puns and anxiety

“Native people used to live in this National Park” No. They still do.

“Native people used to tell these stories-” No. They still do.

“Native people used to use this plant as a natural remedy-” No. They still do.

it is time for the High Halls duo

It is immediately obvious how much Hornet modified the cogfly design, adding a larger split plating to the head and elytra as well as a layer of red lacker she somehow has at hand, resulting in a design obviously meant to represent her

The original cogfly lacks shine in its eyes, which makes sense as they lack a silkfly unlike most cogmatons; the presence of a white glow in the eyes of Hornet's version would imply that hers are crafted with silk for extra functionality, as they don't have a silkfly either; in fact, the originals don't give silk when attacked, further implying they aren't crafted with it

Although they do release dregs when broken, suggesting either a minimal use of silk is present but not enough for Hornet to take, or that they're covered in cobweb from an age of not being cleaned

They also sing like Hornet's; but they seem to only do so in response to the Maestro's command, not to the music itself

Maybe the Maestro's control over the cogfly is thanks to a thin external strand of silk connecting to the baton, making them similar to the (admitedly more complex) Clawmaiden, potentially meaning the cogflies are another early form of automaton

Why I think this is the case as opposed to just being built in a way that reacts to song? well, as I said, no silk or silkfly to react to the song with

Hold on, Hornet's is significantly smaller isn't it?

Damn girl, way to go in optimizing this automaton, you even left two cogs behind on the desk

Hornet's cogflies are more compact and smarter, able to attack on their own without the need for a command, in all likeness thanks to the use of silk; did she learn from weaversong? or from the servitors?

Either way, Hornet's cogflies are still wind-up cogwork much like the cogwheel, you can even see the key this time around

The elytra aren't just segmented in two now, but they are actually two-fold, now able to cover not just the back but the underside as well, and likely granting better flight control

It is hard to miss the fact that the rosary cannon is way smaller on Hornet than it is on the original stringing machine, it is even smaller than the rosaries themselves

This size incongruence is likely just a side effect of the need for visual clarity in the game, specially when considering the mechanism doesn't seem to be particularly modified in the tool menu

Rosaries also probably aren't the size of hornet's face in-universe either

Once the mechanism has been broken off, it probably got separated into either A, B or C depending on wether that notched barrel is all the same or different segments and what kind of movement or lack of movement was involved in each

(of course, the animation shows all of that half of the mechanism being completely destroyed, save for the cannon)

The design of rosary stringing machines seem to be partly based on this design of bead stringing machine

This could mean screw-like gears on each side of the groove / slit / notch, which goes to explain how the cannon propels the rosaries as ammo; this kind of gear system is called "worm drive"

It's fun that you can actually see the segment where they cut out the stringing payment from the rosaries actually used on the string

I do have to wonder how those 20 rosaries are retrieved though

Through the otherwise kinda useless metal frame to the left? Or through the bottom mechanism that seems to already be designed to be taken off?

These chains to the sides may just be there to work alongside the surrounding cogwork (chain drive), but I can't help to notice the similarity in the links to the rosary string tips one can see around

Maybe the machine adds them when doing the stringing service?

The notches in the right side of the pipe and the way they connect to a gear suggests a rack and pinion mechanism, meaning conversion from rotational to linear movement

It is unclear if this is so the machine correctly counts the rosaries or for the whole mechanism to emerge for repairings or similar reasons

The rack does stop right before where the notches representing the 80 rosaries begins

Man, I really wish there were stringing machines for heavy and pale rosary necklaces

Fun fact, you can actually see the string hole on the red rosaries, unlike the other two

Pearl rosaries sure are huge huh

I really wonder why rosaries became a thing, even the Skarr carry them

Did they exist before the Weavers established the citadel? or did they create it as a tool for control? or even as yet another cog in the eternal song?

The act of offering cymbals of rosaries seems to be a crucial part of the Citadel since its funding

There's this dialogue from Lumble the Lucky

A beat here means 4 rosaries, which coincides with the number of fingers on the hands of those who do have visible fingers (think quirrel or GMS or PV or LoS)

The use of "beat" makes me think of the "holy measure" above, and also of the musical unit of measure

Were rosaries then used in some way to keep a specific rhythm to the song, through some mechanism?

Beat as a measure of material quantity is used for smokerock, sweetsmelt and dregs

"Measures" is another one used, which turns out to be another name for bars

If what I'm seeing is correct, a measure or bar contains multiple beats depending on the time signature, usually having 4 beats; so it seems this is a centimeter to meter situation, or maybe whatever USAmericans use might be a better comparison

Is the actual measure here quantity or weight? I can't imagine rocks coming in regular sizes so I could lean more to weight there

Or maybe the quantity for minerals is beat for barrel and measure for those bundles of barrels often seen around being pulled up in chains

Would beat in silk then be a certain lenght? Would measure be a single spool or a group of them?

Talking about beats, it's cool that Conductor Ballador's IV spool is controlled by a metronome

Gotta love that the Citadel has an actual bank, ran by Ministers (Ministers? Ministerialis?), with booths, and multiple vaults locked with keys, and with multiple abacus!

I wonder if the Conductors ended up inventing paper money, or if those stripes of parchment are purely records

If this was truly a bank and not some kind of tax vault or literally just where they stored all those stringing payents (and the sprites of the place do have "bank" on their names), then those leaving their rosaries here would want a check or record to later get them back with

I do not live in a big city - today and wildfires are the only times I ever see smog.

not to be a critic, but its crazy to me that they could not speak either TO or ABOUT the people affected by this ruling (trans girls in conservative areas) at all. a combination of transmisogyny and shitty reporting means that the takeaway from that segment seemed to be "well, it sucks, but at least blue states are still allowed to be accepting of trans youth" rather than the very real attempts to eradicate trans people from public life or the very real possibility of violent retaliation against trans girls in these states.