#I'm glad you asked questions

[kedreeva]

Sorry about the color mix up. I appreciate the reply and additional info! I guess bc I know nothing about peafowl (and the fact i dont breed any type of animal), I'm having a hard time understanding how being sterile would be unethical. I do somewhat get the shortened life span. I really would like to understand this, I just sometimes need stuff explained like I'm 5.

Up front, there's no "somewhat get" to a shortened lifespan being caused by a mutation in captive populations. If an animal is capable of living 20+ years (and some live 30+ or even 40+!) and some non-essential mutation is causing them to live 7-9 years, it's flat out absolutely unethical to breed that mutation, full stop, regardless of anything else going on. That's indicative of a MAJOR problem in their genetics. There's NO ethical reason to breed that because humans like how it looks. So, even without the sterility, these birds would 100% be unethical to produce.

The short answer on sterility is this: we don't know WHY they are sterile, but they shouldn't be, and that means something has gone wrong. When something goes wrong with an animal, and it's something genetic that can be passed on, the ONLY responsible and ethical thing for a breeder to do is to stop using that animal for breeding and closely monitor any already-produced offspring for signs of the problem, and likely not breed them, either.

The longer more complicated answer is this: sometimes it's possible to separate the problem from the aesthetic when it comes to morphs, like it was for cameo + blindness, but sometimes it's NOT, like it wasn't for spider + head wobble for ball pythons. In those instances, it's... difficult. Because you're LIKELY going to produce animals that suffer the same problem as their parent(s), in the attempt to separate the problem from the aesthetic, and sometimes that's ALL you're going to produce. As a breeder, it's your absolute responsibility to NOT release the offspring into the general population, where the problem may be replicated without control, and to keep or cull the affected individuals if the problem cannot be separated from the aesthetic, or AT BEST find them guaranteed pet-only homes that will NEVER breed them.

Sometimes the problem IS purely aesthetic or harmless, like it was for pied in peafowl, and sometimes it's not, like it was for vitiligo in peafowl. The problem comes when you ASSUME a mutation is the first, and treat it like the first when it's really the second. This has caused FAR reaching consequences in the peafowl community, and I'm sure in others, where now the autoimmune disease that first bronze had has been passed into genpop by folks who thought they were breeding a harmless new variation of pied. Hybrid animals are often sterile (not in peafowl though, hybrid cristatus-muticus birds are fertile) because of a mismatch in chromosome pairing numbers, and often that's harmless. So, in some cases sterility is not an issue because it's the expected result or is otherwise harmless... but in the case of peafowl, it's NOT an expected result and we don't know if it's caused by something harmless or not.

Some species, like mice and horses and cattle and dogs, genetic testing and DNA mapping done with millions of dollars has proven that while some stuff isn't purely aesthetic, it also doesn't cause harm to the animal in a way that affects quality of life or that can be adapted for in captive care. For example, in chickens, the frizzle gene causes curled feathers in single copy and an absence of feathers in double copy. This gene is considered ethical to produce IF the breeding is done responsibly by putting a single copy bird over a zero copy bird, which produces smooth coats and frizzle coats, but it is unethical to produce double frizzles (called "frazzles") because frazzles cannot thermoregulate, can easily sunburn, and easily suffer skin injury during normal chicken activity.

For peafowl, we have NO genetic testing. We do not have the genome mapped. As far as I know there's a research group working on it (mostly for green peafowl though, in conservation efforts), but that's not remotely finished or available to the public to test anything. We don't know where any of the morph mutations sit, or what is causing them or if they do anything beyond just change the color. Sometimes color mutations are the result of malfunctions in enzymes. For charcoal specifically, we don't know what the mutation does, besides what we can observe on the outside- the birds have half or less the lifespan of normal birds, poor feather quality, and the hens are sterile. Is the sterility harmless like it is in some hybrid animals, or is it actually a major organ failing? Is it the only major organ that fails due to this mutation, or is it just the first sign of their shortened lives? Is it some deficiency in something the birds need to be healthy? Does it hurt the bird? We don't know, but we do know the mutation and the problems (multiple, please do NOT forget that this is one OF MORE THAN ONE problems) can't be separated, and so until we do know why and whether it's harmless or not, the ONLY ethical response to seeing a problem in a major organ's function linked inextricably to a mutation in color is to not propagate that mutation. If someone wanted to fork over the millions it takes to sequence and map genomes and then determine exactly what is going on with peafowl, that would be nice and good, but I don't see that happening. When I win the lottery big, I'll be doing it, but til then we can only follow normal breeding guidelines

Also, to put this into perspective... peafowl mature sexually around 3 years old. They are chicks until the turn of the new year following their hatch. They are yearlings that year, and immature 2yo next year. They aren't actually considered fully grown until 6 years old, and should live another 14+ years. Charcoal birds die a 1-3 years after full maturity. Is it a coincidence that they fail to thrive shortly after full sexual maturity, or is it linked? Again, we don't know. We don't know if the sterility is fine or if it's just a symptom of something worse.

Even without the sterility, though, charcoal has enough issues it would be unethical. If it was JUST sterility, with no other deleterious effects, then maybe it would be different. But it's not.

#peafowl #asks #anon asks #as always please bear in mind that animal breeding is NOT the same as human reproduction ethics #and I ONLY deal in animal ethics #and honestly even if it was just shit feather quality then I would personally consider it bad breeding #I asked the only person I know who still has charcoals what their issues were and lord it is worse than I thought even #she's keeping/breeding only what she can keep herself #and experimenting with feeding regimens in the hopes of correcting a nutritional deficiency #that might account for the sterility #but so far after like 10+ years she's had no luck #so it's not likely #Like there are SO MANY perfectly fine and healthy morphs out there #there's NO reason to keep making this one #it's not essential to the continuance of the species #also to anon: I'm not mad at all this is just how i sound about my special interest #I'm glad you asked questions #I appreciate you seeking info

[zzztlk]

huge nat fan here, when i was showing ur stuff to my friend they were like “oh another glasses boyfailure fighting demons that u like” and i was like THEY COME IN GIRLFAILURES TOO OKAY!!

Fighting demons and failing is the great equalizer!

#asks #thanks for sounding off nat nation 🫡 I'm glad you like my blorbo #I'm curious now who is the glasses boyfailure fighting demons in question

[cuties-in-codices]

Where do you find these manuscripts? Is it like a website or do you find it randomly??

hey, thanks for the curiosity! lenghty answer below the cut :)

1)

medieval manuscripts are typically owned by libraries and showcased on the library's websites. so one thing i do is i randomly browse those digitized manuscript collections (like the collections of the bavarian state library or the bodleian libraries, to name just two), which everybody can do for free without any special access. some digital collections provide more useful tools than others (like search functions, filters, annotations on each manuscript). if they don't, the process of wading through numerous non-illustrated manuscripts before i find an illustrated one at all can be quite tedious.

2)

there are databases which help to navigate the vast sea of manuscripts. the one i couldn't live without personally use the most is called KdIH (Katalog der deutschsprachigen illustrierten Handschriften des Mittelalters). it's a project which aims to list all illustrated medieval manuscripts written in german dialects. the KdIH provides descriptions of the contents of each manuscript (with a focus on the illustrations), and if there's a digital reproduction of a manuscript available anywhere, the KdIH usually links to it. the KdIH is an invaluable tool for me because of its focus on illustrated manuscripts, because of the informations it provides for each manuscript, and because of its useful search function (once you've gotten over the initial confusion of how to navigate the website). the downside is that it includes only german manuscripts, which is one of the main reasons for the over-representation of german manuscripts on my blog (sorry about that).

3)

another important database for german manuscripts in general (i.e. not just illustrated ones) is the handschriftencensus, which catalogues information regarding the entirety of german language manuscripts of the middle ages, and also links to the digital reproductions of each manuscript.

4)

then there are simply considerable snowball effects. if you do even just superficial research on any medieval topic at all (say, if you open the wikipedia article on alchemy), you will inevitably stumble upon mentions of specific illustrated manuscripts. the next step is to simply search for a digital copy of the manuscript in question (this part can sometimes be easier said than done, especially when you're coming from wikipedia). one thing to keep in mind is that a manuscript illustration seldom comes alone - so every hint to any illustration at all is a greatly valuable one (if you do what i do lol). there's always gonna be something interesting in any given illustrated manuscript. (sidenote: one very effective 'cheat code' would be to simply go through all manuscripts that other online hobbyist archivers of manuscript illustrations have gone through before - like @discardingimages on tumblr - but some kind of 'professional pride' detains me from doing so. that's just a kind of stubbornness though. like, i want to find my material more or less on my own, not just the images but also the manuscripts, and i apply arbitrary rules to my search as to what exactly that means.)

5)

whatever tool or strategy i use to find specific illustrated manuscripts-- in the end, one unavoidable step is to actually manually skim through the (digitized) manuscript. i usually have at least a quick look at every single illustrated page, and i download or screenshot everything that is interesting to me. this process can take up to an hour per manuscript.

---

in conclusion, i'd say that finding cool illuminated manuscripts is much simpler than i would have thought before i started this blog. there are so many of them out there and they're basically just 'hidden in plain side', it's really astounding. finding the manuscripts doesn't require special skills, just some basic experience with/knowledge of the tools available. the reason i'm able to post interesting images almost daily is just that i spend a lot of time doing all of this, going through manuscripts, curating this blog, etc. i find a lot of comfort in it, i learn a lot along the way, and i immensely enjoy people's engagement with my posts. so that's that :)

#if you ever have any specific questions about any of these tools or my strategies feel free to ask or dm me #i'd also be interested in recommendations of databases that are specific to other languages/regions that are neither german nor english #preferably with a focus on illuminated manuscripts #or useful databases that are just not very well known #ask #medieval art #medieval studies #btw @anon sorry for only getting around to answering your ask now #and re: your following message. first of all never apologize for your english skills. like ever #it's a daily struggle for me as well tbh. i never post anything without german/english dictionary tabs open lol #and i feel like i 'owe' it to the tumblr blogger format to write in smooth english #secondly your question wasn't dumb at all! i'm glad somebody asked :)

[aeb-art]

is this out of character? yeah a little, but i'm laughing so

finally got to draw @8um8le's mall toons again 🥺💕 i missed them so much

#2024 #stellar city #sc geo #self insert #self ship #sc ash #sc hydro #sc tele #sc pyro #sc mall toons #geo don't ask questions you don't want the answers too #do y'all even believe me that i like night more than hills? it is true actually but i do have an earth bot bias so i understand any doubt #hydro's hat looks weird i'm realizing... it's a floppy beanie 😔 i'll do better next time my friend #why did i write the dialogue with a sharpie... hard to read- sorry #anyway i really did miss drawing geo so much gosh i'm glad i feel well enough to draw again #y'know now that i'm thinking about it- hydro probably would've known night was my favorite since he plays him :x he'd clock me

[nouverx]

Thanks for making and sharing such wonderful artwork, it always brightens my day to get a notification that you posted something new ^^

#ask #answered #havent drawn myself in a while #I'm letting my hair grow again so I guess this is officially the end of my bald era 😔 #for the rethorical question I HAVE NO IDEA SO IM GLAD YOU DIDNT EXPECT AN ANSWER LOL #I appreciate yall so much thank you for all the kind words

[blackbackedjackal]

I hate this new wave of impossibility with shelters

When my cat cookie had her last oops litter we tried to surrender them to the local shelter cause we figured theyd find homes easier that way BUT the shelter wanted $400 per kitten plus several "interviews" with the kittens over the course of like 3 months before they would even think of taking them, and if they decided against taking the kittens you were down $400x however many kittens (in my case it would of been $1200) and the kittens would be like 6 months old and at that point you might as well just keep them all and get them all desexed instead of taking them to the pound to surrender them at all

We ended up rehoming them via facebook and two of them went to the same home a week apart

They...wanted you to pay $400 to surrender animals to them??? That alone is insane but an extended interview period with the kittens as well? Are they applying to work there like what the fuck?

#I'm glad they found good homes in the end #because that's honestly insane #like $400 for intake? #how much would they sell the kittens for?? #the adoption fees should only cover the cost of the vet care put into the animals for adoption #like shelters are all non-profits correct? #they can't charge for services that haven't been provided #the fuck you need 3 months to interview a kitten for???? #it's a fucking kitten??? #their personality is 'i am a baby cat' #ask #i have so many words and questions like #that sounds shady

[b4kuch1n]

I actually for real feel like my phone's scanning quality has dropped monumentally while I was away on thing so that's a fun thing to figure out now. anyways

#sk8 the infinity #kyan reki #hasegawa langa #renga #answering of ''sure'' whenever they ask ''are you gay'' strikes again #gods. genuinely at least on the export the quality of these dropped like to half. whats up with that #sorry if these are impossible to parse #anyways. scribbled these during ''holiday'' ''vacation'' ''getaway''' #sometimes it really is the simple things. hallucinating vividly about the casual life of a pair of teens to survive being in a car for 6hrs #WITH da family #so glad I picked up scribbling on paper again. I actually got stuff to do digitally today and!! literally it feels so much cleaner #like I feel like I relearned a bunch stuff doing traditional ink again for a sec #but yeah. u guys should know by now how much I think about food as a concept #took 3m off last year to write about it in fact. but now Im just microdosing by drawing langa #I'm also actually so insane about reki being a scaredy cat it's so. something. it means so much to me #this of course means koyomi is a jumpscare champion. among siblings that are close in age there must be #the one who sleeps in the lower bunk. and the one who ties a doll to a string by its neck and lower it down to be next to the others face #'why is that so specific' no further question. thank you #gods okay. I need to lay the fuck down it is now my time. to be in bed #Im onto some real exciting stuff rn! and when this piece is done I'll return to ink for a sec #so uh. ink comm maybe not this week. but the next #happy late labor day! seek and destroy. have a good night

[beatriceportinari]

Wheat and lavender sprig, origami, same model, one piece of paper each. The color contrast is achieved by using two toned paper.

#mine #origami #lavender #wheat #gold #thanks again to paperforger_origami on insta for the crease pattern! #I used it pretty much as is (as far as I could tell) for the wheat #for the lavender I modifier the leaf and the stem/grain transition #and rounded it up a bit more during the sculpting #but the color is doing most of the work to distinguish the two! #speaking of which I'm actually pretty glad of my textures for the lavender #I just wanted to fold again with my usual printer paper/wax pastel combo #and I added some diluted white acrylic and glitter pen on top for some more contrast #and I actually quite like this muted pastel tone #but of course the two golds of the wheat are the star of the show... #the contrast is most striking in the last picture #as usual if you have questions you can ask and if you wanna see more process pics/video check out my #wip #tag #have fun with these I certainely did :)

[shakooo]

hi pookie

firstly HOW ARE YOU HOW HAVE YOU BEEN I NEED TO KNOW, secindly wish you get well ADN thirdly

what about your Christmas Wishes? maybe there's something you wish for to get or pass??? or idk something other

OMGOMG HIII MATT 😭💖 HOW HAVE YOU BEEN???? first of all i'm pretty busy to be honest hahaha, i think it's one of the most saturated Christmases i've ever had but uhm i'm not complaining 😌 (i want to start the new year with quite a few things jaljskaja)

second AAAAW THANSK A LOT🫂‼️ i'm already much better compared to wednesday or thursday AAAGHh i still have a little cough but i can handle it 🤧

and third, woah uhmmm yep that is a somewhat difficult question jalsjakja normally i don't have very well defined Christmas wishes, you know

maybe i'll ask that next year i can buy a new tablet...and continue meeting nice people 😊💖

i dont know AAAAAAJAKSJKAJA Christmas wishes are always difficult for me

AND YOURS??? which are your wishes?? 😼

#ktmbbgman1ch3ll #ask #question #quiestions #MERRY CHRISTMAS MATT AAAAAAA #i'm so sooo glad i met you this year ;v; #<33

[dawningfairytale]

mischa: your runs are impossibly fast and strong mischa: your skin is pale white and ice-cold. mischa: your eyes change colour. mischa: and sometimes you speak like you're from a different time. you don't go out in the sunlight. mischa: i know what you are noel: say it. out loud. say it. mischa: gay.

#rtc #ride the cyclone #noel gruber #mischa bachinski #nischa #nischa rtc #noel's like ''not a secret but i'm glad you figured it out'' #noel: then ask me the most question. what do we eat? #mischa: my ass hopefully #rtc incorrect quotes #source: twilight #on my sugar queue

[thecatinthepurplepants]

having Malevolent Thots once more and tbh I ADORE trans!Arthur headcanons as much as the next guy being A Trans myself but for one reason above most others because it makes me giggle to think about

that reason is John, with his very limited/spotty at best understanding of humans and human biology seeing a dick and balls on a naked cis man for the first time and Arthur doesnt know what the fuck is happening when John fucking SHRIEKS "EEEOOOUUGH WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING HANGING OFF THAT MAN??!?!?"

#no john he's not dying of some terrible cancer #john why do you know about cancer and not about genitals #yes thank you john I'm glad you 'like mine better' and think its 'much more visually pleasing' please never say that again #no john i dont know why theyre so ugly. yes john you probably did just see it move on its own please stop staring #i swear I'll take you to see a film if you stop asking questions about human genitals please god #john doe malevolent #arthur malevolent #arthur lester #malevolent shitpost #malevolent podcast #malevolent

[thresholdbb]

You know what I like? Star Trek

#had a conversation with my sister today and kept denigrating my current passion and lifestyle but like... maybe don't do that? #listen ok I've been trying to be cool my whole life #and I have failed cause at my core I am just not a chill person #shamelessly leaning into something that I like isn't something I did openly before #and honestly? it's changed me for the better #low key it's the reason I don't have a real job right now #because I've been miserable in every structured job I've had (except for maybe college teaching) #and the last conversation I had with my grandpa before he died he asked me if I was happy because that's all that mattered #and while this little shift in existence is ridiculous in the grand scheme of what I've accomplished in my life #and hustling is harder than just showing up and getting a paycheck #and however much I'm not meeting my parents' vision of my potential #I am closer to actually being able to answer his question honestly than ever before #also it led to the wild neurodivergent revelations #so being able to declare openly that I like something is already a shift #and being able to engage with people who are honestly the most open kindest group I've ever encountered? #amazing #cause I'm actually a mega loner who barely talks to people #I'm honestly so glad I got lost in the delta quadrant cause without boyager I wouldn't have come to these conclusions #so yeah I'm kinda really into Star Trek #and if you've read this I'm sure you already know how severely uncool and locked into this I am but alas I can confirm by talking inthe tags #en fin

[majorbaby]

16 and 24 for the MASH ask? Thank you and have a nice day!

16 . you can pick one of the write off characters to stay on the show and develop , the others’ roles don’t change . who are you picking ?

voting mulcahy off the island. uhh who said that

ANYWAY maybe trapper because it's trapper but i think frank was more valuable... ugh also henry... okay, trapper. final answer.

24 . what’s your favorite prank ever pulled ? why ?

i'm cheating, there's 3:

1:

AIR RAID!!!!!!!!!!!!! AIR RAID!!!!!!!!!!!! [SPLASH]

larry linville is so fucking funny and allan arbus' delight as sidney at the whole thing is adorable.

2:

the flying desk... top-tier traphawk shenanigans and i love that henry is their victim lol.

3.

the garbage prank in "some 38th parallels" love that dunking on authority gives hawkeye an immediate, raging boner. what.

#thank you!! i hope you have a nice day as well #i didn't get any duplicates of these two questions and i'm glad i got to answer them #ask game #replies

[pathos-logical]

who needs IDs, how do they help and why are they used? i've always been curious, i mean no harm by asking, so sorry if this is rude

Not rude at all anon, I'm so glad you asked!! Image descriptions are accessibility aids for blind/low-vision and anyone who may have issues viewing or parsing an image (ex: someone sensitive to bright colors, an autistic person unable to comprehend a visually busy art piece). For people who can't see an image for any reason, IDs provide a way to understand what's on screen, whether it's a meme or tweet or art. For example, a blind person using a screen reader (a device that reads text out loud) wouldn't know what an undescribed all-image post was talking about, but with an ID they could know it's a tweet and then a meme mocking it

IDs can look abstruse and intimidating when you're unfamiliar with them, but I promise they're not! The simplest step to making your blog more accessible is scanning the notes of a post to find a comment with an ID and reblogging that version of the post instead! If you're interested in learning how to write your own IDs, I really love this post as a resource, plus the amazing People's Accessibility Server if you have questions or want to request descriptions! I'd also like to plug my pinned post, which has a link to a doc with templates for a ton of memes so you can describe posts yourself!

I hope this wasn't too much text and that your question was answered clearly, anon! Please feel free to go through my "image descriptions" and "accessibility" tags for more info!

#anon never apologize for asking a question :) i'm really glad you did! #asks #accessibility #image descriptions #anonymous #kay talks

[cervidaeic]

derek crying and the black liner on his face running down his cheeks and neck.

#why is he crying? good question. i'm glad you asked. #it's because i'm the one fucking hi - gets shot #anyways. i think he deserves to cry a bit. #sorry. #hornyposting

[queenlucythevaliant]

Some off-the-cuff thoughts on overspiritualizing patterns in science

I remember watching a talk in middle school youth group about laminin, the "molecule that holds your whole body together" which was supposedly shaped like a cross. The suggestion, basically, was that the cross's image was integral to our molecular makeup and that this was part of God's design in a very Significant way. I was a burgeoning STEM girl, so I taped a diagram of a laminin up next to my bed for a while.

(As I would later find out, the whole laminin thing had/has some reach among Christians. There are T-shirts and everything)

Fast forever to spring of my freshman year as a microbiology student. I take my first course in cell bio, and I learn that laminins are actually one of many families of ECM glycoproteins. They aren't really any more significant in "holding the body together" than collagens, elastins, or fibronectins. They're very important, yes, but ultimately just one type of adhesive protein among many. And! They also do a bunch of other stuff that's way cooler than just. Adhesive.

While some laminins do bear resemblance to a cross when diagramed, it's really only because they have three subchains. Some are t-shaped, but others are y-shaped, and those don't look anything like a cross. Also, when they're in situ rather than in a nice, neat diagram, they tend to be all floppy and then they look even less cross-like.

Source

And when I learned about this I was oddly relieved. It felt like I was right about something that I couldn't even put into words, and that somehow the field of what I could call glorious had grown wider.

Christians are called to see and marvel at the presence of God in creation. I love doing that! I see God left and right through my scientific studies. Yet I also know that the human brain is pattern-seeking and that we are prone to pareidolia. I honestly don't know that there's a substantive difference between seeing the cross in some laminins and seeing Jesus on a piece of toast. It's all just seeing patterns that arise from something else (in the case of laminins, being able to bind three different molecules at once) and attributing spiritual significance. God is sovereign and maybe in the grand scope of his vision for creation it means something, but in terms of seeing God's hand in science I just find it so... small?

You could spin so many four-chain or four-domain proteins or goodness knows how many other molecules into images of the cross if you pick the right diagram. You could take every pattern of three in nature (and there are many!) as an image of the Trinity. If you really, really wanted to, you could take every six in organic chemistry as a sign of the beast, which would be hilarious in its misguidedness. It just becomes so literalistic and dull so very fast.

Look! Wouldn't you rather talk about the fact that laminins begin to appear along the edge of a developing lung at just ten weeks of human embryonic development, suggesting that they play a role in alveolar morphogenesis? That they're present in the neural stem-cell niche, which makes them an attractive candidate for helping to treat degenerative neurological conditions? I want to go back to whoever gave that talk that I watched in youth group and shake him and say, "God did that, and you're still hung up on the fact that laminins have three subchains?"

#God is so so big and as a result the horizons of science are ENORMOUS #very often when Christians talk about science it's with a tone of ' #see! look we found it! the God molecule! incontrovertible proof of the divine!' #and like. my brothers and sisters in Christ. God didn't create the world for us to prove our way to him #he created a world that shouts and cries his name but we have to know HIM first! not the other way around #you're not gonna find God in Laminins if you're fixated on it being this big significant Thing that Proves that GOD SIGNS HIS HANDIWORK! #you can absolutely meet him there if you take the time to marvel at the glory of a molecule this versatile #about which we can ask questions! and draw closer to our creator by understanding his creation better! #just. i feel such a grave responsibility and a glorious joy towards promoting scientific literacy among Christians #it's hard to describe but in a lot of ways it's the thing i want most to do with my life #also to be clear: not trying to vague-post about anyone #Kaylie's post about quarks did inspire this but only insomuch as it skirted right up against this subject #about which i clearly have a lot to say #the original post was gleeful and charming and I'm so glad that you're enjoying your physics book! #just. i think it's important not to fixate on the symbols at the expense of the actual wonders of creation #wow I am such a woman in stem #good grief #pontifications and creations #all truth is god's truth #endless forms most beautiful