#using that as an example but there are many breeds this applies to. as well as small dogs

[dragpinkman]

seeing a dog breed most people do not have the capacity to handle and properly care for marketed as an easy adopt

[pawborough]

Howdy everyone!

Happy Valentine's day folks! We have the long awaited contest results in this update, as well as some small updates to fauna, and a new system for accessories.

Contest Winner

We previously held a sweepstakes to win a Design An Accessory Tier (1st place) and Monarch Tier (2nd place) and we can now announce the winners!

(We want to apologize for the low quality of the video; we wanted to crop out the advertisements on the website we used)

Over 580 people entered! 

Congratulations to our winners Emma and Erika!

Thank you to everyone who entered!

Fauna Updates

As previously seen with the Featherbeau, Kintsune, and Javasqueak, we have been updating all the fauna art to match the new style overhaul.

Here is a comparison to the old artwork.

Toshi has very minimal changes. There are some minor color and shadow touch-ups, but as this was our most in-style original fauna, very little change was necessary.

Here is the new and old art.

Like the Featherbeau and Kintsune, the Phantowl has a full overhaul. With a more dynamic pose and better detail, we hope to invoke spookiness in the new design.

The new and old designs are below.

Accessories + Dye system 

Speaking of designing accessories, we've finally begun production on our accessories! Here is a preview of what we are working on, showing illustrations of the original Gilded Helm and Iridescent Trail!

Our focus is on adapting challenging items. For example, the Helm, and similar helmet items, provide unique challenges when on fluffy breeds. 

Here are a few previews of our solutions so far:

And here is a preview of our first backer-sponsored design!

Lastly, we’re very excited to announce a system we've been workshopping. 

Accessory dyes! 

PawBorough is built by the players, and it is in our interest as players to have as much quality customizability as possible. We want expansive options! All the recolors!

Accessory dyes will allow users to craft any accessory on the site into a different color. 

The system we are designing incorporates “standard” and “special” dyes. 

Standard dyes are a set number of colors which will be compatible with all accessories, meaning all accessory items get a blanket number of recolors. 

“Special” dyes will only be compatible with certain items, and will include alternative colorings such as rainbow, pastel colors, gradients, patterns, etc! 

The benefit of such a system means all items will get a set number of varieties, and it lets us expand upon certain pieces to include alternative or unique colorings. But it doesn’t commit us to an undoable recolor demand. 

We’re still working out the kinks and pain points, such as easy to see information on what takes a special dye and what doesn’t, but we hope this will prevent item bloat, give users more creative control, and overall improve the gameplay! 

Site Themes 

We’ve started workshopping the Borough themes with our completed assets. Take a look at these previews! 

Zenith 

Luna

Pawprints

Next let’s look at a cute feature we have on the backburner. 

Ever imagine your cat has polydactyly? While we can’t break lineart, we do have a fun new feature for rare cat collectors. Every cat will have their very own paw print on their profile, with a very very small chance of having a sixth toe!

There are 55 unique pawprints!

Have fun trying for cats with silly paws ~

Stonehide texture

We’ve upgraded our asset technology! The rainbow sheen seen here on the scales of the Stonehide was a breakthrough in our coloring limitations. This texture will be applied to mystic breeds in the future and bring further quality to our assets!

Great stuff! 

On the backend, we've not done many notable new things this month, but we're continuing through as we prepare for a dedicated alpha. Longhairs were stuck with file processing complications, but we're working them out and working in tandem!

Speaking of alpha, we're looking at opening free applications for alpha and transitioning from solely an internal to a semi-external volunteer test. More information on this as we grow closer. 

To Summarize: We showed updated Beta, Toshi, Phantowl and accessory assets, the dying system, two new site themes, a cute pawprint feature, and a new texture for mystic breeds.

What to expect next month: Further accessory assets, potential alpha update, and asset and software updates.

Note for Tumblr users: Something went wrong on our end, and while this update got posted to Kickstarter, it somehow did not got posted to Tumblr. We have re-uploaded it now for proper record keeping. Our sincerest apologies.

[lobotomizedlady]

pit bull owners are insane no one would ever argue that you can train the herding instinct out of border collies when you "just raise them right with lots of love ❤️ " or that they only show breed specific behaviour when they are abused by their owner. but somehow breed genetics don't apply to pit bulls

It's hard for people who own and love them to accept that their precious pibbles could in fact snap just like so many other peoples beloved pets have done (with devastating consequences), but that doesn't change the fact that they ARE uniquely dangerous due to selective breeding for aggression, gameness (including their pain sensors practically turning off when they're in fight mode-they have no sense of self preservation which is why you'll sometimes see videos of them attacking horses or buffalo. I've seen videos of pits being stabbed over and over and not letting go of the person they're attacking until they're literally dead, NO other breed behaves like this) and other physiological traits (the wide, locking jaw for example, which is nearly impossible to free yourself from).

"It's the owner not the breed" is one of their favorite excuses after the "b-but they were nanny dogs!!1!" lie (no dog should be watching your children for you let alone a fighting breed) but the fact is even beloved family pitbulls will sometimes maul their owners, like that horrid case I linked to-not to mention many shelters unethically obfuscate the background of the pit they're putting up for adoption so that ppl are more likely to adopt them. Many ARE taken from dog fighting rings and they're also more likely to pass temperament tests bc they are designed to test reactivity NOT aggression and pits often won't show warning signs before attacking so they pass even if they aren't fit for adoption. That's another trait that makes them potentially dangerous (and it's the reason I absolutely hate the temperament test shelters use-it sends good dogs to their death for giving warning signs when they're nervous, AS THEY SHOULD, and allows dangerous dogs to be put up for adoption).

But honestly as much as the pit lobby loves to lie and pay for articles to lie for them (seriously, they have DEEP pockets it's unbelievable when you look into it), the stats are there-bully breeds are responsible for over 60% of the fatal dog attacks on humans despite being a small percentage of the population. Not to mention all the non fatal maulings against humans and the killing of other pets (I personally know people who have had their cats and in one case a large dog killed by off leash pits). Bully breeds are outlawed in 40+ countries for a reason. the pattern keeps repeating and people have noticed it.

Arguing with pit mommy types is pointless though. I've seen them blame toddlers and even literal infants for their own maulings bc "well they must have provoked the poor sweetie!!1!" and campaigning to save dogs who have killed people from being euthanized. They are demented and value the lives of pitbulls over people (and other dog breeds too).

[aikoiya]

LoZ - Gerudo Misandry Is Not Funny Or Okay

I find it really damn odd that so few people talk about misandry when they bring up the Gerudo or the societal norms of other Amazon-esque races.

And even when they do, it seems to always be done with a tone of levity behind it.

As if it isn't every bit as terrible as misogyny.

As if their biological situations don't make men absolutely vital to the continued existence of their people & culture.

So, treating men as less than is as terrible as men treating women the same.

And, honestly? I can't help but see this disregard by fans (especially the feminist fans) as very spiteful.

Like, how do these people not see how this isn't okay?

I mean, no wonder Ganondorf always ends up such a sack of shit!

Seriously girls, imagine what it would be like growing up the only female in a society of all guys.

No maternal figures, no female role models, no female friends, or even acquaintances. And you're unlikely to ever even see another woman until you reach 18-20.

Separated from the most important woman in your life at 3-6, if not birth. To be raised by a pair of warlocks who despise their neighboring kingdom & are intent on turning you into a vile, tyrannical witch.

And every guy around you knows nothing about actual women, just misogynistic stereotypes, so all you can do is apply those same stereotypes to yourself & there's just this general consensus that women are basically unnecessary beyond producing children.

They don't have a single clue about what it means to be a woman. They don't know anything about women's health. No one to explain things to you when you need them most. So, in the end, you're mostly left to figure it all out on your own.

And the only real examples of women you have are people that your adoptive fathers say are oppressing you & your people. So, all you can do is quietly just assume that all women = bad. And that includes you too.

So, all you can do is frantically do everything you can to make yourself useful to these people who, knowingly or unknowingly, look down upon others of your sex.

And therefore, unconsciously, you as well.

And you're expected to rule these people. To lead them into a golden age.

I can't even imagine how damn isolating it must be. I can't imagine the pressure. These are your people, yet even so, you are still alien to them. Still other. Still "not one of them."

And in many ways, a commodity.

Based entirely upon something that you have zero control of.

And upon reaching 18, you're likely used as a breeding mare.

And the only people who could ever truly understand your situation & the pressure that comes with it... are all dead...

Now, switch the sexes & you basically have every Gerudo Voe's reality.

It's no damn wonder that Ganondorf always becomes evil.

There's also the ridiculous superstition that "men bring about disaster."

And then we get into the detrimental affects this shit has on the Vai!

Look at how these women react to just seeing a dude!

And this chick can't even look a man in the eye!

Because, apparently, she's never even seen a real man in person before! So, Link has to freaking wear a full-face mask in order to get her to manage to speak to him!

And let's not even get into what the little Vai wear! The sirwal are fine, it's the tops that need to be changed.

Kids aren't supposed to show that much skin!

LoZ Cultural Masterlist 2

[flimsy-roost]

I'd like to talk about the latest Pokemon Center plush line!

I tend to avoid official nintendo merch, because I give that company enough of my money already. But White was the first Pokemon game I ever played (after saving my allowance for months for it and a used DS lite), so I have a very special place in my heart for gen5/Unova pokemon. When I heard they were releasing a line of Unova "Sitting Cutie" plushes, I wanted to at least check it out.

And I did! And I mildly disappointed my wallet! There are some bangers in here! But there are a lot of... decidedly un-bangers. Tippy-tappers at best. So I wanted to take the time to walk you through some of the ways this line fell short of its central claims: namely, Sits and Cuteness.

"Sitting"

I'd first like to address the distinguishing claim of the line; that each of these plush can sit up unsupported (or, more generously, could be propped up stably).

It would be easy to only give examples of pokemon that shouldn't have been considered for this line at all, of which there are many:

fig. 1) in what universe, praytell

But there were many more that were so, so close to plausibility in the face of physics, that really only needed a modified design direction.

Let's compare Eelektrik (left) to Serperior (right). Eelektrik is extremely top-heavy and prone to tipping, problems which could perhaps have been mitigated by a coiled design (like Serperior), or even as a flat. It could be argued that the current form stays true to the original art, which should always take precedent. I see you, and I hear you, and I disagree

A skosh below the "no way in hell" category of sittability, lay a group of lesser design sins broadly defined as "questionable in the face of a stiff breeze." For many plush in this category, the product designers could learn a thing or two from Toxel:

fig. 2) a well-balanced bean

Put another way, the popular rule-of-thumb "four on the floor," most commonly begged for in the context of starter evolution lines, may be applied to great effect:

Top-heavy Golurk? Four on the floor!

Tall, spindly, misguidedly "source-accurate" Genesect? Four on the floor!

Think of his poor Tepiggy spine! FOUR ON THE FREAKING FLOOR

Purrloin, look! Your big sibling has it down! Get at that generational knowledge, girl!

"Cuties"

I'm not aware of a single official merch line in existence that lacks at least one cursed artifact. Plush are particularly susceptible, and this line is no different.

While I have to give the designers props for a perfectly lovely Mienshao, they canonized my bestie as having a cringe childhood:

All this Mienfoo wants are uppies. How's she gonna kick ass when her feet go straight into her torso? Her glowup will never come if she can't even land a pound.

Entire evolution lines fell prey to design decisions here. Please compare gen5 Elgyem and Beheeyem to their inbred and deformed purebred domesticates:

fig. 3) has IV breeding gone too far?

Let us also more closely examine the full Sandile evolution line compared to wild type examples, as I consider these among the least forgivable offences:

Why is the plush Sandile so sad? Perhaps he knows what is to come.

Where sass? Why snoot so droop????

NO MY CREATCHURE?????? NO NONONO NOT THE SNOOT!!!!!!!

figs. 4-6) look how they slaughtered my boy

Finally, I would like to highlight a subset of the line that has Witnessed The Horrors. These are more subjective in their cuteness. You know the saying; one man's uncanny gremlin is another man's terrified blorbo.

Meet Drilbur, who has recently Seen Some Shit!

fig. 7) the boy who inspired this post, with WT reference

The bug-eyed-ness is what tips this into horror movie prop for me personally. I should not be able to see both his eyes from a diagonal. I could understand how some people could find him endearingly goofy, but my litmus tends to be: would I be amused to open my eyes to see him in the dark at 3am, or would I shit my pants? Drilbur here leans towards the latter.

Here is an example of a shell-shocked friend I find cute:

Crustle, normally hiding safely under their rocky shell, is leaned back to fulfill the barely-followed criteria of "sits," and so turns their eyes to god to ask why he has forsaken them. I love it.

BONUS CONTENT: KERMIT DEINO!!!!

:D

[chibi-lucca]

Dragons: the nine realms rant

THIS WILL HAVE SPOILERS UP TO THE END OF SEASON 4.

“Do you really hate it, or are you just upset it's not Hiccup and the gang?”

me:

So a quick rant about this show. 

I am a huge fan of HTTYD, ROB, DOB, RTTE. I have consumed so much information on the HTTYD universe I could write the book of dragons. - and I’m sure others out there can too! (honestly guys, let's do it.)

Going into this new show, I was skeptical, in fact I was going into this expecting to hate it. 

I didn’t. Here’s why:

In the end of the third movie we say goodbye to the dragons, a choice that many despise. The movies and shows illustrate that people are greedy and cruel and only a few are friends to dragons. As for the real world - anyone remember the Tasmanian tiger? Or how about the number of rhinos and elephants? Wolves going extinct in Yellowstone, having to be reintroduced to the area? Humans can’t even protect the species we have on earth now, what do you think would happen if we had magical fire breathing dragons? This nine realms show give us these answers and much more.

In the beginning of this show we see very familiar drawings and characters, which means the writers are well aware who is watching. They know that this new show will draw in the generation that grew up watching Hiccup and the gang. With that, the show continues to add little easter eggs to tell us who our main character is. They also state that a real dragon is a dead dragon. Meaning the real world situations of humans being cruel to animals applies in this universe. 

To me, this shows Hiccup did the right thing. He made the correct choice. The dragons stayed safe. They were not hunted to extinction, they were protected. As someone who grew up with the OG dragon riders, it does hurt to know they are gone, but this show helped me cope with that. 

The nine realms reveals their legacy! It shows what happened after the movies and that one special. If they were leaving stuff behind, they had to be down there a lot, if not moved down! They weren’t separated forever. Not only that, we know who left behind everything. The Gronckle iron shield?! That was placed in a way to reflect light? It was made to be a beacon. But high enough up that walking wouldn’t work, and in a realm so hot you’d need dragon scale suits to get through. It was placed so only a dragon rider would see it. 

The time capsule!? My gods we all know who made that. The fact that the key is a family heirloom?! Hiccup thought so far ahead you think he could see the future. And then the cave painting!? It also had Toothless! Hiccup was down there with the dragons for so long he left a leg for fuck sake. 

Beside the easter eggs, I saw this new show as a very fun archaeological discovery of our favorite characters, our friends. To figure out what their story was by solving the puzzle like Hiccup would. Instead of being told, we're finding it alongside a descendant of the Vikings we know and love.  

This is a great new story for the next generation who didn’t grow up with Hiccup and the gang; now they have Tom and the team. It's not the same because it's not supposed to be. This is Tom’s story, with added elements of the past so no one forgets the roots. Don’t hate it just because it’s not the same characters you grew up with. It's a new story in the same world. It's Berk's legacy and the start of Tom’s story. 

Honestly I think people’s reactions to this is a good example as to why we don't deserve dragons. Learn to say goodbye. Yes, it hurts, but that's okay. It means you care. 

I am here for DTNR, along with all the new dragons. Before I end this I’ll touch on some topics I've seen floating around.

Toothless descendants are inbred?! 

Uh, I believe that's a no. For one they shoot lightning now, not balls of plasma. Which means they had to breed with another type of dragon. On top of that, who's to say there weren't furies below in the world before? They’d just never gone to the surface. There are nine caverns for the gods’ sakes, there had to be a handful of cave dwelling furies. And yeah they are all nightlights, but again, we’ve only known Toothless’s story, the nine realms are their own story. On top of that, idk if you know this, but after about 800 years, genetics don’t mean shit. So between having a handful of other furies, other dragons, and unclear lifespan, we can assume either one of two things: the genetic line is so muddled it's nonexistent, or dragons live longer than we think and we are still getting through the handful of cave furies. - also meaning Thunder is closer to Toothless’s genetic line (assuming he’s even part of it) than Tom is to Hiccup.  

 Hiccup abandoned their efforts and beliefs in showing people the truth about dragons?!

D-did we watch the same shows and movies? Is that what you got from those movies? If anything the new show just validates the third movie even more. (is that why ya’ll hate it?) They tried guys! They really did, but you saw how out of hand it got in the third movie. On top of that, the amount of people already trying to use dragons in various parts of the archipelago was just the beginning, the third movie showed leaders from all over the world. If Hiccup didn’t make that choice, dragons really would be just a myth. - they would have been hunted to extinction.

Canon cast is dead!?

I mean… death is a part of life. It's in the future. Like go through the stages of grief if you must, but this new show keeps them alive. Their legacy was keeping the dragons safe. They did, and still are, thanks to Tom and his friends. They live through Tom, and possibly Toothless through Thunder. (cue he lives in you from lion king 2) I find it nice learning about the old days while growing fond of the new.

The animation is shit?!

Well compared to the movies of fucking course it is. Now compare it to Miraculous Ladybug. -w- yeah, not so bad now huh?

If the animators had the correct time to work on it, I'm sure it would be better. It's a TV show that still has pretty good quality in animation for what it's worth, yeah it's not the BEST, but it's also not the worst.

Also look back at the ROB. That animation?! Bruh. Episode 1 had me crying.

Overall, if you hate still hate it well: 

If you like it - tell me why and let's be friends.

[beardedmrbean]

How do fake stories created with artificial intelligence (AI) work? What narratives do they present? And how dangerous are they?

DW fact checkers answer the most critical questions about the role of AI in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

1) How do AI-generated image fakes work?

AI is everywhere these days — even in wars. Artificial intelligence applications have greatly improved this year, and almost anyone can now use standard AI generators to create images that look real, at least at first glance.

Users must "feed" tools such as Midjourney or Dall-E with prompts, including specifications and information, to do this. The tools then convert the written prompts into images. 

Some create more artistic illustrations, while others create photorealistic images. The generation process is based on what is known as machine learning. 

For example, if generators are asked to show a 70-year-old man riding a bicycle, they search their database to pair the terms with images. 

Based on the information available, the AI generators create the image of the older cyclist. Thanks to more and more input and technical updates, the tools have improved vastly and are constantly learning.

All this applies to images related to the Middle East conflict. 

Here, too, people use such tools to create more or less realistic scenes that, according to our observations, are often intended to capture emotional moments to spread certain narratives. But more on that later.

In a conflict where "emotions are very, very high," says AI expert Hany Farid, disinformation, including its spread through AI images, works exceptionally well. 

Hardened fronts are the perfect breeding ground for creating and disseminating fake content and intensifying emotions, Farid, a professor of digital forensics at the University of California at Berkeley, tells DW.

2) How many AI images of the Israel-Hamas war are in circulation? 

Images and videos created with the help of artificial intelligence have already added to disinformation related to the war in Ukraine — and continue to do so. 

As AI tools have developed rapidly since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, many observers expected it to play an even greater role in the Israel-Hamas war. However, according to experts, the great flood of AI images has failed to materialize thus far.

"In the conflict between Israel and Hamas and related disinformation, we are not seeing a massive use of AI-generated images," says Tomasso Canetta from the European Digital Media Observatory. 

"There are some examples, but it's not much if we compare it to the amount of disinformation that is actually old images and old videos that are now reshared in a misleading way," he adds.

However, this does not mean the technology isn't a factor. Farid explains that he does not consider the number of AI fakes to be the relevant factor.

"You can have two images that go super viral, and hundreds of millions of people see it. It can have a huge impact," he says. 

"So it doesn't have to be a volume game, but I think the real issue we are seeing is just the pollution of the information ecosystem."

3) What narratives do the AI fakes serve in the Israel-Hamas war?

The AI images circulating on social media networks can usually trigger strong emotions. 

Canetta identifies two main categories. One refers to images that focus on the suffering of the civilian population and arouse sympathy for the people shown. The other is AI fakes that exaggerate support for either Israel, Hamas or the Palestinians and appeal to patriotic feelings.

2) How many AI images of the Israel-Hamas war are in circulation? 

Images and videos created with the help of artificial intelligence have already added to disinformation related to the war in Ukraine — and continue to do so. 

As AI tools have developed rapidly since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, many observers expected it to play an even greater role in the Israel-Hamas war. However, according to experts, the great flood of AI images has failed to materialize thus far.

"In the conflict between Israel and Hamas and related disinformation, we are not seeing a massive use of AI-generated images," says Tomasso Canetta from the European Digital Media Observatory. 

"There are some examples, but it's not much if we compare it to the amount of disinformation that is actually old images and old videos that are now reshared in a misleading way," he adds.

However, this does not mean the technology isn't a factor. Farid explains that he does not consider the number of AI fakes to be the relevant factor.

"You can have two images that go super viral, and hundreds of millions of people see it. It can have a huge impact," he says. 

"So it doesn't have to be a volume game, but I think the real issue we are seeing is just the pollution of the information ecosystem."

3) What narratives do the AI fakes serve in the Israel-Hamas war?

The AI images circulating on social media networks can usually trigger strong emotions. 

Canetta identifies two main categories. One refers to images that focus on the suffering of the civilian population and arouse sympathy for the people shown. The other is AI fakes that exaggerate support for either Israel, Hamas or the Palestinians and appeal to patriotic feelings.

2) How many AI images of the Israel-Hamas war are in circulation? 

Images and videos created with the help of artificial intelligence have already added to disinformation related to the war in Ukraine — and continue to do so. 

As AI tools have developed rapidly since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, many observers expected it to play an even greater role in the Israel-Hamas war. However, according to experts, the great flood of AI images has failed to materialize thus far.

"In the conflict between Israel and Hamas and related disinformation, we are not seeing a massive use of AI-generated images," says Tomasso Canetta from the European Digital Media Observatory. 

"There are some examples, but it's not much if we compare it to the amount of disinformation that is actually old images and old videos that are now reshared in a misleading way," he adds.

However, this does not mean the technology isn't a factor. Farid explains that he does not consider the number of AI fakes to be the relevant factor.

"You can have two images that go super viral, and hundreds of millions of people see it. It can have a huge impact," he says. 

"So it doesn't have to be a volume game, but I think the real issue we are seeing is just the pollution of the information ecosystem."

3) What narratives do the AI fakes serve in the Israel-Hamas war?

The AI images circulating on social media networks can usually trigger strong emotions. 

Canetta identifies two main categories. One refers to images that focus on the suffering of the civilian population and arouse sympathy for the people shown. The other is AI fakes that exaggerate support for either Israel, Hamas or the Palestinians and appeal to patriotic feelings.

The first category includes, for example, the picture above of a father with his five children in front of a pile of rubble. It was shared many times on X

(formerly Twitter) and Instagram and seen hundreds of thousands of times in connection with Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip. 

In the meantime, the image has been marked with a community notice, at least on X, that it is fake. It can be recognized as such by various errors and inconsistencies that are typical for AI images.

The man's right shoulder, for instance, is disproportionately high. The two limbs emerging from underneath are also strange — as if they were growing from his sweater. 

Also striking is how the hands of the two boys who have wrapped their arms around their father's neck merge. And there are too many or too few fingers and toes in several of the hands and feet in the picture.

Similar anomalies can also be seen in the following AI fake that went viral on X, which purportedly shows a Palestinian family eating together in the rubble, evoking sympathy for Palestinian civilians.

The picture below, which shows soldiers waving Israeli flags as they walk through a settlement full of bombed-out houses, falls into the second category, which is designed to spark feelings of patriotism.

The accounts that share the image on Instagram and X appear to be primarily pro-Israeli and welcome the events depicted. DW also found the picture as an article image in a Bulgarian online newspaper, which did not recognize or label it as AI-generated.

What looks fake here is the way the Israeli flags are waving. The street in the middle also appears too clean, while the rubble looks very uniform. The destroyed buildings also look like twins, standing at pretty regular intervals. 

All in all, the visual impression is too "clean" to appear realistic. This kind of flawlessness, which makes images look like they have been painted, is also typical for AI.

4) Where do such AI images come from?

Private accounts on social media distribute most images created with the help of artificial intelligence. They are posted by both authentic and obviously fake profiles. 

However, AI-generated images can also be used in journalistic products. Whether and in which cases this can be useful or sensible is currently being discussed at many media companies.

The software company Adobe caused a stir when it added AI-generated images to its range of stock photos at the end of 2022. These are labeled accordingly in the database.

Adobe now also offers AI images of the Middle East war for sale

— for example of explosions, people protesting or clouds of smoke behind the Al-Aqsa Mosque. 

Critics find this highly questionable, and some online sites and media have continued to use the images without labeling them as AI-generated. The image above, for example, appears on the site "Newsbreak" without any indication that it was computer-generated. DW found this out with the help of a reverse image search.Even the European Parliamentary Research Service, the European Parliament's scientific service, illustrated an online text on the Middle East conflict with one of the fakes from the Adobe database

 — again without labeling it as an AI-generated image.

Canetta from the European Digital Media Observatory is appealing to journalists and media professionals to be very careful when using AI images, advising against their use, especially when it comes to real events such as the war in Gaza.

The situation is different when the goal is to illustrate abstract topics such as future technologies.

5) How much damage do AI images cause?

The knowledge that AI content is circulating makes users feel insecure about everything they encounter online. 

UC Berkeley researcher Farid explains: "If we enter this world where it is possible to manipulate images, audio and video, everything is in question. So you're seeing real things being claimed as fake."

That is precisely what happened in the following case: an image allegedly showing the charred corpse of an Israeli baby was shared on X by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the conservative US commentator Ben Shapiro, among others. 

The controversial anti-Israeli influencer Jackson Hinkle then claimed that the image had been created using artificial intelligence. 

As alleged proof, Hinkle attached a screenshot of the AI detector "AI or not" to his post, which classified the image as AI-generated. 

Hinkle's claim on X was viewed more than 20 million times and led to heated discussions on the platform. 

In the end, many stated that the image was, in all likelihood, genuine and that Hinkle was, therefore, wrong. Farid also told DW that he could not find any discrepancies in the picture that would indicate an AI fake.

How can that be, you might ask? AI detectors, which can be used to check whether an image or text is possibly AI-generated, are still very error-prone. Depending on the image checked, they get it right or wrong and often only make decisions as likely probabilities — not with 100% certainty.

Therefore, they are at the most suitable as an additional tool for checking AI fakes, but definitely not as the only tool.

DW's fact-checking team could also not detect any clear signs of AI-based manipulation in the image, presumably showing a baby's corpse. 

Curiously, "AI or not" did not classify the image as AI-generated when we tried it out ourselves — and pointed out that the image quality was poor.

Another AI detector (Hive moderation) also concluded that the image was genuine.

[dailycharacteroption]

Roleplaying Races 14: Trox

(art by Nicholas “Rookzer0” on Artstation)

And here we have another example of an ancestry originally created as an example in ARG’s race builder, this one demonstrating how strange and powerful you could make a playable race. The result was powerful and bulky beetle-folk with a chip on their shoulder.

While there doesn’t seem to be any one specific inspiration for this ancestry, fantasy has always been full of big, monstrous peoples who may or may not actually be surprisingly gentle despite their bulk and fearsomeness.

Interestingly, trox got a major update to their lore in Starfinder, which we’ll talk about momentarily.

As we learn in Starfinder, the trox as a people were created by the goddess Hylax as her envoys and sentinels, and are in fact native to the Liavaran moon of Nchak. However, while the majority of their people lived in relative peace, that group is not who we are talking about today.

You see, many trox were sealed inside protective asteroids by their goddess and launched to various other worlds to serve as envoys for her diplomatic ways, and one such stone fell to Golarion in the ancient past. However, the Golarion clan had the misfortune of being discovered by the duergar , who saw their physical might and similarity to the giant beetles they already used as beasts of burden and enslaved them, subjecting them to eugenic breeding programs and alchemical enhancement to turn them into powerful brutes.

Many trox have since rebelled and broken free, escaping to the surface, only to discover that the evils of slavery were present there as well. As such, while they retain some aspects of their heritage, the trox of Golarion are distrustful of other species due to the suffering their people have gone through.

Sporting heavy chitin elytra, mandibles, and armor, trox resemble humanoid beetles, but they are not fully arthropod-like in anatomy, sporting an internal skeleton as well and soft fleshy parts as well. Additionally, they also sport an array of smaller appendages on their chests in addition to their bipedal arms and legs. While not strong and articulate enough to wield objects, they can come in handy.

While the trox of Golarion have become brutish and somewhat violent, they share with their ancestors a strong sense of community that overrides personal desires, they also prove inquisitive, eager to learn about the ways of others, and fiercely loyal to those the call friends. Sadly, the vast majority of them still live in slavery, either to the duergar or to surface slavers of various peoples.

Trox are immensely strong, but centuries of conditioning have dulled their minds in all regards.

Despite their bulk, they prove surprisingly agile when they need to be.

Their night-eyes also suit them well for a life underground.

This in turn is fueled by their powerful digging claws, making them swift under the ground.

The conditioning that they were subjected to and the subsequent fury this engenders also makes them surprisingly violent when replying to the attacks of foes that have harmed them.

Additionally, their grabbing appendages are quite useful for latching onto a grappled foe, freeing up their arms to fight other foes.

There is one alternate option for the trox, representing those trox that have trained themselves to abandon their rage and focus, tapping into an atrophied vibration sense, all the better to notice when invisible foes like their duergar slavers are coming.

With their extremely high strength bonus, trox are very suited for melee builds, particularly grapple builds thanks to their extra appendages, making any combat class a good pick for them. The penalty to all three mental stats is something of a deterrent for any caster or skill-based class, but not an insurmountable one. In fact, the fact that their penalty applies to all three means that it’s almost like the board is even between the three, just expect to have to make a little effort to bring them in line with other casters and characters. Any class that can blend casting with more traditional combat will probably work best for them, such as druid, magus, paladin, and warpriest.

That does it for today, but we’ve got one more entry to do before we’re done. Look forward to it tomorrow!

[border-collie]

I‘m not a writer but I would love to learn more about the different types of border collie!

Ok so, BIG PICTURE there are three types: Show line, Working Line, and "all other purposes" (usually called sports line but *I* personally take issue with this as a sports dog owner.)

Show line are pretty easy to identify and separate out, for the most part, these dogs have been completely separated from the rest of the big border collie gene pools since the mid twentieth century. These dogs are bred to the breed standard and type and are what compete in the colloquial dog shows typically. They are pretty dogs, with lots of hair, and anyone can look at them and say "now THAT is a border collie." They also, for the most part, are never expected to work sheep except to show that they have some level of herding instinct.

This becomes a big issue considering the primary registry of the border collies (International Sheep Dog Society or ISDS) says a border collie is any dog that herds sheep in a creep stance and uses their gaze to intimidate stock to move. (FUN FACT! Any dog of ANY breed history can become a fully registered border collie if they can prove they work like this!) ISDS dogs (or if you are in America, which lots of border collies are, American Border Collie Association or ABCA and a few other herding dog registries out there that I won't list them all) are, by and large, are considered Working Line. But working line is a BIG category! Here in the US there are lots of border collies used to work cattle which is rarely done elsewhere I the world, there are dogs bred to do everyday work on farms and ranches, and then there are the dogs bred to be good at herding competitions specifically. All of these dogs do their jobs just a bit differently and at different levels depending on the terrain, the fine details of the job, the dogs breeding and more. But for the most part they herd and are bred to herd with very little thought put into what they look like. Because they are bred first to work and not look like border collies, a lot of them actually DON'T look like most laypeople would describe a border collie. Many have a lot more white or a lot less white than the typical imagined border collie. They come in more colors than just black and white (so do all other varieties, but show lines specifically is dominated by black and white dogs) They also come in more coat lengths. Short haired border collies are VERY common in working lines for example.

Now what happens when these dogs are bred for something else? That's kind of the All Other Purposes Category, which is usually called Sports Lines but I'll explain why I don't agree with that name. Some of these reasons are to be able to perform well at a specific sport, these are what I would consider true Sports Lines. Sports lines are selected specifically for level temperament, physical soundness to prevent injury and high biddability to their handlers. They are often very heavy on working line backgrounds but some have some show lines mixed in especially to improve on structure. They can be any color, but black and white is still very common. All coat types are also common. While they are bred for structure, they often aren't bred for anything else and will stray from that perfect Show Line look. The next category is Color Bred. Border collies come in A LOT of colors, but working, show, and sport breeders don't really care what colors they are producing they all have other major qualities in mind before color. Color breeders primarily care about color first and foremost which means that they often have not great structure, temperament, or working ability. Lots of breeders who claim to be producing Sports Lines (and a few claiming to be working lines) are actually breeding color bred dogs either because they are selecting for color, or they got their dogs from someone who is. The bad structure and temperament in color bred dogs is unfortunately often applied by outsiders of this dichotomy to Sports Lines as well giving sports lines a bad reputation alongside color breeders. But, again, I feel like it's a misnomer situation. The final category is pet lines. These often heavily overlap with color bred lines. These dogs are selected to be "good pets" now the problem with this is, for the most part, border collies really aren't good pets. They require a lot of work and are very sensitive dogs. Often these dogs get rehomed when people realize they got in too deep and can't handle this dog which isn't a Labrador which is not usually a good situation for the dogs.

This is a high level breakdown, but is the gist of the breed as a snapshot. I can go more in depth if anyone has more questions!

[shenzaibird-art]

Here's some general lore that applies to all of my settings because I was randomly inspired to actually write up lore for once haha I've been calling these collectively "the forces of magic ability". All of them are things that everybody has, but you need to learn to use them and practice to actually make any magic. It ended up being a lot of text so I guess I'll put it under a readmore thingy:

[Now, I kinda just came up with the new words yesterday so I might still decide I don't like them and change them (and/or those symbols) but so far I'm liking this so I decided to post. These concepts aren't new, I just had never talked about them because I didn't have names for them (other than magis, I think I've already talked about that a lot but I'll say it again anyway)]

MAGIS is the magical energy that powers every spell and any magic craft. It flows inside your body, swirling around tiny organs called "magis nodes," located in the head, heart, hands, feet, and tail. Magis is used up when casting spells or channeling it into workyns ("spell blueprints"), but it regenerates. However, if you use all of your magis more quickly than you can regenerate, you will pass out. You can't die from lack of magis, but it's not nice and your magis nodes might become a bit sore for a while as you recover.

VOLIS is the ability to control the magis. It comes from "volition", as it's the power of one's will, so to speak. It's similar to thoughts, you "think" of the spell you want to cast, and so you cast it. But it's a separate kind of thinking, more akin to moving your body. It's not a fully conscious thinking exactly, so you won't cast the wrong spell just because you thought of something else for a second. Volis not only controls the magis at the moment of casting a spell, but also any further actions that a spell can have, such as the movement of a conjured creature. How many spells a person can keep up at once will depend on how well trained they are at using and managing their volis.

PERCIS is the ability to perceive magis and magic crafts. Spells are crafted as small tokens, but they don't really need to be labeled because percis allows you to tell them apart by just having them nearby. A magician with several spells in their pockets knows exactly what each of them is without having to check on them. But of course, you can only identify a spell if you have knowledge of what it's like. Percis is a sense, much like seeing or hearing -- if you know what a dog is, you'll know it when you see one, and a similar principle applies to sensing a spell through your percis. Even if you never encountered a particular spell, you might know how to partially identify it if you know its type. For example, you will know a dog is a dog even if you can't tell what breed it is. But percis can be used for more than just telling spells apart. By having keen enough percis, one can learn to recognize someone by their unique magis and notice their presence before even seeing or hearing them (although this is a very rare skill because most people don't give too much importance to fine tuning their percis for anything beyond telling spells apart really). There's a limit of how many spells you can have on yourself without overloading your senses however, which is why most people carry only a few essential spells around. These explanations turned out far longer than I expected.

[mrd2a]

I'm very new to the berserk fandom and it's been fantastic, on tumblr at least, so i don't know why the perception of the fandom has changed for the worse. Could you elaborate on how/why that happened?

I've talked about the berserk fandom in general‚ be it on twitter, instagram, reddit et cetera, but it's kind of difficult to compare it on tumblr since it's only really a pseudo social media.

Anyways, to answer your question. It's believed to be more than one reason, but 2 things that I think were the most prominent ones(from my own observation and experience at least) - covid era and the sudden boost in popularity specifically on twitter.

Now the covid one is something that applies to A LOT of other media communities aswell. Basically what it did was open up a path for Berserk to be consumed by people who usually wouldn't even touch it(animanga haters, those who would usually just watch trendy shonens and others). On a surface level it sounds nice, but then slowly it grew apparent that those people severely lacked the media literacy required to understand Berserk for even its pretty obvious core messages. So what did those people do? They egregiously twisted many themes it's trying to portray and usually either made fun of some very explicit scenes or saying Miura deserved to die for writing them.

The latter mostly comes from the previously mentioned burst of relevance on twitter, but still not being exclusive to it. If you were ever using twitter you may know what kind of toxicity it breeds, so this may make sense to you. In case you weren't, there are youtube videos out there and whatnot that can explain it to you better than me. Besides, that could be a whole separate post in and of itself.

As I said in the post you're referring to, those bad corners did exist in the past. One big difference - there were only bad corners. Vocal, but miniscule and completely dismissible parts of the community. One long known example of this I can think of on top of my head was the berserklejerk subreddit. I have no idea if that thing is still breathing, though sadly I'm afraid it most likely is. If you were to visit it and were lucky, all you would see are Donovan, Eclipse **** jokes repackaged and repeated over and over again. Nothing posted there was funny, appropriate or respectful to the actual work. Still, they could've been ignored and for the most part they have been. Now... Imagine that instead of being 0.1% of the fandom, it's more than 50%.

The covid influence was actually described very well in this one twitter post I found a few days ago.

For the berserk fandom in particular, check out RealLifeRyan's video about it. It does a fairly decent job at expressing what's wrong with its current state.

[poke-professor-in-training]

Regarding Shiny Pokémon

I find the phenomenon of 'Shiny' Pokémon fascinating. I've encountered 3 shinies throughout my travels...

((Graphic made with Pokecharms))

The first shiny I met was a Gulpin who we affectionately nicknamed Bluey! He was very sweet and loved flower crowns. He had been outcast from his home, so we brought him along to Hoenn expert in caring for outcast Pokémon. I love dropping by to visit whenever I can!

The second was a Jumpluff named Sakura. He was the parental figure to a whole little colony of Hoppip and Skiploom in a secret grove in Unova. A very feisty little fellow, but he had a heart of gold.

The third was Jadott the Noivern. Jadott is extremely anxious and wasn't doing well in the wild when we found him. My friend keeps me updated, and it sounds like he's doing really well in the little cave behind her house. From what I hear, he adores chin scritches.

So, about these shinies! I ended up brining both Bluey and Jadott to a safer environment (currently under the supervision of close friends). I'll pop my expanded thoughts about the issues surrounding being shiny under the cut if you'd like to have a read!

Shiny Pokémons atypical colour schemes skin are usually a result of rare mutations during (pre-hatching) development. A prevalent issue regarding shiny Pokémon is their place in their biome's life cycle. Most wild Pokémon have evolved to fit into their surroundings for the sake of survival, general safety and hunting.

I'll use the Gulpin species as an example here! The usual phenotypical appearance is mostly green, which allows it to blend into forest and swamp biomes. This mechanism lets Gulpin stay safe from any potential threats (a form of natural camouflage) while it's still young, before evolving into a Swalott, which is able to more easily defend itself if threatened. Shiny Gulpin like Bluey stand out against their usual forest-y habitats, which makes it substantially harder to find shelter from any threats.

I'll use Noiverns as an example as well. Usually, you can find Noivern in mountains and caves. Their darker colour scheme of black, greys, purples and dark greens lets them maneuver mountain and cave systems with low light with little threat to their own safety. However, with their shiny forms, the skin is a much lighter green. While they may be an apex predator in their environments, the change still promises significant risk (e.g. from other apex predators and from humans).

This same principle of applies to gathering food and/or hunting, as well! Especially for Shiny Noiverns, their brighter green complexion significantly hinders their ability to hunt for food. This is especially heartbreaking when you consider that most Noivern tend to look over younger Noibat as well.

Unfortunately, there are many documented cases of shiny Pokémon being outcast and rejected by their fellows. This occurs mostly in cases where the Pokémon species is a pack species, and mostly due to the shiny's inability to naturally blend in with their biome.

In Sakura the Jumpluff's case, he was incredibly lucky! The sheltered grove I encountered him in was filled with trees with pink flowers and berries and long, twisting pale branches. Smaller grass and bug Pokémon tend to band together, given their stature as easy targets when alone. There was an entire little colony of the Jumpluff evolution line established in that grove, happy as can be, so we left them be.

My last point I wanted to bring up is shiny breeders. I probably don't have to explain in depth why shiny breeding is a generally unethical practice. The sheer amount of displacement and abandonment of non-shiny freshly-hatched Pokémon is a massive issue! Additionally, these sudden influxes have major implications for the area’s ecosystem.

There are exceptions to the case of shiny breeders being unethical with their 'work', but those case are few and far between. If you are truly desperately in want of a shiny Pokémon (e.g. many Performers and Coordinators turn to shiny breeders because they are under the impression that will give them a leg-up in Showcases and Contests), please do your research: there are some breeders out there that do follow ethical practices, Pokémon Welfare Laws and Ecosystem Protection Legislations.

I could really go on, but I would probably just get more and more ramble-y... I'll have to work on that if I want to become a Professor.

[mining-rules]

Tag Explanations

007 all — 007 is James Bond's nickname, so "bond all." Refers to a popular suggestion by players to implement a button that bonds with all familiars automatically so they don't have to click through every page. 007 is pronounced "double oh seven"

Ancient mystery — anything to do with ancients, block this tag if you’re worried about ancient spoilers

Art tag — working on removing the tag 🏷️ emoji from earlier posts, so all posts with this tag show up here

Auction house

Breeding project

Coli grinding — anything to do with coli

Fandragons

Flight club — anything to do with dom

Forums

FRD — anything that isn't salt but still makes the cut for posting

Genes

G1s — first generation dragons, dragons from eggs

Hatcheries

I should make a dreams tag — posts about dreams

Noc noc who's there — anything to do with Night of the Nocturne

PvP forum — suggestions forum

Pinglist pain — anything to do with pinglists

Skins and accents - Skins cover the whole dragon, accents cover up to 30% surface area. Players can create their own UMAs, or User-Made Accents, and FR staff create some as well.

Salt asks - originally Saltmin's signoff but now the general housekeeping tag.

Sugar — nice posts that begin with “sugar to”

Treasure nest — nest rentals

🐉 Potentially stressful topics we tag

Banxiety — anxiety due to banning

Blocking

“Body horror stuff” is our blog-specific body horror tag!

Multi-accounting

Nsfw, slightly nsfw, common cw’s if we feel like it applies

We tag things as just “x” (for example “#guns”)—we used to do “tw x” but tumblr’s tagging system isn’t working right

🐉🧂🐉🥨🐉

Note—tagging is tedious, which is why many other blogs that focus on user-submitted content only allow “submissions” where the user tags the content themselves. We allow asks, which are more user-friendly, at the cost of us tagging posts ourselves. When we are busy or lots of posts are going out, we may not always tag posts beyond trigger or spoiler tags. Thanks for being nice about this!

[chey-murray]

The Myth the Alpha Wolf

You have most likely heard that the two wolves in charge of a pack are the alpha male and female, followed by the beta and the omega wolves. These terms came to be by biologist Rudolph Shenkel, after he studied captive wolves in a zoo in 1944.

Later, wolf expert David Mech used this in 1968 book,  The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species, and that was what helped make the alpha theory so common. Now, dog trainers use it to explain their methods, some men use it to describe personalities, and more.

The problem? It was never true.

The enclosure was small and unrelated wolves were put together, causing the wolves to adapt to the situation. However, what you view in a zoo is not comparable to behavior in a wild, so when Mech was studying wild wolves in the Arctic, he realized his mistake. A pack is not made up of a complex pack structure, instead it is most commonly a family. At the top is the mother and father, and below them are the children they are trying to teach.

“Alpha” implies competing with others and becoming top dog by winning a contest or battle. However, most wolves who lead packs achieved their position simply by mating and producing pups, which then became their pack. In other words they are merely breeders, or parents, and that’s all we call them today, the “breeding male,” “breeding female,” or “male parent,” “female parent,” or the “adult male” or “adult female.” International Wolf Center

Much has since done all he can to try and dispel the myth, but it is not proving easy. For one thing, he does not have the publication rights to his book, so it is still available for purchase today. As well as that, people seem very attached to the terms they were taught as children.

The terms have also been mistakenly put on other animals since then as well. For example, bonobos regarded as the closest relatives to humans, and many people try to point out the alpha male. Scientists will point out that bonobos have a matriarchal society, meaning that there are no alpha males.

The term “alpha” does apply to many other animals in nature(such as chimpanzees) , but wolves are not among them.

[tmisaccidentreportbook]

MAG007, The Piper

Case #9220611, Clarence Berry Release date: April 7, 2016 First listen: 14th October. Out on the morning feed, I remember Clarence Berry talking about ‘meeting the war’ as I passed along side our predator proof fence, some 9 feet high and concrete.

OK, when I say I go off the deep end in this one...

Our first dive into what could be called historical statements, and plucking a name I know quiet well from both History and English literature classes.

- I don’t need to present too many numbers to you to tell you that Staff Sargent Clarence Berry was, indeed, lucky. Or incredibly unlucky, depending on how you slice it. 4 years at the Eastern front, when the average life expectancy was allegedly 6 weeks. The average day saw 6000 dead. It goes on. He was lucky to miss out on the Somme, where the allies bough 6 miles of ground with 60,000 causalities, 20,000 of them deaths. I don’t think they could hold onto it.

- I’ll try and stop. This isn’t a history lesson. It’s just an example of how numbers can be used to fuzz the edges of the horror of it all. Numbers don’t mean the same as names.

- At the name drop of The Piper, I’ll confess a chill went through me. I had years in the army cadets, but in UOTC at a Scottish Uni, I was introduced to the pipes and drums. A lot of people will decry the bagpipes as ‘not a musical instrument’, and I think I’d agree with them but not for the reasons they’d expect. A lot of instruments have served with the regiments; brass bands, drums, any number of pipes. Things that carry over the march of feet or the tumult of battle. And most have been ‘rehabilitated’ into the orchestra pit or the band stand. But not the bagpipes. The instrument that drones and cries against all logic of how the beast breathes. I think it strikes the same ancient fear response that the Carnyx did. They carry. And with the music, they carry battle.

- I know it’s the wrong war, some 30 years too early, but at the name ‘The Piper’, I thought of 21 year old Private Bill Millin on D-Day. 

- Clarence Berry speaks of growing up poor and joining the army as soon as he was old enough. And you’d think 100 years on or so, we wouldn’t be seen it, but we do. Recruiters hanging around universities, promising to take care of folks and that student debt if they only signed up and served. It chokes me a little, to think how many have aligned with The Slaughter to escape The Buried. I know, I’m over simplifying, and there are many that can speak much finer on it than I, folks who have been through the system. I just need to simplify it for myself, because the enormity of it is terrifying.

- ‘Boredom… it has a quiet terror all its own.’ The anticipation, the dread, it must have been exhausting.

- I think the introduction and description of Wilfrid Owens’ initial impression on Clarence Berry and his men could be applied to so many officers. Officers were of a social rank, at least initially before heavy losses, many mistaking good breeding as a hallmark for ‘ability to lead men’, ‘think tactically’ and ‘being able to keep one’s shit together.’ In reality, a lot of them were recent graduates, armed with a hand gun, orders that even they despaired of and Sam Browne belt telling an enemy sniper were to aim.

- ‘It came as no surprise to me when he mentioned he wrote poetry.’ I feel this carries the same sort of weight as a certain breed of white straight man, in today’s setting, mentioning he has a podcast.

- ‘Every time he tried to put the war into words it just sounded trite.’ I can not recall how many hours I spent on WWI poetry during English Literature classes and I hated every second of it. I’m not sure why, I couldn’t say it was bad per say. Nothing sticks with me. At least nothing that hasn’t be turned into song. I think it was the melancholy of it all, when what burned through me while studying the text and context, was fury. That it had come to this. And the knowledge it would happen again, within a generation. I was furious when all the poets seemed to focus on the tragedy of it all in great, detached sort of ways, not the white hot grief that I had no idea what to do with. But it’s strange, now I think about, that the words stay with me in songs, like adding melody helps then carry.

- ‘He longed to be remembered, to take what this war truly was and immortalise it.’ Monkey’s paw my dude.

- I looked up Savy Wood in the Aisne region of northern France. There’s a British cemetery with 430 identified causalities buried there.

- ‘All you could do against artillery was pray.’ I think WWI saw artillery used in a way that had never been seen before. Yes, large projectiles had been used in warfare for millennia and even cannon fire wasn’t any thing new. But the bombardments would go on. And on. And on. Like a siege that could have you buried alive or blown apart at a moment’s notice.

- ‘(He) turned his head to listen’. I think this is the second mention of Wilfred tilting or turning his head to listen. It put me in mind of the time one of my teacher’s mentioned at a parents’ evening, how I’d cock my head when something interested me. He fondly said it was like having a spaniel in the class room. If this head tilt is interest, is picking up the sound, it does make me think of a dog. And that leads me to Shakespeare’s ‘Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war,’ said by Mark Antony, envisioning the ghost of Caesar, rallying his own avenging. Another ghostly figure, commanding the battlefield.

- Barbed wire and mud. Disease was as much if not more of a threat to the average soldier then enemy fire. Antibiotics were not yet a thing. TB, pneumonia, dysentery, septicaemia, gangrene, tetanus. The list goes on.

- ‘Whistling tune was unmistakable’. Whistling. Whistles were used to signal an advance out of the trenches. Whistling could be the only warning you got of an incoming mortar.

- ‘And in that moment I knew what was about to happen. I looked at Wilfred, and as our eyes met I saw that he knew as well.’ I think this line a strange insight into how The Slaughter works. There’s a terrible uncertainty in war, right up until there is an even more terrible certainty. The not knowing up until the realising. I don’t think ‘realising’ is the same as ‘knowing’. ‘Knowing’ suggests some autonomy, some will. ‘Realising’, well, more often than not it’s out of your control. This may been why The Slaughter was able to halt The Stranger's earlier attempt at a ritual. The Unknowing brought down by the more terrible certainty. And every time I hear Berry mention ‘the strange music’, I can’t help but feel The Slaughter and The Stranger were more similar in their methods than previously thought.

- ‘Most definitely alive’. Is it me, or does this feel a little over sure? Like definitely alive and in no way being sustainable by unknowable powers?

- ‘the sweet scent of decaying flesh and the moans of pain and despair.’ We’re still a ways away from ‘Tales of a Field Hospital’, but there are constants.

- ‘ I met The War’. I might have capitalised it different from how it may be in the transcripts, but the way Wilfred says it, to me, it feels like he met The War. Not This War, but that which rides a red horse at the end of days and has been riding since The Beginning. The War.

- Three Faces. The imagery of three faces can be seen through history; Hecate, the furies, the 3 witches. But the one that caught my eye was the Japanese proverb of everyone having three faces; 1 for strangers, 1 for loved ones, and 1 for no one but yourself. And between the pipe playing, the screaming, the brandishing of weapons, the begging for mercy, the saluting, and the vomiting of blood and earth, I don’t know if I could confidently say just which was which.

- Being handed a pen to play its’ tune in return fr his life… yup definitely being sustained by an unknowable power… also I think we just witness a warlock pact?

- Dog tags of Joseph Rayner… Rayner?! WHAT!? Jonny? Jonny, is this just your name hygiene flaring up again or is this a Thing?

- ‘Flamethrower that marked me so distinctively’… So, Sir, would you consider yourself touched by both The Slaughter and The Desolation? Any others we should know about?

- The men who hear the Piper not making it back. I love this observation made by Berry, about Hamlin, the Germany town and the children lost to an older generation’s greed and arrogance.’Still, those are musings for poets, among whom I do not number.’ I wouldn’t sell yourself short Sargent.

- ‘This charged our commanders to spur us on to more and more aggressive actions, trying to push Germany into a surrender.’ The deaths that happened at the close of the WWI, possibly enrage me the most. Because it was ending. It was a war of attrition and Germany was bleeding out faster. There was no need to push, no need to attack the lines when it was an open secret that the surrender would be coming through in a few hours. But there were numerous instances in the last days of the war where assaults were made on positions for ‘glory’ and ‘honour’ and what ever horse shit was being peddled by the top brass at that stage.

- ‘I saw him cast a shadow that was not his own.’ The Slaughter makes a Stranger of another man.

- There’s something terribly sad about this portrayal of Owens. Aware of his own mortality and the debt that must be paid with the end of the war in sight. Knowledge that his continued survival means the damnation of other.

- ‘The bullet hole simply opened, like an eye.’ No longer ‘realising’, but ‘knowing’?

- The whiplash of going from that to the Archivist bitching about Gertrude’s filing.

- The Slaughter is an odd beast to me. We learn, eventually, that The Entities have been around for as long as they could be conceived of. And there’s always been war, even before humans were humans. We’re not alone in committing violence on our own kind as a species. But I imagine that it is The Entity that has undergone the most transformation over the millennia, that has felt its’ reach swell in waves like possibly no other, except perhaps The Corruption in the wake of pandemics.

- War, in all its’ forms, has changed so much. How it is waged, where it is fought, who is caught up, how it is perceived, what is justified as an acceptable sacrifice in its’ name. How it will ingratiate itself by stealing the faces of paragons; Justice, Liberty. And have a few closer to it sneak in at the edges; Retribution. I think The Slaughter is one of the most fascinating of The Entities, not only in the way it can hold the entire world in a barbed wire grip but also how the fear can drain and numb to the point that it chokes out hope. The Slaughter is terrifying because if it pushes long and hard enough, you may just lie down and accept it.

[restorationwellnessinc]

Protecting Yourself from Insect Bites: Natural Solutions for a Safe and Enjoyable Outdoors

As the seasons change and the days grow warmer, spending time outdoors becomes a cherished activity. Whether it’s gardening, hiking, or simply enjoying a picnic in the backyard, the great outdoors offers endless joys. However, with these pleasures come some pesky visitors—insects. Protecting yourself and your family from insect bites is essential, and using natural solutions can be both effective and safe. Let’s explore the most effective ways to keep insects at bay, including a fantastic homemade solution using essential oils.

The Power of Natural Protection

1. Clove Oil for Ticks: Ticks are not just a nuisance; they can carry serious diseases like Lyme disease. Clove oil is one of the most effective natural repellents for ticks. Its potent scent deters ticks, making it a must-have for outdoor activities in tick-prone areas. Applying a diluted solution of clove oil to exposed skin can significantly reduce the risk of tick bites.

2. Peppermint Oil for Spiders: Spiders may not be as bothersome as other insects, but they’re certainly unwelcome in most homes. Fortunately, spiders detest peppermint oil. Spraying a peppermint oil solution around windows, doors, and other entry points can help keep these eight-legged critters outside where they belong.

A Homemade Insect Repellent Solution

Creating your own insect repellent is simple, cost-effective, and free from harmful chemicals found in many commercial products. Here’s a tried-and-true recipe for a natural insect repellent using witch hazel, essential oils, and water.

Ingredients:

1 cup witch hazel

1 cup distilled water

20 drops clove essential oil (for ticks)

20 drops peppermint essential oil (for spiders)

10 drops lavender essential oil (for general insect repellent)

10 drops eucalyptus essential oil (for added protection)

Instructions:

In a spray bottle, combine the witch hazel and distilled water.

Add the essential oils.

Shake well to mix all ingredients.

Spray the solution on exposed skin and clothing before heading outdoors.

This homemade solution is not only effective but also smells wonderful, making it a pleasant addition to your outdoor routine. Another good alternative is https://amzn.to/44VZ9GH for an all natural tick and mosquito repellant.

Additional Tips for Insect Protection

1. Dress Smart: Wearing light-colored clothing can make it easier to spot ticks and other insects. Long sleeves and pants provide an extra layer of protection. Tucking pants into socks can prevent ticks from reaching your skin.

2. Keep Your Yard Tidy: Maintaining a well-kept yard can reduce the number of insects. Regularly mow the lawn, trim bushes, and remove standing water where mosquitoes breed. Planting insect-repelling herbs like lavender, rosemary, and mint can also help.

3. Use Natural Barriers: Consider using natural barriers such as diatomaceous earth around the perimeter of your home. This powdery substance is harmless to humans and pets but deadly to insects with exoskeletons.

4. Perform Regular Checks: After spending time outdoors, perform thorough checks for ticks, especially on children and pets. Promptly remove any ticks with tweezers, ensuring the entire tick is removed to prevent infection.

Bringing It Home

Protecting yourself and your family from insect bites doesn’t have to involve harsh chemicals. By harnessing the power of essential oils and natural ingredients, you can create effective and pleasant-smelling solutions that keep pests at bay. Clove oil’s efficacy against ticks and peppermint oil’s ability to repel spiders are just a couple of examples of nature’s incredible resources.

Making your own insect repellent is not only a safer option but also an empowering way to take control of your health and well-being. With a few simple ingredients and a little know-how, you can enjoy the great outdoors with confidence and peace of mind.

Stay safe, stay natural, and enjoy the beauty of nature without the nuisance of insect bites.

With natural care and protection,

Kimberli Almonla

Owner & CEO of Restoration Wellness

www.restorationwellnessconsults.com