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oakskull · 3 years

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Guess who finished this illustration set,,

MEEEEEEE!!!

It's Cogchamp fnf sprites!!! I would have made a mod but unfortunately I don't have the right software to do so

Featuring such characters as

Tutorial Fox

5up.xtml

Brother Dearest

Tub and Crumb

Prime Bell

Um sir.

and last but not least, Sammy wants murder

These are weeks 1-4, and week 5 will be in a separate post bc of image limit(derogatory) and I worked really hard on this!! (more thoughts and stuff under the cut, I got kind of rambly haha)

It was super fun to draw in this style and I feel like I learned a lot about shading and shapes (shoes especially) by trying to recreate the style of a professional artist. I think I'll do more exercises like this in the future, just to keep learning!! Also obligatory reminder that these drawings are referenced HEAVILY from the original game sprites. I was trying to draw the cog champers(and dream) like they would be a mod for the game, so the poses and style are extremely similar if not the same. If I were to redo these illustrations I might put more personality and originality into the poses, but I didn't actually study the style at all before creating the first illustration (fundy, the one I posted here is actually a redraw to make him higher quality, the original was too small)

So yeah, over all, this was super fun and I'd definitely do it again. Maybe I'll redraw some of these in the future to be more creative, you can tell which ones I drew later on bc of the variety in poses and expressions, I was a lot more comfortable with the style (tho I did keep my own eyes and mouth style bc expressions are something thats really important to my style and I didn't want to feel like I was just like,, tracing) Sorry for rambling so long, I'll put this under a cut for all the people who just want to see pretty art.

On a more art related note, you may have noticed that Dream is Pico, you may be thinking "but dream isn't on Cogchamp" and you're Right. I didn't know what else to do okay? He's fundy's Ex so it kind of fits??? I dunno man, I gave him a more steam punk mask but kept the majority of his design similar to my normal dream design, so as to keep the Dream vibe. Yknow where he's always just a green blob? It kinda slaps tbh, branding is important.

Also regarding Prime Bell, again, I didn't know what else to do, I was thinking of doing something with the egg, but that's not on cogchamp (thank goodness) so I needed something else. I decided that the only like, tangentially related thing I could do was make an Evil prime bell, based on how Sam steals it idk maybe in this world its always the demon thing and is kinda like the ring from lord of the rings, where once you have it you can't give it up. In any case designing Prime Bell took a while (plus some help from Yipcord and Chaos Crew thx guys ❤ and specifically @valpurgatory who is what inspired me to personify the Prime Bell in the first place with their turn everything into a women philosophy (I @ed him so you can check out his blog he slaps. She's like the go to for saving women from Wilbur Soot's dirty mits)) but drawing it was surprisingly quick, mostly due to the fact that I figured out how to easily recreate the texture on the Lemon Monster's body. I did no shading bc that's what the Lemon monster looks like, and it kind of hurt bc it just looks kind of unfinished to me,,, I had some trouble with the week 5 design for Prime Bell bc I didn't want to abandon my first idea. I probably should have and would have gotten a better result, but I can't be bothered tbh. This is the 3rd day I'm working on this project (these were surprisingly quick the churn out, probably bc I was having a blast) and I simply do not want to alter anything. My idea was good but the execution didn't pan out. What am I saying the week 5 prime bell design isn't even on this post sjjdjsks

Anyway, go check out fnf(Friday Night Funkin) it's a rhythm game, it's free and the OST Slaps. I'd also highly recommend listening to the Whitty mod songs and the Neo mod songs,,,, good good music.

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beevean · 3 years

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Opinion: How could Sonamy progress in IDW?

[note: the original article was written in Spanish by @latin-dr-robotnik]

Today we’re going to discuss a recurring topic on my blog, with a more complete perspective.

Today’s article was inspired by an ask I got a few days ago about my possible perspective on the future of IDW Sonamy. I thought it would be interesting to revisit and expand this topic, because it’s still something of great interest for thousands of fans all around the world, and because SEGA has recently adopted a very peculiar position on the couple and their dynamic. As I detailed on my article SEGA and its most recent Sonamy side – more canon than ever, the dynamic has been going through a shift that can be distinguished into two main parts: 1) the commercial potential of Sonamy as a merchandising and marketing icon; 2) the stability of the interactions in the comics, in the short monthly stories on Sonic Channel, and so on.

That being said, there’s no need to mention that we’re going to focus entirely and nothing more than on this ship. I usually suggest other articles for those who prefer to read on other subjects, but today I will recommend our Discord server [translator’s note: the server is mainly Spanish-speaking], where discussions about ships are limited on their own canal that is separated from other themes: general discussions, music, fangames and mods, fanfics, fanart and even gaming in general. As you know, if you want to bring something else to our community, or just avoid talking about Sonamy, you’re more than welcome to join. Now, back on track.

What’s going on with Sonamy in IDW?

To recap what’s happened in these last months: Sonic and his friends finally got through the nightmare that was the Metal Virus, he and Amy hugged a few times, and since very recently they’ve been involved in a short arc about Chao races in Twinkle Park Zone, with a sinister background. In these last months after the eradication of the virus, there have been much closer and warmer interactions between our two hedgehogs, and I suspect that part of this is what inspired that question in the first place: what’s going on?

As I commented in the article where I proposed that Sonamy is “more canon than ever” (I know that it’s an exaggeration, that was the point), SEGA is treading carefully and the main canon seems to be willing to negotiate a more open representation of the relationship between the two in their different continuities, from best friends to something more. What I did not expect to happen was reading an answer from Evan Stanley (artist and writer that replaces Ian Flynn) about their dynamic, summing it up with “they like each other”.

The redrawing of Sonic’s expression when Amy hugs him in a recent drawing of hers made people wonder if this was yet another example of SEGA’s “censoring” (comparison below), to which Evan answered that it was modified to keep Sonic in character: he’s a guy that does not show much emotional vulnerability or too many negative emotions, and this is why sometimes the artists have to adjust WIPs to keep in line with this official point of view. Evan assured that this is not any kind of confirmation that Sonic does not like Amy, and doubles down by highlighting that in the official material, in the wikis and on Sonic Channel they show that, and I quote: “They like each other, but Sonic just isn’t the kind of guy who is going to make goo-goo eyes at Amy or perform grand acts of romance. If you wanna see that, that’s what fan works are for.”

And Evan’s words are a great way to sum up what’s going on with IDW Sonic right now. When it comes to interactions, they’re working with two characters who deep down “like each other”, but both show it in their own way. Amy is much more proactive when it comes to express her feelings, while Sonic only sometimes shows a glimpse of his feelings, with a smile or a small gesture. But at the end of the day they’re still friends and, depending on the situation, the comic can focus more or less on these details.

Comparison between the first sketch showed by Evan and the final product. The modification of the expression was minimal: Sonic’s slight blush was changed into a smile, maybe being a little overwhelmed by the gesture of affection.

The “progression” of the dynamic in the future

A good part of the answer to this question is based on my idea that right now, when it comes to Sonamy, we reached some kind of comfortable plateau. What am I referring to? To the fact that there have been a lot of varied interactions in these last 3 years of the comic, and they’re everything I could have asked for and then some. When we talk about Sonamy in canon, as Evan said, we don’t tend to hope for great romantic gestures from Sonic, we barely even ask for a look that hints that they understand each other beyond what it seems at first glance, so the fact that the IDW continuity is betting so much on this ship is basically a dream come true. For this reason, I don’t think things will change much in the future.

If I have to make a prediction on Sonamy’s future in IDW, I believe that there are still a lot of possibilities that our known writers (and maybe new writers!) could explore more, to see what makes this dynamic work so well. Actually, about 10 years ago, Ian Flynn wrote that if they could take advantage of the abilities and similarities between the two characters as adventurous spirits and with a strong moral sense, they would be “like poetry in motion”. This largely happens in IDW Sonic if you look carefully, but there are always new stories to tell and opportunities for them to work together and explore a bit more their strong bond, stronger than other friendships that they share. When the next major arc comes (which seems to be getting closer), they could explore aspects of their dynamic that are slightly more experimental, like being separated for extended periods of time and under dangerous situations… as long as they don’t turn it into a painful experience like the Metal Virus arc.

What Ian Flynn wrote about Sonamy, what works and what doesn’t. This was written in 2011, when Archie Sonic was still the major comic continuity, and when, according to Ian, Sonic was still “tied” to Sally Acord, leaving little room to the writers’ opinions.

The reality is that I see a stable future for the dynamic in the IDW universe. Sonamy is not fit for a lot of drama (fights, breaking up, etc.) without feeling forced or completely out of place, and only fanfics and fanart could be capable of capitalizing on this kind of content. On the other hand, for reasons I detailed in past articles, SEGA would not dare to alter the established order of the dynamic, let alone new that they managed to recover and maintain control over the ways Sonamy is being portrayed everywhere. SEGA won’t pull a Dragon Prince, which ended up confirming the main ship and then they made them go through a crisis and break up in a heartwrenching way in the graphic novel that acts as a bridge between season 3 and 4.

In short

The future of IDW Sonamy is looking bright and stable. I don’t think there will be serious changes to what we’re experiencing right now, and this is why both Evan Stanley and Ian Flynn agree that the dynamic is practically in the perfect place, keeping in line to how SEGA wants them to be represented together. This means we won’t see more affectionate gestures than what we’re seeing now (I doubt we’ll ever see again Sonic offering Amy a rose like in Sonic X), but it also means that we have now a solid basis for our expectations. In the now old IDW Sonic #2, Sonic and Amy had the chance of seriously talking a bit about what they thought of each other, with Sonic being determined to keep living life his own way (although he wouldn’t mind Amy to accompany him… or even suggesting himself that she could come), and Amy being determined to respect his way of life, because that’s what she loves about him, and she doesn’t want him to change. Since then, all we have seen and we’ll keep seeing in the comic is a consequence of this key moment; the two philosophies that they have and they share, in a constant back-and-forth with some tense moments and some cute moments.

An interesting detail that wasn’t included in the ask and that makes me think is the possibility that all of this will feature in the games as well. This is a completely different matter for another day, but I like to think that there is the possibility that we’ll see SEGA being more interested in inserting more Sonamy in the games, even if in an indirect way like in Sonic Unleashed and its emotional support, especially if the rumors that we’re about to get a soft-reboot are true. Romance is not something Sonic games are famous for doing well… at all, but that doesn’t mean it would be a bad idea to add a little sprinkle of IDW Sonamy in the mix.

And finally, I think I’ve talked enough about this topic, As you know, we’re waiting for some news, and I hope we’ll see each other again here or on our Discord. We’ll see if on this 25th something interesting happens. In any case, see you next time!

The moment that shaped the present and future of their entire relationship, 3 years ago.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonamy #long post #translation #oh look just in time for that famous thursday 25th #keeping up the chronicles of sonamy's evolution #this was fun to translate lol #it's probably a little clunky in some places but it should be readable enough #anyway now i'm hyped lol

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chthonicgodling · 2 years

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more art from November that i fully did not post oops

this uh...........................................

alrightttt i dont even feel like going into a whole thing but redrawing an old “Myth Loki” design fully SPIRALLED into a fullblown uh. uhhhh

“AU” (it’s definitely not an au i’m definitely claiming this to be canon if only anyone would ever bust him) where elysium!LOki fully has his fave alter ego - he always has - but adapted it to be Elysium’specific to traipse around the underworld causing general chaos and getting fucking railed in seedy underworld bars or whatever. He’s been doing it for years. he’ll never get caught.

took a twitter poll last month and it was decided this elysium alter ego goes by Kleidi lol

STUPID DOODLE DUMP TO AMUSE MYSELF, IN OTHER WORDS

[Maci & this Loki/”Kleidi” lmao belongs to me do noooot tag as m/arvel]

#my art #i got on here to post art summaries and realized i havent posted a bUNCH OF STUFF AAGH #elysium #the kleidi tag

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dr-archeville · 6 years

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INDY Primer: More Chaos in North Carolina’s Redistricting Saga, Courtesy of the U.S. Supreme Court [2018/02/07]

Hello, everyone! I wanted to, first off, apologize for my absence Monday and Tuesday. I fell behind on this week’s and just ran out of time to do the newsletter. And so much has happened since the last Primer: The Nunes memo was released (and was something of a dud to everyone outside the Sean-Hannity-fever-dream set). The stock market crashed (and then rebounded). The Iggles defeated the Hatriots in Super Bowl LII (and JT gave an underwhelming halftime performance). President Trump’s lawyers are urging him not to sit for an interview with Robert Mueller, as they fear he’ll lie (and, well, yeah). Trump called Democrats who didn’t clap for him at the State of the Union “treasonous” (of course he did). And there’s probably a bunch of other important stuff I’m forgetting. But we’ll pick up with today’s news, and there’s plenty to go around. As always, you can check out the web-browser version of this newsletter here.

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1. MORE CHAOS IN NORTH CAROLINA’S GERRYMANDERING SAGA.

THE GIST: Last night, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a partial stay of the new North Carolina legislative districts drawn by special master Nathaniel Persily at the best of a federal court, which ruled that the districts legislators drew last year didn’t entirely fix the racial-gerrymandering problem that had led the court to strike down those legislative districts in 2016. The ruling, which didn’t come with much of an explanation — though Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg would have denied the General Assembly’s request for a stay in full, and Justices Thomas and Alito would have granted the stay in full — will keep Persily’s districts intact everywhere except in Wake and Mecklenburg counties. The timing is somewhat suboptimal: filing for legislative elections begins next week, which doesn’t give people all that much time to figure stuff out.

From the N&O: “The district lines drawn by Nathaniel Persily of Stanford University altered nine legislative districts adopted by lawmakers in 2017 to comply with a 2016 court ruling. In 2016, federal judges ruled that 28 of the state’s districts used for electing General Assembly members were unconstitutional racial gerrymanders. After the General Assembly adopted new maps in August 2017, challengers argued that some of the districts still were gerrymandered to weaken the overall influence of black voters. They also argued that some of the districts in urban counties were altered mid-decade when they did not have to be, a violation of the state Constitution. Republicans argued that questions about altering districts mid-decade belonged in state court, not federal court.”

“Currently Republicans dominate the N.C. General Assembly with numbers that allow them to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes. They hold 35 of the 50 Senate seats and 75 of the 120 House seats. A previous draft of Persily’s plan appeared to make it easier for Democrats to defeat Republican incumbents in four House races and two Senate races, but it’s unclear how the temporary stay for his lines in Wake and Mecklenburg counties will affect those numbers. Persily redrew just a fraction of the state’s 170 legislative districts, mostly in urban counties that tend to favor Democrats.”

WHAT IT MEANS: Without seeing what the final maps will look like, it’s hard to tell how it will affect the election. But the main thrust of it is that most of the districts we’ll be voting on in November will have been drawn by Republicans to favor Republicans, and that’s going to make it more difficult for Democrats to overcome the GOP’s supermajorities, much less take back the General Assembly.

WHAT'S NEXT: This stay comes on the heels of a Supreme Court decision last month to stay a court-ordered redraw of North Carolina’s congressional districts, which a federal court has found to be unconstitutional because they are blatant partisan gerrymanders. Then, on Tuesday, the court declined to actually hear that case in time for its ruling to go into effect for November’s elections, which would seem a blow to Democrats. However, the liberal website ThinkProgress argues that, in dissenting, Sotomayor and Ginsburg indicated that the court was about to reject partisan gerrymandering in another case.

Here’s the explanation: “Last October, the Court heard oral arguments in Gill v. Whitford, a challenge to Wisconsin’s gerrymandered state assembly maps. At that argument, a majority of the Court appeared ready to declare — for the first time — that a partisan gerrymander violates the Constitution. Four months later, it is likely that drafts of the majority opinion and the dissent in Whitford have already circulated among the justices. Absent a last-minute change of heart by a justice in the majority, Ginsburg and Sotomayor know how this case will turn out. If Ginsburg and Sotomayor know that the Court is about to uphold the Wisconsin gerrymander, it is very unlikely they would want to place another partisan gerrymandering case on the Court’s docket.”

“But if Ginsburg and Sotomayor know that the Wisconsin gerrymander is going down — and that the Court is about to usher in a legal revolution that will sweep away many unconstitutional gerrymanders — then they most likely will want that revolution to move swiftly. The most likely reason why they would want the North Carolina case to be heard on an expedited basis is because they know that they won Whitford, and they want to win Rucho fast enough for it to matter in 2018.”

Related: A national Democratic group headed by Eric Holder and backed by Barack Obama will pour millions of dollars into GOP-controlled states in an effort to block Republicans from single-handedly redrawing legislative and congressional districts after the 2020 census. [NYT]

Related: Persily will now draw congressional districts in Pennsylvania (provided there’s not a constitutional crisis). [INDY]

Related: NCGOP executive director Dallas Woodhouse has filed a complaint against Indivisible: Flip NC, a grassroots group targeting Republicans in suburban districts, for not filing the appropriate reports with the state. [N&O]

Related: The North Carolina General Assembly is meeting this week but won’t say what it will be voting on, which almost certainly means something gross is coming. [N&O]

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2. WHEN TOYOTA CAME CALLING, N.C. WANTED TO GIVE AWAY THE STORE.

THE GIST: Last month, North Carolina missed out on a Toyota-Mazda joint manufacturing operation near Greensboro, with that plant and its four thousand jobs, instead going to Alabama. Yesterday, the N&O found emails showing what kind of economic incentives the state was considering.

“Last month the state was runner-up to Alabama despite extraordinary efforts by North Carolina officials, who promised $1.6 billion in financial incentives. The records were released by the state Department of Commerce on Monday evening in response to public record requests. The records show North Carolina worked hard to anticipate what the Japanese automakers might want, and to meet their extensive requirements for what was dubbed Project New World.”

“Christopher Chung, CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of N.C., in several emails prepped Gov. Roy Cooper and other officials on how to woo high-ranking Toyota officials during their two visits to North Carolina last fall. Chung relayed that the Chicago-based commercial real estate company representing Toyota ‘emphasized how important it was for the Toyota folks to feel the love about how important this project is to North Carolina. This needs to come across loud and clear in language, tone, verbal and non-verbal communications.’”

The incentive package went something like this, per the N&O:

“$2 million in-kind to NCWorks, a state job development network started under former Gov. Pat McCrory’s administration, for employee screening.

$16.4 million for job training.

$25 million for a specialized training center.

$3 million for an apprenticeship program to teach new skills.

$100,000 for a ‘Japanese Saturday school’ to instruct the children of Japanese managers in their native language for when they returned home. The Huntsville, Ala., Town Council approved $250,000 for the school.

$48 million in land conveyed at no cost from the North Carolina Railroad Corp., the megasite foundation and Randolph County.

$76 million for infrastructure from a special state fund aimed at the largest of projects.

$37 million in water and sewer improvements from the Golden Leaf Foundation and the city of Greensboro.

$18 million for rail connection paid for by the state Department of Transportation and Norfolk Southern.

$79 million in road improvements from DOT.

$53 million in electric infrastructure.

$63 million in natural gas with 7 miles of pipeline extension and 6 ½ miles of pipeline looping.

$656,650,000 in corporate income and franchise tax breaks.

$54 million in sales tax exemption on building materials.

$215 million from the state JDIG grant program, $200 million from the One N.C. program.

$100,000 in a Randolph County property tax grant.”

WHAT IT MEANS: The state lost out to Alabama, which similarly promised in excess of $1 billion in incentives. But the scope of its offer — for just four thousand jobs — is revealing, especially in light of the underway jockeying for Amazon’s HQ2 [INDY]. That project, after all, will bring fifty thousand jobs, more than ten times what the Toyota plant would have. So just imagine what kind of incentives the state and Triangle region will be willing to throw at Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the history of the world.

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3. OTHER LOCAL HEADLINES.

In Durham, bail is for the rich, jail is for the poor. [INDY]

Now we know what it takes for a cop to actually lose his job: rob a bank. [N&O]

Wake County officials did the Durham-Orange light rail a favor by declining to compete for state funds. [DHS]

WRAL’s great Greg Fishel is taking a monthlong medical leave. [N&O]

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will give the commencement address at Campbell Law School this year. [N&O]

Soccer is booming in Durham — if players can find someplace to play. [INDY]

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4. LIL’ DONNIE WANTS A BIG PARADE.

THE GIST: Last month, Donald Trump — who has, as of yet, not done anything of substance military — ordered the Pentagon to start making plans for a military parade in Washington, D.C., which will cost millions and, as best I can tell, serve no earthly purpose except making the president of the United States feel powerful. [WaPo]

“Surrounded by the military’s highest-ranking officials, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., Trump’s seemingly abstract desire for a parade was suddenly heard as a presidential directive, the officials said. ‘The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France,’ said a military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the planning discussions are supposed to remain confidential. ‘This is being worked at the highest levels of the military.’”

“Shows of military strength are not typical in the United States — and they don’t come cheap. The cost of shipping Abrams tanks and high-tech hardware to Washington could run in the millions, and military officials said it was unclear how they would pay for it.”

“With a few exceptions — such as President George H.W. Bush’s 1991 parade down Constitution Avenue celebrating victory in the Persian Gulf War — presidents have avoided displays of military hardware that are more associated in the American mind with the Soviet Union’s Red Square celebrations or, more recently, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s efforts to show off his Taepodong missiles.”

Here’s White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s explanation for the president’s demand: “President Trump is incredibly supportive of America’s great service members who risk their lives every day to keep our country safe. He has asked the Department of Defense to explore a celebration at which all Americans can show their appreciation.” Another White House official “rejected the suggestion that some associate a military parade with strongmen, saying it would be a ‘celebration of the men and women who give us freedom. That’s the opposite of a totalitarian government,’ the official said.”

Here’s what really happened: “The inspiration for Trump’s push is last year’s Bastille Day celebration in Paris, which the president attended as a guest of French President Emmanuel Macron. Trump was awestruck by the tableau of uniformed French troops marching down Avenue des Champs-Elysees with military tanks, armored vehicles, gun trucks and carriers — complete with fighter jets flying over the Arc de Triomphe and painting the sky with streaks of blue, white and red smoke for the colors of the French flag. Aboard Air Force One en route home from Paris in July, aides said Trump told them that he was dazzled by the French display and that he wanted one at home.”

The military wants to do this on Veterans Day, which will coincide with the hundredth anniversary of the end of WWI, to give this thing the veneer of not being a political affair cooked up by a flagging president.

WHAT IT MEANS: There are lots of considerations here, from the practical (tanks would chew up D.C. streets) to the political (military officials have been complaining about readiness, and here we’re going to pull troops and equipment off the line) to the geopolitical (North Korea may not respond well to a show of strength). But Trump wants his parade, because Emmanuel Macron had one in France. In other words: the president is jealous.

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5. TEN POLITICAL HEADLINES.

After the World Health Organization found that the active ingredient in the pesticide Roundup is likely carcinogenic to humans, Republican lawmakers are threatening to cut off funds to its cancer research program. [AP]

Trump’s allies are urging him to look for a compromise regarding Mueller’s request for an interview — including having him respond to questions in writing. It’s unclear whether Mueller will go for that. [Politico]

The House passed a stopgap spending bill that will keep the government open past Friday, but it’s a nonstarter in the House. Senators say they’re close to a two-year budget deal that will boost both defense and domestic spending. (LOL, deficits.) [WaPo]

Meanwhile, Trump has called for shutting the government down — despite the budget deal — if it doesn’t come with an immigration crackdown. [NYT]

On Twitter, Trump used an NFL player’s death in a drunk-driving accident to demand the Democrats “get tough on the Border, and with illegal immigration, FAST!” [NYT]

Chief of staff John Kelly says it’s unlikely Trump will extend the DACA deadline if there’s no immigration deal by March 5. He also think eligible Dreamers who didn’t sign up for DACA "were too afraid to sign up, others would say were too lazy to get off their asses.” [Politico]

Mike Pence says the U.S. is planning the “toughest and most aggressive sanctions” on North Korea. [AP]

Democrats won a Missouri special election in a state house district that went for Trump by twenty-eight points. [Business Insider]

Steve Wynn, who quit as RNC finance chief after reports of sexual misconduct surfaced, has also resigned from Wynn Resorts. [Politico]

An evangelical Trump adviser thinks the Christian faith makes people immune to the flu. [Politico]

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6. FOURTEEN ODDS & ENDS.

After a two-day selloff, the Dow recovered yesterday. [Al-Jazeera]

Elon Musk’s SpaxeX launched the most powerful rocket in the world — Falcon Heavy — yesterday, with a Tesla Roadster as payload. Two of the three rocket boosters then landed in unison. Musk wants the Falcon to take humans to Mars. [Orlando Sentinel]

More U.S. teenagers are rejecting binary gender labels. [CNN]

The U.S. solar industry lost nearly ten thousand jobs in 2017, the first time employment in the industry has contracted since at least 2010. [Reuters]

In Germany, Angela Merkel is moving closer to a coalition government with her center-left rivals. [CNN]

Iran executed at least three children in January. [Human Rights Watch]

Scotland’s government is trying to address the country’s “unhealthy relationship with alcohol.” [NBC]

Kim Jong-Un’s sister will be part of the North Korean Olympic delegation. [CNN]

DNA tests on an ancient skeleton show that the first Briton was black. [Daily Beast]

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Taiwan late Tuesday. [CNN]

The Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune have reportedly been sold to a California billionaire. [Politico]

News you need to know: here’s why hangovers get worse with age. [Business Insider]

Your dog can, in fact, get the flu. [Mental Floss]

Rain in the forecast today, with a high of 59.

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#current events #NC #gerrymandering #Toyota #Donald Trump

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smellpelt · 3 years

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if u do end up doing alter memory screenshot redraws...

I have been listening to awakening the chaos for like the last 4 hours and am starting to hear things in it I hadn't before so I think it's time to go to bed but I'm only the shading away from finishing this :-)

#so it shall wait for a while #I might try sketch out some others b4 too but we shall see

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ntrending · 5 years

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The seasons are shifting, but redrawing their lines won't erase the problem

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/the-seasons-are-shifting-but-redrawing-their-lines-wont-erase-the-problem/

The seasons are shifting, but redrawing their lines won't erase the problem

Eight years before Gutenberg’s Bible, his printing press produced an almanac. The 1457 publication likely offered readers a year’s worth of tide tables, weather forecasts, and astronomical insights, much like Old Farmer’s or National Geographic does today.

By that time, the seasons and stars had been a central force in human lives for thousands of years, spurring religious traditions and scientific inquiry, and shaping artistic impulses. Ancient farmers prayed to their gods for a good harvest. The oldest known almanacs—sage advice chiseled in stone—date back almost 4,000 years, to the advent of astronomy. And many a Shakespearean plot is driven by alterations in the natural world, from titular tempests to the romance of spring.

But the seasons are changing, as anyone with a window or newspaper subscription knows. In one early paper in Nature, published in 2009, researchers showed that between 1850 and 2008, the hottest day of the year had creeped steadily forward, arriving almost two days sooner at the tail end of their dataset than at the outset. This trend has continued in the intervening decades: winter and summer temperatures are more and more similar; spring, defined by the first budding plants, comes earlier every year; fall has all but disappeared. It’s enough to make you wonder: is it time we redefine the seasons?

Not so fast, says Theresa Crimmins, assistant director of the USA National Phenology Network, an organization of thousands of volunteers and scientists monitoring the cyclical behavior of plant and animal life across the country. According to Crimmins, there are at least three different ways to define a season: astronomical, climatological, and biological. While two of these have always been in flux—now more than ever—our position in the solar system will never change.

From an astronomical perspective, seasons are defined by the northern or southern hemisphere’s proximity to the sun. In the United States, winter descends when the top half of the planet tilts ever so slightly away from the fireball. Summer returns when the Earth shifts back in the direction of incandescent plasma. That’s why winter in Alaska is summer in Australia: as the northern hemisphere shifts away from the sun, the southern hemisphere moves closer, and vice versa.

Seasons based on the solar system are defined by light. The longest day of the year, which typically falls on June 21, marks the summer solstice in the north and the shortest day of the year, typically falling on Dec. 21, marks the winter solstice. In between, there are the spring and fall equinoxes, on March 21 and Sept. 21 respectively, when the sun is at a perfect middle point, bringing equal days and nights.

Light’s role in our conception of seasonality differs from person to person. Some people experience profound disruption to their Circadian rhythm; as the days grow darker, about 5 percent of Americans experience “seasonal affective disorder,” or SADs. But Crimmins says people tend to “use long-term climatological data to chop up [their] year,” with widely-varying results.

Most of the United States experiences four distinct seasons. “Traditionally, winter is the three coldest months, summer is three warmest, and what’s left over is spring and fall,” Crimmins says. Seasons aren’t the same everywhere, however. Large swaths of Asia divide their year in two: the dry season and the rainy, or monsoon, season. (Even in Arizona, where Crimmins recently moved from four-season Michigan, the dry and rainy season is one of the more useful paradigms.) Some ecologists describe climate as having a six-part cycle: prevernal, vernal, estival, serotinal, autumnal, and hibernal. Parts of West Africa have a season all their own—harmattan—defined not by temperature, but by dry air and dusty winds.

It’s this swinging pendulum of weather—of rain and heat and wind—that produces the third, final, and most endangered definition of a season: the biological.

“When most people are responding to when they say spring or fall is, it’s when they’re looking at the window and go, ‘Oh!’,” Crimmins says of the moment when life returns after a long winter. “After you’ve stared at gray, bare trees for months, it’s so obvious when buds start bursting.”

The only problem is, buds aren’t bursting when they’re supposed to. Blueberries, cherry blossom trees, and lilacs—all classic signs of spring—are appearing, and then wasting away, sooner than they have before. “When that happens early, people can’t help but take notice,” Crimmins says. “It just seems off.” This has downstream effects on other creatures, like insects, which are disappearing at unprecedented rates, and birds that feed on those insects, and live in our favorite trees. While it’s been decades of slow-moving change, it can feel like overnight, the view from our doorstep went profoundly wrong.

Redefining seasons seems like a natural response to this chaos, a way of taking back control. But, Crimmins says, changing the boundaries of our biologically-derived seasons, “assumes plants can continue to advance their phenology and survive just fine.” Data suggests that won’t be the case.

Some plants bloom in response to warmth alone. But many plants exhibit a more complex set of protective mechanisms. Some organisms have a finely-tuned internal clock. When spring arrives earlier than normal, these species refuse to blossom on the assumption they’re being tricked by a warm snap in the middle of winter. Other plants won’t open unless warmth coincides with the exact right angle of the sun. When greenhouse gases warm the planet faster than the solar system cycles through its luminescent seasons, these plants are left behind.

“The species that are able to track the changing conditions the best are the ones that are doing better, which makes sense. They’re saying, resources are available, I’ll start leafing, I’ll start flowering,” Crimmins says. “The species that are waiting are at a competitive disadvantage… and are starting to disappear from the landscape.”

Astronomical definitions will stay the same as long as the sun still shines. Climatic definitions have never been universal. But perhaps the most important reason we can’t redefine the seasons is that the profound disruption to our biological world is just getting started. “If we’re using plant or animal activity to be that definition of the start of spring, then it becomes a matter of, which species?” Crimmins says. “And what about the fact that some species won’t be around anymore?”

Written By Eleanor Cummins

#Environment

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Opinion Roundup: New maps not an option for November, Trump’s visit to Charlotte, reflections on the American worker and more

Is Partisan Gerrymandering Legal? Why the Courts Are Divided.

Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018 — A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: New congressional maps not viable option for 2018 elections, judges say revised amendment language now acceptable to go before voters, Trump’s visit to Charlotte, Gov. Cooper calls for action plan to address infant mortality rate, options to expand healthcare for cancer patients and more.

CAMPAIGN 2018 TRAVIS FAIN: Groups challenging NC’s congressional map: Reluctantly, don’t change it before November (WRAL-TV reports) — Attorneys for Common Cause and the League of Women Voters "reluctantly concluded" in a brief filed Friday that trying to redraw the districts now would be "disruptive and potentially counterproductive."

ROBERT BARNES: Plaintiffs in N.C. gerrymandering case say new maps not an option for November (Washington Post reports) — Although the Supreme Court often invalidates plans because of racial gerrymandering, it has never thrown out a plan because of partisan gerrymandering. In the past term, the justices considered a plan drawn by Democrats in Maryland and a Republican legislative map in Wisconsin, but did not reach the merits of those cases. The Supreme Court is required to either affirm or reverse such redistricting decisions, so it will almost surely accept the North Carolina case at some point.

TRAVIS FAIN: Court sides with legislature: Amendment language OK (WRAL-TV reports) — A unanimous three-judge panel sided with Republican legislative leaders against the governor Friday, saying the ballot language for two proposed constitutional amendments is reasonable enough to go before voters.

CRAIG JARVIS: Judges say Cooper — not lawmakers — can control certain boards (Durham-Herald Sun reports — A three-judge panel expanded Gov. Cooper’s authority to make certain appointments, the latest step in a separation-of-powers struggle that began when then-Gov. Pat McCrory sued the General Assembly in 2016.

Maybe chaos will spur reform (Hendersonville Times-News) — Going forward, the solution is for legislative leaders to enact nonpartisan redistricting reform of the kind long advocated by advocacy groups on the left and the right. Until they do, electoral chaos and repeated court challenges are bound to continue.

POLICY & POLITICS It’s Labor Day weekend. Tell us if you’ve read this before (Charlotte Observer) — It’s true that the Republican tax bill has been a windfall for corporations and the wealthy. And yes, wages have increased slightly in the months since, but those increases are in line with inflation. Real wages are actually stagnant, and even some Republicans have admitted that there’s no evidence that tax cut money has been helping the American worker.

ELY PORTILLO & ANNA DOUGLAS: Trump mixed politics and policy during a visit to Charlotte, ‘a very special place’ (Charlotte Observer reports) — It was Trump’s first trip to Charlotte since the March funeral of the Rev. Billy Graham. It comes two years before the president is expected to return for the 2020 Republican National Convention.

BRUCE HENDERSON & ELY PORTILLO: Trump says Lake Norman is the world’s largest man-made lake. (It’s not…) (Charlotte Observer reports) — The Duke Energy-managed reservoir north of Charlotte, filled in 1963, is indeed large. It covers 32,510 acres and has 520 miles of shoreline. NCPedia.org calls it the biggest man-made lake lying entirely in North Carolina.

ANNA DOUGLAS: Gambling ‘epidemic?’ This NC city has more arcades than it does McDonald’s (Charlotte Observer reports) — “There’s just been no enforcement,” Sen. Andy Wells said. “They go where the people don’t have a lot of money. They’re preying on the weakest among us.” He’s talking about the “fish game” — the latest video arcade craze that’s enticed people across North Carolina to part with hundreds of dollars at a time, hoping they’ll win big.

JOHN MURAWSKI: As NC babies die at one of the fastest rates in the country, Cooper calls for action plan (Durham-Herald Sun reports) — Thirty years ago the state had plummeted to the nation’s second-worst infant mortality rate, prompting the creation of Smart Start and other government programs to reverse the trend. The state’s infant mortality rate has now improved, but is still the 12th-worst rate in the country, according to the latest data available.

STAN KELLY: Carolina Core is the future of the North Carolina’s growth (Greensboro News & Record column) — The next engine of transformational economic growth for North Carolina lies in the Carolina Core — an emerging megasite corridor between Winston-Salem and Fayetteville, in the heart of the state, which bridges that urban corridor with Charlotte and the Research Triangle.

DR. CHRIS FONVIELLE: Historic context vital for Confederate monuments (Wilmington Star News column) — We cannot alter or change history or right past wrongs and injustices by attempting to erase it or by relocating, removing, or obliterating monuments to people and events of the past. We should study history to remind us, teach us, guide us, and inspire us to be better persons and better citizens. We must not, however, use it to wage cultural warfare against one another or for political gain

EDUCATION JONATHAN DREW: UNC head: Confederate doesn’t belong at campus ‘front door’ (AP reports) — The chancellor of North Carolina’s flagship university strongly indicated Friday that the school won’t return a torn-down Confederate statue to the main quad where it used to stand, but stopped short of confirming its former spot has been ruled out.

JULIA JACOBS & ALAN BINDER: University of North Carolina Chancellor Explores New Spot for ‘Silent Sam’ (New York Times reports) — Although U.N.C. leaders had expressed interest in relocating the statue, they found themselves — to the irritation and aggravation of Silent Sam’s fiercest critics — severely restricted by a 2015 state law declaring that a “monument, memorial or work of art owned by the state” may not be “removed, relocated or altered in any way” without the consent of a state historical commission.

FRANCES SELLERS & SUSAN SVRIUGA: UNC the latest college to grapple with the felling of a Confederate statue amid fears of rising tension (Washington Post reports) — Decades of internal debate about the statue and its prominence on this Southern campus have escalated into a politicized public drama, one heightened by the similarities to the controversy in Charlottesville a year ago, which erupted into a rally that turned fatal after white nationalists and others objected to the proposed removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

HEALTH JULIANA REED: An option for expanding care for cancer patients in North Carolina (Greensboro News & Record) — Despite valuable medical advances in prevention, diagnosis and treatment over recent decades, cancer rates remain alarmingly high in North Carolina. Almost 54,000 new patients in North Carolina are diagnosed with cancer each year — one of the highest rates in the United States.

MARK TOSCZAK: Mission and HCA Agree to Terms of Potential Sale (NC Health News reports) — Mission Health’s board of directors has signed an agreement to sell the Asheville-based health system to for-profit hospital operator HCA Healthcare for $1.5 billion. HCA and Mission will each put $25 million into an “innovation fund” to invest in businesses “providing innovations in health care delivery that benefit the people of western North Carolina.” Any deal still has to be approved by N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein before it can be completed, but that looks likely.

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