Adulthood is overrated

The common set of our era is known as the "Staunton" set. Designed by either Howard Staunton and / or his brother in law John Jaques in the 19th century.

Previously, chess sets were highly embellished and usually carved from ivory, both of which made them prohibitively expensive. They were usually carved to represent the culture of the commissioning party, which made it difficult to play across cultural lines. A shame for a game that eclipses language.

The problem presented itself in that in many eras and cultures, warriors either dressed too similarly to clergy, or the design was just so intricately muddled that all the pieces were similar.

Is this guy the knight just because he has a horse?

What about this shield biting bustard?

(I'm partial to this one for obvious reasons if you know the history of my blog name.)

Could you identify the knight in this Elizabethan set if the board weren't ready and you knew nothing of European culture?

The Staunton set changed all that. It took standard designs of the day and removed the intricate carving work that made the pieces delicate, prone to breaking and often ambiguous.

Now anyone, from any background or culture could play if they knew the rules.

The knight became standardized as the horse and not the rider to differentiate it and stayed somewhat intricate because it was the easiest piece to keep embellishments without confusing human elements.

Never once missed a look

And she STILL SHOWS UP! Runs a mental health program because she's admitted to depression and suicidal ideation from her own traumas. Has really succeeded at every business venture. Coined "Hot Girl Summer" and now every dork on the planet has done a variation on it, not that they credited her. I wouldn't blame Meg in the slightest if she said fuck all y'all I'm moving to Japan to retire.

My friend introduced me to this neat little webcomic called “Misfits In Toyland” and I ended up really liking the characters, so I did what I normally do and drew up some fanart! 🩷

- they’re Opawz pet specific dyes. Non toxic made specifically for dogs. Once they’re set and rinsed they can groom themselves normally, they pose no danger to her in any way, no fumes, there’s no bleach involved

- my dog is trained with cooperative care skills, the process is not stressful for her, she gets paid heavily for her cooperation and looks forwards to the opportunity to earn extra snacks with the grooming