Trillin's Weird & Wonderful

Zeus

Zeus is actually not as bad of a father as you think! I know, right!? Wish I'd known that when I first made this blog. Zeus may be the kind of guy to say, "There's my favorite war god!" To Athena in front of Ares, but he seems to genuinely love his children apart from that.

In Ancient Greece, Zeus and Hera's marriage was considered sacred. Therefore stop calling Zeus a whore guys be nice

Zeus has an epithet (Zeus Aethiops) that basically translates to "Zeus the Black." So now I regret making him the palest out of my Olympian designs (if you wanna reach, it can also work with Hera's own epithet that translates to "White-armed Hera")

Hera

HERA DOES NOT HATE DEMIGODS. At least, she shouldn't. The only reason she's so cartoonishly evil when it comes to them is because like 95% of them are Zeus's children. I don't know about you, but if my husband had 92 children I'd also hate them when only like 5 of them are mine

Hera isn't BAD. She might be vindictive (and that happens to be because ancient greek men hated women so much a lot of them ACTUALLY dated men to avoid dating women), but she is a victim in her own way. Adaptations act like she's "angry horrible wife" when she's a lot more than that

Hera has en epithet (Hera Boópis) that translated to "Cow-eyed Hera." That probably means Hera in a lot of depictions had large, gentle eyes. Just thought it was nice to mention

Poseidon

POSEIDON IS NOT A SURFER DUDE. WHY DOES EVERYONE THINK THIS!? To be fair, I made him a surfer dude in my own retelling for fun, but Poseidon is the OCEAN. Or the god of it, at least. The oceans are wild, untamable, and Poseidon represents those things.

Poseidon did not rape Medusa guys that's a Roman thing. Fuck Neptune. Fuck Minerva. And FUCK Ovid

For all of the ex Odyseidon shippers, I think you should check out @bcowlick 's information on Pelops!! I enjoy their stuff a lot, and you should take a look (but DON'T treat PelopSeidon like OdySeidon. Those are not the same.)

Demeter

Demeter is a GOOD MOTHER. EVERY SINGLE ADAPTATION FEATURING HER MAKES HER THE WORST PERSON BECAUSE "aww she gets in the way of baby Pewsephone and Hades's mawiage 🥹" BUT SHE'S A GOOD MOM. THE HOMERIC HYMN TO DEMETET WAS OBVIOUSLY MEANT TO GIVE VOICE TO WOMEN WHOSE DAUGHTERS WERE SOLD OFF TO WED AT LIKE 13

One time she lit a baby on fire to make them a God.

She has an epithet named Despoina that basically means "Mistress." This is ALSO an epithet for Persephone! (And a fake name people used to talk about her without fear of death)

Hades

Hades is tecnically NOT the father of Zagreus and Melinoe. In some versions of the story, Zeus took the identity of Hades and slept with Persephone. So depending on what version you think is "Canon," Hades basically doesn't even have children!

Call Hades a lot of things but NEVER call him unfair. All of his trials (Orpheus as an example) are really fair. Not his fault everyone fails! One time, he even let Herakles borrow his dog! Though for some reason, Herakles said thank you by shooting an Arrow at him

People like to pass Hades the innocent card, but he is NOT. The gods represent what is true, not what is ideal. And Hades has done some shitty things (specifically glue Theseus to a chair for a few decades, but tbh Theseus deserves it)

Hestia

Hestia is commonly thought to be the nicest of the Olympians, and that's TECNICALLY correct. But that's also partially because of the lack of surviving myths on her. For all we know, there are myths of Hestia cursing a family for not cooking dinner well enough or something.

A lot of people believe that Hestia gave up her spot as an Olympian to Dionysus. But there's actually no ancient text saying that!! The story comes from Robert Graves's; "The Greek Myths: Volume I"

like having hypospadias & some related stuff it feels like ppl dismiss it as an intersex variation often bc they can't oooh and ahhh and philosophize abt how i break the laws of nature (in their eyes). that's how i feel a lot of the time when ppl talk about how hypospadias / congenital gynecomastia / vaginal hypoplasia or atresia / etc don't count as intersex on their own. it feels like what is and isn't intersex comes down to what body types doctors can objectify for their own curiosity (w/o ever challenging intersexism.) treating certain intersex people like fun puzzles to ""solve"" & other intersex people as too boring for them so we don't count. it's gross and weird. it feels rlly objectifying.

Part 1

Leggies and adaptive home gear!

Jack is a BKA/below-knee-amputee and because of that he uses a prosthetic leg.

But, let’s talk a little more about what his amputation means for him.

Jack has a trans-tibial means cut through the tibia (shin bones) amputation.

So, he kept his knee joint, which means it takes a whole lot less effort for him to walk with a prosthetic. It’s not easy, regardless, but it could be harder. But as there is no weight bearing bone remaining, his soft tissue is loaded to take the weight when standing/walking. Which means his residual limb is not stiff, it’s WIGGLY, it’s fat. It’s cushioned, it has to be, so he can walk on it.

Here is a breakdown of a typical prosthetic leg and each part.

Sockets Options:

Patellar Tendon Bearing (PTB): distributes weight over the patellar tendon and takes the pressure off other areas.

Total Surface Bearing (TSB): spreads out the pressure across the entire residual limb/stump, used with a gel liner for comfort.

Hydrostatic or Contoured Sockets: Needs fancy shaping to match the pressure-load tolerance of the residual limb, often used for complex limb shapes/unique amputations or specific high-impact activities.

From looking at Jack’s residual limb, he probably has one or two PTBs for older crappier legs and uses a TSB for his daily use legs.

Which means he has liners and socks for his leg before he puts it on.

Suspension System (what holds the leg on):

Suction: Uses a liner to hold the leg on, with a valve to create suction as air is pulled from the socket.

Pin and Shuttle Lock: A pin in the liner will lock into a mechanism at the bottom of the socket.

Vacuum-Assisted: A pump will draw air out of the socket to make a seal.

These all work for different PTBs and TSBs.

Now, ankles and feet:

SACH (Solid-Ankle, Cushion-Heel): a hunk of plastic.

Single-Axis: allows one movement.

Multi-Axis: allows multiple movements.

Dynamic Response Feet: they help by storing potential energy to be used as kinetic energy, (ie, they have recoil).

Microprocessor-Controlled Feet: they adjust to changing surfaces and terrains.

Now, I guarantee our boy has two other legs in his rotation: a wet leg and a running leg.

A wet leg is exactly what it sounds like, a leg that can get wet. They are specifically designed for water activity.

Unless you are using them for a specific task, like a flipper, they typically don’t do much.

Now, for running legs. Most people think of a running blade, which is absolutely an option for Jack. He could even swap a running blade onto his existing leg, or have a separate one completely. But sprinting and long-distance running typically require different feet. Sprinting feet (shaped like a J) need to be more rigid for better recoil and push off. Longer distances require a slower release of energy (foot shaped like a C).

NOW… adaptive homes!

I need this shit, I assume Jack does too…

Shower chair that unlocks and swivels.

SPACE! So much space.

A wheelchair left upstairs and one left downstairs.

A lift! A not-steep ramp outside!

Soft carpeting! (Or no carpeting! If you are dragging your ass on the floor, you need soft carpeting or you will tear a hole in your ass. If you stay in your chair, no carpeting is better.)

Doorways that are at least 32 inches wide!

A minimum of a 5-foot turn radius!

Lower storage spaces!

ADA-compliant appliances with buttons on the front!

Lower countertops!

Accessible showers! This can be achieved with more space, a shower seat or a shower wheelchair and grab rails with wall reinforcements around the toilet and shower.

Wheelchair Accessible Closets!

Closet rods and shelving tend to be too fucking high for wheelchair users.

No grass, cobblestone, and brick right up to the door.

Welp, if you have any further questions, let me know.

Anaxyrus americanus appreciation post

Crapaud d'Amerique

American toad

This is a very interesting article which highlights not only the existential threat that chytrid fungus poses to amphibians (it has wiped out 90 species already), but also the ethical dilemma around synthetic biology, in which organisms have genetic material introduced or deleted, for example in the hope of increasing disease resistance.