Latest Posts by quantumjames - Page 3
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Do I look like a fool?” said the frog. “You’d sting me if I let you on my back!”
“Be logical,” said the scorpion. “If I stung you I’d certainly drown myself.”
“That’s true,” the frog acknowledged. “Climb aboard, then!” But no sooner than they were halfway across the river, the scorpion stung the frog, and they both began to thrash and drown. “Why on earth did you do that?” the frog said morosely. “Now we’re both going to die.”
“I can’t help it,” said the scorpion. “It’s my nature.”
___
…But no sooner than they were halfway across the river, the frog felt a subtle motion on its back, and in a panic dived deep beneath the rushing waters, leaving the scorpion to drown.
“It was going to sting me anyway,” muttered the frog, emerging on the other side of the river. “It was inevitable. You all knew it. Everyone knows what those scorpions are like. It was self-defense.”
___
…But no sooner had they cast off from the bank, the frog felt the tip of a stinger pressed lightly against the back of its neck. “What do you think you’re doing?” said the frog.
“Just a precaution,” said the scorpion. “I cannot sting you without drowning. And now, you cannot drown me without being stung. Fair’s fair, isn’t it?”
They swam in silence to the other end of the river, where the scorpion climbed off, leaving the frog fuming.
“After the kindness I showed you!” said the frog. “And you threatened to kill me in return?”
“Kindness?” said the scorpion. “To only invite me on your back after you knew I was defenseless, unable to use my tail without killing myself? My dear frog, I only treated you as I was treated. Your kindness was as poisoned as a scorpion’s sting.”
___
…“Just a precaution,” said the scorpion. “I cannot sting you without drowning. And now, you cannot drown me without being stung. Fair’s fair, isn’t it?”
“You have a point,” the frog acknowledged. “But once we get to dry land, couldn’t you sting me then without repercussion?”
“All I want is to cross the river safely,” said the scorpion. “Once I’m on the other side I would gladly let you be.”
“But I would have to trust you on that,” said the frog. “While you’re pressing a stinger to my neck. By ferrying you to land I’d be be giving up the one deterrent I hold over you.”
“But by the same logic, I can’t possibly withdraw my stinger while we’re still over water,” the scorpion protested.
The frog paused in the middle of the river, treading water. “So, I suppose we’re at an impasse.”
The river rushed around them. The scorpion’s stinger twitched against the frog’s unbroken skin. “I suppose so,” the scorpion said.
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Absolutely not!” said the frog, and dived beneath the waters, and so none of them learned anything.
___
A scorpion, being unable to swim, asked a turtle (as in the original Persian version of the fable) to carry it across the river. The turtle readily agreed, and allowed the scorpion aboard its shell. Halfway across, the scorpion gave in to its nature and stung, but failed to penetrate the turtle’s thick shell. The turtle, swimming placidly, failed to notice.
They reached the other side of the river, and parted ways as friends.
___
…Halfway across, the scorpion gave in to its nature and stung, but failed to penetrate the turtle’s thick shell.
The turtle, hearing the tap of the scorpion’s sting, was offended at the scorpion’s ungratefulness. Thankfully, having been granted the powers to both defend itself and to punish evil, the turtle sank beneath the waters and drowned the scorpion out of principle.
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Do I look like a fool?” sneered the frog. “You’d sting me if I let you on my back.”
The scorpion pleaded earnestly. “Do you think so little of me? Please, I must cross the river. What would I gain from stinging you? I would only end up drowning myself!”
“That’s true,” the frog acknowledged. “Even a scorpion knows to look out for its own skin. Climb aboard, then!”
But as they forged through the rushing waters, the scorpion grew worried. This frog thinks me a ruthless killer, it thought. Would it not be justified in throwing me off now and ridding the world of me? Why else would it agree to this? Every jostle made the scorpion more and more anxious, until the frog surged forward with a particularly large splash, and in panic the scorpion lashed out with its stinger.
“I knew it,” snarled the frog, as they both thrashed and drowned. “A scorpion cannot change its nature.”
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. The frog agreed, but no sooner than they were halfway across the scorpion stung the frog, and they both began to thrash and drown.
“I’ve only myself to blame,” sighed the frog, as they both sank beneath the waters. “You, you’re a scorpion, I couldn’t have expected anything better. But I knew better, and yet I went against my judgement! And now I’ve doomed us both!”
“You couldn’t help it,” said the scorpion mildly. “It’s your nature.”
___
…“Why on earth did you do that?” the frog said morosely. “Now we’re both going to die.”
“Alas, I was of two natures,” said the scorpion. “One said to gratefully ride your back across the river, and the other said to sting you where you stood. And so both fought, and neither won.” It smiled wistfully. “Ah, it would be nice to be just one thing, wouldn’t it? Unadulterated in nature. Without the capacity for conflict or regret.”
___
“By the way,” said the frog, as they swam, “I’ve been meaning to ask: What’s on the other side of the river?”
“It’s the journey,” said the scorpion. “Not the destination.”
___
…“What’s on the other side of anything?” said the scorpion. “A new beginning.”
___
…”Another scorpion to mate with,” said the scorpion. “And more prey to kill, and more living bodies to poison, and a forthcoming lineage of cruelties that you will be culpable in.”
___
…”Nothing we will live to see, I fear,” said the scorpion. “Already the currents are growing stronger, and the river seems like it shall swallow us both. We surge forward, and the shoreline recedes. But does that mean our striving was in vain?”
___
“I love you,” said the scorpion.
The frog glanced upward. “Do you?”
“Absolutely. Can you imagine the fear of drowning? Of course not. You’re a frog. Might as well be scared of breathing air. And yet here I am, clinging to your back, as the waters rage around us. Isn’t that love? Isn’t that trust? Isn’t that necessity? I could not kill you without killing myself. Are we not inseparable in this?”
The frog swam on, the both of them silent.
___
“I’m so tired,” murmured the frog eventually. “How much further to the other side? I don’t know how long we’ve been swimming. I’ve been treading water. And it’s getting so very dark.”
“Shh,” the scorpion said. “Don’t be afraid.”
The frog’s legs kicked out weakly. “How long has it been? We’re lost. We’re lost! We’re doomed to be cast about the waters forever. There is no land. There’s nothing on the other side, don’t you see!”
“Shh, shh,” said the scorpion. “My venom is a hallucinogenic. Beneath its surface, the river is endlessly deep, its currents carrying many things.”
“You - You’ve killed us both,” said the frog, and began to laugh deliriously. “Is this - is this what it’s like to drown?”
“We’ve killed each other,” said the scorpion soothingly. “My venom in my glands now pulsing through your veins, the waters of your birthing pool suffusing my lungs. We are engulfing each other now, drowning in each other. I am breathless. Do you feel it? Do you feel my sting pierced through your heart?”
“What a foolish thing to do,” murmured the frog. “No logic. No logic to it at all.”
“We couldn’t help it,” whispered the scorpion. “It’s our natures. Why else does anything in the world happen? Because we were made for this from birth, darling, every moment inexplicable and inevitable. What a crazy thing it is to fall in love, and yet - It’s all our fault! We are both blameless. We’re together now, darling. It couldn’t have happened any other way.”
___
“It’s funny,” said the frog. “I can’t say that I trust you, really. Or that I even think very much of you and that nasty little stinger of yours to begin with. But I’m doing this for you regardless. It’s strange, isn’t it? It’s strange. Why would I do this? I want to help you, want to go out of my way to help you. I let you climb right onto my back! Now, whyever would I go and do a foolish thing like that?”
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Do I look like a fool?” said the frog. “You’d sting me if I let you on my back!”
“Be logical,” said the scorpion. “If I stung you I’d certainly drown myself.”
“That’s true,” the frog acknowledged. “Come aboard, then!” But no sooner had the scorpion mounted the frog’s back than it began to sting, repeatedly, while still safely on the river’s bank.
The frog groaned, thrashing weakly as the venom coursed through its veins, beginning to liquefy its flesh. “Ah,” it muttered. “For some reason I never considered this possibility.”
“Because you were never scared of me,” the scorpion whispered in its ear. “You were never scared of dying. In a past life you wore a shell and sat in judgement. And then you were reborn: soft-skinned, swift, unburdened, as new and vulnerable as a child, moving anew through a world of children. How could anyone ever be cruel, you thought, seeing the precariousness of it all?” The scorpion bowed its head and drank. “How could anyone kill you without killing themselves?”
fat bodies, fat anatomy, and how body fat tends to work should be taught as standardly as skinny anatomy and how muscles work in art courses. fat bodies are not an outlier. fat bodies are not a minority and theyre not abnormal or wrong. fat bodies are normal and they belong in art teaching spaces as commonly as other anatomy, because fat bodies ARE normal anatomy. people have diverse bodies and there will never be a single body type that encompasses the "normal body type"
tldr; fat anatomy should be taught as a staple in art courses just like any other anatomy. this is fact <3
hey psa to my fellow fat ppl: a few tips + tutorials for upsizing clothing that’s too small, that way if you’ve grown out of certain stuff and can’t afford new things, you can make it fit you– this has helped me a lot in the past
my tips:
cutting off just the neckline of a shirt/dress can help SO much
cutting slits on the sides of tight shirts helps relieve tightness + you can add an accent fabric, lace, or fishnet material under there for an extra design element (or safety pin it back together for a really cool punk look!)
you can do that same thing with sleeves but i recommend doing it underneath (either on the seem if it has one or to the seem that connects it to the shirt)
adding false pleats to skirts/dresses by cutting them up the sides and in the front and adding an accent fabric works really well with tightness around the legs
you can do a lot of these side-cut things to pants but if you do, it’s a good idea to add elastic to the waist band!
tutorials:
4 ways to upsize shirts
how to refit/re-elastic a waistband for a better fit
more upsizing shirts!
making a lace insert dress (could be substituted for other things like mesh/fishnet)
increasing the waist band on jeans
how to enlargen shorts
expanding a dress (from the bottom)
expanding a dress (from the bust)
calling all authors!!
i have just stumbled upon the most beautiful public document i have ever laid eyes on. this also goes for anyone whose pastimes include any sort of character creation. may i present, the HOLY GRAIL:
https://www.fbiic.gov/public/2008/nov/Naming_practice_guide_UK_2006.pdf
this wonderful 88-page piece has step by step breakdowns of how names work in different cultures! i needed to know how to name a Muslim character it has already helped me SO MUCH and i’ve known about it for all of 15 minutes!! i am thoroughly amazed and i just needed to share with you guys
Here's my newly finished Cleo that I thrifted missing an arm, so I made her a prosthetic clipped off a discount Frankie. I always liked the sculpting on those limbs despite the lack of joints. I attached the arm by carving a slot in her arm and attaching it with an eye screw and pin.
I didn't touch her face, just added some details with paint pens. I'm not yet confident enough to use them to detail the shoes.
That being said, I'm happy how she came out, especially her arm and hair (which swooped nicely on it's own).
I hope to start posting more of my dolls here in the future!
⌻ ⍞ THRESHOLD ⍠ ⌻
environment paintings for the Portland Collective show, about the feeling that comes before you enter a portal.
In case anyone was curious what the inside of the DC Superhero girls looked like.
I'm planning on heavily modding the arms, so I swapped them out for donors that I don't mind cutting up. The cuts along the seems are pretty gnarly, but i'm planning on filling the gaps when I resculpt the neck.
Bloody Rose as an Art Doll. Pop Mart x Skullpanda Ancient Castle series + Cave Club
Rewatching chunks of Kingsglaive, I think the main language of Galahd might be Thai. The lettering of the surrounding shops at the Galahdian style restaurant mostly use Thai script (also English and Japanese).
Bonus restaurant that uses the Latin name for a type of passionflower found in the southern US.
Meet Sir Henry, my latest doll project.
Sir Henry's head used to be a pen decoration, his body is a 1/6th scale male fashion doll and I made his outfit.
I don't know where I got his boots, they're plastic and fit him perfectly. These cheap boots often come with a split at the back and I filled this split with Apoxy Clay, first time working with this sculpting material.
I love it! I think Apoxy Clay works very well, just like Fimo, but without the terrified step of baking, because it's air drying.
I also sculpted some faux screws, which I painted and later attached on his backpack.
Apoxy Clay consist of two components and I mixed a little to much; not to waste I used the remainder to sculpt some doll jewelry.
After glueing on the faux screws, his steampunk contraption is finished.
I made this backpack from all sorts of (left over) materials: cardboard, fabric, metal scrapbook and jewelry materials, all sorts of plastic caps and other small components. To give it the right look, I painted many of these parts with acrylic paint in copper and blue/green for the oxide.
For the decorations and faux buttons on his coat I used metal book corners and jewelry materials.
To give his boots and coat this old look, I used black and brown soft pastels.
I love my Sir Henry ♥️
sephiroth pride edits. use wisely.
Gave 5$ Foot Long Hoagie Hell a new paint job and now his eyes are tomato slices.
A regular day at the citadel
<3
insomnia m.e.726
Newly defleshed mod ken legs (and arms).
Gay SKULMUST to You and Yours
I wanna decorate but I don’t wanna deal with the nebulous resentful feelings of “I basically rejected chistianity when i was 5* (*children’s service or whatever when they made the kids go up front to get churched on during holiday service instead of letting us play in the basement, that was like baby’s first social anxiety trauma for me. and made me the godless heathen i am today.) and never looked back and also I loath the capitalist connotations of the holiday” and also I don’t really have decorations besides my homosexual glittlerbombed tree that I’ve had out all year because moving is hard and it makes me happy to see it sparkle rainbowly.
so I guess I’m making up my own holiday, Plaguemas is maybe too on the nose… while I was writing this I was gonna call it SKULLMAS, but while searching to make sure that wasn’t already a thing didn’t bring up much I felt like it was still too… idk. Obvious?
So I’m calling it SKULMUST (all caps, all the time) after skulls and my favorite (and hard to get in the US) soda, julmust! (The “must” loosely translates to unfermented fruit or juice, so I guess I’m calling my fake holiday “skull juice” hahaha) Because I mainly have glitter and halloween decorations. And I’m not buying more decorations.
Pandor’s SKULMUST Manifesto(? jk it’s a bulleted list)
SKULMUST is for anyone who wants to appreciate some cheesy x-mas vibes, but rejects the religious and capitalist connotations of Christmas
SKULMUST is for anyone who wants Halloween to be a 4 to 6+ month holiday instead of one day a year
SKULMUST is for anyone who is getting tired of MERRY CRISIS all the time and just wants to feel a little happy, as a treat.
SKULMUST begins whenever the first store decides to start putting out the halloween decorations (the earliest I’ve seen is mid May) and ends when you get bored with it. (This sounds like it goes against the anti-capitalist sentiment I laid out prior, but it’s mainly 1. irony and 2. just admit it, you celebrate the pumpkin watch every year and you know it.)
SKULMUST encourages recycling and crafting to make your decorations, only buy more supplies if you really need them and only support small independent businesses
SKULMUST has no dress requirements but one: WEAR A FUCKING MASK*. Other than than that, create your own SKULMUST costume vibe! Ugly sweaters + general Gothiness + Dickensian Victorian floof + early 2000′s Emo mall kid… listen to your heart and go buckwild. (*in SKULMUST future, when we’ve presumably gotten rid of this plague, wear masks in remembrance.)
Entertainment of SKULMUST: Muppets Christmas Carol (preferably a copy that doesn’t cut Belle’s song), Whisper of the Heart (Ghibli’s love letter to depressed young creatives and a damn fine film), Metropolis (1927) or Metropolis (2001). MST3K S05E21. And like I guess Nightmare Before Christmas, if you wanna like be obvious.
Spirit of SKULMUST: If you have the means, donate to a non-shitty charity or directly to anyone who’s having a rough time. Make Charles Dickens proud.
Decorations of SKULMUST : Primarily up to your own tastes, but the general thesis of SKULMUST is the blatant unholy marriage of skulls and skeletons to garlands and wreaths, but like also GAY. (You don’t HAVE to be gay yourself to celebrate SKULMUST, but I am gay. So like, as the creator of this bogus holiday, I sez the decorations gotta have that vibe. I will relax the “don’t buy stuff” rule to allow emergency December Diamonds ornament purchases.) Do you have a motion activated screeching rat decoration? Put a santa hat on it’s head. Or whatever! You keep SKULMUST in your way, and I’ll keep it in mine! But yeah like regardless of your background, you’ve got a skull. Embrace the skull, celebrate the skull. Glam up some skulls!
Slogans of SKULMUST : Gay SKULMUST to You! Queer Tidings! WEAR A MASK AND SOCIAL DISTANCE THIS SKULMUST! An isolated and weird SKULMUST to all! (I need suggestions for more, they just need to be primarily LGBTQIA+ and plague punny.)
Ok I’ve spent way longer on this and thought too deeply about SKULMUST than I intended. Gonna go dig thru some boxes and make a SKULMUST wreath now. Or go to bed. I got sleepy!
Hey so "all men are trash" posts help terfs
I'll explain if one of you want