The Dome Knows @knowdome - Tumblr Blog

Good things will happen in September

I completely forgot I scheduled this post a year in advance and woke up to see the cat fish of fortune had come in the night to deliver the good news. Auspicious September everybody

knowdome

Cat fish if fortune please please please I need

Please visit

mosstoheaven

The End

rukafais

radiant is gabriel, for he is the light in my darkness

Playing with brushes I haven't used before, doing some painting again. The cloth was fun to paint.

textless versions under readmore:

zizsmthg

WAR WITHOUT REASON

corrodedparadox

My train was late. AGAIN.

bellybuttonblue-deactivated2021

sentientcitizen

Here’s the opposite story, though. With apologies because I don’t have the book in front of me, so I may get some details wrong, but I read this “Irena’s Children“ by Tilar J. Mazzeo.

Irena lived in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation, and dedicated her life to rescuing Jewish children from the Ghetto, and her story is complicated in a lot of ways but - well, this story isn’t actually about Irena, per se.

It’s about a bus driver.

It’s about a day when she’s traveling across town by bus with a very young Jewish child, and partway to their destination the child looks up and asks a question - in Yiddish. and the whole bus goes quiet, because everyone knows what that means. And Irena thinks, okay, we’re going to die here today.

And she’s running through her options - all of them bad - and suddenly the bus stops, and the bus driver announces that there’s been a mechanical failure and the bus needs to return to the depot immediately. Everyone off, please.

And she stands and goes to get off the bus and the driver says - not you two. Sit down. So she sits down as everyone else leaves, because, well, what else is she going to do? the options are all still bad, at this point.

and when the bus is empty the bus driver says,

“Where do you need to go?”

And then he drives them as close to their destination as he can, and lets them off, and drives away. And Irena lives, and the kid lives, and they never cross paths again.

So a janitor got three people killed, and a bus driver saved two lives - not to mention all the other lives indirectly saved because Irena was able to continue her work.

I think about that almost every day now, to be honest.

We can’t all be Irena. I couldn’t be Irena. She was in a unique place with very specific skills and connections that let her do what she did. I am just one mentally ill librarian. I can’t be her. But - I can be the bus driver. Or I could be the janitor. Because it doesn’t matter what your job is. It doesn’t matter who you are. In a world like this, every single one of us has the opportunity to do massive harm or massive good. We can save lives or end them.

And that’s scary. but it’s also very comforting? at least for me. Because at the end of the day it means this: no matter of how small and helpless and unimportant you feel, you’re never powerless in the face of great evil.

You can choose to be the bus driver.

athingofvikings

I have another story from the Holocaust.

Two, actually.

One is long, and one is brief.

The first story is about my grandfather.

He was a slave in a Krups munitions factory in a Nazi concentration camp in Częstochowa, Poland.

He was also a smuggler. If I did not have multiple corroborating witnesses to the sheer ludicrious balls that he had, I would dismiss the stories as exaggeration. But he was a food smuggler–he would buy some kind of sugar from the Polish day workers coming into the factory, make candy out of them, sell the candy back to the workers at a profit, and buy food with the proceeds–which he then proceeded to share with the other slaves, free of charge. Without him, they would have starved to death, but an extra hundred calories a day made a difference enough to keep them alive.

But that’s not the story.

The story is what happened in Spring of 1945.

My grandfather could hear the guns of the Russian Army off in the distance, and he and the other captives in the camp figured that they would be liberated any day now.

And then a truck packed full with preteen Jewish children who had just been captured comes into the work camp instead of the extermination camp up the road. Because the Nazis were so fixated on their hatred of Jews that they diverted war resources to hunting us down even as they were losing.

So it’s pandemonium. They’re unloading the truck of the kids, the guards are yelling at the driver, the kids are milling about not knowing what’s going on…

And my grandfather sees one boy who looked a little older, a little more mature, and figured that this one he can save. It’s just a few days until the Russians arrive, after all.

So he tells the boy to come with him.

And the rest… got loaded back onto the truck and off they went to the gas chambers.

But it wasn’t a couple of days.

It was six weeks.

Stalin personally ordered the Army to slow their advance and told the Polish Resistance to rise up, and that the Russians would support them with food and weapons.

So they rose up… and were slaughtered. Because they got nothing from the Russians. Stalin knew that anyone who would be resisting the Nazis would be resisting him next, and it was an elegant way to weaken Poland before he took it.

Meanwhile, my grandfather is hiding a fourteen year old boy in a NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMP.

The risks they took to hide him… they would hold him up over empty shoes sewn to long pants at the evening roll call so that he would look taller. They smuggled food to him… If they had been caught… I have nightmares of what would have been done to them.

Finally, one night, they are all locked in their barracks as the Nazis evacuated the camp and the Russians were coming in, with the Nazis using the camp for cover for their escape.

And in the chaos…

My grandfather lost track of the boy.

Twenty-two years later, he tells this story to my father when my father is 12, and has demanded to know something, be told something concrete.

So he doesn’t know what happened to the boy. Did he live? Did he die? Did he find his mother and sisters?

He doesn’t know.

Six months later, my grandmother is planning my father’s bar mitzvah. Not as a religious obligation, but as a 200 foot tall flaming middle finger to the Third Reich. You are gone, and WE ARE STILL HERE.

So she plugs into what my father called the “Camp Network”–the trombonist in the band was on a death march with an uncle, the florist was in a work camp with a friend, etc. And she’s asking, “I need a photographer, who is good?”

“You want Joe Brown, up in Queens,” she’s told.

So she invites him down to talk terms at their house in Brooklyn, which is quite a haul in NYC.

And the first question one Holocaust survivor asks another is, “Where were you?” Because maybe you know someone, maybe you can tell what happened.

“I was in Częstochowa,” he says.

“You were in Częstochowa? My husband Teddy was in Częstochowa!”

“I didn’t know a Teddy Baum.”

“Oh, everyone knew Teddy.”

“I didn’t know a Teddy Baum!”

“When he gets home, you’ll see. Everyone there knew Teddy.” Because he was smuggling in the food that kept them all alive.

So the thing is, you live in the US for 20 years, you forget that your name was not “Teddy Baum” but “Tuvyas Bumps.”

And when my grandfather got home from work…

…sitting there at his kitchen table…

…was the boy he had saved.

…

(I’m not crying…)

That’s the first story.

The second story is that of my grandfather’s brother.

It is short.

He collaborated with the Nazis to save his own skin. He let my grandfather’s first wife and son starve to death in the ghetto and informed on people who tried to escape or resist. My grandfather said that “Good people went up the chimney and he stayed behind.”

Two brothers.

One saved over a hundred lives.

The other betrayed his own flesh and blood to save his own skin.

Your choices define you.

Whoever destroys a single life is considered by Scripture to have destroyed the whole world, and whoever saves a single life is considered by Scripture to have saved the whole world.– Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5

perhats

I say shit like "If my memory serves me" knowing damn well it serves the dark lord

starsection-ni-sir-k-idol

THE RISE OF INDIE ANIMATION: AN EMERGING POWERHOUSE IN THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY

With the recent boom of independent animation on various social media platforms, including YouTube, it has become a much more desirable pathway for both well-established professionals and aspiring creatives in the industry than ever before. Successful projects like Hazbin Hotel, Lackadaisy and The Amazing Digital Circus have ushered in accessible career opportunities among numerous animators at such an international level. Taking the commercial viability of a previously untapped market into consideration, one might ask, Why is indie animation getting so popular, and what’s in store for its future?

For those unfamiliar with indie animation, it generally refers to any animated feature, short or series that is not produced by a major animation studio. Unlike mainstream media companies such as Disney and Netflix, independent creators have limitless freedom for diverse storytelling without the threat of censorship. They also do not have to be concerned over the immediate cancellation of their animated projects if they gain insufficient yet passionate viewership.

But what are its drawbacks, then? Indie animation faces unfortunate challenges in compensating team members and attracting potential viewers since it lacks the financial backing and marketing power of any large-scale media conglomerate. However, through online crowdfunding thanks to a growing demand for distinctive narratives in animation, indie creators have been able to flourish because of their hugely supportive fanbases in order to continue satisfying them with visually pleasing and emotionally resonant outputs.

Dana Terrace, renowned for creating and showrunning Disney's The Owl House, has transitioned to indie animation with her upcoming series Knights of Guinevere. This sci-fi psychological thriller, co-created alongside John Bailey Owen and Zach Marcus, is produced by Glitch Productions and marks the Australian-based studio’s first 2D-animated project. The teaser, released on January 18, 2025, garnered over a million views within 24 hours, indicating the audience’s great excitement for it. This move exemplifies how well-known creators can embrace independent avenues for inventive storytelling in animation.

Ultimately, indie animation has become a thriving space for all animators beyond the limitations of corporate entities in the entertainment industry as their projects gain popularity online by meeting audience demands for creative storytelling alone. However, your very support is crucial for them to continue producing these animated works with the utmost quality. Supporting them through crowdfunding platforms, merchandise payments or simply work-of-mouth marketing can make a big difference in order to ensure its overall growth and future success in the process.

References

Cronan, K. (2024, March 1). The Rise of Indie Animations. Write and Forge. https://www.writeandforge.com/single-post/the-rise-of-indie-animations

GLITCH. (2025, January 18). Knights Of Guinevere [TEASER]. YouTube. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgwHNno1WvM

Indie Animation Wiki. (n.d.). Fandom. https://indie.fandom.com/wiki/Indie_Animation_Wiki

starsection-ni-sir-k-idol

FROM NICHE TO MAINSTREAM ENTERTAINMENT: SHOULD VIRTUAL SPACES HAVE FANDOM ETIQUETTE?

For those unfamiliar with fandoms, these are online communities where people come together to enthusiastically discuss about their favorite media franchises. Nowadays, some have expressed complete dismay over the lack of etiquette wherein anyone can be toxic without having to deal with the consequences or better yet engage in respectful discourse. Thus, netizens should apply what is considered as “Fandom Etiquette” on any social media platform whenever we consume any form of entertainment.

The thing is…there has already been untold Fandom Etiquette or Three Laws of Fandom that can be applied in multiple fandom spaces in which the latter is a meta essay made by user “Ozhawkauthor” from Tumblr. The Fandom Etiquette post talks about how to handle fanart, fanfiction and fandom in general on how to behave yourselves in those spaces such as “if you want more of it, support it”, which can be applied to both fanart and fanfiction. Meanwhile, the Three Laws of Fandom are self-explanatory, mainly on the first and third rule: “Don’t Like, Don’t Read” and “Ship and Let Ship” which tackle on ignoring the content you don’t like and just ignore the romantic pairing that you dislike as well and leave those who like it. However, not many people seem to get this idea of a proper etiquette when all the rise of toxicity and Cancel Culture became rampant which can affect multiple content creators, artists, and writers in those fandom spaces to the point they’ll consider quitting or transfer to other fandoms to stay away from the hate they’re receiving. This mainly applies to TikTok and Twitter because these two social media apps are popular to engage in those spaces, and the toxic side of those fandoms happen to be the loudest ones, which can lead to conflicts in public discourse, wondering who exactly is in the right. Recently, TikTok user “_Das_Hazel_” talked about how it is starting to affect a popular fanfiction site called “Archive of Our Own” where users are debating if they should have a dislike button, or better yet make a new archive for unproblematic works of fanfiction and it already has a name called “The Protectorate Archive” and they have a list on themes that shouldn’t be in fanfiction and emphasize on the word “Normalize” to combat problematic works, which has lead to another debate on what makes the contents deemed “problematic”. Matter of fact, what is the reason why fandoms have become more toxic and problematic in this modern age? While TikTok can be a cesspool of toxicity according to others, users who engage in those fandom spaces have pointed out and agree that it all started during the pandemic, where people have nothing else better to do and have never experienced fandoms before in general getting into those spaces. According to TikTok user “Msaleshadiva”, half of those people find it to be cool since it is a community to discuss their favorite franchise or form of entertainment while others openly discuss it in a derogatory manner, even confused why those who engage in these spaces are being weird and tackling topics like it’s the norm on the internet, hence getting called a “Weird Kid” to begin with. Thus, the toxicity has become increasingly clear and more people in those spaces begin hating each other whether they’re a content creator or a fan in a certain fandom. In the end, based on strong evidence, there has to be proper fandom etiquette in engaging with others on various online spaces not only for the modern age but for future users as well. This should apply to multiple, if not all fandoms. Let there be encouragement among those in the community when it comes to fan creation for a certain franchise rather than spreading hateful comments and creating unsolicited criticisms. If you dislike what you are seeing, all you simply have to do is to block the user and scroll away, this actually helps and people on Twitter began advising others to do this if you don’t like to engage in the content you’re seeing. It is just as simple as that and you can apply that principle in multiple forms of media, you don’t have to force yourself to engage in it, and sometimes if you want to say something that is not nice, say nothing and move on, that way both parties can go on and continue doing what they love.

nchntd

In the club

vacuously-true

I think I’m literally never gonna be sick of this masterpiece. I think watching it on a loop for eight hours could fix me. Dancing’s what clears my soul. Dancing’s what makes me whole.

dimmadoome

I just love that this very video is an accumulation of thousands of years worth of art made by people who have never met each other. The concept of this video was so completely unfathomable to every single artist who made the sculptures and yet they’ve all put something toward the creation of it.

i-restuff

ITS BACK ON MY TIMELINE

kierancaz

I like in Teen Titans that Robin’s mask is just as expressive as like cartoon spidey masks. Especially when they do this thing:

OR WHEN HE DOES THIS:

he’s so silly I love him lmao

audarcy

Found several packs' worth of pokemon cards strewn across a target parking lot and took a pic to show my friends without realizing how much my outfit elevated the scene to "aftermath of a wizard duel"

chartreuxcatz

Shout out to Linda. The he/him asexual woman from my psychology quiz from a few years ago

theoldbone

Gorgeous paleoart by Rebecca Dart

So many more awesome pieces in her gallery! Check her out! https://www.instagram.com/rebecca_dart_art/?hl=en

#dinosaur art #i love dinosaurs

seat-safety-switch

You can tell a lot about the health of a civilization by their warning signs. Places with a lot of dumb folks will have very broad, very dumb warnings in public. "No feeding the birds." "Stop swimming in this drainage pond." That kind of thing.

Advanced civilizations have very precise signs. They've covered the bases of their regular, run-of-the-mill idiots, and now they're working hard to cover that other end of the bell curve: the talented idiot. When I was in Germany last time, there was a big warning sign that consisted of a 76-letter-long word that means "stop bothering this particular goose, Sven." I don't know who Sven was, but the goose looked pretty calm. It worked.

Now, I have a secret to tell you. You can just make your own signs. There's no law against it, except perhaps "littering," and the municipal sign factory doesn't have very good security. If you show up there past close and put in the door code that you shoulder-surfed off one of the employees returning from lunch a week prior, you have all night to fuck around with their sign-printing machine, making the most official-looking placards you can think of.

Is this wrong? I don't think so. It's a public space, and being able to put up an aluminum sign that says wacky crank shit is your right. For instance, just last week, I banned pickup trucks from parking by the playground. The cops figured out something was going on, because they didn't get any calls for toddlers getting backed over for a couple of days and sent a patrol truck to investigate. Took my sign right down.

What I discovered after that is that nobody keeps records of what signs are supposed to be there. Why would anyone put up a sign for no reason? They cost money, after all. The city is now suing the shit out of that officer for stealing the "no trucks" sign, thanks to an anonymous tipster who called in the theft. Guy wearing a reflective vest came by and put like four more of them up after the lawsuit made the news, just out of spite. I'm not entirely sure if he's actually a city worker; we ran into each other at 3am at the sign factory and just grunted. He was working on some really crazy signs about not feeding a particular swan. Probably German.

bogleech

A guy in an entomology group I'm in got a confirmed brown recluse bite because he felt something tickle his neck and brushed it off, accidentally mashing the spider against his skin. This is how almost all recluse bites happen since they're very very unaggressive. Anyway the bite was just a small nasty spot that cleared up on its own, but his hands and feet swelled up really bad. Then when the swelling went back down, all his calluses were loose and just fell right off leaving his hands and feet like brand new???????????