#naisa

[namu-the-orca]

Juvies

The very last of the big SECAC commission: two juvies were all that remained on the to do list. On top a juvenile short-finned pilot whale. In essence they are not so different from their adult selves; they usually show some more pronounced markings on the head and have those kiddy proportions. Only an adult male would really stand out against them, with his square head and big dorsal fin.

Below a juvenile Cuvier's or Goose-beaked whale. These are quite fascinating in terms of colour change, if you recall my poster featuring the species. As calves and young juveniles, they bear quite different colouration from the light-backed adults, instead sporting a more basal countershading pattern. Quite a few species of beaked whale show a similar pattern in their juveniles and/or females. Between this and the young adult stage is just one more missing colour stage where the light belly darkens, and for a while the animal is completely plain brownish grey.

In total I've made no less than 54 illustrations for SECAC over the years! Quite incredible, and in terms of numbers my largest client to date. Lots of interesting varieties in age and gender that I got to illustrate. Spare a couple that I can't share yet pending publication, you've seen them all. I hope you've enjoyed this journey through cetacean richness with me!

[imrainai]

On that note, I just finished reading Summer Skies, which is Segyar/Emina, but in a non-distracting and natural way that really suits the pairing--the main plot is about Segyar uncovering what happened to her mother, and deciding how to handle that information once she has it. It’s a really good mystery plot with lots of intriguey goodness.

One thing I thought was really cool was the handling of Segyar and Naisa’s illiteracy; most fanfic erroneously assumes they can read, even though the show has repeatedly (if subtly) shown that they can’t. It’s not at all that they’re stupid or incompetent, as the rest of the fic shows. It’s that for most of history, most people were never given the opportunity to learn to read, and that farm purples were one of the last groups to be affected by mass literacy. Emina can read, of course, but Emina is not exactly an average purple.

I think it fits really well with the broader theme of making the best of a bad hand. It’s woven into the fic’s plot really well, but I think my favorite part was seeing Segyar go over Iren’s letter and try to make sense of it, when all she can recognize is her name. It’s a beautiful sequence that does a good job of contrasting her intelligence and inherent capabilities with the opportunities that have been denied her.

[namu-the-orca]

A plethora of pilot whales

The alliterations continue, as well as the uploading of illustrations from last year’s two big project. This time, pilot whales. A big and impressive relative of the killer whale, which come in two species: the Long-finned (Globicephala melas) and Short-finned (Globicephala macrorhynchus). Ironically pectoral fin length isn’t always a good identifier, but shape is a good call: in Short-fins the pectoral fins have a continuous sickle shape, whereas in Long-fins the pectoral fins have a single bend, and then taper out very straight.

Within the species there is diversity too. Long-finned pilot whales are the colder water species of the two, and thus their range is divided into a northern and southern population. Northern animals are quite plain black aside from the white anchor marking on their chest and belly. However Southern animals bear very striking white eye- and saddle patches, a bit reminiscent of killer whales.

Short-finned pilot whales live in warmer waters and Japanese fishermen had long known of two different types. Recent research showed these to be two distinct global subspecies: the “Shiho” form, living mostly in the Eastern Pacific but also off Northern Japan, and the “Naisa” form, living in the rest of the Pacific Ocean, as well as the Indian and Atlantic. They can be told apart by their saddle patch: the Naisa form has a long saddle patch reaching almost the end of the peduncle, whereas the Shiho form has a very short one. I only illustrated Naisa animals, but all pilot whales currently living at Seaworld are of the Shiho form and you can see the difference in saddle patch length.

Within the Naisa form there’s yet more differences. In the Pacific and Indian Ocean, Naisa’s have very muted colouration, as shown by the bottom illustration. It can be hard to even spot their saddle patches at all! However Atlantic animals are very brightly coloured with beautiful creamy markings sweeping up from behind their eye and into their prominent saddle patches.

[ao3feed-moreidd]

Queen B _ Renaissance

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/Osu13AU by Naisa Blair Waldorf, Queen B, détruite par une trahison disparait pour ce reconstruire; Mais le passée à la mauvaise habitude de ce rappeler à nous, quand nous ne sommes pas prêts. C'est un jeu entre la vie et la morts, qui commence alors pour Blair Waldorf, ancienne Queen B de l'Upper East Side, devenue Lieutenante et Agente du FBI. Words: 848, Chapters: 1/?, Language: Français Fandoms: Gossip Girl (TV 2007), Hawaii Five-0 (2010), Criminal Minds (US TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M, M/M Characters: Blair Waldorf, Chuck Bass, Serena van der Woodsen, Nate Archibald, Georgina Sparks, Steve McGarrett, Kono Kalakaua, Chin Ho Kelly, Danny "Danno" Williams, Penelope Garcia, Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan (Criminal Minds), Aaron Hotchner, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, David Rossi Relationships: Chuck Bass/Blair Waldorf, Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid Additional Tags: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/Osu13AU

[thatsjustbrittney]

[thatsjustbrittney]

[jana-hallford]

Happy Friday, Everyone! I just received some welcome good news: I will be presenting at the annual conference of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association this June in Oklahoma City. The theme this year is "Roots and Origins." My topic, taken from my thesis, is "Creation Story Motifs as Expressions of Identity and Resiliency in the Visual Culture of Kahnawà:ke," highlighting fashions by Tammy Beauvais and beadwork by Leith Mahkewa.

I am grateful.

[natuaural]

There is more to come on this but I’ve felt unable to record birdsong or use it in any creative way. Even last year I did a lot of recordings but this year I just listen. Helena’s piece is to me a perfect thematic for this anthroposcenic moment. The idea of drone hatchlings learning how to surveil from their “parents” in the same way bird hatchlings will learn how to eat and fly from their parents, that is a perfect metaphor for this moment. Wild fires are raging, a gift from unsustainable logging and exploitation. Birds are “singing” because life goes on and they are intertwined with our life world. This piece is to me about, what is the life world of this ambient technology - drones - that is now part of our environmental, our habitus. Skipping the part that we pretend we are in control of technology, let’s just ask how devices propagate and exist and make lives for themselves alongside us. This piece is like a secret listening in to the lives and times of drones, lives that are going on apart and despite us.