#research turning point

[tearlessrain]

please help me- i used to be pretty smart but i’m having so much trouble grasping the concept of diegetic vs non-diegetic bdsm!

gfkjldghfd okay first of all I'm sorry for the confusion, if you're not finding anything on the phrase it's because I made it up and absolutely nobody but me ever uses it, but I haven't found a better way to express what I'm trying to say so I keep using it. but now you've given me an excuse to ramble on about some shit that is only relevant to me and my deeply inefficient way of talking and by god I'm going to take it.

SO. the way diegetic and non-diegetic are normally used is to talk about music and sound design in movies/tv shows. in case you aren't familiar with that concept, here's a rundown:

diegetic sound is sound that happens within the world of the movie/show and can be acknowledged by the characters, like a song playing on the stereo during a driving scene, or sung on stage in Phantom of the Opera. it's also most other sounds that happen in a movie, like the sounds of traffic in a city scene, or a thunderclap, or a marching band passing by. or one of the three stock horse sounds they use in every movie with a horse in it even though horses don't really vocalize much in real life, but that's beside the point, the horse is supposed to be actually making that noise within the movie's world and the characters can hear it whinnying.

non-diegetic sound is any sound that doesn't exist in the world of the movie/show and can't be perceived by the characters. this includes things like laugh tracks and most soundtrack music. when Duel of Fates plays in Star Wars during the lightsaber fight for dramatic effect, that's non-diegetic. it exists to the audience, but the characters don't know their fight is being backed by sick ass music and, sadly, can't hear it.

the lines can get blurry between the two, you've probably seen the film trope where the clearly non-diegetic music in the title sequence fades out to the same music, now diegetic and playing from the character's car stereo. and then there are things like Phantom of the Opera as mentioned above, where the soundtrack is also part of the plot, but Phantom of the Opera does also have segments of non-diegetic music: the Phantom probably does not have an entire orchestra and some guy with an electric guitar hiding down in his sewer just waiting for someone to break into song, but both of those show up in the songs they sing down there.

now, on to how I apply this to bdsm in fiction.

if I'm referring to diegetic bdsm what I mean is that the bdsm is acknowledged for what it is in-world. the characters themselves are roleplaying whatever scenarios their scenes involve and are operating with knowledge of real life rules/safety practices. if there's cnc depicted, it will be apparent at some point, usually right away, that both characters actually are fully consenting and it's all just a planned scene, and you'll often see on-screen negotiation and aftercare, and elements of the story may involve the kink community wherever the characters are. Love and Leashes is a great example of this, 50 Shades and Bonding are terrible examples of this, but they all feature characters that know they're doing bdsm and are intentional about it.

if I'm talking about non-diegetic bdsm, I'm referring to a story that portrays certain kinks without the direct acknowledgement that the characters are doing bdsm. this would be something like Captive Prince, or Phantom of the Opera again, or the vast majority of bodice ripper type stories where an innocent woman is kidnapped by a pirate king or something and totally doesn't want to be ravished but then it turns out he's so cool and sexy and good at ravishing that she decides she's into it and becomes his pirate consort or whatever it is that happens at the end of those books. the characters don't know they're playing out a cnc or D/s fantasy, and in-universe it's often straight up noncon or dubcon rather than cnc at all. the thing about entirely non-diegetic bdsm is that it's almost always Problematic™ in some way if you're not willing to meet the story where it's at, but as long as you're not judging it by the standards of diegetic bdsm, it's just providing the reader the same thing that a partner in a scene would: the illusion of whatever risk or taboo floats your boat, sometimes to extremes that can't be replicated in real life due to safety, practicality, physics, the law, vampires not being real, etc. it's consensual by default because it's already pretend; the characters are vehicles for the story and not actually people who can be hurt, and the reader chose to pick up the book and is aware that nothing in it is real, so it's all good.

this difference is where people tend to get hung up in the discourse, from what I've observed. which is why I started using this phrasing, because I think it's very crucial to be able to differentiate which one you're talking about if you try to have a conversation with someone about the portrayal of bdsm in media. it would also, frankly, be useful for tagging, because sometimes when you're in the mood for non-diegetic bodice ripper shit you'd call the police over in real life, it can get really annoying to read paragraphs of negotiation and check-ins that break the illusion of the scene and so on, and the opposite can be jarring too.

it's very possible to blur these together the same way Phantom of the Opera blurs its diegetic and non-diegetic music as well. this leaves you even more open to being misunderstood by people reading in bad faith, but it can also be really fun to play with. @not-poignant writes fantastic fanfic, novels, and original serials on ao3 that pull this off really well, if you're okay with some dark shit in your fiction I would highly recommend their work. some of it does get really fucking dark in places though, just like. be advised. read the tags and all that.

but yeah, spontaneous writer plug aside, that's what I mean.

[ashleysingermfablog]

Wk 17, 5th of July, 2024 Research

⭐️ A Gleewoman's notes- Sylvia Victor Linsteadt

The Gleewoman inspecting seaweed, 2017, photographic image by Sylvia Victor Linsteadt

From the text: Tidal Ruins by writer, artist and naturalist Sylvia Victor Linsteadt...

Writer, artist and naturalist Sylvia Victor Linsteadt is author of Tatterdemalion (Unbound, 2017), The Lost Worlds of the Bay Area (Heyday, 2017), The Wonderments of the East Bay (Heyday, 2014), and creatrix of all stories associated with Wild Talewort. 

A Note About the Name: "Gleeman" is the Old English word for a minstrel or a bard, the wandering, wild-hemmed sort who ambled from town to town with stories and songs in his pockets to share in exchange for bed and food and wine. The "glee" part of the word originally meant entertainment and mirth inspired by music, connected to the Old Norse gly for joy, which had its feet in the words for shining, smooth and radiant. I've taken some liberties with the word, feminizing it in a way that makes sense to me. So here you will find my notes and musings about words, tales, old myths, plants, animals, stones, skies, languages, human cultures, new dreams, handcrafts—all the stuff of old minstrel tales— and how we might re-story our relationship to this fraught and beautiful world through old ways and old magics.

There is a language the world speaks, and I think I have been listening for it my whole life. For a long time I thought it was only something that existed in the fantasy novels so beloved to me as a girl, where women spoke with birds and knew the whisperings of plants and the medicine they carried. But I know it for something real now, of this world, the one I live in, the one my body moves through every day and every starry night, the one that feeds and sustains me in every way. I know it for something we humans once knew how to understand, and still can. I know that the books I read as a girl preserved, under the guise of magic, what all of our ancestors knew, if you follow the rivers of your blood back far enough. 

Now, the voice of the thrush in the hazel tree, the spotted towhee rooting in the huckleberry, the patterns left by kelp on the shore, have started to become deeply familiar. Kin, and beloved. I do not know what they are saying, but I know that what they are speaking, and that their meaning is one of the most precious things in this world. 

The Gleewoman's scatter of seashore driftwood, 2017, photographic image

The Gleewoman's seashore, 2017, photographic image

That originally, oracles like those who prophesied by the rustling leaves of the oaks of Dodona, were translating a non-human language into human terms; that what it said was not about our affairs at all, but rather about our relationship to the oak, to the wooddove, to the mountain or the sea, and theirs to earth herself.

I began to suspect that those old sibyls were attuned to what the ocean or the oak said, on their own terms. Kings might come and ask about the fates of wars, and the sibyls did their best to prophecy them, but what the tidal runes speak of is not the destiny of men but the destiny of oceans, and the lives of kelp and sea snail, seal, oystercatcher, bladderwrack and loon. 

Gutted sandcrab, moonbead of jellyfish, cross of saltgrass, stone and dulse, green moss marbles and coiled calligraphy of rotting kelp; what word does the solstice tide spell through you, cast upon the shore? 

I think it is a lifetime's work, to understand the first word of such incantations. 

Ashley Singer, incantations poems i, 2024, poem

Ashley Singer, wishing poem, 2024, poem

Ashley Singer, incantations poems ii, 2024, poem

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Justin Horowitz at MMFA:

Project 2025 advisory board members have attacked or outright called for the end of no-fault divorce, the option to dissolve a marriage without having to prove wrongdoing by a partner. Research highlighted by CNN found “no-fault divorce correlates with a reduction in female suicides and a reduction in intimate partner violence,” including “an 8 to 16% decrease in female suicides after states enacted no-fault divorce laws.” Project 2025 is backed by a nearly-900 page policy book called Mandate for Leadership, which extensively outlines potential approaches to governance for the next Republican administration, including replacing federal employees with extremists and Trump loyalists and attacking LGBTQ rights, abortion, and contraception. The Heritage Foundation’s proposals have a track record of success — the first Trump administration implemented 64% of Mandate’s policy recommendations. Project 2025 is also supported by a coalition of over 100 conservative organizations, many of which have spent years promoting critiques of no-fault divorce as “destructive” for society — or even blaming it for enabling a “culture of death.” According to a Media Matters review, at least 22 Project 2025 advisory board members have made similar comments targeting, restricting, or eliminating no-fault divorce. Additionally, MAGA and far-right media figures have pushed for the removal of no-fault divorce laws across the country, and several local Republican parties in Texas, Nebraska, and Louisiana have called for the dissolution of no-fault divorce in some capacity.

Project 2025 partner organizations, including the American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council, and The Heritage Foundation, have called for significant restrictions or an outright ban on no-fault divorce.

[wordfather]

learning how to be a better writer is really all about having the confidence to be shit at it!!! let yourself suck and have fun with it!!!! give yourself the permission to write the worst story in existence and then write it slightly better!!! a snail may be slow but he's still crossing that sidewalk and he's doing great and i love him

[elenadatwt]

Some more coined pics

[ifindus]

since you seem to know a lot of history, I was wondering if you could tell us a little more about norway and his role during ww2, I feel like not a lot of people talk about his importance as an ally.

Let's pretend this wasn't sent back in November! Of course I can!!And "a little" turned into a decent amount 😳

Norway declared itself neutral when the war started in 1939, but became occupied by Germany in April 1940. Throughout the war Norway played an important role helping the allies win. Note that there is also a lot to be said about Norwegian collaboration with the occupiers during these years as well, but that is not the topic of this post.

During the war Norway had both a military and a civil resistance movement. The civil movement was directed towards NS (Nasjonal Samling, the Norwegian nazi party and the only party allowed during these years) attempts at converting people to nazism, while the military resistance were building an underground army who were prepared to step in for the liberation and who also organized sabotages during the last year.

Norway’s government went into exile in London, and was in large responsible for Norway’s war effort and resistance. They took control of the Norwegian merchant ships and put it at the allies disposal, probably Norway’s most important asset and contribution to the war effort. The Norwegian marine and air-force also partook in operations along the Allies, and a Norwegian brigade was organized in Scotland, who were to partake in the final liberation of Norway.

The exiled government had an extensive running contact with the growing resistance back home in Norway, and could gradually provide the resistance with supplies and other support. Soldiers from the Scottish base were sent on missions to aid the resistance in Norway and conduct sabotages.

There as also a base for Norwegian resistance established in Stockholm, who were eventually allowed by the Swedish government to form a military force of 14 500 people under disguise of being police. About 50 000 Norwegians fled to Sweden during the war, and many Norwegians in the border areas aided them as guides over the mountains through difficult and secret passages – they also smuggled goods and supplies through the same routes.

The civil resistance was not exclusively organized, but included everyone who was not a nazi and could be as simple as civil disobedience. Teachers, parents, and priests opposed the effort to convert the youth to nazism by the NS through forced nazi curriculums in schools and obligatory youth service. Other examples of civil resistance were Norwegian workers sabotaging or not even doing the bare minimum at the jobs in factories for the Germans, and the publishing of illegal news-papers which were spread by people handing them to the next person. The most famous illegal news-paper was London-Nytt (London News), and were just Norwegian translations of BBC broadcasts transcribed directly from illegal radios.

The military resistance was known as MILORG, and this secret group had its peak in the last year of the war. This was when they began receiving guns, military equipment and professionals. During the last year they carried out assassinations and sabotages to a much more effective and extensive degree. MILORG was taking orders from the Norwegian military in London and coordinating with them, passing vital information back and forth.

When the Second World War began, Norway was the world’s fourth largest shipping nation, after Great Britain, USA, and Japan, with the Norwegian fleet being the most modern. When Norway was occupied and the Germans demanded Norwegian ships return to Norwegian ports, all of the around 1 000 ships set sail for Allied ports. The Norwegian government in exile commanded all Norwegian ships sail for securing supplies for Norway and the Allies. The ships supplied Great Britain with invaluable wares such as food and oil, and kept up the transatlantic trade during the war. The Norwegian sailors were also present at evacuations and invasions of occupied France and fascist Italy, North-Africa, and Normandy in 1944. The Norwegian ships were under constant attack from the German fleet and many sailors lost their lives transporting for the Allies, most of them working continuously for the five years Norway was at war. Almost half of Norway’s fallen during the war were sailors killed at sea.

[corviiids]

woke up this morning and my immediate first half-asleep thought was "could i post an academic paper on ao3"

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

it's funny that not until i was flipping through reference material in the norton edition of the turn of the screw i got from the library did i make the connection that perhaps american literature's most famous ghost story was written by a guy whose brother was an active member of the society for psychical research

[spooksier]

also btw that passage about media consumption as activism and the idea of "gayboring" (this post) are twin sisters to me because when you see media consumption as activism and therefore as a reflection of real life, any gritty or unsavory or "weird" aspects of any marginalized culture/community gets completely sanitized in favor of portraying an "ideal" form of that community in the eyes of consumerism (i.e.: boring and safe and non-confrontational)

[ashleysingermfablog]

Wk 16, 25th of June, 2024 Research

⭐️ How to enact a Celtic Wishing Tree?

From the text: Weighted Branches- Wishing Trees, Holy Wells, and Vibrant Matter by Maggie Slaughter...

Maggie Slaughter, St. Brendan's Holy Tree in Clonfert, Galway, 2021, photographic documentation of a site of a wish/wishing tree

From the text: The Fairy Forts and Fairy Trees of Ireland by Brehon Academy...

Farmers and landowners have long avoided disturbing these forts, as well as other ancient sites such as Neolithic tombs, stone circles, and standing stones, due to the belief that they are sacred and associated with fairy activity. Folklore has played a significant role in protecting these monuments and trees, including the sacred hawthorn trees which are believed to be associated with supernatural forces and bad luck if damaged or removed.

These trees that grew of their own accord, unplanted by human hands, were those most associated with faery activity. The hawthorn tree was particularly associated with the fairies and was regarded as a tree to be avoided, particularly at night.

Irish News, Hawthorn or Whitethorn Tree, 2021, photographic image

The Hawthorn Tree also has a number of positive superstitions associated with it, such as the belief that the tree could bestow healing or blessings on those who asked for its favour. As we will see below, the hawthorn ‘rag tree’ has long been revered among the Irish as a tree with healing properties. They will most often be found close to the healing holy wells that were first known and used by the druids. In modern times, the hawthorn tree has been known for its medicinal properties for centuries.

Unknown photographer, “Bread and Cheese,” a flowering hawthorn tree, photographic image

I am finding it startling how similar the flower buds look to the native Mānuka of Aotearoa, this flower shaper being common also to Japanese Quince and Cherry Blossom.

Melissa Barret, Marvellous Manuka, 2024, photographic image

From the text: Marvellous Mànuka by Melissa Barret...

The Mānuka bush is a common native New Zealand tree and a key ingredient with a long history of use in traditional Māori medicine, Rongoā.  

Mānuka is most famous for the unique honey produced from its nectar which is renowned for its antibacterial and health properties. European settlers also used Mānuka leaves as a tea-like substitute, hence the common name 'Tea tree', however this name is also bestowed upon its relative the Australian native Melaleuca alternifolia, so the use of the Māori name is preferential. 

From the text: The Language of Flowers by Camilla Grudova...

Most of my writing is set in interior, urban spaces, there aren’t many flowers or plants, which is something I am trying to challenge myself on in a new work. I like details, lists, in literature and want to avoid a Disney looking nature, a soft simple palette of a few greens. As a child, I could pluck absentmindlly at a bush, at a clustered area of weeds, knowing what I could eat (dandelions, wild carrot and strawberries, the tender inner part of long stalks of grass) or what I couldn’t; I knew what sting and stuck, generally name of this or that, but this slow build up of knowledge (adults ‘don’t run into the poison ivy!’ etc) has mostly vanished when I moved to a new continent. There aren’t, from what I remember, many nettles in Canada and I innocently strolled into clusters them in Scotland. I saw a friend here quickly pick some other plant (jewelweed) and apply it to a toddler who was screaming after touching a nettle. It got rid of the pain. 

From the text: The Fairy Forts and Fairy Trees of Ireland by Brehon Academy...

Rag trees are often hawthorns that have been decorated with rags or cloths as part of a custom in Ireland and Scotland. The practice involves tying a rag to a branch of the tree while making a wish, usually for healing, good luck, or protection. The belief is that as the rag disintegrates, so too will the ailment or worry that it represents. Rag trees are seen as a way of connecting with the land and with the spirits of the natural world. The practice is also popular among those who follow Pagan or Celtic spiritual traditions, as well as among some members of the Irish Traveller community.

Maggie Slaughter, Wishing Tree Hill of Tara County Meath, 2021, photographic image

From the text: Double Take: The fairy trees dotted with rags, beads and dodies by The Journal...

Leave an object, make a wish.

HAWTHORN TREES ARE a relatively common sight around the country. But some are more distinctive than others.  Two trees on the Hill of Tara in Meath, for example, are festooned with objects. Strips of fabric, beads, even a number of baby dodies.  They’re known as fairy trees. So what is the connection to mythology? And why these trees in particular?

No matter the time of year, the fairy trees on the Hill of Tara will have the evidence of hundreds of prayers and wishes, tied to the tree blowing in the breeze. Each symbolising someone’s continuing faith in Celtic mythology that is thousands of years old. 

Visitors leave items on the tree as they make a prayer or a wish. They might ask for healing, for the return of a loved one or animal – for something that they want to happen.

The folklore surrounding Ireland’s fairy trees is taken seriously. As well as being a place where visitors impart their wishes, another function of the fairy tree is to protect and encourage the well-being of the surrounding hedgerows.

From the text: foraging the fairy tree by Danny Dfi...

Hawthorn (genus Crataegus) is native across large parts of the Northern Hemisphere as over 100 different species. With flowering starting in May (and through to June) its many names include the May tree, May blossom, the Fairy Tree and in Welsh draenen wen (white thorn). Its flowering time means its associated with May Day festivities, and was used by witches to ward off evil spirits. 

The young shoots and leaves are edible, and we've heard them referred to as 'bread and cheese', while the berries I have seen being given to children to eat in Portugal: they are high in vitamins B and C and have antioxidant properties. As a natural remedy, hawthorn is said to calm heart palpitations.

We don't recommend harvesting or digesting wild plants indiscriminately. The foragers code should always be followed, and an understanding of individual plant identification, properties and effects should always be well researched and understood (for example, in this case, raw haw berries have been reported to cause stomach upsets). 

Jennifer Derig, Rags, Ribbons and other miscellaneous strings tied to a wishing tree, 2021, photographic documentation of a site of a wish/wishing tree

Natural wonders, the trees hold deep cultural significance, where locals and visitors alike come to make wishes, offer gifts to the fairies, and seek blessings.

From the text: Weighted Branches- Wishing Trees, Holy Wells, and Vibrant Matter by Maggie Slaughter...

Kinship, derived from the intersections between the tree, the human, and the holy, is renewed and potentially remade in the act of leaving behind a lasting assemblage. It is the Tree's junction with other things which transforms litter into interfacing vectors of divinity. It is in intersection with one another, the sacral cultures of devotional paraphernalia with the living trees and humans who organise them. How do these objects—diminutively called “prayers” by some—transform when they come into contact with one another on the surface of St. Brendan’s tree? In assenting to the ability of the horse-chestnut as an earthly offerings-box.

In terms of creating a wishing tree, I recently took six impressions of a pōhutukawa leaf (because they were looking so mystical to me, I couldn't really help myself). And thinking to the space, last year I noticed a pōhutukawa in the courtyard and borrowed white stones from around the base for a small stone circle outdoor work.

I think re-engaging with the tree is important, because looking at medical and healing elements of trees such as rowan, whitethorn or hawthorn and ash trees, trees that have the ability to heal in teas are significant in Celtic culture, the pōhutukawa flowers being made into a cordial does the same thing as the Celtic trees. By honouring this tree, I am engaging with Aotearoa directly again on the site. And I hope that me, Shaday and Ashleigh will be able tie on the ribbons and make our wishes to aliven the space.  

In the past, I have connected with the base of trees by lay offerings for some kind of fairies (gem stones, painted rocks, notes) with my mum. These trees were the Australian Gum Trees growing on our rural property in Victoria, so they were also native trees. But I think by engaging with wishing and superstition it really links back to the welsh dewiniaeth (divination) and tree divination (dendromancy). 

Overall, I think it relates really strongly to me trying to understand Tim Ingold's outline of Correspondences because it will be a direct correspondence with a piece of living flora (the tree branches) and therefore ground the indoor work with an inter-species action outside or adjacent to the gallery space. 

Ashley Singer, a wishing tree, 2024, a collection of lace, silk and cotton ribbons tied to an outdoor pōhutukawa tree, variable media 

A note: as the Celtic Trees are permanent, for the ethics of the tree and reducing litter in the city, the work will be deinstalled at the end of the exhibition.

[adaines-furious-feast]

Every now and then I remember that Arianwen's motivations in Sophomore Year make no sense and yes it was live and yes villains are gonna villain and yes nobody else thinks about her other than in her role as mother but dammit I need to understand her.

[misfitmagpie]

Well I will gladly take a look at the fully revealed logo! Though I will say that red-archivist pointed out some good stuff in this post. But we can take a deeper look into certain things!

Also p.s.: You will want to read the giant ramble to the end, because I noticed something as I was finishing, and it puts everything in an interesting context.

As mentioned in that post, the combination of the alchemical symbols for salt, mercury, and sulphur do indeed form the tria prima, the three primes or components of life.

⊖ or salt, which represents the earth and the human body. In alchemy it also symbolises the lower consciousness, self-knowledge, and wisdom.

☿ or mercury I already covered last time, representing the mind, the omnipresent spirit of life, and stood as symbol for intellect, imagination, moral judgement, and the higher mental faculties. The alchemical associations of mercury have a strong connection with the Greek/Roman gods Hermes/Mercury, a messenger god who also acted as a chthonic deity, a psychopomp and god of boundaries to be exact. Which might be relevant, might not. (He was also a shepherd god, just adding that detail)

🜍 or sulphur represents the spirit or soul of all materials and living things. In alchemy it is seen as synonymous with consciousness and the expansion of thought. And is seen as the bridge that connects the body with mind, thus it is seen as the key to understanding the inner workings of the soul and consciousness. It’s interesting to me that the sulphur is in the logo 4 times, connected to the circle that encompasses the salt and mercury symbols, and the chevrons (I’ll get to those in a moment). This could have been purely aesthetic, but they could have also simply opted to have the sulphur symbol instead of one of the chevrons and have pretty much the same effect. Instead they chose the alchemical symbol of the soul, also seen as what ties body and mind together, also an element that is strongly associated with heat and fire, to encompass the body and mind, together with heraldic symbols of protection. It’s an interesting choice which makes me wonder about the mindset of the people who founded this organisation. (Maybe they are the types to believe in purifying fire, or purity of the soul as a way to protect oneself against the horrors out there? Who knows.)

The double ^ are chevrons, a heraldic symbol associated with protection, and meant to represent the roof of a house. Even the name is derived from the French word for “rafter”. It is also used in military or police uniforms to indicate rank or length of service. It is interesting to me that the bottom left chevron is an inverted version of the top right. The inverted version being next to the symbol for mercury or the mind, and the regular next to the symbol for salt or the body. Without it being in full colour, I can’t say much about any particular heraldic or symbolic links that might have. At most I can speculate that maybe it’s hinting at how the mind might not be as safe as the body in such a service, of course that can also be my own knowledge of TMA colouring my interpretation.

The O.I.A.R. in the top banner has been revealed! And it’s nice to get confirmation that I guessed correctly on the R! Personally I am not very good with acronyms, but @emdashingaway correctly guessed that it would be this. In my previous post about The Magnus Protocol logo she pointed out that it might stand for Office of Incident Assessment and Response, which now seems very plausible!

Now the background has some interesting repeating symbols too.

🜏

This is the Leviathan Cross, in alchemy another symbol associated with sulphur (in particular black sulphur) and thus also the soul. However it is worth noting that Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, has adopted the Leviathan Cross as a symbol of his Church in the 1960s. Though I can’t immediately find much more about it and its origins beyond the alchemical association and the very modern Satanic association. (The name Leviathan strikes me as interesting too, but there is too much that can be said about it, especially for a symbol that just occurs in the background.)

🜇

This is the alchemical symbol for aqua regia (derived from the Latin for “royal water” or “regal water”), it is a mixture of is a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, optimally in a molar ratio of 1:3. Historically aqua regia was used in alchemy in the process of attempting to create the philosopher’s stone. It is also used to help dissolve gold and platinum within actual chemistry!

♁

Is the symbol for antimony is associated with the animal nature or wild spirit of man and nature, and it was often symbolised by the wolf.

🜘

This is the symbol for bismuth, while it does get mentioned in alchemical texts, the particular use and associations seem to be unclear. All that I can seem to find is that in early days, it was often confused for tin or lead. And that apparently Miners in the age of alchemy also gave bismuth the name tectum argenti, or “silver being made”. (Also it’s chemical symbol is Bi, which is funny given how apparently some have discovered that they are bi thanks to TMA)

I hope this is visible, but one of the symbols in the background also looks an awful lot like one of the alchemical symbols for tin. It looks like a curved X with circles at the ends of the legs. Tin in alchemy is associated with the planet Jupiter, and is sometimes called the ‘breath of life. ’ It represents the idea that the whole is stronger than the sum of its parts.

⚥

From what I can find, this is not strictly speaking an alchemical symbol. Clearly a combination of the male and female gender symbols (each of which is actually derived from the symbols for Mars and Venus respectively, which do get used in alchemy actually), it is generally seen as a hermaphroditic symbol (using the strict broad biological label here, not referring to intersex, I just want to point that out). But given all of the alchemy references so far, I suspect that it might be referencing the rebis (from the Latin res bina, meaning dual or double matter), the ultimate end product of the alchemical great work. It is sometimes described as the divine hermaphrodite—a reconciliation of spirit and matter, a being of both male and female qualities. A lot can be said about the great work in alchemy, and this post is already long enough honestly.

And lastly…

Take this, flip it upside-down, and you have the shape of the logo in which all these symbols are displayed. This is the symbol for the philosophers’ stone. In alchemy it is an unknown substance sought after by alchemists, said to be capable of turning base metals into precious ones (like gold and silver), can be used to derive an elixir of life, and was even thought to bring about spiritual revitalisation. And it symbolises perfection at its finest, enlightenment, and heavenly bliss.

And while researching this, I also noticed something rather interesting. It might end up not being relevant at all, but I discovered that a famous alchemist was named Albertus Magnus who was born some time before 1200 in the Duchy of Bavaria (the flag and coat of arms of which during the Wittelsbach dynasty sports a rather nice diamond pattern, a bit like the pattern you see within the triangle of the logo). He was a saint with a deep interest in a large variety of topics including logic, theology, botany, geography, astronomy, astrology, alchemy, mineralogy, zoology, physiology, phrenology, justice, law, etc. I recommend potentially checking out the wiki page on Albertus Magnus that I shared earlier if you are interested in knowing more, there is a lot of history there. But it’s interesting that he shares a surname with Jonah Magnus, founder of the Magnus Institute.

Conclusion:

Given all that I have managed to dig up about the symbols within the logo, and the indirectly connected links with suspiciously named historical figures, in particular with the context of there being another Bouchard within the Magnus Protocol, I can’t help but be suspicious of whatever this British civil service is actually getting up to behind the scenes. In particular what they think they might be trying to accomplish using the Fear Entities.

Of course at this point it becomes pure speculation. But I am more than happy to hear everyone’s ideas, speculation, and contributions!

[simplydnp]

char. realisation moment. the daniel song tiktok was posted all the way back in 2022. which means either 1. phil saved it for dan aall this time or 2. (most likely) a song of a different name came up on his for you page so he went onto the account specifically to find and save the daniel song just to show dan.........

this is the exact thing i want all of you to send to my inbox. what a beautiful rabbit hole you've fallen down anon, and thank you for taking me with you because now i'm going to stare at the ceiling and think about this for a week

[scificrows]

Is there a 300 page essay about Murderbot's armor (specifically the opaque helmet) as a not-so-subtle metaphor for masking in a clearly neurodivergent character already? Because I need it.

The way Murderbot is unvoluntarily without its opaque armor in All System Red in front of the crew (i.e. unmasking) and appears surprised at its own strong facial expressions and other people's reaction to it? The vulnerability that comes with that and how Murderbot spends pretty much the rest of the book wearing or actively missing its armor which keeps it safe from the mortifying ordeal of being known (yet sometimes other characters suggest it might help for it to not opacify the helmet in order for others to see it as a person and to trust it (and in the end idk if it would have achieved the rewards of being loved by its humans and have had its needs met if it hadn't unmasked in this relatively safe environment sometimes)).

Also there's the whole avoiding-looking-directly-at-people-and-using-drones-instead thing which Murderbot usually hides using the opaque helmet, but whenever it doesn't have that people notice it and many react negatively/confused. I think that's a whole neurodivergent-applicable situation in and of itself? Like damn

And then Mensah encourages Murderbot not to wear armor on Preservation station since it would not need it there, Murderbot is hesitant but ends up not wearing any (like 4 books later when we finally get to that bridge) (going for the comfortable clothes it chose for itself instead, with very strong feelings about the whole being able to make choices thing that I cannot go into further at this point because I would absolutely end up BITING SOMETHING OR SOMEONE).

And I'm not going to advocate for unmasking all the time in any setting because hell no, sometimes it absolutely sucks and people are irritated by Murderbot's now visible quirks and are afraid of what they don't know, but many GET TO KNOW Murderbot better and because there are other people that make sure Murderbot is safe and respected and are willing to get people fired for it if they disrespect it (Pin-Lee my beloved) Murderbot can experiment with this situation without being exiled to some abonded part of a planet and other people are forced to spend enough time around ot to learn to respect it and even like it. I just....... It must be so scary and Murderbot is handling so much at once and in this essay I will

PS sorry this is a disorganized mess but so am I and I have so many Thoughts and even more Emotions and so little patience.

[figofswords]

thinking about taking a little bit of a step back from social media for a bit for mental/physical health reasons (as in: chronic severe anxiety is causing chronic health issues and I need to remove stress Somehow). I will still post art but I’m probably gonna make an effort to engage with my dash only minimally, if at all. (that being said I have very poor discipline so if you see me suddenly reblogging stuff out of nowhere just. roll with it)

[ashleysingermfablog]

Wk 16, 25th of May, 2024 Research

⭐️ Feasibility in ethical foraging, study with botanical gardens

From the text: STATE BOTANICAL GARDEN OF GEORGIA in The Healing Power Of Plants, Based on information provided by Jim Affolter, Ph.D., Larry R. Beuchat Professor of Horticulture, University of Georgia…

Domestication and commercial production of plants for medicinal use may seem like a good solution, yet it can present complications. For some species, horticultural practice has not been developed. In these cases, production on an economical scale requires research, and even then may not be feasible. Feasiblility is also weighed up in my collection process titled ‘Fieldwork’. If the subject matter isn’t seasonally viable, or if it is not around in local flower stores (which usually sell seasonal cutting varieties) then this subject matter is not considered feasible for making with in my studio practice. Casting relies on hand to hand, material to material contact with subject matter. To make casts in a sculptural practice matter must be physically available (unlike for instance my generative poem practice which focuses more on the memory of matter in past seasons). Poems are imaginative and happen from the mind to the text, whereas gleaned matter has to be in the physical area of the studio to be made into casts.

One example is bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), a lovely herbaceous spring ephemeral found in rich deciduous woods. Its rhizomes are rich in a bright red alkaloid known as sanguinarine, which has antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor properties. Harvested on a small-scale, the plant is used for a variety of medical purposes by locals. Some years ago, livestock producers were also interested in using sanguinarine as a feed additive, which threatened to skyrocket demand and threaten populations. Dr. Affolter initiated a research project in which two graduate students examined the growth of bloodroot and factors influencing concentrations of sanguinarine. The plant didn’t prove to be very economical to grow at a commercial level. In the end, a related species, plume poppy (Macleaya cordata), that produces lower concentrations of sanguinarine, but is coarser and more aggressive – and thus easier to cultivate, was selected to supply the feed industry. Dr. Jim Affolter, Director of Science and Conservation at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, “It is no exaggeration to say that the majority of people in the world still rely on traditional medicine, including herbal medicine.”

This includes defining what ethical foraging looks like for these species, and bridging the gap between foragers and regulators – agency and public land managers who permit, monitor, and enforce forest product harvest. Data collected through surveys and workshops will help to clarify agency and foraging community concerns and suspicions, guiding the project as it develops. My fieldwork practice is essentially ethical foraging. It pertains to collecting organic matter, and this must not be conducted on a mass scale to avoid the passage outlined below: A key goal is to avoid a ‘tragedy of the commons’ scenario in which lack of private ownership and responsibility leads to overharvest, while still allowing economic and cultural practices in public spaces. Although harvesting pressures may threaten local populations, most native species of medicinal plants are not endangered on a global level and therefore not the direct focus of conservation projects at the State Botanical Garden.