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harry, as venus by botticelli

the birth of harry finally come to life, thanks to the incredible visions depicted in de amore ex tempore, a fic by @persephoneflouwers that has me dreaming like i haven't in a while. thank you <3

what is it with me and my obsessive fear of lying or like. Faking It. what is It. Why am I so scared. is it the ocd again. I think it might be the ocd agajn

a friend who'd wait :)

Guys. Guys. My sisters and brothers in Christ. There is no meaningful way to divide “micro” evolutions vs “macro” evolution. (Explanation got long and really emphatic, so see below the cut). 

Some Christians like to use these words to distinguish current, directly observable processes of descent with modification from the cumulative sum of these processes ie “I can accept that dogs diversify into different breeds but not that all life shares a common ancestor.” This is. Really arbitrary.

Where are you drawing the line between “micro” and “macro”? Typically, people say that they don’t believe that one “kind” can evolve into another “kind.” So speciation? Because speciation is not only observable, but predictable and repeatable.

Okay, so there are a bunch of different species concepts, but for the sake of simplicity let’s use reproductive isolation because that’s what most people are familiar with. A new species emerges when a new population no longer interbreeds with an original population.

This can happen behaviorally (like if a new species of bird has a different mating dance and thus can’t court members of the original species), mechanically (genitals no longer compatible – right- and left-handed shellfish are a good example of this), or at cellular level (sperm and egg no longer compatible), or genetically (different numbers of chromosomes).

Guys. This happens all the darn time. We can watch it happen in real time and see the differences between species accumulate. We can even take a sample population, divide it in half, and subject the two subpopulations to different conditions causing them to diverge. It’s predictable and repeatable. I had a professor who did work like this in Alaskan fish capable of living in both fresh and salt water. His team was able to repeatedly create divergent fresh and saltwater exclusive populations which did not interbreed and had significant physiological differences. I had another prof who worked with cicadas and saw new species emerge because one year there was a big change in local climate and some of the five-year periodicals (I think) didn’t come out and breed for an extra year. They were reproductively isolated from the five-year periodicals that did emerge on time. Over the course of like fifty years they got more and more different from the original population and expanded to fill an empty niche and absolutely boomed in population, expanded geographical range, etc. There are journals full of this stuff.  

Okay, so maybe you mean “kinds” more generally. Maybe you consider all fishes one “kind.” In that case, how do you account for the placement of whales? Or any crown group tetrapods, for that matter? Do you consider primates all one kind? In that case, what do you make of the changes in chromosome number between types of old- and new-world monkeys? If that’s within-”kind” variation in primates, is it also within “kind” variation when it divides chimpanzees from humans? This kind of taxonomy is just entirely untenable. 

It gets even murkier when you look at microbes (my specialty), which don’t differentiate the same way that multicellular life does. Microbes reproduce asexually, and their main source of variation is horizontal gene transfer. As a result, there’s a lot of gray area between microbial species and even very different species are capable of swapping DNA under certain, not-that-unusual circumstances. So even if you want to say that all fishes, for example, are one “kind," then you basically have to group every prokaryotic species together the same way because they are way more reproductively compatible with one another than any broad group of animals you could think of.

And remember, microbes account for the overwhelming majority of life on earth—there are at least 100 million times more bacteria in the oceans than there are stars in the universe. Is this “micro” or “macro”? Mechanistically, it’s much less dramatic than so called “macroevolution” in animals, yet the scale, breadth, and timeframe involved would likely be considered “macro.” Not to mention, getting from the origin of life to the origins of multicellularity encompasses many more large evolutionary leaps that getting from multicellularity to modern man. If you’re willing to call microbial evolution “microevolution,” then you’re seventy-five percent of the way to just accepting that humans share a common ancestors with all other life on earth. If you’re not, well, there goes the entire “kinds” schema again. 

Okay, so maybe the difference between “macro” and “micro” evolution isn’t speciation or “kinds”. Maybe you think that “macro” evolution refers to the greater processes by which very divergent species (say, humans and redwood trees) evolved from a single common ancestor long ago in deep time. Maybe the distinction between “macro” and “micro” evolution is essentially an historical one.

Apart from being very subjective, the big issue with this distinction is that it means that processes which observably occur in the present must have occurred either differently or not at all in the past. This is an absolutely wild claim, and I can’t think of any other subject about which people would say this.  

This would be like saying—huh okay, now I gotta come up with an analogy—it would be like saying yes, I accept that fashion trends change season-to-season at present, but I’m not willing to accept claims that neckties could have come from cravats given enough time. It just defies logic.

Finally, it bears saying that “micro” and “macro” evolution are not scientific terms. I cannot state this emphatically enough. I have never once heard these terms from any professor, bio student, or serious publication. The only place I have ever seen them is in YE Creationist discourse. Christians made them up because some would like to hold two essentially incompatible positions.

Sydney Theatre Company - Strange Case of Jekyll & Hyde // Sally Rooney - Normal People // Christian Lee Hutson - OCDemon // Anne Sexton - A Portrait in Self-Letters

god, one mild problem of asking friends who don't draw a lot for criticism is that They Don't See Shit. I'm obviously going to be Extra Critical of my own art and that's why I ask for their advise, but they just tell me it's pretty without warning me that one arm had a very fucked up anatomy or the chair I had straight up forgotten to draw for a good while.

I told them the thing was done (I meant a fucking table I had procrastinated to draw for eons and was a blue sketch in all those wip updates) while all the characters were still just colored sketches and the chair was missing and they just didn't see it; they rolled with the drawing as is.

They're wonderful people, but they are definitely not the people to go to for actual art advise and it's a bit annoying tbh

ocean o'connell rosenberg has verbal shutdowns . she doesn't like telling people- feels like it doesn't fit her whole "in charge of everything all the time" vibe , and she hates being seen as weak- but sometimes the world is just too much , even for the most ambitious girl in town .

the first person who realized was constance , of course . before even ocean knew what was happening , constance had noticed her struggling to get words out and mentioned it one time when ocean's voice just wouldn't cooperate . and after a few , painful hours of coaxing to convince a still-unable-to-speak ocean into slowly , slowly being able believe that this wasn't a weakness or a personal failure on her part , ocean finally had someone she could trust to help her when she needed it .

from that point forward , constance began to speak for ocean when she couldn't , covering for her whenever she was around people who she didn't want to notice anything strange (which was , perhaps unsurprisingly , everyone except constance) . she would memorize ocean's speeches so she could step in at a moment's notice if she had to , and take over for ocean when they were talking in a group or find her a way out of there . the choir noticed the change in the normally-quiet constance , of course , but they didn't think too much of it- those two had always been a finish-each-other's-sentences kind of pair . they thought it was kind of nice that constance was speaking up more .

they started learning sign language together so they could communicate better when ocean wasn't speaking- bff telepathy only goes so far , and games of charades took too long and just made ocean feel embarrassed . and consequentially , when ricky joined the choir , they were the only ones that he could really talk to . maybe the only ones in the entire school- saint cassian's was not known for its inclusivity . ocean responding a question he signed was how he got into the choir in the first place- she was the first person who had responded with anything other than blank stares or "stop waving your hands around , you'll hit someone" , let alone actually understood and could sign back . he desperately needed someone he could talk to , and so the choir got a new member .

the already-multilingual mischa picked up sign quickly as soon as he understood how it worked , and though noel wasn't quite as skilled at languages with the help of the choir he was learning at a steady pace . constance's not-so-subtle hints for ocean to tell the rest of the choir about her fluctuating verbality when asked how the two of them already knew so much sign were resolutely ignored , ocean blurting out something about a languages club she'd dragged constance to last year before rushing out of the room with a mumbled excuse that even constance couldn't make out .

ricky was the second to notice . being the only member of the choir who couldn't sing , he had a lot more downtime to observe the others . more time to notice the concealed signs to constance that she repeated , the subtle questions from constance to ocean if she was alright to keep going , the way ocean's voice sometimes got shaky and strained before she stopped talking altogether and constance stepped in , and he began to put the pieces together . one day after rehearsal he just .... asked , if she was sometimes like him , not able to talk ? and he comforted her the best he could when tears welled up in her eyes and she just sobbed , out of relief and fear and all the emotions that come with someone finding out the secret that you keep closest to your chest , when that someone is like you in a way that no one has ever been like you before , when you didn't even know anyone else could be like you . ocean and ricky walked home together that day , signing rapidly at first about all the shit that comes with not being able to talk that neither ricky nor ocean had even been able to talk about , and eventually about .... anything , really , as long as it was with each other .

and then there was penny . penny the enigma , the one none of them could quite figure out . she had the most beautiful , haunting voice when she sang , yet outside the songs she hardly talked at all , mostly repeating things the others had said back to them . sweet penny , unsure of what to do to make the choir members happy but trying hard with her strange facts and offers of hugs and the dolly she always carried around because that's what always comforted her . watchful penny , paying attention to everything and everyone not in a malicious way , she's just so curious . intuitive penny , able to make connections that no one else would . penny was the third .

"you're not talking today ." it was a statement of fact , not a question or an accusation . still , it froze ocean in her tracks , not least because the room had appeared to be empty just seconds before . in the few days since penny had joined the choir , ocean had gotten used to her popping up seemingly out of nowhere- disappearing was a talent of hers , it seemed . casually pointing out things that people tried very hard to hide was a new one , though if ocean stopped to think about it , not entirely surprising . ocean was not , however , thinking about the many talents of penny lamb . her thoughts were rapidly spiraling down the path of no no no she's going to tell everyone , the choir leader has to be able to speak they're going to kick me out and no one will ever respect me again , who even does this why am i like this how did she figure it out- she felt two stiff , but not unkind hands touch her own , jolting her out of her thoughts and gently removing her hands from where they were scratching grooves into her arms . she heard a sweet , melodic voice saying something- what was it saying ? "breathe . 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ." ocean took a breath . she hadn't even realized she was hyperventilating . "hold . 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ." she held it , feeling her heart rate begin to slow . "out . 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ." as she exhaled , penny dropped her hands and stood back , seemingly unsure of what to do now that she had calmed ocean down . she just stared with those green , doe eyes of hers , head tilted to the side in worry and confusion , and ocean knew she couldn't leave without offering an explanation . so , slowly , unsure if penny would even be able to understand her , she began to sign . yeah . sometimes i .... can't . it's not all the time , i mean , obviously , and most people don't know , just constance and ricky and you too now and please please don't tell the others , i don't know how they'll react and i .... ocean took a shuddering breath , hands going down to her sides as she tried to work out what she wanted to say next , and i'm scared . i don't want them to treat me differently , or think i'm weak or fragile , or anything like that . i know i can't keep this from them forever , but i just .... i need to do it on my own time . i'm sorry , penny , you're the new one i'm supposed to be helping you not dragging you into my problems like this , i'll make it up to you i promise- i'll take you to the fair , it's fun there i'll show you all the best things- she shook her hands out abruptly , stopping her nervous rambling before she got too far off-track . anyway . i'm sorry . just , please don't tell them for me . promise you'll let me do it on my own . ocean lifted her eyes from her hands , looking at penny for the first time since she started explaining . she half-expected to see a blank , confused stare on the girl's face and have to write all of that down or force herself to speak it out loud . what she got instead was an expression halfway between sympathetic and amused , clear though penny's face never changed much . the softened eyes and barely quirked lip gave it away , things you would never notice unless you were looking closely . and ocean was , because she had to know what penny was thinking and feeling . for her standing with the choir , but also with this girl , this strange girl she'd only known a few days and yet knew more about her than almost anyone else in her life . this girl looking at her with such warmth in her eyes , and before ocean could start to think about what that might mean , penny lifted her hands and signed two words . i promise . and then ocean was enveloped in a warm , tight hug , and released so quickly that she was still processing it when she realized penny was nowhere to be seen .

she told them the next day , because ocean o'connell rosenberg does nothing in halves . when she glanced over at constance , ricky , and penny during her announcement , they were looking at her like they were more proud than they'd ever been and she nearly broke down crying . noel lamented his lack of proficiency in sign language and promised to double down on it , for both ricky's and her sake . mischa congratulated her on being able to be vulnerable with the group . by the time she was done , she was definitely crying .

being overwhelmed with acceptance was a new feeling for ocean , who had never felt quite like she fit either in the commune with her parents or at saint cassian's . she'd tried so hard to mold herself into what she thought people wanted her to be , and it had never worked . but now , telling the choir something about herself that she had tried to hide for so long for fear of rejection and being met with nothing but acceptance and love ..... ocean finally realized she didn't have to do that anymore . here , here were people who cared about her for who she was , not how well she could conform to their beliefs or do something for them . she finally had people she could trust . she finally had a family .

she didn't remember falling asleep after collapsing into sobs , but she woke up surrounded by the rest of the choir , everyone piled on top of each other , all fast asleep . she shook her head , fondly exasperated , and fell back asleep to the low , soft breathing of the choir .

ocean walking into a rehearsal , interrupting whatever's going on with two loud claps , and immediately launching into one of her signature speeches in sign is a normal occurrence now . so is her sitting in the back with penny , the two quietly taking in everything around them and calming down from how overwhelming the world can be . ocean's still the leader , certainly , but she has less of a need to have everything in a chokehold all the time . they're all .... really happy . things go wrong , as they always do , but they help each other through it . because they're family , and they care about each other more than anything in the world .

huh, i just made an interesting connection in my brain that, frankly, i should have made a while ago.

so we all know the dozens of ways productions stage "Confrontation", right? it turns out that one of the main appeals of this song in many productions—having the lead rapidly switch characters to duet himself—didn't actually come about until basically the Broadway version!

i think it's safe to assume that most fans of this show know that the 1995 tour pre-recorded the Hyde lines and projected an image of Hyde over a mirror, but i only recently learned how the 1990 Alley Theatre production staged the song. instead of pre-recording Hyde or having Chuck Wagner perform both parts live, they had Dave Clemmons (standby Jekyll/Hyde) perform the Hyde part!

i'm actually really fascinated by this staging! i wish we had more video of this production so that we could see how "Confrontation" looked onstage, but having a whole second person onstage as Hyde opens up a lot of interesting new doors staging-wise

Personally of the belief that live action fans who go onto animanga posts uninvited like 'I DESPERATELY NEED YOU TO KNOW THAT I THINK THE ART STYLE IS UGLY EVEN THO THIS OPINION IS IRRELEVANT TO THE POST' should be hit with a big rock. We already moved past this ten years ago, get with it or get lost. Swallow the hunger inside of you that demands everything be palatable to you. Maybe you could stand to be a little uncomfortable for a while

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Ngl I kinda wanna get the Obi-Wan mullet

I made a new suitor for my horror-comedy dating manga concept I Escaped My Genre!

At this community cooking college, majoring in dinner theatre of course means that you must master the art of theatre AS WELL AS the art of cabaret-appropriate foods that align with the themes of whatever show you are doing!

But the college also has a vibrant student theatre scene: Phoenix is actually directing the Drama Club's production of Romeo & Juliet this spring as their end-of-year final! I wonder if Samo will try out! (And I wonder if Phoenix will end up looking romantically into Samo's eyes and finding that in that moment, all zyr carefully-curated bravado drops away, and suddenly, ze is no longer acting; ze is simply feeling, and it changes everything.)

Also, since I put so much work into this character design, Phoenix will absolutely be making an appearance in my graphic novel! (You can find my published scripts and concept art here, if you wanna make my day!)

“Someday, I'll solve every riddle in the legends of Hisui's Pokémon. And on that day, I'll stand before Arceus at last— No, I will CONQUER it! No matter how many years, how many decades, how many centuries it takes me!”

Rambling Musing under cut

[Addition to this concept]

I can't have been the only person who thought of this; of Volo having died sometime not all that long after the battle at Spear Pillar and because of his excessive spite and hatred, he would come back as a Hisuian Zoroark. I have seen quite a few people do this concept with Akari where she ends up dying during her exile, but I haven't seen it done with Volo after Spear Pillar where he would be at his most vulnerable.

There was one person who had a similar idea whose username I can't remember nor care to, who had an idea (au concept???) of Volo having been a Zoroark the whole time who wanted a better world out of missing the way things used to be pre-human civilization (subtle way of saying he hates humans settling in Hisui and bridging the gap between themselves and pokemon).

Like, I know this is pokemon of all things, but considering the literal fact I made a psycho-analysis of Volo that would prompt practically everyone into going "It's not that deep", I always found it a little too perfect how if one is a believer of the hiker theory or just has any headcanon that he didn't die, that means Volo somehow survived the worst of what was to come after Spear Pillar.

After Spear Pillar, he was emotionally and mentally exhausted and very much not in his right mind because Arceus decided to be a jackass and summon the Azure Flute the moment the spooky plate made its way into the player's hands and set him off again after he calmed down. The anger; the rage and absolute vitriol he felt towards Arceus and still yet so, the player, was still relatively fresh and with his defeat and loss of his greatest ally in getting to Arceus (I mean, I get why he yelled at Giratina but also 🤨?????), that left very large room for recklessness and acting illogically.

Not only that, but with the likelihood that the clans and Galaxy team would catch wind sooner or later that he was the one who opened the rift and nearly destroyed the world by accident in the process then explicitly tried to do so again on purpose, he wouldn't be accepted in any settlement. This also applies to the Ginko Guild: they would want absolutely nothing to do with him once they find out as he'd be a blemish upon their reputation.

So you have a very bitter, very not mentally stable man trying to survive in the wilderness of Hisui almost entirely alone. It's a miracle that in terms of the hiker theory, he manages to survive past that, because the most likely thing that would have happened was him dying— like I can't convey to you just how lucky he was.

But this is ~pokemon~ so of course that didn't happen despite Volo being surprisingly realistic for a character. And to that I query, "what if it did?"

So here we are back at the beginning, Volo died and came back as a Hisuian Zoroark due to his overwhelming spite and hate.

How?

With what I've said previously, I decided that his death would be in the Alabaster Icelands. With there being very dangerous pokemon around, random holes in the ground with steep drops that can easily injure or kill you if you aren't watching where you're going, and deadly blizzards, death is guaranteed for the unprepared. Why would Volo go up that far north if it's so dangerous then— SHH SHUT! I am trying to convey an idea, the minute intricacies are lost on me right now. All I can imagine as of current is that Volo was in the Alabaster Icelands for one reason or another, something happened that was out of his and his pokemon's control and they couldn't save him (I'll tell you this: the cold on its own isn't what would kill him, otherwise his death wouldn't occur because he has his Arcanine.), and he came back as a Zoroark.

Part of the reason for the Alabaster Icelands is that I'm fairly certain? that only those who die— normal Zorua, Zoroark, or humans— there can become Hisuian Zoroark. If they die anywhere else regardless of the other criteria being met I'm pretty sure they can't become Hisuian Zoroarks, so Volo would have to be in the Alabaster Icelands for this to happen to him.

One can only imagine the grief his pokemon felt when they realized the oddly yellow Hisuian Zorua by their trainer's frozen corpse was their trainer. How they would feel that if they knew sooner or were out before it happened, his death would have been avoided. How Lucario, a pokemon that can sense aura, and his beloved Togekiss (because Gamefreak said fuck any visible notion his Roserade cares about him I guess), would instantly know that the Zorua was him.

Now,

for explanations on his appearance and his personality. Since I am unable to draw this digitally without it being immensely more difficult than it should be, I will have to heavily hint towards the symbolism since rarely ever do I draw or write something that is straightforward.

•His color pallette is still a lot like the normal Hisuian Zoroark, aka very white, but the typically red areas in a Hisuian Zoroark's hair and fur are instead the same blonde yellow as his hair from when he was alive. (White and yellow instead of yellow and white huh?)

•The eyes don't look as... narrow... as they should. Strange...

•Is it just me, or does this Zoroark not look as... wispy, as the others?

•Since I do not use color traditionally, I will have to say that the bulbous black areas on his arms and legs are supposed to be a dark red-brown and not a bright red. Hm, wonder why...

•He just has more scars because I personally headcanon Volo as actually having quite a few scars and had that directly translate into his Zoroark appearance.

And now for something lighter (by my standards atleast).

•Upon his becoming a Hisuian Zorua, he gained the ability to understand pokemon and speak with them on their level.

•It took a while for him to figure out how to talk human languages again (like pokeani meowth) and even longer to do so so it sounds natural and not... off (again, pokeani meowth)

•Very spiteful and angry little ball of fluff that simmered down faster than he would have in the even that he didn't die. Since, y'know, your death ultimately being caused by your hatred will make you reevaluate a few things about yourself.

•Loathed not having hands until evolving which only gave him three claws but it's better than useless bitty paws.

•Him calming down much faster and realizing how damaging he was being to himself and to his pokemon by tunnel visioning on figuring out how to usurp Arceus and seeing anything else that wasn't that as being in his way— provided much relief to his team that the person they knew and loved was coming back and not what he was twisting himself into in his downward spiral. (Again, this does happen when he lives, it just takes years rather than like... one)

•Took time to learn how to master casting illusions but the only illusion he can really even do at this point is of himself when he was alive. (Other Hisuian Zoroarks: able to do countless illusions of people and pokemon to varying degrees of accuracy. Hisuian Zoroark!Volo: can only do an illusion of himself but it's absolutely flawless)

•Wears his Celestica pendant at all times (forgot to draw it, don't want to deal with wrestling with my camera phone to retake the picture)

•He also wears his backpack and hat as well; they're not part of the illusion (didn't draw them since I 1. don't know how to draw either and 2. wanted him to be as unobscured as possible)

•He can still be the hiker, it's just that he's a ghost rather than immortal. Yes, his friendly, charismatic demeanor has returned despite him being like this now but there is the difference of a layer of somberness underneath and an even thinner layer of well-concealed vitriol towards Arceus and Arceus alone. (If you've read my post on Quincent and how I interpret Banettes, the same principal of spite functioning as fuel for a flame applies to Hisuian Zoroarks as well. However it is a bit different in that where a grudge functions as the fuel for Banettes animation, spite functions as the tether for Hisuian Zoroarks not moving on in the afterlife. It could be considered "unfinished business" but it's not really the same)

•Yes, this also means his illusion was changed to be that of what he would look like as a hiker rather than when he was in the Ginko Guild (he had figured out that illusion a long time ago since him being mistakenly affiliated with the Guild would be bad and eventually the uniform would become outdated as the Guild would no longer exist in the state it did when he was still alive at the least and would cause people to look at him weirdly)

•Had to get really good at not responding and talking to pokemon or else he garner unwanted attention.

•Can maintain the illusion through being touched so long as he anticipates it, otherwise he kinda just goes poof.

•The illusion obviously goes away when he's asleep and starts to wane when he's tired.

•He maintains the illusion for as long as he can upon awakening but it is incredibly draining on him to focus on maintaining it for such a long stretch of time that he does end up tired far quicker than if he simply didn't do it for so long or so often.

•Can also partially cast the illusion and look uncannily inhuman. +The illusion starts to wane when he's experiencing strong emotions since he can't focus on maintaining it and it's kinda terrifying to see some guy slowly be engulfed in billowing smoke with no known source out of nowhere and watch his features warp and shift into something very much not human.

•His moveset does not contain bitter malice by the time of pokemon platinum.

(•Just for those wondering, no he doesn't blame Akari/Dawn in any way for his death and very much acknowledges it to be no one's fault but his)

•There is also the question of "if Volo is Cynthia's ancestor but he died before he could have children, does she just not exist?" and the answer is: she still does, but she's Cogita's direct descendant now and not Volo's. (wtf is up with Celestica genes? Yeah a lot of the other characters in PLA have descendants that look almost identical to them, but with Cogita, Volo, and Cynthia, we have three people from a single bloodline that have MANY generations between them— that is, if you headcanon Cogita as being Volo's ancestor— and they hardly look any different. WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEIR GENES??? Also forgot about Cynthia's sister who doesn't have a canon design but if Cynthia is any indication...

•Ghost types have the ability of distinctly knowing something's up when he's casting the illusion of himself and basically look at him like '🤨'. Kinda difficult to keep a straight face when a swarm of gastly are just staring unblinkingly at you like "tf is this". +Normal living Zoroarks can instantly tell that he isn't human and get the wrong idea thinking he's trying to trick someone rather than him clinging to the humanity he had.

watched the little mermaid trailer, am once again begging these stupid remakes to stop adding really bad vocal runs to random parts of the songs just so you can pretend this isn’t a copycat cashgrab

Having davesport thoughts............