Mating Habits of the Skybound Electric Snake

shoomlah:

So the problem with designing characters who become popular is that, if you’re a needy bastard like me who tracks the Lutece tags when you’re bored, you’re suddenly exposed to a ton of art of said characters in various states of undress.

I’m not one to discourage this sort of thing- no no, I have sketchbooks full of Remus/Sirius stuff from high school- but I figured I might as well give everyone a leg-up with a more detailed guide to Rosalind Lutece’s potential underthings.  I’ve seen a ton of drawings of her in corsets from a good 50 years before her time and I…  I needed to step in.

Think of this as a primer!  Not a be-all-end-all of Edwardian underthings (heck, I’m still learning this stuff), but it might teach you some new fashion terms/ideas you weren’t previously aware of!  Go forth, young padawan, and draw historically-accurate Rosalind porn to your heart’s content.

…I do not know if this counts as fanart or not since I’m the one doing it?  Whatever.  RESEARCH OR DIE MOFOS

(via thaddeusgrey)

the-science-llama:

If Earth Had Rings

First off, they would be really pretty to look at. They would also dominate the sky in both night and day at exactly the same place as they would never rise nor set. And at night you would see the Earth’s shadow swing across the rings, like in the 4th photo here.

However, life would be very different on Earth if this were the case. Nocturnal animals would have a hard time being nocturnal, as the light reflecting from the rings would illuminate the night.

Because we are closer to the Sun than Saturn is, the rings would be more rocky than ice, making them less bright but still pretty bright. In fact, you would see far less stars at night (living anywhere other than the equator or the arctic circle) because of the light pollution and not to mention ruin most meteor showers because of that.

During the day the rings would block sunlight in certain regions of the planet creating wild weather cycles and effecting plant life as well. So basically, they would be definitely pretty to look at but they would also make a whole lot of things screwy.

Illustrations by Ron Miller // io9
— Click the photos for captions

(via thaddeusgrey)

literaryartifacts:

from i09: book spine poetry

ivqei:

Name: Dar’Ivqei

Race: Suthay Khajiit

Gender: Female

Build: Tall, for suthay.

Miscellanea: TBA

art-of-swords:

Sword-Catching Parrying Dagger

• Dated: 1600
• Culture: Italian

This unusual fencing dagger demonstrates the way in which the artistic qualities of a weapon could be influenced by the practical concerns of the swordsman. The Renaissance duel was usually fought with rapier and dagger. The rapier, as the main weapon of attack, was complemented by a parrying dagger held in the left hand, used primarily for defensive movements.

However, by 1600 fighting with the rapier alone was becoming the latest fashion. The opposing blade could still be parried or beaten away with the left hand. The free left also allowed the duellist to grab hold of his enemy’s swordblade, temporarily immobilising it to expose him to a lethal counter-thrust.  

This distinctive fencing weapon is designed to provide the blade-grabbing ability of the free left hand, while retaining the dagger for defensive action. The arrow-like barbs allowed a sword blade to enter the ‘jaw’ of the dagger, but made it difficult to free it again. With his weapon ensnared, the enemy was exposed, if only for an instant.

The practical challenges of creating such a specialised weapon were considerable. The hardened and tempered steel blade had to be carefully cut with the series of dramatically barbed teeth, a laborious process. The spaces between the teeth have been elegantly filed with ornamental edges, while the base of the blade has been finely etched and gilt- an unusual feature, even for high-quality weapons. In this way, despite its very specific function as a fighting tool, the weapon’s artistic merit is evident.

Source & Copyright: The Wallace Collection

(Source: symphonyofawesomeness, via prompts-and-pointers)

akoaykayumanggi:

frank-e-fighting-words:

seananmcguire:

snake-lovers:

Oun Sambath and his pet python.

A few months after Oun Sambath was born, his family found a baby python under his mattress. They carefully took it outside, but during the night it returned to be with the baby boy. The boy’s father prayed, and decided that the snake belonged to the boy and would bring them happiness.

The boy and the snake have been together ever since. They have played together, have slept together, and even have talked together.

“What do you say to the snake?” People have asked the boy.

“That is a secret,” the boy has replied.

[the link to the article]

Snake love is best love.

have I mentioned that I’m a snake person?

Omg do you know what this reminds me of?!?!

The old pre-colonial Visayan belief of one having a snake twin. Literally it’s a snake that is actually a spirit of a dead ancestor that is born with the person often staying close with them never really leaving their side and was said to lead that person to success and was seen as a symbol of luck and that one was blessed by the ancestors. The early Spaniards noted this widespread belief and some wrote stories of those who gave birth to a baby snake often mistaking it as parts of the placenta. In Alcina’s writings he writes of one incident where the mother was to afraid to have found the snake in the placenta and brought it outside. It eventually came back to be with her boy and still scared of the snake they moved away hoping it wouldn’t find them again.

This bond with this boy pretty much is a living example of that old belief. :D

(via unbadger)