biting the sun

Biological structures aren't 3D printed like some folks may imagine, but are "seeded" or nucleated instead and use a set of rules that end up generating the whole structure with relatively little information compared to needing a whole 3D model to be stored. (Think of an ice crystal forming, allowing other molecules to attach to with, with the shape of that initial crystal informing the rest of the structure)

The pattern was discovered when Elijah Blum, then a high school intern at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, noticed the Pilea’s fascinating leaves while plant-sitting for his sister. The leaves were speckled with water-venting pores called hydathodes, each fenced in by veins to form a mosaic. Blum, now at New York University, took the plant to his supervisor, computer scientist Saket Navlakha. “He showed the plant to me, and he said, ‘Look, the veins look kind of interesting here,’” Navlakha says. “And we sort of held it up to the light, and we saw that canonical Voronoi diagram.” In a Voronoi diagram, a surface is divided around a set of points so that every spot in a zone is closer to that zone’s point than any other. Urban planners use the same idea to map services such as fire departments, assigning houses to the nearest station. (Read more)

Been playing some Elden Ring Seamless Coop lately

marika's line that goes "o radagon, leal hound of the golden order. thou'rt yet to become me. thou'rt yet to become a god"-- an echo spoken by melina at marika's bedchamber-- is also paired with "let us be shattered, both. mine other self." which WOULD suggest that they were, at least by this time, working as one person. but also the melding is not ENTIRELY complete? and radagon, despite being marika's other half, is somehow not yet Her, nor a god (yet)

for the alchemical history of the rebis concept, it does seem that in some cases the rebis is an initial state of matter, but also, in some cases it is literally only the end point, and the end result of the "great work". so i wouldn't say the rebis theming necessarily means they started out intertwined, either (also how tf WOULD you actually be in two places at once, between leyndell and raya lucaria ?? is it notable that radagon being so far from leyndell is given emphasis?) (miquella and trina can separate YES but are they supposed to do that…)

Also, if you want to be very specific, nothing insists that Marika and Radagon must have had distinct origins. All we know for sure is that Marika was a religious practitioner, and Radagon's hair is red like a Giant.

(this again also further explains messmer, and then less significantly an almost definitely blonde rykard)

i do think the D twins are meant to be a sort of “foreshadowing” to the rebis existence as well, tho its true we can’t exactly say how close the resemblance is either. the D twins themselves are said to have never actually met physically, iirc, and the idea of two bodies with one soul could probably just be playing around with the reincarnation lore

its all still incredibly vague with immense wiggle room. but hmmm yeah, do think im circling back around to “idk i guess they did have the same origin?” after all

Likewise, Red hair is probably a Fell God connection, what I meant was that Radagon doesn't seem to literally be a giant. Theres little in common besides hair colour (which most his descendents share anyway). There is a smithing motif, but it is Marika's Hammer (for what thats worth). Side note, Dung Eater suit also has red hair.

All that said, if we accept that Radagon originally existed as a seperate body, then his only connection (even if loose) is with Fell God/Giants (all previous caveats still apply). Obviously his marriage with Rennala echoes Night+Flame duality (but then so does Messmer-Rellana).

but yeap. while it could also make sense that he may have giant lineage, then, he definitely doesnt look anything like what we’re able to see of them. could be possible he’s just from way further down the lineage, but. yeah if hes NOT a giant, either, it really is square one for his origins entirely (which is again the same boat as trina)

so if anything, while the possibility of separate origins is completely open, you’d at least get an easier time with speculation if you lean toward “he started from marika”. which may also be why so many people seem to prefer that leaning

tho again since we DO know marika’s origins, it would be strange for radagon to not be mentioned alongside them or given any evidence or indication he was there. not that its impossible theres just, no longer any traces left. but radagon as a person literally kind of starts and ends with his use to marika’s rule. and idk if the developers would leave behind a whole ass snakeskin at one of the decimated villages, you’d think there’d at least be a red hair left behind too, if radagon had the same origin

deathly curious how good the average tumblr user is at distinguishing dinosaur skulls from non dinosaur skulls

Big volume #FencepostOfTheWeek

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(Fun fact - the only Liurnian character not played by a natively Welsh actor is Latenna! Her actress, Jennifer English, is actually from Shropshire - an English county which directly borders Wales. It's usually considered part of the "Welsh Marshes")

(The Kalé are a Romani subgroup from Wales. His name isn't a coincidence - if the coding of the nomadic merchants with the importance they place on caravans isn't enough, they're literally called ジプシー (Gypsy) in the game files)

(Miyazaki does mention choosing Welsh for the Liurnians in the interview with Famitsu we looked at in the introduction. The other group he explicitly mentions by name is the West Country (Cornish) group, who we'll explore later).

Rennala has a unique variant of Raya Lucaria symbol that is not quite like the typical sigil that only depicts the star + glintstone that landed from the space!

Hers has sky (Radahn), river (Ranni) and underground flames (Rykard)!

(raya lucaria’s symbol for reference)

AHHH I’ve never given this crest much thought before but you’re soooo right… it’s so interesting how it’s got such a similar design to raya lucaria’s crest, except those colors give it like a whole new context, specifically a carian context?? LOVE how you can read it as representing rennala’s kids like you said, and you can also read it as representing carian interests as a whole with their classic “night and flame” motif (the “night” aspect often being associated with water and sky… see rennala’s phase 2 arena with its moon over endless water, caria manor’s moon-gazing pool, and ranni’s association with ice), a motif which rennala’s kids themselves reflect!! (rykard = fire, ranni = stars/ice, radahn = fire AND stars)