flashback to when MLK Jr said the worst group in the US for black rights wasn't the lawmakers passing Jim Crow laws or the KKK but the white moderate. That it was the white moderate who was forcing the country to find a middle ground between civil rights and genocide which allowed the continued systematic mistreatment of the African American community
White male victimhood personality matched w/ douchebag consumer identity spells MAGA.
Bohf-bwam (Monster)
(Book of Hours, Flanders; kept in Baltimore, in the Walters Art Museum)
(This is a very old one, created years ago when I first saw this amazing piece of medieval art. I did some minor edits to their statblock, and completely redid their description- they were originally just "no one knows where they come from or what they're thinking, they just cause violence". Nowadays I try to ensure that every creature I make has some kind of story hook to it, rather than being a prepackaged Random Encounter. Enjoy!)
Bohf-bwam are chaotic, violent creatures that spawn in places with high magic potential and a particular veneration for weaponry and martial prowess- typically forming with a hand gripped tightly around a specific and well-adored weapon. Most often they form in the great halls of castles, wielding a displayed ancestral weapon, although more low-tech societies may accidentally create them in camps or villages. Indeed, the bohf-bwam pest problem is hypothesized to be a reason why so many "barbarian" cultures have an aversion to arcane magic, as their love of weaponry can easily produce large groups of these creatures when mixed with magic.
A bohf-bwam's violence is erratic, instinctual, and unplanned; these fits may come and go, and the subject of their violence is typically whatever or whoever is close to them. It is not unheard of for bohf-bwams to be tamed, somehow, by a particularly kind and affectionate person, and such creatures will focus their violent rage on defending the subject of their attention, becoming peaceful- even friendly- in other situations.
Particularly powerful magic weapons may spawn larger, more powerful bohf-bwam. Such creatures gain the Giant and Advanced simple template and lose the oversized weapon ability. Many gain additional spell-like abilities relevant to their weapon- a bohf-bwam wielding a +1 Flaming Sword may have the ability to cast Fireball 1/day, for example.
ok NOW we can all freak out marvel vfx workers voted to unionize
been trying to come up with a BattleTech “pitch” for fans of The Expanse, but honestly?
this is probably enough, plus the official “primer” document if you want actual information rather than just a bunch of pretty images and a banging soundtrack by Jon Everist (who I’m fairly sure admitted he wanted this piece to sound kind of Expanse-y)
or if you don’t want to click links or watch videos:
politics-heavy hard-SF space opera, thrilling heroics, (almost) zero easy answers to the dilemma of the day, main themes are “people are always going to be people” and “the end justifies the means, but there is no end”. obviously this describes both settings nicely.
one just uses that to explain why people are hopping into big war robots and slapping the shit out of each other.
Keep your eyes peeled for a new Sarna.net bad mech article. Reports say there is an Ostscout lurking in the woods.
okay so re: lobster immortality there's got to be a way to crack this. like, they've done half the work already, yeah? they don't age, they grow until they are no longer able to muster the energy to shed.
i see three issues. the first is the square-cube law. proportional growth becomes exponential for volume and surface area. if allowed to grow indefinitely, a lobster will quickly find itself overly burdened by gravity. this can be fixed by launching it into space. an orbital aquarium, perhaps lunar as a temporary measure.
secondly, as the creature grows larger, it will likely require more nutrients than it can feasibly absorb. this is easibly fixable through cybernetic implants, adding new methods of intaking nourishment as necessary.
and finally, the molting. the thing is that you can't just, like, help it molt when it can't do it by itself. it has to initiate the process, form an exoskeleton under its current one, or breaking its shell will kill it. you have to make its metabolism think it has enough energy to molt, then provide at least enough energy for it to actually manage the first part while you handle the second. the solution here is obviously cocaine. or the lobster equivalent of cocaine.
of course, a lobster under these conditions would still very likely take hundreds of years to grow. it would not be a project a single human could see through. unless they did something crazy like transfer their consciousness into the lobster's brain. but that's veering just a bit too far into the hypothetical.
so what i'm saying is that a cocaine-fueled cyborg titan lobster deployable from orbit may not be a benefit of being a marine biologist, but it *may* be a benefit of being a marine biologist's great-great-great-great-great-grandchild.
IMSORRU THIS TOOK SO LONG TO GET TO BUT HERE U GO! @nomakermademe i got the two mixed up :( but i still like this 👍 i tried my best on the lighting
Turn the other cheek? Wrong. Heavy artillery bombardment.
She-ra (2018) Official Merch
I've made a loooong post about She-ra merch and its weirdness, but I wanted to summarize it in the most comprehensive list of official merch for the 2018 Netflix reboot that I could assemble. I'm sure I've missed some stuff, though, so I'll update this if I find anything. Thanks to everyone who contributed.
I did deep dives (with pictures and details) on con exclusive and promotion exclusive merch. Basic info on those is included below the read more of this post.
Everything with [L] at the end of its bulletpoint - or an * inside one - has a photo in the long post. I provided links to official photos/listings when possible, but most of them are defunct.
Pins/Accessories/Clothing (active):
- A bunch of jewelry (necklaces, rings, earrings) and enamel pins from Han Cholo (+ one iron-on patch). I've seen resellers claim the chibi pins were exclusive to a convention, but they're up on the website. The long post* has pictures of these if they ever go down, and the actual convention-exclusive ones can be found in the con post.
- Amazon print-on-demand clothing (+ tote bags and pop sockets) with a lot of different designs that are hidden on the site but still purchasable, see this post for details, and here's the direct link. Once you find a design you like, you can search its name in the regular search bar (for instance, there's a shirt design called "Power Stripes Catra," for that one you have to search just "Stripes Catra") to see all the kinds of items it comes on, usually a variety of tops/outerwear, maybe a tote, and sometimes pop sockets.
- Bioworld also had licensed merch, but some designs are hidden on their store page, so the link shows everything available but includes both the reboot and the 80s original. As of writing, they have one lunchbox, two adult t-shirts, one adult crop top, and two youth shirts for the reboot.
Media (active):
- A DVD of just the first three seasons (with a second box sleeve version that includes stickers). This is still for sale at multiple retailers, but there's no way we're ever getting a full boxset.
- There were a couple of books: the Rebel Princess Guide, the Legend of the Fire Princess graphic novel, and then some small "novels." These are still available at multiple retailers, but they weren't made by the crew and at least some of these contradict basic facts from season one, so they're less canon than many fanfics despite being licensed.
Everything from this point on is out of production and only available via resale.
Toys/Figures (defunct):
- Eight fashion dolls. The line had Adora, Glimmer, Bow, Catra, and She-ra (regular), Battle Armor She-ra (2-pack with a model of Swift Wind), and a deluxe She-ra & Shadow Weaver 2-pack (SDCC 2019 exclusive). These dolls were supposed to be Target exclusive, but the rollout was botched and now they're collectors' items. There were also four cancelled dolls that were supposed to be part of the line.
- Two Super7 action figures in a Catra & Adora 2-pack with limited articulation. They're rare collector's items too, though this time I think it's just because they were a limited run. They were also sent to reviewers. [L]
- A plastic toy Sword of Protection and shield sized for children. The sword lit up and said "For the honor of Grayskull!" when you lifted it. The gem was semi-transparent and had a picture of She-ra under it. This was a Target and Amazon exclusive (Mattel & Target are always holding hands 🤝). [L]
Clothes/Dress-up/Accessories (defunct):
- Four licensed She-ra costumes (season one version) of varying quality: a Target-exclusive one in limited sizes, one from Disguise in a wider range of sizes, one from Party City (as well as a wig and Sword of Protection prop) for children, and one from Rubie's Costume Company (with a season one Catra costume to match, as well as separate accessory packs and wigs for both characters). [L]
- Her Universe used their Netflix license to make three shirts [x], two jackets, an earring set, and a wallet. Photos in the long post* if these links go down (they are discontinued, after all).
- Hot Topic made a few shirts (like, two). [L]
- Comcanroll made a Sword of Protection keychain, also defunct. [L]
Beneath the cut are promotional items that were not for sale (at all, or at least by themselves) but you can still probably hunt down online. Also... still available apps.
no but seriously I still get chills thinking about turning off my headlamp in the cave and The Hand That I Did Not Actually See, and it’s been twelve years since it happened
it’s such an unreal experience
like
you turn off your light in a cave and wave your hand in front of your face
and
you can see this shadowy thing moving in the black space where your hand is
it looks like the same shadowy thing you would see in your room at night if you waved your hand in front of your face, it’s there and vaguely hand-shaped, and your brain recognizes it as your hand because your brain is aware of where your hand is and what it is doing
But You Are Not Seeing Anything
Inside a cave, there is No Light. No matter how far your pupils spread, there is no light for them to draw in, no light to put an image on your retina.
But your brain just Fucking Assumes that because it knows where your hand is and what it is doing, clearly it can see it.
So it creates a shadowy thing for your eyes to be seeing.
Brain is like “there’s a hand there”
Eyes are like “yup sure thing brain I can totally see it”
Brain is like “nice”
but there is no hand, you cannot see the hand, you are seeing a literal actual hallucination in the cave because your brain thinks it knows best
Caves are awesome, but also terrifying. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
we once went spelunking, and a our guide said that once he was in a cave with a stream, so he could hear running water, and his brain was like ‘oh, running water? that means there must be Ducks out there’. and he saw like…low light shadows of ducks. that his brain just Put There.
As a cave guide: we call that ‘cave blindness’! True darkness absolutely wigs your brain out - we’re such visual creatures that after a while our brain throws a hissy after not seeing anything. Sensory deprivation is a very real kind of torture. We have a huge, deep cave system at work and there are a lot of places where you’re hundreds of meters in solid rock in this tiny, dark, still space.
I like to turn my torch off, sit down with my back against the wall, and wait to see how long it takes before I start seeing things or feeling like the ground is moving, or hearing things. Because I know I’m not - I’m in complete darkness, utter silence, sitting in rock that hasn’t moved in hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
Proof that brains are Ridiculous and over-react to a lot of stuff!
I want to add to this that people who lose their hearing as adults have reported hearing music “being played loudly from somewhere”, and other auditory hallucinations, bc the brain will just panic and put your brain’s ipod on *fucking shuffle* if it’s not getting any input
It wouldnt be a Tipsy Saturday without a bit of cafe drawing before i get my haircut!
this is peak trans culture because this would have been easier with very nearly any other guitar design but she just haaad to use one shaped like the letter e. Not afraid of a challenge. Respect.
I would like to add that their name is E, literally just the letter E, like they’re in a spy movie. As if that wasn’t cool enough already she went and got a guitar shaped like her name. Fucking icon.
bakermiraak
summoned durnehviir in tamriel and he immediately gets his hydration on. what a hydrohomie
Same energy
