I am thrilled to announce Version 1.1 of my poster showing (some of) the frogs of Madagascar, to scale!
It features 136 species, incorporating the latest taxonomic work.
>>>You can buy it here<<<
I recommend 'Poster' in size 'Large' to get the best resolution and legibility of the text.
Proceeds go towards supporting my research!
Here's Version 1.0 at the Zoologische Staatssammlung München:
993 notes
·
View notes
I'm writing a paper on Goncharov right now and I can sooth your nerves that the difference between Gonch and whatever's happening on tiktok is not the fake media. Fake media and fake people and fake history will always and has always existed. Neither is the collective storytelling.
The difference is that we made Goncharov real by imitating a fandom for it. Like yes mass hallucinating a movie was fun and an incredible feat of collective creativity. But the *way* we created Goncharov is what will always make it special.
We, as a website, spontaneously created a perfect pastiche of fandom, one that was so identical to any other fandom behaviour it made the movie seem real.
As I quote thetwistyoucantresist in my paper, “maybe the real Goncharov was the Fandom we made along the way”.
Goncharov isnt the fake movie its the fake fandom, that's what special and unique and one of a kind
2K notes
·
View notes
guys i need you to know that like.
if you see a charm you like on somehing i've made and you're thinking to yourself "aw damn i love those earrings but i don't have pierced ears i'd love it on a necklace though" or "yo that's so cute but i don't wear necklaces i wish it was a phone charm" or whatever
just ask me. it's no inconvenience to me to put charm A on component C instead of component B i promise. there's no custom order charge. whatever it is will be the same price as whatever other equivalent things i've made already.
that's the beauty of making stuff and not being a factory production line. i can just make something else
as i'm typing this i'm reminded of a guy who came by the stall next to mine a few weeks ago (crafty dark aunty. she's on facebook. she's cool) lamenting to his friend that he loved the little dragonfly charms on a pair of earrings but only wore single earrings and also didn't like the additional bead. so Babs just piped up like "i can take the bead off right now and just sell you a single earring, if you like"
he looked at her like this was some sort of witchcraft like. bestie if you put 2 things on a piece you can just as easily remove one of them. a new earring can easily be created to replace the one you are taking.
705 notes
·
View notes
so about the header that proceeded today's statement:
Viability as agent: Low
Viability as subject: None
Viability as catalyst: Medium
i didn't know what to think of this part of the entry at first, but the longer the statement went on... was the institute in this universe trying to manufacture avatars?
the dice can't do anything without someone to use them, they can't be an "agent" by themselves, but might be capable of manipulation, so in that aspect their viability is "low."
the dice could be a "subject" in the sense that they could use further studying, but the statement itself was a very thorough investigation of their workings, so in that aspect their viability is "none."
the dice seem to influence their holder to roll them, or at least find more victims to roll them, and could therefore be described as a "catalyst" for someone's becoming. but, as seen in the statement, their owner can give the dice to someone else (albeit not without consequences), so in that aspect their viability is only "medium."
so what about the line following all this, what does "Recommend referral to Catalytics for Enrichment applicability assessment" mean? if we go by this interpretation, i'd say it could mean the institute wanted to find a way to make the dice even more potent as an artifact, maybe even remove that pesky ability for their owner to reject them.
imho all of this this brings a whole new level of context to the events of episode seven, of unknown violent agents going after an influx of objects that seemed straight out of artifact storage. was that the nature of the titular "magnus protocol" first mentioned in episode four, the one that involved the starkwall group? containing or destroying potential artifacts before the institute could get their hands on them?
it also makes their "gifted kids program," and sam's link to it as one of the kids being studied, all the more horrifying to think about. was it not just avatars in general they were after, but child avatars specifically? no wonder gertrude got so defensive over the possibility of sam and celia dragging gerry back into the institute's business last episode, we all picked up on her clearly knowing more than she's letting on but now we might know the shape of that information a bit better.
and one final bit of food for thought... this statement had a lot of familiar themes, didn't it? free will or the illusion of it, gambling and not-so-random chance, the statement giver being done in by one final hit from what feels like a bit of an addition... all hallmarks of a certain mother of puppets. doesn't it seem fitting that "chester" would use this kind of statement to warn sam about what harm pursuing the magnus institute could bring to him, considering the one his voice might draw from? and doesn't it seem so painfully ironic that his warning seems to have only driven sam further into that web?
304 notes
·
View notes
i hate how commodity and capitalism has ruined so much storytelling . i hate how sequels and prequels and whatever else all ring like merch sales; i hate that i as an author have to include any social media following i have as a marketable trait; i hate that everything feels like a xerox of a copy of a dream of a memory.
i hate that my nostalgia has been turned into profit. i hate that companies fear consumer backlash so no real commentary may be made; i hate that companies care more about quantity over quality. i hate that so many artists and creators are being overworked to the point of complete collapse rather than being allowed to tell the story their way. i hate that every point of representation has to be fought for. i hate it i want us all to go back to living in a cave .
when you sit with friends over a bonfire and the night is getting long and people start telling this slow, almost hypnotic story - in this quiet voice, like they don't expect you to listen while they say the most fucked up shit you've ever heard - that is storytelling. who cares if the punchline is car hand hook door. storytelling has always been about community, about us all sitting in the dark, choosing to fill the silence while the last embers are dying. we forgot that storytelling is spellwork. hallucinating together, our breaths held, waiting for the ending we already knew was coming.
3K notes
·
View notes
Having been in that place of “so many long distance friends all in one place!!” A couple of times I just can’t help but feel so much second hand happiness for the cc hermits. You could tell the entire weekend that they were all so giddy - from raising $800k for charity over two days, yes - but also from just being in the same space. Getting to hug and play fight and shoot each other with nerf guns and bringing treats from home for everyone to try.
It just makes you think, you know. I mainly deal with the characters they play, and try very hard to separate those characters from their creators, but at the end of the day all of the love that they pour into their characters and the world they make together is all down to how much they also love each other irl. And good for them, good for them. I hope they had just as much, if not more, time off the clock to just hang out together
110 notes
·
View notes
My aunt is very sensitive to strong scents (buys my deodorant so that we know it won't harm her, because other than a couple brands, they give her migraines, we don't have scented candles, and I have a couple of perfumes, but I never wear them), so we're super careful there, but we also can't go into some stores because the perfume counter is Right There. When we go shopping, she knows to look for me in the candle aisle because I'll stand there sniffing each candle and giving a review to whoever is with me at the time
.
121 notes
·
View notes