#most wasps are actually mostly solitary | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

crevicedwelling · 7 months

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hello! i am a relatively new user here on tumblr, less than a year, and i have heard a comment or two about a 'wasp discourse' that happened here, that wasps are much more nice than bees or something among those lines

this caught my curiosity as im writting a wasp based character whos just an ahole as i did it on what i knew abt them from general internet and im stuck on wether i should maaayybe change them up a bit

if its not too much to ask do you happen to know a bit abt this discourse? or have a link to it? or if not to the discourse itself some other link that elaborates abt the same topic? perhaps even someone else i can ask this?

thank you very much!

to start off, there are a lot of bees and wasps in this world and it is not easy to generalize about them. there are ~20,000 bee species, and the vast majority of these are solitary bees that nest in the ground, plant stems, or in holes in wood, and because they produce no honey or have a colony to guard, have no need to be defensive or aggressive towards humans (because “towards humans” seems to be what most people base this idea off of). colonial bees, like honeybees, are actually much more defensive than solitary ones; they have huge food stores and many defenseless larvae, hence their nasty stings (or bites, for the stingless bees) and swarm defense of their hives.

bees, however, are just a family of wasps. their closest relatives are believed to be the crabronid wasps (example: cicada killers) and sphecid thread-waisted wasps (ex. mud daubers). these wasps, and most others, are also largely solitary, and hunting prey aside, don’t typically use their stings for anything other than personal defense. of the hundreds of thousands of wasps, most of them (75%) are not just solitary but also parasitoids that develop inside other insects. it’s hard to say “all wasps are assholes [to people]” when some 100,000 of them are tiny specks smaller than sesame seeds that nobody other than scientists notice.

two parasitoids: a braconid ~3mm long & something else ~0.3mm long

the wasps most people take issue with are vespids, since they like the same foods we do (sweets, meat) and have powerful stings to defend their nests. these include the social hornets, yellowjackets, and paper wasps, but many mason wasps and the like are solitary (and, you guessed it, want nothing to do with people). vespids are great predators of caterpillars, flies, and other pests that humans don’t like in addition to being pollinators.

a yellowjacket: Vespula squamosa

the usual anti-wasp, pro-bee sentiments go: wasps attack for no reason, don’t pollinate, don’t make honey, and are “assholes.” wasps do pollinate (most wasps, bees and ants don’t eat solid food, and therefore largely drink flower nectar; some plants are only pollinated by wasps).

some tropical wasps do actually make honey, though it’s not harvested by humans. it’s sort of silly to say that making honey is what makes bees “good” though—a very selfish mindset, and for example butterflies are well-liked by people despite not making any edible products for us.

wasps also attack only when provoked, either because you’re near a wasp nest or when you lean on one accidentally. they are defending their baby sisters and themselves, same as bees would. at least in the US, I think the reason that wasps are so hated is that we have many species of paper wasp and yellowjacket that are willing to nest on or under houses, while the (invasive) honeybees prefer trees or are kept by beekeepers in artificial hives, so it’s just more likely you’ll run into problems with wasps than bees.

tl;dr:

wasps and bees are neither “nice” nor “mean.”

bees are mostly loners that don’t bother people. colonial bees will sting to defend their nests or themselves from predators. most bees are pollinators, who gather pollen to feed their larvae. a few species make honey that humans harvest.

wasps are mostly loners that don’t bother people. colonial wasps will sting to defend their nests or themselves from predators. most wasps are pollinators, and most hunt or parasitize other insects to feed their larvae.

#bugs #Hymenoptera #wasps #bees

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bonefall · 7 months

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i am definitely one of those people who gives their cats warrior names so here r my parents' two young cats:

"Cloudbound"-> Haipipip "fat cloud bouncing." He is a big floofy ragdoll himbo and he reminds me of a cotton swab.

"Flywhisker" -> Ffawshusspap "keen fruit fly." There's not yet words in the lexicon for her name I think, so I used "bee sensing with carpal whiskers" as a placeholder which is kind of what I want to get at but she's really more of a fruit fly yk? And I couldn't find a personality adjective for an observant cat or a proficient hunter, which I think could be a good addition regardless. Anyways she is a very skittish and twitchy little black and white spotted cat and i am her favorite person because i walk quietly.

Don't feel obligated to answer this ask, i just wanted to share :]

FLIES

Fruit flies are actually quite rare, and mostly only seen in ThunderClan because of their notorious love of including fruit in their recipes. This climate is very cold, and fruit flies are most common around human settlements where there's a year-round supply of fruit (pre-infested!) coming in from supermarkets.

So I'll add fruit flies when I get around to a legitimate entry on flies as a whole, but for now, there's a whole bunch of teeny flies that could be very fitting here.

Let's start with the broad "categories" of "Fly" that Clan Cats have plus some related words;

Fly (Generic) = Usprr Any insect that primarily flies to travel, but is not a butterfly, dragonfly, or midge. Bees are a type of Fly in Clanmew. (Midges include craneflies, robberflies, and mosquitoes)

Waste = Bloh Translates directly. A waste. Something that can't be used.

Gall = Oorp Swollen bumps and shapes that rise off plants to house certain types of insects, very popular with certain types of flies, but also used by some mites.

To Harmlessly Pretend/To Pretend To Be Busy = Aweerron/Aweerro/Aweerr This is a REALLY hard verb to translate into English. Translated directly, it means "doing the act of being dandelion-yellow." Translated roughly, it means to don the color yellow so you're left alone by something with a greater threat-level. It can mean 'compliance,' or it can mean to 'mind your own business,' or it can even mean 'looking busy.' A verb that describes several animals, but especially types of flies, of which bees are a type. Their yellow coloration acts as a deterrent to bigger animals who want to avoid being stung. If you've ever been at work and just done something pointless when the boss rolls around, so you don't get assigned more work, you were doing this.

Maggot (of any fly) = Ulae The most general term for baby flies of all types. Also used for bee larvae. NOT derogatory in Clanmew.

Maggot (of green bottlefly) = Huli The medicinal maggot, a VERY important species for use in treating SEVERE wounds.

SPECIFIC CATEGORIES OF FLIES

Hover Fly = Hafrr Little flies capable of a true hover, coming in various odd shapes, but most are dandelion-yellow. Just like butterflies, a fly that is capable of performing this difficult flight pattern is highly respected, but in a cutesy, diminutive way. Hover flies are primarily pollinators, seen around flowers. Being likened to a hoverfly is like being called "spunky."

Building Fly = Kyybr Most bees, wasps, hornets, certain gall flies. Flies that build another structure. Ants temporarily become these at certain times of the year, according to the Clan cat interpretation of an ant's nuptial flight. There are a TON of other subtypes under this, wasps, solitary bees, swarming bees, etc, which I'll get into some other time.

Bristle Fly = Bfurr Probably what you imagine when you hear "fly." Round, bristly, buzzy things, which are often attracted to rotting things and waste. A little fruit fly is a type of bfurr, but so are bottleflies and the golden dung fly. Some flies which are not drawn to decaying matter, such as the Red Parasite Fly, get lumped in here too.

Lace Fly = Honrr Clear-winged, slender insects. Includes scorpionflies, some sawflies, actual lacewings, and the bay sucker.

And lastly, a couple of interesting species.

Scorpionfly (Panorpa Communis) = Yykrn The web-pilferer. Named for its habit of snatching the prey of spiders right out of their webs!

Cleg (Haematopota pluvialis) = Grawr The MOST annoying fly in the entire Clans, absolutely detested. A nasty creature whose bite contains an anticoagulant, causing it to bleed profusely. Common in WindClan and near the edges of conifer forests (such as the plantation near ShadowClan). Considered a lot worse than mosquitoes, which are just itchy.

Marmalade Hover Fly (Episyrphus balteatus) = Fsi Yes. Marmalade can be a valid warrior cat prefix if you'd like <3 The most common hoverfly, traveling in swarms and looking almost exactly like a bee. Their maggots kill aphids and the adults pollinate flowers, causing them to be looked at especially fondly in ThunderClan.

Green Bottlefly (Lucilia sericata) = Holibf The species that is attracted by Clerics so its maggots can be used in medicine. A fly species you're definitely already familiar with, for its shiny, green abdomen.

#Flies #Clanmew

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secret-bug-pain-blog · 2 months

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FEBUWHUMP INDEX

Hello! We're trying out a new method of posting this year, after last year's posting revealed some very obvious errors in our methodology. Initial, unbeta'd drafts are posted to Tumblr the day of - AO3 posting is pending proofreading & beta checking, but will be posted once we've wrangled our beta readers into reading our Truly Excessive Amount Of February Fic, as well as done our own proofreading and potential light rewriting. We'll add those links later, but for now, there's just Tumblr.

This year, we pared down a good handful of prompts down to a "snippet and illustration" format to fit them within the month - these have been marked as "truncuated" within this index, and are likely to have more detailed fics when we actually get around to Ao3 posting. We also did not illustrate some of these because we got to having to illustrate them for posting and we didn't want to. As this is a time-limited challenge and our usual strategy for running out of spoons mid-sprint is to take a nap and get back at it later, we do apologise if these are lower-quality than hoped. If all goes well, the full, edited versions will turn out better. If all doesn't go well... well, you'll have a valuable snippet of our Worse First Draft, and if the idea strikes your fancy you're likely to be able to do it in a new and more unique way.

We have more or less finished everything here, but we haven't actually posted some of it - if something isn't linked, check back here at the source post later and we'll probably have it up eventually! For most of these our reasons more or less boil down to a mix of "tagging things sucks" and "we're photosensitive enough that comfortable light for us isn't really bright enough to photograph things well and it's a big pain to set up the right angles", and neither of these factors are likely to improve.

If we don't post a Collection Work before March 5 then someone come yell at us in the inbox. (EDIT: Collection Work's index can be found here!)

KEY

Day of origin - Prompt - Word Count - Fandom - Universe - Summary [Links]

Characters listed mostly by level of importance. POV character marked.

DAY 1 - Helpless - 919 words - Hollow Knight - Unnamed Hornetfic (working title: "hronet out of bugaria") - Hornet, captured and poisoned beyond a hope of escape, is stripped of her cloak and mask. [INITIAL DRAFT (Tumblr)]

Characters: Hornet (POV), ??? (OC)

Contains: Poisoning, manhandling, loss of treasured items, debatably nudity (she doesn't care very much about it), loss of mask (she cares very much about it).

DAY 2 - Solitary Confinement - 341 words - Bug Fables - Canon/Canon Divergence - Hoaxe is still alive. [INITIAL DRAFT (Tumblr)][AO3 (collection)]

Characters: Hoaxe|Wasp King (POV)

Contains: Starvation, dehydration, slow and painful character death, tree angst.

DAY 3 - "Bite down on this" - 4442 words (+598 in omake) - Bug Fables - Unnamed Leipephilene Fic/Bug Fables Canon Crossover - Team Slacker collect a new version of an old informant. [INITIAL DRAFT (Tumblr)]

Characters: Scarlet (POV), Delilah (POV), Stratos, Team Snakemouth but as background characters.

Contains: Manhandling, vampirism, fear of death, rampant paranoia, seedling murder, bartering, and the author's extremely self-indulgent crossover with a fic it has not yet finished.

DAY 4 - Obedience - 2099 words - Hollow Knight/???(Bug Fables) - "Walk In The Backyard" Transmigration - The Hollow Knight fails at its duty. [INITIAL DRAFT (Tumblr)]

Characters: Hollow Knight|Pure Vessel (POV), Mothiva (not named in text), Zasp (not named in text), mentions of Hornet and The Radiance.

Contains: Heavy injury, mild suicidal idealation, mistaken identity, abandonment, literally kicking a bug while it's down, and the Hollow Knight's unfortunate inability to handle itself without being offered a purpose from an external force.

DAY 5 - Rope Burns - 2579 words - Bug Fables - Selkieverse - A geis or geas (pl. geasa) is an idiosyncratic taboo, whether of obligation or prohibition, similar to being under a vow or curse, yet the observance of which can also bring power and blessings. It is also used to mean specifically a spell prohibiting some action. Geasa are common in Irish and Scottish folklore and mythology, as well as in modern English-language fantasy fiction. [INITIAL DRAFT (Tumblr)][AO3 (Beta read, individual work)]

Characters: Astotheles (POV), Niothibng (OC, not named in text), Butomu (not named in text).

Contains: Feral behavior, magical bindings, mildly graphic description of injury, dehydration, overwork, (the bug equivalent of) prosopagnosia, and being manhandled by strangers with decent intentions.

DAY 6 - "You lied to us" - 1909 words - Bug Fables - Wereweevil Vi - Vi has a nightmare. [INITIAL DRAFT (Tumblr)]

Characters: Vi (POV), Kabbu, Leif (dream), various others (mostly in dream, largely OCs)

Contains: Gore, painful transformation, dream murder, nightmare sequences, accidentally harming friends, a whole lot of verbal abuse,

DAY 7 - Suffering In Silence - 864 words - Hollow Knight - Canon/Canon Divergence - The Vessel has entirely lost count of how many times they've attempted to beat Nightmare King Grimm. They are beginning to grow very, very tired. [INITIAL DRAFT (Tumblr)]

Characters: The Knight, Nightmare King Grimm, brief appearance of Grimmchild, mentions of Dirtmouth residents.

Contains: Metaphysical burn wounds, frustration, The Ritual unfinished, and the general irritation of being stuck wrangling the affairs of gods.

DAY 8 - Lightning Strike - 817 words - Legend Of Zelda - Unnamed AU (Flesh, Bone, Blood, Magic) - "With brutal strength and extreme resilience, this type of Lynel somehow surpasses Silver Lynels in sheer power. It is said they are actually Silver Lynels who mysteriously transformed after being struck by lightning. If you see one, get away as fast as you can." [INITIAL DRAFT (Tumblr)]

Characters: Kasa (POV, OC), Link, Squall (OC), mentions of Lyr (OC)

Contains: Dragons, worldbuilding, the very predictable effects of holding a sword to the heavens during a thunderstorm, and transformation of the self (mild).

DAY 9 - Bees - 250 words (this one in particular has so many clashing versions that we don't want to even try a formal one) - Bug Fables - Canon/Canon Divergence - The problem isn't with the Hive. It's with Vi. [INITIAL POST (Tumblr, truncuated)]

Characters: Vi (POV), misc. bees.

Contains: Terrible self-esteem, deeply questionable familial dynamics, The Hive.

DAY 10 - Killing In Self Defense - 549 words (4125 words and counting) - Bug Fables - Canon/Canon Divergence - Bugarian autumn is cold. This is a fact of life around this part of the world, albeit one that Scarlet has never been terribly fond of, especially when his more favourable hiding places turn out to not keep out the chill. Thankfully for him, campsites are generally open to any traveller caught out in the cold. Unfortunately for him, the category of "any traveller" also includes bugs that he would rather not associate with... [INITIAL POST (Tumblr, truncuated)]

Characters: Scarlet (POV), Sasha (OC), Leif, Vi, Kabbu, Misc. OCs.

Contains: Sexual assault, overstimulation, stereotyping, murder, a not insignificant amount of nonconsensual touching, and the situational energy of having someone who is very much trying to come on to you approach you at the bar in a social situation where you can't explicitly say "no" and have to try to dance around the fact that you aren't interested whilst someone makes increasingly unsubtle come-ons to you in a way where it's increasingly obvious that they see you less as a person and more like a sexy lamp.

DAY 11 - Last Man Standing - 715 words - Bug Fables - Unnamed Forced To Harm A Loved One Verse - He has to protect them. Or they will die. [INITIAL DRAFT (Tumblr)]

Characters: Leif (POV), Kabbu & Vi are mentioned but just out of frame.

Contains: Leif's Request spoilers, altered states of mind, unreliable narrator, significant injury (ignored), feral behavior, and fun facts about biology.

DAY 12 - Semi-Conscious - 270 words (in the same doc as Day 18, which is around 4k words) - Bug Fables - Multi-part (Calia and the Undertaker) - Domesticated forms of parasitic fungus are rare among most kingdoms. Celia's homeland, in this regard, is unique - to her knowledge, there weren't any kingdoms with domesticated cordyceps, save for home. A lack of evidence, of course, doesn't mean a definite no - and the thing that she's found lying by the side of the river certainly isn't a living bug. [INITIAL POST (Tumblr, truncuated)]

Characters: Celia (POV), Leif (POV), Levi, mentions of the rest of TSM, brief Leipephilene

Contains: Poisoning, Leif's Request spoilers, heavy usage of fan canon aka Shit We Just Made Up Because We Thought It Might Be Interesting, cordyceps-related activities.

DAY 13 - "You weren't supposed to get hurt" - 640 words (Too Many) - Bug Fables - Kinabbalism - The newest of Astotheles' Bandits runs into a familiar face our in the field. [INITIAL POST (Tumblr, truncuated)]

Characters: Astotheles (POV), Kina, Maki, a handful of Bandits and Ant guardsbugs in the background

Contains: Family drama, limited information, and dubiously ethical people management.

DAY 14 - Bloody Tiles - 537 words - Bug Fables - Canon/Canon Divergence - Every day that it is in the labs is another day that its siblings come to harm, and it is beginning to grow tired of waiting. [INITIAL DRAFT (Tumblr)]

Characters: Kjdrira|Zommoth (POV), Misc. scientists, misc. zombugs.

Contains: Leif's Request spoilers, unethical experiments, fallout from said unethical experiments, Kjdrira's distinct & growing distaste towards the living, and a certain amount of blood.

DAY 15 - "Who did this to you?" - 422 words (1.5k words) - Bug Fables - Canon/Canon Divergence - Muze unexpectedly finds herself taking care of an injured drone from an unknown colony. Though he's obviously in no state to answer questions, she doesn't need to be a detective to tell that some of his injuries couldn't have been inflicted by the wilderness alone. [INITIAL POST (Tumblr, truncuated)]

Characters: Monsieur Scarlet (POV), Muze (POV), Grandpa, misc. OCs, mentions of Todd.

Contains: Nonconsensual drugging, unexpected side effects of said nonconsensual drugging, unreliable memory, light interrogation, Scarlet's weird biology, and assumptions of assault where the POV character cannot remember at all if the assumptions accurate or not.

DAY 16 - Came Back Wrong - 902 words - Bug Fables - Canon/Canon Divergence - On some level, Leif knows that he's changed. It's simply easier not to think about it. [INITIAL DRAFT (Tumblr)]

Characters: Leif (POV), mentions of ensemble.

Contains: Dysphoria, oddities, bodily anomalies, the distinct feeling that something has changed, the lack of desire to be aware of that change, subconscious suppression of impulses that perhaps shouldn't be buried, unreliable narrator, and a surprising lack of Leif's Request spoilers.

DAY 17 - Hostage Situation - 231 words - Bug Fables - Wereweevil Vi - They say they'll let her go when her hive pays for her. She knows all too well that that won't be happening. [TUMBLR] (snip from longer work - no AO3 posting)

Characters: Vi (POV), misc. bandits.

Contains: Captivity, resistance, and a slowly ticking clock.

DAY 18 - Too Weak To Move - WORDS (in same doc as other chapters) - Bug Fables - Multi-part (Celia and the Undertaker) - It's harder to nurse a not-quite-bug back to health than Celia expected. Thankfully, not-quite-living patients are forgiving, when it comes to not dying. [INITIAL POST (Tumblr, truncuated)]

Characters: Celia (POV), Levi (POV), Leif, brief appearances from Zasp

Contains: Leif's Request spoilers, questionable knowledge of medical care, terrible quarantine procedures, attempting to nurse someone back to health on your admittedly-poor memories of A Species Similar To Them.

DAY 19 - "Please don't." - 274 words - Bug Fables - Charmcraft AU - Something is wrong with you. Something has been taken from you. Something has been changed about you. You are in pain, and you, and you, and you. All you want is for it to stop. [INITIAL POST (Tumblr)]

Characters: ????????????????????

Contains: Unreliable narrator, unreliable identity, unreliable mind(s), mild gore.

DAY 20 - Truth Serum - 766 words - Bug Fables - Postcanon/Canon Divergence - Leif wakes up in an unfortunate situation after a night spent in a neighboring kingdom. [INITIAL DRAFT (Tumblr)]

Characters: Leif (POV), Interrogator (OC)

Contains: Nonconsensual drugging, self harm, kidnapping,

DAY 21 - Unresponsive - 173 words (in our short prompts doc) - Bug Fables - Unnamed Bodysharing Verse - Kina's hibernation goes long this year. [INITIAL POST (Tumblr, truncuated)]

Characters: Maki (POV), Kina

Contains: Hibernation, fear of death, Schrodinger's dead sister, and a potentially irrational amount of belief in the idea that Said Sister Is Going To Wake Up Soon.

DAY 22 - "You weren't meant to be there." - WORDS - Bug Fables - Charmcraft AU - Vi's arm was broken in the Snakemouth Den flood. Though she's been trying to act like she's fine, it's obvious that something is wrong - it's hard to hide it when you're struggling to open your fingers, and no amount of insisting she's okay can hide the scent of hemolymph when she moves too energetically, and now, it seems like it's been getting worse. When she starts acting particularly shady, Leif takes notice. When she sneaks out the inn window at night, he follows. [INITIAL POSTING (Tumblr, truncuated)]

Characters: Leif (POV), Vi, Kabbu, ??? (OC)

Contains: Permanent disability, some very heavy discussion on said permanent disability and measures meant to take care of it, internalized ableism, self-surgery, arguments, and taking questionable paths to a more functional arm.

DAY 23 - Presumed Dead - WORDS - Bug Fables - Canon/Canon Divergence - There are, occasionally, some benefits to having a resting heart rate of zero beats per minute. Leif doesn't think this is one of them. [INITIAL POSTING (Tumblr)]

Characters: Leif, Thronja (OC), a handful of miscellanous bugs having a very, very bad time.

Contains: Leif's Request spoilers, body horror, Leif's normal and rational decision making process, and turning your back on the body.

DAY 24 - "I'm doing this because I care about you" - 1266 words/1565 words - Dungeon Meshi - Canon - Falin is dead, eaten by the dragon. Marcille can't let her stay that way. [INITIAL DRAFT (Tumblr)][AO3 (beta read, individual work)]

Characters: Marcille (POV), Falin's Skeleton. Technically, there are other people here, but Marcille isn't paying a whole lot of attention to them.

Contains: Dungeon Meshi spoilers - mainly up to Chapter 28 of the manga, but there are some subtler ones from later. Dark magic, a possibly unhealthy amount of attachment, wound-picking metaphors, fatigue, and bleeding yourself dry for the sake of someone who's already dead.

DAY 25 - Immortality - 3250 words - Bug Fables - Canon/Canon Divergence - ZB-162 reflects on a life lived far too long. [INITIAL DRAFT (Tumblr)]

Characters: ZB-162 (OC, POV), Kjdrira|Zommoth, Misc. other zombugs.

Contains: Leif's Request spoilers, terrible conditions, terrible mental states, death and rebirth of an identity, self-blame, and the world's most mentally ill fungal communication network administrator.

DAY 26 - Last Words - like 2k words - Dungeon Meshi - Chimerachuck AU - Chilchuck is eaten by the dragon. His former teammates sort out his will. [INITIAL DRAFT (Tumblr)]

Characters: Chilchuck (POV), the Red Dragon, the entire rest of the party (minor appearances), Namari (minor POV), Mayjack (minor POV, Packpatty, Fullertom, Chilchuck's Wife (does not have a canon name as far as we know, but we will survive).

Contains: Major character death, Dungeon Meshi spoilers, character being eaten by a dragon, description of injuries from being eaten by a dragon, description of dragon innards (because of the being eaten by a dragon), digestion (done by the dragon), epistolary elements, and a handful of guilt and messy family dynamics that are mostly non-dragon-related.

DAY 27 - Left For Dead - 29 words - Bug Fables - Wereweevil Vi - You don't win friends by betraying them. [TUMBLR] (painting - no AO3 posting)

Characters: Ollie (OC), Misc. Leafbugs

Contains: Blood.

DAY 28 - Human Weapon - ~3k words - Dungeon Meshi - Dungeon Rabbit AU - The spurs on his heels are long and sharp enough to decapitate with a kick. He tries very, very hard not to think about what that might mean. [TUMBLR][AO3 (individual work)]

Characters: Chilchuck (POV), Laios, miscellanous others.

Contains: Nonconsensual body modification, an unorthodox form of body dysphoria, crippling debt, and spoilers for miscellanous worldbuilding bits for Dungeon Meshi.

DAY 29 - Not Allowed To Die - 1466 words - Bug Fables - Fifty-Two Pickup - Piece by piece, Kjdrira puts its eroded disc back together. It will not let the effort be in vain. [INITIAL DRAFT (Tumblr)]

Characters: Kjdrira|Zommoth (POV), Carmina, mentions of misc. zombugs.

Contains: Leif's Request spoilers, Blight magic, questionable methods of surgery, potentially unhealthy attachment issues, and a fungus who is loathe to let go of what they have only just been allowed to know.

#my posts #febuwhump #febuwhump2024 #index #whump #writing #my writing #counting this as done in the same way all of our misc snips are done #which is to say that if we posted this to ao3 as a finished work then we would have to strangle ourself personally #but that's not the focus of this season so it gets a pass

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multiverseforger · 3 years

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Edit

The Mole Man was originally Harvey Rupert Elder, an American nuclear engineer and explorer. Elder was socially shunned due to a combination of his abrasive personality and his homely, dwarfish appearance. Furthermore, his fellow explorers ridiculed him for his eccentric, crackpot theories regarding a Hollow Earth. In 1956, while following the group of explorers called the Monster Hunters, he stumbled upon Monster Isle, which was at the time a base of the Deviant Warlord Kro.[volume & issue needed]

When Elder fell into a massive cave leading deep into the underground realm of Subterranea, he decided his theories had finally been vindicated. However, he suffered permanent damage to his eyes when he gazed directly upon a highly reflective deposit of diamonds. Partially blind and apparently secluded from the surface world forever, Elder dubbed himself the Mole Man and began exploring his new home. He eventually became the ruler of the branch of Subterraneans now known as the Moloids, and the ruler of much of Subterranea and the caverns of Monster Isle. He used the Deviant-derived creatures and technology that he found in Subterranea to strike back at the outer world in numerous attempts to rule or humble the world that had rejected him.[volume & issue needed]

The Mole Man conducted attacks on the surface world by destroying nuclear power plants in the Eastern Bloc, Australia, South America, and French Equatorial Africa, attracting the attention of the newly-formed Fantastic Four in their first adventure. After the group arrived on Monster Isle, he captured Mister Fantastic and the Human Torch and told them his plans to invade every major urban area on the planet via a network of tunnels. When he released a horde of monsters the Human Torch sealed his realm's entrance. The Mole Man appeared to have destroyed Monster Isle in an atomic blast.[4] The Mole Man's Deviant-bred monstrous mutates, collectively known as the "Mole Man's Monsters", include the three-headed Tricephalous,[volume & issue needed] the horned Megataur,[volume & issue needed] and the flying bird-insect creature known only as "Skreeal".[volume & issue needed] The Mole Man also has a group of superhuman allies called the Outcasts.[volume & issue needed]

The Mole Man later stole buildings from New York City, but was thwarted by the Fantastic Four and appeared to be killed in an explosion.[5] With the Red Ghost, he next battled the Avengers and tried to use a machine that caused earthquakes to take over the world by threatening to destroy all life on Earth, capturing Giant-Man who had been warned by ants of the earthquakes as they sensed them first. Later the Wasp released Giant-Man and he shrunk down to ant-size and sabotaged the machine. Iron Man then sealed the tunnel entrances. The Red Ghost then broke up the partnership.[6] Mole Man was among the criminals later assembled by Doctor Doom's mind-control device to attack Reed and Sue's wedding.[7] Mole Man then fought a war against rival Subterranean ruler Tyrannus, capturing the Fountain of Youth which allowed Tyrannus to stay young. Tyrannus teleported the Hulk underground to help him regain the Fountain. Finally, he was able to restore himself.[8] Mole Man used the original X-Men as pawns in his war against Tyrannus.[9] The Mole Man later trapped the Fantastic Four in a house of his own creation that temporalily blinded them.[10] Mole Man continued to fight his war with Tyrannus.[11]

He later teamed with Kala, the queen of the Subterranean Netherworlders, and fell in love with her. He plotted to destroy the surface world, but was betrayed by Kala and Tyrannus.[12] Some time later, Mole Man and Kala were betrothed to be married. Namor, the Atlantean prince, helped out the Moloids when a conquering force was slaughtering many, while using the rest of them for slave labor.[volume & issue needed]

Much later, Mole Man befriended the Thing and then plotted to raise a new continent at the cost of sinking California, but was again thwarted by the Fantastic Four.[13] He was captured by Lava Men later.[14] Mole Man then attempted to bring peace to Subterranea, but was attacked by Fantastic Four clones.[15] He contended with Skrulls, and tried unsuccessfully to capture a Skrull technotroid egg.[16]

Mole Man later allied with Grotesk and Tyrannus against Deviants led by Brutus. He aided the Hulk in fighting Brutus's Deviants. Together with his allies, he triumphed over Brutus, and welcomed back Kala as his consort.[17]

Mole Man became involved with the West Coast Avengers when one of his monsters attacked Los Angeles. His Moloids were caught in the middle of a Skrull revenge scheme on the Fantastic Four. A replacement Fantastic Four, consisting of Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, the Hulk and Wolverine were tricked into entering the Mole Man's territory and battling his forces.[volume & issue needed]

He later battled the West Coast Avengers along with the U-Foes during the Acts of Vengeance, but their attempts met with failure.[volume & issue needed]

ReformationEdit

Later, he surrendered his desire for conquest and revenge and began assembling a sanctuary for others who had been rejected by the surface world. His two attempts to do so led to the deaths of most of the visitors to his sanctuaries. Briefly, the Mole Man allowed Adam Warlock's superhero team, the Infinity Watch, to use Monster Isle (more specifically, a castle located on its grounds) as a base, on the reasoning that they could help protect him from any meddlers, which they did on several occasions. They proved helpful when the United Nations invaded the island. The Watch, primarily Gamora, drove away the invading force with an absolute minimum of harm. The Avengers assisted with the United Nations, then recognized the Mole Man's rulership over the island.[volume & issue needed]

Mole Man tended to keep out of the way when the cosmic plans went on. The Watch occupied the Monster Isle castle until their dissolution as a team. Following their departure, the Mole Man apparently returned to his solitary, vengeful existence. Aside from occasional fits of hostility, he seems for the most part content to rule his subterranean kingdom, and for the past few years his surface activities have mostly been limited to reacting to threats (real or imagined) to his people.[volume & issue needed]

Attacking againEdit

In one incident, he was causing property damage purely to help the Moloids, whose water and food had become polluted.[18] He appeared in The Mighty Avengers having led an attack on New York, claiming retaliation for his underground home, which he says is destroyed. He was humiliated by a female-formed Ultron, who destroyed his remaining monsters, and he was arrested.[19]

Mole Man was also behind a series of Chupacabra attacks in Puerto Rico. His motive was to protect the blood-drinking race from extinction. He was defeated by the Fantastic Four.[20]

In the "Live Fast" story arc of Runaways, the Runaways are fighting a huge tall sky-scraper sized monster. When Victor suggests Nico shrink it, Nico mentions she already used that spell on Mole Man.[volume & issue needed]

Mole Man witnessed the return of the Hulk, which pleased him. However, when the Hulk was defeated and his stone ship destroyed, various creatures from planet Sakaar were released into the underground. Mole Man trained the alien beasts and led them to attack New York once more. However, the creatures were really waiting for the arrival of Skaar, the Hulk's son. However, Tyrannus rose to challenge Mole Man's claim and used magic to pervert the aliens so that they could destroy the surface. Skaar went into a berserker rage and thus both Tyrannus and Mole Man fled.[21]

Mandarin's White Light Ring approached Mole Man in order to help it and the other rings have revenge on Tony Stark where he became Mandarin-Six. Mole Man and the other Mandarins later travelled to Svartalfheim in order to confront Malekith the Accursed, who had hunted down other three Mandarins and had taken their rings from them.[22] The Mandarins thwarted any attempt of Malekith to hide or flee, as the rings could locate each other. Malekith made a pact with Iron Man (who was also at the time in Svartalfheim to retrieve the rings) disposed of his ring and escaped to safely, as he could no longer be tracked. Following their failure to kill Malekith, the Mandarins resumed their own paths.[23] The Mandarins joined forces once more to help Mole Man's plan to create ring-powered weapons with which destroy cities from their base in Sinister London. A test was thwarted by the Fantastic Four. Before they could release one of the actual machines, Iron Man pinned them down along with the Trojan Guard and Abigail Burns. The Mandarins failed to escape as Iron Man's ally Dark Angel used magic to prevent them from teleporting.[24] After the other Mandarin's are defeated, Mole Man's ring declared him the Prime-Mandarin. Instead, Mole Man abandoned his ring and retreated.[25]

Mole Man was later contacted by unknown individuals to bring them Athol Kussar, the half-brother of mine owner Faust Swart who laundered money to fund HYDRA's African base after he knew about his half-brother's actions and had been previously imprisoned in a mine by Swart while evading the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. When Mole Man broke into Kussar's cell, Kussar did not want to leave due to a bomb inside his body that would detonate if he left his cell. Mole Man was attacked and knocked down by Invisible Woman who disposed of the bomb and placed Kussar in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.[26]

As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel event, Mole Man and his fellow Subterraneans ended up in a civil war with the Subterraneans that are on the side of his son Mole Monster.[27]

When Squirrel Girl's friends, Nancy, Tippy Toe and Koi Boi, help set her up an online dating profile, it leads to many unsuccessful dates, one of which ends with an encounter with Mole Man, who is angered by how Doreen's earlier suggestions to Kraven has affected his home. Doreen apologizes to him and the two have a conversation about his situation, leading Mole Man to proposing to Doreen on the spot and a number of follow-up schemes to get Doreen to go on a date with him. He threatens to bury a number of worldwide landmarks if she does not date him, and after Nancy is nearly kidnapped by him and being swarmed by the media, she goes to confront Mole Man only to find that Tricephalous is in love with him. She lets Tricephalous defeat her to woo Mole Man and they leave for good.[28]

Mole Man later appears attacking New York with a group of monsters, but he is defeated by Hulk, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.[29]

During the Secret Empire storyline, it is revealed that Mole Man has struck a deal with Captain America to use the tunnels of his subterranean kingdom for his smuggling operation in exchange for specific items from the surface world, such as DVDs. When Captain America arrives with the Underground Resistance, Mole Man's kingdom is attacked by Dreadnoughts sent by Hydra. Though the heroes manage to defeat the Dreadnoughts, Mole Man puts an end to his truce with Captain America and lets the heroes leave.[30

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nanonaturalist · 5 years

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Hi! Ever since I’ve started adding new flowers and water sources to my yard, I’ve noticed different wasps hanging around. Is it good that they’re there? What are those guys doing? (Sorry I don’t know much about what they do, I was on the wasp hate team until recently)

Hello! This is a great question! I think most people don’t know much about what wasps do, and even I didn’t know much about them until just a few years ago. They are generally up to one of four things! Pollinating (they are vegetarians just like bees!), drinking water, collecting nesting materials (mud, dried grasses), or hunting insects/spiders to feed their larvae! A fifth thing they may be doing: just hanging out!

Below are some wasps I’ve seen (and photographed) around Texas in the past few years. Most of them have been in my yard near Austin!

Pollinating/Eating

Spider Wasp (a large male!) enjoying some flowers at Lake Travis, Austin, TX

A Eumenes sp. Potter Wasp pollinating some wildflowers in Williamson County, TX

A lovely Scoliid wasp in east Texas (near Beaumont)

A Blue-winged Scoliid Wasp in Keller, TX

An Apache Wasp enjoying some old fruit I left out in my yard (it went bad and I thought the bugs would like it–they did!)

Drinking Water

They get thirsty, too! And they also need the water to help build their nests. They can float on the water! Left: Apache Wasp in San Marcos, TX; Right, Guinea Paper Wasp in my yard

Collecting Nesting Materials

This one is interesting, because you may not realize this is what the wasp is doing!

Paper wasps build their nests from… well, paper fiber. They collect dried fibrous material, like dried grasses or tree bark, and use that to make their nests. But, if you have dry wood in your yard, like my fence, you may notice paper wasps standing on them. If you look closely, you may notice them… chewing on your fence. Guess what they’re doing! Your fence is becoming their nest! If you see a wasp resting on dried grasses or dead leaves, they may be collecting the fibers for their nests. Above photos are Apache and Guinea Paper Wasps from my yard.

But not all wasps make paper nests!

Do you have strange tubes show up on the side of your house? Do you see wasps digging around in the mud? These may be mud dauber wasps, solitary wasps who lay their eggs in little tubes made out of mud. There are lots of different types of these wasps, and they all make different shape nests. This one is the Yellow-legged Mud Dauber, and I have lots of them. The best part, is after their nests are empty, they stick around for long enough that solitary bees will show up and use them! Also, I have solitary bees using abandoned paper wasp nests too, so by supporting your wasps, you are also supporting your native bees! Above photos are from Bastrop, TX (top two) and my yard (bottom two)

Some wasps will dig their nests in the ground, so they don’t collect nesting material, but if you see strange little holes in the ground, they could be solitary wasps! This is a Thread-waisted Sand Wasp (Ammophila sp.) from Seminole Canyon State Park in Val Verde County, TX

Hunting to Feed Their Larvae

Babies are HUNGRY!

While adult wasps are 100% vegetarian, their babies need to eat high energy, high protein foods to grow up–this means other insects or spiders. So if you see wasps flying around your yard, walking around on plants, and you’re not really sure what they’re doing, they may be hunting!

These photos are of a Guinea Paper Wasp nest and lady at my house. The lady is hunting caterpillars–she is on a passion vine plant, which had a ton of Gulf Fritillary Caterpillars, very healthy meals for growing wasp children! It was very interesting to watch her carefully walk around the plant. I never saw her catch anything, mostly because they were so good at hunting caterpillars that there never were any left!

Gulf Fritillary caterpillars, delicious. If you are a gardener, and you don’t want your plants to get destroyed by caterpillars, guess what? Paper wasps are your friends! Once I had a healthy population of paper wasp colonies in my yard, I essentially never found a full-grown caterpillar in my yard. If I wanted to raise caterpillars, I had to find the eggs and bring them inside!

Just Hanging Out

Why do they have to be doing anything? Sometimes they just want to chill.

Flower wasp in my yard

Sand-loving Wasp (Tachytes sp.) on the side of my house

A Square-headed Wasp (Subfamily Crabroninae) living in the hollow stem of a dead milkweed in my garden.

I hope that helps solve some Wasp Mysteries, and welcome to Team Wasps Are Actually Pretty Neat!

May 29, 2019

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asgardian--angels · 4 years

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Hi again! So, you've probably heard about it by now, but I saw an article about the possibility of Asian giant hornets having migrated over to the U.S. I clearly have no knowledge on the subject beyond what I read in the article (and that's hardly any basis to form an opinion on lol) and I know that this kind of falls under your realm of expertise, so I was wondering if you might have anymore information to offer and possibly alleviate some anxieties??

Hi there! Yes, it seems it’s been bombarding everyone’s news feeds the past few days. I was actually just asked to talk about it on the radio today. I’ll preface this with the fact that I am not super familiar with the biology of this particular species, though I had heard of it before all of this and it’s heckin cool.

Is this wasp a problem? Potentially, yes. Should we call it a ‘murder hornet’ and use it as fodder for wasp hate everywhere? Absolutely not. If the Asian Giant Hornet is a problem, it’s because it could be invasive, not because it’s a wasp. Let’s break that down.

In its home range, this massive wasp specializes on hunting honeybees. Honeybees in Japan are not our honeybees, they’re an entirely different species, Apis cerana japonica (as opposed to western honeybees, Apis mellifera). Japanese honeybees evolved alongside this species, and they are together part of an ecosystem - giant hornets like this don’t just pop up like Godzilla ready to demolish society, they look and act the way they do because of millions of years of evolution alongside predators and prey and their environment. Their arms race is with the Japanese honeybee, which can tolerate temperatures in excess of 115 degrees Fahrenheit, and they will swarm the infiltrating wasp and cook it alive. This is a unique, special adaptation that came about because these two have been duking it out forever. So that’s step 1. This wasp is not some monstrous thing born of Cthulhu. It has an ecological place. Honeybees over there are perfectly used to it, just another day for them (there’s actually two other giant hornet species that attack hives sporadically as well over there). We just think it looks terrifying because it’s different than what we’re used to, and it amplifies our already-present fears of wasp-shaped creatures.

Step 2.1 The reasons why it could pose a problem in the U.S. Firstly, its sting is dangerous; obviously, its sting is very large and can deliver a lot of venom, and if you’ve seen the Coyote Peterson video on it, it causes long-lasting swelling and pain. One or even a few stings will not severely harm you, but seven, eight, a dozen, could potentially send you to the E.R. with severe inflammation and even renal failure. You’re more at risk from complications from fewer stings if you have pre-existing inflammation or breathing problems, and if you get stung someplace like your neck or face. Most victims, even those who are hospitalized, do make a full recovery. That being said, like any other social wasp we have, you’re only likely to get stung if you accidentally stumble upon a nest and can’t book it out of there fast enough. I cannot vouch for the natural aggressiveness of this species, but given its size, life history, and similarities to related species, I would say that it will probably have a fairly proactive response to disturbance, aka, yes, it absolutely does pose a health risk to humans and this is a valid reason to be concerned.

Step 2.2 The other reason people are worried. This wasp targets honeybees, which most people know are extremely important for our agricultural system. It can decimate whole hives of western honeybees, as they have not evolved the defenses necessary to fend them off. However, I’ve heard things like ‘they’re going to contribute to bee declines!’ and that is simply not the case. Honeybees are not native - they are not an essential part of our ecosystem, only our agricultural one. It will be an economic loss if we start losing honeybee colonies, but honeybees are not the bees that we should be concerned about here in North America. It’s our native bees that are declining at startling rates. These hornets will not attack our native bees, because they don’t build hives! Only a very small percentage of our >3,500 species of native bee live in colonies, and they’re almost all underground and with a tiny fraction of the number of workers that a honeybee colony has (instead of tens of thousands, think, a couple dozen). The rest are totally solitary. Not what this wasp is looking for; it has a search image, it knows how to seek out honeybee colonies and I highly doubt it would recognize bumblebees or sweat bees as prey. The reason why this hornet has the potential to do so much damage in the first place is a classic problem with monocultures; grow (or in this case, raise) too much of one thing in one place, and when a disease or pest comes by, it can easily sweep through the population with high mortality. It’s been recognized for a while now that we rely far too heavily on honeybees for our pollination; concerns over Colony Collapse Disorder sparked these discussions. This whole time, we should have been providing for wild, native bees, by giving them the habitat they need to live alongside us and pollinate our crops. Instead, we’ve pushed them out with monocultures, pesticides, and development, then decided to bring in a non-native species to replace them. This is a setup for disaster. The presence of this new threat should be a wakeup call to change our ways.

Step 3. Do not judge all wasps by this one species. ‘Murder hornet’ is not a term that allows us to discuss this animal objectively. The VAST majority of native wasps are small, stingless species which most of us never notice, yet they perform invaluable ecological services as parasitoids. Our stinging species are still mostly solitary and non-aggressive, and are pollinators and predators on common garden pests. And you know what? Yellowjackets, bald-faced hornets (not a true hornet, actually), paper wasps, the ones people don’t like? They’re beneficial too, for the same reasons as above. They are a crucial part of our ecosystem, and are aggressive only if we threaten their colonies, which contain their young. This introduced species posing risks to us does NOT give us the right to condemn our native species to fear and hatred. Wasps already have a bad rap. Don’t make this fuel for the fire. If this wasp is dangerous, it’s not because it’s a wasp. It’s because it’s an invasive species that lacks the checks and balances of its natural habitat. Invasive species can be plants, fungi, or animals, and just because this one is a wasp doesn’t mean you get to lump all other wasps in with it.

Lastly, I’m already seeing people all over the country start to claim they are seeing this wasp. You are not. Unless you live in Washington, at this time, you’re seeing something else. Let me show you a few, in case you are mistaken:

European Hornet - Vespa crabro. (Photo) Non-native, but established in the eastern U.S. Largest wasp most people have ever seen, but still half the size of the queen Asian giant hornet. Acts like other yellowjackets and such, no serious ecological threat.

Eastern Cicada Killer - Sphecius speciosus (photo). Native, found east of the Rockies. Specializes on hunting cicadas. A large, solitary wasp, but not aggressive. Lives in burrows in the ground. About the size of the European hornet. They like sandy areas, so you might see them in fields or playgrounds.

Paper wasps - Polistes spp. (photo). Native, common across the country, some species have yellow markings, others are brown or reddish. Social wasps, they build paper nests under awnings near human habitation, can be somewhat aggressive if you get too close to the nest but otherwise are approachable when foraging on flowers. Smaller, usually 3/4 inch or so.

Potter and mason wasps - Eumeninae spp. (photo). We have hundreds of species of potter wasp, and in the southern U.S. many of them have red and yellow markings. This particular one is Euodynerus pratensis from Texas. These are solitary wasps, and are not very large, usually not exceeding 1/2 an inch, maybe the largest are 3/4in. They make mud nests, sometimes near human habitation, but they are docile and rarely cause conflict.

Great Golden Digger Wasp - Sphex ichneumoneus (photo). Common across the U.S., a large native solitary wasp common on flowers. Not really the same body structure as a vespid but just in case... these guys scare some people because they are large and gangly but they hunt grasshoppers and katydids and are generally non-intrusive. They live in underground burrows, not near humans. They’re good pollinators too!

I hope that alleviates some fear that comes with people starting to claim they’re seeing this wasp where it isn’t. It’s just another case of boy cries brown recluse spider. Most people are so unfamiliar with our native insect fauna that once they start noticing wasps, everything looks like the culprit just because they weren’t paying attention to what’s always been around them.

It sounds like they don’t know the extent of establishment yet, or when/how the AGH was introduced. Chances are, if people are starting to find them, then it’s already got a population. However, if early response methods can effectively control their spread, there’s a chance we can eliminate them. We have hundreds of invasive species here in the U.S. that are wreaking havoc on our ecosystems because we missed the short window in which to eradicate them. We do not know the total impact this hornet could have, until we thoroughly read the literature on its ecology back in Asia. It does pose a significant economic risk though, and a human health risk if they end up dwelling near human habitation (which they shouldn’t, I would think, unless you’ve got honeybee hives or feral colonies around). What we’re seeing is two non-natives battling it out - two species that should not be in North America at all. I do hope that we are able to stop this invasion in its tracks, but I also really hope it makes us reconsider the flaws in our agricultural system.

#thehermitreversed #asian giant hornet #wasps #insects #mine #i hope this helps a little?#i cannot deny that getting stung by this bamf can be deadly under certain circumstances #anyone else in this field who knows more about this situation please feel free to chime in!

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emsartwork · 5 years

Photo

The pixies!!! the weirder outfits are what i think they would wear in the average pixie culture, and the more normal clothing is stuff stella designed for them all.

amore, piff, lockette, chatta, digit/caramel and tune/cherie

lore and stuff below the cut

pixies are about 12 inches tall at the most but average in 8-10 inches. They have large, single colored wings, that are physically attached to their back, and they literally can’t “de-transform” or get rid of their wings. they also have skin patterns that can change but only after severe trauma. pixies are technically genderless and sexless, but a lot of them use the pronouns of whoever they end up bonding with. Some pixies like to mimic human clothing before they really interact with human society.

Pixies are born from the tree of magix, which besides producing pixies, also syncs up with the magical energy of female magic users, having a “record” of every one born(how they found roxy in season 4). Whenever someone unlocks magic winx for the first time it sends a surge through the connected thread of magic through the tree of magix, opening the flower representing the fairy and causing the birth of the fairy’s bonded pixie. Until the fairy and pixie meet in person the bond is not super strong. The fairy can’t feel it but the pixies can, and some pixies choose to seek out their fairy on their own by following the thread. the first thing a pixie does after their matter finally settles on a form they announce what they are “the pixie of”, then after a couple days they pick their own name.

The pixie’s special talent(yes im stealing that term from the tinkerbell movies shut up) cannot change, unlike fairies, who can adjust their “fairy of” title should they need to. the pixies talent is rarely super similar to their fairy’s preferred magic. Pixies are kind of hoarders when it comes to objects related to their talent, dressing themselves in these materials and hiding them away in various secret spots. A pixie’s talent and personality are theorized to support and provide a counter point for their fairy. but the method by which this is chosen is currently unknown by the magical science community.

personality wise, my pixies are..... not as nice as the canon ones lol. They are obsessive, possessive, and self absorbed. they don’t like dealing with things that aren’t related to their talent. they don’t like it when people take items related to their talent. they don’t like other pixies. like at all. pixies are usually very solitary, nesting at least 10 yards from any other pixie. Pixie “village” is a meeting place for pixie celebrations and ceremonies, but its rare that more than one or two pixies live there at the same time. a lot of pixies had to tolerate each other during the fiasco with lord darkar, and it is NOT remembered fondly. Bonded pixies are very possessive of their fairy and dislike anyone who is a perceived threat to the fairy or the relationship (this includes boyfriends, friends, siblings, parents, pets, etc because tiny angry wasp babies attacking everybody is a HILARIOUS idea)

for individual pixies!!!!

Amore: Pixie of (romantic) Love. Collects things related to love(roses from bouquets, gift jewelry, chocolate boxes, etc) Amore is naive and a little ditzy, she is one of the only pixies who enjoys interacting with humans who are not her bonded fairy. She is known around alfea campus for giving the best romantic advice and for AVENGING BROKEN HEARTS SWIFTLY AND MERCILESSLY. Stella is balanced by Amore, who is outrageously loving towards everyone she meets (unless they have broken some one else’s heart or if they threaten stella), prefers to make the best of bad situations, and stay out the spotlight.

Piff: Pixie of Rest. They collect fluffy pillow and blankets mostly. they have the most nests in alfea out of the bonded pixies. piff is selectively mute, only speaking while in one of their nests or with Aisha, piff can be very lazy and apathetic with basically everybody/everything else. Piff balances Aisha with their even temperament and need for sleep, which forces aisha to actually slow tf down every once in a while.

Lockette: Pixie of Portals. Collects maps, locks, and keys. actually the youngest of the pixies since bloom was the last member of the winx to transform. Lockette is still a scaredy-cat, but only in physical fights or of monsters, in personal relationships lockette is hard headed and combative. bloom is balanced by Lockette’s cautious approach to conflict and strong stance towards personal problems(instead of running away like bloom always does lmao)

Chatta: Pixie of Language. collects book pages, pen nibs, anything with words on it, including voice recordings. she’s the only other pixie who likes to interact with humans who aren’t her bonded fairy. chatta is hyper hyper hyper and a little bossy. She and lockette clash a lot over who “leads’ the pixies, even though most of the time Chatta is just thinking outloud. Flora is balanced by Chatta’s upbeat energy and belief in expressing herself!!! She loves to talk!!!!!

Pixel: Pixie of Images. collects colored pencils, markers, and any kind of image printed or digital or whatever. theyre scattered and unpredictable, jumping from one thing to the next. They will leave little drawings all over alfea. tecna is balanced by pixel’s creative problem solving and emotional expression. (Side note: I always thought digit being tecna’s pixies was a little redundant, and i never really liked caramel? so Pixel was a good “technological” sounding name that referenced art. Pixel’s design is a combo of digit and caramel though.)

Chene: Pixie of Atmosphere. collects kites, tuffs of clouds, and wind chimes. Chene prefers her own company almost more than musa’s. Chene and musa clash the most obviously in the group, as both are herd headed and temperamental. however, while musa flares hot and pursues a fight, chene is cold and standoffish. despite their problems Musa is actually balanced by Chene’s calm attitude and independent spirit. (side note: Chene is a direct combo of tune and cherie, i don’t remember exactly how i connected them but basically “manners” create a “mood” which could also be an “air” about a person+ weather= atmosphere. boom. her design is a combo of cherie and tune’s.)

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sontagfag · 5 years

Text

THE PREDATORY WASP OF THE PALISADES IS OUT TO GET US: a full analysis

NOTE: everything i know about music theory i learned from the internet so it very well may all be nonsense; take what i say with a grain of salt. this is long as hell and mainly my ramblings about a song i love with all my heart by one of my favorite artists. all under the cut.

first of all, there’s the title. immediately we see the main symbol of the song—the wasp—being characterized as “predatory”, reinforced by the fact that it’s “out to get us”. the wasp, in this sense, is seen as a villain, or as a predator, preying on sufjan and his friend. more on that later. sufjan also gives us our setting- the mississippi palisades, a stretch of bluffs along the mississippi river near savannah, illinois. while you could choose to view this as metaphoric for the story (ie contrasting the sweeping surroundings with the mundanity of the story sufjan’s telling) i choose to believe it’s just there because it was the literal setting of the story.

the next thing worth noting before actually getting into the meat of the lyrics/music, is the song that comes before it on Illinois, A conjunction of drones simulating the way in which Sufjan Stevens has an existential crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze. the song is 19 seconds long, and consists of synth chords and some cymbals. it’s an interesting track, considering that it is simultaneously the most overtly personal, title-wise, on the album (as sufjan’s known to speak heavily in metaphor), yet also the least revealing in its actual content. sufjan chooses to follow this enigma of a track with Palisades, which i’d consider to be the emotional heart of the whole album. perhaps this could be considered to be an emotional prelude to Palisades.

the song opens minimally, with an arrangement of flute, guitar, and piano, contrasting the often orchestral big band feel the album has. i think that this smaller arrangement makes the song feel more personal, more authentic— the only other song on the record to do similar is John Wayne Gacy, Jr., which absolutely uses the even more minimal arrangement to give a more confessional feel. also noteworthy is that the song is in 6/8, which for the less musically inclined means that every measure consists of 6 eighth notes. 6/8 is commonly used for folk dance music like jigs or polkas, so it’s interesting sufjan uses it here. alternatively, you could think of it like two triplets per beat, a sort of double 3/4.

the song is also in e major, which is a key generally associated with joy and delight (according to Christian Schubart’s Ideen zu einer Aesthetik der Tonkunst). the chord progression, as far as i can discern, is E, C#madd11, Amaj7, F#m9. In the key of E, this is considered going from the I chord, to the vi chord, to the IV chord, to the ii. going from the I to the iv is not unusual, and is used in the famous “ice cream changes”, its effect being to prolong the tonic. in addition, it’s a submediant chord, which wants to resolve to the predominant. the chord also has a d# in it, which helps bring it a little closer to the Amaj7 chord. like the ice cream changes, the iv resolves to the IV here. contrary to the ice cream changes, though, this I-vi-IV progression is not just to add interest as opposed to just immediately going from the I to V. instead, sufjan does a little descending thirds type dealio. the Amaj7 gives us a little bit of the feeling of resolve because Amaj7 and E both have an e and an g# in common, but mostly provides the tension of wanting to resolve to the tonic. finally, sufjan takes us to the ii, which is a supertonic, or the I chord sung a step up, providing the release of tension wanted from the subdominant. also interesting about this progression is that every chord in it contains a g#, helping ease the transition from chord to chord. essentially, this progression is essentially a variation on the descending thirds progression, but with a little added flair. my last note here is that it’s an interesting contrast to descend with the chords while the intro flutes play an ascending melody.

wow, that was a lot of music theory, something i don’t know that much about! the song keeps this same progression pretty much throughout the whole song, except for the instrumental sections and the ending, but we’ll get to that in a bit. let’s get into the lyrics now, starting with the first verse:

“Thinking outrageously I write in cursive

I hide in my bed with the lights on the floor

Wearing three layers of coats and leg warmers

I see my own breath on the face of the door”

this first line is particularly beautiful, i think— we get the juxtaposition of his thoughts to how he is writing them down (in cursive), the translation of thoughts into action. cursive is inherently controlled, and meant to be beautiful, unlike his thoughts. there’s also a kind of self-censorship in writing in cursive, as opposed to writing in your own handwriting, because you are eliminating the less sightly parts of how you write and conforming to a certain way that people have decided words are meant to be written. i think you could even translate this to the entire song’s themes of how tiny actions are interpreted to be huge, sweeping statements. there’s also that once the vocals kick in, all the other instruments go out except for the guitar, and occasionally some vocal harmonies in the background, again giving this a very confessional and ethereal feel.

the rest of this verse is spent setting the mood of the story—lights on the floor, hiding in bed, a mood of secrecy. the “lights on the floor” particularly reminds me of my own experiences of summer camp, lying in bed with flashlights under the sheets while i read. i’d also interpret the reference to “leg warmers” as a callback to the 80s- sufjan’s said that this “was written in 1986”. there’s also this implied cold, what with the three layers and being able to see your breath, which i think is another juxtaposition to when the story took place, summer camp.

“Oh, I am not quite sleeping

Oh, I am fast in bed

There on the wall in the bedroom creeping

I see a wasp with her wings outstretched”

this second verse is a little bit puzzling. i’ve always puzzled over what “i am fast in bed” means, and the way i see it there are two interpretations: either sufjan physically got into bed quickly, or the one i like more, he’s kind of shortening “fast asleep” by saying “fast in bed”. I think these lyrics also add that cloud of sleepiness to the whole thing, like this is just a memory that comes to mind right before he falls asleep. and here is also where we first see the wasp, the catalyst for this memory. It’s described as “creeping”, again adding to the secretive nature of the memory, and also the possibly dream-like quality to the wasp. it’s also interesting that sufjan chooses here to characterize the wasp as female- the only way i can see to interpret this is that apparently female wasps, after mating, become solitary, so perhaps it has something to do with that?

then we have a little instrumental break, going from b to a, which are the V and IV chords, respectively. this is pretty standard, going from the dominant, which creates tension, back to a tonic. however, it’s here that the song’s arrangement gets a little more boisterous. along with the guitar come back the flutes playing a repeating melody line along with some percussion, and a strings section if i’m not mistaken? i couldn’t find performance credits for this song in particular so you’ll just have to take my word for it. as soon as this instrumental break ends, though, it goes straight back into just guitar.

“North of Savannah we swim in the palisades

I come out wearing my brother’s red hat

There on his shoulder my best friend is bit seven times

He runs washing his face in his hands”

here again sufjan is setting the scene, with tiny details- the swimming, the red hat. the interesting thing about this story is that its real life counterpart takes place in michigan, where he was born, but he moved it to illinois for the sake of the album. i think that this little twist of reality adds even more to the whole quality of this song as unreal, perhaps just a dream. while i’m tempted to say the red hat could be a reference to Catcher in the Rye, i did make it past 8th grade english so i’m not going to. here, also, is the first appearance of sufjan’s friend- named muppet, franco, or frankie, depending on what live video you’re watching. interesting that sufjan simply introduces him as a “we” here, like he’s just retelling the story to himself. we can also see that the actual wasp bites are not the actual thing in pain here, since he’s not washing his shoulder- he’s washing his face. something about this scene to me screams embarrassment, that he’s running, with his face in his hands. just as the wasp was only a metaphor, so too is the bite- for shame, for hurting. also worth considering is seven times- my boy suf is very religious and so we can certainly extrapolate something otherworldly about this, what with seven being a holy number.

“Oh, how I meant to tease him

Oh, how I meant no harm

Touching his back with my hand I kiss him

I see the wasp on the length of my arm”

the harmonic vocals are back in, giving this whole section a very holy feel as well. again, we have the “oh”s preceding two matching statements. some nice poetic repetition. this section in particular is also very interesting- even before sufjan tells us what he’s done, he’s defending himself. the way i see it, the wasp symbolizes the encroachment of the outside world, what others might think. we know sufjan knows that he should feel ashamed from the first two lines of the verse and just this simple declaration- that he kissed his friend- provokes the fear of being stung by the wasp, of hurting his friend through this small gesture because of society’s expectations. i also just love the simple detail that he’s touching his friend’s back, what a tender line? it’s also hard not to notice the imagery here with talking about bodies, first in the last stanza with the shoulder/hands/face, and here with the back/hand/arms. it’s also implied, at least to me, that they aren’t wearing shirts, seeing as they’re swimming, which adds to the raw vulnerability of this moment. anyway, it’s gay.

here there’s another instrumental break, this time with the same chords as the verse but with a trumpet part. It’s descending, following the chord progression, but also giving this section a kind of deflated and lonely feel. it repeats, again, with another trumpet harmonizing the melody line. this is kind of the last quiet moment in the song before it goes, as i’d say, Full Sufjan, with the arrangement. Immediately after, there’s a quick moment of quiet before the drums burst in, along with the flute intro melody, a harmonized lyrical part, and something that kind of sounds like a marimba? the chords also change here to a more major progression, that being E, B, F#m, A. that would be going from I, to the V, to the ii, to the IV. this is another pretty standard progression, with only one chord difference from the famous 4 Chords by Axis of Awesome progression. the only difference is that instead of going from the V to the vi, it goes to the ii. that creates a little more unresolve, because it’s going from a dominant to a subdominant instead of to a tonic, which creates the feeling of home. it is interesting, however, how sufjan then chooses to resolve the subdominant to another subdominant, which just continues that feeling of unresolve until it gets back to the tonic.

“Oh, great sights upon this state! Hallelujah!

Wonders bright, and rivers, lake. Hallelujah!”

this bit is a little less connected with this individual song over the album as a whole, with the overall themes of nature as religious experience. maybe it could also be interpreted as him feeling like this experience as a whole was holy, both in its setting and its content? not sure.

“We were in love, we were in love,

Palisades, Palisades

I can wait, I can wait”

oh god, the way this overlaps with the first vocal part just absolutely murders me. this right here is an undeniable declamation of the relationship between sufjan and his friend. it’s kind of like he’s saying “fuck you” to the wasp and making his love heard, but also intertwining it indelibly with the setting, with how it’s only halfway audible between all the other instrumentation going on. the way that this sole vocal line just comes bursting out of the background also just makes it feel like he was just so possessed by the beauty of his surroundings that he had to say it. also just- “i can wait”- like he knows that he’s not allowed this love now, but he can wait, he knows the palisades and his friend will still be there for him when he’s ready. around here is where the song really starts to feel dense and triumphant.

“Trail of Tears and Horseshoe Lake. Hallelujah!”

it’s interesting he chooses to bring up the trail of tears here, something terrible and heartbreaking that happened in Illinois, in the same breath as extolling the greatness of its land. perhaps this is his way of acknowledging the terrible things that can happen in beautiful places, how we can never quite separate the joy of a place without knowing that it was stolen from someone else.

then the vocals take a break for a second, to let the horns do the opposite of their line before, playing an ascending line, alongside some little xylophone twinkles and a woodwinds section. then returns the “we were in love, we were in love” line. this time it builds over that, with the guitars coming back in, the choral background, and more dramatic percussion.

“Lamb of god, we sound the horn. Hallelujah

Unto us your ghost is born. Hallelu-!”

okay, so lamb of god obviously refers to jesus christ. horns are a disputed symbol in christianity, simultaneously being used as symbols of strength or divine power and haughtiness or arrogance. in this case though, where the horn is being used as an instrument, i think that it’s being used as a call to action, or to battle, like in Psalm 81:3, “Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival”. based on the second lyric, i think that this is reference to the birth of jesus, since “unto us your ghost is born” mirrors the Christmas hymn in Isaiah 9:6: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.” however, it could also be talking about the love between sufjan and his friend, saying one should rejoice in it. Genius interprets the second line as God’s ghost being born, but seeing as the original line is talking about Jesus being born, I’m inclined to believe that this is Jesus’s ghost being born. i think that this is referencing the Transfiguration of Jesus, since for the most part Christians don’t believe in ghosts, but i’m not sure how it connects to the rest of the song. perhaps sufjan is saying that Jesus’s reincarnation was in the love between him and his friend? if anyone who’s more well-versed in interpreting religious imagery wants to pitch in, be my guest. this next verse is a little long, so i’m going to split it in two.

“I can’t explain the state that I’m in

The state of my heart, he was my best friend

Into the car, from the back seat

Oh, admiration in falling asleep”

here all the joyous instrumentation of before cuts out and it’s just sufjan and flutes. first there’s a nice little double entendre with “state” meaning both emotional state and physical geographical state. this verse i think he’s facing his own fear at loving someone he’s not supposed to love. It’s kind of like an argument with himself- we weren’t in love, we couldn’t have been because he’s my best friend. the next few lines are pretty vague, but to me they read like sufjan and his friend hooking up in the back of a car, and the tender moments in which he watches his friend sleep.

“All of my powers, day after day

I can tell you, we swaggered and swayed

Deep in the tower, the prairies below

I can tell you—the telling gets old”

the backing vocal harmonies come back in here on “i can tell you”, sort of giving it a holy feel, plus some piano gets added in here. once again, this is pretty vague. the way i see it, sufjan is saying that despite “all of my powers”, however much he wants to repress it, he still loves his friend. i’m not sure what sufjan means by “swaggered and swayed” but it does really remind me of that one scene from Call Me By Your Name. “deep in the tower, prairies below” could be more imagery, especially since sufjan describes this camp as a high up tower on a hill, but maybe it could also be a reference to the tower of babel, since that’s the most popular tower in christianity. the last line i like a lot, both repeating the line a couple lines before and juxtaposing it with “i can’t explain the state that i’m in”, sort of saying that it’s something that can’t really be explained except for in flashes of memories. then the “oh great sights upon this state” bit begins to repeat again, starting to build the drama.

“Terrible sting, and terrible storm

I can tell you the day we were born

My friend is gone, he ran away

I can tell you, I love him each day”

this first line implies that what they have feared has happened- something happened between them so that they suffered from the opinions of others as a result of their love. this is strengthened by the third line, which also calls back to his friend running after getting stung, as if the shame of this love has gotten to him. the second line seems to me to connect back to “unto us your ghost in born”, and it’s interesting that he says “we” here, and says to me that this is not a birth, per say, but a rebirth, through their love. there’s also again the double repetition of “i can tell you”, again making it feel like this is a confession, or a story being told. this verse just strengthens to me the fact that this is a love song, perhaps one that ends in tragedy, but a love song nonetheless.

“Though we have sparred, wrestled, and raged

I can tell you, I love him each day”

this first line i see multiple interpretations of. one is that “we” is him and the wasp, saying he’s literally struggled with his sexuality and how others might react to it. the second is that he is still talking about him and his friend, saying that they fought, but in a loving way only obvious to them. right after this the “we were in love, we were in love” line comes back in and the song reaches its final peak with three dueling vocal lines. but then, the song does something unexpected, the vocal lines fading out and ending mid “hallelujah”, just to be replaced by cymbal sounds and a droning guitar chord. this continues for a long 20 seconds, giving a very anxious feeling to the end of the song before just abruptly ending and going into They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhh!!.

in conclusion, this is a love song, told through the framing device of the wasp. this is the story of a love that couldn’t be, but it still exists, frozen in time in the palisades, something like a dream. this is everything we could not be, capsulized into tiny fragments that we can hold forever.

#sufjan stevens #sufjan #illinois #asthmatic kitty #the predatory wasp of the palisades is out to get us

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jkottke · 6 years

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A comprehensive guide to yellow stripey things

Bumblebee, honey bee, yellow jacket, paper wasp...what's the difference? I don't know if this comprehensive guide to Yellow Stripey Things is entirely truthful or not -- a bumblebee is "actually a flying panda" and a yellow jacket "is just an asshole" -- but it is pretty entertaining. Has anyone fact-checked this thing?

Ok fine, I'll do it!1

Carpenter bees are mostly harmless:

Male carpenter bees are quite aggressive, often hovering in front of people who are around the nests. The males are quite harmless, however, since they lack stingers. Female carpenter bees can inflict a painful sting but seldom will unless they are handled or molested.

Honey bees don't always sting just once:

A honey bee that is away from the hive foraging for nectar or pollen will rarely sting, except when stepped on or roughly handled. Honey bees will actively seek out and sting when they perceive the hive to be threatened, often being alerted to this by the release of attack pheromones (below).

Although it is widely believed that a worker honey bee can sting only once, this is a partial misconception: although the stinger is in fact barbed so that it lodges in the victim's skin, tearing loose from the bee's abdomen and leading to its death in minutes, this only happens if the skin of the victim is sufficiently thick, such as a mammal's.

Bumblebees:

Queen and worker bumblebees can sting. Unlike in honeybees, a bumblebee's sting lacks barbs, so the bee can sting repeatedly without injuring itself; by the same token, the sting is not left in the wound. Bumblebee species are not normally aggressive, but may sting in defence of their nest, or if harmed.

And yes, you can actually pet a bumblebee:

youtube

Hoverflies don't sting. But paper wasps do and their sting can be deadly:

Unlike yellowjackets and hornets, which can be very aggressive, polistine paper wasps will generally only attack if they themselves or their nest are threatened. Since their territoriality can lead to attacks on people, and because their stings are quite painful and can produce a potentially fatal anaphylactic reaction in some individuals, nests in human-inhabited areas may present an unacceptable hazard

I couldn't find a good all-in-one source about yellow jackets, but by all accounts, they are aggressive and easily agitated.

The cicada killer wasp look fierce but are generally only dangerous to cicadas:

Solitary wasps (such as the eastern cicada killer) are very different in their behavior from the social wasps such as hornets, yellowjackets, and paper wasps. Cicada killer females use their sting to paralyze their prey (cicadas) rather than to defend their nests; unlike most social wasps and bees, they do not attempt to sting unless handled roughly.

Mud daubers don't sting people that often and prey on spiders:

Black and yellow mud daubers primarily prey on relatively small, colorful spiders, such as crab spiders (and related groups), orb weavers and some jumping spiders. They usually find them in and around vegetation. Blue mud daubers are the main predator of the black and brown widow spiders.

All in all, this checks out. </snopes>

Bonus stinging insect fact: There's a sting pain index that entomologist Justin Schmidt first came up with in the 80s. Schmidt has been stung by almost everything with a stinger and rated the stings on a scale of 1 to 4 (least to most painful). He has also described the stings of individual insects more colorfully:

Western honey bee (level 2) -- "Burning, corrosive, but you can handle it. A flaming match head lands on your arm and is quenched first with lye then with sulfuric acid."

Giant paper wasp (level 3) -- "There are gods, and they do throw thunderbolts. Poseidon has rammed his trident into your breast."

I saw this great quote from Lily Tomlin today: "I always wondered why somebody doesn't do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody." No idea if she actually said that. I'll let you track that one down...I'm busy with the bees.↩

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sheeponmars · 6 years

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Good things.

Almost half a life ago, when I was first diagnosed with depression, my doctor told me to stop for a minute each day before going to bed and name five good things. And if I felt like there was nothing good, to use the following: I have a bed, I have a blanket, I have a pillow, I have a roof over my head, I'm not in North Korea.

Teenage me thought that this was the most pathetic thing I had ever heard, like, was there anything more depressing than having to be grateful for the bare minimum?

Well, I'm older and wiser now (ok, maybe not wiser). But honestly, if I know anything by now, it's that you have to be really thankful especially for the bare minimum. With us being closer to v for vendetta than to closing the pay gap and all.

So I thought about good things that happened this year, because even though it seems depressing to be happy about such little things, they are not a sign that you stuck your head in the sand and ignored all the evil in the world. On the contrary, they're such important little victories that help you to hold your head up, to silently fight the evil in the world, even if it is only by not giving up.

So here I am, the world renowned pessimist, playing Forrest Gump, and not minding at all: a list of good things I achieved this year.

- finished inktober, third consecutive year. And, what is more, in a year I didn't really draw anything else.

- made the whole inktober (except one day) about personal ideas; only one Sherlock. Felt good.

- talked my parents into getting solar panels when their heating system gave up the ghost for good. Also helped pay for the panels by copying some artworks for the solar panel guy, who knocked a three digit number off the bill for the paintings.

- got a (minimal) pay rise ... but ... yay... pay rise!

- vegetable gardening didn't go particularly well (as expected on a north-east facing balcony, but since they grew so well at first I had high hopes), but the insects absolutely loved my little garden. Had lots of bees, honey and solitary ones, little wild wasps, and butterflies galore. Caterpillars everywhere, even some rare ones. Had to leave the half-grown cabbage outside because future butterflies want to spend winter in there. And with the insects, the smaller birds arrived, too. So, happy wildlife in front of my window. :)

- also raised lots of plants from seed, only one type didn't survive.

- didn't draw a lot, but after a while got over it and found something else that kept me occupied: got into making natural cosmetics/skin care. After some initial costs for experiments, I found it helps a lot to save money. Lot of things that can be extracted at home, lots of things that are only needed in small amounts and that keep for ages. My skin loves it, i have a lot less trouble with allergies, so I also need less makeup, so saved money there, too.

- it is also a big victory for mental health: it's something that needs more time, and yet I force myself to do it, and so far I haven't cheated once and opened a shampoo bottle. Also, experimenting with chemicals (and realising that I am not putting myself into danger with it) has helped a lot with anxiety.

- found a lovely shop that produces vegan, palm oil free and affordable soap and solid shampoos. Started using some of the shampoo after some experiments with ghassoul (but that's just too damned expensive). Got my itchy skin under control with it, and it feels amazing to get rid of all those annoying plastic bottles in the shower.

-it's also amazing that you can create cleaning products for almost everything with just a few ingredients. All this stupid stuff clogging up cupboard space, all gone.

- managed to save enough to donate to humanitarian/environmental groups each month (little, but hey, consistent). Managed to add the local party working against climate change to my list after the pay rise.

- found a local yoghurt brand that sells the yoghurt I prefer in re-usable glass cups. Yay!

- coffees bought in takeaway cups this year: 3 (1 because I usually don't go to Starbucks and forgot that they serve their coffee in paper cups even if you stay in)

- plastic bags bought for personal shopping: 0, so mission accomplished second year in a row.

- plastic bags bought for business related shopping: 2, re-used ever since

- felt confident enough to tell people at cash desks that I brought my own bag even in shops where it's still custom to bag things for customers.

- went to see Nick. Cave. Live. (!!!) saw nick cave perform 2 steps in front of me for 5 whole minutes (!!!!)

- felt confident enough to tell the following people to shove a cactus up dark places of their anatomy:

• my brother

• my therapist

• the openly nazi secretary of our manager

• my boss who spends a lot of time with nazi secretary even though he doesn't really like her, but loves her dog

• our manager

• our director

• somebody who really hurt me on tumblr

And actually got some positive feedback for some of those

Was also yelled at for some of those. But had the world changing revelation that maybe it's not me who is always wrong and a strange person. Sometimes, I am actually in the right?? And not a social failure as a whole?? Never saw that one coming. Damn it, I might want to try to remember that.

- General good memories:

• went to see Versailles

• traveled by TGV

• went to a country I've never been before for the first time in... a very long time (Hungary)

Also some really nice walks.

(Since this is tumblr I would like to mention at this point that I am not judging people who cannot afford to invest time/money in growing their own vegetables and shit. I must admit trying to live as environmentaly friendly in the big city as possible involves the sacrifice of some hard earned savings, a job that makes you work for so many hours that you do not have time to spend your money, and a lack of friends. But I would also like to say to those people (mostly RL people, though) that are just assuming I must be secretly rich because of the way I decide to spend my money is fucking hurtful because over the past years I have invested A LOT of time and effort and nonexistend math skills to get where I am now, and that is a really good thing I achieved, especially since depression insists that lying in bed is the only thing we want to do.)

And of course those good things were only possible because I’m not in North Korea and, for now, live in a place where a single woman can own her own bed and make her own decisions. Yes, dear doctor, by now, I know I have to be bloody grateful for that.

Anyway, must be off, buy more drugs.

#i don't want to say anything with this post just some focusing on good things because #just because

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vernicle · 7 years

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Aviation Sights of Virginia

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Though Virginia, as an aviation destination, may possibly look a shadow of Washington with its planet-reknowned Nationwide Air and House Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, 50 percent of that magnificent facility truly sits in Virginia itself, and the state’s various other, even though smaller, sights provide considerable aviation focuses, from barnstorming airfields to house capsules.

The Nationwide Air and House Museum’s next facility, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, is located in Chantilly, Virginia, future to Washington-Dulles Worldwide Airport. Constructed to maintain and show the remaining eighty percent of the aerospace collection much too big and much too various for both the existing construction on the Nationwide Shopping mall or the Paul E. Garber Preservation and Restoration Facility in Suitland, Maryland, the modern day, hangar-showing setting up, named right after Worldwide Lease and Finance Corporation Chairman and Main Executive Officer Steven F. Udvar-Hazy in recognition of his $sixty five million donation, had damaged floor on Oct twenty five, 2000 when Hazy himself had turned the to start with shovel. The job, eventually costing $311 million for style, website infrastructure, and setting up, and requiring a 600-strong design workforce, had necessary some a few yrs to comprehensive ahead of the to start with of several opening ceremonies could be held.

The to start with of these, amid the season’s to start with snowstorm, had taken position on December 3, 2003 and had entailed a exclusive, pre-community “Appreciation Day” held for its sponsors, donors, and Nationwide Air and House Society users. The occasion, precluded by a military services ceremony of the Star Spangled Banner and a tributary speech by Museum Director Standard Jack Dailey, had entailed a day-extensive series of plans and the unveiling of lots of of the aircraft exhibited.

The other museum inaugurations, which includes the “Salute to Armed forces Aviation Veterans,” the “Opening Celebration Gala,” and the “Museum Devotion,” had preceded the actual community opening, held on December fifteen, 2003, the centennial celebration of the Wright Brothers’ to start with powered, sustained, and managed heavier-than-air flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Divided into two most important spots, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center features a collection of 141 aircraft, 148 big house artifacts, and far more than one,500 smaller objects. The to start with location, the Boeing Aviation Hangar, actions 986 ft extensive, 248 ft extensive, and 103 ft higher, and shows aircraft on a few levels, when the next, the James S. McDonnell Hangar, is comparatively 262 ft extensive, 180 ft extensive, and eighty ft higher. The 164-foot-higher Donald D. Engen Observation Tower overlooks Dulles Worldwide Airport and the 479-seat IMAX Theater completes the practical experience.

Exhibits are grouped in sixteen wide types: Vertical Flight, Sport Aviation, Organization Aviation, Industrial Aviation, Pre-1920 Aviation, Korea and Vietnam, Chilly War Aviation, Modern Armed forces Aviation, Aerobatics, German Earth War II Aviation, Ultralights, Armed forces Aviation: 1920-1940, Human Spaceflight, House Science, Applications Satellites, and Rockets and Missiles.

Early aviation is represented by aircraft this sort of as the Langley Aerodrome A, the Nieuport 28C-one, and the SPAD XVI, when Earth War II styles consist of the North American P-51C Mustang and the Boeing B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay,” which had dropped the atomic bomb about Hiroshima, effectively ending the war. Naval aviation is represented by aircraft this sort of as the Vought F4U-1D Corsair and the Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat. Amongst the pure-jet fighters are the Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star, the McDonnell F-4S Phantom II, the Grumman F-fourteen Tomcat, and the Grumman A-6B Intruder.

The museum’s transport classification aircraft signify piston, pure-jet, subsonic, and supersonic styles, some of which are pretty exceptional, this sort of as the German Focke-Wulfe Fw 190F, a quad-engined, tail-wheel aircraft which had application as an airliner the German Junkers Ju fifty two/3m, with its a few engines, corrugated steel airframe, and tail wheel the Boeing B-307 Stratoliner “Flying Cloud,” the world’s to start with four-engined, pressurized passenger transport the Lockheed L-1049H Constellation the Boeing 367-eighty, the prototype of the Boeing 707 and the supersonic Concorde.

Supersonic military services aviation is represented by the Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird.

The James S. McDonnell Hangar, whose centerpiece is the House Shuttle Company, features a abundant collection of spacecraft, rockets, and satellites, amid them the Gemini VII capsule, the Mariner 10, the Mercury Capsule 15B, a Redstone rocket, and the Cellular Quarantine Unit applied right after return of the Apollo eleven mission.

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, collectively with the authentic Nationwide Air and House Museum setting up on the Nationwide Shopping mall, forms an integral section of the world’s greatest aerospace museum.

The two hundred-acre Traveling Circus Aerodrome, for occasion, located in Bealeton, Virginia, and made in 1971, features twenties- and 1930s-era biplane air exhibits each and every Sunday from May well to Oct reminiscent of the barnstorming times of aviation, billing itself as “the greatest display off earth.” Its fleet, which is mostly hangared at the close by Warrenton Airport and flown in on weekends, includes enclosed Piper Cubs and open-cockpit N2S-one and –3 Stearman, Waco, and Fleet biplanes, and is accessible for both of those straight-and-stage and acrobatic rides of among fifteen and thirty minutes ahead of and right after the exhibits.

Soon after shelling out at the entrance booth, cars park on the grass at the rear of the community location, which includes bench-form seats, Fifi’s Air Display Café for light fare, and a tiny, gray barn reward shop. A handful of hangars, located across the discipline and bearing purple-and-white checkered roofs with names this sort of as “Curtiss,” can also be frequented.

The once-a-year Air Display Method features lots of exclusive occasion times, which includes antique cars, tractors, motorcycles, model airplanes, and incredibly hot air balloons.

Entrance instantly transports the customer by a time portal to the barnstorming era.

A summer season flight, aboard a Waco biplane, further returned me to this era. Unleashing itself about the grass with a whole, one,900-rpm throttle application, the aircraft, propelled by its solitary, uncowled motor, lifted its tail wheel off of the now blurred carpet of green and surrendered its two, cloth-protected wings into the sky at 70 mph.

Banking right to a 030-diploma heading at three hundred ft, it had settled into a two hundred foot-for every-minute climb in the incredibly hot, flawlessly-blue August sky about central Virginia’s rolling green canvas. Settling into its 600-foot aerial plateau, it cruised about light-green, velvet-showing fields, bordered by dim green trees, which resembled modern day geometric artwork designs. Silver hay silos had triumphantly risen from them.

Commencing a series of figure-eights about rectangles of dry, practically-golden fields, whose plow marks appeared like textural brushstrokes, the biplane assumed a westerly heading towards the tender green ridges of Shenandoah Nationwide Park in advance of the blurred propeller, ahead of initiating a much-much too-before long, electric power-reduced sideslip about the at any time-enlarging trees towards the discipline and gently settling on to the grass with its two most important wheels.

The Virginia Aviation Museum, located closer to the jap seaboard at Richmond Worldwide Airport, entices guests with its outside Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird and features 36 indoor historic, vintage, and replica aircraft, which includes the Wright Brothers’ kites, gliders, and 1903 Flyer the Vultee V1-Ad at the time owned by William Randolph Hearst the Fairchild FC-2W2 Admiral Richard E. Byrd had applied to overfly Antarctica and a collection of piston and pure-jet engines. A whole-sizing Piper J-3 Cub, which had lately been relocated from Science Museum of Virginia affiliate, permits evaluation of the four forces of flight, when several simulators and interactive displays explore aerodynamics.

Early aviation, the collection’s theory concentration, includes several pristine-condition mono- and biplanes, this sort of as a 1918 Conventional E-one Highly developed Trainer, a 1917 SPAD VII fighter, the only acknowledged existing Wright Model A-14D Speedwig, a intent-made mail-carrying Pitcairn PA-5 Mailwing from 1927, a 1927 Vacation Air 2000, a 1930 Fleet Model one military services simple trainer, and a 1918 Curtiss JN-4D Jenny.

Both equally piston and pure-jet engines consist of a Wright J-six Whirlwind 5, a Curtiss OX-5, a 1914 Le Rhone 9C rotary motor, a Wright R-2600 Cyclone fourteen, a Pratt and Whitney R-4360 Wasp Key, a Continental A-sixty five, a Standard Electric J-31, and a Pratt and Whitney J-58.

Dioramas depict Earth War II, the Tuskegee Airmen, and Women’s Airforce Support Pilots. Academic plans, catering to scholar, scout, and senior citizen groups, consist of lessons this sort of as “The Wright Math,” “The Wright Path,” “Paper Airplane Workshop,” “Balloons and the Civil War in Virginia,” and “Seniors Discover the Earth of Aviation.”

Further more south, in Hampton Roads, its outside Air Power Park, devoted in recognition of the contributions built by NASA and Langley Air Drive Base to aerial and house development and for their interest in local community endeavors, consist of several exceptional aircraft styles, inclusive of the Lockheed T-33A T-Bird, an A-7E Corsair II, an XV-6A Kestrel V/STOL, a North American F-86L Sabre, the later-created North American Rockwell F-100D Tremendous Sabre, a McDonnell F-101F Voodoo, a Northrop F-89J Scorpion, and a Republic Aviation F-105D Thunderchief. Even rarer, perhaps, is its house-related collection, which includes an SM-seventy eight Jupiter surface-to-surface intermediate-array ballistic missile, a Western Electric NIM-fourteen Nike-Hercules two-phase missile, a Jet Propulsion Lab M-2 Corporal Ballistic Missile, a North American Aviation Mercury/Tiny Joe Booster, and a Mercury Examination Capsule.

The Virginia Air and House Center, located in downtown Hampton on the waterfront, is a $thirty million, one hundred ten,000 sq. foot, nine-story facility which had opened on April 5, 1992 and is characterized by its futuristic, interconnected, dual-setting up, gull wing roof-resembling architecture. Its far more than thirty historic air- and spacecraft, which signify far more than one hundred yrs of flight, are exhibited in the lately done, $nine million Adventures in Flight Gallery and the House Gallery, and consist of this sort of styles as the Apollo twelve Command Module which had built the journey to the Moon, an AirTran DC-nine-thirty, a B-24 Liberator nose part, an F.eighty four Thunderstreak, an F-4E Phantom II, an N2S-3 Stearman, a Lunar Orbiter, an F-104 Starfighter, an F-106 Delta Dart, a YF-sixteen Fighting Falcon, and a P-39Q Aircobra. A new exhibit, “Space Quest: Discovering the Moon, Mars, and Beyond,” had lately been launched in the House Gallery. Comprehensive, hands-on displays, that includes incredibly hot air balloons, sound abatement, a Boeing 717 glass cockpit battle simulator, aircraft flight surfaces, propeller effectiveness comparatives, and House Shuttle landing simulators, are complemented by the Riverside IMAX and Curtiss Jenny Century of Flight Theaters.

The Virginia Air and House Center depicts a timeline of Virginia aviation achievements. The to start with-at any time captive balloon ascent from a ship, for instance, a Union Military vessel anchored at Hampton Roads, had happened in 1861, and Eugene Ely had turn out to be the to start with to get off from what had been regarded the to start with aircraft carrier, the USS Birmingham, anchored close by, in 1910. The Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, the predecessor of NASA Langley, had been recognized. In 1927, the USS Langley, a converted collier, had been commissioned as the US Navy’s to start with aircraft carrier. In 1931, NACA Langley had opened the world’s to start with whole-scale wind tunnel capable of tests whole-sizing aircraft at speeds of up to 118 mph. In 1934, the Newport Information Shipyard had built the to start with intent-crafted aircraft carrier, the USS Ranger. The Nationwide Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) had turn out to be the Nationwide Air and House Association (NASA) in 1958 and America’s to start with astronauts, the Mercury Seven, had qualified at the NASA Langley Research Center. The United States’ to start with transonic wind tunnel had opened at NASA Langley in 1982.

The museum also serves as both of those the Visitor Center for the NASA Langley Research Center and Langley Air Drive Base. Four miles north of the museum, the US Military had obtained land in December of 1916 in buy to build, in cooperation with the Nationwide Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, an airfield. The Military had subsequently qualified crews and analyzed aircraft there in the course of Earth War I. In 1921, Brigadier Standard William “Billy” Mitchell had led bombing trials from Langley to show the feasibility of air patrol and its success in destroying battleships. Key Standard Frank Andrews later led a beat air command, which grew to become the forerunner of the Military Air Forces of WWII and eventually advanced into today’s US Air Drive.

Virginia, even though in the beginning perceived as a shadow of Washington with its Smithsonian Institution on the Nationwide Shopping mall, is a reasonably modest condition which features a extensive, multi-faceted aviation journey.

[ad_2] Resource by Robert G. Waldvogel

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readbookywooks · 7 years

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The sun crept over the horizon, decided to make a run for it, and began to rise. But it would be some time before its slow light rolled across the sleeping Disc, herding the night ahead of it, and nocturnal shadows still ruled the city. They clustered now around The Mended Drum in Filigree Street, foremost of the city's taverns. It was famed not for its beer, which looked like maiden's water and tasted like battery acid, but for its clientele. It was said that if you sat long enough in the Drum, then sooner or later every major hero on the Disc would steal your horse. The atmosphere inside was still loud with talk and heavy with smoke although the landlord was doing all those things landlords do when they think it's time to close, like turn some of the lights out, wind up the clock, put a cloth over the pumps and, just in case, check the whereabouts of their club with the nails hammered in it. Not that the customers were taking the slightest bit of notice, of course. To most of the Drum's clientele even the nailed club would have been considered a mere hint. However, they were sufficiently observant to be vaguely worried by the tall dark figure standing by the bar and drinking his way through its entire contents. Lonely, dedicated drinkers always generate a mental field which ensures complete privacy, but this particular one was radiating a kind of fatalistic gloom that was slowly emptying the bar. This didn't worry the barman, because the lonely figure was engaged in a very expensive experiment. Every drinking place throughout the multiverse has them – those shelves of weirdly-shaped, sticky bottles that not only contain exotically-named liquid, which is often blue or green, but also odds and ends that bottles of real drink would never stoop to contain, such as whole fruits, bits of twig and, in extreme cases, small drowned lizards. No-one knows why barmen stock so many, since they all taste like treacle dissolved in turpentine. It has been speculated that they dream of a day when someone will walk in off the street unbidden and ask for a glass of Peach Corniche with A Hint Of Mint and overnight the place will become somewhere To Be Seen At. The stranger was working his way along the row. WHAT is THAT GREEN ONE? The landlord peered at the label. 'It says it's Melon Brandy,' he said doubtfully. 'It says it's bottled by some monks to an ancient recipe,'he added. I WILL TRY IT. The man looked sideways at the empty glasses on the counter, some of them still containing bits of fruit salad, cherries on a stick and small paper umbrellas. 'Are you sure you haven't had enough?' he said. It worried him vaguely that he couldn't seem to make out the stranger's face. The glass, with its drink crystallising out on the sides, disappeared into the hood and came out again empty. No. WHAT is THE YELLOW ONE WITH THE WASPS IN IT? 'Spring Cordial, it says. Yes?' YES. AND THEN THE BLUE ONE WITH THE GOLD FLECKS. 'Er. Old Overcoat?' YES. AND THEN THE SECOND ROW. 'Which one did you have in mind?' ALL OF THEM. The stranger remained bolt upright, the glasses with their burdens of syrup and assorted vegetation disappearing into the hood on a production line basis. This is it, the landlord thought, this is style, this is where I buy a red jacket and maybe put some monkey nuts and a few gherkins on the counter, get a few mirrors around the place, replace the sawdust. He picked up a beer-soaked cloth and gave the woodwork a few enthusiastic wipes, speading the drips from the cordial glasses into a rainbow smear that took the varnish off. The last of the usual customers put on his hat and staggered out, muttering to himself. I DON'T SEE THE POINT, the stranger said. 'Sorry?' WHAT is SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN? 'How many drinks have you had?' FORTY-SEVEN. 'Just about anything, then,' said the barman and, because he knew his job and knew what was expected of him when people drank alone in the small hours, he started to polish a glass with the slops cloth and said, 'Your lady thrown you out, has she?' PARDON? 'Drowning your sorrows, are you?' I HAVE NO SORROWS. 'No, of course not. Forget I mentioned it.' He gave the glass a few more wipes. 'Just thought it helps to have someone to talk to,' he said. The stranger was silent for a moment, thinking. Then he said: You WANT TO TALK TO ME? 'Yes. Sure. I'm a good listener.' NO-ONE EVER WANTED TO TALK TO ME BEFORE. 'That's a shame.' THEY NEVER INVITE ME TO PARTIES, YOU KNOW. 'Tch.' THEY ALL HATE ME. EVERYONE HATES ME. I DONT HAVE A SINGLE FRIEND. 'Everyone ought to have a friend,' said the barman sagely. I THINK — 'Yes?' I THINK . . . I THINK I COULD BE FRIENDS WITH THE GREEN BOTTLE. The landlord slid the octagon-bottle along the counter. Death took it and tilted it over the glass. The liquid tinkled on the rim. YOU DRUNK I'M THINK, DON'T YOU? 'I serve anyone who can stand upright best out of three,' said the landlord. YOURRRE ABSOROOTLY RIGHT. BUT I — The stranger paused, one declamatory finger in the air. WAS WHAT I SAYING? 'You said I thought you were drunk.' AH. YES, BUT I CAN BE SHOBER ANY TIME I LIKE. THIS ISH AN EXPERIMENT. AND NOW I WOULD LIKES TO EXPERIMENT WITH THE ORANGE BRANDY AGAIN. The landlord sighed, and glanced at the clock. There was no doubt that he was making a lot of money, especially since the stranger didn't seem inclined to worry about overcharging or short change. But it was getting late; in fact it was getting so late that it was getting early. There was also something about the solitary customer that unsettled him. People in The Mended Drum often drank as though there was no tomorrow, but this was the first time he'd actually felt they might be right. I MEAN, WHAT HAVE I GOT TO LOOK FORWARD TO? WHERE'S THE SENSE IN IT ALL? WHAT IS IT REALLY ALL ABOUT? 'Can't say, my friend. I expect you'll feel better after a good night's sleep.' SLEEP? SLEEP? I NEVER SLEEP. I'M WOSSNAME, PROVERBIAL FOR IT. 'Everyone needs their sleep. Even me,' he hinted. THEY ALL HATE ME, YOU KNOW. 'Yes, you said. But it's a quarter to three.' The stranger turned unsteadily and looked around the silent room. THERE'S NO-ONE IN THE PLACE BUT YOU AND I, he said. The landlord lifted up the flap and came around the bar, helping the stranger down from his stool. I HAVEN'T GOT A SINGLE FRIEND. EVEN CATS FIND ME AMUSING. A hand shot out and grabbed a bottle of Amanita Liquor before the man managed to propel its owner to the door, wondering how someone so thin could be so heavy. I DON'T HAVE TO BE DRUNK, I SAID. WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE TO BE DRUNK? IS IT FUN? 'Helps them forget about life, old chap. Now just you lean there while I get the door open —' FORGET ABOUT LIFE. HA. HA. 'You come back any time you like, y'hear?' YOU'D REALLY LIKE TO SEE ME AGAIN? The landlord looked back at the small heap of coins on the bar. That was worth a little weirdness. At least this one was a quiet one, and seemed to be harmless. 'Oh, yes,' he said, propelling the stranger into the street and retrieving the bottle in one smooth movement. 'Drop in anytime.' THAT'S THE NICEHEST THING — The door slammed on the rest of the sentence. Ysabell sat up in bed. The knocking came again, soft and urgent. She pulled the covers up to her chin. 'Who is it?' she whispered. 'It's me, Mort,' came the hiss under the door. 'Let me in, please!' 'Wait!' Ysabell scrambled frantically on the bedside table for the matches, knocking over a bottle of toilet water and dislodging a box of chocolates that was now mostly discarded wrappers. Once she'd got the candle alight she adjusted its position for maximum effect, tweaked the line of her nightdress into something more revealing, and said: 'It's not locked.' Mort staggered into the room, smelling of horses and frost and scumble. 'I hope,' said Ysabell archly, 'that you have not forced your way in here in order to take advantage of your position in this household.' Mort looked around him. Ysabell was heavily into frills. Even the dressing table seemed to be wearing a petticoat. The whole room wasn't so much furnished as lingeried. 'Look, I haven't got time to mess around,' he said. 'Bring that candle into the library. And for heaven's sake put on something sensible, you're overflowing.' Ysabell looked down, and then her head snapped up. 'Well!' Mort poked his head back round the door. 'It's a matter of life and death,' he added, and disappeared. Ysabell watched the door creak shut after him, revealing the blue dressing gown with the tassels that Death had thought up for her as a present last Hogswatch and which she hadn't the heart to throw away, despite the fact that it was a size too small and had a rabbit on the pocket. Finally she swung her legs out of bed, slipped into the shameful dressing gown, and padded out into the corridor. Mort was waiting for her. 'Won't father hear us?' she said. 'He's not back. Come on.' 'How can you tell?' 'The place feels different when he's here. It's – it's like the difference between a coat when it's being worn and when it's hanging on a hook. Haven't you noticed?' 'What are we doing that's so important?' Mort pushed open the library door. A gust of warm, dry air drifted out, and the door hinges issued a protesting creak. 'We're going to save someone's life,' he said. 'A princess, actually.' Ysabell was instantly fascinated. 'A real princess? I mean can she feel a pea through a dozen mattresses?' 'Can she —?' Mort felt a minor worry disappear. 'Oh. Yes. I thought Albert had got it wrong.' 'Are you in love with her?' Mort came to a standstill between the shelves, aware of the busy little scritchings inside the book covers. 'It's hard to be sure,' he said. 'Do I look it?' 'You look a bit flustered. How does she feel about you?' 'Don't know.' 'Ah,' said Ysabell knowingly, in the tones of an expert. 'Unrequited love is the worst kind. It's probably not a good idea to go taking poison or killing yourself, though,' she added thoughtfully. 'What are we doing here? Do you want to find her book to see if she marries you?' 'I've read it, and she's dead,' said Mort. 'But only technically. I mean, not really dead.' 'Good, otherwise that would be necromancy. What are we looking for?' 'Albert's biography.' 'What for? I don't think he's got one.' 'Everyone's got one.' 'Well, he doesn't like people asking personal questions. I looked for it once and I couldn't find it. Albert by itself isn't much to go on. Why is he so interesting?' Ysabell lit a couple of candles from the one in her hand and filled the library with dancing shadows. 'I need a powerful wizard and I think he's one.' 'What, Albert?' 'Yes. Only we're looking for Alberto Malich. He's more than two thousand years old, I think.' 'What, Albert?' 'Yes. Albert.' 'He never wears a wizard's hat,' said Ysabell doubtfully. 'He lost it. Anyway, the hat isn't compulsory. Where do we start looking?' 'Well, if you're sure . . . the Stack, I suppose. That's where father puts all the biographies that are more than five hundred years old. It's this way.' She led the way past the whispering shelves to a door set in a cul-de-sac. It opened with some effort and the groan of the hinges reverberated around the library; Mort fancied for a moment that all the books paused momentarily in their work just to listen.

#Mort

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