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tyrranux64 · 1 year

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"Holy Diver"

Welcome to Providence City America, cirta 2364 AD. Spanning about 200,000 miles in diameter hanging just off the coast of California like a cancerous growth. A fully realized technological marvel and a “paradise” of late stage capitalism, offering the mere illusion of a more “evolved” civilization no longer adhering to the old ways when in truth the old status quo is very much alive still feeding off the lower class like a parasite. And now going against the system is punishable by having your very alienable rights stripped from you and being treated as a pariah on social media, death would be much for favorable…..so naturally the suicide rates are at an all time high (and a frequent source of meat for fast food chains). Truly is a wonderland of stagnant progress……much better than the alternative. About 80% of North America lies in ruin, terraformed into a hellscape of alien crystal and bio flesh following the events of the Great Cataclysm, details of which are now lost to time. Anyone who cannot afford to leave the continent will have to brave this hellscape for a chance of freedom. Such is the sad state of affairs that two very unlucky street rats find themselves in. Forced to live day by day under the oppressive rule of corporate greed. Waiting for the last straw to give them cause for unleashing the strange power that they each possess to burn this nightmarish status quo to the ground…..and then they are contacted by a mysterious freedom fighter, one Poppy Quocks, who has a proposition for them both…. _______________________________________________________

Chrost Matoi {HOLY DIVER}[Colleen Clinkenbeard] Japanese, age 12, non binary, pending. 4 feet 3 inches. Quiet and reserve right down to the overgrown hair obscuring their eyes, has a hard time communicating with even other kids their age. A kid in every sense of the word, right down to the iron clad attachment towards their adoptive brother Frisk. It is no mere codependency, it is a bond between two kindred spirits that have nothing else in this terrible shit hole known as Providence City, nothing but each other a couple hundred Providence Dollars to their names. Because of the circumstances Chrost is especially protective of Frisk, taking care of his wounds, making sure he eats right, being over lenient with his knuckleheaded decisions, willing to maim anyone that harms so much as a hair on him. If anything were to happen to Frisk there is no telling what Chrost would do….especially since it turns out that Chrost is in possession of a dangerous power that could destroy the world… _______________________________________________________ THE AEONS The fallen angels of destruction, diving down from the heavens upon the world to destroy it and rebuild it anew. So the legends say. Thought to have been mere myth, the recent appearance of the infamous Holy Diver has people now paranoid that all these doomsday prophecies, conspiracy theories and hokum might actually be cold hard reality. There have also been rumors of other such monsters, sharing the Holy Diver’s mouth only face with no eyes, boasting powers that could only be describes as…..eternal……

-[HOLY DIVER;] The Titan of Wrath. Bearer of the Hecatonchires Driver transforming them into a humanoid of shimmering gold. “Herculean” doesn’t quite do justice to this humanoid beast’s terrifying strength, amplified by its ability to stretch its limbs and grow additional arms. Wields the power of light with such ferocity that it can atomize solid matter in one full power blast. Height in this form is 8 feet 3 inches.

-[VOID DIVER;] The Slothful Assassin. Bearer of the Gashadokuro Driver transforming them into a skeletal nightmare of pale ivory. His bone like body makes him virtually invincible and incapable of feeling pain. A master of the blade who is able to grow bone protrusion weaponry from his body, any protrusion they grow is sharp enough to cut through solid diamond. Height in this form is 8 feet 6 inches. -[MEGA DIVER;] The Avarice Wyrm. Bearer of the Jormungandr Driver transforming them into a Herculean dragon god. Sheer power and strength concentrated into their fists and their very skin cuts through even steel like a thousand blades, has heightened senses able to see in full three dimensions at once. Can channel great water like chi energy for devastating attacks. Height in this form is 10 feet 4 inches.

-[NOVA DIVER;] The Lustful Psychopath. Bearer of the Cerberus Driver transforming them into a feminine lycan of reddish obsidian. Has three heads, two of which are massive shoulder pauldrons spewing out intense flames which then take whatever animal like shape that they desire. Armor is constantly giving off intense radiation and can even outright become like molten rock. Height in this form is 7 feet 9 inches.

-[ZERO DIVER;] The Jealous Nightmare. Bearer of the Leviathan Driver transforming them into a disturbingly beautiful fishman of crystalline blue sapphire. Is easily identified by the fifty foot long “serpent tail” protruding from the upper back and neck, able to reduce the very temperature of the immediate area to sub zero within seconds causing living flesh to become like frozen rock. Height in this form is 25 feet 5 inches.

-[GAEA DIVER;] The Gluttonous Beast. Bearer of the Behemoth Driver transforming them into a towering quadrupedal beast. The very concept of devastation and genocide made manifest, able to destroy an entire city with its sheer animalistic fury and hunger. Also has the ability to spew poison that causes hideous decay and mutation. Height in this form is 40 feet 10 inches.

-[CHAOS DIVER;] The Vain Antichrist. Bearer of the Sephiroth Driver transforming them into a demonic humanoid seraphim with six wings of bleeding blades. Easily the most dangerous of the Aeons simply for having the power to unleash the Rot, but even without that power this beastly terror is exceptionally powerful in raw strength and speed. Height in this form is 20 feet 10 inches.

#random artwork #tokusatsu #original character do not steal #superhero #oc art #story ideas

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anonthefold · 3 months

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So the grind to get progression level 50 on Ana has been going smoothly (Outside of having just the most difficult diamond-gm lobbies). I got to 45 which is great! The home stretch! I'll just have to nade the enemy 25000 times, heal 1,000,000 hp, and play for 12 more hours.

Someone once told me you develop bad habits just mindlessly playing the game and to a degree they are right. I review myself, and sometimes ask others to review me in exchange for reviewing them. My bad habit is from overall improvement which is going to sound extremely egotistical at first but here me out:

I have gotten very mechanically comfortable with Ana. she is starting to really feel like a comfort pick. Naturally as I started winning more consecutive games with her the game evolved from gold to plat to diamond. Anyone who has also do that climb will know gold players and diamond players are VASTLY different experiences. In gold you can get away with heal botting, nading the team occasionally, seeping an ult, etc etc. Plat is like gold but with more mechanical ability. Diamond is just a beast of difference. If you are heal botting and not pressuring on Ana you are literally throwing. That's like support 101, right? keep people out of critical and damage. Well yeah but the caveat to that statement is timing. In higher ELO it is more about the psychological affect of what you're doing and exploiting the human condition under duress. Predicting the future plays like where people are going to look, how long, what they are going to do and how to capitalize on it. ability tracking is critical.

Case in point: I noticed one of my recent games that the enemy kiriko loves to cleanse nade. It is a good time to do it. We had Deadeye coming up so I naded to bait out the suzu. Deadeye went off and the cass got a 3k. By the time the next team fight happens nade will be back up, or close to it, and then I can look for an opportunity post suzu to nade. Thinking like that helps a lot when approaching team fights as Ana. I'm simplifying it because there is a lot more decision making that goes into the entire process than that but that is the foundation.

Anyway back on the rails: Growth. I need to improve my ability to rotate on KotH maps as Ana. It is really challenging for me still because you have to think of using cover to move, maintaining some LoS and then think about where you are going to go next meanwhile most people play brawl or dive on those maps so you might feel a lot of backline pressure. Ana can be played mid range. She excels at having distance advantage but sometimes you have to make an assessment on wether it is even reasonable to play that far back because of map structure. Think Oasis University for example. Juggling all those game actions can be overwhelming while trying to hit your shots, tracking ability usage, and tracking player positions. But I have noticed I am getting better at that on the whole. I need to work on quick scoping as well. Those are my immediate goals. If i set too many then i feel like I will never complete any of them.

I would also like to add that I occasionally review some of my Ana games from 6+ months ago and boy oh boy. Absolutely marked improvement. I like to also think about when I first started taking Ana seriously how intimidated I was with "what if i don't hit my shots and someone dies because I can't heal them?" to where I am at now which is " that genji has blade lets sleep him the second he pops it" and I am so much more confident in that. Yeah, i miss some but the ones I hit are just absolutely stimulating.

That is where I am at with the Ana progression... and it wouldn't be a review if I didn't share a little gameplay and maybe a highlight from today's games. (It is a reference point to the closest time as of posting this and not cherry picked)

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This was a KotH map match that i played this evening. I feel like my positioning was good 80%^ of the time. I could have done a lot more damage but right now I am working on survivability on these modes then when im comfortable I will start peppering in more damage.

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This was the highlight from my most recent game in QP which was defending shambali monastery. This game... was more aggressive of a playstyle. I died 4 times which happened because I missed 2 critical sleeps on genji. The others were intentional deaths to reset. Our tank was incredibly aggro and went on many a spirit quest to where I would not follow. Their aggression was purely based on the enemy dps feeding charge into her and I can tell she had the murderlust with 100 charge. I've been there myself and sometimes you forget things like cover, the cart, your teammates just to get a team kill with a death ray canon disintegrating everything that glances it. But I digress, it worked... sort of. They gave up a comical amount of space that was countered by the fact that the entire enemy team would be so worn down that the rest of our team could just pick them off.

The stats are below and you can see I had the least amount of healing... but we also had a sombra who didnt need as much babysitting. It allowed me to, once again, follow up on elims with the team more efficiently.

#anondawatch #white noise #the bats in my brain are stimulated #Youtube

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ramrodd · 7 months

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Was Jesus a Follower of John the Baptizer? Why the Ancient Idea of Two M...

COMENTARY:

Jimmy, you are an activist for the Marxist materialism of the Weather Underground and the Jesus Seminar. You are engaged in the systematic denial of the Holy Spirit.. '

Jesus and John the Baptist are cousins, Jesus is a bastard and John i probably an orphan pretty early in his life. Any scholarship based on the premise that the Gospel of Mark derives from Paul's theology is engaged in time=travel science fiction, not a serious study of the literature of the Bible.

Jesus and John the Baptists were cousins Jesus was a bastard and John was probably an orphan, early on. By the time he's ten years old, if not earlier. Jesus was not popular, growing up. He was part of the family business, which, by the time He is baptized, includes a catering service that is part of Mary of Jerusalem's hospitality. The version of Jesus that has Him growing up in the poverty of Roman occupied Galilee. Everybody i Palestine was living large. Tel Aviv is not a new idea. There was a substantial Roman presence that was pumping wealth into the region from the pensions of Roman soldiers and the value added of the arts and crafts of Jerusalem, which was like the Rodeo Drive of the Mediterranean.

However John Dominic Crossan characterizes the cultural diversity of the region is wrong, His Jesus Seminar posits a moral equation between Palestine under Caesar/Pilate in 33 CE,, the year Jesus is crucified and Ireland under John Bull during the Potato Famine. The Theme Song of the Jesus Seminar is The Patriot Game, Crossan was an IRA chaplain. Jimmy Tabor is a 60s campus radical anti-war draft dodger. I lived cheek to jowl with the ideology of the Students for a Democratic Society as an ROTC cadet from the start of the draft call ups for Vietnam in July 1965 and and the first yarr of the Nixon administration before Apollo 11 and Kent State. This interview of his career is what it was like to attend a protest teach-in at any university in America before the SDS take=over of Columbia in 1968. After that, everything went to Post Modern Historic Deconstruction and bull shit movement Like Campus Crusade for Christ and the Young Americans for Freedom began to get real tractions. This was the incubation period of Pat Buchanan and the Plumbers who have morphed into Stephen Miller and Mick Mulvaney. \

And Immy Tabor and Dom Crossan. Richard Carrier is an authentic atheist. He would fit right in with the Soviet exectuives I was working with when Fred Smith took FedEx public and sucked all the liquidity out of the Wall Street capital markets just at the moment both me and The Donald Trump were looking for venture capital. It wasn't there. Fed Ex sucked it all up.

After Tet 68, the Weather Underground emerged amogh the campus radicals like Jimmy Tabor and they evolved a logical progression of the Trotsky insurgency process to to take the battle to the belly of the beast, What that meant was that an activist elite formed The Resistance, which recruited serious players to volunteer of the draft and infiltrate the operational mechanisms of the US army in Vietnam and provoke a general mutiny of Sp6 clerks and jerks that made the Army work. I ran into it around Thanksgiving of 1970 as the SO of an infantry company. I kene it was going on but my superiors were totally clueless because they were transfixed by the Black Power movement in the military that was mostly mis direction.

I think it could have worked if the Army hadn't totally fallen apart as it bugged out of that AO. All of a sudden, all the people they needed for a mutiny were getting early outs and why put up with the hassof a mutiny when it was just a matter of time when you were on the street. The Resistance largely just evaporated.

But Jimmy Tabor is one of the die=hards from the SSS insurgency.. In the ontology of Cornelius, Jesus is a moral singularity. In the navigation of the Liberation Gospel of Jesus, Cornelius, George Washington and Pope Francis, Jesus is Polaris. Both Jesus and Cornelius submitted to the authority of Yaweh, Queen of Battle, She who must be obeyed. Even Freud was familiar with Yaweh, Queen of Battle. The basis of the Super Ego. What Tabor and Bart Ehrman are trying to do is to corrupt the literature in order to spread the moral confusion that profits from the Nazification of the January 6 conspiracy.

The evidence of the fraud of the Jesus Seminar's characterization of the cultural milieus of 1st century Palestine is pure sophistry is who much Jimmy Tabor has loved his career as a tour guide of the Holy Land, Was he not living large like Josephus before the Jewish Wars.

Tel Aviv is what Jesus and Paul had in mind with the concept of Christian Judaism. Gal Gadot and Benny Gantz is the nature of the Israeli citizen Jesus represents. The National Unity party is what Josephus would have aligned with. The Jerusalem Commonwealth is the Republican solution Pauline Theology is all about. The Likud is the vestige demographic of the sector of Temple Worship that was offended and threaten by Jesus. Not much has changed.

#youtube

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vermilionstarlight · 2 years

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More Minceraft hc rambles >:) This time I’m focusing on magic and shit

- Ok, so magical energy can be found and utilized in two forms: life-force (experience) and primordial mana. All living organisms intake and process primordial mana from their surroundings, and ‘metabolize’ it into experience, which is stored in the soul. Souls are widely considered to be the most pure form that experience can be found in. Souls act simultaneously as a storage of sorts for a being’s memories and personality, and as an organ that utilizes metabolized experience. Excess experience is put towards strengthening a being’s physique and innate magical capabilities, as well as its ability to metabolize primordial magic, though typically not by much.

- When an organism dies, its soul begins to un-tether from its body, and life-force begins to spread out into its surroundings and diffuse. Due to the immediate increase of density in life-force, any creatures present would have the ability to absorb it without having to go through the ‘metabolization’ process. This allows organisms to directly benefit in combat prowess when killing others (or being in the vicinity of a death). It would take committing mass murder or hunting beasts for weeks on end without break to make any immediately noticeable change to one’s capabilities. At least, that’s with mundane beasts and average individuals. An organism with atypical levels of experience stored within its soul can provide nearby organisms with a massive amount of experience to metabolize when it dies, effectively super-charging the process and causing a rapid increase in capabilities. The more experience that is accessible in the environment, the faster the body absorbs and utilizes this experience.

- As experience diffuses into the surroundings, it begins to fall downwards, beneath the world and towards the void beneath. As this experience falls, small amounts of it can be absorbed by creatures underground. Once the experience reaches the bottom of the world, it settles and forms a thick mist that obscures vision as it trickles through the stone at the bottom of the world and into the void.

- Sculk is an organism that has evolved to capitalize on this experience that falls through the ground and towards the void. That’s why it grows when provided experience and is only found deep underground.

- Certain magics can revive very recently deceased creatures, by preventing the deterioration of the soul and re-tethering it to the body, but the longer the creature is dead, the more of its being is lost. Its memories, its personality, its sense of self. If an individual is revived within approximately 1 minute of death, the effects of death are negligible. If an individual is revived between 1+ minutes and 30 minutes after death, they often experience a permanent loss of self-identity (ego death) that can be compared to the temporary ego-death that is often experienced while taking psychadelic drugs. If an individual is revived between 30+ minutes and 1 hour after death, they lose a varying amount of their short-term memory. Such individuals would forget where they left everyday objects that morning, the names of people theyve recently met, or unimportant events that recently occured. If an individual is revived between 1+ hour and 6 hours of death, they lose all short-term memory and begin to lose varying amounts of long-term memories. The name of their spouse, the location of their home town, an important memory of their childhood. If an individual is revived between 6+ hours and 24 hours of death (depending on how developed their soul is), they lose all memories, and have an increased chance to develop detrimental mental afflictions like alzheimer’s or dementia. Most average individuals cannot be revived after the 12 hour mark, though those with particularly under-developed or over-developed souls can vary.

- The longest recorded time that a being has been dead while still being revived afterwards using magic is 29 hours, though they were an exceptionally powerful individual with metaphorical mountains of experience, so the diffusing process was slowed somewhat due to the sheer amount of soul there was to diffuse. The body was also promptly preserved from decay via a separate spell almost immediately after death.

- While in most situations a soul left to its own devices will just diffuse and settle into the void, soul sand valleys are an exception to this rule. Inert soul sand which contains no souls will draw souls in, storing them. However, unlike the specialized containers that illagers often use to perfectly preserve a soul, soul sand is inefficient and incomplete in its storage. The soul within is not allowed to diffuse, but it also is not kept completely intact. Instead it undergoes a process called ‘withering’, where it rots and decays into fetid clumps of magical energy.

- Withered souls always eventually do one of two things in soul sand valleys. When a creature dies while exposed in a soul-sand valley, the withered souls cause its dead flesh to burn rapidly with soul fire, scouring all flesh from its bones and charring its skeleton. The soul of the creature is then completely withered, and forcefully re-tethers itself to the body. The result is a fully sentient being whose only purpose is to kill, consume, and grow in power. It purposefully prowls the Nether, and sharpens its finger bones and teeth to become deadly weapons. When left on its own, a clump of withered souls will eventually gather into an Embody. Embodies are semi-sentient mounds of mobile soul sand, instilled with the sole purposes of killing, consuming, and growing. They wander soul sand valleys aimlessly, killing any they come across, including withered skeletons. If either of these beings strikes another creature, that creature’s soul begins to wither within its own body, and if left to completely wither, the attacking withered being will absorb the soul into itself.

- Withered skeletons and embodies are much more efficient at absorbing experience than other creatures, and any they kill will be almost fully absorbed into the creature, greatly increasing its capabilities. Embodies will grow in size, with the possibility of becoming hulking behemoths larger than the ender dragon itself. Developed withered skeletons will not seem as intimidating, but are just as dangerous. Its clawed bones will sharpen, the withering effect of its attacks will increase in severity, and a minor aura of withering will begin to emit from it, making it dangerous to even be near it.

- There are other magics that forego re-tethering the soul to its body and instead endeavour to store it. While the soul can only be re-tethered before about 12 hours, the soul still remains for around a week after death and can be stored in specialized vessels to be utilized at another time. Many shunned spells require an at least semi-intact soul, like the spell to form a Vex.

- Vexes are completely artificial constructs that have been made using a soul that has been stored after the revival threshold. Vexes are incomplete souls that have been granted a body of experience, and due to their incomplete nature they are always suffering. They lack any memory or personality from their past life, and all they know is pain and the infliction of it. They are compelled to obey their conjurers, but left to their own devices they will gleefully torture, harrass, and kill any nearby creatures. Creatures that are incapable of pain like golems will be ignored by a vex unless it is attacked by one or it is ordered to attack one. Vexes are often used in war, hunting, and torture by illager mages.

- Allays are completely artificial constructs that have been made using a soul that has been stored before the revival threshold. Allays are made with intact enough souls that they do not suffer as a vex does. They are obedient and placid, and are always under compulsion to heed the orders of their conjurer. Left to its own devices, it will simply wander about and curiously observe its surroundings. While allays are capable of combat, they are much less suited to it than vexes are, and are instead most often utilized by illagers as a labor force. simple, unskilled labor like tilling fields, organizing food stocks, and moving objects.

- Now time to get into PRIMORDIAL MANA!!! As said before, primordial mana is basically unfiltered magic that can be found everywhere. Unlike experience, which is stripped of defining characteristics and conformed to the soul of an organism when metabolized, primordial mana comes in flavors! Primordial mana in different biomes and dimensions has different aspects to it, and primordial mana can have different aspects infused into it via certain methods.

- Aspects of primordial mana are not physical so much as they’re conceptual. Intent and concepts are very important with primordial mana. For example, the primordial mana of a cat’s eye would involve concepts of sight in darkness, predation, precision, and awareness. The primordial mana of a humanoid tongue would involve concepts of clarity of speech, persuasiveness, deception, singing, and muteness. Ambient primordial mana found in a field of vibrant flowers would involve concepts of beauty, growth, life, light, and fertility. Ambient primordial mana found in a soul sand valley would involve concepts of death, undeath, desecration, preservation by any means, endless consumption, coldness, silence, and isolation.

- Magi use a mix of primordial mana and their own personal life-force (experience) to cast their spells. Some spells only require experience, others only require primordial mana of a certain aspect, but many require both.

- To utilize their experience in the casting of a spell, a magus must be skilled in manipulating the experience in their soul and forming it into a matrix that is appropriate for the spell. While primordial mana handles the actual effects of the spell outside of the caster’s capabilites, the experience acts as both a blank slate for the primordial mana to imprint on and as a way for the caster to control and focus the effects of the spell. More complex spells require increasingly complex matrices to control the spell, and attempting to cast a spell beyond your experience manipulation capabilities often ends in explosions and casualties.

- The most common way that mages capture and utilize primordial mana is by uttering phrases in Voidspeak (enchanting table language lol). Voidspeak is an inherently magical language, and words in Voidspeak can rewrite reality if only given enough energy. To cast a spell in Voidspeak, one must speak words relating to the concepts involved with the spell. Any mistakes in pronounciation, enunciation, or tempo will typically result in no effects taking place, and the matrix for the spell unraveling.

- Spells that require primordial mana necessitate that the casting magus must either be in an environment where the primordial mana fits the parameters of the spell, or that they must be within the close vicinity (~5ft) of an object that contains primordial mana that fits the parameters of the spell.

- As an example of casting a spell, if a magus wants to cast a spell that produces a sphere of flame and concussive force, they would manipulate their experience into the correct matrix for the spell, then flawlessly utter the words “Fire-Wind-Expand”. If the magus is in the vicinity of all three of these aspects, the aspects of primordial mana will condense and sort of ‘wash over’ the matrix, inundating it with primordial mana and successfully casting the spell.

- Spells like conjuring a Vex or Allay, standard mana bolts, or conjuring basic mana armaments do not require aspects, and are fuelled by the caster’s inner experience stores. Most skilled magi have the matrices of at least two or three of these spells memorized by heart, because a specific aspect will not always be immediately on hand.

- Other spells only require primordial mana, with no experience matrices required to direct it. The primordial mana can be directed by a matrix, but it doesn’t have to be. These spells can be cast by simply externally manipulating the primordial mana manually. Casting these spells with a matrix does make the casting much faster, though, as casting manually increases the time required to coalesce all the necessary mana.

- OK POTION TIME NOW. Potions are essentially taking the primordial mana within an object and distilling it down into a consumable form. By taking enough objects with the same or similar aspects of primordial mana, you can make a potion. The only exception to this is reagents. Reagents are things like nether wart, redstone, glowstone, gunpowder, dragon’s breath, and quartz dust. These objects, rather than imprinting any primordial mana onto the potion, have physical properties that facilitate or alter potions.

- Nether warts are required for every potion, with no exception, because nether warts have the very rare physical property of being able to give physical form to primordial mana without necessitating the use of an experience matrix. When heated, nether warts dissolve into water and create awkward potions, which can concentrate primordial mana into physical form when provided with very high amounts of heat.

- We all know this but I’ll recap on the other reagents (and also the last one i added myself). Redstone causes an organism’s body to metabolize a potion more slowly, causing its effects to last longer. Glowstone interacts with the nether wart and increases the maximum density of primordial mana that a potion can contain, making its effects stronger. Gunpowder sort of ‘pre-digests’ the phsyical components of a potion, allowing it to be absorbed directly by the skin and into the bloodstream, rather than only via direct consumption. Dragon’s Breath being diffused into a potion causes it to have a lower boiling point, to the point where the potion vaporizes even in arctic conditions. In order for Dragon’s Breath to function very well, gunpowder must also be used to allow the potion to absorb through the skin. Quartz dust effectively attaches itself to the nether wart and allows for TWO aspects of primordial mana to coexist without interfering with eachother (kinda like soap particles have two ends, and one side grabs water particles while the other side grabs any non-water particles. its not ACTUALLY exactly like that but its the best analogy i got).

- Because alchemy requires no experience manipulation skills to be skilled in, and because it doesn’t require one to constantly endeavour to strengthen their soul (and by proxy their experience stores), many more people are alchemists than they are magi. Between the levels of experience, the skill in experience manipulation, the mastery of Voidspeak, and the various expensive reagents that magi often require, most individuals don’t become magi. Most magi outside of illager society are found in rich families. Illagers have many more magi than other societies do, but I’ll get into that another time. Alchemists are much more common, and as a result potions are very commonplace in the world.

- ENCHANTING TIME BABEYYY!! Lapis lazuli has the unique property of sort of being like a quantum-entangled particle under specific circumstances. If you put a specific and complex experience matrix on both a piece of lapis lazuli and another object, and carve the lapis lazuli with words in Voidspeak, the lapis lazuli takes on the aspecting of that object over the course of a few days. If you put a separate, but equally complex set of matrices on the lapis lazuli and another object, the lapis grants its aspects to that object over a similar time period, but hyper-distilled to the point where overt magical effects are weaved into the essence of the object.

- Many of those that aren’t willing or able to master Voidspeak turn to enchanting. Enchanting is the action of taking materials with certain aspects of primordial mana, forming a very specific and complex experience matrix around them, carving a piece of lapis lazuli with Voidspeak characters, then forming an identical experience matrix around a piece of lapis lazuli. The matrices are then broken, and another set of matrices are applied to the lapis lazuli and another object, until the desired set of aspects have been gathered in the lapis lazuli. Then, a different but equally complex matrix is applied to both the lapis lazuli and the object intended to be enchanted. The matrices are broken and the object then carries the aspects of the lapis lazuli. This has to be repeated another one or two times depending on the complexity of the intended enchantment.

- next time im gonna focus on society bullshit >:) send me asks if you have any questions and ill respond <3

#minecraft lore #minecraft #mineblr #headcanons #minecraft headcanon #magic #craftmine

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sifeng · 4 years

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Long Dramas for Your Quarantined Soul

Stuck at home with nothing to do? Watch a long, angsty drama and find yourself crying over fictional characters!

1. Goodbye My Princess (东宫)

Episodes: 52

Genres: Historical/Romance

A young prince striving for power decides to use the ninth princess of Xi Zhou as a pawn in his game, but he finds himself falling for her in the process. Thus sets forth a tragic romance that even forgotten memories cannot stop from spiraling into chaos. Add in some beautiful cinematography, gorgeous costumes and great actors and you get a fantastic drama!

This will be you after the finale (spoiler alert!)

2. The Untamed (陈情令)

Episodes: 50

Genres: Wuxia/Mystery

During his training, Wei WuXian of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect met Lan WangJi of the Gusu Lan Sect. Even though they are polar opposite, the two are suddenly tied together after discovering a plot by the land dominated Wen clan to acquire all the pieces of the Yin Iron. However, during a battle against Wei WuXian, now known as the infamous Yiling Patriarch, he is presumed dead after falling off a cliff due to Jiang Cheng, who was like a brother to him. Sixteen years later, Wei WuXian suddenly wakes up after a crazy cultivator called Mo XuanYu performed a ritual sacrificing his body in exchange for bringing back Wei WuXian to fulfill his revenge plan. To hide his real identity, Wei WuXian pretends to be Mo XuanYu. However, he is soon reunited with Lan WangJi and the pair then works together to solve a series of mysteries and expose the secret figure pulling the strings behind the evildoings now wreaking havoc in the land.

3. Ashes of Love (香蜜沉沉烬如霜)

Episodes: 63

Genres: Xianxia/Romance

A story of many lifetimes of romance between the flower deity and the fire deity. She might not be able to love, but he loves her with all his heart, and so does his brother. As secret identities are revealed, love begins to develop, and age old promises end up causing massive chaos and destruction. (sorry for the bad intro, but I wanted to include all the angst I could)

4. Eternal Love (三生三世十里桃花)

Episodes: 58

Genres: Xianxia/Romance

After a devastating war, the immortal tribe paid a heavy price to seal the demon lord. 70000 years later, in an attempt to re-seal the demon lord who broke free, Bai Qian was sent to the mortal realm. In the mortal world, she meets Ye Hua and falls in love with him after forgetting about her life as a goddess. Ye Hua gifts her the name of Su Su. Su Jin, who is jealous of Ye Hua's love for Bai Qian, intentionally creates a series of misunderstanding between them and causes Bai Qian to lose her eyes. Thinking that Ye Hua has betrayed her, the devastated Bai Qian jumps off from the Zhu Xian Terrace. At her request, all her memories have been erased and she forgets Ye Hua. 300 years later, the two meets again as deities. Another lifetime another world, Ye Hua recognizes Bai Qian but the latter remains indifferent. Three lives three worlds, her and him, are they fated to bear an entangling love?

5. The Rise of Phoenixes (天盛长歌)

Episodes: 70

Genres: Political/Romance

Feng Zhi Wei is the unfavored illegitimate daughter of the Qiu Family, who is then banished from the clan after being falsely accused of a crime. Zhi Wei cross-dresses as a man to attend the prestigious Qingming Academy and stuns the world with her talent and knowledge. She remains loyal and honest to the reigning Emperor during the princes’ fight for the throne, yet soon finds out she is the only surviving royalty of a fallen kingdom. Manipulated into thinking that the current dynasty was built upon the corpses of her loved ones, Zhi Wei ultimately decides to take revenge against her enemies, including her lover Ning Yi. Will they be able to put their vengeance behind them and live a life without hatred?

6. Nirvana in Fire (琅琊榜)

Episodes: 58

Genres: Wuxia/Political

In sixth-century China, during a war between Southern Liang and Northern Wei dynasties, General Lin Xie took his only child, the 17-year-old Lin Shu, to the battlefield to fight the Wei army. Unexpectedly, General Lin Xie was framed by a political rival, causing the unjust deaths of 7,000 army soldiers and the poisoning of his son. Lin Shu survived the war but to be cured of the poison, he underwent a treatment that changed his appearance completely and left him in a weakened state unable to perform martial arts again. Lin Shu change his name to Mei Chang Su and later became the chief of the pugilist world and established the Jiangzuo Alliance. Twelve years later, Lin Shu returned to the capital, Jinling, with a secret plan after being sought after by Prince Yu and Prince Xian during their fight for the throne. He then decides to covertly assist Prince Jing, the unfavoured son of Emperor Wu, and wisely rids the court of all scheming officials. (there might not be romance, but the genius of this show is more than enough to make up for it)

7. Legend of Concubine Zhen Huan (甄嬛传)

Episodes: 76

Genres: Historical/Political

A young woman born of Eight Banners family marries the Emperor. After surviving through many murderous scandals and betrayals, she prevails as the most powerful woman in the Emperor's harem, the Empress dowager. In the process, she transforms from a kind-hearted, clever girl to a power hungry, manipulative woman. (again no romance, but so genius!)

8. Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace (如懿传)

Episodes: 87

Genres: Historical/Romance

The road to becoming an empress is paved with treachery. Ruyi (Zhou Xun) is a consort who quickly learns to navigate the treacherous politics of the the royal court and move up the ranks. After becoming Empress, Ruyi still must survive the many conspiracies against her. Her relationship with Emperor Qianlong (Wallace Huo) becomes eroded even when Ruyi is able to overcome the challenges. Can Ruyi maintain her role as Empress under such difficult circumstances?

9. Eternal Love of Dream (三生三世枕上书)

Episodes: 56

Genres: Xianxia/Romance

Two thousand years of enduring love and obsession between the female monarch of Qing Qiu and the ancient god of the Heavenly Kingdom. When Feng Jiu was practising immortal cultivation alone in the wilderness, she was attacked by a beast and rescued by Dong Hua Di Jun of the Heavenly Kingdom. The encounter becomes deeply ingrained in Feng Jiu's heart and to repay her debts, she decides to follow Dong Hua into battle. She soon realizes that her good feelings towards him have evolved into love, but Dong Hua is a god who has forgotten what love means. In order to protect Feng Jiu, Dong Hua sends her to the human realm which results in the death of a friend. Feng Jiu enters the Winged Tribe Princess Ah Lan Ruo's dream sequence in search of a sacred fruit that can bring the dead back to life but gets trapped to relive Ah Lan Ruo's life for eternity. Dong Hua finds a way to save Feng Jiu and realizes that he already reciprocates her love for him, but another hurdle crosses their path.

10. Find Yourself (下一站是幸福)

Episodes: 41

Genres: Slice-of-Life/Romance

He Fan Xing's company is at risk of being acquired while her relationship with Yuan Song faces societal pressures due to their age difference. The consecutive blows in her work and love life push her to an emotional quagmire and it is during this time that Ye Lu Ming enters her life. Being older in age, he is mature, stable and knowledgeable. He becomes He Fan Xing's life coach and the source of conflict between the couple. For He Fan Xing, it's not merely a matter of choosing the man that she loves but considering the contradictions of adopting the traditional mindset on marriage.

If You’ve Already Watched Those: Royal Nirvana (60 eps; political/romance), Return of the Condor Heroes (41 eps; wuxia/romance), The Story of Yanxi Palace (70 eps; political/romance), Joy of Life (46 eps; wuxia/political), Love and Destiny (60 eps; xianxia/romance), Glory of the Tang Dynasty (60 eps; historical/romance), Siege in Fog (50 eps; historical/romance)

#Cdrama #Chinese Drama #the untamed #find yourself #Ashes Of Love #have fun!#eternal love #wuxia #Xianxia

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recentanimenews · 3 years

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TenSura – 36 (S2 Part 1 Fin) – Hell Is Empty, and All the Demon Lords Are Here

Rimuru Tempest wakes up in the resurrected Shion’s lap, after a nap of three days. Benumaru asks him for the password they agreed on—when he says “Shion’s cooking…”, Rimuru needs to say “…tastes like shit.” Naturally Rimuru can’t do that, so he contextualizes it as something Benimaru came up with…which he did.

But no sooner does Rimuru wake up does he meet with Albis, Suphia, and Phobio of Eurazania, who report that Demon Lord Milim Nava declared war on their nation. Demon Lord Carrion ordered his lands evacuated—including his underlings—for the ensuing one-on-one battle.

There seems to be something off about Milim here, almost like she’s being controlled. Because of that, Carrion believes he’s more than a match for the dragon girl, and unleashes his ultimate skill Beast Roar right off the bat. The attack does nothing but cause one of Milim’s arms to sting a bit, but it’s more than she expected.

She decides to answer in kind with a skill she’s been working on called Drag0-Nova, which—Milim-Nova was right there!—is not only exceedingly more powerful than Carrion’s best, but utterly destroys the terraced Eurazanian capital. Things go from bad to worse with the Beast King being jumped by Sky Queen Frey, who presumably slits his throat.

Phobio further reports to Rimuru that Demon Lord Frey was last seen flying to Demon Lord Clayman’s domain, suggesting either an alliance with Frey and Milim, or he’s somehow pulling their strings. Even with his and Raphael’s evolution, Rimuru isn’t keep about going up against three Demon Lords.

Fortunately, there’s a super-strong ally he kinda forgot about: the butler-like unnamed archdemon. Rimuru is surprised he wants to serve under him, but agrees, and even gives the guy a name: Diablo. Last week I wondered if this guy was somehow affiliated with Clayman, and that Rimuru fell into a trap by naming him, but it seems Diablo is wholly loyal to our blue blob.

But even with an archdemon by his side, Rimuru still worried that there are just too many problems to deal with at once, from Clayman, Milim, and Frey to the political situation of Falmuth to Sakaguchi and the Western Holy Church. But Raphael chimes in that the last thing might not be a problem for long.

That’s because in her new souped-up evolved Raphael form, the non-corporeal guide formerly known as Great Sage has nearly cracked the Unlimited Imprisonment that seals Veldora. Excited by the news, Rimuru heads to Veldora’s cave, where his adventures reincarnated as a slime first began. Ya know, before he massacred thousands of humans!

(And no, in case you were wondering, Rimuru doesn’t waste a single thought on the terrible things he did to bring back Shion and the others. I guess the ends justified the means, and he’s resolved to carry the mantle of Demon Lord from now on.)

Rimuru creates a double of himself, both to serve as a new humanoid vessel for the freed Veldora and to get a look at his slightly taller, slightly more beautiful appearance. Once the Soul Corridor between Rimuru and Veldora is established, Veldora Tempest the dragon is dumped into the double, which transforms into Veldora Tempest the man.

Between him and Diablo, and the fact when it comes down to it he and Milim are best buds, Rimuru is well-positioned for future success against the myriad problems that stretch before him and his country, which will be explored in Part 2 of this second season, which will air this summer.

By: magicalchurlsukui

#Anime #News #RABUJOI – An Anime Blog

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hadarlaskey · 4 years

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Jurassic Lark: The satirical genius of Jim Henson’s Dinosaurs

Reptilian newsreader Howard Handupme looks to camera: “A meteor, three times the size of Earth, is heading towards us in a collision course that will result in the extinction of all life on this planet.”

Left of frame, a rubbery green hand slides a sheet of paper across the desk. “This just in,” Handupme reports. “No, it’s not.”

“Oh, good,” says Earl Sinclair – a simple, workaday Megalosaurus – who promptly changes the channel.

So opens the first episode of the irreverent sitcom Dinosaurs, in which the dysfunctional Sinclair family contends with the strictures of modern life (dinos, in this timeline, having only evolved from being wild, swamp-dwelling brutes about a million years earlier).

A Jim Henson Television production, the series starred a cast of expressive – and expensive – animatronic puppets, the most memorable being Baby Sinclair (performed by Kevin Clash, who also popularised Elmo). Back in the show’s original run from 1991-94, Baby’s wily slapstick and weekly catchcry ‘Not the Mama!’ eclipsed the show’s more subversive quirks. But in the 30 years since Dinosaurs’ debut, its biting satire and sly commentary on gender, labour, politics, racism, the economy and climate change – not to mention television itself – has only grown more savage.

With its four idiosyncratic seasons hitting Disney+ on 29 January, now is the perfect time to reconsider this curious analogue artefact. From its prehistoric Pangaea setting (roughly 60 million years BC through to its reflection in the Anthropocene, withering under late capitalism, the prophecy of Dinosaurs is anything but obsolete.

Dinosaurs charged onto the US network ABC (plus ITV and Disney Channel in the UK, among other territories) care of co-creators Bob Young and Michael Jacobs. Their previous writing and producing credits included such all-American candy floss as The Facts of Life and Charles in Charge, but this new beast sacrificed the sweet accessibility of cookie-cutter sitcoms, favouring the playful parody and contained chaos vital to much of Jim Henson’s work, particularly with the Muppets.

That said, Dinosaurs was the first major Jim Henson Company work produced without supervision from the Creature Shop’s founding leader, who passed away in May 1990. Henson is said to have conceived the series, which shares thematic DNA with his unproduced screenplay for The Natural History Project – a fantasy feature à la The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. Sadly it was scrapped due to its apparent similarities to The Land Before Time, at a time when Jurassic antics were just starting to peak on the pop cultural landscape.

Another way in which Dinosaurs tapped the early ’90s zeitgeist was by gutting the ‘wholesome ’50s father’ archetype. Upstanding dads had dominated sitcoms (subgenus: comedie domesticus, or ‘dom coms’) from Father Knows Best to The Cosby Show. Full of beer nuts and hot air, Earl (voiced by Stuart Pankin) inherited the ‘bad dad’ mantle from Alf Garnett (Till Death Us Do Part) and Archie Bunker (All in the Family), whose parenting deficits were honoured such ‘dumb dad’ renaissance texts as Married… with Children, The Simpsons and Home Improvement. Dinosaurs even skewered the trend with this facetious weeknight line-up:

“This is why TV stinks,” groans Earl. “One show’s a hit, they make 50 more like it,” to which Baby replies, “Don’t have a cow, man!”

But Earl is more cynical than his bumbling brethren like Homer Simpson and Fred Flintstone. What’s more, his wilfully shit behaviour isn’t typically framed as endearing, so we don’t laugh with him – the chuckles come when he gets his comeuppance. (Notably, Dinosaurs’ producers chose to can the initial laugh track, which means no one implicitly condones Earl’s buffoonery.)

Unlike many TV patriarchs, Earl is rarely handed a free pass to fail upwards, which makes it all the more meaningful when, in the third season episode ‘Honey, I Miss the Kids’, the flaccid antihero sincerely bonds with his progeny. Meanwhile, his wife Fran (Arrested Development’s Jessica Walter) returns to work full time, itching to escape the cyclical tedium of domestic drudge work.

A prototypical nuclear family, the Sinclairs live in a version of suburbia that marries prehistoric aesthetics and postwar social values. Every relevant stereotype gets eviscerated, along with the idealised virtues of heteronormative parenthood (both adults express resentment toward each other and their kids), organised religion (teenage son Robbie rejects many cultural customs, like eating other animals and hurling old folk into tarpits), and soulless consumerism (when Baby demands the ‘leg smoother’ he saw on TV, he’s told he can’t have it because he’s a boy. “Oh, then I want a machine gun!”).

Traditional gender roles receive constant ribbing, with clichéd traits inverted. Man of the house Earl is beholden to the whims of his – to borrow a Sesame Street term – big feelings, whereas Fran is mostly moderate. Though she begins an obliging housewife, one part Stepford to two parts Bedrock, she becomes disillusioned with her lot and develops the voice to say so.

This is largely due the influence of her friend Monica Devertebrae (Suzie Plakson), a feminist Brontosaurus who takes her employer – the ubiquitous corporate giant WESAYSO – to court in ‘What “Sexual Harris” Meant’. The episode aired in late 1991, just two months after Anita Hill’s widely televised sexual harassment case, and it features one of Dinosaurs’ most searing jokes.

The ignobility of work regularly comes under fire, particularly in regard to Earl’s blue-collar job as a ‘tree pusher’ at WESAYSO Development Corporation. Managed by a tyrannical Styracosaurus called BP Richfield (sitcom stalwart Sherman Hemsley, All in the Family and The Jeffersons) who’s slick by name, if not by nature.

The company motto is “We’ll do what’s right if you leave us alone”, which, in practice, means razing a redwood forest to make way for 10,000 tract houses, and building a wax fruit factory that precipitates an ice age. (Howard Handupme’s news report was right: it’s not a meteor that ends all life on Earth in the series’ breathtakingly bleak finale.)

Dinosaurs leaves few sociopolitical stones unturned, illustrating how gender performance, class, work and the environment are all inextricably linked. In some ways, it’s a spiritual successor to another Henson series about ecology, Fraggle Rock, which also depicts nature’s precariousness and the dangers of xenophobia. (Earl’s opinions of the early hominid folk who cohabit this revisionist history echo the Fraggles’ view of ‘Silly Creatures’ aka the human race.) This begs the question, was Dinosaurs intended for adults or children? Like most Jim Henson Company work, it’s both, and the writers clarify this with a knowing wink.

The Sinclairs’ television set is their home’s focal point, and some of the show’s best roasts concern TV’s hypnotic allure. (‘Network Genius’ is a work of genius.) But Dinosaurs’ drollest running gag involves a puppet show that delights Earl and Baby equally. When Fran dismisses the show as kid’s stuff, Earl retorts, “You’d think that, because they’re puppets – so the show seems to have a children’s aesthetic.” He turns to eyeball the camera. “Yet the dialogue is unquestionably sharp-edged, witty, and thematically skewed to adults.” The mighty Megalosaurus flexes his dexterous brow.

Puppets mimic the human condition with an uncanny likeness. They’re not people, clearly, but an eerie approximation. When camouflaged in the soft power of a sitcom, they have a unique capacity to point fingers at society’s trickiest home truths. Slapstick and catchphrases are just a handy distraction. All these years later, Dinosaurs still goes for the throat.

The post Jurassic Lark: The satirical genius of Jim Henson’s Dinosaurs appeared first on Little White Lies.

source https://lwlies.com/articles/jurassic-lark-the-satirical-genius-of-jim-hensons-dinosaurs/

#movie

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dogboy-willgraham · 4 years

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Crabs??

*Does the Crab Rave* So...crabs. From Dungeness to King (King Crabs aren’t true crabs but whatever) crabs are some of the most eaten crustaceans next to lobsters. I think personally think they’re terrible taste wise, but they’re pretty cool in other ways.

(Except when they invade other places and go absolutely nuts. *Cough* King Crabs *cough cough* No worries though. I’m pretty sure we got it under control. Maybe. I can’t find consistent reports. I’m pretty sure we’re good though. Maybe. Don’t quote me.)

While I could’ve gone with a nice little Purple Shore Crab I decided no, not today. We’re going to talk about something that probably shouldn’t exist. The Japanese Spider Crab. If you don’t know about this unholy beast already, then good for you. You’re about to.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love these big bois, but look at this bitch and tell me it belongs here:

[ID: A picture of a Japanese Spider Crab on a black background. End ID]

Remember, the ocean is terrifying and we should be very careful about exploring it, this is only the beginning of what’s down there. Only the beginning.

People used to think that they dragged sailors off boats to their deaths, and I mean can you blame them? If I were a sailor, doing my sailor things, trying to flirt with the captain by keeping my shirt unbuttoned, and saw this, I too would think death was near. I also would go and pet it so I have no survival instinct it seems. They don’t actually pose a threat to humans, they scavenge carrion and hunt tiny animals or eat plants. So I suppose if you’re under 5 feet you’re in danger /j. Sorry 4′10, you were meant for a spectacular death /j.

Japanese Spider Crabs are tall, and Big. Their leg span alone is on average 12.5 feet or 3.81 meters. *Legs by Lucian Piane starts blasting* And for looking quite thin, they weigh 42 pounds or roughly 19 kilos on average.

Compare that to the Dungeness Crab, a very common and popular crab in culinary use, who at best only gets 10 inches/25 centimeters in width. At best. More common is 7-8 inches/17.78-20.32 centimeters. Big Big Bois.

So, you’d think for having that much leg they’d be well built, right? Wrong. They’re weak and poorly attached at the joints. They looked Survival of The Fittest in the eyes and laughed. When caught, they’re usually found with missing legs, which will regrow when they molt. So I guess it’s alright to have weak ass legs if they regrow.

These guys live a long time, about 100 years. So remember, these things are older than you and often will outlive you, a baby will likely be there past your life, past your child(ren)’s lives, and maybe some of your grandchild(ren)’s lives. Assuming you have kid(s) and they have kid(s). Some things exist to keep us humble and remind us of the inevitable end and remind us how small we are in the whole universe, and this is one of them.

These guys live at about 50-600 meters under the surface, mostly in Honshū, Kagoshima Prefecture, and Tokyo Bay. Deep as fuck.

King Crabs are a type of decorator crab. Juveniles put little sponges and other things on their shells to camouflage. Adults don’t seem to exhibit this behavior, given they have very few predators where they live. Which is like, what the heck evolution I want a giant crab with a little sea sponge on it’s head. Eat a dick. And go fix what you did with humans and periods instead of pulling this shit-

Ehem.

While this species has not been reviewed for conservation status, they are thought to be doing just fine, there has been a decline in large-scale fishing for them because of how deep they live so deep. And climate change doesn’t seem to be affecting them so far. The moral here is if you evolve to live so deep capitalism won’t bother you. So this is why I am moving into the midnight zone wanna come-

Though Japan considers them a delicacy, but will not allow fishing during breeding season. Which is awesome! This prevents a severe decline by letting them reproduce and make more so that when a some adults are taken for food it doesn’t hurt the population. When we don’t do this, we end up with empty lakes/rivers that have to be filled with farm grown fish that aren’t as big as they were before. This has literally happened in the US. A lake/river my dad and/or other male family member used to fish in was overfished and a farm grown population had to be made to replace them. Don’t overfish y’all, don’t take home small fish, they’re likely babies/juveniles, and make sure that there’s a firm limit and little/no fishing during a breeding season.

I don’t believe that has been done with ocean animals, the best we can do then is rescue injured creatures and release them when better, and prevent them from getting to endangered in the first place.

I love my dear Japanese Spider Crabs, even if they’re slightly terrifying, they deserve to be protected forever.

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exandrianxnightsxdm · 4 years

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The Adventure Begins || Thread 001 || Quest 001

welcome to Wildemount.

The year is 836 P.D., or post Divergence, this continent is divided both by jagged terrain and political powers. The Menagerie Coast, a collection of city states united under the Clovis Concord, monopolizes the southwestern shores and ports of Wildemount, thriving on open trade and cultural freedom. Beyond the Cyrios Mountains lies the massive region known as Wynandir, bisected by the Ashkeeper Peaks. Eastern Wynandir houses the expansive wastes and turbulent badlands of Xhorhas, overrun with all manner of beasts and terrors; relics from the final battles of the Calamity; a ruinous, scarred landscape. Western Wynandir calls itself home to the powerful, religiously conservative and militant state of the Dwendalian Empire.

This story, however, begins in the north eastern reaches of Wildemount, in the lawless lands known as the Greying Wildlands. Separated from the Dwendalian Empire by the jagged Dunrock Mountains and the Quannah Breach, this landscape of dense, desiccated forests, rolling mountains, and icy tundra finds itself relatively unclaimed by human hands. A curse is said to taint the land, making survival a constant challenge for those that find themselves outside of the established blips of society.

The southern section of the Greying Wildlands is known as the Savaliarwood, renamed but three centuries ago from it’s prior designation of the “Veluthil Forest”. The once beautiful thicket has, in the time since the fall of Molaesmyr, became corrupted; the trees resemble less of a thicket and more of gnarled, cursed wood and the creatures that dwell within have begun to evolve into unrecognizable monstrosities.

The northwestern area of the Greying Wildlands is known as the Crystalsands Tundra. Once a beautiful expanse that connected into the Veluthil Forest to the south, this land is rumored to have been ravaged during The Calamity. A battle so intense that the region was dashed into rock and sand in which winter quickly reclaimed it as a new, icy desert. Tall dunes glitter like piles of diamonds in the daylight, shifting with high winds and the movements of creatures that burrow and hunt beneath the sands. Between the giant hawks and owls that fly over from the Flotket Alps, the nomadic goblinoids that stalk the frost dunes in search of food, and the creatures that lurk beneath the surface of the shifting sands in their ice-marked tunnels, most adventurers prefer to find magically means of moving from place to place or choose their travel paths with extreme caution.

To the east of the Savaliarwood lays the Rime Plains - fields of rolling tundra with bursts of boreal forest that seems to stretch on and on, covering the entirety of the southeastern section of the Greying Wildlands. The Rime Plains are mostly open, untamed wilderness where survival depends on one’s ability to endure the elements and navigate the wilds skillfully. More than the natural wilds lurks around each turn, though, as nomadic bands of Orcs known as the Jez-Araz react violently to anyone and anything they come across as they navigate the Plains.

Our story, however, begins much smaller. Nestled among the northwestern part of the low cliff boundary of the Crystalsands Tundra, along the cold shore of the Frigid Depths is the village of Palebank. The denizens of Palebank often take to ice fishing, trapping, or hunting, returning in small caravanas to Uthodurn within the Flotket Alps to sell their wares and restock their supplies. Territorial monsters wander close to the village, so rotating squads of Glassblades - the protective force that keeps an eye on Palebank Village for the capital city of Uthodurn - are assigned to protect the people.

Within the wooden palisades that protect the outer edge of the village there are over a hundred shacks and cabins - some living quarters, some shops - with no true layout to the town. On the outer edge, toward the northern cliff that overlooks the docks rests the town graveyard, and beside that -- The Shattered Rose Inn. It is here, along the snowy coat of the Frigid Depths, that a handful of wandering destinies begin to intersect. The Inn has a quaint appearance, it’s ramshackle building houses a two-story inn and pub that is known for its ostentatious storytelling barmaid and cheap housing for drunkards and adventurers alike.

The sun hangs low in the sky on the evening of Conthsen in the month of Misuthar as a group gathers -- not at the Inn that you had been instructed to arrive at, but at the graveyard beside it. Snow gently falls from the sky and wind bites your cheeks as you stand on the outer edge of the graveyard, listening to folks giving their last goodbyes as the body of a local dwarf named Urgon Wenth is lowered into a freshly dug grave.

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whitecrossgirl · 5 years

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Then comes another...

AN: So I was thinking about the whole prophecy thing and how it could have been adapted to mean Brienne was the one it was about. Part of me wanted to write a serious piece about Cersei’s descent into madness and seeking to destroy Brienne. Then the other part of me said “screw it; write a cheesy Snow White AU” so nearly 4000 words later here we are. Enjoy, I guess.

Queen you shall be until comes another, Younger, more beautiful, to cast you down And take all that you hold dear

Those were the words that had haunted her since that fateful night. She knew she would be Queen and that someday, some upstart harlot would try to steal her throne from her. She had always expected that it would be some simpering maiden like Sansa Stark or a scheming whore like Margaery Tyrell; who would convince themselves that marrying her son would assist them in snatching her throne. She had not expected this.

She had realised too late; that even back then, she had already been a queen. She had been Jaime’s queen. He had adored her, worshipped her, treated her like the Queen she had been destined to become. He had even used it as her nickname; my queen. He used it when they had played as small children with Tyrion toddling behind them like the unwanted nuisance he was. He used it as a teasing insult if he was annoyed at her or if she made him do something he didn’t want to do. He used it the first time they had been together. She was his Queen. He was sworn to her and only her. There had never been another woman in his life; she had made sure of that. The whore Melara had been strangled and dumped in a well; the little dolt had been so convinced that she would marry Jaime. How wrong she was.

Melara had been her first example of a potential fulfiller of the prophecy. She had been beautiful, a kind, comely face, long brown hair, a sweet simpering voice. A perfect little lady who could be courteous and sing songs and be the perfect lady for her brother’s arm. Of course she had to go. However Melara had been her example for the sort of woman who would pose a threat. Cersei had expected the woman to be in that mould; a typical lady with exceptional beauty to appear more beautiful than her.

This hadn’t been what she had had in mind. The great lumbering beast who Jaime had dragged back to Kings Landing with him. Brienne the Beauty, the world had dubbed her and not in the kindest of ways. Cersei had almost wanted to laugh at the sight of her, extraordinarily tall; broad shoulders, lumbering in armour or men’s clothing, the gods had been cruel when they gave her beauty to some milkmaid somewhere. She wanted to laugh but then she spotted how Jaime looked at her. Like she was the Maiden made flesh. Like she had hung the moon and the stars. Like she was the only woman in the world.

Jaime only ever looked at her like that before.

That had been Cersei’s warning sign and she realised that Brienne the Beauty was a potential threat. She had taken to observing her personally whenever she could. Usually wherever the beast was, Jaime was never too far behind. He rarely spent time with her anymore and when they were together, he seemed almost repulsed by her and their relationship. That had to be Brienne’s control over Jaime. All of his attentions, focus and dare she think, devotion, seemed to be aimed at Brienne the Beast.

None of it made sense. Not until she considered the words of the prophecy again. Prophecies were never expressed clearly; there was always a twist or a hidden meaning to the words. Brienne of Tarth was as much referred to as a Beauty as Cersei was herself; albeit mockingly. She was younger than Cersei too and it seemed like she had Jaime in the palm of her hand. Wherever she went, Jaime followed. Whatever she did, Jaime mimicked. Whatever she said, Jaime agreed with. He was completely under Brienne’s control.

And Cersei loathed her for it.

If it was true, if Brienne was the one foretold of; then she would have to do what she always did to a threat; eliminate it. Cersei walked to her window and looked into the gardens below. Jaime was standing below a tall tree with Tommen beside him, both of them were looking up into the branches above them, which shook and swayed as Brienne climbed up them like the wild animal she was.

“I’ve got him,” Brienne said as she gently picked up the cat with one hand, using the other to keep her grip on the trunk. Ser Pounce was Prince Tommen’s favourite cat and had managed to get itself stuck in the tree. Brienne had spent her childhood climbing trees, scrambling over cliffs and causeways and so had pulled herself into the branches with ease. As she climbed back down, she stopped on one of the sturdy lower branches and reached down. She was close enough for Jaime to reach the cat and pass it to Tommen but still high enough to indulge her childish love for climbing trees and being high off the ground.

“Thank you, Lady Brienne,” Tommen said with a genuine smile. He had liked the lady warrior who had returned his uncle to the capital. She was kind, clever, considerate and brave. Even though she was a woman, if he ever became King, he would knight her. Or he would let her and Uncle Jaime get married; they were clearly in love with each other and Grandfather had said how he was trying to arrange a marriage for all of the family, including Uncle Jaime.

“It was nothing, Your Grace,” Brienne replied as Tommen walked off, carrying Ser Pounce in his arms. As soon as he was out of earshot, she smiled at Jaime. “He’s a sweet boy.”

“Unlike the rest of us?” Jaime teased and Brienne shrugged her shoulders.

“You said it, not me.” Brienne replied and Jaime grinned. “What?”

“You never speak like that, you almost sounded like me.” Jaime said as Brienne grabbed an apple from the tree and tossed it at him, hitting his shoulder. “Now, now, there’s no need for that.”

“You started it.” Brienne said as she picked herself an apple and bit into it. “How is your training coming?”

“Terrible but as long as I’m better than everyone else, it doesn’t matter.” Jaime said, glaring at the useless lump of metal attached to his stump. A hook would have been more useful or even a wooden hand. This was gaudy, ostentatious, arrogant; his family all over.

“I beat you,” Brienne reminded. “That was before you lost your hand.”

“I had also been a captive for quite some time then, not being able to practice has that effect.” Jaime retorted as Brienne smiled. “What?”

“That sounds like someone making up an excuse.” Brienne said almost playfully. Jaime liked this side of her; the side that she always seemed to hide away from the world. Whether it was just how she was raised or a lack of confidence, Jaime wasn’t sure but he wished that he could help her bring that side of her out of her shell.

“It’s true. Had I been at my full strength with both my hands, I would have won.” Jaime claimed as Brienne smiled at him. He loved that smile; it was never forced or false and it seemed to light up her whole face and made her eyes shine. He had known that he had been falling for her throughout their journey to Kings Landing; they had built that trust and friendship and for Jaime, it had evolved into something more. He knew that the feelings he had for Brienne went beyond friendship but he also knew that she only had platonic feelings for him and he didn’t want to push her into anything that made her uncomfortable.

“If you say so,” Brienne said as she looked from the branch to the ground. Brienne bit into the apple, clamping it between her teeth so that she could hold onto the branch and control her jump to the ground. As she straightened herself up and removed the apple from the ground, she noticed the strange expression on Jaime’s face. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Jaime replied quickly. I love you. “Are you seeing Lady Sansa today?”

“I am, I should go.” Brienne said; she wasn’t sure why but there seemed to be a shift between her and Jaime within the past few moments. She couldn’t put her finger on it but it was a strange feeling between them. Jaime was her closest friend but this didn’t feel like friendship right now. She would give it some thought later but for now, she would visit Lady Sansa. The poor girl was still struggling with the loss of her mother and brother. Any support Brienne could give her would hopefully help the poor child.

As Brienne walked out of the gardens, Jaime could feel the foolish smile that was crossing his face. He had never felt like this before. Brienne seemed to be in all his thoughts, he always seemed to be thinking about her, wanting to spend time with her. When they were together, he wanted to take her hand, hold her close, to kiss her. He had felt lust before. He had felt familial love. Those two had been dangerously crossed with Cersei in the past where the combination and the knowledge it was wrong had strengthened it.

How he felt with Brienne just felt so right. It felt as if this was how things meant to be. It was as if all the stories, all the songs, made sense. Jaime wasn’t sure how to proceed. Should he tell Brienne how he felt? Would he give her gifts? Would she believe him? Would she think that he was mocking her or even worse; would she think he was a fool and laugh at him? If she rejected his feelings, he would accept it and understand. But if she didn’t think they were real; it would devastate him.

Finally, Jaime dragged himself back to reality as Bronn gave a sharp whistle and held out his sword. Jaime forced the smile from his face, the last thing he wanted was to give Bronn another reason to mock him. Not about Brienne. Never about Brienne. As Jaime walked across the gardens, he didn’t see Cersei step away from her window and stormed across the room; snapping at her handmaidens to leave her alone as she did. She could see what Jaime didn’t want her to see. He thought himself to be in love with the beast. As she stormed through the Red Keep; the words she had heard from Maggy the Frog began to echo in her head.

Queen you shall be until comes another, Younger, more beautiful, to cast you down And take all that you hold dear

Cersei knew how to deal with a problem. She had useful people; people who would do what she asked, no questions asked. However, the beast was a bigger threat; Jaime rarely left her side and she knew that the beast would be able to handle almost anyone in a fight. She also had to be clever about it; as much as she loathed the Beast; the Beast was from a noble family; a small house, but still a noble family. She couldn’t have her murdered outright but an accident… accidents can easily be arranged.

Cersei had found Qyburn to be a strange man, but a clever one. One who knew a lot about sciences and blood magic and experiments. She wanted something specific. One that would eliminate the beast but also test Jaime. This would be his test; who did he truly love? Her or the beast? She had to marvel at the man’s ability to create such a toxin that matched what she needed. It had initially been only a rumour, one that had existed only in children’s stories but had actually existed. It was rare and the cure was even rarer. Hence why it would be the perfect test for Jaime. It took a few days but it was finally ready.

A poison that would be coated over the skin of an apple; one of the apples from the tree that Jaime and Brienne had been talking in and around outside Cersei’s window. A fitting touch; it was where Jaime had betrayed her after all. Cersei coated the apple in the poison, seeping it enough so the poison could sink under the skin and infect the fruit inside. She clutched it carefully by the stem and carefully made her way to Brienne’s chamber. One way or another, it would end today.

Cersei entered Brienne’s chamber, content that it was empty. She looked around the sparsely decorated room. Surely the beast would have been more comfortable in the stable. It was then that she spotted the piece of blue fabric that had been folded on the table. Cersei examined the gift and scoffed. A shawl. There was no shawl large enough for the beast to drape over her shoulders. A quilt would have been a better gift. Although, she had to admit, it was a beautiful shawl; an attractive shade of deep, royal blue and made of Myrish lace. That was expensive. The thought of Jaime, her Jaime, spending so much money on attempting to turn the beast into a beauty; one more beautiful than her; that Cersei snatched up the shawl. In its place, she left the apple; scarlet, shining, appealing for anyone to take a bite.

Cersei cleaned her hands and draped the shawl around her shoulders and hid herself behind the dressing screen, waiting for her plan to play out. She didn’t have to wait long. It took little time for Brienne to return to her chamber.

Brienne rubbed her shoulder as she entered her chamber. She had spent the afternoon training with Jaime and Tyrion’s sellsword Bronn. It had been good to keep training and practising and with Bronn being a sellsword; he didn’t always fight with the same honour that most men she fought with did. She had also made sure to keep an eye on Sansa Stark and that she was being treated well by Tyrion. She could see a lot of Lady Catelyn’s strength in her daughter and if she could protect one of the Stark girls, then she and Jaime would have kept their word. Brienne rested her sword against the table and spotted the apple resting on top with an untidily scribbled note next to it.

A gift for you – Jaime

Brienne smiled at the apple, wondering if it came from the same tree that she had climbed the other day. She was still trying to work out the strange shift in Jaime’s behaviour. Part of her dared to think that maybe he did feel something more than friendship towards her; even though it was a reckless idea. No man would ever fall in love with her; Jaime could have any beautiful lady, why would he have feelings for her. Brienne dismissed the thought as she turned the apple over in her hands before she bit into the apple. The skin snapped under her teeth and the fruit was ripe with the sweet juice slipping over her tongue. The apples tasted so good that as the bite slipped down her throat, it could have made her weak at the knees.

In fact, it did make her weak at the knees.

Brienne felt her legs give way, her head was spinning as her throat began to constrict, preventing her from breathing. She tried to stick her fingers down her throat to induce vomiting but her arms felt like lead weights and she couldn’t lift them. Her vision was swimming as she gasped for air. As she looked up, she saw a flash of green and gold. Jaime?

“No, wrong twin but don’t worry, he’ll be here soon. Eat up,” Cersei mocked as she covered her hand with her sleeve and clamped it over Brienne’s mouth, forcing her to chew and swallow the rest of the apple. Despite her weakening strength, Brienne attempted to move her arms to push Cersei away until the world spun once more and turned black. As Brienne’s body collapsed to the floor, Cersei gave her an unsympathetic look before lazily slicing off the part of her sleeve that had come into contact with Brienne’s mouth and tossed it into the fire.

A pity.

That was her favourite dress. Yet another thing of hers that had been ruined by the beast. Cersei straightened the shawl over her shoulders and stood back behind the screen. She knew that Jaime always visited the beast around this time every evening. It wouldn’t be long now.

Jaime grinned to himself as he walked towards Brienne’s chamber. He was excited to see if she liked the shawl he had bought her. Jaime knew that it wasn’t much; if he could, he would give her all seven kingdoms; but it was a start. A small token of his affection and appreciation. The dark blue would complement her eyes and even if she doubted her appearance; he was certain that she would look beautiful in it. She looked beautiful in anything and he had been a damned fool to have ever thought otherwise.

“Brienne? Are you in?” Jaime called but received no answer. The door was slightly ajar as he pushed it open with his hand. Brienne hadn’t given him a response but he walked in anyway. Even if she was getting dressed or having a wash; that didn’t faze him. They had shared a bath together; they’d seen each other wash and dress and piss and shit throughout their journey. Privacy didn’t exist between them. It never really had.

“Brienne?” Jaime called again as he spotted her prone form lying on the floor. She was lying on her side, her arm outstretched with an apple just out of reach. She didn’t stir at the sound of his voice and he knew something was seriously wrong. Jaime rushed to her side and turned her onto her back. He could feel what felt like a very weak pulse under his fingers and the faintest flutter of her breath from her lips. He didn’t understand what was happening but he was certain that Brienne was dying. This couldn’t happen! Not to Brienne! He couldn’t lose her! She couldn’t die!

Panic overtook Jaime as he began to shake her shoulders. This wasn’t real. It was a dream; a nightmare. She would wake up and everything would be fine. “Brienne, wake up! Please wake up!”

“She won’t wake,” Cersei said as she emerged from behind the screen, idly playing with the Myrish lace in between her fingers. “Not yet.”

“Cersei, what did you do to her?” Jaime asked shakily as Cersei looked at him coldly. It was like he was finally seeing her, seeing the real her. Had she always been so cruel? So evil? It was like he was looking at a stranger, a stranger he had always known but refused to see.

“What did I do?” Cersei mocked as her expression darkened. “What did she do, Jaime? She turned you away from me, against me and against our children. She’s changed you, made you forget what’s really important.”

“Or maybe she helped me see the truth, what was really important.” Jaime retorted as he lifted her slightly, supporting her limp head and neck. “Cersei, tell me, what have you done? She can’t die, she’s committed no crimes, no treason, nothing that deserves this.”

“She has turned you against your queen; that is treason. She’s been poisoned; Qyburn is the cleverest man I know; he was able to create a poison so rare that the only thing that is rare is the cure.” Cersei explained.

“What’s the cure?” Jaime asked and Cersei sneered at him. It twisted her features into something demonic and evil; again he had to wonder if it had always been there.

“Come now Jaime, surely you can piece it together. The young maiden, whose beauty was known more than all others, the apple, laced with a rare poison with a rare cure. And you; the dashing knight, the hero, here to save the day.” Cersei mocked. “You’re not that stupid Jaime, put it together.”

And he did. It had been their favourite story as children. Cersei had a fondness for the idea of a mirror that could answer any truth. Tyrion had liked that there was at least one story where the dwarves were not treated like monsters and Jaime had liked the dashing prince who came riding in to save the day. In that story, the prince woke the sleeping maiden with…

“But Cersei that doesn’t exist! It’s just a child’s story!” Jaime argued and Cersei shrugged her shoulders dismissively.

“Well, then she’ll die. The poison will rot away her body from the inside; she’ll be unconscious for the whole thing so she shouldn’t feel too much pain. There is only one way for you to save her. If you truly love her, if you’ve betrayed me for her, then she will live. Do nothing or if you are loyal to me, then she’ll die. You have a choice Jaime, choose.” Cersei stated as Jaime’s mind raced.

Did he love Brienne? Of course he did. More than he had ever loved anyone. Yet that story ended with the prince and maiden living happily ever after. Such a thing did not exist in Westeros and it definitely would not exist if Brienne survived. If she could only survive through Jaime’s love; then unless there was a way to control Cersei’s madness or if they left the court and never returned, then there was a possibility. Although how did he know that this wasn’t just some cruel trick of Cersei’s? A way to draw out Brienne’s death and Jaime’s agony of having to watch her die?

As he tried to think of what to do, Jaime felt Brienne’s pulse again and to his horror, it seemed to have become even fainter than it had before. There was no other option, no more time. Brienne was dying and she would die if Jaime didn’t at least try to help her. All he could do, was try.

I love you Brienne, Jaime thought as he leaned over and pressed his lips to hers.

#game of thrones #fic #hella long fic #braime #jaimexbrienne #brienne of tarth #Jaime Lannister #Cersei Lannister #cheesy as fuck au #cersei cray cray in this one

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scifigeneration · 5 years

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“Godzilla: King of the Monsters”, “Godzilla” and its evolving environmental messages

by Alan Marshall

A new Godzilla mega-movie is rampaging across the globe, its giant green monster stomping and screeching upon the silver screen.

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Trailer for the 2019 movie Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Legendary Pictures. Director: Michael Dougherty)

Since its first appearance in 1954 as a mutated dinosaur-like monster, Godzilla has often spread an environmental message to the public – though the exact make-up of the message has evolved over time.

Once synonymous with the monstrous nature of nuclear disaster, the new movie seems to ditch Godzilla’s old anti-nuclear stance to focus on environmental concerns more presently in the public mind, like climate change and mass extinction. The film’s cast and producers have noted and endorsed this environmental theme.

Godzilla now

The 2019 Godzilla outing sets up the titular monster as an ancient natural being, evolved a long time ago when the Earth was far more radioactive. The monster is presented as a guardian of nature seeking to bring balance to a world messed up by human activity.

In this latest Godzilla, nuclear energy is natural and nuclear bombs are benign since the monster uses atomic power to energise himself in his battles against a suite of enemy monsters. The Godzilla monster also enters into an alliance with the United States military to vanquish their common enemies and to claim the throne of “King of the Monsters”.

The Godzilla of 2019 will seem like pretty shallow “eco-cinema” to most environmentalists. Yet deeper eco-films like An Inconvenient Truth or Before the Flood might only be viewed by those already swayed by environmental arguments. Godzilla has potential “broad spectrum” advantage, seducing a much wider audience into sitting in on a film with an environmental back story.

If we’re feeling charitable, we can conjecture that some proportion of this wider audience might be pushed a little more toward caring about the present-day environmental crisis. Alas, though, a critical reflection upon 2019’s Godzilla would resist the idea that “nukes” or “the military” can serve as saviours of the Earth.

The most recent Godzilla producers have enjoyed a good working relationship with the US military in order to credibly represent the army and navy on screen. Such relationships assure filmmakers access to spectacular military hardware – tanks and warships, for instance. The US Army seems very happy with the results but, given the environmental impact of military activities, the producers might have done better to work with conservationists as they strove to envision Godzilla as an ecological being.

Godzilla in the past

Godzilla in fiction is some 65 million years old. In fact, he’s a mere 65.

The very first Godzilla movie, or Gojira in Japanese, was made in Japan in 1954; the monster being accidentally exhumed by an atomic bomb test in the Pacific Ocean. The monster then came ashore to destroy the capital Tokyo.

The message of the first Godzilla was clear: nuclear bombs and nuclear pollution are monstrous; messing about with them will invite catastrophe upon both nature and humanity. Such a theme resonated strongly in a nation that had recently lived through the devastating Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear attacks on Japan.

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Trailer for the 1954 movie Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Toho. Director: Ishirō Honda).

However, if Godzilla’s primary goal was to fend off dangerous nuclear development, it failed. Japan soon embarked upon a massive nuclear energy program.

As well as being ineffectual, Godzilla might also be regarded as unoriginal. Many science-fiction fans acknowledge that 1954’s Godzilla was inspired by a 1953 Hollywood “creature feature”, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, whose gigantic dinosaur “star” was also born from a nuclear test blast.

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Japan’s Atomic Monsters – Origins and Legacy (2019) Producers: Alan Marshall & Nanthawan Kaenkaew.

The writers of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms managed to shine a light on their own militarised society, the US, outlining the horrendous power of homemade mega-weapons. However, the 1954 Godzilla writers did no such thing; they blamed Godzilla’s monstrous birth not on any homemade Japanese military endeavour but upon US nuclear bomb tests in the Pacific.

By doing this, the original Godzilla avoids investigating Japan’s own mid-century fixations with military power and chooses instead to apportion the majority of the moral blame for the second world war’s “horrific violence” upon the US and its inhumane nuclear bombs. This anti-American attitude had to be edited out of the 1954 Godzilla film before hitting US cinemas.

The evolution of Godzilla

Since the 1954 movie, more than 30 Godzilla features have been produced.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Godzilla became memorably kitschy. There’s nothing so camp as two actors dressed up in rubber whilst trading blows as grinning monsters. Some film critics deride these ’60s and ’70s versions as artless and childish, but others have noted the value and charm of showcasing beloved monsters as eccentric anti-heroes whose battles could be imaginatively emulated by excited schoolchildren.

As light-hearted as they were, the 1960s and 1970s Godzilla movies often managed to spread an environmental message by resurrecting the anti-nuclear theme or by referencing other kinds of pollution.

For example, the 1971 movie Godzilla Vs the Smog Monster flags up the horrific character of marine pollutants and urban smog.

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Trailer for the 1971 movie Godzilla vs The Smog Monster (Toho. Director: Yoshimitsu Banno).

In the 2014 Godzilla movie, the anti-nuclear message seems for a moment to reappear. The opening act portrays a nuclear plant suffering a Fukushima-type meltdown and an abandoned city that resembles a Fukushima ghost town in Japan.

However, we soon learn the disaster is caused by a gigantic radiation-hungry mutant and not by safety lapses or general technological hubris.

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Trailer for the 2014 movie Godzilla (Legendary Pictures. Director: Gareth Edwards).

All in all, Godzilla has often been praised by critics and fans as reflecting public concerns about environmental disaster. Yet the environmental messages that many Godzilla episodes convey is often so encumbered with competing narratives, and also by the need for fantastic spectacle, that the eco-message is confused or diminished.

About The Author:

Alan Marshall is a Lecturer in Environmental Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Mahidol University

This article is republished from our content partners over at The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

#movies #science fiction #science fiction and fantasy #godzilla #godzilla king of the monsters

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thelimeonade · 6 years

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Introducing my WIPs

As requested by the very welcoming, funny @zburatorii

Evolve: to forget is my current online WIP! You can find it on Wattpad by clicking on here! It is the first part of a trilogy! It’s dystopian\Utopian along with adventure, fiction with side themes such as thriller, romance. The book revolves in the future after WW8 has been declared over, leaving mankind on the verge of extinction and now all inhabiting a small area in, what was previously known as, Western Europe. They are now all united under one flag, one crown, one government: The United Kingdom of Mekar. -->Le blurp\Description: Man's greed for power and dominance has always been the reason. The greatest proof of this is the Era of the inhumane, barbaric World Wars which sent mankind scuttling to unite their numbers to avoid extinction. Limited to a small area in - what was once - Western Europe, a new civilization awoke: The United Kingdom of Mekar. Divided into eight sections plus the Royal Capital of Orbis. The most brutal, yet efficient, way of survival where 'To Forget is To Evolve', with it the past has been demolished with ferocity to avoid another uprising risking their extinction. Many believe that those ways are effective. But there are others who strongly beg to differ; however, they can't expose themselves as it meant risking their lives. Emilia Adonis, a 25 year old woman from Hell-Bay, the most discarded section of Mekar, has been chosen by King Jayden to represent her section in The Versency - the royal race that takes place every time the King or Queen of Mekar dies. The greatest event in the history of the Kingdom where death becomes your constant companion with the final line either being your ultimate death in the most gruesome way, or the throne of Mekar. With the fate of thousands of Hell-Bayers resting on her shoulder, Emilia strives to reach the throne and end the period of negligence that loomed over the section ever since its formation (due to the fact that no Hell-Bay contestant has ever won The Versency). She teams up with Zain and Hailey Hill, twins from Hell-Bay whose future is also dependent on the throne. They all face problems igniting between them along with the trail of mercenaries and royal beasts unleashed on the contestants. But what exactly happens when a lot more than beasts are threatening your life? When those who abide by the system meet the rebels? When the past clashes with the present, affecting the future and nothing is as it seems? When the race becomes a prison with no way out whether you win or lose? [P.s. Thanks to @mediocre-prose for promoting this book]

Pontifex this is an under-development book that is not published online nor is placed on draft; however, all the ideas and main plot points are written down in a notebook. This book is action\crime following serial killer and hit-man Xavier Pontifex also known as The Phoenix who has been active for over a total of twenty years without leaving a single trace behind. It’s part one of a two book series. [Second book follows Xavierre Pontifex, his daughter] --> le blurp\Description: Xavier Pontifex: A man who has the looks, the charm, the strength, the agility, the wit and the reflex to rule the entire world single handed without failing. He may look like the typical person, with a normal job, but what he harbors underneath is much darker. Being a professional killer, a hit-man, a serial killer that leaves no piece of evidence or trace behind, sending the world into chaos as they try to find out his identity, labeling him as ‘The Phoenix’ always comes with a price. From the streets of Florence, Italy to those of New York, U.S.A. we follow Xavier Pontifex on his journey for self-comfort and ridding himself of the demons in his head, his own twin brother. Facing more conflicts than ever and realizing that the rule ‘Only a life can pay for another’ is much more than it really is…

Onyx Ivories is an online work on Wattpad that is on pause and editing since I realized that dumbass me forgot to write down VERY IMPORTANT KEY POINTS THROUGHOUT THE BOOK and now shit is ruined. It’s an action fiction but you won’t find that out until the second part in the book [Since the book is split into two major parts and an epilogue] P.s. the blurp is misleading (because I am an evil writer) You can check itout by clicking here!! --> le blurp\Description: Aqua Abraham steps off the bus into Pyro Camp where she intends to achieve all her dreams with one stone - winning her Ex back, Julian Monroe, as well as a scholarship. By rolling her onyx 5 ten-sided dice given to her on her first night, she's given one unique 5-digit code that's her key to everything around the camp along with adventures, little does she know the secrets that the code with the dice hold. It won't only lead her to all her dreams but also something much bigger.

Extinct Galactic MY BABY, MY PRIDE AND JOY, MY MOST DEVELOPED LIL CUPCAKE WHO I AM INTENDING FOR PUBLISHING!!!! It’s a four to six book series!!! And the plot and idea is too big to fit here but I’ll be sharing Excerpts of it here! (better than the last shitty one that you can read over here, I promise) It’s a sci-fi\Fantasy series THAT WILL BLOW YOUR WIG OFF ALL THE WAY TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE UNIVERSE!!! [Hopefully....] For more details click heeeereeee!! (p.s. Characters page is still a wip) --> faint blurp: When the Creator of all Life –Pratham– is gone, killed by the Council of the Universe, and Death–Azazel lives on, the Council would do anything to right their wrong before Azazel’s darkness wipes the entire universe out. Including exterminating an entire race, an entire galaxy to find life again. --> a few quotes: “Perhaps we were created to die in order to right a wrong. We were never meant to exist.” -Aximus Power [Book Character] “Today, we write history. We will no longer be degraded as Dunams, we will show them what mankind, children of Milkyway, has to offer of courage, loyalty and wits.” -Kahera [Book Character] “I didn’t know what you have done to save us. I only saw a self-centered, demanding, spoiled brat Queen on a throne... not the selfless warrior who drained herself every single day to keep us alive in secret.” -Ximen Cysgod [Book Character] “You have disowned her, you have treated her like scum, you have let her die in vain, you didn’t do shit to stop Jobiia from taking her when she had given up everything to save us! To save the people who had abandoned her! and now you dishonor her last wishes? How fucking dare you?” -Frontress Pulse [Book Character]

yes I have a wip that’s based off Egyptian Mythology but no details yet

I have a million old ideas that I am thinking about rewriting but let’s just get through this first

I also have a sappy romance novel that.... will never see light

Welp. That’s all for now!!!!

As you can see I am quite experienced in multiple genres so I can give you a billion tips on how to survive!

Tell me which WIP is by far the one you are most excited to read!!!

Please reblog and/or like this if you like my WIPs introduction and want to see more! Follow me if you are feeling kind and I’ll follow you back and whoever reblogs this!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL *drops microphone*

Feel free to send me any questions, requests, asking for help, compliments, whatever you like by clicking here!

For my latest Tips on ‘How to write an Evil character’ click here!

For more about me click here!!!

For my Lime-blr (Writeblr) intro, click here!! [idk why I added it... just felt like it]

#writer #writers #new writeblr #writeblr #new writers on tumblr #new writerblr #new writer #my wips #wips #so many wips #too many wips #thelimeonade #Extinct Galactic #im dying #book #my book #idk how to tag this

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afrikan-mapambano · 6 years

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George Jackson: Black Revolutionary

By Walter Rodney, November 1971 :

"To most readers in this continent, starved of authentic information by the imperialist news agencies, the name of George Jackson is either unfamiliar or just a name. The powers that be in the United States put forward the official version that George Jackson was a dangerous criminal kept in maximum security in Americas toughest jails and still capable of killing a guard at Soledad Prison. They say that he himself was killed attempting escape this year in August. Official versions given by the United States of everything from the Bay of Pigs in Cuba to the Bay of Tonkin in Vietnam have the common characteristic of standing truth on its head. George Jackson was jailed ostensibly for stealing 70 dollars. He was given a sentence of one year to life because he was black, and he was kept incarcerated for years under the most dehumanizing conditions because he discovered that blackness need not be a badge of servility but rather could be a banner for uncompromising revolutionary struggle. He was murdered because he was doing too much to pass this attitude on to fellow prisoners. George Jackson was political prisoner and a black freedom fighter. He died at the hands of the enemy.

Once it is made known that George Jackson was a black revolutionary in the white mans jails, at least one point is established, since we are familiar with the fact that a significant proportion of African nationalist leaders graduated from colonialist prisons, and right now the jails of South Africa hold captive some of the best of our brothers in that part of the continent. Furthermore, there is some considerable awareness that ever since the days of slavery the U.S.A. is nothing but a vast prison as far as African descendants are concerned. Within this prison, black life is cheap, so it should be no surprise that George Jackson was murdered by the San Quentin prison authorities who are responsible to Americas chief prison warder, Richard Nixon. What remains is to go beyond the generalities and to understand the most significant elements attaching to George Jacksons life and death.

When he was killed in August this year, George Jackson was twenty nine years of age and had spent the last fifteen [correction: 11 years] behind bars—seven of these in special isolation. As he himself put it, he was from the lumpen. He was not part of the regular producer force of workers and peasants. Being cut off from the system of production, lumpen elements in the past rarely understood the society which victimized them and were not to be counted upon to take organized revolutionary steps within capitalist society. Indeed, the very term lumpen proletariat was originally intended to convey the inferiority of this sector as compared with the authentic working class.

Yet George Jackson, like Malcolm X before him, educated himself painfully behind prison bars to the point where his clear vision of historical and contemporary reality and his ability to communicate his perspective frightened the U.S. power structure into physically liquidating him. Jacksons survival for so many years in vicious jails, his self-education, and his publication of Soledad Brother were tremendous personal achievements, and in addition they offer on interesting insight into the revolutionary potential of the black mass in the U.S.A., so many of whom have been reduced to the status of lumpen.

Under capitalism, the worker is exploited through the alienation of part of the product of his labour. For the African peasant, the exploitation is effected through manipulation of the price of the crops which he laboured to produce. Yet, work has always been rated higher than unemployment, for the obvious reason that survival depends upon the ability to obtain work. Thus, early in the history of industrialization, workers coined the slogan the right to work. Masses of black people in the U.S.A. are deprived of this basic right. At best they live in a limbo of uncertainty as casual workers, last to be hired and first to be fired. The line between the unemployed or criminals cannot be dismissed as white lumpen in capitalist Europe were usually dismissed.

The latter were considered as misfits and regular toilers served as the vanguard. The thirty-odd million black people in the U.S.A. are not misfits. They are the most oppressed and the most threatened as far as survival is concerned. The greatness of George Jackson is that he served as a dynamic spokesman for the most wretched among the oppressed, and he was in the vanguard of the most dangerous front of struggle.

Jail is hardly an arena in which one would imagine that guerrilla warfare would take place. Yet, it is on this most disadvantaged of terrains that blacks have displayed the guts to wage a war for dignity and freedom. In Soledad Brother, George Jackson movingly reveals the nature of this struggle as it has evolved over the last few years. Some of the more recent episodes in the struggle at San Quentin prison are worth recording. On February 27th this year, black and brown (Mexican) prisoners announced the formation of a Third World Coalition. This came in the wake of such organizations as a Black Panther Branch at San Quentin and the establishment of SATE (Self-Advancement Through Education). This level of mobilisation of the nonwhite prisoners was resented and feared by white guards and some racist white prisoners. The latter formed themselves into a self-declared Nazi group, and months of violent incidents followed. Needless to say, with white authority on the side of the Nazis, Afro and Mexican brothers had a very hard time. George Jackson is not the only casualty on the side of the blacks. But their unity was maintained, and a majority of white prisoners either refused to support the Nazis or denounced them. So, even within prison walls the first principle to be observed was unity in struggle. Once the most oppressed had taken the initiative, then they could win allies.

The struggle within the jails is having wider and wider repercussions every day.

Firstly, it is creating true revolutionary cadres out of more and more lumpen. This is particularly true in the jails of California, but the movement is making its impact felt everywhere from Baltimore to Texas. Brothers inside are writing poetry, essays and letters which strip white capitalist America naked. Like the Soledad Brothers, they have come to learn that sociology books call us antisocial and brand us criminals, when actually the criminals are in the social register. The names of those who rule America are all in the social register.

Secondly, it is solidifying the black community in a remarkable way. Petty bourgeois blacks also feel threatened by the manic police, judges and prison officers. Black intellectuals who used to be completely alienated from any form of struggle except their personal hustle now recognize the need to ally with and take their bearings from the street forces of the black unemployed, ghetto dwellers and prison inmates.

Thirdly, the courage of black prisoners has elicited a response from white America. The small band of white revolutionaries has taken a positive stand. The Weathermen decried Jacksons murder by placing a few bombs in given places and the Communist Party supported the demand by the black prisoners and the Black Panther Party that the murder was to be investigated. On a more general note, white liberal America has been disturbed. The white liberals never like to be told that white capitalist society is too rotten to be reformed. Even the established capitalist press has come out with esposes of prison conditions, and the fascist massacres of black prisoners at Attica prison recently brought Senator Muskie out with a cry of enough.

Fourthly (and for our purposes most significantly) the efforts of black prisoners and blacks in America as a whole have had international repercussions. The framed charges brought against Black Panther leaders and against Angela Davis have been denounced in many parts of the world. Committees of defense and solidarity have been formed in places as far as Havana and Leipzig. OPAAL declared August 18th as the day of international solidarity with Afro-Americans; and significantly most of their propaganda for this purpose ended with a call to Free All Political Prisoners.

For more than a decade now, peoples liberation movements in Vietnam, Cuba, Southern Africa, etc., have held conversations with militants and progressives in the U.S.A. pointing to the duality and respective responsibilities of struggle within the imperialist camp. The revolution in the exploited colonies and neo-colonies has as its objective the expulsion of the imperialists: the revolution in the metropolis is to transform the capitalist relations of production in the countries of their origin. Since the U.S.A. is the overlord of world imperialism, it has been common to portray any progressive movement there as operating within the belly of the beast. Inside an isolation block in Soledad or San Quentin prisons, this was not merely a figurative expression. George Jackson knew well what it meant to seek for heightened socialist and humanist consciousness inside the belly of the white imperialist beast.

International solidarity grows out of struggle in different localities.This is the truth so profoundly and simply expressed by Che Guevara when he called for the creation of one, two, three - many Vietnams. It has long been recognized that the white working class in the U.S.A is historically incapable of participating (as a class) in anti-imperialist struggle. White racism and Americas leading role in world imperialism transformed organized labour in the U.S. into a reactionary force. Conversely, the black struggle is internationally significant because it unmasks the barbarous social relations of capitalism and places the enemy on the defensive on his own home ground. This is amply illustrated in the political process which involved the three Soledad Brothers—George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo and John Clutchette—as well as Angela Davis and a host of other blacks now behind prison bars in the U.S.A."

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