By Fauna
10/23/2018
Dear Manager,
Hello, I found a submerged fly in my soup. My comrades had a perfect dinner. While I don’t mean to be obnoxious, I did not and would like my money back, please.
Sincerely,
Cera
Author Archives: The Shadow
Summary of the Cask of Amontillado
By Corvid
I think the cask of Amontillado would have made a very scary movie, a horror movie. It’s about a guy killing their friend and then regretting it. I believe the setting is in Italy. It’s sad but also evil, in my opinion.
Note from Teacher:
A summary should contain the events of the story in summation without your opinion put in it.
Teeth: The Great Evolutionary Debate
Greetings everyone and welcome to the Shadow’s Lair. In this episode of “Koraki’s Vlog” I will discuss where teeth come from. First let me introduce myself to those who might be new to the channel. I am Koraki, a fantasy author, disability advocate and geology enthusiast. Today I am going to talk about teeth.
You probably have teeth, or had them at some point in your life, but have you ever wondered how teeth evolved? There are two main hypotheses I will discuss on the evolution of teeth. Before that though I want to touch on another favourite subject of mine- etymology.
The Etymology of the word tooth comes from the old English tōth. This is from the Proto-Germanic tanthu. This from the Proto-Indo-European dent which (I must clarify according to Wikipedia) means “that which eats.” (While I am not keen to cite it as a source, I found this tidbit in the wiki on teeth interesting.) (2,4, and 5)
There are two theories to the evolution of teeth. The “outside in” and the “inside out” theory. In simple terms, they describe how teeth evolved in concurrence with our skin and jaw. The outside in states that teeth evolved from our skin as outer denticles (dermal armor). The inside out theory states teeth evolved from the endoderm (internal skin) of the throat (as pharyngeal teeth) in jawless fish. (1.3.)
There is a third hypothesis which I am not as familiar with. This theory states that the neural crest gene regulatory network and ectomesenchyme are important to tooth generation regardless of the endo-ectoderm (inside or out) theories. I deduced this to mean that teeth didn’t evolve as either or the other, but from both mechanisms. (1.5.)
I was inspired to write this because a friend of mine referred to teeth as mouth bones and this is inaccurate. No matter the hypothesis on how teeth evolved the only conclusion on what teeth are (in my opinion) is: They are hardened mouth skin. Anyway, I hope you found this interesting. As always, there will be links to my sources in a document linked below. Thank you for watching and please don’t forget to like and subscribe.
Citations and Resources Used
- Jheon, A. H., Seidel, K., Biehs, B., & Klein, O. D. (2013). From molecules to mastication: the development and evolution of teeth. Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Developmental biology, 2(2), 165–182. https://doi.org/10.1002/wdev.63
- Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Tooth. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved January 31, 2023, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tooth
- McCollum, M., & Sharpe, P. T. (2001, April 6). Evolution and development of teeth. Journal of anatomy. Retrieved January 31, 2023, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1594990/
- Online Etymology Dictionary. (2019, March 12). Tooth (n.). Etymology. Retrieved January 23, 2023, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/tooth#etymonline_v_15372
- Wikimedia Foundation. (2023, January 30). Tooth. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 31, 2023, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooth#:~:text=Teeth%20are%20assumed%20to%20have,inside%E2%80%93out%22%20theory).
An Introduction to Conlangs
Hello again everyone. This is Koraki, AKA Damien Knight. Today’s Vlogmas talking about conlangs. Once more, before I get into what a Conlang is, I will give a bit of background about myself.
I have been writing since I was 8 years old like most school children who learn to write. At ten years old, I started writing fanfiction. I was an avid reader of just about everything I could get my hands on. I didn’t discover fantasy until I was about thirteen years old. This was when I stumbled upon The Elfstones of Shannara.
In Terry Brooks’ original novels, I don’t recall a conlang in it, but the TV show in 2016 featured the Druid language of Noalath. This language was created by Linguist David J. Peterson. The fantasy I came across next featured a conlang and that was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone By the terf who shall not be named. That conlang is Parseltongue.
For me though it was the Inheritance series, and it’s conlang known only as “The Ancient Language” that made me wish to create a conlang and write a fantasy novel myself. I was 18 years old at the time that I pulled out a notebook and handwrote an alphabet and dictionary for the world of Lysandus. Back then I had no clue I too was creating a Conlang.
With that long introduction out of the way: What is a conlang, anyway? Like my last video on orogenies, I will use the Merriam-Webster Definition. A conlang is “an invented language intended for human communication that has planned and cohesive phonological, grammatical, and syntactical systems.” Basically, a conlang is a constructed language.
I can already hear you now. “But Koraki aren’t all languages ‘constructed?’ Doesn’t this mean English is a conlang?” The answer is a resounding no. Both English and conlangs such as Star Wars Huttese are actual languages. The difference is English is a natural language evolved over time by many people where a conlang is usually artificially developed in a short amount of time. Constructing a conlang takes a lot of work too. I love etymology and linguistics, but the process has been harrowing for me. Conlangs, like any other language, have grammatical, syntactical, pronunciation and morphological rules. I am no linguist, I am an author and geologist (sort of) but while I have a special interest in linguistics, I do not have a degree in it.
What are conlangs used for? Well, one of the earliest ‘conlangs’ was used for writing hymns. I say conlangs in quotes here because we do not have enough details of Lingua Ignota to understand if it had all the things needed to be one. I will get back to this in a moment. In the 19th century, the conlang Esperanto was invented, intending to be an international language of commerce. Fun fact: this is the most widely spoken conlang in the world!
Let’s return to Lingua Ignota and partial languages. While a true conlang differs from a code such as Pig Latin or what we have of Lingua Ignota (An alphabet) you can still create a feeling of a new language in your writing. How? Easy use a naming language. Dotharki from the Game of Thrones started out this way. In my own novels, the Yenmi is also a naming language.
Naming Languages provides a small sliver of a language. It gives a fictional world a more fleshed out feeling without all the sticky rules. This is one reason most of my languages are naming languages rather than comprehensive languages. A comprehensive language being of course a fully constructed conlang.
Anyway, that’s pretty much the basics of what a conlang is. There are types and subtypes, but I am still learning about those myself. In the meantime, if ya’ll are interested in learning more about conlangs yourself a link will be in the description below. Thanks for watching and don’t forget to like and subscribe. Happy Writing ya’ll!
Sources
2YoDoINDIA. (2022, January 15). Languages which were invented from scratch: Checkout the list ⋆ 2YoDoINDIA. 2YoDoINDIA. Retrieved December 16, 2022, from https://www.2yodoindia.com/languages-which-were-invented-from-scratch/
Bassett, A. (2022, April 20). How to make a language: The basics: Story tips: Campfire Learn. Campfire. Retrieved December 16, 2022, from https://www.campfirewriting.com/learn/how-to-create-a-language
Merriam-Webster. (2017). The surprising history of ‘Conlang’. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved December 16, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/conlang-meaning-origin#:~:text=English%20is%20a%20natural%20language,rules%2C%20and%20even%20morphological%20rules.
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Conlang. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved December 16, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conlang
The shannara chronicles. TV Tropes. (n.d.). Retrieved December 16, 2022, from https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/TheShannaraChronicles
How I became addicted to Orogeny
Can a Mountain Be Older Than Bones?
Greetings My name Is Koraki AKA Damien Knight, and this is today’s Vlogmas post. Let’s dive in, shall we? A little background about myself first. I studied geology and obtained my bachelor’s degree in geology in 2020. I have wanted to be a paleontologist since I can remember and have loved dinosaurs since I was three years old. It is safe to say that I was very much “addicted” to paleontology but not so much Orogeny.
What is orogeny? Oh, I am so glad you asked. An orogeny is, according to Merriam-Webster, the process of mountain formation especially by folding of the earth’s crust. In other words, an orogeny is a mountain building event. I could go into great detail about how mountains are formed, but the YouTube algorithm prefers shorter videos. I am already certain this one will be longer than I want it to be.
Many have seen the pictures of Mount Everest and the Himalayas. The Himalayas formed during the appropriately named Himalayan Orogeny. They are young virulent and TALL compared to mountains in America. Of course, they are! They formed between 45-50 Million years ago. These impressive mountains particularly, Mount Everest, played a role in my obsession with mountains. I longed to conquer my life in the same way legendary adventurers conquered its peak.
In contrast to the Himalayas, the Ancient Rocky Mountains started forming 285 million years ago. That said, those aren’t the Rockies of today. The modern Rockies started 75 million years ago during the Laramide Orogeny. Still older than the young Himalayas, but not as old as Bones. Speaking of…
I am sure you all have seen the memes about the Appalachia Mountains. Here I will show some of them now.
According to the memes, they are older than the rings of Saturn, older than the Atlantic, and of course the most terrifying and doubted claim, older than bones.
The Appalachian Mountains of the Appalachian orogeny is actually a tale of three orogenies, the Taconic, the Acadian, and the Allegheny. The Taconic being the first of the orogenies ended around 440 million years ago taking place throughout the Ordovician. The second Orogeny, the Acadian, occurred during the Devonian period about 416-359 million years ago. And the last Orogeny, The Alleghenian? That occurred during the Permian around 300–250 million years ago.
The current mountains are the eroded nubs of once tall, proud, and ancient giants. The Appalachian Mountains are OLD. There is no doubt about that. But are they older than bones? Can a mountain really be that old?
Well, let’s find out how old bone formation is. Thank goodness I studied biology because I wanted to be a paleontologist, but I digress. Originally, bone formation in sea creatures was thought to have only occurred after the Cambrian, then scientists discovered a fossil from the Ediacaran with a skeleton. That was back in 2012 (you know when the world was supposed to end).
This means bones are at least 550 million years old. The meme which falsely claims Morrill’s cave (I assume they meant this cave anyway) is also 550 million years old didn’t say marine, though. They said terrestrial. With that in mind, let’s look at when skeletons walked on land. If we assume TikTaalik was one of the first boned fish to leave the ocean, then we are looking at 375 million years ago.
When I initially saw the meme once more and replied on Facebook about it, I said 400 million years ago. Guess my recollection wasn’t too far off. While the cave cited in the meme certainly isn’t 550 million years old the Appalachian Mountains are very close being a stately 480-million-year-old grandfather of a mountain (approximately anyway) That my friends is older than Terrestrial bones and reason enough to be addicted to orogeny.
Well, that wraps up for today, thanks for being here and if you liked this video, don’t forget to hit the like button. Want more content like this? Sure, ya do. Hit the subscribe button and notification button to see more content like this. Thanks again.
Sources
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2007, February 9). Alleghenian orogeny. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/Alleghenian-orogeny
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2016, February 2). Taconic orogeny. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/Taconic-orogeny
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2018, March 14). Acadian orogeny. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/Acadian-orogeny
Dykeman, W. (2020, October 29). Appalachian Mountains. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Appalachian-Mountains
Geology and Ecology of National Parks. (n.d.). Geology of rocky mountain national park. Geology of Rocky Mountain National Park | U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://www.usgs.gov/geology-and-ecology-of-national-parks/geology-rocky-mountain-national-park#:~:text=During%20the%20Paleozoic%20era%20(544,raised%20the%20ancient%20Rocky%20Mountains.
Grimley, M. (2013, February 13). Spelunking the highlands: Owning the Caves. Appalachian Voices. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://appvoices.org/2013/02/13/spelunking-the-highlands-owning-the-caves/#:~:text=The%20site%20is%20also%20known,as%20a%20trek%2C%20was%20straightforward.
Matchen, David “Appalachian Orogeny.” e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia.
17September 2014. Web. 14 December 2022, from https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/246#:~:text=In%20geological%20terms%2C%20”orogeny,from%20Newfoundland%20to%20northern%20Alabama.
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Orogeny definition & meaning. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orogeny
MinWage. (2021, February 21). Tumblr thread: Grasping the age of the Appalachians. Cheezburger. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://cheezburger.com/13583109/tumblr-thread-grasping-the-age-of-the-appalachians
R/whitepeopletwitter – they’re older than Saturn’s rings by nearly 400 million years. reddit. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://www.reddit.com/r/WhitePeopleTwitter/comments/xlfitw/theyre_older_than_saturns_rings_by_nearly_400/
Roy, A. B., & Purohit, R. (2018). Himalayan orogeny. Himalayan Orogeny – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/himalayan-orogeny
University of California – Riverside. (2012, March 8). Oldest organism with skeleton discovered in Australia. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 12, 2022 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120308120105.htm
Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, December 6). Tiktaalik. Wikipedia. Retrieved December 14, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiktaalik
America Is Freedom *
What’s freeing about watching kids die?
What’s freeing watching politicians lie?
Do you feel free when mothers cry?
Oh but of course what do you care?
Believing you’ll be a millionaire.
Voting to strip away others freedom,
While claiming to be prolife and family.
What an utter joke the party of values!
And it’s willful ignorance! useless!
Do you feel free making others suffer?
Oh surely you must have a proud mother.
That you vote to strip away her rights too!
And your children must be so proud of you!
As they cower in fear in the back of a classroom.
But sure America is freedom! You say
And it’s true, it’s freedom for cis white men
Just like you.
New Windows! An Update
Normally I’d be streaming a game and write today. Instead we are eating tacos and waiting as the window people install our new windows. My laptops motherboard has a short in it apparently and of course I can’t afford a new laptop. This one already cost me more than the original 600 I paid.
On the upside we have new windows for our house. The window Fauna/Corvid fell into has been replaced. Our back door is now a solid door with much less glass.
Anyway we stream four times a week on twitch! Twitch.tv/theshadowslair. On Mondays it’s game and writes. Writing sprints with gaming in between. Wednesday’s we play Skyrim usually or whatever we fancy playing. Fridays we play a game with one of the kids or a game that one of them suggests to us. Saturday is our plan and write streams and this month it’s camp nano!
Anyway that’s my update for now. Happy blogging!
An Update Blog
I have not written a blog post in ages and cannot promise that i will be regular as i had been. That said we been regularly streaming on twitch and Camp Nano is back again!
I am excited for camp Nano of course and plan to do a lot of writing streams during nano. I’ll post links later when I’m on laptop in meantime : HAPPY WRITING!
Grounded
Like a passionate sea violent
My heart beats against the waves
Drown me in mourning oh dove
Your flowery song that saves
I whisper to shadows my letters
The words that pound my soul
And embrace in the dark my pain
Of never obtaining my goal
Fight onward the cry and jeer
My body a broken marionette
Dance they demand and i do
But my heart will never forget
I long for the sky open and free
Wistful I stare at the birds above
Alas fate has tied me to the ground
At least you’re here too my love
Today We Celebrate
Today we weep, Grieve the loss which burdens us Today we mourn, The empty shell which was left behind Today we cry, For those this year that had to die Today… We prepare traditional foods Today we gather, In honour of their memory Today we rejoice, In the shared lives we had with them Today we remember, That they have never left us and so… Today we celebrate, Keeping their love for us alive
The Shade of Writing 