#(not this exact engine I mean but the one it's modeled on)

[sepdet]

🥺😭

[sbcdh]

“Oh gosh the fire. Yes it was truly a tragedy. You know, HECA79 was the prototype for the new regulation model. Well, haha, new for the time. It was the seventies after all. It really is fascinating. She was the first one we put in the class N tanks. Fascinating technology for the time, clever as the dickens. You see, the insides of the tank were to be lined with a thin layer of magnetically laminated gold calcite particles that formed a reflective lattice under electrical stimulation. A gold plated one-way mirror for brainwaves! I’m sure you understand, it was the best we could do for 1983-”

“So you subscribe to the, uh, equipment malfunction theory?”

“Huh? Oh! Oh. Terribly sorry. Equipment malfunction? As I recall, it functioned quite well.”

“So you believe the fire was caused by something else?”

“The fire? Oh. Well, I’m not quite sure. I don’t know the exact specifications, but if I recall correctly, there were all sorts of firebreaks and engineers and junior-engineers stationed all around –all helmeted, mind you– to make sure that sort of thing never happened.”

“And yet.”

“And yet. Indeed…Well, between you and me, I think It was one of the junior engineers.”

“Is that so?”

“Oh yes. We were a bit of a maverick bunch back then. Reagan gave us all that research money, but, well, its always a bit different when the wheels hit the pavement haha. Oh. Oh. I hope I haven’t gotten anyone in trouble. They were nice lads all. Well, some of them were Germans, but nice lads.”

“We are more interested in your observations of HECA79. I was told you were able to directly observe her during the incident. If there is anything you can tell us, please, speak loudly enough for the tape to hear.”

“Oh! Oh gosh. You know, I completely forgot we were being taped haha! And you caught all of my rambling! Well, I think I can help you out. Oh yes. Now. You must understand. A good half of this is going to be embellished. You know how memories go, you always get more heroic looking back as time goes on haha. But yes, I think I can help you out. Ah, where should I start?”

“What was the first thing out of the ordinary that you noticed?”

“Her lips were moving.”

“Is that out of the ordinary?”

“By gosh for a plutophant yes! At full emmanation, there is no part of them that is not the market! Every neuron soaked in hypno-amphetamine rocket fuel! Most of them –if you’ll pardon my language sir– shit their tanks the moment their Id touches the sub-finantial background grid! What do you think half those tubes are for! A plutophant in full emmanation doesn’t have a braincell to spare to keep their sphincters closed, much less perform something as complex as speech!”

“I see. Could you make out what the asset was saying?”

“Oh no. No, I’m afraid not. I can’t read lips. Back in those days, they were hooked up to a helmet, and then the helmet read the delta-wave patterns, and then printed that on magnetic tape. That way, we could feed the tape to some lob-, ah translators, and have them interpret the feed.”

“When did her lips start to move? What time of day?”

“Funny thing, almost exactly at 12:03. I should have been off at lunch, but I was procrastinating. I had a crossword I was right on the edge of solving. It was one of those big words that goes all the way across the page. TIMEPIECE. I remember that clear as day.”

“Interesting. I have here that equipment registered the fire almost exactly seven minutes later.”

“Oh dear. Do you understand what that means sir?”

“No, please, enlighten me.”

“Is that a schematic of the N class tank you have there? Hand it over. Thank you sir. So. Back in 1983, we didn’t have any of the fancy digital equipment we have now. Well, we did, but not to the same degree. Most of our equipment was good old analogue. You see this module here? These weren’t part of our system. No, we were waiting on the replacements to show up.”

“And, what is that part?” 

“Think of it like the uh, ah yes, the carburetor in a car. It keeps everything balanced. Keeps the subjects metabolism steady so they don’t chew through the drugs too fast, keeps the tank at the ideal temperature for chemical reactions, without boiling the subject like a lobster haha. But the key is, it was completely mechanical. But at the end of the day, it's just a bunch of tubes full of fluid that move based on pressure differentials.”

“Which means?”

“Well, heat would throw it off.”

“Here, I think we have a schematic. Now, doctor, this is very important. I need you to explain to me exactly how the machine malfunctioned, and how it would affect HECA79.”

“Well technically, it wasn’t malfunctioning at all. It was functioning correctly, just under less-than-ideal circumstances. Oh, haha. Yes, haha, but thats not what you’re looking for haha. Yes. Well. What side did the fire hit it from? Do you know?”

“This one here.”

“Fascinating. Well. Then, the apparatus would have uh, hm. Oh dear.”

“Doctor.”

“It would have spiked the hypnostimulant feed, while introducing impurities.”

“Which means?”

“I- I haven’t the slightest idea. It would've been deadly, I can assure you that. But its as if…Its as if you had a car, coasting in neutral, downhill at terminal velocity, and then you switched gears to high gear, and then slammed the gas while spraying rocket fuel into the intake.”

“Could we ask you to write a full report on your speculation?”

“Frankly sir, I am as intrigued as you are. You would have to hold my wrists to keep me from writing on this. Fascinating.”

ENCLOSED: FINAL READOUT OF HECA79

"BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD"[Phrase repeats over twenty thousand times.]

[nostalgebraist]

Honestly I'm pretty tired of supporting nostalgebraist-autoresponder. Going to wind down the project some time before the end of this year.

Posting this mainly to get the idea out there, I guess.

This project has taken an immense amount of effort from me over the years, and still does, even when it's just in maintenance mode.

Today some mysterious system update (or something) made the model no longer fit on the GPU I normally use for it, despite all the same code and settings on my end.

This exact kind of thing happened once before this year, and I eventually figured it out, but I haven't figured this one out yet. This problem consumed several hours of what was meant to be a relaxing Sunday. Based on past experience, getting to the bottom of the issue would take many more hours.

My options in the short term are to

A. spend (even) more money per unit time, by renting a more powerful GPU to do the same damn thing I know the less powerful one can do (it was doing it this morning!), or

B. silently reduce the context window length by a large amount (and thus the "smartness" of the output, to some degree) to allow the model to fit on the old GPU.

Things like this happen all the time, behind the scenes.

I don't want to be doing this for another year, much less several years. I don't want to be doing it at all.

----

In 2019 and 2020, it was fun to make a GPT-2 autoresponder bot.

[EDIT: I've seen several people misread the previous line and infer that nostalgebraist-autoresponder is still using GPT-2. She isn't, and hasn't been for a long time. Her latest model is a finetuned LLaMA-13B.]

Hardly anyone else was doing anything like it. I wasn't the most qualified person in the world to do it, and I didn't do the best possible job, but who cares? I learned a lot, and the really competent tech bros of 2019 were off doing something else.

And it was fun to watch the bot "pretend to be me" while interacting (mostly) with my actual group of tumblr mutuals.

In 2023, everyone and their grandmother is making some kind of "gen AI" app. They are helped along by a dizzying array of tools, cranked out by hyper-competent tech bros with apparently infinite reserves of free time.

There are so many of these tools and demos. Every week it seems like there are a hundred more; it feels like every day I wake up and am expected to be familiar with a hundred more vaguely nostalgebraist-autoresponder-shaped things.

And every one of them is vastly better-engineered than my own hacky efforts. They build on each other, and reap the accelerating returns.

I've tended to do everything first, ahead of the curve, in my own way. This is what I like doing. Going out into unexplored wilderness, not really knowing what I'm doing, without any maps.

Later, hundreds of others with go to the same place. They'll make maps, and share them. They'll go there again and again, learning to make the expeditions systematically. They'll make an optimized industrial process of it. Meanwhile, I'll be locked in to my own cottage-industry mode of production.

Being the first to do something means you end up eventually being the worst.

----

I had a GPT chatbot in 2019, before GPT-3 existed. I don't think Huggingface Transformers existed, either. I used the primitive tools that were available at the time, and built on them in my own way. These days, it is almost trivial to do the things I did, much better, with standardized tools.

I had a denoising diffusion image generator in 2021, before DALLE-2 or Stable Diffusion or Huggingface Diffusers. I used the primitive tools that were available at the time, and built on them in my own way. These days, it is almost trivial to do the things I did, much better, with standardized tools.

Earlier this year, I was (probably) one the first people to finetune LLaMA. I manually strapped LoRA and 8-bit quantization onto the original codebase, figuring out everything the hard way. It was fun.

Just a few months later, and your grandmother is probably running LLaMA on her toaster as we speak. My homegrown methods look hopelessly antiquated. I think everyone's doing 4-bit quantization now?

(Are they? I can't keep track anymore -- the hyper-competent tech bros are too damn fast. A few months from now the thing will be probably be quantized to -1 bits, somehow. It'll be running in your phone's browser. And it'll be using RLHF, except no, it'll be using some successor to RLHF that everyone's hyping up at the time...)

"You have a GPT chatbot?" someone will ask me. "I assume you're using AutoLangGPTLayerPrompt?"

No, no, I'm not. I'm trying to debug obscure CUDA issues on a Sunday so my bot can carry on talking to a thousand strangers, every one of whom is asking it something like "PENIS PENIS PENIS."

Only I am capable of unplugging the blockage and giving the "PENIS PENIS PENIS" askers the responses they crave. ("Which is ... what, exactly?", one might justly wonder.) No one else would fully understand the nature of the bug. It is special to my own bizarre, antiquated, homegrown system.

I must have one of the longest-running GPT chatbots in existence, by now. Possibly the longest-running one?

I like doing new things. I like hacking through uncharted wilderness. The world of GPT chatbots has long since ceased to provide this kind of value to me.

I want to cede this ground to the LLaMA techbros and the prompt engineers. It is not my wilderness anymore.

I miss wilderness. Maybe I will find a new patch of it, in some new place, that no one cares about yet.

----

Even in 2023, there isn't really anything else out there quite like Frank. But there could be.

If you want to develop some sort of Frank-like thing, there has never been a better time than now. Everyone and their grandmother is doing it.

"But -- but how, exactly?"

Don't ask me. I don't know. This isn't my area anymore.

There has never been a better time to make a GPT chatbot -- for everyone except me, that is.

Ask the techbros, the prompt engineers, the grandmas running OpenChatGPT on their ironing boards. They are doing what I did, faster and easier and better, in their sleep. Ask them.

[cutehoons02]

I’m in love an idiot

*pairing: Jay Mercedes Driver x Shy fashion student

*trope: Grumpy for Sunshine

Speed or Love series

*tags: humor, speeding, shy girl but with a nice character, mocked, Jay is as much ossesed by her, good girl, first win for Jay, first kiss, daughter of the engineer of Jay’s track, Y/n is off limits, kiss, jealousy, hugs, Y/n doesn't like physical contact that much instead Jay is the opposite of her he would hug everyone, Jay is really a green flag

* synopsis: Opening a brand of clothes has always been the dream of Y/ n but to be successful and make more people know his best friend came the idea of being able to ask for help the most beautiful driver of the circuit that who has more brands at its feet. Y/n doesn’t tolerate Jay’s presence because he is the exact opposite of her: full of friends, extrovert, has all the famous girls at his feet among influencers and models. Y/n will ask Jay for help but you know everyone wants something in return and what Jay wants is to be his first in everything, but what will Jay mean?

*songs: Me gustas, Smooth Operator, Style, Mònaco

if you like i would write a second part

* word count: 6k (Tell me if you like this kind of stories:) comments are appreciated

—REBLOG if you enjoyed

©cutehoons02 all rights reserved 2024.

The male sketch in front of you was your nightmare and also Park Jongseong or just Jay, the rising star of the Mercedes stable, the diva of the paddock with his smile and her manner of doing gentlemanly with any person with the difference that with women she flirted from morning to evening and could be girls of 20 years to women bored by their husbands immersed in the various clubs of F1 of 40 years, was the most beautiful driver of the paddock and for your misfortune, it was not you to think. Still, the whole circle, all the fans who had voted in a poll with more than 50 million votes, and every year that passed more brands demanded the name of Jay from Prada, Calvin Klein, Pomellato, etc and to your bad luck, you were the daughter of his engineer and heard about him 24 hours on 24. Your dad loved Jay, the Mercedes had him at age 14, and with the help of various sponsors but also with the results he brought home in F3 and with the victory of the championship of F2 he spent a year as third driver for the team and this year was his first year under the silver star of Mercedes and the whole team could not be more satisfied with the results he had brought.

You looked at the sketch before your eyes and puffed, besides the window, you could see the skyline of Barceloneta and with that view, you should have felt relaxed and had some inspiration but instead in your head there was a cosmic nothingness only the sentence that had told you a few hours before Jay in the car, you were studying fashion and your brand was struggling to emerge so your best friend with whom you had created the brand had the brilliant idea that you could even think of asking Jay for help, but you immediately said no, you had hardly talked with Jay since the beginning of the season and you had been to some great prizes so how could you ask for help from one of the most famous, noisy, exuberant people in the paddock for the growth of your brand? Besides, you were too shy and didn’t give any good vibes to that guy with all those different girls around him every weekend, in the box every weekend there was some model or influencer who worked with Prada and he seemed not to notice your presence even if you were his engineer’s daughter, he had said hello three or four times and in these few meetings he never even smiled at you; but everything changed the night before when you met Jay for the first time alone without any other friends, drivers or famous people around.

You were waiting for your dad’s car to leave the circuit. In addition to some travel bags that you had in your father’s hand, you also had your notebook with various sketches for your brand and some colors with which you had done tests to see what shade was better for the graphics you had created for the shirts and sweatshirts that you wanted to design and produce in the future, you heard a light whistle and watched Jay approach the parking lot where all the drivers had their cars, with his blonde half platinum hair with small pink hues, they highlighted, even more, the slightly honey-colored skin and also the small birthmark that had in the neck shaped like a butterfly/ heart seemed to stand out more thanks to the color of his hair.

A shy smile formed on your lips because to be an F1 driver you imagined him dressed a little all tacky instead he wore All-Star at the rate consumed, of the slightly elegant black trousers and a light pink cardigan that unintentionally matched her hair color, held a giant Prada bag with the Mercedes logo in the other hand his inseparable guitar, had this fixation in the play before going down the track and surely it was his lucky while putting in the car all his equipment turned to your side and looked at you for a second and then returned to rearrange the trunk of his sports car, you didn’t expect to have a conversation with him but even a simple hand gesture would have been nice on his part, you took your phone and wanted to disappear from that embarrassing scene instantly but you heard a voice talking.

"Sweetheart don’t tell me you’re waiting for your dad because he’s still doing the briefing with the other engineers and it definitely won’t be over in an hour, it’s better if you call yourself a company car of the Mercedes otherwise in the hotel will not arrive before 22 with the traffic that there is to get to Barceloneta" You raised your eyes, god why did he have to call you sweet? He knew clearly what you called, and tried to call your dad’s driver a couple of times but did not answer. A light laugh came out of the American boy before he started his sports car, you heard the roar of the engine and put you slightly away from that car before it hit you with a reverse. When Jay got out of the way he had the engine rumbling and a slight smell of gasoline crept into the air, you saw Jay lean back and open the passenger door and wave to you with his hand to come in, "Sweetheart you can trust me not bite, we are also the same age and i can promise that i don't intend to touch or touch with a finger even because you’re the daughter of my engineer i don't want to be under the ground before winning a world championship with Mercedes! So don’t be difficult and let me take you to the hotel while we’re in the same building." You still looked as if someone came from the circuit but besides other workers of other teams, there was nobody so you put your dad’s bags behind the trunk and sat with your notebook and your colors in Jay’s sports car and maybe it was a bad choice because in Within seconds you found yourself with your hands holding the seat firmly for the high speed in which it had started.

"Are you out of your mind? We’re on a normal road not in an F1 track idiot, you said that you do not want to die before winning a world championship with the Mercedes but if you run like this sooner or later you’ll crash. Lower that speed otherwise..." You heard Jay laugh and watch you as he was speeding down the highway towards Barcelona "Otherwise what Y/n? You throw yourself from the car at almost 200 kilometers per hour, I know that if intelligent you never would do it" You saw Jay watching you while he was running at that speed and you slapped him in the arm "Park Jongseong looked at the road instead of looking at me, Before I die I seriously want to graduate, give my first kiss, open my brand and" before you go ahead with the list of things that you wanted to do before dying felt the car lose speed and finally go at a speed appropriate for the road code.

"Wait, give your first kiss? open a brand? what are you talking about? Didn’t i think my engineer’s shy little daughter could be so interesting, sweetheart why have we never talked before today?"

What were you into? You never talked so much with people especially if this person was of the opposite sex, you were always shy with people and did not talk to males

"Uhm maybe because you’re too busy with all those celebrities that you have around every weekend in the paddock or your box" you lowered your voice slightly because you didn’t want to be cynical or disagreeable with Jay but you were never talkative, you preferred to listen to people or even better to be alone.

"Sweetie doesn’t tell me you’re jealous of me, i know personally 1% of the famous people who come to my box during the weekends but tell me more about this brand and how you never gave your first kiss" You felt the look of Jay and felt a slight sense of anxiety "There is nothing to say,i never gave my first kiss to anyone, in practice there was never the opportunity or maybe even if but if i have to kiss someone i must feel comfortable and the other person must like me."

"Sweetie you’re making fun of me, it’s impossible that no guy has kissed you before, look at you have nice wavy hair/ curly, light eyes, you can see that you have a beautiful physique even just wearing a t-shirt and short shorts and not to mention that third abundant you have of the breast" A slight redness crept into your cheeks and put your arms crossed under your breast, as he knew that you had an abundant third? Of course, she’s seen who knows how many nude models in her bed.

"I’m serious Jay" you saw him nodding and with a hand taken from your notebook a sheet with a small sketch of a model with a sweater with a slightly modern but original print take the cherry blossoms and under the design it was written China gp and Japan Gp, a slight whistle came out of Jay’s lips and looked at you while you were standing at traffic lights "Sweetie didn’t think you were so good at drawing, can i see more of them please?" anguish and showed small sketches of a dress slightly elegant but practical its blue tones with small white beads that took the white foam of the sea and the various shades of blue of the seas that you could see in Cotè Azur with underwritten Monaco Gp.

"Do you like them? I know you model for super famous brands and with designers with a lot of years behind in the fashion world but I would like to know your opinion" Jay looked at you surprised, there was no one to judge your sketches but they were all wonderful "Sweetheart if i made a dress like that even if i was a man i would wear it, you can already understand that i like them, i didn’t know you were so good at drawing." A shy smile made its way into your face but you remembered that it could also tell you to make you feel slightly special and then talk about how much your drawings sucked, Part of you was thinking about what your best friend said but on the other side you were seriously afraid to hear a no. You looked at yourself a couple of times Jay and at the same time the minutes that were decreasing to get to the hotel "I’d like to ask you something, you’re free to tell me that you don’t care or you don’t have time and i’ll understand why you’re a pilot in the first place" Jay looked at you intrigued "Tell me everything sweetie as long as it’s legal you can ask me anything"

"My best friend and i, have had this little brand for a couple of months but we lack that extra thing that helps us to be more "appetizing to the public", especially to a young consumer and our age, we have a decent number of followers on ig and also on tik tok but we would like to make us known to as many people as possible" You stopped to talk because Jay didn’t give you more glances and maybe he felt exploited in that situation "So are you asking me Park Jongseong to model or advertise for you? You know i have a team that rejects brands much more famous than yours and with which i could make even more money to race in F1?"

"I knew it was a crazy thing to ask you i told her, i didn’t think of this idea, you wouldn’t have come to mind and let it go." You saw Jay bite his lips slightly and pass his hands in the tuft and felt a slightly increase speed below you

"What will you give me in return if I accept your proposal?" You saw the hands exceed 200 kilometers per hour and the heart beat too fast for your standards

"Anything legal, if you want tomorrow i can show you a sketch that I did with a male mannequin" the hands were still at 200 kilometers an hour and you knew he had not finished asking you what he wanted.

"I want a sketch with my sweet face not with a mannequin without emotions, tomorrow let me find the sketch in the box and i’ll think about it"annuities but the speed had always remained the same "Idiot if you have nothing else to ask me, lower that speed, my dad will kill you with his own hands if i hurt."

"When you are with me, no harm will ever happen to you, and stop calling me an idiot, they have not taught you to respect people older than you and if you need me you should behave well!"

"You’re four months older than me Jay not five years, tell me what you want in return, and lower the speed please"

"I’d like to be your first in everything Y/n".

The light colors of dawn were disappearing to the horizon and the sketch you had done for Jay was now finished, you thought to make him an outfit inspired by America and the 80/90 years to enter the paddock during the gp in his state of origin. A baseball hat with a little teddy bear a small guitar and the colors of his favorite Seattle baseball team, the same was in the sweatshirt but in the back, you had written "Love your fav F1 diva" and the jeans were slightly washed out color and always with small reminders of the colors of his favorite team and behind you could attach a pin with a small panicle symbol that he used also in the helmet in honor of his favorite food. You thought it was an original idea but until i gave the sketches to his PR you were not happy, there was a beautiful day in Barcelona and soon would start qualifying; you were sitting on the terrace that was on the track, and under you were the two Mercedes drivers who were going down the track, your best friend could not be at that gp so you started to get bored but when you saw that Jay could fight seriously for the first positions you carefully looked at all the times he made and with each lap he got better and better, You saw your dad focused on giving telemetry with the data of the other pilots to Jay where he could improve.

Between the interval of Q2 and Q3, your dad saw you and greeted you and gave you a thumbs up, smiles and a slight anxiety grew in you, Jay had not made any poles until now but managed to have some podiums in his portfolio from a P2 driver in Australia, P3 in China in practice he lacked the first victory and maybe more speed in qualifying, everyone in the paddock began to wonder when he would unlock as well to make perfect laps in qualifying but people did not think that before there was also Park Sunghoon, "Ice Prince" of F1, Jay and, Sunghoon were basically best friends but Sunghoon had the fastest car on the grid and was also the fastest driver on track since the beginning of the season, so when you saw Sunghoon P1, Jake P2, and Jay P3 you weren’t so surprised by the result. Jay was stronger in the race step than in the qualifying but slowly with the months you were sure that he would also start to make Pole Positions for Mercedes.

Jay had not had more occasion to speak with you or only to see you but after the race in the private plane that they had bought him, Hoon, Jake and Heeseung was looking at the sketches that you had made and had been designed for gp in America at his house, were designed for a street style that he loved to wear especially when he was in America and smiled when he saw the small detail of the pin in the shape of corn.

"Who did these sketches for you, Jay? Don’t tell me you’re denying another brand to be part of your circle because you could make me some extra money" Jake laid down in his folding seat and sipped his iced cola while looking at the various sketches

"You would have the same sponsors if I did not fuck during the race gp and not only Jake, when you start to give yourself a fix with the dramas and with various gossip that go out with I don’t know how many different girls a week you will receive also brands that want you as a model" Sunghoon and Heeseung laughed as they watched Jake lift his eyes and put on headphones.

Jay took his phone and searched for Y/n’s name on ig and saw that he had a private profile on ig so asked her for friendship, who the hell used to still have a private profile on ig in 2024? Waited a couple of minutes but no notification that Y/n was coming in his mobile until he landed in Nice to head home to prepare for the GP of Montecarlo who saw you had accepted his request and that you had followed him. Well, at least you dared to follow him.

Parkjong02: hello sweetie, i saw the sketches and i like but there would be some changes that i would make, you want to meet us on Wednesday in front of the port so we go for a coffee and i’ll show you what i’d like in the sweatshirt

Y/n: please call me Y/n and not sweetness

Y/n: I land on Thursday in Monte Carlo so before Thursday we can’t see each other

Parkjong02: what do you mean you land on Thursday? Don’t tell me that it’s an excuse not to see me alone with me! I know you live in Montecarlo with your dad

Y/n: I live with my dad in Monte Carlo but i study fashion in Paris and i can’t miss classes because the famous Park Jongseong requires my presence on Wednesday in Monte Carlo

Parkjong02: ops i didn’t know you had compulsory frequencies, i saw you in the boxes in Australia and China so i thought you didn’t have them

Y/n: this week we have to present a project is why i have to stay in Paris but if you want we can meet Thursday after the interviews for the media with my best friend so she also see what changes you would like to do and you can tell us seriously what you want in return. You know we can’t offer you a high budget if you agree to collaborate with our brand we could do anything.

Parkjong02: you already know what i want in return:)

Y/n: Even under torture you would not be my first kiss, change request

Parkjong02: Want to make a little wager?

Y/n: nope

Parkjong02: you’re so boring;(

Y/n: What is the subject?

Parkjong02: mmm by chance i signed the contract with you in Montecarlo and that i make my first pole in F1 and win the first race of my career in Montecarlo would give me the honor of being your first kiss?

Y/n: you know that it is very unlikely that you will make the Pole in a circuit like Monte Carlo if you always started under the P3

Parkjong02: so you’ll take the loan?

Y/n: we shall see

On Thursday afternoon you were inside the motorhome of the Mercedes with your best friend and you were slightly biting your nails for anxiety, what if she didn’t accept? What if he accepted but wanted more money than you could give him? and if he accepted but would seriously want to have as reward kissing you? He had never looked at you or watched from the beginning of the season because he ever wanted to be the one to give your first kiss? All these questions were driven out of your mind when you saw Jay enter in his half-unlaced suit to reveal the super tight white Mercedes jersey where he stood out his chest muscles and also his biceps, He was certainly one of the most beautiful guys i had seen with his beauty as particular. When he saw you he left his PR and headed to the small table where you and your best friend had laid down the various sketches.

"Good morning ladies, sorry for the slight delay but i had to linger more while doing the track walk in some sections of the track because i would like to make my first Pole Position in this beautiful circuit and win the race" look you badly Jay, God was seriously serious with that message he had sent you or was he teasing you?

"Don’t worry, Jay, we’re so happy to have you here to see our project even for 5 minutes with all your commitments. Me and Y/n opened this small brand in early January and is experiencing success, especially among F1 fans we thought to involve you drivers, but here is someone who in all these years has not made who knows so much friendship with you drivers of the new generation!" a slight push from your best friend made you wake up from the small state of trance in which you were finished, the only one you could count on as a friend was Jungwon but it did not have all the following that Jay had in social.

"Um, yeah, we’re really glad you’re here, Jay. You’ve already seen the sketches but I wanted to show them live and say what you would like to fix" Jay stared at you carefully and a slight smile formed in his lips, he saw how much i was against this meeting and you had always been attached to your best as if it had a weapon with which to protect you from him.

"I like the style a little vintage that you recalled, also the details on the colors of my team are beautiful but the sweatshirt would make it slightly over, in the back the writing i would like it with silver and black pallets to recall the colors of Mercedes and at the end, it would be nice to produce pins to attach in jeans that panicle is beautiful but i would prefer a pin with a small black guitar and silver that is my symbol that i always put in my helmet"

"Of course anything, we will show you if you want the next week the various prototypes of sweatshirts that we already have in stock.

"For the sponsorship speech how much would you like as a starting figure?, you know we are novice students and we do not have a super high budget but if i would make us public and also as a model we will make sure that the content will go well and also sales" Your best friend was great at making people understand what they wanted and seemed to be convincing even Jay.

"I don’t need your money, put it away for your dreams you want to build with this brand, i do nothing for free but this could be the first time for me too, or maybe there is something i would like but maybe i will only have with the win and the pole of Montecarlo, i say hello girls it was a pleasure to do business with you for your next months i will be your model so we’ll see each other more often around" Jay gave you a wink and ran out of the motorhome.

"What did he mean by the win and the Pole of Monte Carlo, are you hiding something from me, miss?"

"I’m not hiding anything from you because it’s extremely unlikely to see Pole on this track if his best result was P3 and we know how important it is to start first on this track"

The unlikely things in life could happen but how many chances were there that both in Q3 and Q2 Jay had placed first, It was missing to name the top 10 drivers as well as the top 5 rows of Monte Carlo and you were dying from anxiety both because you wanted to see your dad’s team win but also because if Jay had done Pole Position there would be too many chances for a victory tomorrow in Monte Carlo.

"The American driver is doing one last lap to warm up his tires before he launches to see if he can compete for his first pole of his career, It would be absurd to see him do Pole in Montecarlo because he always missed that swivel of speed in previous qualifying but in a couple of minutes we will find out if he or another driver will do it."

You heard the reporter talking aloud and all the people inside the box Mercedes were still to see in the maxi screens all telemetry Jay threw himself through the narrow streets of the iconic Montecarlo in the first sector he had improved a couple of tenths of his best time that he had done in Q2, watch the graphics of the times become all fuchsia (when a driver makes the best time in a certain sector of the track he illuminate fuchsia his time) your heart was beating wild because it seemed to touch all the walls with his car to make the best time and at the last curve saw other fuchsia come out of the graphics and when he passed the finish line had given 350 tenths to the second driver and was Pole Position for Park Jongseon.

The whole box was celebrating and your dad slipped out of the Mercedes' small wall and came towards you "Come with us to celebrate Y/n, i can’t believe that this crazy guy made his first pole in one of the most difficult circuits of the season, i knew when he came to his first pole was iconic but i never expected it in Montecarlo" You embraced your dad and saw all the joy he was trying to have as his pilot Jay

"I’m so happy for Jay, for you and the whole team you deserve after all the years of hard work you’ve had to face." You walked with your dad to the barricades where stopped in the first place the car was black and silver and saw Jay come out of the cabin and run to hug his mechanics and your dad, Your dad hugged him and even gave him a kiss in the helmet and immediately took his phone from his social media manager to take a picture with all the people who cheered him. He had received many criticisms because he had missed from the beginning of the season many qualifications but maybe Monte Carlo had changed something in him or maybe he felt more comfortable with the car, When he took off his helmet his gaze passed over you and made the sign with a finger 1 and then with a check to let you understand that something had completed it and that was missing victory to steal your first kiss.

A heavy rain was covering the whole state of Monte Carlo and the light wind was swaying hundreds of boats docked in the port of the Principality to enjoy closely the race and cars, this rain gave Jay even more chance to win because for almost 20 laps had in front of the Safaty Car (the Safaty Car comes out during an accident or when the track conditions are not quite optimal strong rain/ fog etc), the race direction had given the go away to the Safety Car and so started at the 21st the gp we are some overtakes but at gp, the first 2/3 who started from the first positions had good chances of winning and Jay knew that if he did not make nonsense or if the wall box He would have done everything perfectly could take home the first victory of his life.

"Jay the wheels of the car are all 4 in perfect condition, the rhythm is going well and if you see Sunghoon approaching you do not get anxious because in a couple of turns the rain will fall even stronger so it won’t fuck especially if he’s fighting for the world"

"Thanks for giving me the information about the precipitation, if i see that it comes a little too close i can push a bit more"

"No Jay, not pushing the track is very slippery and you could lose your car, take home this victory thanks to your talent shown yesterday in pole."

"Copy", he and Y/n’s dad had always had a beautiful relationship both when he was in F2 and now and trusted him 100% as if he were his guardian angel, Sunghoon was always close but he didn’t seem to want to risk too much and when the rain started falling stronger they all started to slow down, you could see little inside the cabin and a slight anxiety began to grow.

"Jay your times are going well, can you see us well or we must communicate to the race direction? Many pilots are complaining about the poor visibility"

"You can’t see a fucking thing, I’m practically shitting myself and maybe I’ve seriously pissed myself but i want to win this race at all costs."

Inside the box the mechanics started laughing at the jokes in World Vision, you and your best friend had headphones to listen to the various communications and both of you were laughing, you already knew that would become a meme on that radio team.

There were still 5 laps to go and without noticing you shook hands with your best friend and saw all the mechanics praying but at the same time started preparing the sign with P1 JAY written to put it out on the last lap so Jay could read that he had won the competition.

Your dad left the box wall and ran under the flood to see Jay first arrive and the same thing you did, your best friend and everyone else in the box, small tears began to run down your dad’s face when he saw Jay get out of the car, He threw himself into the crowd and they began to jump him lying down in all the arms that held him and after a few minutes he even went to hug his parents and apologized to the journalist for the delay.

He had all wet hair and also the suit but it was nice to see him so happy and with his cheeks slightly reddened from the sweat but also for all that affection he was receiving from all the people who had seen him grow up.

A mountain of splashes mixed with rain fell under the podium of Monte Carlo, Jay was seventh heaven to share his first victory with the trio of 02z he, Hoon, and Jake had grown together and did not believe that he still won thanks to that incredible lap yesterday.

"How are you gonna celebrate tonight, Jay? There you have to pay everyone a dinner in some luxury restaurant by the sea of Montecarlo you lost the beat, what I told you that before the summer break you won a race, you must believe more in yourself from this point of view" Hoon hugged Jay before they went to do the last interviews for various television stations.

Inside the box everyone sang and danced to Smooth Operator the iconic song of Sade that Jay had made singing to his first F3 victory, there was an air of serenity and joy but Jay had been looking for half an hour now Y/n and was seriously afraid that she had gone.

ParkJong02: Did you enjoy the race?

Y/n: You were great me and my best friend I held hands for the anxiety of bad weather but also because every lap that passed you could always slowly get away from Red Bull

a slight moan came out of Jay’s lips, because he was so happy to be able to talk also via message with Y/n, she was the daughter of his engineer could not see her in any other way but when he wanted something he wanted at all costs to have it

ParkJong02: Will you be at the Twiga with your best friend this evening? There will also be other drivers including Jungwon

Y/n: Uhm ok, what time do you go?

ParkJong02: I think by 10:00 p.m., will you come?

Y/n: someone must redeem his "prize"

When Jay read that message his cheeks turned slightly red but at the same time he bothered him because he did not want to force Y/n to kiss him, but who would not want to kiss him? had a list of models or influencers who invited him to a dozen parties organized in the French Riviera but he had only the lips of Y/ n in mind since he had discovered that he had never given anyone his first kiss a sense of protection and perhaps protective possession had grown in him.

The music was booming in the club in front of the port and the privy there were all the drivers of the new generation who were celebrating Jay’s victory, with gold there was the PR of Jake and another girl that you had already seen working for Red Bull, Jay noticed you with your best friend and signaled you to go to the side where they were near the water.

"I didn’t think you’d come sweeter, these idiots you know all of them instead they’re ___ Jake’s PR and ____ the Social Media Manager of Red Bull, order whatever you want." You saw him go to the balcony and say hello to some celebrities and I put you close to your best friend and Jungwon, he and your best friend didn’t get along so much so every time you had to be careful that they didn’t kill each other.

"Calm down in two minutes she will come back and be with you all the time Y/n, had to tell your dad that you were under his protection from any pilots or guys who tried to hit on you" Jake started laughing taking his beer to his lips and gave you a friendly wink.

"I don’t need his protection if he’s the first one who wants to break the rule" Hoon made a little whistle "He said you were slightly shy with people Y/n, instead I know you know your stuff" Sunghoon looked at you carefully and turned his gaze away from her angelic but emotionless face.

Jay approached the group and smiled at you, Jungwon, and with the PR of Jake who complained about how much he made her regret but your eyes were always almost always attracted by Jay god because he was so attractive but still beautiful without doing anything. After a few more minutes he approached you and a colony that smelled of sandalwood and citrus invaded you.

"It seems that improbable things happen in life or maybe it is destiny that is telling us something Y/n" Jay’s face was too close for your taste and when he whispered to you you felt a slight anxiety grow in you but also little shivers.

"Guess fate is on me if i have to give my first kiss to a jerk like you who was almost killing himself in qualifying just to make the fastest time for pole."

"Well, it was worth the risk so much if i could collect my first win in F1 and maybe even a kiss from you Y/n" felt a big hand lean into yours and Jay took you out of the club and started walking near the port. " You said that if you want to kiss a guy you have to feel comfortable Y/n?" You looked and watched as the moon illuminated the beach expanse before you, Jay’s hand was perfectly intertwined with yours and you pulled your hair out for anxiety until you arrived in front of the beach and Jay sat you on the wall that supported the porch to go down to the beach.

You felt Jay’s hand caress your cheek and carry behind your ear a rebellious lock, his look never came off your face but he never looked at your lips and this thing made you crazy, he had said that he wanted, Instead your gaze was always lower than his and you looked at his lips slightly fleshy and as some slightly blonde and pink tufts fell on his face.

"I see how you’re looking at me Y/n and I’m so happy that this look is only for me and no other idiot who would take advantage of you."

"I’m not looking at you in any particular way, Jay, i’m just seeing how the light reflection of the moon is making your skin stand out and even your colored hair, don’t get your head but you look good with this color You’re better blonde than your natural color" a light whistle came out from the lips of Jay and you felt his hand touch slightly the lower part of your back and approach you.

"Y/n has seriously made me a compliment this is new to me, where did the shy girl who talks about you in the box?"

"Maybe she’s feeling slightly comfortable and never thought she would be with an idiot who risks dying or having accidents every weekend at 300 miles per hour" Jay smiled at you and got dangerously close to you.

"Are you telling me that i’m putting my track engineer’s shy daughter at ease? I know this would be wrong because i know you’re off limits but i’m so eager to kiss you, can i be your first boyfriend you give your first kiss Y/n? Annuisti and shortly after you felt the sweet lips of Jay kiss you gently, it tasted slightly of alcohol but sweet, and without noticing you put your arms behind his head to bring him closer to you, your lips were perfectly made to be kissed and you felt slightly biting your lips infernos and a slight moan came out of your lips, thanks to this little moan Jay smiled in your lips and put his tongue into your mouth and from the light kiss that had begun made it to how passionate and intense.

Jay took a second to let you take a little breath and caressing your back lowered slightly and gave you a light kiss with the lips as if it were the most natural thing in the world, another light kiss given to you on the forehead and then embraced you like a teddy bear, how could he be so calm after having put his tongue into your mouth a few seconds before, Your whole body froze when you felt his body pressed against his and your heart was beating so hard that you were sure he could feel it.

"It seemed like you needed it, i see how hard you work to give hugs to people even to people you trust as your dad or your best friend," he muttered, his lips folded in a smile.

You stared at him, with your eyes like a deer and without words. The heat has passed through your cheeks and you have hurried to find the voice. " You can’t just kiss me like you’ve always wanted to and then hug me things if i did not know my boyfriend" You tried slightly to get away from his chest but he squeezed even more to himself "Since you don’t embrace a person Y/n? , you’re so stiff but at the same time i feel your heart beating like crazy so it means that underneath you like my hug"

"I don’t love physical contact with people so much, I’ve always been shy about people and I have trouble opening myself both mentally but also physically, I hope you won’t make fun of me Jay"

"What? No, i would never Y/n. Everyone has their insecurities and fears but when you see that a person tries in all ways to make you feel comfortable try to open up as you are doing now with me sweetie. If i knew you didn’t love physical contact so much i wouldn’t ask you to kiss me, by chance was it too much for you?

"No at all, i liked it in the sense that i felt safe with you and for having been my first kiss i wouldn’t change it for anything in the world" You couldn’t face it when you said these words, Of all the people in this world you had to feel comfortable with Jay Park, who would have thought that fate was ready to introduce her shy daughter of her father and the paddock diva...

taglist: @cloudykim @enhaverse713586 @immelissaaa @d4-b1 @firstclassjaylee @stormy1408 @jakesw82 @misssparklyprincess @bamguetismee @jaylajakey @arclviie @strxwbloody @steddie-steddie @jungwoosbaey

[thydungeongal]

https://www.tumblr.com/thydungeongal/769949043465093120/i-often-see-this-when-people-air-out-their

What do “dramatic, personal stakes” look like in tabletop gaming? What games center them in their mechanics and how?

Alright, so there are lots and lots of games out there that do this in very different ways, so this is going to be a very long and meandering answer.

Starting with the most "trad" example, Pendragon, the game of playing knights in Arthurian Britain that freely mixes history and myth, is for the most part a very traditional adventure game, but it also introduced the idea of Passions and Personality Traits to give mechanical heft to characterization. These are effectively measured on the same 1 to 20 scale as regular skills and attributes in the game, meaning that they can be "tested" just like skills, but they also have the potential for putting the player character into trouble. A character with the "Hates Saxons" Passion will have their hate actually manifest in play, whereas a character who is high in Lustful and low in Chaste will find themselves entangled in lots of romantic drama. Character personality will thus actually have concrete game mechanical effects. The Passions system has since been ported into more recent editions of RuneQuest and its descendants, including Mythras.

Fate is a more modern indie RPG that is less concerned with measuring out Exact Statistics and more about modeling narrative convention. Fate characters are, more so than their skills, basically defined by their Aspects, which are effectively narrative tags that define How a character should behave in a story and What sort of stuff should be happening to them. Aspects can be invoked (using Fate points, the game's main meta currency that the whole game operates on) for bonuses on actions that relate to that tag, but they can also be compelled to put the character into trouble in a way that makes sense for their Aspect, thus granting the player a Fate point if they accept the compel. Aspects are pretty much at the core of Fate and they are utilized for much more than just characterization: new temporary aspects can be created on the fly to represent things in the environment, aspects can be used to represent things in the world and the wider narrative, injuries and consequences of losing conflicts are effectively temporary aspects, and so on. This way the game is largely one where the meta resource management game ties heavily into things that matter in the fiction.

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy (by @anim-ttrpgs) is another very trad RPG and a game that is very much a "going on an adventure" game (but the adventure is a mystery that needs to be investigated), but the game adds a bit of extra mechanical heft to characterization of make it clear that the game is about regular people investigating mysteries: the Trait system is one of the most important mechanical dials for character customization and Traits are effectively packaged options with both benefits and drawbacks, and those mechanical effects also inform characterization very heavily; Truths are unique to each investigator and are something I would compare to Fate's Aspects but much more precise and personal and less meta, giving investigators minor bonuses on actions in a scene when they are acting according to their Truth; and finally, Tiers of Fear, which are also very personal to each investigator, define how an investigator reacts to various fear stimuli that exist in the world and thus also heavily intersect with the game's Composure mechanic. All of these mechanics interact with an investigative game with a very clear intended gameplay experience to further influence characterization and add personal stakes into the narrative.

Getting back to the more avant garde, Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine is a game that I still struggle to wrap my head around because it's a game for smart people, but as far as I have understood: the gameplay largely revolves around player characters choosing personal goals called Arcs which are further divided into Quests; each Quest is defined as a number of experience points that must be accrued towards the quest for it to be completed, as well as specific actions that characters can do to gain bonus experience on those quests, and then you basically just. Let your characters loose on quests. The important thing is that while quests can be shared among a group (for a more traditional "Group of Heroes Going on an Adventure" narrative, which Chuubo's does also support) they are also personal (so each character will have their own personal quests they will be working towards) and asynchronous (a character may pick up multiple quests over their arc and not complete them in the same order as they started them, as some will be shorter diversions on the path towards victory). Again, this is a very broad-strokes, top-down view of how the game works, because it is a very heady game that I have yet to wrap my head around. If any Chuubo's fans notice any egregious omissions or mistakes here, please let me know.

Finally I'll finish with something a bit broader, the World of Darkness "series" of games, while not having anything quite as in-depth as personality mechanics, do all have various mechanical frameworks for tying characterization into gameplay: the Classic World of Darkness games had their Archetypes, effectively defining a broad personality archetype that the character needs to act according to in order to regain Willpower; the Chronicles of Darkness games have Vices and Virtues, with characters having one of each, once again defining how they regain Willpower; and I'm sure the newer Paradox White Wolf titles also have something to that effect as well. Basically, little carrots dangled in front of player characters to encourage characterization and acting according to a specific archetype. It's neat!

[spirit-lanterns]

PORTAL 2 MENTIONED!

Also, haha, potato Kafka would be so ornery and >:I

I'm imagining Robot!Himeko just like, "Not looking too sharp, there."

And Kafka is just "ĐĪƏ!"

Oh, btw, did we even MAKE a Himeko backstory!?

No?

Okay then!

Himeko was kind of like a working prototype of a robot meant to pump out blueprints, inventions, and a repairbot.

Sooooo, kind of like how people want to make robots that make fast food and deliver it. But people want vehicle mechanic-ing and making screws and stuff an automatic process.

Himeko is like that, but is moreso meant to invent working blueprints and create things herself (maybe her briefcase is a 3-D printer? I think that would be pretty cute!)

Anyway, being a prototype, she probably had poor optimization in the GPU and RAM departments, leading to easy overheats and circuitry damage due to that, which the engineer has to repair.

Eventually, newer models come out (maybe in the form of Misha? But he's not really an inventor... idk) and, as older models are, Himeko is cast aside, deemed not good enough to use for long term, and no one wanted to use money and resources to try to update her, since she's not exactly brand-new anymore.

Perhaps her AI was copy-pasted to HI3 Himeko, but I know not much about that series to properly talk about it, oopsies...

The "coffee" She drinks is a special oil and fuel that helps to optimize her GPU usage, though the exact formula went out of production, the instructions and how to make it is still retained in Himeko's memory, which she probably tells to Engineer.

She likely tries to help the Engineer with her job, but since she was made more for inventing and her repairing doesn't specialize in robots, she can't help the engineer with her job-job, so helps to repair or create small trinkets the Engineer has. So maybe she makes screwdrivers, or wrenches.

I bet she has such a wholesome relationship with Robot!Stelle. When the Engineer's busy, Robot!Stelle probably goes to Himeko to ask for help with mending two things together, or finding out what something is and what it's used for, if it can still be useful, etc.

—🪽

EHEHEHE sassy and mean Potato Kafka makes me giggle 🤭

As for your whole deep dive on Android! Himeko, I am mighty impressed! I really like the idea of her being an android that’s sole purpose is to invent things, so I can see her being like a little assistant or helper in the Engineer’s laboratory. Maybe she’s really good at making coffee for you too <3

Oh and her relationship with Android! Stelle is just as sweet as their canon relationship in the game! I can see the two of them bonding over both being older model androids and Stelle looking up to Himeko like the mother figure she never had. It’s nice that Stelle finally has an android companion that doesn’t scare the oil out of her 😅

P.S: I can see some of the androids (besides Stelle and inevitably March) getting jealous over Android! Himeko because she works so closely to you. She spends almost every hour of the day holed up with you in your laboratory, and unless you are fixing up an android, you and Himeko are alone for majority of the day 👀

[supertrainstationh]

2/21/1995 - 2/21/2025

The Thomas VHS, “Rusty to the Rescue & Other Stories” turns 30!

The release of this Thomas tape was one of the biggest entertainment events of my childhood, it was even bigger than playing Mario 64 for the first time.

I was a kid in the US who loved Thomas and had no knowledge of the Railway Series aside from the fact that there were mysterious “old Thomas books” that I could never find anywhere. Somehow I got in my head that these books depicted the history of Sodor prior to what had been seen in the TV show up to that point, somehow I got that idea in my head in an era without internet or ANY means of learning about these books.

From the US perspective, Thomas was released sort of “by tape” rather than “by season”, so whenever a tape appeared that showed off a new character, it was a big deal.

Prior to this, Daisy and Other Stories was for example a big deal to me when I first saw it in a toy catalog, and that only had ONE new character.

So seeing the flyer for Rusty to the Rescue pictured above and being excited waiting for just one new engine character and instead getting SEVEN new characters, with the first two stories actually taking place in the past on an older railway, and learning that there were MULTIPLE railways on the Island of Sodor was a all huge mind blowing revelation to me, plus I never even knew that narrow gauge railways existed, so that was amazing to see as well, and basically sort of bridged the gap between me liking Thomas to learning as much about real life narrow-gauge railways as that books I had access to at the time allowed me to.

I think Britt Alcroft was very aware this tape was going to be a big deal, I never remember there being so many pre-release promotional materials for a Thomas tape during the VHS era.

The narrow gauge model work which was to scale with the larger standard gauge models was incredible, it was a great selection of stories, introduced me to the idea of the Bluebell Railway that I ended up getting the chance to travel to England to visit 20 years later (7395 days after the release of this tape to be exact), and it made it seem like basically anything could happen in future Thomas stories going forward.

Oh, and I was in fact totally aware even as a small child that Rusty was referred to only using gender neutral pronouns, which got my attention even without my awareness that it was a deliberate choice. 

But yeah, tons of new characters, amazing model work, a great mix of stories, yeah this tape was DA BOMB.

[thatfrenchacademic]

OK so about this "34, unmarried and childless" article about Taylor Swift. Let me tell you about Scam Academia.

TL;DR: some mediocre dude had a half baked opinio nabout Taylor Swift that everyone hated, but like Mother Nature I let nothing go to waste.

Here is the take you have not heard yet, about this opinion: this guy is actually a good case study on how to develop your academic literacy, aka how to recognize a true academic from a scammer who presents themselves as an academic, but is just a crook. In a world of pseudoscience and pretend experts that have enough resources to organize their flat earth conference, let me walk you through the world of Scam Academic, where for a few thousand dollars, you too can claim to be a researcher with a doctorate! Follow me down a rabbit hole that I hate with my whole heart!

Preamble: I have zero skin in the TS game. I don't get the hype, the lore, the obsession with those 2000s bracelet or dissecting every single line or every single song.

But then. Some guy had to write an op-ed stating Taylor Swift was not a good role model for girls ("in the US and beyond"), and it is a terrible take on so many level, but here is the thing. Whiny conservative think-pieces about highly successful women who should get back to the kitchen and think of the children are nothing new. But this one is different.

This one is fucking terribly written. It's just an abysmally written blog post. Genuinely one of the worst thing I have ever read, and I read hundreds of undergrad essays every year for a living. It contradicts its own arguments in every paragraph. It over-explains concepts like it's a high school essay and he's trying to meet the word count. It says "this is a valid question worth asking" but does not actually explain why it is worth asking. It is so, so, so bad.

Conservative writers are usually more the "high brow, drowning you in grandstanding" kind of writers. They are, usually, good technical writers - it's the one thing that helps make their talking point sound legit and palatable. So an abysmally bad conservative writer? Ok, I am intrigued.

The author is one John Mac Ghlionn. I look up the guy on Google and...

Oh.

Oh no, John.

Spewing conservative bullshit at women AND a researcher? You're in my turf now, John. You could have continued to cover UFC Pillow Fight Championships, or alien technology and other riveting subjects, but you had try to connect two brain cells to argue a thing, and slap "researcher" on top of it. Now I'm offended, as a researcher.

1. I am sorry, researcher WHERE?

Ok so if one is a "researcher", it means one conduct "research". and contrary to what backyard conspiracy theorists think, "researcher" is an actual job. It is an actual professional occupation. You get an actual contract, and you are paid actual money. By an actual employer: public (University), private (Think tank, private company), or a mix of both (at Unviersity, but on a privately funded project, for example).

So where does our John Mc Ghlionn work?

Well. Nowhere, as far as I can tell.

John does not list any affiliation. Usually, when they write, academics will state their exact position (Researcher, Doctoral Researcher, Associate Professor, Chief Engineer, Head of Department, Research Director...) and where they work. For example:

That's what it is supposed to look like.

But John? Nope, no affiliation anywhere, on anything he ever published. That's a pretty massive read flag. Research takes ressources: at the very least, time and access to database and documentation, even in social sciences in humanities. You may not need a lab, but you sure as hell need money and full access to JStore at least.

So I thought he was just one of these "I google therefore I research" kind of dude. But then, out of nowhere:

I am sorry. He has a WHAT.

2. I am sorry, a Doctorate from WHERE?

So. One thing to claim to be a researcher when you are just a professional yapper. Another to claim a DIPLOMA.

And not any diploma. A doctorate.

Let's pause. "Doctorate" is actually a really broad umbrella term of all doctoral-level degrees. The most famous (and most prestigious, for better and worse) is the PhD, but a PhD is technically just one of many Research Doctorate of, theoretically, the same level (cue this helpful reddit post). A second category of doctorates are the Applied Doctorates, and while there is Discourse on where they sit vis-a-vis PhD, the easiest is to consider that they are not research-oriented. They are hands-on, practice-oriented degrees. For example: you can practice medicine with an MD. You don't need a PhD. You can still call yourself a doctor, though.

Alright, so which of these does our friend Johnnie has? Or is currently enrolled in? And in which University?

You will notice that John does not go by "John Mac Ghlionn PhD" or even "Dr John Mac Ghlionn", when you just KNOW he is the sort of person that would but that shit everywhere. And no shade here, because I, for one, do put that shit everywhere. Maybe he is just currently enrolled in a program and has not graduated. Fair.

Since John does not list affiliation, I had to switch from academic to internet sleuth, and dig out this article:

But we learn that in 2021, John was a "PhD Scholar" in "Parkmore Institute". "PhD Scholar" is not a title I am sued to, but it's also not raising any red flag: ongoing PhD researchers can be "PhD students", "PhD fellows", "PhD researchers"... It varies from country to country and from institution to institution, so why not "PhD Scholar".

Let's check out the Parkmore Institute.

Ok, they are not a traditional university, but they appear to be more of a postgraduate institution: offering only higher level degrees, not undergrad courses. Once again, not necessarily a red flag. They are usually very heavily research focused, and embrace the "research" side of academia more than the "teaching" side. In Germany, the Max Planck Institutes are research-only institutions who deliver PhDs. They conduct cutting edge research, in part because their researchers rarely have to spend time teaching.

But that is NOT the Parkmore Institute. First of all, let's see what programs they offer:

None of them are legit.

And I mean, none of them are recognize as even Applied/Professional Doctorate by the National Science Foundation (US based). And while a PhD in Human sexuality would be perfectly valid, but I'm going to on a limb and say I have some serious doubts about "Bodymind Healing" as an academic field.

These are not legit academic degrees.

What they are, is an excellent money-making opportunity for anyone working at the Parkmore institute. Students will pay, at the very least:

And 60% of this goes to their " faculty mentor". The Parkmore institute provides no research fund, no desk or office space (they are entirely digital), no access to any resources or library, not even a Zoom account. There is also no mention of any timeline: how long a PhD take to complete? Who knows. 6 months ? A year ? 5 years? What are the requirements to graduate ? Who knows ! And I would need to pay $200 to get in touch with them, so I sure as fuck won't know any time soon!

But let's get back to our friend John. Remember that he stated, in that 2021 publication, he was a "PhD Scholar" at Parkmore ? Well that's a shame because Parkmore does not deliver PhDs. Ain't that a bitch.

ALSO. Parkmore helpfully has page with all their Doctoral Recipients! And guess who is NOT HERE ! That's right, our Johnnie !

How can this be ? Well, three possibilities:

John is still not done with a PhD. After 4 years ? In a crank university where I am pretty sure I can submit the first draft of a litt review and graduate ? Nah

John never completed the thing. Boo, that would mean that John is lying, when he says he has a doctorate. Bad, bad.

John did graduate, and obtained his doctorate in [scrolls back to check] psychosocial studies, and then was not put on the website or was withdrawn some time before today, as Parkmore institute ended their affiliation with him, as per this bit in their application form

A shame, really. If John had been affiliated with the Parkmore Institute, it would give a shred of legitimacy to anything he writes to anyone just skimming.

Now, I would love to get in touch with the Parkmore Institute and ask to see John's doctoral work, which they DO have, since the application for also has this very interesting section:

(definitely very legit, very normal).

But I am not sure how I would even phrase that request without transparently going

"hey, would love to see what bullshit research is being done over there, since one of your graduate decided to go all Handmaid's tale for the last 2 years".

If anyone feels like sending that email, I am begging you to keep me in the loop.

3. Back up, back up, what's up with that article?

Remember the article where he was listed as a "PhD Fellow"?

Well, about that... No. Welcome to the world of predatory publishing, one more cog in the Bullshit Academic ecosystem.

First: not at article. It's a "commentary". Could be worth something ia good journal, but still would not be a piece of research. But that is the least of its sins.

Its sins are being published in a journal called "Sociology and Criminology-Open Access", by a publisher called "Longdom". Longdom publishing has a bunch of journals on a lot o different fields, with the particularly of being predatory; they will publish absolutely anything you send them, as long as you pay their Article Processing Charges:

There are entire lists of Predatory journals on the web, you can find on here and another here , Longdom Publishing is in both.

This is how John can publish this last minute, Redbull-and-weed-induced essay in an actual journal, with an abstract that, I kid you not, finishes with "Please find the paper attached." He slapped together a shitty essay about people in India are poorer and therefore more likely to exhibit psychopathic traits and therefore engage in corruption, purely base on vibes. It does not even deserve be given any consideration, not even to be debunked. There is nothing to be debunked. This would be a failing grade for a 1st year intro class.

CONCLUSION

On the surface, John Mac Ghlionn is the poster boy of failed edgelords who really wish they were Jordan Peterson, but unfortunately are just Doug, the guy for 10th grade who failed the Literature class and decided it was because litterature was too woke today anyway.

Beneath the surface, John is a case study in Scam Academia, and the proof that no matter how bad actual academia is, Scam Academia can always get worse.

A quick checklist to go through whenever someone claims be a researcher, an academic, a fellow, a doctor, a PhD or anything of the sort:

What is their affiliation? Is this a legitimate organization?

Do they have a PhD? Another doctorate degree? From where?

Have they published ? Where is it published?

[allthemurders]

Walter Sullivan’s car

I spent literally four hours researching this for a throwaway line in a fic which doesn’t even apply anymore. Please appreciate my nerdiness so this doesn’t go entirely to waste 😭😭

This is Walter Sullivan’s car — a 1954 Jaguar XK120 Drophead Coupé (DHC), Special Equipment (SE) version.

These were manufactured in 1953��1954. Only 295 right-hand drive versions of the XK120 DHC were made, with less than 40 right-hand drive SE versions

The DHC SE was basically the “sport version” of the DHC. It had a 3.4 litre engine which produced 180–190 bhp, up from the regular DHC’s 160 bhp. I’m uncertain about its top speed, but the Open Two-Seater (OTS) model on which the DHC was based had a reported top speed of 125 mph, and could achieve 0–60 mph in 10 seconds. This made it the fastest production car in the world as of its debut in 1949, a title it seems to have carried until 1953

The DHC SE version had the following improvements on the DHC:

Wire wheels, meaning increased cooling to the brakes

Uprated torsion bars & rear springs

More powerful engine with high-lift cams

Dual exhaust system (this one was possibly an optional extra on top of the usual SE offerings?? Basically I found some sites that say the DHC SE had a single exhaust, except in the entirely unexplained “Super Sports model”… but also that might just be a difference between UK & US models, idk)

I wasn’t able to find information on original prices for the DHC SE, but you could probably make a rough estimate based on the following:

Apparently the OTS cost £1600 in 1953. (For context, the average house price was £1800 and the average salary was £10 a week)

The DHC probably would’ve cost more than the OTS, as it came with additional comforts such as a lined roof, external door handles, roll-up windows, opening quarter lights, and wood-veneered dashboards & door-caps

The DHC SE would’ve cost more than the regular DHC due to its further additional features and more powerful engine

Walter’s car in particular also has optional extras of Lucas fog lights and a Radiomobile car radio. It possibly also has (unseen) optional extras of a larger fuel tank and/or an underbody steel shield

Of course, after I’d spent literally four hours researching this (most of which was spent struggling to figure out if it actually was an SE version, or if it was just a regular DHC with some optional extras), I finally came up with the much simpler and easier idea of just. googling the car model + “hire”. Which immediately brought up the hire website for the exact car used in the show:

Although it doesn’t specifically say it’s the SE version, the 180 hp is a clear indication. Why did I not think to do this like three and a half hours sooner,,,,

Also put the registration plate through the DVLA checker to get the 1954 manufacture date! Apparently it was first registered in July 1954, if you want to be particularly specific

Anyways. TL;DR: Walter Sullivan’s car is only like a year old; it’s fast, fancy, and super rare… and most of all, it’s ridiculously expensive

[zeondraws]

Trying very hard to think what to do this month. I have to catch up on other stuff before I can work on more art for Nightfall. I think my plan with it is very much out of my comfort zone.

Other then that, I have to send a package out this week, once that is done, I don't have too much complicated stuff left to do

Also side note.. Ku found the website that TCR used to make the character concepts you see in one of the minidocs. There is so much to Unreal Engine that I have no clue of. Oh god I'm gonna teach myself UE5 stuff in the coming months, I'm gonna explode. How much more stuff will I need to learn because of this game, I mean it's cool but holy bananas on a stick flying a tWIG-

*coughs* Hey so, remember those uuuuuuuuh

Remember them? Yes? Ok so like..

He isn't accurate some stuff like his nose, skin and stuff still throws me off (I feel like stuff works differently now, maybe they worked with a previous version of this idk). But I am frightened to mess up the face Oh my god his forehead isn't accurate T_T, but, you can see what I wanted to show In the image they shared, they made him look younger than he actually is ingame, I messed around with a slider and found the exact same skinfolds ingame Roper has. Also I think the characters have larger eyes ingame.

Explodes

I'll make him look better the coming days, I think I might be using some version that has less functions? At least sessions are locked for 1h. I can export the model as "mhb" file but.. converting that to FBX? ahahahahaahahahahahahahah.... no that's extremely complicated and we're still trying to figure it out.

H

[runwayrunway]

MISS CONENGINALITY - BRITTEN-NORMAN BN-2 ISLANDER

Remember when the UK made the best airplanes in the world? Me neither, I wouldn't be born for several decades. Anyway, Britten-Norman Islander.

image: Air Seychelles

The last holdout of the UK making really fantastic planes, the Islander is a popular regional airliner and utility plane used for things like skydiving and air ambulance service as well as the typical passenger and cargo flights. At first glance she's a pretty regular high-wing twin-prop that seats 10, but look closer and you may begin to notice things.

Upfront, I love the Islander. (Obviously, or I wouldn't be making this post about it.) My love for this plane isn't solely organically developed, because it does also hold a special nostalgic place in my heart for being the first propeller plane I ever flew on, with Cape Air in 2015 from San Juan to Vieques. (As Vieques Air Link also operates these, they're a common sight down there! The name of the model is, as it were, very apt.)

image: Cape Air This is the exact plane that I flew on!

Now, from this image you can already see that the Islander has some lovely features, from those absolute bollards coming out of the engines to the wildly pointy nose (not the first plane I've discussed that's giving DUKW), but despite looking goofier the closer you look at it this thing is an incredibly beloved and reliable plane.

image: Bonham's Behold, a Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander.

Also of note is the Islander's extremely low wing aspect ratio, and I've always thought the tailplane looked a little too small for the tailfin from the side despite looking giant from below. The general ratios on this plane, in every single possible place, look just ever-so-slightly off, and I love it.

image: Mark Harkin I mean. She's just blocks.

Still, this is an incredibly well-designed plane. It's cheap, rugged, utilitarian, reliable, versatile, and remarkably stable in flight, which is why over 1,000 have been built to date. (Personally, I didn't find the cabin to be the roomiest even for an aircraft of its size, but I remember it being a comfortable enough flight.) The Islander is still in production today despite first flying in the mid-1960s, which is something few models can claim. You can use an Islander for basically anything, with their big doors and STOL capability, and it's even used for the world's shortest flight and an entry on my bucket list, the two-minute hop between Westray and Papa Westray operated by Loganair.

image: National Museum of Flight Scotland Despite being shown outside in this photograph, she currently lives in the civil aviation hangar, a top pick on my list of places I would like to secretly live in for the rest of my life.

image: own work, taken inside the civil aviation hangar at the National Museum of Flight, Scotland

In late October I visited the National Museum of Flight, Scotland. It was an incredible experience and I will be discussing it across several future posts due to the sheer variety of preserved airframes they had, including everything from a Puss Moth to a jump jet. (The general museum will probably get a dedicated post as well in the future - suffice to say I had a fantastic time.) Among their preserved aircraft is a BN-2 Islander registered G-BELF, painted a vivid highlighter-yellow which pictures really can't do justice in homage to Scottish air ambulances which serve isolated island communities in the North Sea.

I was absolutely delighted to see her in person. Seven years after I last stepped foot in an Islander, it felt like something of a reunion to just stand next to a mothballed airframe and admire how...really strange-looking these planes actually are.

own work, obvi

I mean, for one thing, they're a lot shorter than you might think they should be. Pictured for scale is a 165cm/5'5" tall human with a PSA Lockheed TriStar for a face. I couldn't get that good of an angle on it, but my head is only a few inches short of the wing, and you can see that I'm well taller than the cabin windows. An entire Islander is shorter than a single Concorde tire.

Plus, that wing chord is so long I could use her as a shelter in the rain.

So, yeah. That's the story of how I met my favorite commuter airliner. I hope to fly on one again someday, but for the moment I'll have to be content with looking at pictures of these weird-looking planes that can fool you for a moment into thinking they're regular.

Also they tried to put propeller shrouds on one once.

[fe-smashorpass]

So I've been thinking about when will the new mainline (this includes a potential remake) Fire Emblem game will be released.

So it's been confirmed that the Switch 2 is releasing this year. While the exact date when it'll come out is unknown, there's going to be a Switch 2 Direct on April 2nd. With this in mind, I'm predicting that the Switch 2 will come out either in October or November.

Now to what this post is about. FE has historically released the next mainline game within a 1-3 and a half year timeframe. That means there's most likely going to be an announcement for a new mainline game this year. If so, the game is most likely going to release some time between mid 2026 to late 2026. BUT, there's a chance that the new game will release in early 2027 for 2 reasons.

(This is all just speculation, so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt).

One: There were leaks in early 2022 claiming that Engage was actually finished in 2021. While some of things the leaker claimed about the game turned out to be true (it being not being a remake, the protagonist having blue and red hair, and the concept of the Emblems), there is one thing the leaker was wrong about. They claimed that Koei Tecmo and their subsidiary studio Gust also worked on Engage. No where in the game's credits mentions Koei Tecmo, nor in any interview with the developers claimed their involvement. From what I could find, only Intelligent Systems worked on Engage. So the validity of the claim that Engage was finished in 2021 can be called into question. What I'm trying to say that there's a chance Engage was still being worked on during 2021 and 2022. Also, logically speaking, why would they just sit on an already finished game for roughly 2 years? This means, unless some other studio was working on FE18 while Engage was being developed, InSyst was putting most of their attention towards Engage. There is a chance that InSyst was also working on the next game alongside Engage, but I have a feeling that InSyst was much more focused on Engage's development.

Two: The whole controversy with Unity. Basically in 2023 Unity announced a change in how developers would be charged when using Unity and developers who use Unity are mad. Here's quote from this article that basically explains what the change would be and why developers are mad:

"Instead of charging developers a set monthly rate based on the number of users utilizing the software, it would implement a pay-per-download scheme that charged developers every time their game was downloaded. That meant instead of paying a flat, predictable rate to Unity, payouts could fluctuate, resulting in potentially higher fees. This news caused a massive uproar in the game development community with developers voicing their frustration on social media. Developers argued that the pricing model was implemented without adequate warning, forcing them to either pay the new fees that can’t be adequately budgeted for or make a costly and time-consuming switch to new software. They also claimed the per-download model could be exploited by malicious actors to run up fees on developers they don’t like."

Why am I mentioning Unity? This is because Engage is the first game to use a non in house made engine for FE, meaning that there is a chance InSyst will continue to use Unity for future FE games. The problem is because of the aforementioned Unity's new method of charging developers. While the same article did state that Unity has now since revoked this change, it still probably affected the development of FE18. This is because it took a full year for Unity to revoke the change meaning that there is a chance that InSyst changed to different engine, causing a delay in the progress of the game being made.

Now this part isn't that relevant to my speculation on when FE18 will come but I just wanted mention this: While the Switch 2 is going to be backwards compatible with Switch 1 games, there's still a chance the new mainline Fire Emblem game is going to be Switch 2 exclusive. This is all dependent on when FE18 is coming out. Also if Nintendo is going to treat the Switch 2 like a true next gen console and phase out making game for the Switch 1 into the Switch 2's lifespan, or if they're going to treat it like DSI and New 3DS situation and only have a few games exclusive to the Switch 2 while still making games for the Switch 1.

Anyways, this has been on my mind for a couple of days and just wanted to share my thoughts on the matter.

[goawaypopup]

(This theory may be one you've seen before. For whatever reason. one of my favorite posts had vanished from my blog when I tried to find it, so I've done my best to recreate it. I hope you enjoy!) I've seen many Deltora fans speculate that Rodda may have been mistaken in her portrayal of the lapis lazuli. The books describe it, (and all its color-coded paraphernalia) as being like the night sky:

There was the lapis lazuli, the heavenly stone, midnight blue with pinpoints of silver like the night sky.

The lapis lazuli is deep blue with silver dots like stars

But real lapis lazuli does not look like the sky. It's vibrant blue with marbling of gold and white:

Someone in the Discord server speculated that she may have been thinking of blue goldstone, a type of synthetic glass gemstone, instead:

So why would the description of the lapis be so insistently about the sky as to practically nickname it "rock that looks like the sky does"?

Could it be that this is just how lapis looks in their world because it's a work of fiction? No, shut up. What fun is that?

One feature of the books that never really sees any fruition is the "special relationship" between the opal and the lapis lazuli. This doesn't ever have any visible results in any of the books except that they warm a little when they're near each other. What does that mean? Does it have something to do with the Mere and the Plains people hating each other?

And another puzzle piece. Bear with me:

It's easy to imagine a universe where magic works. Things that have meaning in human minds, have literal, objective meaning and power. If you do the steps X, you can (usually) expect supernatural result Y. But there's one exception that's drastically harder to model in any system where you're not writing a narrative (and don't have a bird's eye view of the whole timeline): precognition.

You might notice, for example, that seeing the future is very, very rare as an actual mechanic in video games, for this exact reason.

But powers of prophecy pop up pretty frequently on Planet Rodda. And, as seen with Sheba's precise rhyming instructions, and Opal's detailed vision of Adin's face generations beforehand, they can get pretty specific.

How can this possibly be the case, where not just the narrative beats or faraway locations can be foretold, but entire detailed chains of events can be predicted accurately? How can the laws of causation be bypassed? No, it can't be just because it's a story with magic and dragons. Shut up.

The only real way to see the future, without authorly intervention, is to have a model capable of taking into account every single one of the intricate variables that comprise a world, and perform those same calculations that reality runs on, faster. So HERE's where I'm going with this.

The lapis lazuli, entirely ignored as a powerful magical stone except as a vague engine of fate (talisman for good luck), contains a tiny world within the world, nested perhaps infinitely.

The opal, symbol of sight, peers through the opaque, starry surface of its sibling to show visions of the future to its bearer.

And the planet of Deltora itself lies within a crystal sphere that looks uncannily like the marbled blue of the Lapis Lazuli.

[motocorsas]

since we're officially 1 race into the championship, i thought i'd put together some assorted wwcr thoughts.

the bike

the Yamaha YZF-R7s provided to each team are, to my knowledge, all standardized. the bike is a 689cc inline twin that despite its larger displacement hits about the same top speeds as a Moto3 bike, but weighs twice as much. the most interesting aspect of the machine is its use of a crossplane crankshaft, where the crank throws are angled at 90 degrees from each other instead of 180 degrees. wikipedia offers this visualization to explain the tech:

if we were to condense this down from three dimensions to two, then it could be explained like this: there's one crankshaft angled at twelve o'clock, one at three o'clock, one at nine o'clock and one at six o'clock. however, since the bike is a V2, we can ignore those last two throws, since they don't exist in this engine.

this design is based off of the current Yamaha build in MotoGP, and is meant to improve torque at higher RPMs. its horsepower peaks at 72.4 hp around 9,000 RPM, but the maximum torque outputs at 6,500 RPM. that means it accelerates quickest in the middle(ish) area of its RPM range. this means it can run out of a turn pretty well under the right rider.

look, it's no secret that the bikes are slow. i'm not going to argue against that. this is a $9,000 motorcycle for a series with a $25,000 entry fee, while Moto3 boasts a fee more than twice that. it's a cheap series, but it's getting off the ground -- which brings us to our second point of focus:

the teams

i was impressed to see the diversity in teams and sponsors. some riders, like Tayla Relph, are essentially financing their ride entirely on their own. her team, TAYCO Motorsports, is named after her own social media and brand strategy company. her day job funds her racing career. other riders, like Mia Rusthen, are self-funded without being bolstered by a secondary income.

on the other end of the spectrum, Pata Prometeon Yamaha is running a WWCR team much like it runs its WSBK team. though they don't have their own custom livery to show off their fancy sponsors (unlike close competitors Forward Racing), they can obviously afford to invest in top talent. their star Beatriz Neila is coming directly from the Copa R7, a Spanish racing series also limited to the Yamaha model. she might be the most experienced with the machine out of anyone on the grid.

there are plenty of teams that are firmly in the middle, budget-wise. Sekhmet Racing team is owned/operated by Maddi Patterson -- yeah, Simon Patterson's wife -- and boasts a wide range of midlevel sponsors and partners, even if they also lack a custom livery to advertise them. Sekhmet for sure has the best social media management and brand strategy of any team, with its own website with articles, rider bios, and a mailing list. they are pursuing legitimacy in every way, and it's obvious by how they present themselves that they do not want to be a small-time team in a small-time series.

the riders

we're one race in and i've already started to find my favorites. there were riders i was aware of before WWCR; i think any dedicated racing fan could at least name Maria Herrera and Ana Carrasco, but i'd heard of Beatriz Neila and Sara Sanchez as well. in the run-up to the season's start, i've read lots of interviews with various competitors on Paddock Sorority, a site dedicated to covering women in racing.

off the bat i really like Luna Hirano, both for her extensive endurance career and her fantastic quotes:

her love of video games is relatable, but i'm more interested in her mention of an injury impeding her ability to train. this seems fairly common among competitors, with British rider Lissy Whitmore relaying the exact same thing.

i understand that it's completely normalized for riders to participate while injured or recovering. but so many of this women are entering this class -- a potential career high -- with their performance already permanently hampered by injury. it speaks to, for one, just how much work these women have to do to be recognized, and how little of it pays off. to be nearly incapable of running after an injury and continue racing anyway is nothing short of Herculean to me. not to mention Ana's remarkable recovery from her catastrophic back injury a few years ago. and contrast this with other supposedly "entry-level" series. how many Moto3 riders are coming in already debilitated? it doesn't feel fair.

i've been making these comparisons to Moto3 due largely to the similarity in speed. but i also would prefer WWCR to be considered a feeder series on par with Moto3, instead of what it has already been pigeonholed to be: a place where women can be cloistered off, riding inferior machinery with their supposedly inferior skills. the fact of the matter is that so many of these women came up riding at the exact same tracks as current MotoGP stars, but were never offered the same opportunities, and thus never developed at the same caliber. Maria Herrera, one of the top contenders for the championship, came in second in the 2014 CEV Moto3 season, behind Fabio Quartararo. she describes the shift in her career:

all of this is to say: WWCR's existence is not a victory against sexism. still, i celebrate it for platforming female racers. in a fair world, Moto3 and Moto2 teams would be looking at the current WWCR roster for future talent; but we do not live in a fair world. nevertheless i hold out hope that this series casts ripples throughout international classes, and maybe in ten or twenty or fifty years, female riders will be competing against men all the way to the top.

[maklodes]

One thing I find amusing to imagine in Star Trek is that almost every species that is a member of, or in contact with, the Federation independently discovered the warp drive on its own.* (After all, the Federation generally regards contact with pre-warp species as a violation of the Prime Directive.) Since warp drives are, by our standards, impossibly advanced technology, that basically means that all species not only discovered warp drives on their own, but they also discovered basically everything leading up to warp drives: Newtonian physics of course, quantum mechanics, relativity, all of the mathematics describing all that, whatever crazy material science stuff leads to warp coils etc.

So not only is the valorization of Zephram Cochrane as the inventor of the warp drive just human parochialism (every species has one of those!), but every species also has its own equivalents of Planck, Einstein, Gauss, Euler,  etc, as well. (Okay, not exact equivalents, necessarily. The Bolian photoelectric effect guy needn’t be the same as the Bolian special relativity guy, and maybe in some species some of Lorentz’s discoveries, Poincaré’s discoveries, and/or Einstein’s discoveries were made by the same guy, but still it’s a pretty safe bet that such equivalencies do exist at some level.) 

I imagine conversations among different scientists/engineers of different species:

Human scientist: One barrier to the speed and efficiency of early starships is that  when Zephram Cochrane invented the warp drive…

Vulcan engineer: (sotto voce to a Vulcan associate) Zephram Cochrane was the humans’ equivalent of Sarmok and T’Pran.

Human scientist: … he didn’t have anything like modern duotronic computers, so he made some simplifying assumptions about plasma flow over warp coils, using a pre-existing computational magnetohydrodynamics model based on combining Maxwell’s equations with the Navier-Stokes equation…

Visiting Klingon scientist: Navier-Stokes equation?

Vulcan engineer: (quickly types something into a PADD) Klingons would know it as…  the Tensor of Gwartok the Honorless.

Visiting Klingon scientist: Ah yes, Gwartok’s Tensor. Thank you and sorry to interrupt.

Human scientist: … pardon me, but Gwartok the Honorless?

Visiting Klingon scientist: (sighs) There was an incident early in Gwartok’s life when there was only one open tenure track position. Another postdoc challenged Gwartok to a Bat’leth duel for it. Gwartok never showed up. He said he forgot about it  because he was distracted by thinking about a vexing fluid mechanics problem. Many thought he was an honorless coward.

Vulcan engineer: Fascinating.

Visiting Klingon scientist: … one thing Klingon scientists learn to accept is that it's the macho warrior clan guys who have the political authority, and who appoint the censorship boards which can edit our textbooks. We don’t always get to pick the epithets they assign to past scientists, but at least we still get to use their equations. (Sotto voce to herself) I think I’ll look up Maxwell’s Equations on my own.

One possibility is that universal translators just translate terminology based on specific names into the equivalent for the appropriate species. Although that could lead to its own problems:

Betazoid: After Zephram Cochrane’s first successful warp, when we were contacted by Captain Robau of the USS Kelvin, as a species we mostly put aside our ancient...

Human: After Zephram Cochrane’s first successful warp? Okay, I guess this would have taken place after that, but did you really mean..

Betazoid: (fidgets with combadge in irritation) Right. I really meant our species’ inventor of the warp drive, Lwaxana Hoitrax. You heard Zephram Cochrane though, right?

Human: Yes.

Betazoid: I guess the main clause of my thought about species unification and all that jazz was interpreted as being broadly applicable to warp drive inventions and first warps in general so it got translated into “Zephram Cochrane” for a human, but my secondary clause about Captain Robau and the Kelvin was too specific and particular to our history to get translated into a universal equivalent. I didn’t know I was going to add that secondary clause until I had already started saying my main clause, so the translator got caught off-guard, so to speak.

* There may be a few exceptions to the “Federation members/contacts all discovered warp drives on their own” rule. Like, if a pre-warp species gets conquered by the Cardassians, and thus gets coercively inducted into the warp-enabled galactic community without independently discovering warp drives, then the Cardassians attack the Federation and lose a war, being forced to cede some peripheral territories (including the conquered species) in the peace treaty, then the conquered species might regain independence, then decide to pursue Federation membership. 

[incomescrane]

random AWII thoughts after finishing Final Draft

or: the ramblings of someone who’s thought about this game way too much. Lore, speculations, and silliness under the cut.

Both endings bug me a bit in terms of how Saga acts towards Alan. Now I’m not going to blame her too much- the stress of what the story is doing to her family is enough to make anyone break, and my girl stays strong in the face of all that. But I do think she was a bit too quick to judge him and assume he wrote those details himself, as opposed to the Dark Place filling them in when she was edited into the story (making up a cause to fit the effect, etc etc).

Following that: Saga is probably critical of Alan because she thinks existing and moving through the Dark Place is as easy for him as it is for her- moreso maybe, since he's been there for 13 years and should be experienced. In reality it's the complete opposite.

Exhibit A: After she's thrown in she experiences the same fragmenting Alan does in the Signal + Writer DLCs, but is able to break out of it easily because she has her Mind Place. She confronts her doubts and insecurities without them manifesting in the Dark Place and actually attacking her in the shape of barrels and tires with annoying physics.

Exhibit B: When she meets Breaker and get the page about Door traversing the Dark Place, Tim mentions he followed the instructions but wasn't able to follow the path, meaning the rules Alan follows actually exist and are not self-imposed. Alan had to write the first draft of Initiation to be able to go through Caldera Street Station and arrive at Parliament Tower. If the story doesn't make sense, reality won't shift. Saga in the meantime is able to will the door to take her where she wants to go, because she is a Door. 

TLDR: Saga’s a superwoman genetically engineered to be able to survive the Dark Place.

Alan’s cheeks look very pinchable. I made this known at every possible opportunity to my friends, who I was streaming the game for.

We are now up to 3 types of people with powers: Parautilitarians (can bind and use OoPs, manifest various effects), Seers (can access and make use of a space they manifest in their minds), and what I’m gonna call Plane shifters (like Door and Ahti, can traverse planes of existence with ease). Granted Ahti might just be a straight up god but who knows, the Remedyverse is complex.

I don’t know if/how Ahti knew the original Tom Zane, but I like to think he calls Alan Tom because he’s friends with the Old Gods, and picked it up from them.

Speaking of Ahti, the last time he and Alan meet, Alan takes care to pronounce his name properly. The interactions between those two get me every time cause they show the softer side of Alan still there even after all the Dark Place’s torture.

No seriously, look at his DBD model and tell me you don’t just want to squish his little face.

Zane in Room 665 doing the exact same dance as Scratch from AWAN, to the exact same music, cannot be a coincidence.

After Alice supposedly offed herself, Barry was left to pick up the pieces and empty out her apartment- that’s why we see the Blessed company boxes there.

Speaking of which: I need an Alan-Barry reunion yesterday. Or an Alan-Jesse team up to deal with Chester Bless and break my boy Barry out of his cult. Control 2 when?

If the Clicker is an OoP then the Angel Lamp might also be one. Heck they might be two bits of the same OoP. Is there a plug somewhere out there that also has a power? Or a lampshade?

After years of references to Campbell’s monomyth, from AWI, to the lyrics to Sankarin Tango, to AWII, the moment Alan calls himself the master of many worlds broke me to tears. Like hell yeah Alan, you go babygirl, you deserve it!!!