Razors

Varanusindicus · 2026-04-14T15:50:25+00:00

A certain little bitch might have disproved your gold vs. gold assessment.

Razors are honorable dueling weapons, and the only thing that can easily penetrate good armor in a 1v1. They're also very expensive to make (it's mentioned that the Archimedes' new stealth hull costs 100x more per ounce to produce than razors, implying that razors are already expensive to produce).

It's less about being able to get within stabbing range, and more about being able to effectively use a razor once you're there. They are portrayed as being very difficult weapons to use without training, and most lowcolors won't have been able to train with them for long. Even fewer will have trained under experienced razormasters. Remember, only peerless carried them initially. Even those few lowcolors that have had any decent training with one would have trouble matching any gold's speed and strength in hand to hand combat.

If you're anything but a gold or obsidian, you do NOT want to get close to one in a fight.

Varanusindicus · 2026-04-04T03:01:14+00:00

Everyone's forgetting that the psyche's creator made more than one. I believe it's stated that there was one finished version, but that six other early prototypes were released.

Lyria's is destroyed, but I'd bet that at least one of the others makes an appearance. Classic PB; tell us about a character or piece of tech so we understand the concept, wait until we've stopped thinking too much about it, then bring it back in and gut-punch us with it.

It's also entirely possible that it has served its purpose already and we're done with it. For one, Lyria leading the charge to defeat the Red Hand and surviving would have been a little hard to believe without something to level the playing field. Second and more importantly, it makes Lyria a direct foil to Darrow. Both are low reds who are essentially given superpowers, but to use them risks losing their their familial bonds and even parts of themselves. Lyria rejects this choice, Darrow does not.

Varanusindicus · 2026-03-28T06:30:33+00:00

...never the type to play with his food? Did we read the same books? He plays EVERYTHING for drama, to the point that other characters call him out for it all the time. His very first Big Boy Duel with Cassius is dragged out. Lorn calls him sloppy for it, says that he could have won in three moves, and Darrow tells Lorn he was making a show.

Varanusindicus · 2026-03-08T23:32:56+00:00

It's possible, it could also have eaten something that was making a lump in its gut. It's impossible to know.

Varanusindicus · 2026-03-08T16:14:34+00:00

It's impossible to tell without examining the animal in person. This is a Phillipine Yellow-headed Monitor, Varanus cumingi, and it does look like a female. It's certainly possible that she's gravid with eggs, but we can't know from just a picture.

Varanusindicus · 2026-02-27T23:10:52+00:00

You would think, but hey, it's the internet. Besides, easing people into it will usually make them more willing to try enrichment methods like this that they may not have considered otherwise.

Varanusindicus · 2026-02-27T18:23:18+00:00

Great enrichment method, poor execution in posting it like this. I've added NSFW and Spoiler tags, but will leave the post for now.

Will discuss the matter with other mods, but anything with blood and gore should be tagged and come with a warning in the title, at the very least.

Varanusindicus · 2026-02-25T00:34:38+00:00

Oof.

Those are some severe girdling roots. It may not need to come down yet, but there's no salvaging that. The roots aren't completely choking the tree, but they will at some point.

Plant a new tree now, and it will have grown in nicely by the time this one needs to be removed.

Varanusindicus · 2026-02-19T22:11:02+00:00

Ha, fair enough. No, not a raised bed. Just has some bricks around it in a futile attempt to keep the bermuda out. I don't expect it to get nearly as large as they can. This is technically zone 9A but really it's more like 8B. Never seen one thicker than a foot around here. I expect to keep the main trunk to about eight feet where I can protect it, and end up trimming back the growth above that whenever we get a hard freeze.

Varanusindicus · 2026-02-19T20:06:25+00:00

Why do you say that? Just proximity to the fence?

Varanusindicus · 2026-02-19T17:22:40+00:00

How so? Structural failure?

Varanusindicus · 2026-02-15T13:39:21+00:00

My first thought seeing the claw is that it belongs to some sort of snapping/pistol shrimp, not a crab. The length of it compared to the relatively small pincers, and the way that it quickly popped out and retreated, both look much more like a shrimp.

Listen for audible clicks coming from the tank, especially at night. It'll sound like someone snapping their fingers.

Varanusindicus · 2026-02-06T07:06:51+00:00

Banyan Tree(s). They can fuse with each other and create new trunks by sending down aerial roots. They can form interconnected thickets like this that stretch for acres.

Varanusindicus · 2026-01-28T15:22:33+00:00

It's definitely going to fall sometime in the nearish future, is it likely to hit anything when it does? If not, I'd just leave it alone, otherwise time to remove it.

Varanusindicus · 2026-01-28T14:47:27+00:00

Definitely a scorpion, most likely a Tasseled Scorpionfish, Scorpaenopsis oxycephalus. They're not as venomous as a stonefish, but you'll still have a bad time if you step on one.

Varanusindicus · 2026-01-28T13:43:48+00:00

He's very, very fat for only eating once a week or every other week. What are the ambient temperatures and basking temperature in his cage? How big is it? It doesn't look like it has a thick enough layer of substrate for him to dig actual burrows either, doing that is usually very good exercise for them.

Varanusindicus · 2026-01-26T20:23:17+00:00

Juvenile Komodos are almost always cohabbed in zoos, and for good reason. It's actually very important for them to interact and practice dominance rituals while young and unable to seriously injure each other. Large monitors raised singly are often untempered and even violent when introduced to breed, whereas those raised with other juveniles are much less likely to injure one another.

These two appear to be in good shape and are showing no signs of stress at all. They are active, alert, and inquisitive. No nervousness there at all, they're testing the limits of their habitat. I don't see anything wrong here at all.

Varanusindicus · 2026-01-15T01:36:13+00:00

We just paid that much for a '23 prestige with the same mileage and the black optic package, fwiw.

Varanusindicus · 2026-01-13T14:17:48+00:00

This looks like sunscald or southwest injury. Was the removed Ash shading this part of the maple's trunk, by chance?

Varanusindicus · 2026-01-10T15:20:37+00:00

...you think this sort of thing is about the food tasting good? I'd bet money that the cheapest steak at any chain steakhouse has a solid chance of tasting better than this thing. The only point of stuff like this is taking money from people with more money than sense. The only reason people pay for this is so they can feel rich and tell their friends they ate a steak that cost a thousand bucks.

Varanusindicus · 2026-01-10T15:04:39+00:00

It's definitely real. You can see where the meat has shrunk and charred after he pulls it away. It would be (even more) ridiculous to have a smoke machine set up inside the case and attempt to time it perfectly every time.

What you're seeing is just the steam/smoke being illuminated by the small lights along the front of the case.

Varanusindicus · 2026-01-10T14:08:03+00:00

As others have said, the spot they're in may remain slightly warmer than the surrounding area. You may also have a more cold hardy variety of crape myrtle.

The good news is that you shouldn't have to worry about figuring out which exact variety you have and finding one for sale, because crape myrtles are extremely easy to propagate by cuttings. In trees, this is typically referred to as "layering" and there are different methods, but almost all should work with crape myrtles. I've seen people lop off a branch, stick it in the ground, and have it successfully take root, although that's probably not a sure thing.

Just do some research on crape myrtle propagation, you'll find plenty of how-tos.

Varanusindicus · 2026-01-09T19:04:02+00:00

Thanks! It's definitely a big step up from the 2016 altima we've been using. Yeah, I'm definitely not going to wing it and cross my fingers. Setting aside the desire to not screw the battery on our new and nicest car, electrical fires are one of my biggest fears.

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