#metal island miner

[flame-shadow]

Ant Mines Bug Fables NPC Collab [5/23]

Background - @motheatencrow Editor - @flame-shadow

Character Credits Diana - @kuoddo Vivi - chibiscuit Mine Overseer - enrique2205 Miner - enrique2205 Nessa/Sleepy Ant - @coozycoolz Mystery Ant - @flame-shadow Golden Settlement Miner - jabbernabber Far Grasslands Miner - @sts-puelle Rubber Prison Miner - lamverykarpy Forsaken Lands Miner - @milatheartsy Metal Island Miner - jabbernabber

[click here to see the entire collection]

[donein30minutes]

Bugust Challenge Day 16 Out on Holiday 8.16.23

Done in 30 minutes

[jayrockin]

Avian Homeplanet

Star: F-class (yellow white) Vegetation: blue and black Axial tilt: 11 degrees Gravity: 1.12 g Position from star: fourth

Over 90% ocean and blasted by the light of an intense star, the avian homeplanet is prone to hot, humid weather and enormous monsoon storms. In spite of this, the planet’s very slight axial tilt gives its poles a coating of year-round sea ice, whose sifting, dune-like surface plays host to a strange variety of slow growing plants and hardy animals. On solid land, the dominant photosynthetic life is a clade of “plants” ranging from dark blue to cerulean, and a clade of sessile tube-dwelling “landworms” with black flesh and frond-like appendages. Their dark colors selectively absorb and reflect the harsh, high-UV light of the sun.

The crust of the planet also has an usually large amount of the element cobalt. It compromises over 5% of the planet’s crust, comparable to iron on Earth. Cobalt compounds generally have a much higher solubility in water than iron compounds, though, and the avian oceans are stained a purplish red from huge amounts of dissolved cobalt nitrate, cobalt chloride, and cobalt carbonate. Mineral veins of cobalt compounds can be found commonly in the planet’s rocks, forming streaks of red, blue, black, green, and sometimes yellow depending on composition. Sand and soil are sometimes stained purple and blue by cobalt salts, as well.

The clade of avians has a difficult evolutionary history to track, given the limited amount of dry land and intense development over the past thousand years. The current theory is that a flying sophont ancestor originated on the planet’s largest landmass, an Australia-sized continent, and radiated outwards to evolve into the 5 extant species of avians.

In modern history, avians have often run into space issues developing their societies, and metal as a resource has been at the center of some particularly bitter wars. Most land on the homeplanet is currently colonized by the Dominion of Tiiliit, and now in the space age, imported metal and helium is being used to add new land in the form of artificial islands and floating cities.

Avians tend to use simple, writable icons to represent their nations. Though traditionally, the Hotsuuv nations use local cultivated varieties of seal fruit as icons, and the mineral rich south pole uses dots of pigment.

Map art rendered in Photopea by the stellar @cmaidaartworkblog! Edited in CSP by me.

PATREON | Runaway to the Stars

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Some Art Vocabulary

Abstract - Simplified, intended to capture an aspect or essence of an object or idea rather than to represent reality.

Amber - Tree resin that has become a fossil. It is semi-transparent and gem-like. Amber is used in jewelry today as it has been for thousands of years.

Amulet - Object, organic or inorganic, believed to provide protection and turn away bad luck. Amulets were often worn as jewelry in antiquity.

Anneal - To heat metal to make it soft and pliable.

Black-figure - Technique of vase painting developed in Greece in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE and adopted by the Etruscans. Figures are painted on a reddish clay vase in black silhouette and details are then cut away with a sharp point down to the red below. Sometimes artists added additional colors, especially purple-red and white.

Bronze Disease - Corrosion of a bronze object that cannot be permanently stabilized. Without special care, an object with bronze disease will continue to corrode.

Bust - Portrait of a person including the head and neck, and sometimes the shoulders and part of the chest.

Cameo Glass - Glass produced by layering two or more colors of glass. Generally, an upper layer of white stood out against a contrasting lower background, usually blue.

Cameo Stone - Hard stone, such as agate, naturally layered with bands of color. Artists took advantage of the layers to carve figures or decoration from an upper layer (or more than one), leaving a background layer of a different color.

Cast - To make in a mold from liquid metal. A cast object can be hollow or solid.

Chasing - Technique of adding definition and details to an image or design on metal from the front using blunt and sharp tools.

Conservator (of antiquities) - Professional responsible for preserving ancient objects and materials. Conservators usually have a general knowledge of chemistry and of ancient art-making practices and are often specialists in one material. Among many other responsibilities, they conduct technical and historical research and oversee preventive care such as climate control.

Contrapposto - (”opposite” in Italian) Pose of a standing figure with most of the weight on one leg and the other bent. This causes hips, shoulders, and head to shift in order to balance the body. One arm is often higher and one lower.

Emery - Hard, dense rock rich in corundum, found easily on the Cycladic Islands. A powerful abrasive for grinding and smoothing other stones.

Encaustic - Technique of painting using colored pigments mixed with wax. The waxy mixture was worked with a tiny spatula.

Gild - To apply a thin layer of gold foil or liquid gold (gilt) to create the look of solid gold.

Iconography - Study of and use in art of repeated images with symbolic meaning.

Incise - To press or cut into a surface (stone, metal, clay, wood) with a sharp tool to write text or create fine curving and linear details.

Inlay - To decorate an object by inserting a piece of another material into it so that it is even with the original surface.

Low Relief - Method of carving figures or designs into a surface so that they are raised slightly above a flat background.

Mosaic - Technique and type of artwork. The technique is to arrange cubes of stone, glass, and ceramic to form patterns and pictures in cement, usually on a floor. The artwork is the final story or decoration made of cubes.

Mummification - Process of preserving a body by drying it. The Egyptians removed internal organs and put natron, a natural mineral mixture, on and inside the body. This absorbed moisture and prevented decay.

Palmette - Stylized palm leaf used as decoration in ancient Greek and Roman art and architecture.

Pentelic - From Mount Pentelicus, near Athens. An adjective that mostly refers to the beautiful white Greek marble marble in its quarries.

Portrait - Image of a person, usually the head and face. Some portraits include part of the chest or show the whole body. The image may closely resemble a person or emphasize, idealize, or invent characteristics.

Repoussé - Technique of raising the outline of a design on metal by repeatedly heating and softening the metal and pushing the desired shapes into it from the back with a blunt tool.

Sarcophagus/Sarcophagi (pl) - Stone coffin, often decorated on the sides with mythological scenes carved in relief, sometimes with the image of the deceased person or couple on the lid. Used in Imperial Roman times from the early 100s into the 400s CE.

Stele/Stelai (pl) - Upright stone or wooden slab or pillar used to honor a person or mark a place. Often an inscribed grave marker or a boundary stone. (Also called stela/stelae.)

Syncretism - Blending of elements of different cultures, often resulting in new imagery or new interpretations.

Tessera/tesserae (pl) - Pieces of stone or other hard materials cut into squares or cubes to make mosaic art.

More: Word Lists ⚜ pt. 2

[sixteenseveredhands]

Prehistoric Figurine of a Harp Player, from the Cyclades (Greece), c. 2700-2300 BCE: this figurine was shaped from a block of solid marble and then slowly sanded into form using pumice and emery

The figurine depicts a musician with a frame harp, an instrument that originated in the Near East and then later spread to the peoples of the Aegean. A sound box forms the section along the base of the instrument, and a small protrusion can be seen near the top of the harp's frame; some experts have argued that this protrusion might represent an ornamental carving of a waterfowl's head, while others argue that it represents a musical extension that facilitates the projection of sound (a feature that often appears on the stringed instruments of the ancient Near East).

This piece measures 35.8cm (about 14 inches) tall.

Musical performances like this are rarely depicted in Cycladic artwork. Depictions of male characters are similarly rare, representing only 5% of the Cycladic sculptures that are known to exist. When male figures are depicted, however, they are frequently shown playing musical instruments, as seen here.

Figurine of a Harpist, c. 2800-2700 BCE: a similar example of a Cycladic sculpture that features a musician with a frame harp

The Museum of Cycladic Art provides a more detailed explanation of the process by which these figures were created:

As we can deduce from the few unfinished figurines that have been discovered so far, the first step in the process was to roughly shape the raw piece of marble into a figure by the impact of a mallet. Emery powder was then used to abrade the surface until it obtained the desired shape and size. Once the desired shape was achieved, the surface was smoothed carefully before the fine work of carving the details started. At the end, the figurine was polished to a high degree that is still amazing.

And according to The Met:

Many of these figures, especially those of the Spedos type, display a remarkable consistency in form and proportion that suggests they were planned with a compass. Scientific analysis has shown that the surface of the marble was painted with mineral-based pigments—azurite for blue and iron ores, or cinnabar for red.

The Cycladic Islands (also known as the Cyclades) are a group of about 30 separate islands in the Southwest Aegean, off the coast of mainland Greece. These islands contain a wealth of natural resources, including marble, emery, pumice, obsidian, and an assortment of precious metals. The prehistoric peoples of the Cyclades made use of these resources for many different purposes, but the marble figurines/sculptures that they crafted during the Bronze Age are perhaps their most famous creation.

The vast majority of these figurines are stylized depictions of the female form. The cultural significance of the sculptures remains unclear; they may have simply been created as decorative pieces/artwork, without any additional function, or they may have been used as fetishes, totems, religious idols, grave goods, or votive offerings.

Sources & More Info:

The Getty Museum: Figurine of a Harp Player

The Met: Cycladic Harp Player

The Met: Early Cycladic Art and Culture

The Museum of Cycladic Art: Techniques

[thekingofwinterblog]

Was the Grand Line originally land? (CONFIRMED Theory)

So in lights on the most recent chapter, 1113, we learn that the world government's great and final plan is to flood the entire world, leaving only the red line above the sea level and drowning the rest of the world.

With this in mind, there is of course the obvious question, of wheter this was always the plan, even during the void century.

And if so, there is the question of wheter or not the original alliance succeeded, and the Grand Line as we know it is just a post apokalyptic remnant of a once, much grander landmass, not necessarily one made up completely of land, as we know that some of the kingdoms(the great kingdom itself) during the Void century WERE islands, but one where there was still a very clear land bridge across the world, beyond just the red line.

So, lets dive into this idea, and the evidence for and against.

Starting off with, the grand line is a bizarre place, and we have no actual explanation of why it exists. It cannot be the one piece equator equivelant of the equator, for as oda has confirmed, the map above is aligned so north, south, west and east are those direction on the globe, with the red line and grand line both at an angle across the world, not aligned in the four compass directions.

Then of course there are the frankly bizarre phenomena of the grand line, which though a lot has a somewhat logical explanation, there are still plenty of mysteries, such as the bizarre weather currents of the grand line, and the way the calm belt is very clearly supernatural in how it works.

Why is the start of the line so bloody strange, so much less predictable and filled with nonesense than the rest of paradise?

But lets begin dissecting the idea that the grand line is a post apokalyptic wastelands. How would the continent sinking into the sea explain the weather phenomena?

Well... Crocus claims that the reason for the grand line's being filled with abnormal magnetic fields as a result of each of the islands being very rich in minerals, which frankly speaking, doesnt really seem to be the case for the most part from what we've seen... but if you assume that them "being rich in minerals" actually refers to the idea that the core of each of the islands that survived the ancienct apokalypse were filled to the brim with strong, durable metals from the very core of the earth as the lands around was sunk beneath the waves, there might be some logic to it.

The "islands", or at least the mountains they rest on, would indeed be filled with rich minerals, and more importantly, they would be way closer to the surface and now much more "uncovered" by stone, and be just beneath the surface, and so wrecks havoc on anyone trying to use a compass.

but are there more to suggest the grand line used to be above sea level?

Yes, actually, there is.

In paradise, there are 4 megastructures that seems to defy any, and all logic for how they could possibly have been built.

The tree gates of justice.

And Impel Down.

we have no idea who built these ginormous structures, but the simple reality is that with what we know, They just dont make sense.

The Gates are so so stupidly big, that the only creatures that would match it is the big elephant of the minks, and the florian monster.

However, forget the size, the bigger problem is the foundations.

Impel Down is structured like a castle, with a very clear, tiered set of levels.

assuming it was indeed built in the middle of the ocean, from the bottom up, the only race who could possibly have done it would have been the fishmen, who from what we know would have absolutely no reason whatsoever to help the world government make it, given they were on the opposite side during the Void Century, and relations have not gotten much better since.

however... if we assume that both of these structures, the gates of justice, and Impel down, were made on land BEFORE they were submerged, the mystery of the how their construction suddenly makes way more sense.

they are stupidly big, but they were built above ground, making their construction much more logical.

if so, then at the bottom of the sea in this area, one could probably find walls, similar to the gates, connecting the 3 gates, with all 3 and the castle of impel down obviously having been part of some grand, defensive fortification, with their current use of controlling the whirlpool having little to do with their original intention.

And then of course there is how the one piece world is portrayed in Monsters.

We dont know exactly when Monsters is set, but it has to be sometime before the void century, because it was in a different age than the era of isolation that was put into place after the the mountain walls were put into place after the great war, and it cant have been during the void century itself, for it it had been, any mention of the man would have been ruthlessly wiped out by the world government, and he would most certainly not have been famous across the world.

So he lived sometime before the great conflict started.

the more interesting part about monsters though, is how the world looks. Rather than the familiar world of island based city states, We are shown a wast landscape with no sea in sight.

Now it's of course possible this story is set somewhere on the red line, or one a massive island, but there is something else to suggest that the world of old was fundamentally different than what came later.

Ryuma was recognized as the man who carried "the world's greatest warrior soul", and was famed far and wide, with the nickname suggesting a level of international fame on the same level as mihawk... except there is a bit of a problem here.

One piece's world building is built on the fact that every single island is very isolated from all the rest of the world. even if there is one world government, that a lot of states are a part of, but defacto, each island is an independent nation unto itself, except when the world government wants something from them.

News simply does not spread in this way in the one piece world. The only reason pirates such as Luffy, whitebeard and roger are famous, is because the powers that be have a wested interest in making them famous, and spread their wickedness and thus warning of their danger, but also as a justification to why they need to have the mariens around to protect people.

and yet the tales of Ryuma both in monsters and in one piece proper is a worldwide spread story, which given how old he is seems bizarre all things considered(how old his legend is, how widespread it is, how nobody except the people of Wano would have a political reason for keeping his legend alive, etc)... but if one assumes the entire world has heard of him because he literarily walked from one end of the world to the other, with only small boat trips to cross gaps in the continent of the grand line, then the idea that he would be remembered by all long, long after his death makes way more sense.

And then of course there is another, huge detail that is very easy to miss. One Piece's age of exploration just ended, relatively speaking.

The one piece world is OLD, with Alabasta's capital being 4000 years old, and the world government as an organization being 800 years old.

And yet... The world, or more speciffically the grand line was still being charted out and mapped as late as 400 years ago.

four centuries after having been created, the world government and the people of this world didnt know the rough layout of paradise, the part of the grand line where the only kingdom we know for a fact was part of the original alliance against the great kingdom was located.

That seems... insane to be perfectly honest... but it makes WAY more sense if one assumed that the Grand line used to be one, relatively well connected landmass that stretched across the world in relation to the red line.

But once that for the most part sank into the sea(most certainly as a result of the full might of the ancient weapons being unleashed on either side of the war), the world as the people of old knew it was broken, and had to be completely remapped, a process that took centuries.

This could also explain the world government's big symbol. a cross with 5 dots, one in the middle, and 4 around it.

Now the idea that this symbolizes the 4 directions of the world is not a new theory, but the dots are another question, with us having no idea what they mean.

Here's my theory.

all five represents the same thing, the alliance's big plans for a capital of the world, Mary Geoise, located on one of the spots wheree the world's two big landmasses met. the meaning as it originally was envisioned, was that no matter which direction you went, you would always end up back here at the center of the world.

[illumins]

𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞—𝑙. 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘 (#⁰³)

✦trope: fluff, spidey-mark, spiderman

✧first pov

▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭

It’s the kind of morning where the sunlight seems to perform, glittering through the leaves of the trees lining our school’s front walk like something alive. The bus, dented and smelling faintly of rubber and stale lunches, sits idling at the curb, and I am hyper-aware of my own heartbeat, the tap-tap-tapping against my ribcage as I shuffle in line to board.

I find a seat by the window, sticking my backpack onto the empty space beside me. I tell myself it’s to save the spot for Jenna, but she’s decided to sit up front, leaving me an island in a sea of noise. The other students buzz with the sort of aimless energy only a field trip can inspire. I watch them, trying to imagine how it would feel to be as light-hearted, their thoughts not tangled in a net of impossible hopes.

Mark climbs onto the bus last, his hair a tousled mess from the wind, a grin playing on his lips as he jokes with his friends. They’re talking about the new exhibit at the science museum, something about rare minerals, but all I can see is the way his shoulders ease back in laughter, the effortless orbit of his friends around him. He’s got this gravity, and I feel caught in it, helpless.

He doesn’t notice me, not yet. He’s recounting some anecdote that has them all leaning in, their expressions lit with shared amusement. I watch his hands as he speaks, animated and sure, the way I imagine Spider-Man’s might be when he’s scaling a skyscraper or swinging between the canyons of New York’s avenues. I try to picture telling him, confessing everything right there in the vibrating hull of the school bus. But the words knot in my throat, unspoken.

We arrive under a sky scrubbed clean by the wind, the museum rising before us like a monument to all things curious and unknown. Our teachers herd us toward the entrance, their voices raised over the clamor. I stay a few steps behind Mark, watching as he squints up at the banners flapping above the entrance, his profile sharp against the pale morning light.

Inside, the museum is a cavern of shadows and echoes, the air cool and tinged with the scent of metal and glass. We wander through the exhibits, the teachers giving us time to explore while they discuss logistics at the front desk. My friends cluster around a display of meteorites, their surfaces pocked and scarred like moons. I drift away, my sneakers silent on the polished floor.

I find him by the Foucault pendulum, standing so close to the barrier that his breath must be fogging the brass plaque explaining the physics of it all. His concentration is a tangible thing, and I watch the way his eyes track the slow, hypnotic swing of the pendulum.

“Fascinating, isn’t it?” I say, my voice softer than I intend, barely threading through the hum of distant conversations and the distant echo of footsteps.

He turns, his smile quick and surprised, as if he hadn’t expected anyone to break his private communion with the exhibit. “Hey,” he says. “Yeah, it really is. Did you know—”

But I’m barely listening, too caught up in the way his hair curls just behind his ears, the earnestness of his gaze. I shuffle my feet, feeling suddenly clumsy, the words I’ve rehearsed slipping away like water through fingers.

“So, I was thinking,” I start, but my voice trembles and I have to start again. “I was wondering if—”

An explosion shatters the moment, the sound so loud it seems to consume the air. Screams slice through the museum as people start running, a stampede of fear. Mark’s hand shoots out, grabbing my arm, pulling me close. His body shields mine as the sound reverberates, the ground beneath us shivering with the violence of the blast.

“Are you okay?” he shouts over the noise, his eyes scanning the chaos, always looking for how he can help. I nod, words lost in the tumult.

We move together, his hand firm on my elbow, guiding me towards what I assume is safety. My heart is a wild thing inside my chest, not just from the blast, but from him, from the heat of his hand through the fabric of my shirt.

As we reach a quieter corner, his friends gathering around us, his face is inches from mine, his brow furrowed with concern. The chaos around us blurs into a backdrop as I’m suddenly, acutely aware of his closeness, the faint smell of his cologne mixed with the metallic tang of fear.

“Seriously, are you all right?” His voice is steady, a contrast to the trembling of my own limbs.

I manage a nod, my throat tight. “Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks to you.” The words tumble out awkwardly, carried more by relief than by courage. The truth is, I want to say so much more, to rewind to the moment before the explosion, to the question I had been about to ask.

He smiles, a quick, reflexive thing that doesn’t quite reach his eyes as he scans the area, still in protector mode. His gaze is everywhere, taking in exits, assessing threats, so unlike the carefree high school student he plays in the daylight of ordinary afternoons.

Mark turns back to me, his hand still gripping my arm lightly. “We should keep moving. It’s not safe here.”

As we walk, I can hear the sirens in the distance, the sound growing steadily louder. The museum staff are directing visitors toward emergency exits, their voices calm but urgent over handheld radios.

We reach a side exit, the cool air outside a slap after the stifling fear inside. Police cars and fire trucks are converging on the scene, their lights painting the world in harsh strokes of red and blue. Mark's friends cluster together, everyone speaking at once, trying to make sense of the chaos.

I stand slightly apart, the weight of my unasked question heavier than ever. Just as I gather the remnants of my scattered courage, ready to reach out and touch his arm, to pull him aside and finally speak my truth, he looks over, his expression shifting as he sees something beyond my shoulder.

“Stay here,” he says abruptly, and then he’s gone, melting into the crowd with a swiftness that speaks of more than just urgency—it speaks of necessity, of duty.

The others don’t notice his departure, not at first, caught up in their own relief and recounting of the event. I watch where he disappeared, the cold knot of disappointment settling in my stomach. Not because of the missed chance to confess, but because I know, with a sinking certainty, where he’s gone.

To change, to swing into action as someone else entirely. As Spider-Man.

I wrap my arms around myself, watching as the first responders begin to corral us further away from the building. The sound of distant thuds and muffled shouts suggests that the danger isn’t over, that whatever caused the explosion might still be unfolding inside.

And there, under the relentless sweep of emergency lights, I realize the truth isn’t just in the words I’d failed to say. It’s in this moment, in the pulse of fear and the clarity it brings. It’s in the understanding that my confession wouldn’t just be about a crush; it would be an acknowledgment of his double life, a step into his world of constant peril and masked identities.

As I watch, poised on the edge of something vast and terrifying, a new resolve forms. When this is over, when he comes back, I’ll be waiting. Not just to confess, but to stand by him. Maybe then, he’ll see me not just as a classmate, but as someone who knows the weight of his secrets and chooses to stay.

But for now, I wait, the sirens wailing a lament, the flashing lights casting shadows where I stand—alone but undeterred, ready for whatever comes next.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

July 22, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JUL 23, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris has continued to rack up endorsements and delegates since President Biden’s surprise announcement yesterday that he would not accept the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination. As of tonight, Harris has the support of at least 2,471 delegates, more than the 1,976 she will need to secure the nomination.

Endorsements have also continued to mount, with the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Victory Fund, and the Latino Victory Fund all endorsing her. 

Labor unions have also backed her: the AFL-CIO, which represents 12.5 million workers, endorsed Harris. So did the Service Employees International Union, with 2 million workers, as well as the United Steelworkers, which represents 850,000 metal workers and miners, and the Communications Workers of America. Other unions endorsing Harris include the American Federation of Teachers, the United Food and Commercial Workers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. 

Money continues to roll in. Since Biden’s announcement, Harris and the Democrats have raised about $250 million in donations and pledges. More than 888,000 were from small-dollar donors. Volunteers are also joining the Harris campaign, which said that more than 28,000 people have signed up to work on the campaign in the day since Biden passed the torch. Today, Beyoncé gave Harris permission to use her song “Freedom” as a campaign song, and TikTok users have jumped on the Harris trend.

Harris is keeping some of the key infrastructure of Biden’s campaign. She has announced that Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez-Rodriguez and Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon will remain in their positions. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer announced today that she, too, will stay on as co-chair for Harris’s campaign as she was for Biden’s.

Harris spoke today at campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, smoothing the transition from Biden’s campaign to her own. “I know it’s been a rollercoaster and we’re all filled with so many mixed emotions about this,” Harris said. “We love Joe and Jill. We really do. They truly are like family.” Biden called in to the meeting from Delaware, where he is isolating as he recovers from Covid, to thank the staff. “I know it’s hard, because you’ve poured your heart and soul into me, to help us win this thing,” Biden told them, but added: “The name changed at the top of the ticket. The mission hasn’t changed at all.” Biden told Harris: “I’m watching you kid, I love you. You’re the best, kid.”

Harris went on to indicate that she will be taking the fight for the presidency aggressively to Trump, highlighting his criminal behavior. “Before I was elected as Vice President, before I was elected as United States Senator,” she said today, “I was the elected Attorney General, as I've mentioned, to California, and before that, I was a courtroom prosecutor. In those roles I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump's type.”

She was clear, though, that the fight is not just about Trump; it is about “two different versions of what we see as the future of our country…. Donald Trump wants to take our country backward. To a time before many of our fellow Americans had full freedoms and rights. But we believe in a brighter future that makes room for all Americans.” She promised to continue the work of building the middle class, protect abortion rights, enact commonsense gun safety legislation, and protect voting rights. She contrasted the Democrats’ vision of “a country of freedom, compassion, and rule of law” with the Republicans’: “a country of chaos, fear, and hate.”

Biden’s announcement and Harris’s rapid consolidation of support and money appear to have blindsided the Trump-Vance campaign. MAGA Republicans have responded with scattershot arguments that suggest they had not thought through a scenario in which Biden would step down, an omission so astonishing it perhaps suggests they could not imagine a presumptive nominee voluntarily giving up power. 

Without a coherent strategy, MAGA Republicans today have been all over the map, suggesting among other things that Biden’s voluntarily stepping down from his presumptive nomination is a “coup” and that Harris is a “D[iversity] E[quity and] I[nclusion] hire.” 

For a party that is offering voters a popular set of policies, the opposing party’s nominee shouldn’t matter all that much, but Trump policies and the Trump campaign’s Project 2025 are both so unpopular that operatives intended to run not on policy but by firing up their base against Biden himself. In The Atlantic yesterday, journalist Tim Alberta explained that the entire Trump campaign apparatus was focused on Biden and that putting extremist Ohio senator J.D. Vance on the ticket “was something of a luxury meant to run up margins with the base in a blowout rather than persuade swing voters in a nail-biter.”

Now the energy appears to have shifted. As Anne Applebaum wrote today in The Atlantic, operatives staged the Republican National Convention of just last week to project strength and power, and Trump’s rambling and incoherent performance there seemed “deranged, sinister, and frightening.” Now, Applebaum wrote, “it just looks deranged,” as Biden’s decision to step away from power contrasts powerfully with Trump’s desperate attempts to cling to power with the Big Lie while he calls up his threadbare descriptions of national carnage.

The change Applebaum identified dovetailed neatly with a new political action committee started by conservative lawyer George Conway to highlight Trump’s “mental unfitness for office.” Frustrated by the apparent unwillingness of the press to cover Trump’s mental health while it focused on President Biden’s, Conway formed the “Anti-Psychopath PAC” to highlight Trump’s mental state. “The failure to treat Trump’s behavior as pathological has led the media and the country, perversely, to treat it as normal,” Conway told The Independent, and said that Project 2025 should be seen as an extension of Trump’s malignant narcissism “because basically he wants to turn the government into a mechanism for retribution.”

A post on Trump’s social media feed tonight suggested that Trump recognizes that being the oldest candidate ever nominated for the presidency is a campaign issue. The post said that “Lyin’ Kamala Harris…has absolutely terrible pole [sic] numbers against a fine and brilliant young man named DONALD J. TRUMP! Be careful what you wish for, Democrats???”

Today, Trump’s vice presidential pick Vance gave his first campaign speech at his former high school in Middletown, Ohio. There, dressed in a blue suit with a red tie that echoed Trump’s signature look, Vance spoke of his history in the town and promised that he and Trump are “ready to save America.” But his lack of experience on the campaign trail showed in his delivery, and the Fox News Channel, which was covering the speech, cut away from it while he was speaking. 

Media outlets gave more attention to the Ohio state senator who preceded Vance, George Lang, who began a chant of “fight, fight, fight” and told the audience: "I believe wholeheartedly Donald Trump and Butler County's JD Vance are the last chance to save our country politically. I'm afraid if we lose this one, it's going to take a civil war to save the country, and it will be saved." He later posted on social media that he regretted his “divisive remarks.” 

Later in the day, Vance spoke in Radford, Virginia, where he said that “[h]istory will remember Joe Biden as not just a quitter, which he is, but as one of the worst presidents in the history of the United States of America.” He continued: “Kamala Harris is a million times worse and everybody knows it. She signed up for every single one of Joe Biden’s failures, and she lied about his mental capacity to serve as president.”

Josh Dawsey and Michael Scherer of the Washington Post reported today on a different kind of jockeying in the 2024 presidential race. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has recently been in talks with Trump about dropping out of the race and endorsing Trump in exchange for a position in a Trump administration. Kennedy, who opposes vaccines, is interested in a portfolio that covers health and medical issues.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[delta-orionis]

It's a bit messy, but here's a map of Three Stars Above Clouds' facility grounds. Their can is in the middle, in between the peaks of several mountains.

TSAC's water is trapped in a closed system: TSAC's rain freezes and falls as snow on to the nearby mountains, which collects in glaciers. Meltwater from the glaciers flows down the mountain and collects in reservoirs held in place by twelve dams arranged in a circle. Pump stations at the reservoirs cycle the water through underground pipes back up into TSAC's can, and the cycle repeats.

Beyond the dams are six different sectors dedicated to different functions of TSAC's facility:

Comms. Sector: Contains communications nodes and the closest long-range communications spire. (an analogue to Sky Islands)

Farm Sector: Houses strip farms and automated harvesters that produce food and organic material used by the citizens of Zenith, TSAC's city. (an analogue of Farm Arrays)

Temple Sector: Home to the large temples TSAC's citizens use to conduct religious activities, as well as store their memories. (analogue to Shaded Citadel) This sector is also home to several large radio telescopes, located on the opposite side of the mountain range from the comms. towers in order to reduce radio interference.

Mining Sector: Contains many mine shafts and void fluid drills, to collect valuable minerals and void fluid. Because TSAC's facility is located at such a high altitude, these mine shafts reach deep, deep underground. (analogue to Pipeyard and parts of Subterranean)

Refinery Sector: Contains refineries to extract ore and useful minerals from material collected in the mines, and transports them to the nearby Industrial Sector. Also home to a large waste-processing plant, which breaks down and recycles waste from the nearby mines and factories. (analogue to Garbage Wastes and parts of Chimney Canopy)

Industrial Sector: Center for engineering, production, and manufacturing. The factories use material from the nearby Refinery Sector. The Industrial Sector is also home to a large Data Pearl factory, used to produce the cast amounts of pearls that TSAC needs for their research. (analogue to Industrial Complex)

The second map is TSAC's current facility, long after the mass ascension of the Ancients. Most of the biggest buildings remain intact, albeit with some structural damage. Key differences:

The pumps at TSAC's easternmost dam suffered a critical failure, causing the dam to burst. This flooded the nearby strip farms and caused that reservoir's water to flow down the mountainside where the pumps don't reach, effectively cutting off TSAC's access to it.

The pearl factory has been overtaken by a large group of scavengers, who have stripped the factory for scrap metal and data pearls.

These maps aren't exactly to scale (the mountain peaks should be bigger), don't show elevation, and don't account for things underground.

The different sectors are connected by a subterranean transit system, used to transport material and workers. A vast system of pipes also snakes underneath the mountain and up into TSAC's can to supply them with water and void fluid.

Also, directly beneath TSAC's can is a large frozen glacial lake, bathed in darkness from the can overhead.

I'll probably make a cross-section map at some point to show the landmarks at different elevations.

[probablygoodrpgideas]

Ecaz: The first resettled planet, where a group of settlers landed after their 2000 year journey from earth to discover it and other planets had already been settled by other humans but all of those humans had disappeared, alongside earth. The political capital of Union and by far the most populated planet (almost half of the population of Union). The headquarter of GMS is located here

Ungungi: A planet very rich in metals and minerals leading to a massive mining industry and great wealth. Organized into city states.

Manitou: A fertile planet full of life, some of which clearly imported from earth while some might be native or bioengineered. The land is collectively owned and divided into several democratic nations

Wakan Tankan: A planet that was full of abandoned research facilities. All of them have been bought by SSC

Luna: After Earth disappeared, the moon started orbiting the sun instead. It also has 5 blinkgates while all other planets have 1 at most, making it a hub for transport and commerce (and the headquarters of IPS)

Athena: A fully militarized planet owned by Harrison Armory. Pre-union, they had subjugated other planets for supplies, now they rely on trade. They have a weapon that can destroy planets but using it would be expensive enough that it's almost guaranteed to never happen again.

Ahura Mazda: The planet where the first mechs were constructed. It is run by Northstar and its organization resembles a feudal system, with mercenary lords being assigned specific sectors of the planet and the rest of Union where they are allowed to take mercenary contracts.

Tiamat: An ocean planet with artifical islands, some underwater cities, and supermassive ships. They mostly export seafood and salt. Live there is isolating, so the Internet is huge, which, alongside a huge surpolus of energy from geothermal activity, lead to it being the cultural capital of Union and the planet with the highest percentage of HORUS members. The government is run by NHPs but has some human oversight.

[melodiousmonsters]

Started putting booksby's signature on the monstiary pages because it seemed fun.

"Geologica capetra (Noggin) average around 4’5”-1.3m tall. Noggin are bipedal and mostly made of stone with fleshy appendages. They have strong jaws made for cracking rocks. Like most monsters who are primarily made of rock they have a kiln for a digestive tract.(Kilns in monster anatomy are a modified version of the "convert everything to calories" organs other monsters have, they work via magically producing heat that also absorbs nutrients from things, but mainly serves to melt rock)

Their bodies themselves are made of three main parts, the main cylindrical rocky body, the aforementioned fleshy limbs, and their jaw. The limbs are directly attached to the body, but are counted as a different part for their organic makeup. The jaw is locked in place by two protrusions on the inside of it that push into dents in the body allowing it to swivel open and closed. 

The makeup of their bodies depends on what rocks they eat, a noggin who eats mafic rocks will be darker in color, and vice versa. Their skin tone also depends on outside factors and can change, in areas of high sunlight they will get darker as they develop more melanin, and paler as they are exposed to less. With their jaws being detached from their bodies, it's assumed they grow magically, each different rock type has its own signature of the earth element allowing the jaw to be made of the same rock as the body despite it not being formed from minerals the noggin consumes. Most commonly their stone is a medium gray, and their skin is a tan tone.

With their stone plate growth they have to grate down their forms regularly. They take dust baths and sit in streams to erode their rock. Or they carve themselves, some who do that decide to get more decorative with their visage and carve themselves into unique shapes. Some may even implant other stones and metals into their bodies for a little extra flair, often in most noggin-centric groups this is seen as posh and eccentric behavior."

Variants

"G. capetra therma (Primal noggin, magma noggin, or thermal noggin):  These noggins are native to earth island and near solely live there. They are mafic and always dark in color. Their skin is covered in rocky scales. Their kilns burn hotter than average, causing them to be warm to the touch and partially glow at the mouth. They all live in a large social group in the bowels of the Second Volcano and have a unique culture. They worship the earth colossal and Igeo (torrt, if you remember the old name I changed it after coming to the conclusion that earth monsters don't get to be named after gemstones), being one of the only groups of monsters who widely think the celestials are real. They believe they are directly descended from the first noggins to exist with very little trace of other elements in their non-existent blood. No one has any way of proving this, but at least currently they appear to be mostly earth, which is what will happen if you live in an elemental sink.

Their mouths are made of stony digits instead of the usual solid chunk in the common variation. Their claws are for digging in the much harder solid stone that makes up their home. In their old age they may grow horns from their backs and sides below their hands.

As for more about the social group, called the magma refuge(thus the name magma noggins), came into existence when the cataclysm occurred. A group of noggins hid in the deep caves of the second volcano and lived there for the years leading up to the present. During that time they evolved into their unique forms and developed the skills necessary to survive in that harsh environment. They also became mostly carnivorous in their organic diet, with the only organic food in the cave being the weird cave dwelling lizards and bats that could handle the heat down there.

When they rediscovered that the surface was safe, they found out the large herbivores of the earth lands, now earth island, still existed, and wanted to eat them. They learned to make weapons to hunt the critters, and hunting became a part of their culture. To be considered an adult there you have to take down a rock monitor.

When the first monsters began awakening from their statues the magma refuge helped them rebuild monster society and get used to having to all live directly off the land again, which I am so glad I didn’t have to do. I woke up to a nice functional civilization where everyone already knew what they were doing and had all sorts of systems up and running. And it also wasn’t freaking earth island, no giant lizards trying to kill you.

They also HATE hyehehe, they compete for the same (organic) food, and their general nature annoys them, so it’s bound to be at least a rivalry. They even have the hide of one actually! They used to use it for ritualistic purposes and intimidation originally, but after it was found out that hyehehe were sapient they felt bad and retired the use of it. Kept it for sentimental reasons though."

Ecology and behavior

"Noggins live in areas with rocks, which are pretty much everywhere. They are primarily geovoreous with a small amount of organic food in their diets to support the organic parts of their body. They get rock to eat by digging them up with their feet, by biting them off of rocky surfaces, or just eating them off the ground. You can tell when noggins live nearby when there’s a noticeable lack of pebbles or stones on the ground. Their foraging behavior and removal of large stones in the earth makes them very good for plant growth. For organic things they are opportunistic and eat anything they can find.

Sometimes they use their rocky appearance as camouflage, as they are usually made of the most common rock in their area so they blend in perfectly, they are small and easily overpowered by critters similar in size to them, and their limbs are made of meat and edible. Their high mineral content probably makes them not the most appetizing thing in the world, but some critters can be desperate enough to go for them. They also use this for hunting occasionally, most often for small critters that they wait to get close enough, and then quickly snapping them up in their jaws."

(the image is of a fairly old young noggin, like maybe a 9 year old in human years, they are usually smaller)

"Noggins, like most natural single elementals will hatch anywhere. Young noggins don’t hatch from their eggs and instead form from them. They are very wobbly and clumsy so they often sit rather than standing. Adult noggins will carry young ones on their heads to move them around. They do start walking quite late in development which is often annoying because they get super heavy very quickly so it’s difficult to carry them for that entire time, but it must be done as they will quickly devour all the rocks in an area due to their need to grow."

Just a fun note to finish this off, a group of noggins is called a quarry.

[rpgsandbox]

Drake Pit Tower by Dyson Logos

The wizard Azkalador was an ambitious alchemist who discovered a rare vein of “energized” gold that could be further enhanced to create potent potions and elixirs well beyond their typical craft. Mining for this gold, Azkalador finally discovered what was making the gold so special – at the heart of the vein was a golden egg a full twenty inches across. The egg was hot to the touch and radiated not just heat but potent magical energy – as well as some form of magical influence over those who found it, as several miners fell upon each other with their picks to claim the egg, even as Azkalador watched. Once the egg was extracted from the gold veins, the gold quickly reverted first to normal gold, and then to a black material with the tensile strength of gold without the lustre that poisoned any preparation Azkalador made with it. Azkalador’s attention thus switched to the egg itself, and multiple alchemical and magical attempts were made to hatch it. Finally, Azkalador took the egg to a tropical island and hatched it on a beach surrounded by as much gold as the alchemist could produce, borrow, or steal. What erupted from the egg was an elemental dragon – a beast of gold, fire, and wrath. It shrugged off Azkalador’s attempts to control it and killed the haughty wizard within the first few hours of its life. It terrorized those tropical islands for decades before being exiled from this world along with Azkalador’s gold. The tower remains here, far from the dragon’s wrath. A two-story structure with a small wooden building atop it, all perched over the gold mine where the magical gold was once found. There are now veins of strange soft black metal throughout the dungeon levels below – and the upper levels (1 and 2) have been cleaned up hiding the origins of the structure as a mine. Level 3 still contains extensive mines, (and the bottom of the central pit of the mine, while level 4 has become a sump, half-flooded and befouled.

[justanotherbirdbrain-blog]

may i receive your rant on why every videogame ever chooses to have columnar basalt in places basalt should not be, like in unsuspecting caves or just dotting beaches with no volcano in sight... because god, that gets me going.

Let me preface this rant by saying, I love when videogames at least try, like I can look at a rock and actually say, "hey that's columnar basalt and not *generic rock texture*" (Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's texture shortened my lifespan). So generally speaking, if I can tell at least vaguely that someone googled photos of rocks when creating a game I am more happy than not, but!

My GOODNESS! I think I could extend this rant to just videogame cave systems in general! Like, caves are only formed in limestones and marbles (And some limey sandstones and salt deposits), BUT for some reason we are mining and finding Rubies? Emeralds? Metals? These caves they are depicting are clearly just supposed to be these natural caves and not abandoned mines, which would give them some leeway to put whatever desirable gemstone or ore they wanted in the game, but they don't choose that for some reason, and it is beyond me why!

And can we talk about how all of these caves got there in the first place? Like limestone only forms in marine environments! Are you telling me that the entire continent you designed was underwater to the extent to have a spiraling cave system forming at least every ten miles of trail explored (Skyrim I am looking at you)? And how acidic is your rain? Are we experiencing an industrial evolution? I CANNOT, also in what situation are these random massive quartz crystals in otherwise fine-grained material forming? Like one, Who would actually leave that laying there? No one. And two, how is this forming? Like are you trying to say this formed after the cave was created or what? If that's the case the more likely mineral would be calcite or gypsum.

My little bird brain can't wrap my head around what they are trying to do here! (The second image is from ESO and I give it a lot of lenience and to be fair they are trying to depict these are geodes that are surrounded by a massive basalt but they are also showing stalactites and stalagmites which aren't in basalts so it still gets points docked).

But yes! Seeing inaccurate geology, columnar basalts included can take you out of a game so fast, same with the imaginary ores that are kind of based off real metals. I think I would be more ok with completely fake names, because then at least I wouldn't have anything to associate it with.

That being said! I will end this rant by pointing out videogames that when either I was playing or my fiancé was playing I was pleasantly surprised by the geology/accurate textures.

ESO- elder scrolls online, I know I just docked it points above, but genuinely they do an amazing job depicting different rock types to the point that on their islands they have limestones. with. fossils. I nearly cried. Of course they still have random metal seems everywhere but it is an MMO and resources are necessary so I can ignore that as long as they keep making accurate landscapes.

Titanfall- I will just add an image because it will speak volumes

like does that shale/siltstone have ripple marks in the middle right hand side? beautiful. amazing. perfect. chief's kiss. (Apex also does a decent job which is a battle royale game that takes place after the Titanfall games, the textures aren't as good obviously but you can definitely tell what kind of rocks are at each map)

3. Horizon Zero Dawn- the graphics in this game are just genuinely impeccable and it takes place in the US but after the collapse of civilization. In a lot of ways, I think it made it a bit easier for the designers, but they still did an amazing job depicting the rocks accurately! I believe there is a Youtube video which compares the actual locations to the videogame locations.

some obviously tilted sedimentary rocks

sandstone arches

@cosmic-tuna please add more games if you know any!

[stardust-swan]

How to Be a Real Life Mermaid 🌊🧜‍♀️🐚

The Look

🐚 Wear sea foam green, aquamarine, teal, ocean blue, soft grey, lilac, periwinkle, emerald, pale gold, white, deep blue, and turquoise

🐚 Pick flowy fabrics such as taffeta, chiffon, linen, silk, muslin, and sequined fabrics that resemble fish scales

🐚 Choose garments like maxi dresses, flowy skirts, bandeau off-the-shoulder tops, tank tops, soft scarves used as tops, shell clutches, woven bags, and pretty beaded sandals

🐚 Accessorise with jewellery made from pearls, sea glass, seashells, turquoise, aquamarine, opals, gold that resembles the sun glinting on the sea, and silver that reminds one of the metallic sheen of fish scales. Examples of accessories you can wear are bangles, anklets, layered necklaces, and pearl earrings

🐚 Makeup Ideas: eyeshadow in nudes like a sandy beach, greens and blues like the sea, or lavender and pink like a coral reef, shimmery highlight, dewy skin, coral pink lipstick, and seashell pink lipgloss

🐚 Hair Ideas: loose curls that look like ocean waves, fishtail plaits, green and blue hair dye, pearl hairclips, and sea salt hairspray. Brush your hair with a pretty wide-tooth comb.

The Lifestyle

🐚 Listen to songs such as Martha's Harbour by All About Eve, No Ordinary Love by Sade, Come Into the Water by Mitski, Pearl Diver by Mitski, Mariners Apartment Complex by Lana Del Rey, and Call of the Sea by Claudie Mackula (a longer mermaid playlist is here).

🐚 You can also listen to the sounds of the ocean, like whale song or waves crashing on the beach

🐚 Watch movies and TV shows such as Aquamarine, Splash, The Little Mermaid, H20: Just Add Water, Mr Peabody and the Mermaid, Miranda (1948), Mermaid Melody Pitchi Pitchi, Ponyo, Barbie in a Mermaid Tale, Barbie: The Pearl Princess, Neptune's Daughter (1914), A Daughter of the Gods (1916), Queen of the Sea (1918), Venus of the South Seas (1924), and Magic Island (1995)

🐚 Read books, fairytales, and poems such as The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, The Mermaid Handbook by Carolyn Turgeon, Mermaids: The Myths, Legends, and Lore by Skye Alexander, A Daughter of the Sea by Amy Le Feuvre, Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, The Mermaid by Alfred Lord Tennyson, and The Sea-Child by Katherine Mansfield

🐚 Mermaids are renowned for their beautiful siren song, so sing sweetly and brightly as often as you feel like it

🐚 Make your self smell like the ocean by using a deodorant like Old Spice Deep Sea, and perfumes like L by Lolita Lempicka, Acqua di Gioia, Salt Air by Skylar, Fleur de Corail by Lolita Lempicka, Seahorse by Zoologist, Nymphéas by Kismet Olfactive, Salina by Laborattorio Olfattivo, Alien Mirage by Mugler, Very Sexy Sea by Victoria's Secret, 20,000 Flowers Under the Sea by Tokyomilk, Nebbia Spessa by Filippo Sorcinelli, Tiziana Terenzi's Sea Stars Collection, Chant d'Extase by Nina Ricci, Sirena by Floris, Squid by Zoologist, and Orto Parisi Megamare (be aware that the latter two suit a dark siren who lures men to their deaths more than a sweet mermaid princess).

🐚 Make your home smell like the deep sea too, with sea salt scented diffusers and candles such as Yankee Candle Sea Minerals, Yankee Candle Seaside Woods, or Jo Malone Wood Sage and Sea Salt

🐚 Home Decor Ideas: silk sheets in blue, grey, and sea green, seashell jewellery trays, homemade terrariums, jellyfish embroidery, seashell candles, beaded curtains made from string and shells, paintings of maritime scenes, glass vases filled with layers of sand, seashells, and faux pearls, seashell shaped soap dishes, rattan furniture, woven baskets, treasure chests to keep your valuables in, mermaid figurines, a seashell or jellyfish mobile, a bowl filled with seashells, a glass bottle filled with ocean water or with a love letter inside to replicate a message in a bottle, mosaics with marine motifs like seahorses and shells, even an aquarium with colourful fish if you are able to care for them

🐚 Spend lots of time around near bodies of water, swimming in it to connect with your inner mermaid, or just walking in it and feeling the sand beneath your feet

🐚 Collect seashells and pretty pieces of sea glass thar wash up on the shore

🐚 Watch synchronised swimming, or even learn it yourself

🐚 Go diving, snorkeling, or mermaiding

🐚 Visit aquariums to see beautiful exotic fish and learn more about the ocean

🐚 Do your best to be sustainable; make the world a cleaner place for your fishy friends to live in. If possible, attend a beach clean-up group local to your area to help pick up litter

🐚 Carry a haircomb and hand mirror with you at all times (you can hotglue seashells and faux pearls on the back of the mirror to make it even more like a mermaid's treasure)

🐚 Watch documentaries and read books on the ocean, marine life, and nautical myths and legends

🐚 Enjoy snacking on seaweed soup, coconut water, and Guylian seashell chocolates

🐚 Take luxurious baths with dead sea salt, seaweed masks, small white bath bombs that resemble pearls, a coconut scented candle, and calming music

[titleknown]

RANDOM ARMY BUILDER FIGURE GENERATOR!

So, as a follow-up to the "build your character like a Ninja Turtle" thing I did based on @therobotmonster's idea, I figured I may as well come up with another one inspired by a fun, silly thing from toy-collecting: Army building mooks!

So...

What sort of Mook are they?

Humanoid

Android/Cyborg

Fleshy Undead

Plant/Fungus

Mineral

Humanoid Animal (Vertebrate)

Alien

Nonhumanoid Robot

Skeleton

Rideable Mount For Other Mooks

Monster-Person

Magic Construct/Doll

Bound Energy/Element/Force

Demon

Alien

Gynoid

Spirit/Ghost

Cosmic Horror

Animate Inanimate Objects

Rideable Vehicle For Other Mooks

What sort of antagonist or force do they work for?

A Dreadful Virus Or Corruption

Advanced Ancient Civilization That Wishes To Rule Again

50s/80s-Type Stylized Street Gang

The Good Guys (Sincere, Bad At It)

PIRATE KING!

The Legions of an Evil Wizard

Satan Or Some Stand-In Parents Won't Whine About

Conquest-Hungry Space Empire

Evil Corporate Capitalist Bastards

The Shiny Pretty "Good Guys" (Secretly Evil)

A Hunger Beyond Time And Memory

Guards/Mancatchers For A Super-Prison

Dishonorable Ninja Clan

AI Either Gone Insane Or Far Too Sane

We Will Assimilate You (AKA Fun With Biopolitics)

Some Variety of Mafia

To Stop The Evil I Must Become Evil (AKA Fallen Heroes)

There's Some Time Travel Shenanigans/Bullshit Going On Here

Big Monster(s) That Think They're The Top Of The Great Chain Of Beings

I Can't Believe It's Not A Mashup Of The Nazis And The Modern US Military

What sort of environment does this mook generally work in?

Jungles

Deserts

Urban Areas

Icy Biomes

Deep Space

Underwater/Ocean

Underground

Swamp

Mountains

Anywhere/Generalist

Cyberspace

Ancient Dungeons/Tombs

Toxic Wastelands

The Sky/Floating Islands

Haunted Places

Prehistoric Ecosystems

Jideigeki/Anime-Type Japan

Volcanoes

Inside A Monster And/Or Fleshy Meat-World

The Future!

What sort of toyetic gimmick does this particular mook type have?

Self-Destruct

Pullback Motor

Vac-Metalized Parts

Hidden Integrated Weapons

Slime Dripping

Grapples/Imprisones Other Figures

LED Lights

Removable Organs/Internal Circuitry/General Guts

Water Squirting

Translucent Plastic

Multiple Interchangable Integrated Weapons

Flapping Wings/Tendrils

Glow in the Dark

Excessive Projectile Launchers

Spinning Blade/Drill

Biting Jaws

Parasitizes Other Figures and/or Vehicles/Mounts

Full of Tinier Men

Excessively Large

Roll Twice

What sort of toyetic gimmick do they have toyline-wide? (Roll once if you're rolling multiple "figures" from the same "line" on this table)

Holograms

Attachable Armor

Spring-Loaded Melee Attack

Comes With A Little Buddy

Magnets

Spring-Loaded Projectiles

Unusual Packaging Integrated Into the Play Pattern

Interchangeable Parts

Collectible Action Figure Game (Yes, That's A Thing)

Transforming

Integrated Shiny Jewel

Some Variety of Slime

Combining

Rooted Hair

Marble Launching

Integrated Speaker/Sound Chip

Pocket-Sized (Think Battle Beasts or Food Fighters)

Die-Cast Parts

Cap Firing

Roll Twice

Have fun!

[cosmereclysmic]

⚠️ Full Stormlight Archive Spoilers ahead!!!

My toxic trait is that I think the Davar soulcaster belonged to Shallan from day one and that Lin promised it to the Ghostbloods at some point and that's why they're riding the Davar's asses about it. I might be misremembering, but there was something about that scene where Shallan mentioned to Mraize the GBs lent the soulcaster to them, and there's SOMETHING about the way Mraize replied that felt like a lie. I'm convinced he rolled with Shallan's memory-twist bc if he said "no your dad promised it to us in the first place in exchange for figuring it how it worked" she might reclaim it / turn the situation around on him. (She wouldn't bc she's riding on self-deceit.)

The theory actually gets wibbly when Jasnah is looking at the soulcaster and says that, no, it's fake also. But what makes a soulcaster fake and what makes it real? Is definitely the metal. But maybe Shallan, with her dissassociative lightweaving shenanigans, light weaved it to look fake??

Either way, the biggest clue IMO is when we first met Testament, her inkspren buddy said he found her on an island in the East, then traveled to Nameless together. Nameless is just South of Urithiru, which is the center of the super continent. To the East of Nameless is Khabranth, then the Frostlands, and oh, I don't know, the place where the Wind's Pleasure sank?? You know... where the soulcaster was lost "forever"??

"But Megs, there's the matter of the scene where Shallan takes out Tyn. We don't know if that was Testament or Pattern!" STILL THE FROSTLANDS. STILL EAST OF NAMELESS. So are the Shattered Plains, where Shallan opened the Oathgate. That may have been where Shallan finally dumped Testament once and for all. A little island to the East.

Shallan also can't soulcast worth a single lavis grain. It wouldn't surprise me if Soulcasting reminds her of her time back home. Can't be remembering too much about that time by repeating something you might've done in secret, like making mineral deposits to help your parents' financial troubles, and risk all that guilt and shame crashing down and breaking her for good, right? Soulcasting is heavily tied to Testament, while Lightweaving is tied to Pattern. Compartmentalization, baby!!!!

There's also the Nostalgia that floods Veil when she first holds the communication box to Mraize. There's something very interesting going on there. The Davar's are connected with Ba-ado-mishram. The Ghostbloods REALLY want BAM. Little Shallan finding a communication cube, either pilfered from her father's study out of curiosity? Maybe dropped my accident? Maybe dropped on purpose? 🤔

Anyways there's my crack theory hope it actually makes sense thank you for coming to my TED talk. 👁👄👁💅