fulcrumredeemed]

[Bacalar, Mexico: 1996, October N/A] Ahsoka Tano, a mutant that was on the run, as many many with visible mutations did and boy was at least on of her mutations visible. Standing 5'9, if her X-gene hadn't caused her hair to be replaced with two tendril-like appendages that draped down in front of her and on in that hung down the back of her neck, that were connected to two large horns that protruded from her skull that pointed up and slightly to either side of Ahsoka's head. All of this had its own layer of skin that was different than the rest of the mutant's orange-ish brown skin color, they where a cream-ish white color with stripes, that resembled those of a tiger, that were a mix of a cobalt-blue and a gunmetal grey, or at least that is the color that her tiger-stripes were currently. When these appendages first appeared on her and Ahsoka had noticed the stripes she immediately, and forever, decided to call them her tiger stripes. They helped give Ahsoka a kind of extra sensory ability, sensing the movement of things around her up to 84 feet, giving her an almost echo location like ability and these were only her visible mutations, she had many more. It had been about five years since Ahsoka had left Kamar Taj to go out on her own, on a pilgrimage, to see and explore the world, it hadn't been easy. Ahsoka had seen first hand the bigotry and hate that the world had to offer, especially to those who were different and even despite the help that she offered those around her. She soon went into hiding, wearing a cloak over her horns and staying away from major cities, or prominent countries for that matter, still helping those that she could on the way. Ahsoka had decided that she was interested in going to the United States, to meet the X-men. Other mutants, like herself, and ones that wanted to help people at that, like herself. Using the effects of one of her other mutations, Telepathy, Ahsoka put suggestions, into the heads of a boat headed for Mexico, making it so that those on the boat could not see her, or notice her existence. She didn't like doing this and usually only used it to get away from anti-mutant bigots, but this was going to be a long trip and she didn't have the money to pay them or know if she could trust them while they were all trapped on a space in the middle of the ocean. Stepping off of the boat and onto a dock at the very, very, tiny Mexican port town of Bacalar, Ahsoka was met with the sight of the bright blue oceans behind her, white beaches, and a beautiful back drop of mangroves, palm trees going into a tropic jungle. Good! This will do great for now, at least until she can make her way up to New York and the X-men. She walked forward, off the dock to find out how she could get a hut, and was hit with a wave of psychic energy. There was someone else here that her telepathy, that was interesting. Another mutant more than likely. Friend of foe was yet to be seen, even if she didn't sense and malice or ill intent towards anyone from this individual. Putting the feeling aside and decided it might be better to psychically shield herself for the time, at least until she meets this person and finds out if they can be trusted, Ahsoka headed towards what seemed to be the main part of this little village, seeing people working, weaving baskets, running stalls and shops, weaving clothes and other cloth material. No one paid Ahsoka any mind, and she didn't even have to psychically suggest anything, that was good, if not at least a little lonely, but it was safe. Ahsoka stopped in the middle of the little bazar and looked around to see if there was a place that looked like it would be able to answer her inquiries about a place to live here in Bacalar, Mexico.

@@all0fusstars

[xoxoalette]

Maybe its only me who noticed this but is Eddie the fan favorite on here? I feel sad for Diva so lets give her some love and attention too! Are there any interesting facts about her that you want to share with us? Leave Eddie at home today lol

This is more of a personal one but does it ever bother you (the creator) when fans ask about Eddie more than Diva? You don’t have to answer this part if its too personal

Eddie sure is a fan favorite yeah !! I wouldn’t say it bothers me— I do get a bit sad but Ik the community prefers yandere men over women, so it makes sense for everyone to levitate towards Eddie. Not to mention I haven’t really done Diva any justice with my writing ^^

There have been times where I considered changing Diva’s sex but eh, I like her how she is rn :3 I just gotta work on her character

But onto the facts !!

Diva actually owns a collection of guns, her grandfather enjoys them and she picked up that interest from him. He’s also where she gets her interest in cars from !! She also has pretty scary aim.

Diva also does cam services, and it’s how she makes a lot of her income— glucose benefactors, onlyfans. That being said— she does it just for fun and would have no problem quitting once she got a partner and they voiced their discomfort towards it. That being said— Diva would not do twitch streaming, idk she’s just not v into gaming streams, so she’d probably get a job related to fashion/marketing.

I think a lot of people missed this since I’ve only mentioned it a few times and waaaay back— but Diva has a large scar on her back due to conflict with Eddie in the past. While she holds no grudge against him, I don’t think she cares too much about how he’s still hung up over it. (Not in like ‘get over it’ kinda way but like, ‘it’s not my problem’)

Diva doesn’t live in the same town as Eddie, she moved after getting a scholarship to a university a few towns north, so she lives in a city that’s a few hours away. While Diva typically comes off as a bimbo and almost airheaded, she’s very smart and it comes more naturally unlike Eddie who has to actually study.

Cannot cook, can barely bake. It’s just not in her genes and she has a hard time following recipes because she can be pretty lazy geehee… so she typically eats out or someone she knows cooks for her.

And here’s some things I’ve been thinking of rewriting/adding to her character:

Under read more cause I’m typing on my phone and done know how long this post actually is 😋 keep in mind, the canons below might not be set in stone

Cw:

Diva is still very social and bubbly, and she’s extremely friendly. It’s her natural personality, but also— it sure helps draw people closer, and those she’s interested in even closer.

Not to mention when someone likes you, they’re more malleable. Diva’s thoughts not mine !!

Her toxic trait? Poking a bear with a stick. But not in the sense that she wants to get people mad at her— in fact, it goes the other way, she wants to see how far she can push someone when they’re into her.

Unlike Eddie who is repulsed by his violent tendencies, ever since Diva moved to the city, she’s had bad influences. But at least when she needs people to disappear she knows who to call. There’s no blood or dirt on her hands. Usually.

Maybe she isn’t a yandere after all, maybe she is. All that matters to her is how far you can prove how much you love her :)

She wouldn’t stalk MC babes actively, but she would so put an AirTag on one of their possessions without them knowing just so if she did want to check on them, she can check her phone.

Impulsive. Impulsive impulsive impulsive. You’d think because she’s smart she’d make better choices, but Diva is only human.

[politemenacephd]

I adore your work😭😭 Arachnophilia is literally my top fave fic as of late.

Question. If/when reader decides to have children with Mig, what would they look like?

Would they be driders like their father or human presenting like most spider people, just with Miguel’s more powerful instincts?

THANK YOU SO MUCH ogh that makes me so happy !!! and thank you for a BANGER question because this has ALSO been on my mind for days!!! Realistically it would be interesting because Mig's genes are such a weird mess, but I love the idea that it varies? Like some are driders, some are Just Big Spiders, and some are human. Cos Mig was just spliced together, my baby girl is spaghetti code. I can see them having bundles of eggs at like 5 to 10 a go and its like a genetic lottery. I was very attached to them having 10 drider daughters and one human son with a few spider tendencies, and the amount/type of spider varying with each one (e.g some having spider legs on their back, some having spider eyes, some having tufts of spider fur on their elbows as decoration, some having retractable spider claws on their wrists) But omg the idea of Mig teaching his brood of 10 drider daughters how to hunt by letting them chase him when they're little and they just overwhelm him until hes laughing on the floor w all his kids on his big spider abdomen AA HES SUCH A GOOD DAD and he totally takes them all for rides up the forest on his back n he huddles them like a penguin when its cold under his legs aaaaaa And because they come from eggs they're v small for babies, and their spider halves develop really quick compared to their human half so they have to be watched 24/7 in case they try to move lol Omg and their son is extra frail cos hes So small and Mig is freaking out about it, they have to get medical support when hes really young and Mig just keeps offering to let the baby eat him so he survives those are just the ideas I have rn though! I hope this is satisfactory B)

[evergreen-femme]

to be honest i do find a lot of fulfillment in the role of being an educator. i just wish it paid more. when you get to high paying professorships its mostly about research and the culture around that career (like being a natural sciences professor for example) is dismissive of education. yes i like it when people cite my research and tell me i did a good job, but that isn't enough for me to be satisfied with what i am doing. i was stressed and overworked and deeply in the closet back then, but when i was teaching middle school i cared a lot about every single kid i had in my class. i got to see them get better making scientific observations, and learn a little more about how the weather works and what a watershed is and what they could do to help stop pollution. it was really nice to teach kids things that they had some real curiosity about.

in contrast teaching adults is like. capitalism has stolen the vigor of youth prematurely from all of us. no one in my class is genuinely wanting to learn about gene expression or speciation (one of my favorite fields to talk about because it combines my current specialty in ecology with my initial scientific interest in evolutionary biology (and astrobiology but no need to get into that 😳)). ppl need a degree to get a better job and that's why they're in my class. its exhaustng for both sides to be learning things they don't care about + teaching what I don't really want to teach all in the name of some invisible economic machine or whatever. its kind of dumb.

i wish i could be a secondary educator but in this country they are so overworked, so regulated and constantly subject to the panopticon, so disrespected, so overworked, so fucking underpaid. less than half the job is the actual teaching nowadays.

not to mention, i doubt being an openly trans and gay woman would help me in the job hunt for that

[stellisketches]

why? please explain the soldier, port, king in excruciating detail PLEASE

EDIT: ITS FINALLY DONE i'm so sorry this took me like six months I got really busy with school work and I wanted to make sure I wasn't half-assing this anyway thank you for asking please enjoy

For reference I will be quoting the “Poet Soldier King” test on uQuiz as I feel they summarize each role most succinctly.

"You wonder, sometimes, if anger is the only thing you can feel. Remember: love is passion too. You made your own rules and will follow them to death. You try and forget that there is only one rule, and that it is "FIGHT". You are tired of fighting. You try to forget that, too, and keep going. You dream of quiet. Your love is where you heal." -Soldier

It's a subtle element but Vylad’s entire character/existence is about enduring conflict. It's an easy thing to forget due to his calm demeanor, but Vylad has been fighting since the moment he was born (hell, even before). Fighting the ill-contrived gossip of being a bastard son, fighting to prove himself a genuine Ro’Meave, and fighting against Garte and Zane’s abuse over his childhood. It’s a subtler form of conflict, but it’s very interesting to imagine how he was able to put up with all of it (I’ve planned so many prequel fics about the Ro’Meaves you guys). Then there’s the whole shadowknight topic that really is indicative of itself. Vylad's whole arc was based upon leaving behind the violence of his past as a literal soldier within the Shadow Lord's army. Again it’s really easy to forget but this is someone who was revived to burn the world to the ground and slaughter any and every man, woman, and child that got in the way of it. He told Aphmau himself in season 2: “One good deed does not fix a thousand wrongs done. I'm not a good person, let's just leave it at that. Please.” We may not have seen it on screen, but who knows how long Vylad was traveling with Sasha and Gene. I doubt Phoenix Drop was the first village they targeted, and I doubt Gene or Sasha or even Zenix were ever like “oh yeah you can wait outside while we commit atrocities on this Lord and his family and burn the whole village to the ground.” Vylad has a very practical mindset (another trait indicative of a good soldier), and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was purposefully good at his job so it would land him more opportunities to get out of the nether now and again. He enacted violence well enough that he was trusted to be sent outside the nether to go fuck up the overworld. Vylad is a man thoroughly haunted by war and the violence he’s committed against others in a way his brothers just… aren't. Sure, Garroth knows fighting and violence as a means of protection and ensuring the safety of others, but he doesn’t know war. He’s never had someone he cared about die in his arms. He’s never seen a whole village burn to the ground and see innocent people slaughtered left and right. He’s never seen a child screaming at their dead mother to get up. He may use violence, but he was never a violent person. Zane, on the other hand, most definitely was, however, but he hardly ever enacted any of the violence himself. 90% of the time it was jurors or guards he’d given orders to. And while he was more than happy to get his hands dirty every once in a while, he never felt genuine consequence from it. 

Continuing on Vylad’s inner psyche, we see after he still keeps a very practical, soldier-like mindset out of the nether in company with Aph and Co: He gets annoyed at Aphmau when she puts off telling everyone about the Tuu’la invasion. He surveys Laurance from a distance and does not interfere even in danger because he’s aware of the long term effect of distrust it would cause him. Upon the chaos in Narhaka, he immediately goes to burn books that have important locations the enemy could use against them. This is actually one of my favorite scenes because of how subtly status-quo breaking it is. Tell me right now of any scene involving book burnings done by a guy the audience is supposed to root for. Vylad’s view of the world makes him incredibly pragmatic and able to calculate the win-loss ratio of his actions and let that decide whether or not he will go through with it.

Vylad may not have the typical surface-level look of the characters often put into the category, but if you really dive into his past, his mindset, and the way he views the world, he easily fits into the role of soldier; with the final line “Your love is where you heal” setting him on the path of redemption we see throughout the whole series.

"Loneliness. Strength. Joy. You are powerful, but struggle believing it. You think you're not enough. Here's the truth : you are. You sing songs and hope they carry faith, because you have run out of it, and yet you still throw your heart out to the world and hope it makes it through. You convince yourself that pain is art because at least then, you will always have something to create. You are tired of stumbling through life. You dream of a ground you can stand on. One day, you will dance. Your love is where you feel - without fear." -Poet

Now I admit for Zane it does require a more particular perspective to place him as poet, but I’ll start simple and slowly transition to red string and corkboard. Firstly, from the original song lyrics, “He will slay you with his tongue” applies in at least two different ways. The first being obvious: Zane is incredibly charismatic- you don’t just make it to High Priest without a certain degree of people skills included but not limited to negotiating, preaching, and being able to reason your way through any theological question a questioning sinner could ask you. It’s a shame we don’t see it put into use very often throughout the series, but I think his position gives enough testament to his people skills. The second way this line applied is a bit more literal and a bit more dark, which would be the sheer amount of people who were murdered not by his hands directly, but on mere orders. He can quite literally have people slain in just a few words to the right people. Moving to the more esoteric; the line “You are powerful, but struggle believing it. You think you're not enough.” seems like it be a hitch to his characterization, as it first invokes the idea of someone who lacks self-confidence, which is FAR from what we see Zane characterized as in the story. However I see this from the lense of artists becoming blind to the depth of their own skill. Zane is powerful, but it’s not enough for him. He’s become so accustomed to the level of influence he holds he’s become desensitized to it, like how you stop feeling the cold of the water once you stay in it long enough.The power he’s been swimming in his entire life no longer brings that vitalic shudder of control he craves. Thus he seeks power that goes beyond mortal influence to raw, unchanneled divinity, as that’s the only thing that he has ever been told is above him. He hungers the same as any artist— to be something greater than they already are.

“You convince yourself that pain is art because at least then, you will always have something to create.” The idea of creation draws back to Zane’s relationship with control and divinity. I think it's highly debatable as to whether or not Zane has actual “faith” in the divine (i.e, seeing them as gods he wishes to emulate or simply as extremely powerful beings minus the religious element), but in either case it again leads back to desire for more. (sidenote: Zane’s fatal flaw being lust is such a delicious piece of irony and I could make an essay of its own on it). Anyway, back to the point I was originally trying to make: Zane sows pain and destruction as a means of asserting his power/importance both to others and himself. The “pain” spoken of would normally belong to the poet themself— but this is no ordinary poet, and there is no specific indication where said pain emerges from. 

"Duty. Strength. Resignation. You were told to do things and you did them. The world is something that was put into your hands and that you must deal with - so you will. You have a rigid back and steady hands, either metaphorically or physically. Is it nature or nurture ? You don't know. You are tired of being steady. You dream of feeling alive. Not that you aren't, but, sometimes, it's hard to remember that there is a heart between your ribs. Your love is where you breathe." -King

God where do I start. “Duty. Strength. Resignation” It’s like someone just said ‘describe Garroth in three words’. Duty has been his entire life, wanted or not, which leads directly into resignation. “You were told to do things and you did them.The world is something that was put into your hands and that you must deal with - so you will.” He learned his history. He learned the politics. He followed the dogma. He believed in Irene and his father and the glory of O’Khasis and his divine duty to lord over its people. His people. He said it himself in episode 68 he wanted to be exactly like his father, and that he thought to be lord was an honor and a privilege. To him, the weight of the world has rested upon his shoulders for so long that he becomes accustomed to each additional hardship quickly and quietly, never kicking up a fuss about his growing stress and dissatisfaction, like a frog in a pool of water that is steadily increasing in temperature. He locks his festering disdain for glorification of leadership away from his father, his family, and the rest of the world because he cannot show that he is anything but the Atlas of duty he was born to be. 

Until, one day, he has enough. He saw what happens to his dear little brother, likely the only person he felt he could truly bond with, and despite everything he still dealt with it, for the sake of the people around him, but when his father commands him to marry a girl he has never met (likely while he is still processing his grief) in the name of ‘duty’, it is the straw that breaks the camel's back. He sees that everything he has worked towards is meaningless as he will never reach a point where his father will be satisfied with him. That his father will continue to take and take from him until there is nothing left but a soulless puppet that will continue to speak his words even after his reign has ended. Every burden he has carried, every grievance he has hidden, every struggle he’s overcome and the hard work he’s put into building himself a true heir of O’Khasis— it all amounts to nothing.

So he leaves. 

Now, let me ask you: what would you do if you were a runaway prince escaping the crushing weight of expectation? Take a bunch of money from your no-good dad? Buy a boat ticket and live a new life in luxury on the other side of the world? Never work a day again and dive head first into careless relaxation? Surely, you wouldn’t look twice at a dilapidated little village on the coast. Wouldn’t bother to stop by and lift a finger to help it. You're free, you have a whole life of sweet exemption to look forward to. You wouldn’t give it the time of day.

“You have a rigid back and steady hands, either metaphorically or physically. Is it nature or nurture?”

Garroth finds himself in Phoenix Drop— a rickety dead-end little town as far away from home as possible. He stays, and he helps. He keeps the village running, he helps the Lord wherever he can. He takes in the broken, starved boy he finds in the woods. He does whatever he can to improve the lives of the people around him. Why? He owes them nothing, he’s spent a lifetime crushed under the weight of people's expectations and he turns around just to find himself carrying the weight of more lives on his shoulders. He is doing everything he was taught and everything he ran away from. 

But this time it’s different. This time, he sees how he’s helping. There’s no more grating voice telling him none of the effort matters. He has a rigid back and steady hands, metaphorically and physically. For the first time in his life, he can see with his own two eyes that his effort is worth it. There isn’t doubt and lies and corruption floating in and out of his mind. Just the warm, honest smiles of the people he helps. He feels it and it is real. The question “Is it nature or nurture?” is genuine: Is Garroth helping these people out of the kindness of his heart or because it was what he was always told to do, and now that he is without the purpose he was assigned he’s leaning on something familiar? Personally, I think that’s for the audience to decide. I myself would say a mixture of both, leaning more so towards nature. But I digress. 

It’s better then, when he helps and can see that he is doing good, but of course, that peace is not to last him. With the Lord’s death and impending turmoil of Phoenix Drop, Garroth’s role in the village shifts drastically to closer resembling the role he ran away from. People are treating him with near as much kindness anymore, no. The most forgiving are losing faith and the least are blaming him. Blaming him for failing to meet their expectations. Now, as things are deteriorating, he has more than enough reason to leave. He gave it the good ol’ college try, and he failed. With the sentiments of the village becoming scarily familiar to that of his father, he should just say “fuck it” and head on off to that faraway land where no one will know his name.

But still, he doesn’t. We see him in Rebirth and how desperate he is to fix the village, to make it work. Even when everyone else is telling him to give up, he refuses. Even sinking, a captain stays on his ship. (Side note: it’s scenes like this that cause me to start tearing up people’s lawns whenever I see takes that label Garroth as having a “fear of responsibility”). And he is completely ready to either make things work or die trying, regardless of what stands in his way. 

‘You are tired of being steady. You dream of feeling alive. Not that you aren't, but, sometimes, it's hard to remember that there is a heart between your ribs.’

Aphmau wasn’t the first person he saved. Zenix had likely been around for at least a year beforehand. However Zenix was a hothead teenager in need of guidance, which simply made him become another responsibility Garroth set upon himself. Don’t get me wrong, he definitely cares for him, but their relationship is far different than the one he has with Aphmau. 

With Aphmau, he finally has someone who shares the burden. Not only that, but sharing it willingly and with a smile on her face. He’s not used to having a person who presents themselves as an equal sharer of responsibility. Much less, someone who is willing and wanting for him to put his burdens on her (At least, that’s how he sees it). He can’t remember the last time he truly allowed himself to be vulnerable with someone. All the desires he’s pushed down start to bubble back up again, and he starts to imagine things he’d long tried to do away with. He sees Aphmau as a strong leader, one whose idealism is a strength and not a weakness, and how she accomplishes things he never quite got around to doing. An admiration grows for her, yes, but that’s not what makes her different. The difference, he sees, is her vulnerability. How she allows herself to be vulnerable around him. How despite the brave face she puts on, she has just as much fear that she isn’t enough. And she tells him this, directly, because she trusts him. And all of a sudden he realizes that if she can be strong to the rest of the world, and yet still let him see her weakness, her softness, then maybe, just maybe

“Your love is where you breathe.”

He can take his armor off, too.

[dynamic-k]

I don't actually know why I'm doing this, but oh well.

This is for Super Sticks. I love your fan fiction by the way, ITS AWESOME!!! :D

This idea kind of came to me in the middle of the night, and I'm not sure why but like:

Vic is an alchemy genius right? And he made something that could help with Hazard's gene problem thingy.

Agent Smith had a leg problem. Despite not having powers, he had proven himself to be an invaluable stick in his time at rocket.

I was thinking, it would be really interesting to see the mercenaries (although not really in super sticks) together. Like, how would they interact with each other? How would they function as a team?

I'm getting off topic xd

Ballista is currently a hero, so it would make sense for the team to be on the hero side, right? I think Primal and Hazard could do it, but Agent can't, due to his left leg being uhh... yeah.

I know it said in Arc 2, that Agent would still have a bad leg: 'Agent being a total badass even with one bad leg', but what if Vic made something to help Agent??? Maybe with Blue as well, if it was another potion...

Having the team helping with hero-ing might help Chosen, Dark, and Second, with all the new villains and such.

idk. i kind of made like an entire au of super sticks, where one small positive thing lead to a whole villain arc XD. The stuff above is just something that happened to pop up in my brain when i was supposed to do homework-

Yeah, I'm just going to stop now.

-R

[*muffled happy crying into pillow noises*]

AHHWBQJAHKRQAV THANK YOU!!

Vic is indeed an alchemy genius, and he did make immunity supplements. Hazard's usage of his powers always hurt him because his S.P.I. (self-power-immunity) cells were mutated and didn't work properly, so the S.P.I supplements that Vic designed for Hazard were to replace the failing cells. Multiple supplements will have to be taken to keep up the stockpile of good cells.

I have been meaning to include some mercenaries' bonding moments somewhere in Arc Two, or perhaps as a Bonus Feature! I just... Haven't yet figured out where in the timeline I want stuff to be placed yet-

It's so cool you've come up with your own little spinoff AU! I am very intrigued, hehehe

:D Agent is a hero at heart, bad leg neverminded. And I do have a very specific badass Agent scene broiling around in my brain since before Arc One was even completed- XD

In all technicality, Agent's leg is full healed... Except uhh

See, there's nerve damage. Agent's leg was rotated around completely backward and while the emergency surgery corrected it quickly afterward, there's a lasting numbness and mild pain flareups to be suffered from there on out. It may eventually go away after several years, but for now, it stays.

Plot wise, I never planned for Vic to miraculously come up with some solution or fix-it for Agent's leg, even though he is very smart in problem curing areas and alchemy. (This may change, I dunno. My brain is a little bouncy on unfirmed ideas-)

Vic straight-up invented those supplements, came up with a whole serum that mimicked those cell properties, to stand in as a viable substitute. And it took him a very long time to perfect it. It would probably take an equally long time, or even longer, if Vic were to attempt making something for Agent. And uhhh, he can't exactly experiment hands-on in the comfy confines of his current jail cell, can he-

Ballista and Hazard have already canonically been doing hero work in Arc Two's time, and our three Ladybug hollowheads are aware of it, though they haven't yet met Hazard in person. Agent reopened the Rocket Hero program that Vic had abandoned in Arc One, so yeah.

Primal will eventually hop onto the program, I'll say that much, but for nowwww.... The situation is complicated. And I have some plans to help complete her redemption arc. Arc One left things a little ambiguous and incomplete on purpose, hehe

"idk. i kind of made like an entire au of super sticks, where one small positive thing lead to a whole villain arc XD." Color me intrigued! :D I love spinoff AUs~

No wait- Don't stop- I was enjoying the ramble- /silly

[felinefractious]

So I have an abby mix who was from an accidental litter between an abby mom and some stray that got to her (irresponsible af breeders but sadly extremely common in my area) and her only traits are the ticked fur and the abby face shape. otherwise she's just your normal gray tabby dsh mog with practically no rufousing - less than spaybortion's even.

so wouldn't it be reasonable that their mog *could* potentially have abby mixture a few generations back? i mean if mine can be a first gen and hardly got any of the abby phenotyping at all, seems possible enough.

In theory it is possible, yes!

But it’s also possible the cat is mixed with another ticked breed. It’s also possible that the cat is mixed with a non-ticked breed and got the ticked pattern from the moggy parent.

But possible is different than probable!

It’s estimated that only 1% - 3% of cats are purebred, with even higher estimates only reaching a meager 5%. With unknown ancestry it’s stastically far more likely that he’s a ticked DSH with no breed heritage…

But if there was an Abyssinian (or other breed) parent “a few generations back” it’s something of a moot point because for all intents and purposes he’s still functionally a Domestic Shorthair.

The key difference with this kitty and your kitty is documented lineage. The pedigree is what makes the breed, generally speaking, phenotype is important but with how much admixture is permitted between breeds in most cases it isn’t a sufficient identifier on its own.

I’d love to see your cat, documented moggy/purebred mixes are so interesting because it shows just how quickly many breed traits devolve when introduced to the stray/feral gene pool. There’s a patient at work who’s a bonafide Siamese mix but if I didn’t know his history I’d have thought he was just a lynx point moggy.

[cnestus]

re: your last post about career options in entomology, consider this an invitation to talk about what you think about molecular systematics and its role in taxonomy/phylogeny. i'm an undergrad currently in a lab focused on the phylogeny of benthic marine inverts, and the vast bulk of our work is based on molecular data. i'm interested in hearing your thoughts on the topic!

i should be clear and say that i have no inherent problems with molecular systematics as an approach to taxonomy, and in many cases it can be a tremendous boon to the field and pretty much the only way to untangle some particularly gnarly taxonomic knots.

i guess my problem arises from how the ascendancy of molecular systematics is crowding out traditional morphological taxonomy, to the point where, like i was complaining in my last post, many subdisciplines are disappearing because nobody is replacing the aging and dying experts on many groups of insects and other organisms. i think that very few people who do molecular systematics would themselves argue that they should replace traditional taxonomists, but i also think that academic administrators and funding agency bureaucrats see the difference in "efficiency" between one scientist who needs years if not decades to publish a comprehensive monograph on their study group, and another who can slam a bunch of samples through a machine and describe a hundred new species in a semester, and would prefer to fund the latter. i'm being unfairly reductive here of course, but my point is that in the publish-or-perish culture of academia, being able to churn out papers faster will always be rewarded and tilts the game way towards molecular taxonomists. even incoming grad students who want to study to become morphological taxonomists are having a harder time securing the funds to do so.

i just worry about what things are going to look like in even 10 or 20 years from now when the last of the old-timers have died off and very few have been replaced. even if you can technically identify an organism of interest through sequencing it's CO1 gene or whatever, that's no replacement for having an actual expert who can way more quickly and authoritatively tell you what it is without having to be connected to Genbank.

(far more minor, but i also think that molecular work places far too great of an emphasis on dogmatic phylogenetic taxonomizing over more practical groupings. this is pure old man grumbling but i absolutely can't stand how every few years someone recategorizes some group of insects based on their genetic sequences and suddenly i gotta relearn a bunch of new taxonomies and relabel a bunch of shit because every group's just gotta be 100% monophyletic. fuck monophyly! i will not elaborate on this!)

anyway back to my main point, again i'm sure i'm being reductive and unfair and there are absolutely labs that make use of both morphological and molecular taxonomic methods, but it's just a worrying trend to me. i just can't help but feel like the ascendancy of molecular systematics is of a piece with the inexorable automation of so many other jobs and disciplines, like a robot replacing the craftsman it was ostensibly designed to assist.

[tartrat]

Random Just Dance thoughts ive been having.

These wont make any sense, some might be headcanons others wont make sense at all. this is also kinda long.

What colour is the blood of the coaches?: Personally i think its purple, mainly because the idea of their faces going purple when they blush is kinda cute. Also what was it like for Sara, Leda, Deerstan and Pandafan when they went into the game, like did they feel their blood changing?

Have Layl and Gabriela just escaped into our world?: like those two tiktoks/shorts they posted with them are kinda ominous. The Just dance chat video is different as they clearly say that they are in costume but the other two just give the impression that they have escaped the game. Their next map is set in front of the actual Eiffel tower. that would be funny

What would Happen if a coach came into our world?: They'd probably look really uncanny like the behind the scenes images off the dancers in full costume but not on the green screen.

Is the Wake me up coach just Jake Gyllenhaal?: Most likely, he probably doesn't shower like him as well. he probably has also cheated on the one kiss coach by now.

Scotty is possessed by this point: Cradles was such a jarring map to get after Sunroof because Scotty just looked really happy and then two months later he has this nightmare that probably takes place right after sunroof. And his bag thats themed after Cthylla moves its eye at the end. I don't care what anyone says but the colourful childlike vibe fits the song as in the song it mentions a bunch of nursery rhymes and honestly makes it more eerie. If he's not possessed then he probably just has some issues that he needs to work through.

Cthylla should be the next main villain: I don't know why i think this, i also think Mothigan should be one of the protagonists, i call it Butterflies vs. Octopi. Leading on from the scotty possessed thing, Cthylla kidnaps a bunch of students, so Mothigan has to find a student to help her take down god.

How do they become coaches in universe?: Like we see Bonnie and Clyde in the background of telephone as just backup dancers and then they became the coaches for the alternate, same for Brock as he is first seen in the background of Mr. Blue Sky and is the coach for Wouldn't it be nice and Shine a little love. I remember back when Dancing Queen was officially released on 2018's unlimited i saw a comic on Instagram of the main coach getting her gloves, so is it to do with the glove?. Does having the brightly coloured glove signal that your time has come?

The Small Town Boy coach is the younger brother of Dahlia: Honestly i think that this is just because they both have pink hair, and even at that it seems like Dahlia would have natural dark hair, because of her roots. It is possible that they both just dye their hair.

How many coaches are born with coloured hair and how do the genes work with coloured hair?: like is blue hair a recessive gene? does half of the population in a danceverse have coloured hair and the other have natural hair? What i think is that the coaches would be the best at helping to keep your hair healthy.

Did Scotty fall off screen at the end of Sunroof?: It looks like he stumbles a bit as he does the hop spin at the end and if he did fall, in game he is no longer visible anyway so they wouldn't have needed to reshoot it. If anything its sort of fitting for his character.

Are the Despacito coaches the same coaches from Cheerleader?: mainly because they look similar, but we probably won't have confirmation until despacito gets added to plus and the coaches get names.

Ari and Moxie are bitter exes: I think this would be interesting and would have probably have fueled their dance battles. Also I've been finding bitter exes to be more interesting than romantic relationships lately, like they used to love each other and now they hate each other's guts and take jabs at each other even though they used to kiss. Honestly i hope that Ari's map for 2025 is a battle style duet with Moxie to like a 2000s song.

Felicia and the Boss Witch coach are also bitter exes: because of this i believe that Felicia is disguising herself as BW's cat just to get dirt on her, but also kind of wants to get back with her. Like they loved each other then hate each other then are like "Damn i'm so in love with you, but before i get back with you I'm going to disguise myself as a cat to get dirt on you and black mail you" then its like we're made for each other. The boss witch coach has probably also spied on Felicia before. Also i guess that BW has an actual cat that Felicia sort of kidnapped to disguise herself as before giving the cat back.:

Do Lauren and Tyler know Layl and Gabriela?: They all seem to do grafitti so it'd make sense.

Does death exist and who is the grim reaper?: Like we have the I will survive coach who is a zombie performer who appears to be an actual zombie so the undead exist, but there has to be someone who decides what coaches fully die or are forced to live on as the undead. Maybe its the purple coach from woman.

Food?: From the GTWAB lore video it seems like bananas don't exist in universe or they do exist under a different name. Then we have the coaches from In the Summertime and Cola Song alt, where they are food. Are they actual food or are just cosplaying?

The wolf that the GTWAB coaches met is the coach from Born To Be wild: Honestly i only think this because he's the only wolf in the series (i think), even though he is a werewolf. It would be funny, Born to be wild is a fun map.

Kapyy is the coach from White Noise: i don't have any basis for this, i initially thought that the patterns on their clothes were similar until i looked at the White Noise coach again. I mean at least they are both, probably, in Cyber funk.

The Follow the white rabbit coach wouldn't have fit cure for me: I feel like this is because she's very obviously supposed to be Alice, since it is a twisted wonderland inspired map. I feel that the FTWRC would fit for another Wonderland themed song, idk maybe Wonderland by Caravan Palace or Wonderland by Taylor Swift. I much prefer Mothigan as the coach for Cure for me, might be biased because she's my favourite coach, but its mostly because its a fun map and i just love the expressions that Sarah Magassa does for her. Also i have a score of exactly 13000 on it and it just feels fitting.

This is long enough as it is, i can just start typing and can't stop at times, yet when i actually want to write i can't get much down. I used to write Yo kai watch fanfiction in a note book during lunch at school and even that i only wrote a page. I also want to try and develop my idea for the Mothigan vs Cthylla story (I know that i want to include Kapyy, Talia Sway and Agent D as part of the main group along with a random kid Mothigan found, like she chose a teenager, a broken hearted woman, some dj and an actual spy to help her, not going to end well).

I really like how the coaches are now characters that can randomly return now like did anyone make the connection that Captain Crimson was the coach of Jump in the line until Just Dance posted a video about what happened to him. Or the coaches of I like it (Cardi B), Skibidi and Dibby sound appearing in don't go yet.

Just dance is also just really easy to insert ocs into because it helps to speculate how a song could be done. I mean all the coaches are ocs if we're being technical, same for like any fictional character.

I need to stop this is way too long.