Cracks and Chaos

I honestly feel like this blog has no unifying theme except my personal preferences...so probably a lot of sci-fi and anime, cats, and the occasional piece of artwork, often fanart. Do with that what you will. Paintings in avatar and header are mine please don't repost without credit and dm for more info.

[cracks-and-chaos]

"Grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, courage to change things I can, and the ability to not change anything at all because I fucking hate change."

-The Autistic Serenity Prayer

[arleniansdoodles]

Imperial Prince Luke was Lord Vader's greatest pride and much beloved by the Empire. A bright and cunning man, the prince became his father's right hand in enforcing the emperor's will throughout the galaxy. He shared Lord Vader's skill in lightsaber combat, yet he was not cold and ruthless in the manner of his father; in fact, many of their enemies would come to vastly prefer meeting the prince in battle instead of the dark lord.

Contrary to what the rebels would have us believe, the prince was a strong advocate for justice and the welfare of others. He worked tirelessly to abolish slavery in the Outer Rim, bestowing especial favour upon Tatooine, and eradicated the Hutt Cartel among many other prominent crime syndicates. His philosophy was to rule with a kind hand rather than an iron fist; indeed, none could resist his benevolence in the end, and those that did would live to dearly regret it.

~~~

Here is Luke's official portrait as the Imperial Prince, also commissioned by Vader as part of the dual set with Leia's! This one is entirely based on George IV's 1821 coronation portrait by Thomas Lawrence; George has a sweeping black cloak in that one which matches Queen Victoria's portrait very nicely, so I went with it XD

I added Bast Castle to the background to indicate Luke's loyalty and closeness to his father. That's not to say that Leia isn't close to Vader in this AU by comparison, but I imagine she'd vastly prefer the brightness of Coruscant to the depressing lava world of Mustafar loll And, just like his sister, Luke reaches for his lightsaber to assert his dominance and power, especially with the Dark Side ;)

Here are some of my outfit concepts for Luke, mainly using sun motifs to complement Leia's moon/night designs! The third one was heavily inspired by Princess Irulan's dresses from Dune pt2, especially the beading; I really wanted to bring out that rays-of-sunlight look to his outfits while also keeping that "evil" vibe loll And his black cloak remains the simplest design, of course XD

[arleniansdoodles]

Imperial Princess Leia was the jewel of the Empire and the star of Lord Vader's eye. Her beauty and elegance were unmatched, as sublime as the snow-capped mountains of Alderaan. Many suitors desired her hand, yet even those rare few who could win Lord Vader's approval found the princess's love still unattainable; her heart was as cold and sharp-edged as the clearest kyber crystal, and her interests lay in the cutthroat maze of politics rather than the frivolities of romance.

When the public discovered that she had been a captive of the Organas throughout her childhood, there was uproar and a call to have Alderaan's royal house executed. However, the princess, ever merciful and generous, appealed to her father to spare the Organas. Moved by her pleas, Lord Vader granted her full authority over Alderaan as a gift, and she thus enjoyed many visits of retreat among the planet's magnificent landscapes.

~~~

First post of 2026! To kick it off, here is Leia's official portrait as Imperial Princess, commissioned by Vader XD It's entirely based on Portrait of Victoria of the United Kingdom by Winterhalter; I really wanted to give Leia a grandiose silhouette with a dark velvet cloak, and Queen Victoria really gave off those vibes, so I just went with it loll

I also put the Imperial Palace in the background to symbolize her ties to politics and the Empire; but she reaches for her lightsaber as a way to show dominance through power, especially with the Dark Side of the Force.

Here are some of my ideas for Leia's imperial outfits, some with moon/night motifs! I imagine her style would veer more toward Naboo's extravagance, which would also serve as a link to Padme. The third design is inspired by Padme's black corset dress from episode 2, and I imagine it'd nearly give Vader an aneurysm upon seeing it loll The fourth design (black hole inspired) is supposed to have intricate embroidery like the others, but I got too tired to finish it ^^;;

Luke's portrait will come soon! :D

[etakeh]

Find Out Why Health Insurance Denied Your Claim

You likely have the right to access records that explain why your insurer denied your claim or prior authorization request. Use ProPublica’s

Hey y'all. Here's something for you.

[petermorwood]

Reblog and Signal Boost for US followers.

[freshwaterbear]

Stand With Minnesota Donation Directory

Stand With Minnesota is a hub for supporting, learning, and taking action to support Minnesotans impacted by ICE and federal enforcement.

I have not lived there for some time but I grew up in Minnesota and my first introduction to "Minnesota Nice" was defined as "you know how everyone is passive aggressive because even if you don't like someone you have to hunker down all winter together and be stuck inside with each other. So you have to be nice."

Dealing with snow and ice is far and away where I noticed such neighborly acts. Shoveling each others driveways (if only because you know they'll do a terrible job). Digging out each others cars (even though it's their own fault for spinning the wheels so much). Waking up well before the sun to salt the sidewalk so the mail person and the dog walkers don't slip (why the fuck are they up so early). And by god your neighbors will still be annoying but maybe it's all worth it to hear them say "thanks for shoveling the sidewalk, my back hurts today."

That is what has inspired this. The tools we use to help each other as we all hunker down and live through this bitch ass winter together.

[strongermonster]

was visiting a friend who has a farm, and one of the chickens has a home made flared cone on, so i asked what was up with that and she said "that's diesel, and she's suicidal" so obviously i went ??? and she pressed the door lock on her truck fob so the truck beeped, and this dumbass bird SPRINTED full tilt across the garden to shove her head in the tailpipe. she has to be locked up and coned so she doesn't gulp down toxic fumes direct from the pipe for some idiot bird reason. she is obsessed with doing this and has to be locked up any time someone is using a vehicle.

[strongermonster]

i told her i posted about this and she has an update (which i guess content warning for animal harm [the animal did it to it's damn fool self])

she found this out the first time when she auto-started her truck to warm it up before work one below-freezing morning and came out ~5 minutes later to find (the then unnamed) diesel with her head stuffed in the tail pipe hanging limply by her idiot neck and thought that she was dead, ran over and pulled her out, and the chicken went "oh hi! anyways mind if i get back in there?" and did it a-fucking-gain??

best guess is bc she feeds her chickens with a pvc gravity pipe like this

and despite having ~40 other chickens who don't fuck this up, diesel went "food comes from tubes, this is tube, ∴ this is the ~secret~ food hole that the others do not know about. i will be rewarded with golden seed for being the cleverest of them all :)" and is now on 24/7 vehicle related suicide watch. fine line between docile and dumb sometimes.

[strongermonster]

my artists rendition of the morning in question

[sexhaver]

i think about this a lot

[winterdays-html]

[depsidase]

[sublimepizzastarfish]

Shame might not work forever, but it *is* working *right now*.

Opinion | I'm a Minneapolis sociologist who studies violence. Here's how ICE observers are helping.

Research into how violence occurs shows that disapproval from the people around you can help reduce it.

Key quotes from the article:

Researchers have known for decades that there are two primary types of people who perpetrate violence. The first is the small fraction who are independently motivated to commit violent acts. The second, and much larger group, are those who commit violence to seek approval and status from others. This is especially true among men who use violence to affirm their masculinity. Research on gender is particularly relevant for understanding ICE, which has an overwhelmingly male workforce and uses messages of masculinity and domination in its recruitment materials. A lot of men may be joining ICE because they think it will allow them to bond with other men and gain power in our society. ... To put it another way, the vast majority of men are only willing to engage in public violence if they feel like the people around them will approve of — and reward them for — that violence. ICE Watch works because it surrounds men seeking approval with people loudly expressing their disapproval. And the noise has the added benefit of drawing large crowds of bystanders who can quickly outnumber the ICE agents, who then have to decide if they want to escalate a situation or perhaps abandon their activity altogether.

And, the kicker? Where it takes 2 or 3 agents to make an arrest elsewhere, they are traveling by the half dozens in Minneapolis:

ICE Watch organizers have also observed that it takes many more agents to make a single arrest when they are around. In other cities, ICE traveled in groups of two or three, but in Minneapolis, we primarily see groups of 6 to 12 agents. The Department of Homeland Security has pulled agents from other cities to ramp up efforts in Minnesota, which guarantees there will be fewer deportations from the places they left. Plus, ICE's fixation on breaking up ICE Watch groups and detaining observers — often white citizens — has interrupted its original mission.

ICE Watch is shaming ICE (among other things, including documenting their crimes and providing a lifeline to those who are kidnapped).

And it's working.

And even if it wasn't working to the efficacy as shown, it's (1) cathartic to jeer at these fascists, (2) shows support to the community that you are not alone in thinking these agents are scum, and (3) still helping because everyone who joins ICE is a social pariah and knows it *because of this outward and ongoing shame*.

It doesn't matter if they think we're degenerates. Sometimes the things us "degenerates" say will stick and hit a nerve.

[leebrontide]

These boys are falling apart so fast ICE is trying to recruit therapists. Which is what inspired my earlier post about how treating these guys is a huge liability therapists don’t want to take on.

Also it is critical to us in the target area to signal unambiguous support for our neighbors and that those opposing ICE have significant and broad support.

[onbearfeet]

"ICE is trying to recruit therapists" is a profoundly heartening sentence, and I thank you for it.

[henrykathman]

Thanks to my brother for telling me about this story. [Alt text below]

Back-scratching bovine leads scientists to reassess intelligence of cows

Brown Swiss in Austria has been discovered using tools in different ways – something only ever seen in humans and chimpanzees

[Alt Text: Original comic created by cooltimeonline. A man laying on a therapist's couch, talking to the logo of the Guardian, "Oh the Guardian, I'm just feeling real low." The Tv shows a picture of the cow from the article and responds, "COW TOOLS CONFIRMED," gaining the man's attention, who says, "Oh shit, for real?]

[puc-puggy]

[akaitsume]

The Far Side, October 28, 1982

[latriviata]

[ID for above: the original Far Side ‘Cow tools’ cartoon per caption, showing a cow standing on its hind legs facing a table with a barn in the background. On the table are four crude implements: one looks a bit like a handsaw, another like a stick, the other two are more abstract irregular blobs, one of which has a handle coming out. end ID]

Very much enjoying the memes for this one

and one from a couple of months ago:

cow tools daily (@cowtoolsdaily.bsky.social)

cow tools daily (@cowtoolsdaily.bsky.social)

[socialistexan]

I've never seen trad wives explained so perfectly. "Non-nude fetish content for sexist men"

[cracks-and-chaos]

Robert stop feeding your dog sandwich meats, it's bad for him!

[cracks-and-chaos]

Shirtless Fjord looks like a teenage mutant ninja turtle. Sorry not sorry

[dream-louder]

I have been fucking around with my armour for long enough to have rediscovered the entire journey that Europe went through 1100-1500. I kept adding bits to cover gaps, then realising they were causing problems and adjusting things to not cause problems anymore, and reinventing stuff that they invented in 1400. I gotta put articulation in my hip armour because the design I created is AMAZING for protection (a little bit too amazing, I literally got shot twice in the butt with a ballista and knew NOTHING about it until the siege team told me) but I think I should sometimes be able to sit down in chairs. Now I know why they didn't design it that way.

Which is great experimental archaeology and all, but the latest thing I've rediscovered is that gambesons are actually, like.... necessary.... not because you need the padding (my chestplate does just fine with the foam glued inside it) but because you need arming points. My elbows have to be held up somehow, and every way I've found of attaching them to the shoulder results in reduced arm mobility. If they attach to my sleeve then nothing can go wrong

But I don't want to die of heatstroke. Which I will, if I add a gambeson into my current kit

So I'm contemplating a plan: gambeson mini crop top. I only need enough gambeson to anchor padding under my shoulders and points for my elbows. It needs sleeves, it needs shoulders, it doesn't need to go down further than my armpits. This is going to look like some kind of cursed anime girl outfit item designed purely to create a boob window but I swear this is for science. I have to fuck this up so I can rediscover why they didn't make armour this way in the 1300s

[booksandchainmail]

#fucking outstanding op#once I tried to do my bobbin lace by candlelight#and immediately noticed every single prep step I had skipped as “unnecessary”#like yeah you DO need your pattern pre-pricked and nicely inked if you can't fuckign see#and having contrasting colors between your lace and your working surface is simply so important#and any pin not either in the project or in the pincushion was just Gone (tags via @epsilon-delta)

[cracks-and-chaos]

Rosalía’s “Divinize” is the most Ista song ever.

Through my body, you can see the light

Bruise me up, I'll eat all of my pride

I know that I was made to divinize

Outside me, inside me

Outside me, inside me

And that’s just the chorus!

[armengoldira]

[elf-trash]

seriously though why isn't the Vorkosigan Saga more popular/well known in the sci fi canon?? it's shockingly ahead of its time, has brilliant world-building, some of the most compelling characters I've ever encountered in literature, and excellent top tier prose and plotting. it brilliantly tackles themes of gender, disability, politics, and family dynamics and has romance, action, mystery, intrigue, and did I mention incredible world-building??

it's like Game of Thrones meets Star Trek meets The Expanse meets Regency romance. it's incredible.

if you haven't heard of this AMAZING series by Lois McMaster Bujold, run don't walk and go read it immediately!!!!

also, fun fact, Lois Bujold got her start writing fanfic for Star Trek fanzines, which REALLY makes sense when you look at the content of her writing lol

the series wasn't written chronologically but it's definitely best to read it chronologically with one exception (which is to read Falling Free before Diplomatic Immunity).

here's my personal preferred reading order (with some notes):

Shards of Honor - 1986 start here! this book is about 33-year-old Cordelia, an astrocartographer from Beta Colony (Star Trek commie soyboy planet), and how she meets and falls in love with 44-year-old Aral Vorkosigan, a general from Barrayar (military aristocracy feudalism planet)

Barrayar - 1991 continues the story of Cordelia and Aral's romance, with many complications

The Warrior’s Apprentice - 1986 from this book onwards, the protagonist of the series shifts to Miles, Cordelia and Aral's disabled son. I was bracing myself for this switch because I was so attached to Cordelia, but 17-year-old Miles immediately jumps off the page here and quickly became one of my all time favorite literary characters. he's a disabled nepo baby from an extremely prejudiced and ableist society who may or may not have inspired Tyrion Lannister. he's incredible, character of all time, no notes

The Mountains of Mourning (novella) - 1989 this one is a novella that is part of The Borders of Infinity, which is a framing device for 3 novellas. the framing part of the book is set after Brothers in Arms, but I recommend reading each individual novella as it falls chronologically and then going back and reading the framing sections later

The Vor Game - 1990 Miles is 20 now

Cetaganda - 1995 a fun murder mystery starring 22-year-old Miles

Ethan of Athos - 1986 this book is somewhat of a detour because Miles isn't in it, but it heavily features a character who later becomes his girlfriend. it's set concurrently to Cetaganda

Labyrinth (novella) - 1989 another novella from Borders of Infinity which introduces Taura, a character who becomes very important to Miles

The Borders of Infinity (novella) - 1987 the final novella from the Borders of Infinity. it goes here chronologically. the framing device is technically set after Brothers in Arms, but it's fine to read here too if you want

Brothers in Arms - 1989 Miles goes to Earth in this one! kudos to Lois for pulling off one of my least favorite plot devices here (a secret clone) and making it an incredible and heart-breaking exploration of identity and character

Mirror Dance - 1994 this book is probably one of the best in the whole series. Lois was really cooking with this one! split POV between Miles and his clone brother, Mark

Memory - 1996 this book is a little quieter than the previous ones, but in a really good way

Komarr - 1998 introduces Miles primary love interest, Ekaterin, and splits POV between her and Miles. they're both 30 here

A Civil Campaign - 1999 this one is like, a classic Shakespearean comedy in terms of structure. apparently it was inspired by Regency romance. it's absolutely incredible and one of my favorites in the series

Winterfair Gifts (short story) - 2004 Miles and Ekaterin's wedding, told from the POV of one of their armsmen. sort of a Christmas special but in a good way!

Falling Free - 1988 another detour. this book is actually set 200 years before the events of the series, but it tells the origin story of the Quaddies and is relevant to Diplomatic Immunity, hence why I suggest reading it here

Diplomatic Immunity - 2002 32-year-old Miles and his wife untangle a diplomatic crisis with the Quaddies

Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance - 2012 told from the POV of Miles' cousin Ivan

The Flowers of Vashnoi (novella) - 2018 a novella about Ekaterin, Miles' wife

Cryoburn - 2010 get ready to WEEP

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen - 2016 we're back in Cordelia's POV for this one. lots of spicy revelations about her and Aral's marriage (including a space throuple)!!!! we love to see it!!!

I read this series so insanely fast, like I was quite literally blasting through one book a day (each book is around 300 pages so it's not as crazy as it sounds), but that's honestly how good they are.

every single book has at least one moment that made me stop short and really think about my life. I would say the whole series is kind of a meditation on the concept of honor. and also gender issues and disability politics. some of the gender terminology is dated, but the sentiments are extremely forward-thinking, especially considering when these books were largely written. as I mentioned, the main character is disabled, and there are MANY queer and gender non-conforming characters throughout the series!

if you like Ursula LeGuin, you'll probably enjoy these! honestly surprised Bujold isn't as well-known/highly regarded as LeGuin, because imo they're very similar and very comparable!!!

again, run don't walk!!! these books need to be more popular so they get reprinted and I can buy a box set!!!! there should be an HBO show!!!!

[beatrice-otter]

...

I think this is probably a generational thing.

I grew up in the 90s, and ... Bujold was one of the top-selling and most well-known writers of the era. She is also one of the most highly-decorated SF/F authors of any era so far. She has four Hugo awards for Best Novel. The only other person who got four Hugos for Best Novel was Heinlein, who was writing when the competition was a lot looser because there was less SF/F being published. There has only been a Hugo for Best Series since 2017. Bujold is the only author to have won it twice so far--her Vorkosigan series won in 2017, and her World of the Five Gods (i.e. "Chalionverse") series won in 2018. IOW, she has two major series, and her most popular series won the award the first year it was available, and her second most popular award won it the second year it was available. She was awarded the title Grand Master of Science Fiction in 2020. She's semi-retired now, which seems to mean she only writes things she finds interesting and self-publishes them as ebooks instead of working with agents and publishers and things. (And also means she writes mostly novellas, because she finds that length much easier to write than novels.)

You don't tend to find Bujold books in used book stores very often because people like to reread them, but I don't know that I've ever walked into a bookstore that sold new books and had a decent SF/F section that didn't have Bujold's books on the shelf; Bujold is an outlier in publishing reliability. Unlike most authors (whose backlists don't tend to sell well), Bujold's older books sell well enough that they've never been out of print (except for The Spirit Ring, a stand-alone fantasy.)

I don't know if I've ever met a SF/F fan my age or older who doesn't know who Bujold is. Whether they like her stuff or not, they know who she is and have read at least one of her books.

So it doesn't occur to me to do promo posts or anything because. Of course everyone knows Bujold, right?

And, no, she hasn't done much traditional publishing since she went into semi-retirement, and she hasn't done any marketing, so a lot of Gen Z and younger people don't know who she is. When the Plot Trysts podcast did a series talking about the Vorkosigan books, they had a new guest author every episode (Katherine Addison, Jo Walton, Yoon Ha Lee, etc), and they'd ask them how they got into reading Bujold. And most episodes I'd sit there shocked to hear this person who grew up reading SF/F only recently heard about Bujold.

I love the Vorkosiverse, Bujold is one of my absolute favorite authors, so I heartily second the recs. Don't miss out on Bujold's main fantasy series, the World of the Five Gods. The place to start with that series is The Curse of Chalion.

[allfinehere]

I grew up in the 90s and early 2000s reading a LOT of sci-fi and fantasy and somehow never stumbled onto Bujold. Sometime around 2011 my brother-in-law introduced me to her works and I gobbled them down in time to buy the eARC of Captain Vorpatril's Alliance when it came out.

I ADORE the Vorkosigan saga. I also absolutely love the World of the Five Gods. She hasn't released anything in the Vorkosigan series since Flowers of Vashnoi in 2018, but I would dearly love to see something--even a novella!--focusing on Gregor.

But she is still releasing stories for the Penric and Desdemona series (part of the World of the Five Gods), the most recent of which was two months ago.