Death water phenomenon
What is it that mysteriously causes ships to slow down or even stop when everything is working perfectly? Researchers at the University of Poitiers have now succeeded in explaining this phenomenon, which has always driven captains mad, and have also found an explanation why the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C. was so stifling for Cleopatra, even though she and Marc Anton had the stronger fleet.
The Battle of Actium, 2 September 31BC, by Lorenzo Castro 1672
This phenomenon, known as dead water, occurs in all seas and oceans where water of different density (due to salinity or temperature) mixes. In experiments carried out in a transparent wave channel with coloured salt water and uncoloured fresh water, internal turbulence of the boundary layer was made visible on images from high-speed cameras. This revealed that we are basically dealing with two resistance phenomena: The first, called Nansen wave resistance (named after the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen, who got stuck in 1893 and could not get any further), causes a constant braking effect. “This is a depression that forms under the ship and moves with it as if it were attached to it,” explain the scientists.
The second phenomenon is called Ekman wave resistance (named after the Swedish physicist and oceanographer Vagn Walfrid Ekman who in 1904 discovered that the waves that formed below the surface at the interface between the saltwater and freshwater layers that form the upper part of this area of the Arctic Ocean interact with the ship and create resistance) and is characterised by variations in the speed of the ship concerned. However, the cause of this was previously unknown - only the latest observations have been able to clarify what this is all about: “The cause is apparently another internal wave that forms at the bow”. The offshoots of these waves are reflected on the shore and pass under the ship again. “Each passage of one of these wave offshoots causes a change in the ship’s speed,” the researchers say.
The waves act like a jolting conveyor belt on which the ship moves forwards and backwards. It is trapped in it and gets stuck. And this is exactly what is described in the ancient scriptures. Cleopatra’s fleet simply stuck because of death water. Only when both layers have adjusted and calmed down, is the ship free again.
Source: pnas.org
I have no pretties for it, but I wanted to share my current (94% finished) little fic here, nonetheless. The Devil’s Trill, updating approximately weekly, and probably the most technically challenging story I have ever written.
Also? I adore it and am so so proud. It hasn’t gotten much love, so I’m showing it off like a kindergartener with a new pet rock.
Dramione, Rated E and earning it in the upcoming chapters, mind the tags. This is definitely earning the dubcon angst label.
Lyra likes to lead a mutiny against healthy breakfast every morning 🍳
“Hermione!” Harry shouted, rushing through the frantic members of the DMLE as they clustered outside her office.
“What the hell is going on?!” She cried, flinching as Harry gathered her into a crushing hug.
“Hermione, thank Merlin” he heaved, “Malfoy barricaded himself into your office. We heard screaming. I thought- we thought he was hurting you. That-“
Hermione pulled back from her shaken friend, looking over his shoulder as the gathered DMLE members began ramming her warded door.
“Malfoy?” She asked, “Malfoy wouldn’t- he, there must be a mistake. Who else is in there?” She stammered.
Harry swallowed, “We don’t know. Don’t worry we will- wait! Hermione!” He shouted, but she was already crossing the room, pushing Aurors aside.
“Get out of my way!” She snapped, casting a flurry of spells and complex unlocking charms before bursting into her office.
The witch stood dumbly at the threshold, mouth ajar as she took in the scene in front of her.
“Took your fucking time,” Malfoy snapped, looking utterly disheveled for perhaps the first time in his life. “Do you have any idea how difficult it was to get this thing up there?”
Hermione took in her ruined office, the knocked over desk, the scattered papers, the splintered bookcase, before finally drawing her eyes to the ceiling.
A large pig, hovered precariously in the air, frantically kicking and screeching at its unprecedented flight.
“I don’t know why the fuck you wanted this Granger but here’s your flying pig,” he gestured proudly, “I told you I was serious about this.”
Hermione stared slacked jawed at the absolutely idiotic man in front of her, ignoring the cluster of Aurors gathering behind her to witness the spectacle.
This was not what she meant.
“Well?” He asked, “I got it.”
“I- you-“ she spluttered, speechless at the gesture.
Malfoy straightened his robes as he stepped towards her, grey eyes flashing silver, “Will you go out with me now?”
Hermione glanced back at Harry’s dumbfounded expression and the wide eyes of the entirety of the DMLE before flicking back to the hovering, screeching pig.
“I- yes,” she murmured, meeting his gaze. “Yes I think I will.”
Hahahahah this is amazing
sigh. i'm back on lydia bennet.
Every pride and prejudice adaptation that i have seen or heard of, western or otherwise, ends Lydia's story by fixing her problem. The the video is taken down, the marriage is averted, she is intercepted and rescued at the airport. And then there is a family reconciliation, where Lydia and Elizabeth come to a better understanding and respect for each other. But that is not what happens to Lydia Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. Lydia's rescue in Pride and Prejudice is also a punishment, one that will last her for the rest of her life. Elizabeth will judge and resent her for it for the rest of her life, and Lydia will never be economically independent of either her husband or Elizabeth, neither of whom will ever respect her. The text permits little ambiguity on its intention to construct Lydia as a cautionary tale:
But how little of permanent happiness could belong to a couple who were only brought together because their passions were stronger than their virtue, she could easily conjecture.
And yet, in all of this, Lydia never apologizes. Lydia sins and is punished but she does not repent. Even in the moment after her "rescue," when the narrative seems to demand she have an epiphany, a lightning strike of remorse and gratitude to catalyze a shift in character, Lydia simply declines:
Elizabeth was disgusted, and even Miss Bennet was shocked. Lydia was Lydia still; untamed, unabashed, wild, noisy, and fearless.
Most of this is rehashing points I've made before. But I am simply gonna be weird about it forever. I think it's so weird and fascinating that contemporary storytellers seem so committed to solving the problem of Lydia by solving the problem of Lydia: by rescuing her from her catastrophe before it's too late, rather than a few days after, and by rewriting her character into someone who is interested in having a self-discovery arc about responsible behavior as a thank-you for that rescue, which Jane Austen's Lydia Bennet is absolutely not interested in doing. Lydia as Austen wrote her both is a cautionary tale and resists absorbing cautionary tales. She refuses to learn her lesson and, paradoxically, by doing so and by surviving that refusal fairly intact, she illustrates that the vicious moralizing of her cultural surroundings is more optional than it appears.
Neither is Austen's Elizabeth remotely interested in learning to shift her own moral framework to accommodate Lydia, a fact also usually changed in modern adaptations, but I shall try to avoid getting to into that one because then I'll really be just repeating stuff I've said a bunch of times before.
The problem with solving the problem of Lydia is that it sucks out the most interesting thing going on in the entire book. What happens when a woman refuses to be fixed? People are so eager to throw that question away. No one wants to let Lydia be "Lydia still; untamed, unabashed, wild noisy, and fearless." Why? Is it because Lydia as written intrinisically makes readers and writers uncomfortable? Or is it a need for a morally unimpeachable romantic lead; a need to absolve Elizabeth of her role in their society's abandonment of Lydia? Either way, what a waste. What is the point.
Jane Austen goes on being better at keeping things uncomfortable and real than any of her mimics.
Minister Granger-Weasley and Husband
Breaking News: Granger-Weasley wins in a historic landslide!
Pictured: Minister Granger-Weasley Greets Guests at the MoM Inaugural Ball, accompanied by husband Ronald Weasley, Order of Merlin
Night in Blue Satin
Over in the Rolled Sleeves Agenda Discord, we like to post pics of facecasts and drool over discuss them. Today, @bookloverdream-blessedindeed posted the above and it inspired an instant plunny in my breast. I now share it with you…
Blue Satin
“Let me. I’m so fucking bored.” Theo ran a slip of red silk through his hands and shot a beseeching look at Draco, who was doing nothing other than lounging on his bed and staring moodily at the canopy.
“No.”
“Please? No one will see. It’s just you and me in here.” The Eighth-Year Slytherin dorm was a lonely place at the best of times. And on the sleety January Friday before term resumed, it was especially bare.
“Why did you bring that rubbish back, anyway?” Draco sounded highly uninterested, but Theo took his question as an opening.
“Thought it might be fun.” We could do theatricals,” —Draco snorted and Theo made a face— “Or give Pansy something to practice on. I found it all in an attic at the estate. Might have been my great-grandmother’s? Or an eccentric aunt’s? There’ve always been whispers that someone in the family attempted the muggle stage.”
Draco deigned to roll over and glance into Theo’s open trunk, which looked like a rainbow had exploded inside it. Theo plunged a hand in and turned up fabrics and constructions of every muggle stripe. Dresses, jackets, stoles, glasses, wigs. Strange neckties. A feathery fan.
Hats.
He pulled out a jockey’s bonnet trimmed in ice blue satin. “This would compliment your eyes.” He held it toward Draco hopefully.
“Fuck off.”
“Please?”
“Put it on your own demented head.”
“It demands a fair complexion, Draco.”
“I don’t care.”
“What if I let you have some of the fifty-year old whisky I also found in the attic?”
Draco arched a disdainful brow. “Ogdens?”
“Glenlivet.”
Draco sat up. “Whisky first,” he said.
~*~
Four drams in and they were listing against the dormitory window, racing raindrops down the pane.
“Move, you bugger!” Draco tapped the glass where his drop was sliding sluggishly.
“That’s cheating!” Theo shouted. “You forfeit!”
“I do fucking not.”
“You do. Now you have to tell me what’s going on with Granger!” Theo did a little jig.
“I told you, you bloody lunatic. Nothing is going on.” Draco reached for the bottle of whisky and sloshed more into their glasses.
“Fine, don’t tell me. But you have let me do the hat now.”
“Fine.”
Theo squealed and lunged for his trunk.
~*~
“Stop looking at me like that.”
Theo removed his hand from over his mouth, but couldn’t stop the smile overtaking his face.
“What?” Draco’s pale cheeks took on a stain of high colour.
“You just look. Bloody fantastic in that.” Theo’s eyes skimmed over Draco’s shoulders, fetchingly encased in a fitted regency-era coat, to his throat—touched by a blue satin cravat, to the jaunty jockey’s bonnet, piled with more of the blue silken fabric.
“You would say that, you poof.”
Theo put out a hand. “No, no. You’re my oldest friend and a very handsome specimen, but we both know you’re not my type.” He fluttered the hand and glanced over his shoulder. “Now if Longbottom were to make his brawny way through that door…”
“Oh my god.”
“What? You have your Gryffindor crush and I have mine.”
Draco’s brows lowered and his mouth opened, but at that moment a knock came on said door. Theo’s eyes went wide, as did Draco’s.
“What timing,” Theo murmured. “Whoever could it be?”
Draco lurched up and hiccuped. “Probably Pans. She said she’d probably come back tonight instead of tomorrow with the crowds.”
He yanked at the door handle, “Careful, if you come in here Theo’s going to put you in fancy dress like some kind of playhouse prostit—”
Draco’s words broke off as the door swung open to reveal the shocked face and form of one Hermione Granger.
Theo watched her eyes drag up Draco’s chest to his face as a deep blush infused her own. They stared at each other for a good five seconds, Draco utterly still and Granger shifting in a way that made Theo think of crossing one’s legs or biting one’s lip.
“I— I—” she finally stuttered. “Is Theo here?” She hadn’t taken her eyes off Draco’s head and face area, which—that hat did suit him so completely, rendering him unexpectedly dashing, pert and deeply sexy at the same time.
Theo took pity on Granger. “I’m here,” he called. “Please come in.” He shot a look at Draco, who started out of some fugue state and stepped back.
“If you’d—” He gestured into the room, attention still fixed on Granger.
Granger kept watching him too, only tearing her eyes away when Theo coughed.
“I.” She swallowed, gaze darting back to Draco, who had lounged over to the window seat and to Theo’s delight, seemed to have totally forgotten he was wearing a satin-wrapped jockey’s bonnet.
“Potions!” Granger blurted, turning to Theo and blinking rapidly. “I was in the library and I had a question about your part of the formula for our project.” Theo noted that she was adorable with a pencil stuck through a bun at the back of her head and the softest-looking muggle jumper dress.
He also noted Draco staring rather gormlessly.
The beginnings of a nice little plan began to form in the recesses of his mind. Something to put some shine into this dull day. He began pouring whisky into a third glass.
“Of course,” he murmured, sidling toward his trunk. “But first how do you feel about costumes?”
Inspired by this art, only I thought let's make this more emotional. Or how Minerva McGonagall receives the news about James Sirius Potter's birth.
The message comes in the early hours of the morning, before she leaves for breakfast. A short note, attached to a barn owl.
Professor Headmaster, if there is no trouble, would you join me for a drink at The Hog's Head tonight? — Harry.
It's funny how she still recognizes his handwriting after so many years; it's the "g", Minerva thinks, there's something very specific about this letter and the way Harry curves it.
She scribbles a quick note in answer, then ties it to the owl's leg. It's a beautiful creature that reminds her suddenly of Harry's white owl, whose wings were once harmed—and then Minerva heard what happened to the owl a few years later. Harry had looked so nervous about the state of the bird...
She shakes her head; age is making a fool of her again, too lost in memories. She dispatches the owl and tries to focus on the present.
It's after seven when she leaves the castle grounds to walk to Hogsmeade; it's a slow walk, and Minerva tells herself she will just floo back to Hogwarts later—she is getting too old for this walk, maybe this is a sign—
Hogsmeade is quiet on that Friday night; she thinks about how busy it will be the next day, with a school trip to the village — she'd heard the students talking excitedly, discussing what they would be buying—and that makes her steal a glance to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes down the street. She will need to warn the caretaker to be more careful than usual for the next week.
The Hog's Head is as busy as ever, which is to say full of shady people sitting by themselves, mostly covered; she sets a mental note to remind the Head Boy and Head Girl to watch out that no student wanders here. Then she looks around; in a dim corner, Harry is waiting for her, and he stands up when he sees her.
There is always a mingle of happiness and strange nostalgia when she sees him; except for the joy in his green eyes, he barely resembles that eleven-year-old boy that joined her house—and if she thinks further, to that baby she once delivered to a family that didn’t deserve him, there is only proud as she sees how well he’s grown up.
Harry is a fine man. Not because of his work as Auror, not because he defeated Voldemort, not even because of all those things he faced so bravely; but rather because he is a simple, fair, noble guy who believes in doing the right thing.
And he looks very well, if only slightly tired, as he shakes her hand.
“Hello, Professor,” he greets, smiling (when Harry smiles, and that’s Minerva once again being dragged by her own memories, he looks a lot like Lily). “I took the liberty of asking for your favourite.”
“One moment together, before I go” Maybe it was easier when I thought I hated you, before your smirk began to look more like a confidential smile. A friend, a partner, a lover.
Victorian dramione au, where Draco and Hermione are forced to agree to an arranged marriage and feelings are a mess.
im really tired of these bots having their lives way more together than me. 22 and a doctor? 19 and an investment banker? i really let my parents down apparently
Weasley is Our King 👑 Who else loves Ron as much as I do? 💛
With whom do you ship him? Hermione or someone else😉
I love pretty much all the characters, except the outright antagonists. Absolutely love and adore Ron.
Okay but like if you DID want to defend Ron Weasley at length I’m just saying I would 100% read that cause he really does deserve it, I love him. Also agree that he’s not right for our hermione tho lol
Sidenote: half way done rereading laoha and I’m so stoked for the last chapter!!
Chaud, thank you!
First, I really don't care if other people legit hate Ron or Ron reminds them of actual shitty boyfriends they've had or enjoy Ron bashing or whatever, tagging is a beautiful thing and other people's tastes impact me not at all. Ship on, and take your hot cuppa fanservice how you like it.
Second, I'm an educator, and it is literally my job to see the best in every single kid under my umbrella and support their growth on their own terms and timeline. I've spent my entire adult life valuing children as unique and inherently worthy, rather than on the basis of their athletic skill, academic motivation, marketable talents, general Competitive Edge in Late Stage Capitalism, etc. I honor all hard work and earned accomplishments, and also recognize that attaching human value to certain talents/cognitive abilities/physical prowess/academic achievement/organizational abilities is ableist af.
It is also really, truly okay and an astonishing miracle within a mostly lifeless universe to just be a person in the world. Have a volunteer coordinator job or drive a city bus or be a teacher, enjoy your little coffees at Target, keep your truck running, trim your neighbor's maple and have a few close friends and family at your funeral whose hearts will forever ache after the way you would forget to keep opening your Christmas gifts when you unwrapped a book, you know? No one needs an Ivy League degree or principal role in a ballet company or a cock-shaped personal spacecraft to justify the time their meat-self spends consuming planetary oxygen. Two out of three of those are great if you want them. But it's also cool to just be here and not hurt other people and breathe.
Which brings us to Ron Weasley.
Kingdom Come
Collab with @jaxxartbox 👑
Chapter Twelve - Phoenix
Summary:
The fate of the realm hangs in the balance as King Draco battles for dominion over the Sacred Kingdoms with his new Queen, Lady Hermione, at his side. Forced to set aside her idealistic beliefs, she must embrace a reality where order and chaos reign in equal measure.
Hermione craves peace, yet she is destined for war.
Preview:
Weak from atrophy, exhaustion burrows into Hermione's bones, and pain hinders her every thought.
But she stands.
She moves.
And through it all, she breathes.
With scars both visible and hidden, Hermione endures.
Recovers.
Lives.
The last is most difficult, but there is a sacred comfort hidden in the ordinary.
Links:
Banner by @dreamsofdramione 😍
Anonymous asked:
Is there a link to the behind the scenes ETL echo podcast?
Hopefully this link works for spotify
If anyone is interested in hearing me and @mightbewriting chat with @etl-echo-audiobooks about the recording experience for Remain Nameless, thoughts on writing, dramione and other nonsense 😊
Fanfiction Authors: HEADS UP
(Non-authors, please RB to signal boost to your author friends!)
An astute reader informed me this morning that one of my fics (Children of the Future Age) had been pirated and was being sold as a novel on Amazon:
(And they weren't even creative with their cover design. If you're going to pirate something that I spent a full year of my life writing, at least give me a pretty screenshot to brag about later. Seriously.)
I promptly filed a DMCA complaint to have it removed, but I checked out the company that put it up -- Plush Books -- and it looks like A LOT of their books are pirated fic. They are by no means the only ones doing this, either -- the fact that """publishers""" can download stories from AO3 in ebook format and then reupload them to Amazon in just a few clicks makes fic piracy a common problem. There are a whole host of reasons why letting this continue is bad -- including actual legal risk to fanfiction archives -- but basically:
IF YOU ARE A FANFIC AUTHOR WITH LONG AND/OR POPULAR WORKS, PLEASE CHECK AMAZON TO SEE IF YOUR STORIES HAVE BEEN PIRATED.
You can search for your fics by title, or by text from the description (which is often just copied wholesale from AO3 as well). If you find that someone has stolen your work and is selling it as their own, you can lodge a DMCA complaint (Amazon.com/USA site; other countries have different systems). If you haven't done this before, it's easy! Here's a tutorial:
HOW TO FILE A COPYRIGHT COMPLAINT FOR STOLEN WORK ON AMAZON.COM:
First, go to this form. You'll need to be signed into your Amazon account.
- Select the radio buttons/dropdown options (shown below) to indicate that you are the legal Rights Owner, you have a copyright concern, and it is about a pirated product.
- Enter the name of your story in the Name of Brand field.
- In the Link to the Copyrighted Work box, enter a link to the story on AO3 or whatever site your work is posted on.
- In the Additional Information box, explain that you are the author of the work and it is being sold without your permission. That's all you really need. If you want, you can include additional information that might be helpful in establishing the validity of your claim, but you don't have to go into great detail. You can simply write something like this:
I am the author of this work, which is being sold by [publisher] without my permission. I originally published this story in [date/year] on [name of site], and have provided a link to the original above. On request, I can provide documentation proving that I am the owner of the account that originally posted this story.
- In the ASIN/ISBN-10 field, copy and paste the ID number from the pirated copy's URL. You'll find this ten-digit number in the Amazon URL after the word "product," as in the screenshot below. (If the URL extends beyond this number, you can ignore everything from the question mark on.) Once this number has been added, Amazon will pull the product information automatically and add it to the complaint form, so you can check the listing title and make sure it's correct.
- Finally, add your contact information to the relevant fields, check the "I have read and accept the statements" box, and then click Submit. You should receive an email confirmation that Amazon has received the form.
Please share this information with your writer friends, keep an eye out for/report pirated works, and help us keep fanfiction free and legally protected!
NOTE: All of the above also applies to Amazon products featuring stolen artwork, etc., so fan artists should check too!