By Jade Mere

The Davidsonian, Davidson, North Carolina, October 9, 1924

me at every snail: that is the best snail

A quick sketch of a lovely OC belonging to @curlycupgumweed <3

ko-fi | redbubble

The response was utter insane. In a good way! We had 18 (including myself) total, forming a Conga type line, snaking ourselves through the con floor. We even had people leading us shouting, “Make ways for the queen!” It was surreal. We had such an amazing time. Plus all the photos we posed for the crowds were astonishing as well.

The most interesting stories we definitely the responses we were getting from the crowds. Multiple people bowed for us, several people were just amazed at the shear size of the parade. Plus our two bearded handmaidens in the back of our line were getting lots of attention.

I decided on the decoy dress first. I really wanted to create it. That certain dress has a bit of a challenge to it and I knew I needed something fresh for Star Wars celebration in Chicago. But as I thought about it more, I thought it would be fun to make a group out of it! I had a couple of friends waiting to do something big for SWCC and boom, flamemaiden army 2019 was born! That dress has always been a favorite of mine plus the handmaidens. It felt like the perfect time to cosplay these magnificent ladies from Phantom Menace. PLUS we then figured out that it would the 20th anniversary of the film too. PERFECTION!

My outfit was put together pretty organically. There was a lot of experimenting with polyester velvet fabric manipulation with a heat gun. I used some cheap Halloween spider webbing decor I found from Joann’s plus lovely silk dupoini from Silk Baron. It was all over the place. The handmaidens also creates some of their gowns. It’s a tough look especially with trying to achieve the flame ombré. They did such a wonderful job. Also others purchased some from eBay then altered and weathered to their style. The amount of craftsmanship these creators put into their gowns either bought or made was incredible.

Getting recognized was the icing on the cake. The best part of the day was just being a part of this group. I’m honored to be their Sabé. It was an amazing day.

—-  JediManda

Photo : ALeeStudios 

Handmaidens (IG)

@_aprilgloria

@molliemander

@lunar.lyn

@gracecroop

@sarahdemp

@kiteerakai

@oaksparks

@shelbylynnmarie

@consatelecosplay

@cutiecutecosplay

@pyrite_trilobite

@aryankus

@vogon_poe

@the _bandalorian

@amybowenwrites

Hey guys! Have you ever wondered what was on the tape that Wirt made for Sara? Or like, been mildly curious? Well...This is it! Not only containing poetry and songs, but also... 

(10:57) Baby Wirt and (presumably) his dad. A relic of past recordings, 

(16:48) Greg accidentally interrupting Wirt’s poetry,

(18:38) Wirt playing an original song only to have (19:27) Greg tape over the middle of it with some poems of his own.

some foxes

It’s caption “The First Angel To Greet You In Heaven” 😂😂😂😂

^_^ 

It’s really cool that you won’t compromise.

I, myself, really enjoy your artwork, and hope that you continue to create great things that can bring life and be an inspiration to yourself and others.

Please accept this hasty picture as a token of appreciation 

-gives anon the finger- Fakiru is amazing and you're amazing and a big talented sweetheart <333 Keep the good work, the fandom loves you!

I appreciate that, thank you! :) I don’t think anon was really aiming to be a jerk or anything (though I think they came off as a little passive-aggressive at first) - they just seem to view things differently than I do. I understand what they’re saying about what a lot of people like to see in PT, but I know I’m capable of making friends without having to do exactly what said potential friends want me to or providing what they want to see.

I’ll do my best in doing what I’m doing~ Thanks again!

Survivorship Bias

I have posted about survivorship bias and how it affects your career choices: how a Hollywood actor giving the classic “follow your dreams and never give up” line is bad advice and is pure survivorship bias at work.

When I read up on the wikipedia page, I encountered an interesting story:

During WWII the US  Air Force wanted to minimize bomber losses to enemy fire. The Center for Naval Analyses ran a research on where bombers tend to get hit with the explicit aim of enforcing the parts of the airframe that is most likely to receive incoming fire. This is what they came up with:

So, they said: the red dots are where bombers are most likely to be hit, so put some more armor on those parts to make the bombers more resilient. That looked like a logical conclusion, until Abraham Wald - a mathematician - started asking questions: 

- how did you obtain that data? - well, we looked at every bomber returning from a raid, marked the damages on the airframe on a sheet and collected the sheets from all allied air bases over months. What you see is the result of hundreds of those sheets. - and your conclusion? - well, the red dots are where the bombers were hit. So let’s enforce those parts because they are most exposed to enemy fire.  - no. the red dots are where a bomber can take a hit and return. The bombers that took a hit to the ailerons, the engines or the cockpit never made it home. That’s why they are absent in your data. The blank spots are exactly where you have to enforce the airframe, so those bombers can return.

This is survivorship bias. You only see a subset of the outcomes. The ones that made it far enough to be visible. Look out for absence of data. Sometimes they tell a story of their own.

BTW: You can see the result of this research today. This is the exact reason the A-10 has the pilot sitting in a titanium armor bathtub and has it’s engines placed high and shielded.