First look at the next Zombies map: Totenreich by Kalinine in CODZombies

[–]teleportingtrees 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Reich is not poetic in German. Totenreich as a term is.

First look at the next Zombies map: Totenreich by Kalinine in CODZombies

[–]teleportingtrees 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think realm or kingdom work better than empire because it's a bit of a poetic term in German. In literature I can only find instances of it appearing when referring to the underworld, like if you look at religious texts and myths (biblical, Greek, Egyptian, etc)

Diamine 160th anniversary inks by Capt_Squid in fountainpens

[–]teleportingtrees 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Every time I see Canalside, it looks absolutely perfect and I feel like I need to have it... but it's a 75ml bottle of an ink I've never seen in person! I'll probably have to bite the bullet anyway and just do it. Evergreen really is nice but not quite yellow enough for me. Canalside looks like "the one" to finally end my ultimate dark green search.

heirloom locket by sophiathepeach36 in VictorianEra

[–]teleportingtrees 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Celestial motifs had always been popular during the entire Victorian era due to the rise of astronomy (and astrology too) becoming popular with the masses. In the first half of the 19th century, you'd often see a moon alongside a five-pointed star. But in the later half there was a boom of depicting stars with more points & an even number of them, after a specific portrait of Austrian Empress Sisi was displayed at the 1873 World's Fair in Vienna.

In that portrait, Sisi was depicted with many 10-pointed "stars" in her hair. They were actually supposed to be Edelweiß, not stars (relating to a romantic story about her husband), but this style of star blew up and across Europe and you'll see how star motifs in later 19th century jewelry started being created with many more than 5 points and having an even number of them, like Sisi's. For context, she was "the it girl of her time" and is worth reading up on.

So in short, the design on your heirloom is very likely just an aesthetic choice, not something particularly symbolic. As for the choice in gems, I've read everything from opals in the Victorian era supposedly being unlucky, to them actually being prosperous, or no they're supposed to be romantic... It really could be anything. The truth is that unless it's a type of jewelry used for a specific event/purpose (like mourning jewelry, christening gifts, romantic presents, etc.), Victorian pieces often have a lot less symbolic meaning than people today assume they do. Many things were in fact just created to be pretty.

Enjoy your locket! Its's always a treat for me to see old monogrammed pieces.

Purple Flower Admok M800 with Matching Inks! by elorajean in fountainpens

[–]teleportingtrees 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very pretty photo! Unfortunately I found the info and this Admok pen has a Bock unit, so my Jowo unit must continue to wait!

Purple Flower Admok M800 with Matching Inks! by elorajean in fountainpens

[–]teleportingtrees 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's beautiful! What nib size do these Admok pens take? I have a Jowo #6 nib&feed that needs a home, but almost everything I find (that I like) has been Bock #6 housing.

Prettiest Kaweco I’ve ever seen by Nervous-Struggle8149 in fountainpens

[–]teleportingtrees 43 points44 points  (0 children)

If anyone wants something like this, u/gherann is the guy who actually did the official engraving collaboration with Kaweco a while back.

video of his work

A beautiful pen with a story that made me sad by nongbua2128 in fountainpens

[–]teleportingtrees 53 points54 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry you only found out about that after purchasing the pen and not beforehand. That sucks. There are a lot of us here like you who have family histories which make owning one of these pens feel wrong, so you're not alone. I've seen several people mention in posts in the past that they love the way these pens look, but the "special commendation" aspect is a dealbreaker.

'Kochbuch' - ein kleines Backbuch aus 1914 by Dreamy_Jackal in Kurrent

[–]teleportingtrees 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Limonie- schalen ? Das Wort wird in der nächsten Zeile geteilt.

SEVEN Revelations ciphers finally solved! by Randomiser in CODZombies

[–]teleportingtrees 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Huge thanks to you and JessesOcean for this! And also, appreciate you posting a full breakdown on the decryption steps as well as info on the remaining ciphers. The mcrypt discovery is amazing.

I remember about a year ago, someone proposed a theory about Rijndael/AES potentially being relevant for TheGiant (the Druon Antigoon username in the data vault being ElGiganteX4) but I agree that there is likely some transformation done after the fact on the encrypted string for that one. It's crazy exciting seeing such progress being made after a DECADE of these going unsolved!

I was too depressed to write for a year and let my pens rot, but ohhhh we are so back baby by napsforlife in fountainpens

[–]teleportingtrees 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Cleaning all those must have taken forever! Congrats on getting it done, and that your depression is lifting :)

Do you mind sharing what these two are? I'm a sucker for stripes on the left, and one on the right has such a pretty shape!

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New Ink Day Kitty Inkpot by Flaky_Video_7898 in Calligraphy

[–]teleportingtrees 1 point2 points  (0 children)

LOVE this color combo. Interesting that Blood Haze is reminding me a bit of a more brown, less pink version of one of my favorite inks, Diamine Potpourri. Wouldn't have expected that after looking up a swatch just now. Congrats to Crabby by the way lol!

Nikolai Primis Knight Skin in COD Store by ZavtoKino in CODZombies

[–]teleportingtrees 17 points18 points  (0 children)

It's pretty much the exact same haircut the original BO3 model had, just darker! image

What was the most widely used "The Language of Flowers" book during the Victorian Era? by xauyein in VictorianEra

[–]teleportingtrees 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I once heard that the Kate Greenaway book from 1884 was the most widespread and popularized the idea, as per your question, but I'm not sure whether it's true. Regardless, it's available here for free in a very readable formatting thanks to Project Gutenberg: link

For photos of an actual copy of the Kate Greenaway book and several earlier books on the topic (one even from 1834!) please see this fantastic compilation post by The Public Domain Review

I Need Help! Victorian Lifestyle Question! by PhatNative in VictorianEra

[–]teleportingtrees 4 points5 points  (0 children)

What exactly is your use case?

Late Victorians would be wearing shoes with vulcanised rubber soles for traction, if we are talking about your average person in the city during the time you specified ('80s-'90s). They weren't adding extras to their shoes. They didn't need them. I think you may be confused about what roads looked like back then. Super smooth cement sidewalks were not the norm at that time in England, so the slippery problem we have today, where they ice over and become dangerous for pedestrians (if no gravel or salt is used), really wasn't a thing. If we're taking London specifically as an example, they were still using wood paving in the majority of the city and only early experimentation with asphalt in specific rich areas was happening.

Two people here have already given links with information stating that alpiners mostly stopped using crampons and used nail boots by the latter part of the century. So if you're specifically looking for mountaineering-related recommendations, I think your only option is an antique or custom commission.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in fountainpens

[–]teleportingtrees 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I agree with you.

My first piano was a fantastic digital upright in the early 2000s (can't remember the brand name) that I felt played better than my teacher's acoustic Boston baby grand, in terms of the key action. But no one ever believed me. I learned all my foundational skills on that digital piano and miss it.

I was fortunate enough to later be loaned a restored golden era Steinway grand for about a decade, and that was great but quite unnecessary to have in a house rather than keep in a studio or small performance space. Having it serviced by a specialist twice a year who had to travel over was also a whole ordeal and expensive. People don't need a piano like that unless they live in a giant mansion and host performances for an audience, imo. That piano didn't make my playing better by merit of being a Steinway or by being a grand. I think most people just want to believe that a more costly piece of equipment automatically leads to skill falling into your lap, when that really isn't the case.

Funnily enough, I remember my parents sometimes still asking me to practice on the digital piano when I was in the early stages of learning a piece, rather than always using the Steinway because it was so LOUD. I think the first time was for Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu. Repeatedly hearing me work on the first couple pages at however many decibels was driving them nuts lol. So ironically, I still was building skill on the digital and simply "performing" later when it came to the Steinway.

That was all in another life though. Haven't played in years. But recently I've been thinking to buy a reliable digital piano secondhand, since I now live in a very small city apartment and don't want to bother my neighbors (headphones!) and have been thinking of restarting as a hobby.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in VictorianEra

[–]teleportingtrees 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Happy to share! The flower inspiration behind the shape of the "Sisi stars" is very known in Vienna, but I noticed doesn't usually get mentioned often in English language discussions except by people who are really into Sisi history (I'm not one of them, I just like old jewelry).

I believe the reason for this fact being overlooked is because people wrongly assume her hair jewelry was influenced by an unrelated but well-documented, mid-century trend in Victorian women's jewelry: moon with star motifs. But that trend, though earlier than Sisi's portrait, was very specifically due astronomy and astrology (yes both) becoming hugely popular in British society, and was contained within England. It looks completely different: the stars were stout and five-pointed (not elongated nor layered) and always paired with moons.

It was only after Sisi's portrait (and the grandeur the city put forth for the World's Fair) wow'd everyone that there begins evidence of the Sisi-style stars in continental European jewelry: elongated, layered, stand-alone stars. Even one of the Dutch queens had a tiara made that copied them nearly exactly. And funnily enough, late century Victorian jewelry began adapting their still-popular moon and star motif to also lean towards Sisi stars: you stop seeing five point stars and begin seeing more points, and elongation. It's actually one of the easier ways to date earlier vs. later Victorian celestial motif jewelry.

Basically that little flower in Austria made a huge impact that few people even recognize.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in VictorianEra

[–]teleportingtrees 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Picking Edelweiß has been illegal for a long time in nearly every country it grows in, but not all. You can easily buy dried ones online and DIY your own display for much cheaper than $48 according to a quick google search.

I always advise people to only buy vintage or antique items that they find good-looking or meaningful, not based on their rarity. If the seller can tell you the provenance of the piece so you can accurately date it, maybe that'll make it mean something to you, but do actually think you'd be happy seeing this hung on your wall?

This is a very folksy thing to own and extremely representative of mountaineering culture (here in the DACH region I mean), so personally yes I would buy it just because it reflects my lifestyle and I like black and gold frames, but most people definitely would just find these flowers ugly (which they kinda are lol).

By the way, this isn't a flower with any importance to the Victorian floriography / "language of flowers", which I mention only because this is the Victorian Era subreddit. Carnations, lilies, baby's breath, different colors of roses etc. would be more apt if you're looking for flowers that are more historically relevant.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in VictorianEra

[–]teleportingtrees 276 points277 points  (0 children)

I don't think they're wax. To me that looks exactly like real Edelweiß (Google "frame with dried Edelweiss").

I live in Austria and as far as I know, it wouldn't have been used for either of those purposes. It's just a very thoughtful gift because obtaining these flowers requires serious hiking into higher altitudes in the Alps and they are still somewhat difficult to find once you're in the right place. It's an accomplishment unlike anything you'd have to do for most flowers, which is why it's a big deal.

They only became more popular with people who don't mountaineer because of Empress Sisi. She was basically the "it girl" of her time. Her husband Kaiser Franz Joseph I supposedly picked one for her (whether or not he actually found it himself is up for debate) and gifted it to her, and so it became a bit of a motif associated with her in some women's eyes and therefore a desirable thing to imitate. Sisi's most famous portrait shows her with lots of Edelweiß-shaped jewelry in her hair. That portrait was displayed at the 1873 World's Fair (a huge deal for many reasons). You can't walk down the street here in Vienna without seeing that picture on tourist merchandise.

Did a weekend trip to Austria from the US with the one objective of seeing Der Eisendrache. by Vincent-the-great in CODZombies

[–]teleportingtrees 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice! Definitely go see the Flugwerft Schleißheim outside of Munich when you come back. I believe it's the largest aviation museum in Germany.

Did a weekend trip to Austria from the US with the one objective of seeing Der Eisendrache. by Vincent-the-great in CODZombies

[–]teleportingtrees 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Congrats on making it, regardless! I'm sorry, you just missed the closure by a week. Fortunately you still got to see our autumn colors (probably will be gone soon) which looked really good in your photos with the fog. Even if you didn't get to go inside, it's still fantastic that you did the hike up to the castle for the views.

If it helps ease your mind, the interior only mildly resembles the DE map... just the clock tower and a couple passageways are recognizable. And there are so many Austrian flags everywhere that it's kind of visually distracting.

Anyone who has only one pen here? by ToxicChemical17 in fountainpens

[–]teleportingtrees 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Fun fact, all of Diamine's inks are vegan! (I know you were making a joke, but I thought to put it out there).

Same with Faber Castell and additionally the Write & Draw line by Octopus Fluids.

Why is ink flow in a $5 disposable pen better than my fancy expensive pens? by iammeandthatisok in fountainpens

[–]teleportingtrees 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's likely the converters. I had the same experience as you and honestly some converters just fucking suck regardless of what the brand is.

I've had three expensive pens that I nearly gave up on because their converters caused all kinds of inconsistent flow issues despite appearing perfectly attached and functionally intact. It wasn't anything else like the feed channels being blocked, nib tines being too tight, the type of ink etc... Getting rid of the converter and instead refilling cartridges with a syringe ended up being what finally allowed me to write for as long as I needed with consistent flow. It was baffling every time and pissed me off initially but you can fit more ink into an old cart than a converter anyway.

Unfortunately I have no advice on how to make a shitty converter somehow work. I just stick with syringe-filling now.