#11 independent project blog

[xuan0517]

2023.6.16 Project design system plan

I thought that the graduation project would not be enough with just one installation and that the installation was a bit out of the professional realm of graphic design. So I decided to make a booklet to explain the background of the project and also to enrich the content of the project.

I tried to find inspiration on Pinterest, I searched for keywords about handbooks and I wanted to make a booklet with a lot of small mechanisms, so that it would be more informative and original, I looked at some experiments with mechanism design:

I think this organ can more easily convey the information in the booklet by cutting out a flap in the opposite direction between two laminated seeds, perfect for telling history over time lines.

As well as looking at the website for inspiration, I also turned my attention to some of the work I had seen at the ECA undergraduate graduation exhibition. One of the works is about typography, there are two books in total, the author also uses a folding design technique, very simple and clear white and black as the main colour, and each page is folded very neatly, it is worth noting that the first page is made in the shape of a box, which can store the whole book back, but I think its content is too single, just repeatedly aligning the text in the centre, which has a certain aesthetic value but lacks design. It has some aesthetic value but lacks design.

However, it gave me some advice on the choice of material: it must be made of stiff cardboard and a small gap must be left in each fold to prevent piling up.

[homestuckreplay]

Webcomic 'Homestuck' Canceled For Promoting Bad Password Security

(page 456-459)

8/10/2009 Wheel Spin: Parent Bad :( Verdict: INCORRECT

8/11/2009 Wheel Spin: being silly :3c Verdict: CORRECT, but behind at least 10 layers of irony

In the far future, somebody might call this update a time capsule of the 2000s. If computers change significantly, or something. page 456 comments on Dave's bro's computer being password protected, suggesting that this isn't a cultural norm - the newly-released Windows 7 still doesn't require user accounts to have a password. In Homestuck, the password is used to protect 'incredible top secret shit,' so password protecting a personal home computer might be associated with shadier online behavior.

Bro's password is six characters, and is 'the most awesome thing it can be' according to Dave and his bro, so it's probably lilcal. (It could also be puppet, but personally my passwords are always specific characters, song titles etc, not general concepts. I don't know if other people are different. for what it's worth lilcal is also a slightly more secure password than puppet which is A SINGULAR DICTIONARY WORD). Bro also trusts Dave with his password - either because he doesn't think Dave will do anything to mess up his computer, or because he's daring Dave to use it, similar to leaving the Xbox switched on mid-game.

On page 457 we see Bro's desktop, which we can compare to Dave's desktop on page 323. They both have wallpapers from And It Don't Stop, showing us a chain of game recommendations from Bro -> Dave -> John. Dave, like Rose and John, has some character in the names of his desktop folders, while his bro has seven identically named New Folders scattered around the screen. This adds to the sense that Bro is paranoid about people looking at his computer - he's purposefully making it impossible to navigate. The hidden-identity hat and dark glasses iconography on the password entry screen has the same effect.

Bro also has a program called Delirious Biznasty, which has a rad skater dude for its icon. This could be a web browser, but I think it's more likely some kind of torrenting application, I think that'd fit his vibe. The web browsers we know are Typheus, Cetus and Hephaestus, which are all Greek mythological references with cartoon-styled icons, and Delirious Biznasty doesn't fit the pattern. Based on Dave's relationship to his bro, Bro probably uses Hephaestus too and just doesn't have a desktop shortcut.

Dave and his bro both use the Complete Bullshit content aggregator, which we are forced to witness on pages 458 and 459. Content aggregators are pretty common customizable feeds that people use to keep up with a lot of websites at once, when checking 20+ separate sites a day gets too time consuming. RSS readers are a common form of this that can host a lot of different types of content, but there are also aggregators specifically for webcomics. These are controversial - they're generally well intentioned projects made for free by webcomic fans who want to check for updates easily and keep up with a lot of stories, and want to help other fans do the same. However, they can redirect traffic away from actual sites that host webcomics, meaning that independent webcomic artists might miss out on ad revenue or merch sales, or are less likely to sell ads because their sites don't look as well-trafficked as they are. I don't know if Andrew Hussie has a strong opinion on comics aggregators, but it's possible this terrible to use, unstable and unreadable version is a criticism of the concept.

Complete Bullshit also feels like Dave's bro's equivalent of Serious Business, as they're both digital programs with adjective-noun titles. I wonder if Rose's mom will get her own software.

It's sweet that Bro keeps up with Dave's projects, including Sweet Bro & Hella Jeff and his GameBro review blog. It shows that their relationship isn't 100% one sided, Bro cares for Dave and/or thinks he's cool at least a little bit. It's also fun that Dave is checking to see if his own webcomic has updated, which could be bad memory due to having a lot of projects on the go, or could be Dave checking to make sure his update has gone through and posted successfully. Very reasonable, as it must be a challenge to upload such high quality images.

I will probably make a post digging into Sweet Bro & Hella Jeff at some point, but I'm still peeling the onion of its irony right now so I'll just say: when exactly did Dave find the time to make these comics?

[ficwritersretreat]

FIC WRITERS' RETREAT 2024

Registration Now Open!

WE'RE BACK TO ANNUAL, EVERYONE!!! Seventh Ontario Fic Writers' Retreat, first held in 2016, coming once again in 2024.

To Register, Click Here

When: August 8-11 2024

Where: Blue Mountain Chalets, Collingwood, Ontario

What is it? Four days spent with other fic writers, at all levels of experience. There will be a mix of workshops (Topics TBA and open to suggestions), prompts and challenges, and plenty of independent writing time for your own personal projects. (This year there's also a hot tub and an optional trip to the beach!)

It’s also an opportunity to make connections with people who share your interests and passions, and where you can focus on your own goals and creativity.

Cost (in CANADIAN DOLLARS): $450.00 

(approximately $332 USD as of this posting)

Here’s what you get for it:

Food Costs (with all participants helping with prep and cleanup - see note below)

Accommodation (Shared rooms but NOT shared beds - sorry)

Use of a hot tub and sauna at this year's venue (New this year!)

Daily workshops and writing sessions (2+ per day)

Registration fee included in the price

Registration Process:

Click on the Registration Link, above.

Complete the form and submit it.

Select a payment option: a) e-transfer (Canadian residents only) or b) PayPal (link in registration form)

Make your deposit of $225 CAD (50% of total cost) to complete your registration

Second payment is due on July 9, 30 days before the retreat begins.

Space will be allocated on a first-come, first served basis. There are 24 spaces available, after which names will be placed on a waiting list (no payment will be required unless you are offered a spot).

Travel to Toronto is not included.

However, since several participants (and the organizer) live in the area, we have always been able to arrange ride-shares from the Toronto Airport to the various venues. These connections will be arranged after registration.

Contact me with any questions! Or see the FAQ Page

***A note regarding meals: They'll look a little different this year - we'll be making our own! The venue is a pair of summer chalet/cottage spaces with full kitchens. All participants will be asked to take part in making meals happen - either for planning, picking up groceries, preparation or clean-up. The cost of the food is included in the price.

Tags under the cut. Let me know if you want to be tagged in this. If you’re not tagged it’s because I didn’t know you were interested. (Or I used an old list and forgot, or I thought you'd asked to not be tagged - correct me if I was wrong!) It's not because we don't want you! Please come.

@totallysilvergirl @blogstandbygo @addictedstilltheaddict @onwallsjcfwrites @amindamazed @fearlessdiva930 @cirquedereve @antheiasilva @inevitably-johnlocked @pippn-frodo @stellacartography @muaddib-iswriting @keirgreeneyes @missdaviswrites @nautilicious @otter-von-bismarck @mydogwatson @pipmer @aquabelacqua @may-shepard @pippn-frodo @weneedtotalkaboutfilms-blog @shirleycarlton @daringlydomestic @quesarasara @laughing-at-the-darkness @ellipsical-elle @fluffbyday-smutbynight @kettykika78 @vulgarweed @hellonewsletter @atlinmerrick @podfixx @stellacartography @1-800-get-sherlocked @thegildedbee @letteredlettered @inexplicifics @storyshark2005 @tiger-in-the-flightdeck @seriouslymarythough @anyawen @topsyturvy-turtely @noadventureshere221b @gay-pirate-anime @simpledontmeanpeachy @helloliriels @hopipp @masked-alias @doctornerdington

[bellasmumblingsandmusings]

Bella's Master List

Thank you for visiting my blog! To check out all my fanfic works please see the below! Also follow me on X: https://x.com/BellasMumbles NEW COMMUNITY PROJECT:

🩸 Calling all Astarion fans! 🩸Looking for a place to explore (or enjoy) the steamy side of our favorite vampire in both his ascended and unascended forms? The Astarion’s Thirst collection on AO3 is live! 😈 Whether it’s sensual, dark, explicit, or anywhere in between, this collection is for those who can’t get enough of Astarion’s thirst for blood, passion, and more. 💋 Full Details: HERE AO3 Collection Link

In the aftermath of their victory over the Nether Brain, Astarion, now newly Ascended, and Sima’s love is tested by dark obsessions and a quest for independence. As they navigate perilous power struggles and inner demons, their bond teeters on the edge. Will it endure the encroaching darkness, or be consumed by it? Chapters on Tumblr: Prologue, 1 , 2 , 3 , Interlude, 4 , 5 , 6, 7, 8 , 9 , 10 Interlude 2 , 11 , 12 13 14 15 16 Interlude 3 Entire Story Link on AO3 Spotify Playlist

Sima, a modern musician, is thrust into the magical world of Baldur’s Gate, captivating a certain vampire spawn: Astarion. Their passionate romance faces challenges of jealousy, societal prejudice, and personal traumas. Together, they navigate love, trust, and intimacy, standing as a team against the shadows of their pasts and the trials of a fantastical realm.

Tumblr posting Starts and Hiatus Will End: Aug 2024 Entire Story Link on AO3 (11 Chapters)

Songbird's Sanguine Sunset / Tumblr link inspired by Blood of the Songbird by @songbirdoftherogue Unfinished Work: Revenge and Blood on Silken Dunes

Tumblr Articles and Musings:

Musing 1: Snippets Snippet Prompt 1

Musting 2: WIP WIP 1

Musing 3: Characterization Discussions (Spoilers!) Characterization for Astarion's Paths , Characterization for Sima (Tav)

Musing 4: Random Ramblings Ramblings 1

Personal Projects:

I have launched a blog for my witchery and spilling the tea on the craft! Come check it out HERE

Thank you for Reading my work and if you are feeling kind, please leave a good word or comment or reblog on anything, its always appreciated!

Bella

graphics for lip dividers here: @firefly-graphics

[remembertheplunge]

11/23/2024 Sorry that this blog came out in a bit of a confused fashion. If you look closely, the pages are numbered from one to twelve. That's how they appeared in my 1992 journal. I was amazed to find this entry tonight. I don't think I've seen I since it was written in 1992 and I have no independent memory of the events it describes.

Clearly I was going in to be tested for the first time for the HIV Aids virus.In the entry, I'm trying describe the feelings before I got the test results, and after when I learned I tested negative for the virus. The photos are of houses that were under construction in my neighborhood in February 1992. It was a new housing development then, I saw the framed structure as monuments of hope in a hellish time of HIV/AIDs virus infection and death..

The most profound statement in the entry was on page 2. I was matched up with Aurturo through the Stanislaus County Aids project to help him through his illness and death. In the entry , he tells me that after he learned he had tested positive for HIV, he couldn't sleep all night. I was with him when he died two years later, in February 1994, of Aids related complications.

[ryoshudoodles]

The Plushū Diaries

This is a long post about the plushie I made as a beginner and just me venting about the process. Just skip this is you don't like long posts. Also I will probably mix up UK and US English a lot here. The usual Internet learning experience.

Canto 1- I can (not) make a plushie myself

So... As you may gather from the existence of this blog, I love Ryōshū a very normal amount. And like many other PM fans, I wanted a plushie of my best girl.

Two problems arise.

Independently made plushies made by commission are EXPENSIVE (For a very valid reason, this things take AGES to make and require a lot of work and skill.).

And

All the "Mass" produced ones by indie designers that I saw had animal ears or features, which I don't really like.

So, Sunday at around 10:00 pm, I, in all my wisdom, say to myself "I want it! So I'll make it!" I already had some material from a previous failed attempt, so might as well use them.

I dug up the doll skeleton and the body I had and stuffed that thing. By then it was already late and I had to work on Monday so, to bed I went.

Canto 2- The Real Start

By morning on the following day, I had already gotten over the Idea of making a plushie myself. Too much work. Too little skill. Like any other good little ADHD demon, I am allergic to completing my own projects and I jump from new idea to new idea too quickly to get anything done.

So, imagine my shock when at 11:00 pm I get that little itch to just make the thing. That little night owl brain magic that happens when everyone else is asleep and you are just now deciding to be productive.

So I grab the body, my embroidery thread and a bathtub of coffee and I just started.

Luckily I already had a pattern that a friend printed out for me two years ago. But then, the mistakes also started.

Mistake 1- Improv

I had no idea what I wanted to make. I had a design that I had painted In photoshop before but I didn't have that materials nor skills for that. So I made a simpler one on the spot. I don't own a printer. I don't have transfer paper. So... like a person with a very aesthetically pleasing smooth brain, I just drew the design STRAIGHT ON THE FABRIC with BRIGHT red pen.

Mistake 2 - The bright red pen

At the start it wasn't much of an issue just something to mark the design because I don't have a tearaway stabilizer.

By the end of this saga, those smooth clear lines had bled SO MUCH I could no longer tell the difference between te guide and random stains. Oh! And you can also see the guidelines from the outside of the doll. Cool.

Mistake, the third - The felt hair

This doesn't seem like a mistake, but trust me, It will haunt the narrative.

Mistake forever after - Hubris

It took... around 1 hour to line up everything correctly on the embroidery ring? Why? Because I am stupid, that's why.

During this first day I decided that I didn't need to use pins. I could just put it on the ring by eyeballing it. How bad can it be?

I was a fool. There's a reason why professionals use them, and there's a reason why some people sew some pieces temporarily during certain steps of the process before finally attaching them together. Pins truly are unsung heroes.

Canto 3- The unembroidered

So... embroidery. Embroidery is hard. Symmetrical embroidery is hard. Symmetrical embroidery with bleeding guidelines and no stabilizer is HARD. Symmetrical embroidery with bleeding guidelines, no stabilizer and you are a total beginner is maddening.

I watched someone do it by hand on YouTube before and I tried to mimic the process as much as I could. It didn't help much. Youtube tutorials can only do so much to compensate my lack of experience.

By the time I had done one eye I was already seeing problems. My stitches were all scattered to the four winds. They were all going in different directions. Some of them were too far apart or too close to others. The lines in the back of the doll were piling up and there were more knots in the thread than in your average omegaverse fic.

I went colour by colour. First black since I needed it to line the hair and it was the most used colour, then white just for the little highlights and finally red.

(Funny thing, the number of this red thread of this brand is 666 wich is kinda funny for miss hellscreen over here.)

After the red thread it finally started to look kinda decent (by beginner standards)

Canto 4 - Revenge of the felt hair

After all the embroidery was done it was finally time to get her off the ring and sew the parts together.

For those unaware, the regular soft plushie material, Minky, is really lightweight and very thin. Felt... isn't thin. And when you are sewing a plushie head with may parts and layers, all those millimeters of fabric pile up really quickly. One layer of felt is easy to pierce with a needle. Five layers? Not so much. Several needles were broken in the process of joining the front of the head with the back. I do not own a sewing machine. I did all of this shit by hand.

Thank god for the tetanus vaccine. When I say this little creature has my blood, sweat and tears, I MEAN IT.

The curse of the felt hair didn't end there.

Now that the head was done, it was time to stuff it.

Naturally, I had to rip parts of the stuffing to get it inside the head and around the skeleton. This sent bits and pieces of the thing flying everywhere. My room is FILTHY. And the felt hair got the worst of it. All those little dusts and microfibers stuck to it like a fly in a web. As I write this I am still trying to rip out bits of stuffing without damaging the felt. It is horrible. My girl is DIRTY.

(Also, plushie heads take WAY more stuffing than I thought. Holy shit.)

Finally, on the last day, it was time to attach the body to the head and sew the back of the hair. (I should have done that before but... more layers of felt. Broken needles. You know... nheeeeeee)

So, with a lot of fear in my heart I ladder stitched those bastards together and mocked up a decent enough pattern for the back of the hair. And just like that.... she is done.

Canto 5- The Plushie Defining

So... what did I learn?

Use pins. Stitch things temporarily with an obvious visible line that you can cut out after and test things before committing to a permanent stitch. If you are a beginner, like me, and are afraid to sew pieces together because you don't want to ruin your embroidered parts that you spent SO LONG working on, do this before.

Fuck felt.

Don't use a bright red pen.

Mess up. Make your plushie. Make it ugly. If you hate making bodies like me, buy one made and practice the head. Despite everything, I love my asymmetrical girl a lot. Like... I made this little bastard. She is MINE and I made her. This never stops being magical. It's a nice feeling.

And I did it without specific materials.

Some cheap threads, a body you can probably make too, some felt I found at the discount bin and random needles. That was all. No tearaway stabilizer, no sewing machine, no printer, no embroidery machine. The minky fabric is the only thing that was more of an investment. The rest is pretty accessible.

Do you know that post that says "Everything worth doing is worth doing poorly." Yeah, that applies to artistic projects. Go for it! Just... don't start with something hard like a human... Christ sake that was a nightmare.

I'm probably still gonna get a better plushie of her in the future, but for now, this is my baby.

Goodnight Tri-state area.

[iviarellereads]

A note on coverage of The Murderbot Diaries

This one's perhaps even more of a departure from the initial expectations of the blog than the Neverending Story was, but all good things are... subject to change? No, that makes it sound like it's not as good.

The Murderbot Diaries are a series by Martha Wells, about a security construct (SecUnit, the name for the designated model type and, by extension, the name used by most of the people Murderbot encounters) that broke its own governor module (think DRM) and functions independently, though it pretends it's still good locked-down company property. It exhibits strong symptoms of social anxiety, making it one of the most relatable robots ever, and accidentally makes friends.

Murderbot itself has no gender. The audiobook narrator is Kevin R. Free, and the subject doesn't come up very often in the story, so a lot of people assume and assign masculinity. Despite that, Murderbot is and knows it is a construct accessorized with the most expedient biological parts, expresses no human gender, and uses it/its pronouns. This just doesn't get clarified until much later in the series, if at all, and I'd rather have everyone understand it up front so nobody accuses me of object-ifying a person who literally personally identifies as an object.

I think this series is really neat. It's so much an exploration of personhood, like your average robot story but with mental illness. Heck, don't mind if I make references all the way back to Rossum's Universal Robots, the (extremely readable or watchable! highly recommended by me) stage play that is the origin of the word itself in its modern context, or perhaps further back all the way to Frankenstein. Murderbot is in conversation with two hundred years of science fiction exploring what it means to be, and besides that, I think it does some really interesting things with the prose.

So, with the newest book coming out in a couple of months, I decided to merge my desire to reread it with my desire to pick it apart under a microscope the way this project allows. We'll be covering more or less in release date order, with the exception of the expanded edition of Compulsory recently released going back to back with the original to compare and contrast.

So please, instead of peace this time, give Murder(bot) a chance, and join me on this space adventure.

Link index:

All Systems Red

Artificial Condition

Rogue Protocol

Exit Strategy

Compulsory (Short story: Wired Magazine vs republished and expanded edition)

Obsolescence (Take Us To A Better Place collection)

Network Effect 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory

Fugitive Telemetry 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

System Collapse 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

[flagwars]

People’s Flag Wars 2: Round 1

Welcome to the first round of the second People’s Flag Wars! This competition includes flags designed by the people who submitted them. I received way more submissions than last People’s Flag Wars, so it will be a much larger tournament. Last time there were only 16 submissions, but this time there are 49! Due to this large number, there will be three flags per poll in the first round, except for the one poll with four flags. Thank you to everyone who submitted a flag, and may the best flag win!

Round 1:

1. Florida Vexillological Society by Lima305 vs. Chuhuiv redesign by Горіхус vs. Lumpen’s personal flag by Lumpen

2. Artemisapphia by @mogai-sunflowers vs. UKA redesign by Flaggmannen vs. Kolombarov by adamolis69

3. San Francisco Horizon Flag by Brian Stokle vs. Independent Symbol of Catania by Catania Project vs. Taipei redesign by Dúghorm

4. Golden Wattle Flag by Flags for Australia vs. Fuhqueue by Quelsborough vs. Green Party of the United States by @thetarastark

5. Szola by Baphon vs. Terrakey by @tropinui vs. Amnesia flag by @butterwort-birdie

6. Civil flag of the Republic of Khraelyia by Aika vs. Foquismo by @toastiemcstrudel vs. Texan Czechs by Kryštof Huk

7. Haiti redesign by MatthewTNT79 vs. Calvert by Anonymous vs. Boston redesign by evanb

8. Flag of Warlar by Tavern vs. Flag by Ryan vs. West Virginia redesign by Tomorand

9. Pancrustacea by @crustaceanlord vs. Carmel, Indiana by scottishdoge vs. Brechreiz Empire by @trans-fem-lesbian-crab

10. Ventrexia by marshyswtr vs. Portland, Maine redesign by Flag For Portland vs. Republic of New England by Indy

11. Coptic Egypt by @arthurdrakoni vs. Forest City Flag by @forestcityflag vs. New Jersey Autonomous Zone by @lil-tachyon

12. Socialist Party of the United States by @that0ne81 vs. Tuvalu by kindness093 vs. Persodivergent by @epikulupu

13. Orca Face flag by Bradley Lockhart vs. Flag by eth317 vs. Pirate flag by Curtis Tarver

14. City flag of Syracuse, New York titled The First Light flag by Eric Hart vs. Family flag by Anonymous vs. Vădastra, Romania by Turcu Mihai

15. Old Sanwonic Confederation by dodot65 vs. Nerja, Spain by Gortius-VIII vs. Kairouan, Tunisia by Gargari

16. Flag of Oyazan by sketch vs. Aromantic flag redesign by @jellyfishjampie vs. Ghost World (The Ghost and Molly McGee) by @loversunitedstates-blog vs. Fully Automated Gay Space Anarchism by NaeAyy

[thespeakingbox]

Blog Post 8: The Power of Virtual Writing Spaces

This blog post focuses on additional research for my project: Joining/Establishing a Virtual Creative Writing Club.

Additional research for my project included the benefits of having Peer-to-peer writing spaces. For example, benefits such as:

Community building, which in online spaces involves fostering connections and creating a sense of belonging.

Learning new technological tools for Virtual Writing, which enhances digital literacy.

Leadership skill building, which assists in acquiring the necessary tools and techniques to lead and motivate a team.

Students' active engagement and well-being, which support them in thriving academically.

Let’s discuss these benefits more.

According to an article on Galileo by Craig Batty and Jennifer Sinclair, peer-to-peer learning encourages collaborative learning and independent skill building. The article highlights studies conducted by Buissink-Smith et al. (2013), which show results that suggest candidates in peer-to-peer groups are more likely to complete their degree and do so within the expected timeframe. The article also highlights researchers, including Kiley (2009) and Denholm and Evans (2006), who have observed advantages for candidates, such as increased progress and assistance in the publishing process. (Batty, C. and Sinclair, J., 2014)

According to these studies, peer-to-peer groups can be implemented in many ways, with or without a supervisor/facilitator, cutting across disciplinary boundaries or confined within disciplinary clusters. However, few of these studies have yet to emphasize the benefits a facilitator can acquire and how it can elevate their leadership approach while guiding such a group. (Batty, C. and Sinclair, J., 2014)

Click here to learn more about PEER-TO-PEER LEARNING.

I decided to highlight student engagement and well-being for this post to go more in-depth on a personal level.

This is one of the safest spaces I have right now. Here goes nothing….

Sometimes, I feel like people don’t understand the weight writers carry. For example, writing requires a lot of mental capacity, and if my mental capacity has already reached its limits with work, home, schoolwork, and grief, where do I get the strength to keep pushing through and forming these words?

Being around or engaging with my writing peers distracts me from reality and gives my brain time to calm down and reset.

For instance, my brain sometimes feels like a radiator that is running hot because of low antifreeze levels. Other times, it seems as though I have antifreeze, but my head gasket has blown. Both times, I found that escaping to Tumblr to read each of your blog posts helps me mentally in ways you guys wouldn’t even know. I appreciate your posts, especially the Personal History Collages.

Until Next Time!

Peace and Blessings!

-The Speaking Box

References:

Gifs provided by Tumblr Stock:

GIF by cieuxgris, GIF by intentandoseringeniero, and GIF by roseillith

Peer-to-Peer Studies Article:  

Batty, Craig, and Jennifer Sinclair. “Peer-to-Peer Learning in the Higher Degree by Research Context: A Creative Writing Case Study.” New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice & Theory of Creative Writing, vol. 11, no. 3, Nov. 2014, pp. 335–46. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/14790726.2014.932814.

[hiraethhq]

Welcome to HIRAETH, Vince & Ophelia! Make sure to follow the checklist and send the link to your blog to the main within 24 hours.

name: vincent hyde

age: 38

gender & pronouns: he/him

sexual orientation: straight(?) pan? bi? Hasn’t had time to figure it out.

status: resident

class: virtue

hierarchy: queen

additional: went from vice to virtue

occupation: chemist / inventor

housing: st. catherine’s abode

face claim: andrew garfield

good: brilliant, curious, witty

bad: hypocritical, impulsive, emotional

ugly: [redacted]

background: 

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Orphaned at one and a half when his scientist parents (Rejected) died in a factory fire, Vincent Hyde was raised in Vice by his uncle, whom he knows as his Father.

Showed exceptional intelligence from a young age; studied, trained, and treated as an asset.

Met Amelia (Virtue) at age 6—his first friend and rival. Their competitive friendship sparks creativity and ambition.

By 9, he created "Glow Ink" for a science fair—later used for coded messages and forgery. He wins first prize, and his father rewards him, reinforcing his love for invention.

At 10, Amelia beats him in a science fair. Vince is more than happy for her… But then he disappears for a week, returning with dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep. His Father wasn’t exactly as happy then.

In high school by 11, eating lunch in a science teacher’s classroom. Begins innovating independently.

At 12, he develops an experimental painkiller tonic with Amelia. It’s in the very early stages and works a little too well. They giggle over their temporarily numbed limbs.

At 13, they co-create Phantom Filter, an air purification mask inspired by Amelia’s firefighter mother. In their excitement, a small kiss follows their success.

By 15, he’s in college, challenged for the first time. Begins work on Nano-Healing Patch, but early models have major flaws.

At 16, he continues his work but is distracted by his Father. He’s unable to live in the dorms due to his age and his Father still insists upon seeing his work every night. He’s told that it’s for his safety but Vince begins to question that… Especially as his Father Begins to discourage him from continuing the patch, saying it’s a waste of his precious time. 

At 17, Amelia helps fix the patch, urging him to give it to the Doctors in Vice. While difficult to replicate without constant Virtue tech, the Hearts finally have something small over Virtue.

By 18, He graduates college and becomes an assistant to the Dean of Science who doesn’t seem to mind where he’s from. It’s nice. He and Amelia start developing White Rabbit, a tonic for trauma, anxiety, and depression, in secret.

They would have to work in a Vice lab in order to easily get their hands on tonic, but Amelia easily brought the equipment from Virtue. A combination of what both sides did best. They just had to avoid exposure.

He finally learns about his father’s connections to illegal tonic trades and how dangerous his people are. To distract and stay under the radar, Vince also picks up his work on painkiller tonic, providing his father with updates so he’ll stay away from their experiment… And their relationship.

At 21, they unofficially marry—Amelia chooses Virtue, Vince stays in Vice to keep up appearances. It allows them to fully continue their project… But Vincent knows it’s only a placeholder until he switches sides again for her later.

Then at 22, A breakthrough in the tonic. It’s no longer deadly by any measure and doesn’t cause numbness anymore. The downside is that now, it has other unintended side effects and it’s still dangerous when used over and over again… Back to the drawing board.

During this time, both Vincent and Amelia have become notable figures in their separate spaces as well. Their inventions, in between their combined project, begin to shape a better world for everyone. If only everyone could know they did it all together.

At 24, his father discovers White Rabbit and forces Vince to produce it under threat to Amelia. The tonic is dangerously addictive, but his father sees only profit. A way to keep creating more and more later. All Vincent can see is the number of people that will be injured if it gets out this early… It was the exact opposite of what they ever intended.

Amelia urges him to expose the truth, destroy their research, and flee to Virtue or the outside world together. They set fire to everything—then she was shot before they escaped.

They thought it would break him, scare him into submission… It did break him—but not in the way they expected. He snapped.

Vince played along, pretending to submit, producing White Rabbit for them in excess.

At 27, finally trusted, he immediately sets fire to his own lab, destroying all research except evidence of the truth, which he takes with him. 

His father tried to stop him, told him that he was loved and they could do so much more together than a drug. It was just the beginning now. Vince almost went back… But he knew deep down that his Father wasn’t looking out for him. Maybe he never was.

He flees to Virtue, seeking refuge with Dorothy and then the Kings like Amelia had told him to.

The Kings see him as a prodigy who defected from Vice. But only Dorothy knows the full truth of the situation… However, the truth keeps Vincent safe— so she keeps it to herself for now.

To secure his place like everyone else, he undergoes the Virtue Trials. He’s not sure he’ll ever completely recover from everything he saw… What he was forced to face. But he succeeded.

He was now a Virtue Queen. Just like his wife had been. From then on, no one in Virtue saw a criminal. They saw a success story.

To Virtue, he was the prodigy who walked away from sin and chaos. A brilliant scientist who “saw the light” and chose excellence over corruption. They didn’t know. They couldn’t know. 

He spent years in isolation, grieving, secretly using his own tonic to dull the guilt and grief. He claimed to be testing it on himself for a solution— but that was just a poor excuse.

Meanwhile, White Rabbit floods Vice, more dangerous than ever. It wasn’t as pure as it used to be, not without him. In fact, in many ways, the formula was tweaked to turn up “fun” and turn down the safety.

At 32, he was called to the university where a photo of Amelia winning the science fair sits in a case, her smile beaming and bright— it rekindles his purpose. This wasn’t what she would want. What he did already wasn’t enough respect for her memory or worth of redemption… 

He shifts to studying addiction and the Slightlies, finding his research could potentially help them too. 

Now 38, he is a leading Virtue scientist, working to rehabilitate Slightlies and those harmed by his tonic. He tells himself this is redemption, but deep down, he knows it’s desperation.

Sometimes, he still needs to talk to his wife from time to time… It helps him solve problems faster… He swears.

His father still haunts him in Vice. If the past comes calling, he’s not sure he can escape again.

name: ophelia woodhouse

age: 27

gender & pronouns: she/her

sexual orientation: bisexual (questioning)

status: visitor

class: virtue

hierarchy: pawn

additional: slightly

occupation: florist at apples of eden

housing: Joan of Arc’s Refuge

face claim: havana rose liu

good: supportive, artistic, inquisitive 

bad: quiet, spacey, fragile

ugly: [redacted]

background: 

The youngest of a large family, Ophelia struggled to stand out. So, eventually, she stopped trying. She found solace in quiet places—her camera, her notebooks, the soft rustle of creatures in the park.

She loved watching birds, pressing flowers between the pages of her journal, and writing beautiful words about the world around her. The outside was beautiful. Safe.

When she was ten, a man began meeting her in the park. He taught her how to properly birdwatch, how to listen for the different calls. He was kind, charismatic—he gave her attention.

He told her she was special, different from her siblings, and she believed him. She told him everything. She had so much unreleased energy. She loved to talk.

One day, he gifted her a small gold cross necklace. A token, he said, to remind her she was protected.

Their meetings were a secret. Just for them. He said she shouldn’t have to share everything with her family. These meetings were hers and hers alone. 

Then, one day, he forgot his journal at home. He asked if she would walk with him to retrieve it.

She never made it home that day.

She spent six years in his shed, held captive, subjected to horrors she couldn’t speak about.

It wasn’t just him. There were others—a cult, a following. They spoke in strange tongues, performed rituals she didn’t understand.

He told her never to take off her cross. It was the only thing still keeping her safe.

Other girls came and went. Some stayed longer than others.

They were kind. Beautiful. Scared. She would braid their hair to calm them, whispering soft reassurances.

She never knew why they left. She hoped they made it home. She hoped they felt loved while they were with her.

When she was good, calm, and quiet, she was given books and notebooks. They became her escape. Romance, fairytales—her favorite princess was Rapunzel.

Then, one day, unceremoniously, it ended. The police found her.

She was a ghost of herself. Selectively mute. Trembling. Afraid to leave the shed that had become her world.

Her face was everywhere—newspapers, milk cartons, TV screens. She didn’t even know how to be a person anymore, and yet, everyone seemed to be expecting some heroic story of survival.

She took to spending time in the garden. The open sky helped when the walls started to close in.

Her journal became her second sanctuary—a place to trap the dark thoughts that threatened to consume her.

Then came the trial. The flashing cameras. The weight of a thousand eyes pressing down on her. Her hands trembled again. Panic set in.

She ran to the restroom to breathe—

And instead, she found herself somewhere else entirely.

The air was different. Pure. The world around her was sharp, vibrant. People passed by without recognition. No cameras. No reporters.

She was just another girl here. The more she learned, the more she wanted to stay—to heal.

However, staying meant she would be housed with someone. A sponsor. She was still underage… Just barely, but she was.

Few were willing to take on such a fragile case. Only one man agreed.

She was terrified of him. Weeks passed before she could be in the same room without flinching. Even longer before she could speak.

But he was patient. Gentle. He took her to public places, let her set the pace. Slowly, she started to trust him.

Sometimes, he’d make a face or wink at her, and she would stare, fascinated. She didn’t understand him yet, but she wanted to.

On her 18th birthday, he threw her a small party—just them, with dancing, movies, and cake. She had never had a whole party before. It was perfect.

When the academy asked her privately if she wanted to move into the dorms, she surprised herself by saying no.

That afternoon, he welcomed her home with a teddy bear and a little garden out back for her flowers. 

At that moment, he became a father to her.

With tutoring and therapy, she began to heal. Words returned, slow but steady. It was everything she had ever wanted from the outside world.

At 21, she made her choice: Virtue. Her adopted Father needed her as much as she needed him.

Slowly but surely, she earned her degree, found a job as a florist at Apples of Eden, and even took more classes to expand her skills.

But then something happened.

She was walking home when a loud noise shattered the air. The next thing she knew, she was in a hospital bed.

“She’s slightly,” they said. “Something will always be a little off. We can’t tell what yet.”

She felt spacey. Daydreamed too much. Forgot things that should've been second nature.

Headaches pounded behind her eyes constantly.

Some memories felt wrong—like they didn’t belong to her.

To this day, she still doesn’t know what happened.

Either way, she had to postpone her studies. She couldn’t keep up anymore.

But she was still loved. Especially as a florist. The people at Apples of Eden kept her job for her… It was kind, even if some of them stared at her. 

Her adopted father became more protective than ever, pouring credits into medicine (Clear Skies). She tried to help, but he almost never let her.

At 25, she decided it was time to move out. She learned how to ration her medicine, how to take care of herself again. She even got a roommate—someone to check in on her.

Now, she’s starting to head back to class again… Or trying to, at the very least. It’s a challenge but she wanted to try. Someone there was willing to help her.

Normal life—friendships, relationships—are difficult. They always were, but especially now.

However, when she loves, she loves deeply. Fully.

She shows affection in small ways: handwritten poetry, soft touches, photographs, tiny thoughtful gifts.

Though, even after everything, one thing constantly remained… The small gold cross necklace given to her when she was 10. She wears it constantly and hates to take it off.

Old habits die hard.

[kingbadgermole]

Welcome to King Badgermole

Welcome to my blog! This is primarily an independent Wu (Legend of Korra) RP blog. My askbox is open, and I'm always ready to answer questions. Any in character posts will not have the "out of character" tag. The RP section of this blog is consistent with the canon of Duty's Promise, Heart's Oath (my Wuko fic series).

Additionally, I have a few projects on the go.

Duty's Promise

Rating: EXPLICIT

After the events of Book Four, Mako and Wu navigate their connection in a world recovering from Kuvira. Not Ruins of the Empire compliant.

Much Ado About Baking with @kingwuko

Rating: MATURE

At Beifong's Artisan Oven, Mako is the lead baker and Wu is the lead cake decorator. Despite a few misunderstandings and a tendency to annoy one another, they might actually make a great couple—with a little meddling from their friends and family, that is.

This is my main blog, but my personal side blog can be found here: @theconsciousprince

I also have a Wuko Discord server if you'd like to come yell about them with me!

Thank you!

[sadwinning]

hello gamers I have quickly repurposed this ages-old blog with no content to rant and rave about a project I want to work on (and actually finish someday) that all started when I was in the audience watching Mario 64 get beat on a drumset by CZR at AGDQ2024, which is,

Turning My Violin into a MIDI Controller so that I Can Play Video Games with It but Only If It Doesn't Require More Than Two Inputs at a Time,

or,

TMVMCICPVGIOIIDRMTTIT,

or,

Undertale Violin%??????

My goal is to map the 12 chromatic notes of Western tonal music to a very basic controller scheme, like the 3 action + 4 directional buttons of Undertale. As I type this, I understand that it would be much more practical to include 4 cardinal directions, 4 "in-between" diagonal directions, and the 3 action buttons for a total of 11 discrete notes that can be played monophonically, but unfortunately I am insane and choose to do it the stupid way that utilizes all 5 of my electric violin's individual pickups and parses them independently, for this reason alone:

It would sound better.

My plan is as follows:

create a monophonic analog input-to-MIDI-to-controller codebase in a language I know that works fast in realtime and has threading capability

play a game of Undertale with monophonic inputs only (or at least enough of one to get the kinks out of the system)

learn to solder

use my soldering skills to route out the individual pickup signals to their own individual inputs that can connect to the different threads of my codebase

get good at Undertale live on twitch dot TV slash sadwinning

this blog will be my devlog on this insane journey, more for myself than anyone else, because I have a day job (allegedly) that I cannot do if my brain is full of video games. I have to empty out the video game thoughts so that I can think.

tbh I will likely take on more stupid projects in the future that I want to log here so I'm going to have the foresight to tag this specifically. I already told someone else at GDQ I was going to use my steno machine to run epistory

[reviewsbyliam]

Robbie Z

INTERVIEW #01

18.09.2023

Written by LW

Photos via @iamrobbiez (IG)

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Waking up and realizing the life you're living isn't exactly what you desire anymore and deciding to pursue your passion, move to a city in another country and devote yourself to trying to become somebody in the world can be an extremely scary thought for many, but not for this one person.

Today, the first guest on my blog that has been kind enough to sit and speak with me about the stories behind not only himself but also his music and the pain and happiness that has accompanied him along the way is aspiring independent artist, Robbie Z.

L: Hey, Robbie! Thank you for taking the time to speak with me about yourself and your career today, I really appreciate it! You are the first artist to be interviewed on my blog, so it is an absolute pleasure of mine to accommodate your story today!

R: Hi Liam, so nice to meet you! Congratulations on starting your blog! This is really cool, good luck with it! And thank you for having me as your first guest, it's an honour!

L: Thank you so much, Robbie! It's kind of crazy and I cant thank you enough for the opportunity to do this together, now let's get into it!

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L: You started your professional career in 2018, it's now 2023, whats the journey been like for you?

R: Ahh, it's been so exciting! Music is what I want to do long term. It's my passion, so growing up doing that and learning from my mistakes has been amazing. It's an amazing thing that I started so young to be honest. I always knew I wanted to do this; I started recording covers in 2014, when I was 11/12 and started writing my own music when I was 15 in 2017! So, when I was around 14, I thought "huh.. I wanna do that? Then I might as well start now if I wanna get good at it young." Because when I started I was really bad haha… but it also helped me get thick skin in terms of bullying etc. it's been amazing, but it's truly only the beginning!

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L: I've seen that you have inspiration from Iggy Azalea, who else in the music industry compels you to want to do more?

R: I've always been a fanboy.. Some incredible women besides Iggy who "raised me" as an artist are definitely; Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus. More recently, I've been really loving Madison Beer, Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo, Charli XCX, Taylor Swift.. I get really inspired by these artists to work hard and achieve all my goals. It really drives me forward.

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L: The vibe of The Butterfly Trap is very fresh, a total feeling myself energy, but it also includes emotional parts that relate to the listeners life - what kind of vibe can we expect from the new project?

R: Ahhh, thank you! Writing the first EP, I was kind of in a tough spot mentally.. I wrote it from the ages of 18 to 19 and I was going through a lot of stuff that I couldn't understand in my life which made me very confused, sad, angry… This new project is totally different.

First of all, it's elevated in terms of quality in the songwriting, recording etc. Secondly, in "The Butterfly Trap", I was really vague while talking about the struggles.. Masking them in a lot of metaphors. I was afraid to speak of these topics in songs as I was still going through what I was going through while writing. This new project "Dear Diary," is more so me reflecting on situations whilst also having fun, a less anxious, more out going alter-ego of mine! But, as fun as it is, it also has some deep messages that really cut deep for me and it just even feels a little uncomfortable when someone listens to some of these new songs as they're so personal to me. Hence the name, "Dear Diary". It's supposed to be inspirational and honest, but it also talks about lots of different topics such as following your dreams, getting your dreams taken away from you, one sided love, letting yourself live freely.. It's basically 6 different diary entrees of mine put into songs.

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L: I've noticed you have a lot of unique sounds. Do you enjoy being multi genre and having the ability to switch flows whilst also being able to use sounds that seperate you from the rest?

R: Honestly? I love mixing genres. I love rap verses with pop hooks, rock hooks, punk, ballads, anything. But, I've been spending time trying to find my sound and I think I've finally found one that is just perfectly me, right now. This new single '5 Dollars & a Dream' is exactly what I would want to be remembered with regarding the genre, flow, lyrics etc. I don't want to give myself any labels as a "pop artist" or a "rock artist" etc. I just consider myself a rapper/singer who likes to change. But Pop Rap is what I would describe it as if I have to!

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L: 5 dollars + a dream (a song that is beautiful by the way and extremely reminiscent of Iggy's earlier work which I LOVE entirely) , whats the story behind this track and what was the process like behind making it?

R: Oh my god, thank you so so much!! This song means the most to me so I really appreciate the nice words. The story behind the track… I think it's pretty straight forward to be honest, which is why I'm a little afraid of people hearing it. It's about knowing what you want to do, having started that and just following your dreams (as lame as it sounds). The song talks about some parts of my story, which I've never been vulnerable about in songs before. And not letting myself give up. Making the song was an absolute blast. One night a few years ago I was in my bed, in my home town in Bulgaria, and I thought of the phrase "I got five dollars and a dream…" with the melody and I wrote it down, then last year as I was packing up to move to London, I wrote the first verse which goes like "I took all of my belongings and I put them in a suitcase…" Initially I wanted it to be a song I write for my first album one day, but it just felt right so I brought it to my producer "SojBoj" , we made the instrumental and a demo and then I wrote the second verse and recorded it! It was really fun!

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L: There is a lot that goes into being an independent artist, how has that been for you so far? Have you had any label offers yet?

R: Being indie or signed each have their own ups and downs / good and bad sides, it just really depends on what an artist wants.. For me? I've been fortunate enough to grow, learn and find myself as an independent artist. I couldn't imagine starting out with a record deal from the beginning. But now I feel I'm ready to get signed and get this party started. Being indie obviously gives me the opportunity to have full creative control which I'm not willing to sacrifice. Whilst it's not for everyone, for me, when the right deal comes, it'll definitely be something I do, because the connections and resources a label has are so worth it for a young artist like me.

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L: Who have been your main musical inspirations behind this new project thats coming later this year?

R: Ahh! Well, whilst there hasn't been a specific one, I'd say, of course I'm always super influenced by Iggy Azalea; especially her first album 'The New Classic'. '5 Dollars & a Dream' is actually kind of inspired by her song 'Work'. But I'm also now inspired by a lot of punk rock music, more contemporary pop-rocky songs, A lot of just everyday things that I romanticise and turn into songs. Sonically, I make what I want to hear, putting my own input on the kind of music I like. Like a mixture of everything I like, quite literally.

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L: You're doing a show at the Metre Squared In London after the single drops, are you excited to perform and what should people expect to see?

R: I love performing! Back in Bulgaria, I had some performing experience, but when Covid hit, it was hard to get performances.. I did a car-concert, it was super fun! I was in a big truck performing to around 100 cars! I was an opening act for a drive-in movie theatre. When I moved to London though, that is when it really started for me with the performances. I've done some shows the past year that amazed me with the amount of people who came to have fun and listen to music, but also the people who actually know my songs and connect with it, it's my favourite thing in the world. The show is coming up on the 14th of October in Metre Squared in London, and tickets for that show are on sale now! I'm super excited. It'll be the first time I perform my EP, prior to it's release!

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L: With your new music coming very rapidly, and a show coming up around the corner, are you looking forward to what the future holds for you and where your art will take you?

R: I am a very goal orientated person, I've got lots of big and smaller goals that I will accomplish soon. I don't like sharing those before they come true, but I have to say; I've got something that I'm working really hard for that I really hope to get to do within the next year. Plus also, always lots of new music! I've got stuff planned for even after the EP, and my releases will become more often too!

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L: For our last question, Robbie, I want to ask you - who in the music industry, whether it be a singer, rapper, producer, writer, absolutely anyone, who would you love to work with the most and why?

R: There's a bunch of people I admire and would find it an honour to work with, but off the top of my head, I'd say a producer that I would really want to work with one day is Jack Antonoff! He's incredible, it seems like to be so much fun working with him. Dan Nigro is another one, he created Olivia Rodrigo's first two albums with her, he's amazing! Artist-wise, Iggy Azalea. She inspired me to start all of this craziness, she helped me find my path when I was really young and I just admire her for a hundred other reasons, it would be CRAZY. I think maybe a song of mine with Ice Spice or Charli XCX would be so fun too! Me and Charli XCX have to make a song about cars together one day!

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L: Well, Robbie, it has been absolutely beautiful and a true pleasure speaking with you and getting to hear your thoughts about your music and everything to do with your grind! I would also like to thank you for letting me hear your new single prior to release! I am excited for whats to come from your career given the product that we already have from you and the world should prepare themselves for the undeniable force that is yourself!

R: Thank you so much for having me, Liam. It means so so much to me, the questions were great, they made me think deeper and I really enjoyed it!

L: I'm glad to hear that, Robbie! Once again, thank you SO much for being my first guest on my blog and hopefully this wont be the last time we speak! I look forward to hearing your new EP!

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To anyone reading; Robbie Z's new single '5 Dollars & a Dream' from his new EP 'Dear Diary,' comes out this Friday, September 22nd!

It'd mean the world to me, as his interviewer and to him as an indie artist if you gave it a listen!

You can also buy tickets to his upcoming show on October 14th at Metre Squared in London in his INSTA BIO (@iamrobbiez)!

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Thank you for reading my FIRST EVER INTERVIEW!

Please help boost a small blogger by sharing this article with your friends and family or followers!

I’ll be forever grateful!

Please make sure to give me a follow on the socials below too so you don’t miss out on any NEW content!

Thank you!

X (Twitter): reviewsbyliam

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[leaslichoma]

The instructions for the Touhou Project fortune telling book Whispered Oracle of Hakurei Shrine currently have not been translated yet. Fortunately, this blog I found has you covered!

How to draw your fortune

It needs to be stated outright that the Whispered Oracle of Hakurei Shrine is fully functional for use, and comes with instructions. This is 100% functional, 100% canonical Touhou fortune telling book. As there are no currently translated instructions, I will provide them here.

The methods include the traditional method of using paper stripes. The user makes 128 paper slips, puts them into a box and picks at random. Less laborious methods are also given. These include tossing seven coins – a technique somewhat reminiscent of the three coin method often used with I Ching – and rolling six or eight-sided die.

The seven coin method has the user arrange seven coins into a row. Then, the coins are attributed values from left to right as follows: 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1. The user must decide if throwing heads or tails gives this value. When the opposite result is given, it counts as a zero. After making the decision, the coins are thrown and the result is tallied up. Then, 1 is added to the final result. In this example, heads has been attributed the value and tails the zero. The following throw T-H-T-T-H-H-T would then result in 0-32-0-0-4-2-0 = 38 to which +1 is added, which gives us 39 as the end result, which is the number of the omikuji to check from the book.

The eight sided die has the user throw the die three times. The results are memorized. Then, the following formula is applied: If first throw is even, the number is 0. If the first throw is odd, the result is 64. Second number is multiplied by eight and added to 64 or 0. Third number is reduced by -8 and added to combined results of first two outcomes. Example per book: Results are 7, 3 and 6. 7 is odd and the result is 0. This leads to 0 + (3 x 8) + 6 – 8 = 22

The six sided die also has the user roll the die three times and memorize the numbers. During the first roll, the user seeks a number between 1-4 and rerolls if it’s 5 or 6. The rest of the rolls are normal between 1 and 6. After that, the result is put into the following formula: (1st result x 36) + (2nd result x 6) + 3rd result -42. Example per book: Results are 2, 5 and 1. This leads to (2x36) + (5x6) + 1 – 42 = 61. There is an 11% chance of getting 129 or higher as a result from this method, at which point the user has to reroll them.

ZUN also states that there are other ways to do the process, and encourages users to get creative. I personally think that doing straight up bibliomancy (open a page at random) could work as a very quick method. It’s also likely possible to adapt the three coin I Ching hexagram casting method, as it produces a result between 1 and 64, and then using a final, independent coin toss to decide whether the result is 1x or 2x, giving it the space of possibility for generating results between 1 and 128.

[askgothamshitty]

Replying to a question of mine you answered! The question about your thoughts on SW decrim!

Based off articles I’ve read, I personally lean more towards the decrim side of the SW discussion because it seems that the Nordic Model would do more harm than good because it largely promotes carceral feminism.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2qQGYdT/

this tik toker makes a lot of good points ☝🏽 !!

But I’m curious, what makes you neutral on the topic? Are there parts of the Nordic model you find to be good/logical? Are there parts of the decrim discussion that you find interesting?

Because I’ve always found myself to be more on the side of sex positive feminism and I enjoy the works/writings of many sex positive feminists (even though i wouldn’t necessarily characterize myself as one) and I’ve just always found that branch of feminism to be incredibly compelling. But I also realize that the topic of sex work and the history surrounding this topic is extremely complex & there’s many layers and it’s not just a black and white subject. so even though I often disagree with many swerfs, i still engage in conversations with them & there have even been times when I’ve thought they’ve made good points (when they are expressing the point in a genuine way & not lowkey just being bullies with moral superiority complexes.) sorry this was kind of all over the place! I’m autistic and feminism has been a longtime special interest of mine (almost 11 years!) so i kinda ramble whenever i talk about it because i really like talking about it!

On the one hand I understand the criticisms against the Nordic model. It aims to tackle the problem by curbing the demand from johns but doesn’t address the other half of the problem - women’s economic need that drives them into the trade.

But on the other hand, I find the push for “decriminalization” a bit misleading, because what is really meant is “complete deregulation”. Do we as a society, and as feminists especially, really want to establish the sex trade as a formal and official industry with no restrictions at all? Not only would this let pimps and johns completely off the hook, but it would even legally protect them as bosses and consumers. And even if we were to make it so that every woman in the sex trade were totally independent, well-off entrepreneurs, the legitimization of commodified sex would have deep repercussions on our culture and thus affect all women. In our patriarchal society, I can only see all of this becoming incredibly problematic and harmful.

Although I have supported decriminalization in the past as a form of harm reduction, I am coming to the conclusion that this is a liberal platitude that centers reform over what is really needed - complete abolition. I think that the sex trade needs to be dismantled and eradicated (alongside other revolutionary changes such as the destruction of capitalism). I do understand this cannot happen overnight, which is why I am leaning towards supporting the Nordic model (one with robust welfare, such as UBI) as a transitional project.

Don’t apologize! Feminism has been my longtime interest as well! I love talking about these things and thinking them through and coming to new understandings. That’s what this whole blog is about ☺️

[yestolerancepro]

Hooray for Hollywood The Tolerance Project goes to the Oscars

Introduction

Welcome to the first of two themed blogs this one looking at the Academy Awards AKA the Oscars this blog looks into the awards background its first Milestones and how some of the Tolerance film spoofs are linked to those gold statues

Background

The Academy Awards, commonly and now known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the film industry. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences located in Beverly Hills, California, United States, in recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements as assessed by the Academy's voting membership.The Oscar statuette depicts a knight rendered in the Art Deco style.

The major award categories are presented during a live televised Hollywood ceremony that is typically held in February or March. It is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony. The 1st Academy Awards were held in 1929, the second ceremony in 1930 was the first one broadcast by radio, and the 1953 ceremony was the first one televised. It is also the oldest of the four major annual American entertainment awards;

The first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16, 1929, at a private dinner function at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people.

The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel. The cost of guest tickets for that night's ceremony was $5 ($85 at 2020 prices). Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honouring artists, directors and other participants in the film-making industry of the time, for their works during the 1927–28 period.

For this first ceremony, winners were announced to the media three months earlier. For the second ceremony in 1930, and the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11:00 pm on the night of the awards. In 1940, the Los Angeles Times announced the winners before the ceremony began; as a result, the following year the Academy started using a sealed envelope to reveal the names of the winners

Milestones

The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh.

He had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier; this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. At that time, winners were recognized for the entirety of their work done in a certain category during the qualifying period; for example, Jannings received the award for two movies in which he starred during that period, and Janet Gaynor later won a single Oscar for performances in three films. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, and professionals were honoured for a specific performance in a single film. For the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years.

To learn Emil Jannings click here Oscars: The Nazi shame of Best Actor winner Emil Jannings | The Independent

Further Watching

To watch a trailer for the last command click here

Further Watching

Unlike the last command that exists in full all that exists of The way of Flesh is two clips running to just over 5 minutes for this blog I have picked the longest clip from the film you can watch it by clicking here

The one Golden rule all Academy Winners must follow

Did you know as well that all the Oscar winners have to agree to one golden rule  when they win an award as the Unilad website explains :

Even if you're not a big fan of the event, I'm sure you know how it goes: the nominees are named , the winner is announced, and they're handed the iconic, shiny trophy to take home.

It sounds simple enough, but there is actually a rule surrounding the trophy and exactly what winners can do with it once they leave the stage.

The Academy Awards website explains that Oscar winners are banned from attempting to sell their trophies unless they meet a certain requirement first.

I know what you're thinking - the Oscars statues are among the most coveted in the world, why would anyone try to sell one?

Well, it's unlikely, but it is possible that particularly successful stars might start running out of space to put their awards and decide to swap one for cash, or perhaps attempt to sell off the statue for a good cause.

Whatever the reason for selling an Oscar The Academy explains: "Award winners shall not sell or otherwise dispose of the Oscar statuette, nor permit it to be sold or disposed of by operation of law, without first offering to sell it to the Academy for the sum of $1.00."

The statue might be plated in gold, but winners are tied to offering it to the Academy for just $1 if they choose to sell it.

he website adds: "This provision shall apply also to the heirs and assigns of Academy Award winners who may acquire a statuette by gift or bequest."

The rule has been in place since 1951, and it's even sparked lawsuits against some who failed to comply.

In 2014, Joseph Tutalo auctioned off an Oscar that his uncle, Joseph Wright, had won in 1943. It successfully sold for $79,200, but The Academy then sued Tutalo and the auction house for breach of contract.

A California judge later ruled in favor of the Academy, forcing the person who'd won the auction to return the statue.

However, it seems there are times when the rules have been bent, with money exchanging hands in 1999 when Michael Jackson forked out $1.5m for the Best Picture Oscar awarded to producer David Selznick in 1939. Selznick died in 1965.

Hopefully none of last night's winners will be thinking about selling the Oscars just yet, but if they are, they better let The Academy know first!

So how have have the various films that are referenced in the Tolerance film done at the Oscars ?

James Bond at the Oscars

The Tolerance film features the James Bond theme from the 1962 Bond film Dr No but it wasn’t till film number 3 Goldfinger that the James Bond film Franchise won its first Oscar.

The James Bond series has won five Academy Awards during the past six decades. "Goldfinger" won a 1964 Oscar for its sound effects, designed by Norman Wanstall followed by a 1965 visual effects award for "Thunderball." which were masterminded by John Steers

The 2012 Bond film "Skyfall," the most financially successful film in the series, won Oscars for Best Original Song (for the title theme by Adele and Paul Epworth) some would say not before time as Live and Let Die by Paul McCartney and Wings were nominated for best original song in 1973 Carly Simon was also nominated for best original song for nobody does it better for 1977’s The Spy who Loved me and Finally Sheena Eastern was nominated for the title track to 1981’s For Your Eyes Only Skyfall also shared the Best Sound Editing award with "Zero Dark Thirty."

The 2015 thriller "Spectre" won the Best Original Song Oscar for "Writing's on the Wall" by Jimmy Napes and the Grammy Award-winning singer Sam Smith.

Jaws Oscars

The original Jaws film won three Academy Awards, those being for Best Film Editing, to see the editing award for Jaws click here

Best Original Dramatic Score to see the award presented to John Williams click here

and Best Sound (Robert Hoyt, Roger Heman, Earl Madery, and John Carter)

Rocky Oscars  

Rocky was nominated for 10 Oscars in 1977 from those nominations it took home 3 awards it won 2 of the main awards for best director for John G Avidson to watch the acceptance of the best director award by John G Avidson click here

 and Best Picture to see the award for best Picture for Rocky click here

 as well as the award for best editing for Richard Halsey and Scott Conrad

Star Wars Oscars

The film garnered numerous accolades after its release. Star Wars won six competitive Academy Awards at the 50th Academy Awards: Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound and Best Visual Effects. A Special Achievement for Sound Effects Editing went to sound designer Ben Burtt, and a Scientific and Engineering Award went to John Dykstra for the development of the Dykstraflex Camera (shared with Alvah J. Miller and Jerry Jeffress, who were both granted for the engineering of the Electronic Motion Control System). 

To watch a collection of Star wars footage from the 1978 Oscars click here thanks to You Tube

Officer and a Gentleman Oscars

Louis Gossett Jr won best supporting actor for his role as gunnery Sargent Emil Foley you can watch him collect his Oscar by clicking here

Thanks to Youtube Louis sadly passed away while I was writing this blog you can read his obituary by clicking here A Poet of an Actor: Louis Gossett, Jr. (1936-2024) | Tributes | Roger Ebert

it also won best original song Oscar for up where we belong, you can see footage of the best original song Oscar from 1983 by clicking once again thanks to You Tube

Notes

 Thanks to Wikipedia for most of the background notes on the history of the Oscars and who won the various awards also thanks to Google images for all of the pictures and Youtube for the Oscar footage  

Pictures

The Academy Award itself

Poster for The Last command 1927

Poster For The Way of all Flesh 1927

Poster for Goldfinger 1964

Poster for Thunderball 1965

Poster for Jaws 1975

Poster for Rocky 1976

Newspaper advert for Star Wars celebrating their Oscar sucess