Ramble

the cold season Jan-Apr:

Here are some crazy grasshopper mouse facts for those who are not familiar with the most badass mouse species on the planet

- They are primarily carnivorous, and their diet is made up of not only bugs but also snakes, lizards and other mice.

- They hunt like true predators, slowly stalking and creeping up on their prey before ambushing them. They will sometimes let out a screech as they attack.

- Like wolves, they howl to establish territory and have a specially developed throat to produce louder vocalizations. They will stand up on their hind legs and throw their head back to howl- a sound that can be heard from 100 meters away!

- Grasshopper mouse behavior is linked to lunar cycles and they are more active during a full moon.

All male protagonists from Grimm tales I know, are lower class men. There often are female protagonists, often commoners, and if they're nobility, they're princesses.

Not only is the opening narration falsifying Utena's memories - by stressing the importance of the Prince, Akio tries to impose a protagonist onto a fairy tale story (which RGU certainly is, I'm deeply convinced by that). He tries to convince everyone, and the story logic itself so hard that actually the Prince is the proactive important one whereas fairy tales are the stories of lower classes, and haunted children.

[The Idiot's Guide to Effective Population Size

This is a reference manual for the elegant, yet hideously complex concept of effective population size (Ne), inspired by a classic, self-published manual of automotive repair ‘for the compleat idiot’. The Guide is timely, given the recent Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, where 196 Parties committed to tracking genetic diversity—and estimating Ne—for all species. Ne is a human construct, but a useful one that allows us to capture diverse aspects of an organism's biology in a single number. The Guide collates in one location factual information about effective population size, with a focus on topics of practical relevance to scientists and managers studying real populations; it covers definition, computation and estimation of effective size, both demographically and genetically. As appropriate, the reader is directed to other primary sources for more details. A ‘Don't Do These Things’ section lists several ill-advised approaches to dealing with Ne, and an Appendix provides useful tools and practical suggestions for interested users. A special section considers both possibilities and challenges presented by the genomics revolution. Availability of vast numbers of genetic markers increases precision, but less than some might think, and simultaneously introduces new challenges involving filtering and bioinformatics processing. As annotated genomes become more common for non-model species, opportunities are opened to address qualitatively different questions, including reconstructing historical changes in Ne through time.]

Millipede under UV light. Many species of arthropods fluoresce, or glow, under ultraviolet light due to due to fluorescent compounds in their exoskeletons. At least one millipede genus, motyxia, is actually bioluminescent, meaning it can produce light on its own.

what makes it different from industry is that it isn't supposed to yield a return on profit in a way you can put in a balance sheet (except where it is. this idealisation isn't even true).

i wouldn't call it barter at all. what it is is aristocratic surplus extraction. the universities extract surplus in order to allow scholars to Be Scholars, who have obligations to be of service to people.

Yet another situation where a woman of colour was questioned her femininity because she doesn’t fit into eurocentric ideals of what “woman” or “feminine” looks like.

Time and again women of colour are subjected to this ridicule and scrutiny and it’s downright disgusting as well as pathetically ignorant.

Woman of colour have more testosterone than white women. Women from low socio economic backgrounds sometimes look more masculine/physically fit than women from urban/wealthy backgrounds.

I’m sorry she doesn’t look like Barbie and can knock out her opponent in 46 fucking seconds. That doesn’t make her man. That makes her strong as fuck.

If you see a woman perform extremely well and possess God-like strength and immediately question whether she is actually a woman, maybe you’re not the feminist you think you are.

Maybe you just don’t believe in women at all.

y’know, to read and hype instead of supporting joanne’s racist ass

the sequel to this post

we hunt the flame by hafsah faizal

inspired by ancient arabia

author is of sri lankan and arab descent, as well as muslim

the main cast is completely poc

the writing is kinda dense but it’s absolutely gorgeous

the setting is amazing

male protagonist drinks his Respect Women Juice

wicked fox by kat cho

urban fantasy set in south korea + lots of korean culture

characters are all korean

inspired by korean mythology

its only faults are the miscommunication trope and iffy prose

other than that—highly recommend

made me want to go back to korea

warcross by marie lu

asian protagonist + love interest

set primarily in japan (if i remember correctly)

diverse supporting cast (queer rep, poc rep, disabled rep)

fantastic action sequences

you like video games? read this (i don’t like video games and i still loved it)

fast-paced, easy to digest, really good overall

books i haven’t read yet but have heard great things about and will be getting to eventually:

children of blood and bone by tomi adeyemi

iron widow by xiran jay zhao

NEW ADDITION: legendborn by tracy deonn

NEW ADDITION: jade city by fonda lee

EDIT: i previously mislabeled firekeeper’s daughter by angeline boulley as sci-fi/fantasy when it is actually a mystery/thriller book. that was my mistake and i should have done better research on my own!