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cheriecoke · 1 year ago

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𝐈. 𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐄 ❤︎༻°₊ ｡ villain!nanami + f!reader

chapter summary . . . it's been a year since the death of gojo satoru, and it seems that geto's plans have slightly changed.

chapter warnings . . . none other than jjk typical dark themes. see masterlist for series warnings!

author note! this series is my exploration of some of the themes and aspects about jjk that i find intriguing, but this story will be an alternate timeline, and will diverge from the jjk canon, lore, power system, etc. pls don't correct me if i get something about jujutsu or the current timeline wrong! <3

“𝐖𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐲𝐬𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐲𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮” 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐍𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐳𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞

The sheet wrinkled between your fingertips, your grasp far too tight for the thin piece of paper. Words smudged into a pool of black from the oils that danced across your palm, but it didn’t matter much… You didn’t need to read them anyway.

Those lines were as familiar to you as your own name, scribbled down in Utahime’s neat calligraphy, a daily report of new information gathered. The length of the list never changed, but, really, seldom changed, these days.

The same could not be said of the numbers beside the names, the words that followed. They were altered, on occasion. Often when you least expected it.

Directory of known sorcerers residing in Japan, as of December 24, 2017. Most recent grade of every sorcerer identified. Status identified. Bounty set by Nanami Kento and Geto Suguru identified (if applicable):

GOJO SATORU . . . Special Grade . . . Deceased

TSUKUMO YUKI . . . Special Grade . . . Deceased

OKKOTSU YUUTA . . . Special Grade . . . Deceased

GETO SUGURU . . . Special Grade . . . Defected

NANAMI KENTO . . . Special Grade . . . Defected

SHOKO IERI . . . Grade 1 . . . Reward: 35,000,000

FUSHIGURO MEGUMI. . . Grade 1 . . . Reward: 50,000,000

Your name was next on the list.

Immediately, you stopped reading, the anger consuming you as quickly as your eyes scanned the words across the page, crumbling it in your palm.

Every two weeks, like clockwork, your bounty raised. It was the same with Megumi and Maki, as descendants of the Zen’in clan, and children that the higher-ups were so desperate to obtain. But no one else’s reward held quite the same inconsistency as your own, which never seemed to raise by a set amount.

Today, nothing was surprising about the list, no new deaths, no numbers that seemed otherworldly. You threw the wadded ball of paper over your shoulder, slumping forward as your head fell into your hands.

Everyone was getting desperate, it seemed. Not just the Zen’in clan, but Geto too. Perhaps even you were losing your last shred of rationality, of hope that things would change. The only ambition you still had was keeping Maki and Megumi out of the disgusting hands of their clan leaders.

You swore to protect them… And you would protect them, now that Gojo Satoru could not.

Glancing up, your gaze fell from the ceiling to the window, rays of sunlight clearing through a dark curtain of storm clouds. The sky had begun to open up into a steely gray abyss, but it never looked natural, with the curtain of curse energy that shimmered across the horizon. It encased the entirety of the country, unbroken, from each shore to the beaches, sinking into the seas. A navy hue that sealed your home into a prison, out of hatred and fear, and every twisted feeling that Geto Suguru had settling in his heart.

There was hardly anything that passed through the curtain; only things that were predetermined by Geto, who saw himself, surely, as your great benefactor. No communication to the world outside, no alarming any foreign sorcerers of what had become of your country. Maybe no one cared enough to come to your defense.

It was shield that did little to protect, and it would remain there until someone was strong enough to break it. But without Satoru alive, even that had become an impossible task.

Month after month, the strongest sorcerers attempted to break it, to take it down, and collapse the cursed energy that was compacted into a swirling wave. Every one of them failed. There were only two special grade sorcerers left, and they were the ones that had trapped you in the circle of hell, to begin with.

You let out a heavy exhale, turning away from the window to slink back into the darkness of your bedroom. Thinking too hard about the state of your survival only served to depress you further.

At least you still had the rain. The drizzle that maintained the farmlands, kept the rivers from drying out, and you and the rest of the country from dying. Geto had been kind enough to give you that.

As if in response to your dismal thoughts, a dreary rainbow unfurled across the sky, brightening it like a beacon. The colors were still muted, though, swallowed by the darkness of an energy created by hatred. It did little to draw a smile onto your face, and you collapsed onto a chair instead, wrapping yourself up in whatever dusty blankets covered it.

Satoru’s name lingered in your mind like he was whispering it there, his lighthearted, arrogant tone seeping through your eardrums, nestling into your brain. You could still see his smug smile, almost as if he’d been standing in front of you all this time, the image of it painted onto the wall across from you.

The mere whistle of a memory of him sent a twinge of regret and longing through your entire frame. He was always a pain in your ass, and yet, you were certain that no one missed him more than you. What a pity it was, to have been the strongest.

So caught up in your memories, you were ignorant to the door unlatching, footsteps padding through the threshold as Shoko came in. Although you hadn’t heard her, you saw her out of the corner of your eye, the shadow of her before she spoke.

“Everything okay?” Shoko asked, and while things hadn’t been okay in months, there was no other question that could have been asked in place of it.

You looked over, nestling deeper into the blankets, as you observed her stature, which only seemed to shrink with time. A cigarette was balanced between her fingers, nails painted a light shade of pink; a way to counter the dismal reality of her situation. Shoko’s dark hair had been cut short again, a shadow of her teenage self, a shell of that girl she’d once been, hollow and empty.

Just like you, you supposed. A burnt image of someone who’d once longed to visit her friends in Tokyo, who’d looked up to all of them like they’d hung the moon.

How sick you felt, knowing you’d once adored the men that did this to you. Nauseating, even, that you held a shred of love for them still.

“You could’ve knocked,” you said, rolling your eyes as Shoko puffed out of a cloud of smoke, one that wafted over to the nest you’d perched yourself in. It didn’t quite reach you, but you coughed dramatically anyway, waving your hands around your face.

“Would it have made a difference?”

“For starters, I could’ve looked a little less like I was brooding.”

Shoko laughed, and her tiny little smile caused you to crack one of your own, grateful that you could still experience a fraction of joy. There was still hope, somewhere, even if you buried it deep. Without it, you would’ve given yourself up to Geto months ago, or died trying to escape. There was no point in fighting with nothing to live for.

“I’ve been under the impression that that’s all you do up here,” Shoko remarked, taking another long drag of her cigarette. “Sitting so seriously in your dark, cold room, all alone. Perhaps thinking of the things that might have been.”

Although she was teasing you, you feel a stab within your chest at the remark. You’d been shy as a girl, and you’d grown into a quiet adult — something that someone as obnoxious as Satoru had always teased you about. But you’d learned to accept his remarks, as annoying as they were, because for all Gojo Satoru talked, he was, really, quite horrible at communicating.

It just seemed like a punch to the gut, that Shoko sounded like him now. That her mouth twisted up in the same way Satoru’s did, even though it was unsurprising that she’d picked up on some of his quirks over the years.

You just didn’t like seeing a reminder of him everywhere you went. As much as you missed him, you hated him for leaving you in a world where the unthinkable came to light. Even the strongest flame had been put out, and there was no safety in that sort of place.

Silence remained Shoko’s answer, and she sighed, accepting it as her eyes dimmed. Looking past you, the last of the day’s rays burned through the glass panels, coating the room in a purple haze. “Utahime wants to have a meeting,” Shoko said, resigned. “Be downstairs in ten.”

The curt response was the end of your conversation. Once you nodded, your old friend left, letting the door slam behind her.

Meeting was hardly a name that could qualify for your meager gathering of sorcerers, especially since almost everyone had been stuck together for months, with no other options. Yet, Utahime continued to put on a brave face, calling it a formal congregation, as if to instill the hope that you all could become enough to incite a rebellion. As if, maybe, you could train and strengthen yourselves, overthrowing two of the most powerful curse-users in the world.

It was laughable, really, and you saw why Shoko and everyone else thought that. Why they rolled their eyes at the flimsy sheets of paper that Utahime passed out every day, because, maybe, there wasn’t a point to any of it.

You, though, were happy to indulge Utahime. It gave you just a few moments to pretend like things hadn’t changed. You could listen to her lecture to your measly group of sorcerers, and pretend that she was still a teacher in Kyoto. You could pretend that Satoru was still by your side, that you were still fighting nothing worse than grade one curses, and that everything was normal.

It painted a pretty peaceful image, even if it wasn’t real.

Throwing the blankets off your body, you finally left the room, your breathing seeming far too loud for the empty halls. Papery hotel walls loomed over you as you trekked down carpeted stairs, sliding your hands along the banister. The elevators were never used, and lights were only on when necessary. It was a risk to use up any resources, when none of you were certain how much longer they’d last.

Really, it was a mystery that you’d made it this far. For all of his theatrics and grandiose plans, Geto Suguru was not an idiot. If he was allowing you all to live, for anyone who opposed him to live, then there must have been a reason. Society was likely blooming within the four walls of Geto’s cult following, and those who stood with him received all the finest things in life.

And it may have been a ridiculous notion, but it seemed more realistic than the alternative. Whoever Geto was now, he was still a man who cared deeply for his new family. You couldn’t imagine him forcing them into a life where they had to fend for scraps off the streets.

When you got downstairs, to the lobby of the hotel that you were all inhabiting for the week, the room was already lit with candles, flames so high that you could tell they’d been burning for a while. With the sun already setting on the other side of the building, very little light filtered through the vast windows.

Despite the cold outside, the building remained relatively warm, a heating system kicking on regardless of your precautions. However, you were grateful not to have to face the winter in a small town without some source of warmth. Even if it died out on you by the end of the night.

Nearly everyone had gathered when you arrived downstairs… But at this point in your battle, the numbers were never very staggering. Many of the sorcerers never bothered to show up, despite knowing the severity of the position that you were all in.

Not that you could blame them, though. Oftentimes, in these meetings, you just repeated the same information; it was rare that you stumbled upon anything noteworthy toward your survival.

The would-be third years sat huddled in a circle, and Utahime and Shoko talked amongst themselves in hushed whispers. At the far side of the vast table, one you’d created from various smaller ones, Takuma Ino sat, beanie covering his forehead, eyes closed as he leaned back in the chair.

Something relaxed inside of you, at the sight of him sitting there so calmly. Since Stour had died, Ino had become something of a comfort to you. His steadfast optimism and energy were hard to match in such dire times, bringing a new life to people who might as well have been dead—including yourself. Despite the few years difference in age and the differences in your experiences as sorcerers, he’d become one of your closest friends.

You approached him, quietly; though he heard your subtle footsteps nonetheless. A dark eye popped open, and he smiled, lips pulling back, eyes crinkling at the corners. Ino was still so young, but there was more evidence of happiness on his features than many of you; wrinkles were already obvious around his eyes and mouth. It was admirable how deeply he could hold onto joy, and you found yourself latching onto that, longing for it, even.

“You left your cave!” Ino remarked, pulling his beanie off, dusty brown strands falling onto his cheekbones. “This must be really important if Shoko pulled you out of there.”

As you took the seat next to him, you made an effort to poke him in the shin with your shoe. A kick, almost, with how hard the pressure landed. “I always come to these meetings,” you said, rolling your eyes. “If I remember correctly, it was your seat that was empty during the last one.”

Ino’s lips tugged upwards again, not quite a smirk but close enough. He sat up a little straighter, less relaxed than before, when the rest of the sorcerers began filing into the room. “Well, it’s never me that those bastards looking for.” Ino shrugged, wiping a hand over his face, hiding his weariness of the entire situation. “They don’t need everyone. Some of us, they just want to capture to eliminate.”

An objection rested on your lips, but you knew that it was fruitless. Sorcerers that didn’t have a technique inherently useful to Geto’s agenda would be imprisoned — or killed. The rest of you… Well, you’re certain you’d be used for something far worse. Dying seemed, almost, like the better outcome.

“Well, it’s a good thing that none of us have been captured, then,” you settled on instead.

Ino looked away, his dark lashes fanning over the hollowed shadows beneath his eyes. “It’s only a matter of time, though. Isn’t it? We can’t run forever.”

You didn’t bother to respond. Ino was right. Of course, he was right. You’d all fought like hell to keep everyone alive, and though a few had willingly left, sworn their allegiance with a betrayal of information, no one had been captured. The defects never really mattered, though. There were very few secrets kept amongst you. What secrets could be kept, when your goal of escape was more than obvious?

Finally, Utahime drew all your focus with a dramatic clearing of her throat. She stood tall, proud before you, like you were all first-years, oblivious to your own talents, and far too naive for the world of Jujutsu.

It seemed a realistic comparison, though, as all of you still trained like students, trying to learn something from others that you hadn’t known before. A disappointing concept, considering many of you were beyond growth in your technique, and your abilities would remain stagnant. But the grades of sorcery meant nothing anymore — hardly anyone referred to themselves as such, these days.

“As you all know, for months, we’ve been trying to anticipate Geto and Nanami’s next move,” Utahime began, as always, with the obvious. There was a brief pause, and whether it was for dramatics or for Utahime to gather her thoughts, you weren’t certain. “Our infiltration attempts have all failed — The bounties tell us little, except that the clan’s children are wanted more than everyone.”

You glanced over at Megumi, whose eyebrow only twitched in irritation. He would be eighteen soon, but he would remain your responsibility. A life you’d always protect, dying before the clan could ever attempt to take him away, sell him for whatever he was worth. You’d promised Satoru that much, hadn’t you?

“Although,” Utahime started again, with renewed vigor in her voice, “we think we’ve gained some new insight into their operations. Or, at least, what their next ambition is.” A frown took over her face, then, slowly, curled to every corner of her expression. Wrinkles formed between her brows, and she licked her lips, pointedly avoiding the far end of the table where you sat. “But there is nothing proven in the information. It is a gamble — one we’re not sure we’re willing to take.”

“What options do we have left?” Todo said, mouth drawn into a tight line. “Risks are all we have now. Every other plan has led to nothing, and Geto is a complete basket case. You act as if any of his goals are rational — as if we can predict them.”

Utahime opened her mouth, but faltered, looking at Shoko, who had already begun to take over. She was onto her second cigarette since you’d last seen her, the habit only erupting after Gojo had been killed. Clouds of smoke rose above her as she exhaled smoothly.

“No, Geto is not rational,” Shoko agreed. “But Nanami is. There’s a reason that those without cursed energy still reside in Japan. That Geto has not wiped them out entirely.”

“To supply him with curses,” Todo argued, fists on the table. It did little to faze Shoko, who was already so numb. “And money.”

“No,” Shoko paused, gathering her thoughts. “That may be part of the reason, but it isn’t the entire truth, I believe.”

Although she took a few more breaths, no one interrupted, letting her expel whatever was residing in her mind. When it came to Geto, evwryone entrusted her entirely. There was no one else alive who knew him as well as she did. Even if Gojo had been the only one to ever know him completely.

“How many sorcerers do you think are left in Japan?” she asked, staring Todo down with a flat gaze, shadowy eyes only growing darker by the day. “An estimate.”

He shrugged, glancing around the table, and counting heads. Thinking of the clans. Of those who had joined Geto before that evening in Shinjuku, and those who joined him in the two years since. “I don’t know. Perhaps two hundred?”

“I’d argue less,” Shoko hummed, taking one more drag of her cigarette before she dropped it on the floor of the hotel, stomping it out. “But let’s stick with your guess. Two hundred is hardly a feasible number to sustain a society, without setting all of us back centuries. Geto’s goal of murdering anyone without cursed energy… Well, it’s not feasible, really. Not unless he wants the human race, including sorcerers, to cease to exist.” She smiled, though it was sad, exhausted. Things had never stopped being hard for her. Not since the day she’d met the two special grade sorcerers that had once been her best friends. “That’s why they’ve stopped. That’s why the rest of the world moves along, why there are still curses haunting Tokyo, even when Geto hates them. If his plan fails here, then how will it succeed in the rest of the world?”

Utahime took her seat beside Shoko, bowing her head. Silence arose across the table, as the words sank in. How often you’d thought the same thing, how rational it seemed that that was the case. Yet, none of you had ever been brave enough to say the words out loud.

Perhaps it didn’t matter, really, when all of you were helpless to stop them.

“So this is a test run?” Megumi interjected, not allowing Todo to supply any more questions out of his fearful rage. “If Geto can build his utopia here, then he will continue everywhere else?”

Shoko nodded. “Well. That’s what I think anyway. No one needs to believe me.”

But her statements were never up for debate. They settled around the table like the word of God, bestowed upon unwilling servants. Giving to the last of you; people who needed to continue on a path that seemed to lead to nowhere.

“What are we supposed to do, then?” Maki threw her hands up, standing as the chair screeched across the floor. “We’ve run and we’ve hid, and we’ve planned for a year. We’re cowards, aren’t we? Just trying to get by while a lunatic takes over the entire world.”

Shoko flinched at the word, at the brashness of the teenager’s tone. But she sat tall, face neutral, never letting anyone see how deeply she was truly hurting. “I don’t know. I don’t have all the answers.”

“Well let’s do something. I’ve lost so many people. We’ve all lost so many people. I’m starting to think that maybe their deaths were in vain.”

Megumi’s eyes snapped over to her, muttering something darkly under his breath. In a failed attempt, Nobara tugged on her wrist, guiding her back down to her seat. But she flicked him off, sitting on her own, breathing heavily. You’d always liked Maki Zen’in. It was a pity you’d never get the chance to teach her as a third year — you would’ve promoted her to grade one sorcerer, given the chance.

“I agree, Maki,” Utahime spoke up again, softly, coaxing her anger back down. “We think that we might have a plan, though, as I have said, it is a gamble. And…” she blinked, glancing over at you before avoiding your gaze. “I’m not sure that everyone would be willing.”

The statement started a chorus around the table, of those who would do anything to help, those who were tired of living as you had been living — if you could even call it a life. The students, more courageous than you’d ever been, were the first to offer up their lives. But it was not them that Utahime needed, and deep in your gut, you knew that to be true before she even said it.

“Utahime,” you said across the wave of speakers, trying your best to make your voice louder than everyone else’s. “It’s me you need, isn’t it?”

As quickly as the words had left your mouth, everyone was silent, blinking at you. And for a moment, you hesitated. How embarrassing it would be, to believe yourself so important to Geto that you must be the willing victim.

But you weren’t a fool, and Utahime knew that. Geto knew that, and Nanami Kento certainly knew that. Your bounty had raised just as heavily, and the numbers were staggering. The price on your head was almost as high as Maki and Megumi, despite having very few sorcerers in your long line of descendants.

It was just — your technique was rare. So rare, in fact, that other curse users had come for you before, when you were but a child. It was something that Geto could easily use to achieve his end goal, if he were able to use your technique to his advantage.

Thinking of it now, it was logical and seemed almost ridiculous that you hadn’t thought of it sooner. He’d surely attempt to convert you, perhaps promise you a life of grandeur, whatever security he could provide you.

Yet, the realization hadn’t made you any more prepared for when Utahime’s face fell. Everyone around the table seemed to have come to the same conclusion.

She sighed, looking over to Shoko before nodding. “I’m sorry.”

Momentarily, your heart stopped.

Ino flew out of his seat beside you, arguments spewing from his lips in an uncertain stutter. “What? What does that mean? You’re just going to ship her off to Nanami and Geto? Because I’m not going to stand by and watch you hand anyone over to the people that ruined our lives,” he shouted. The heat had risen in his body far too quickly, painting him the image of someone who could only be your lover.

Your cheeks grew warm, your body hot all over from Ino’s words, from all the eyes that were on you, the dread of what was to come. You’d do it — of course, you’d do it, whatever they needed. Whatever it took to save Megumi and Maki, and the rest of the children. Whatever it took to save the world. If you were to be a sacrifice, well, so be it. There wasn’t much of a choice.

“Calm down, lover boy,” Shoko laughed, and though Ino’s cheeks grew red, his anger didn’t subside, features pinching up tight. “We’re not going to do anything she doesn’t want to do. There could be another way, we can get someone else but…” Shoko looked at you, studying you for any fear. “You are the best option, aren’t you?”

“What the hell does that mean?” Megumi asked, eyebrows narrowing. “I’m with Takuma. You expect us just to watch her walk straight into the lions’ den?”

“It’s okay, Megumi,” you said, schooling your face into a neutral expression. All these months, you’d been promising yourself that you would do whatever was necessary. You’d become a loud voice against the tyrants that controlled what was left of the Jujutsu society, and you couldn’t go back on your word now, could you? “What did you have in mind, Utahime?”

She blinked, dark lashes fluttering over her cheeks, brown eyes wide. Almost like she’d expected you to say no — like she’d hoped for it. But, even though you knew in your heart and soul that you were a coward, you refused to let yourself act like one.

Megumi said your name again, an argument, as Maki became flustered beside him. How noble the two of them were. They were just kids, and already, they reminded you so much of Satoru. The good qualities, of course. Always standing up for what was right, fighting against the system that threatened to topple them.

Geto had been like that once. Nanami had too.

Sadly, you smiled to yourself as Shoko cleared her throat, cooling the argument that had sprung up among you. Besides the students and Ino, no one had much to say. All of you were too tired, it seemed, to want to fight. To breathe life back into yourselves and your convictions, which seemed to barely be there at all.

“What we know for sure is that Geto has employed Mei Mei as a bounty hunter,” Utahime said, lips drawn thin. Her defection had never really come as a shock. Mei Mei could easily round up sorcerers with her technique, and Geto would supply her with millions; she’d never once put anyone first but herself. “We’ve managed to stay ahead of her, but…”

Her voice trailed off, dark eyes drifting between Megumi and Maki, innocent children who had been dragged into it, simply because of their lineage. They’d fought bravely the past few years, had trained mercilessly, but they shouldn’t have been weapons in a war of this scale.

Oh, Satoru, you thought, what a mess you’ve left us with.

“We won’t let any of the children get involved,” Shoko said, brushing her short hair out of her face. “They’ll be safe — away, with the rest of us. There might be casualties. We don’t know who else Geto has employed, or if Mei Mei will be on her own… I’m sorry, but we don’t know much.”

“It’s okay,” you said again, but the wave of arguments had erupted once more.

Shoko dropped her head, shaking it, as her chin fell against her chest. Under the table, Ino grabbed your hand, squeezing it gently.

“You can’t expect us just to do nothing,” Maki argued, fists clenched by her side. “Last time you set us all on the bench, three students died. This is a ridiculous plan. Why don’t we just kill the bitch, and we’ll be down one less curse-user that wants us all dead!”

“It’s not that simple.” Utahime, for the first time in a while, shouted at the former student. Her cheeks were flushed, bright and pink, her nose flared with the force of her breathing.

For a moment, Maki seemed taken aback, but erased the emotion from her face, twisting it up before she sat back down. Utahime regained her composure quickly after.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Maki, but we need to be willing to do whatever it takes. We’ve spent a year playing it safe, and it’s gotten us nowhere. This time, we need to take a risk.”

“If that’s truly the case, then I’ll help,” Ino offered beside you, threading his fingers through your own, palms clammy against yours. You let him run his thumb along the back of your hand, calloused and warm, even as you wanted to twist away. How often you’d gone to him for comfort, crawled into his arms… and yet, the subtle signs of affection made you want to writhe away and put distance between you. Sometimes, the dissonance of your emotions made you want to never speak to him again.

It was a hard pill to swallow. Once, you’d been full of love, accepted it easily. But it was harder to give these days, and harder to take. Just a sign of how much you’d changed since Satoru had died.

“If you need sorcerers, I’ll help, Utahime. I don’t mind giving my life so that the rest of you can live.”

“Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

You sighed, looking around the table at all of the faces of people that had once been your friends, your colleagues, your students. Now, you were just a group of survivors, people who wanted to escape the miserable future you’d been given. How you loved them, even now, and it stung, to know this might be the last time you’d ever see them.

“Alright. Tell me what I need to do.” you said, putting on a brave face, swallowing away your fear. The little girl you’d once been, so terrified of curses and Jujutsu, threatened to slip back into your body. You pushed her away, refusing to let her in.

Shoko pulled another cigarette out of the box. “I think we should speak alone.”

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rjzimmerman · 25 days ago

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Excerpt from this story from EcoWatch:

In a new study, health sciences researchers at the University of New Mexico (UNM) have found microplastics in human brain tissue in concentrations much higher than in other organs.

In addition, the accumulation of the plastics appeared to grow over time, increasing 50 percent in the last eight years.

The research team, led by Dr. Matthew Campen — a toxicologist and Distinguished and Regents’ Professor in the UNM College of Pharmacy — discovered that plastic concentrations appeared higher in the brain than in the kidney or liver, and higher than earlier reports for testes and placentas.

The accumulation rate of the plastics was found to mirror the growing plastic waste on the planet, Campen said in a press release from UNM.

The research team found that many of the plastic pieces appeared to be smaller than previous observations — roughly two to three times bigger than viruses.

Microplastics are tiny pieces of degraded polymers, now ubiquitous in our water, air and soil. They have embedded themselves all over the human body over the course of the last 50 years.

Campen said the findings are cause for alarm.

“I never would have imagined it was this high. I certainly don’t feel comfortable with this much plastic in my brain, and I don’t need to wait around 30 more years to find out what happens if the concentrations quadruple,” he said.

To complicate matters, brain tissue from those diagnosed with dementia contained as much as 10 times the amount of plastic as everyone else, Campen said.

However, the study was not able to determine if the high plastic levels in the brain were the reason for the dementia symptoms. Campen said plastic particles might accumulate more because of the disease process itself.

In the study, the researchers compared brain tissue from 2016 and 2024. They detected and quantified a dozen different polymers, with polyethylene — widely used to make containers and packaging, including cups and bottles — being the most common.

The team discovered clusters of plastic shards of 200 nanometers or less — small enough to be able to cross the blood-brain barrier, though Campen said it wasn’t clear how they were transported into the brain.

Campen added that it was also not apparent what effects plastic — considered biologically inert and used for heart stents, artificial joints and other medical applications — could be having. He explained that the particles’ physical characteristics might be the problem, instead of some kind of chemical toxicity.

#microplastics #brain

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amialuvr · 1 year ago

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more stupid headcanons bc there’s so much bouncing around in my head lolsies.

mizuki and airi being major shopaholics and proceeding to drag akito with them because half the time ena is still passed tf out and they need someone to hold their bags. akito will not admit that he actually enjoys such outings.

an proofreading mizuki’s essays only to wonder how the fuck mizuki is still on track to graduate because “you can’t write ‘I don’t fucking know’ in a lab report!”

VBS rocking up to the shinonome household only to find n25 in various stages of grief after watching a movie where a dog dies. (something like Hachiko that movie fucking destroyed me). states of grief include mafuyu sitting at the dining table looking relatively normal to mizuki laying on the floor with their head in their hands.

haruka having the absolute wildest compilation video titles compared to the rest of MMJ. airi’s favorite example is “haruka has vaguely questionable reactions to other idols for 7 minutes.” shizuku likes likes the “haruka holding various penguin memorabilia for 8 minutes straight!” video.

in the same vein as tsukasa rocking shiho’s shit w a door from my last post, tsukasa has crushed the fingers of at least 12 other students flinging doors open and closed. how saki has gone uninjured via tsukasa her entire life is beyond everyone around her.

honami casually striking up conversation with kanade when they see each other in public for the first time. n25 is astounded kanade is having human interaction with someone who isn’t them; l/n is concerned as to why honami is talking to a girl who looks like she’s never seen the sun.

mizuki livetweeting (or whatever sekai equivalent) mafuyu’s reaction to literally everything. “guys she’s tryin caramel ice cream for the first time” at 12:41 PM, quickly followed by “SHE HATES IT” at 12:42 PM, which is also followed by “nvm she liked it false alarm” at 12:44 PM. this is also applicable to a call or facetime.

minori once threw a pudding cup at airi so hard it left a mark for three days. she claims it was an accident; airi believes otherwise.

#project sekai #pjsk #project sekai headcanons #mizuki akiyama #ena shinonome #airi momoi #kanade yoisaki #mafuyu asahina #shizuku hinomori #haruka kiritani #minori hanasato #akito shinonome #an shiraishi #tsukasa tenma #saki tenma #honami mochizuki

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meret118 · 3 months ago

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The cogent documentary, “Surveilled,” now available on HBO, tracks journalist Ronan Farrow as he investigates the proliferation and implementation of spyware, specifically, Pegasus, which was created by the Israeli company NSO Group. The company sells its product to clients who use it to fight crime and terrorism. It is claimed that Pegasus was instrumental in helping capture Mexican drug lord, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman. However, there are also reports that NSO’s products are being used to target journalists, human rights activists and political dissidents.

. . .

Farrow: I put up a piece in The New Yorker this week. It was fascinating to talk to experts in the privacy law space who are really in a high state of alarm right now. The United States, under administrations from both parties, has flirted with this technology in ways that is alarming. Under the first Trump administration, they bought Pegasus. They claimed they were buying it to test it and see what our enemies were doing, and The New York Times later sued them for more information and found really persuasive evidence that the FBI wanted to operationalize that in American law enforcement investigations.

youtube

In September, the Department of Homeland Security (D.H.S.) signed a two-million-dollar contract with Paragon, an Israeli firm whose spyware product Graphite focusses on breaching encrypted-messaging applications such as Telegram and Signal. Wired first reported that the technology was acquired by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—an agency within D.H.S. that will soon be involved in executing the Trump Administration’s promises of mass deportations and crackdowns on border crossings. A source at Paragon told me that the deal followed a vetting process, during which the company was able to demonstrate that it had robust tools to prevent other countries that purchase its spyware from hacking Americans—but that wouldn’t limit the U.S. government’s ability to target its own citizens. The technology is part of a booming multibillion-dollar market for intrusive phone-hacking software that is making government surveillance increasingly cheap and accessible. In recent years, a number of Western democracies have been roiled by controversies in which spyware has been used, apparently by defense and intelligence agencies, to target opposition politicians, journalists, and apolitical civilians caught up in Orwellian surveillance dragnets.

Now Donald Trump and incoming members of his Administration will decide whether to curtail or expand the U.S. government’s use of this kind of technology. Privacy advocates have been in a state of high alarm about the colliding political and technological trend lines.

“It’s just so evident—the impending disaster,” Emily Tucker, the executive director at the Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown Law, told me. “You may believe yourself not to be in one of the vulnerable categories, but you won’t know if you’ve ended up on a list for some reason or your loved ones have. Every single person should be worried.”

#Technology #Surveillance #Big brother #Privacy #Youtube

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infin1ty-garden · 1 year ago

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LOVE ALARM

ೃ⁀➷ summary: what if the love alarm existed in real life ೃ⁀➷ characters: CL16, LS18, LN4 & MV1 ೃ⁀➷ warnings: none ೃ⁀➷ word count: 456 words ೃ⁀➷ author note: just remembered I watched this show (love alarm)

masterlist.

LOVE ALARM - a technology that enables users to discover love through an application which notifies users when someone within 10 meters has romantic feelings for them

CHARLES LECLERC

ೃ⁀➷ It's been a while since you and Charles have seen each other

ೃ⁀➷ Having been friends as children and dating as teens you'd broken off the relationship, his travelling and long distance being hard on both of you

ೃ⁀➷ A long time friend was getting married, at the venue was the first time either of you spoke to each other

ೃ⁀➷ You stepped outside to get some fresh air

ೃ⁀➷ "You've changed," as soon as he got 10 metres close to you, both phones pinged. "My feelings haven't."

LANCE STROLL

ೃ⁀➷ You and Lance had been fake dating for a while, you wanting to get your ex of off your back and Lance's PR wanting more positive publicity for the driver

ೃ⁀➷ None of you thought that the other had actual feelings

ೃ⁀➷ Lance asked you if you'd be alright with him installing the app

ೃ⁀➷ When he finally came home on summer break, he heard his alarm ping. Joy filled him as he knew the only person in the house was you

ೃ⁀➷ He'd tried to convince himself that he wasn't in love with you, over the days of "dating" you, he was smitten

ೃ⁀➷ "You installed the app," he showed you his phone. "So, did you."

LANDO NORRIS

ೃ⁀➷ You work as reporter in f1 and motorsport, today's interview was with the mclaren driver

ೃ⁀➷ Lando had arrived and thought nothing of note would happen, just a regular interview

ೃ⁀➷ Only for you to be the interviewer

ೃ⁀➷ Lando had seen you multiple times in his career as an f1 driver and had developed a crush, so to him it came as no surprise when your love alarm pinged

ೃ⁀➷ You looked at him but just assumed it wasn't the driver

ೃ⁀➷ But it kept on happening

ೃ⁀➷ Eventually you asked him about it

ೃ⁀➷ "Isn't it obvious? I like you."

MAX VERSTAPPEN

ೃ⁀➷ Max wasn't a friend, not even close

ೃ⁀➷ The two of had a rivalry since Toro Rosso that only got worse as time went on

ೃ⁀➷ It used to be normal for one of you to take the other out of the race but it changed once you crashed in 2021 leaving you injured, out of the rest of the season and without a seat for 2022

ೃ⁀➷ Max had found his feelings changed after the crash. It wasn't instantaneous but gradual. Honestly it took him a while to realise this change had happened.

ೃ⁀➷ He had visited you, TWO MONTHS after the crash. "What took you so long? Most of the grid sent cards anyway. Came to gloat about winning the championship?"

ೃ⁀➷ Then you get a notification - One person within 10 metres loves you

Thanks for reading!

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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 2 years ago

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By: SEGM

Published: Aug 13, 2023

Near-zero regret” findings among adults suffer from a critical risk of bias and have low applicability to youth

Recent research published in JAMA Surgery evaluated satisfaction and regret among individuals who had undergone chest masculinizing mastectomy at the University of Michigan hospital. The average patient age at the time of mastectomy was 27 years; no patients who were under age 18 were allowed to participate in the study.

The participants reported high levels of satisfaction and low levels of regret at an average of 3.6 years following mastectomy. The study authors lauded the “overwhelmingly low levels of regret following gender-affirming surgery,” and framed their findings as in conflict with the “increasing legislative interest in regulating gender-affirming surgery,” referring to current legislative attempts to restrict or ban “gender-affirming” procedures for minors. Another group of authors provided an invited commentary on the paper, reinforcing the view held by the study authors, and asserting the presence of a “double standard:” “gender-affirming” mastectomies have come under undue scrutiny by states’ legislators, while other surgical procedures with higher regret rates do not appear to concern legislative bodies.

The study suffers from serious methodological limitations, which render the findings of high levels of long-term satisfaction with mastectomy among adults at a "critical risk of bias"—the lowest rating according to the Risk of Bias (ROBINS-I) analysis. ROBINS-I is used to assess non-randomized studies for methodological bias. The "critical risk of bias" rating signals that the results reported by the study may substantially deviate from the truth. The results also suffer from low applicability to the central issue the study and the invited commentary sought to address, which was whether legislative attempts to regulate “gender-affirming” surgeries are warranted in minors. Unfortunately, these highly questionable findings are misrepresented as certain and highly positive by both the study authors and the invited commentators, several of whom have significant conflicts of interest.

Below, we provide a detailed explanation of the key methodological issues in the study which render its claims untrustworthy and not applicable to the patient population at the center of the debate: youth undergoing gender reassignment. We also comment on the alarming trend: several prestigious scientific journals appear to have deviated from their previously high standards for scholarly work and instead have become vehicles for promoting poor-quality research, seemingly to influence judicial policy decisions rather than advance scientific understanding. We conclude with recommendations about how journal editors can restore the integrity of scientific debate and raise the bar on the quality of published studies in the field of gender medicine.

[ For in-depth analysis, see: https://segm.org/long-term-regret-satisfaction-mastectomy-critical-appraisal ]

SEGM Take-Aways

Although this study reports extremely high rates of satisfaction and low regret, the timeframe in which these outcomes were assessed is insufficient—just 3.6 years post-mastectomy on average. The sample is also highly skewed: 50% of the participants had mastectomies in the last 3.6 of the 30 years. This skewing of the length of time since surgery is expected, given the sharp rise in the number of people (especially adolescents and young adults) identifying as transgender and undergoing chest masculinization mastectomy. It is also a short time in which to assess regret, particularly since one quarter of study participants were younger than age 23 at time of surgery and the median age of first birth in the US is 30 years.

The conclusion of high satisfaction/low regret suffers from a critical risk of bias due to the high non-participation rate, important differences between participants and non-participants, and lack of control group. Problematically, the authors misuse the (critically-biased) results from adults to argue against regulations for irreversible body alternations for minors and do so with a decidedly politicized spin.

The only intellectually honest commentary is that we do not have good knowledge of the likely rates of detransition and regret following chest masculinization mastectomy, nor do we know how many people experience regret but remain transitioned. There is an urgent need for quality research in this area. Previously, detransition and regret rates were considered to be low: they may have indeed been low due to the much more rigorous screenings, or the results may have been biased by the notoriously high dropout rates that plague “regret” research. Regardless, there is now growing evidence of much higher rates of medical detransition.

A recent study from a comprehensive U.S. dataset with no loss to follow-up revealed a 36% medical detransition rate among females within just 4 years of starting hormonal transition. At least two recent studies suggest that average time to regret among recently-transitioned females is about 3-5 years, but there is a wide range. Much less is known about detransition among those who undergo surgery. A growing number of detransitioners now express regret associated with the loss of breastfeeding ability, with one case study detailing breastfeeding grief experienced some 15 years post-mastectomy.

The study and invited commentary exemplify three problematic trends that plague studies emerging from the gender clinics: problematic conflicts of interest of the authors; leveraging scientific journals to disguise politically-motivated pieces as quality research; and a conflicted stance by the gender medicine establishment on surgery for minors. We expand on each briefly below.

Conflicts of interest of study authors and commentators

The significant conflicts of interest of the gender clinicians who study and report on the outcomes of “gender-affirming” interventions cannot be overlooked. These clinicians are conflicted financially, since their practices specialize in “gender-affirming” interventions, as well as intellectually. While conflicts of interest among experts are common, such experts should still attempt to be balanced in their discussions and should acknowledge and reflect on their conflicts of interest.

The interpretations of the data in the study is neither rigorous nor balanced, and both the study and the invited commentary have a decidedly political spin. Further, the invited politicized commentary does not disclose that at least one of the authors is a key expert witness opposing states’ efforts to regulate “gender-affirming” surgeries for minors. This role alone precludes the ability to provide a balanced commentary.

There is a fundamental problem with research emerging from gender clinic settings. The same clinicians provide gender-transitioning treatments to individual patients in their practice; serve as primary investigators and custodians of data used in research informing population health policies; and increasingly, provide paid expert witness testimony in courts defending the unrestricted availability of hormonal and surgical interventions for minors.

As a result, such clinicians cannot express nuanced perspectives. Since any balanced statements may be used against them in a court of law when they serve as expert witnesses, they must resort to the lowest common denominator of the "winner-takes-all" adversarial approach. Such an approach does not tolerate nuance. Unfortunately, this approach contributes to the erosion of the quality of the published work in the arena of gender medicine and accelerates loss of trust about the integrity of the scientific process.

Misuse of scientific publications to promote politically-motivated articles disguised as scientific research

That prestigious medical journals now serve as platforms for promoting misleading, politically motivated research that aims to apply a veneer of misplaced confidence in highly invasive, irreversible treatment should worry everyone committed to evidence-based medicine and the integrity of science. Moreover, it impairs our ability to accurately assess and improve the long-term health outcomes of the rapidly growing numbers of gender-diverse and gender-distressed youths.

This is not the first time that a JAMA has been used as a platform for positioning advocacy for “gender-affirming” care as scientific research. In 2022, JAMA Pediatrics published a study that assessed bodily happiness in a group of subjects aged 14-24 three months after chest masculinization mastectomy. Despite the very short follow up and dropout rate of 13%, the authors argued that their findings supported the premise that there was no evidence to suggest that young age should delay surgery. They also asserted that their research would help dispel the misconception that such surgeries are experimental. The editorial commissioned to bolster the authors claims was descriptively titled, “Top surgery in adolescents and young adults-effective and medically necessary.”

Another troubling trend is the misuse of statistical tools to reframe research findings that contradict the author's own position. For example, a well-known study that claimed that access to puberty blockers reduce the risk of suicide disregarded the fact that individuals reporting use of puberty blockers use had twice as many recent serious suicide attempts as their peers who did not use puberty blockers. Like the finding cited above, the doubling of suicide attempts was not statistically significant due to a small underpowered sample—but the magnitude of the effect was striking and should have tempered the authors’ enthusiastic conclusion that puberty blockers prevent suicides. Another recent gender clinic study, widely and positively covered by major media outlets, claimed that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones led to plummeting rate of depression—even though the rate of depression among youth taking those medications remained demonstrably unchanged. More information about problems with research originating from gender clinics is detailed in this recent analysis.

Gender medicine’s stance on pediatric surgery

More generally, the gender medicine establishment is in a curious state of internal conflict about its stance on “gender-affirming” surgeries for minors. On the one hand, it has become common for advocates of “gender-affirmation” of minors to insist that surgeries for minors are not performed and anyone who suggests otherwise is spreading “scientific misinformation” and “science denialism.” On the other hand, gender clinicians publish mastectomy outcomes for minors in major medical journals, and laud surgeries for minors as “effective and medically necessary.” It is not uncommon for these opposing claims to be made by the same group of researchers and clinicians, as they test various arguments, searching for the "angle" that is most likely to convince judges and juries--and public at large--that scrutiny of the practice of pediatric transitions, which is increasingly occurring in European countries, is not warranted in the United States.

Notably, none of the European countries that are enacting severe restrictions on the use of puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones for minors have ever allowed surgeries for youth under 18. That the U.S. gender affirmation professionals continue to fight regulation of these problematic procedures speaks volumes about how far the U.S. healthcare has drifted when it comes to "gender affirmation" of minors.

Final thoughts

While it is challenging to determine how best to reduce the temperature of the highly politicized nature of the debate in gender medicine, the editors of scientific journals can begin to restore balance by recognizing how far the field has drifted from the standards of quality scientific research, and begin to expand their circle of peer-reviewers to those with diverse views. Inviting those concerned with the state of gender medicine (and not just the practices’ advocates) into the peer-review and commentary process is the first essential step to improve the quality of research published in the field of gender medicine.

The activists are predictably - and consistent with the superficiality of their own ideology - upset that anyone should look below the surface. It seems to be more troubling that anyone would notice the shoddiness of the research, than that the research is shoddy.

If this is supposed to be "healthcare," you would think that they would want the best healthcare, and be more alarmed at the misrepresentations of the study, than by people finding those misrepresentations.

Could it be that this is ideological rather than medical? 🤔

The conflicts of interest and funding sources alone are remarkable.

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hollybrookee · 5 months ago

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Excerpt from Steve vs the World with cool enderman anatomy

[one of my fav scenes to write hehe]

“I'm leaving now. Have fun with the rest of this exam Nightingale. Fair warning, this one throws punches,” Steve snipped with a bitter expression.

Nightingale lifted his intense gaze from his patient`s wounds and his face morphed into something akin of ill masked panic. Steve turned on his heel towards the exit but came to face with a woman knocking at the slightly opened door. He startled at the intrusion.

A drowned nurse with a neat braid and powder blue scrubs presented a sheet of paper to the phantom with a green hand. “Doctor Nightingale, the blood panel came back for this patient.”

The doctor promptly stood and crossed the room. “Steve, stay,” he ordered as he passed the indignant human frozen from almost bumping into a member of the hospital staff.

“Nightingale, are you serious?” Steve murmured to him in frustration.

He placed a hand on Steve`s shoulder and leaned into his ear. “I have an idea but I need you to stay put,” he whispered.

Atticus blinked rapidly. He seemed to be recovering from the shock.

“You took my blood?” Atticus incriminated after recovering from the revelation that he had yet again been violated in the eyes of medicine and the law. He struggled to sit up again with a scowl. He didn’t get very far.

The night doctor accepted the document and scanned the report. “Not the only samples I took. Been checking your blood oxygen content regularly and we took radiographs shortly after you arrived, found a cracked rib, nothing too severe so don’t you worry about that, and then signs of acute pneumonia which is pretty common in endermen experiencing humid climates or rain for the first time. It's nothing we can’t treat. I’ve already started you on oxygen, which you are going back on, by the way.” The doctor pointed at the respiration machine and its face mask. He continued to study the pages.

Atticus seemed…overwhelmed, but Nightingale didn't let this cease his medical jargon rambling.

“We've started you on an antibiotic via IV so your lungs should be free and clear of fluid soon. The antibiotic is called azithromycin and we have you on a pretty hefty dose so don't be alarmed if you start to experience nausea, G.I. upset, loss of appetite, headaches, or dizziness. These are all normal side effects, but just let me know if they happen. This med can be pretty heavy on the body but it's better than going septic so we're gonna cut our losses, yeah?” the doctor rambled at the downed soldier trapped in the confines of his temporary bed.

Atticus looked horrified at the unknown treatments. “What’s a radiograph?”

Nightingale ceased his scrutinizing of the results to address the room once more. He nodded and began to take a more gentle approach to his explanation.

“Right, new to the overworld, I always forget our improvements in modern medicine are a bit more, shall we say advanced? Then the End or Nether. In short, our redstone engineers and leading researchers, I was on the team actually, created an ‘X-Ray’ machine that generates electromagnetic radiation and channels it through the body to create an image. Essentially, it helps us see what’s inside of you without having to cut you open to find out. Just the wonders of devoting research into its practical applications as opposed to a war effort I suppose. And very helpful for your diagnosis might I add,” the doctor spoke animatedly with his hands. He returned his gaze back to the paper to further interpret the findings.

“And you did that to me?” Atticus’ eyes were wide with distress and his mouth hung open. The enderman was panting. He was hyperventilating. Steve recoiled at the pitiful sight. He kinda felt for the guy. Probably because once upon a time he was in the same boat, a terrified patient of Dr. Nightingale’s in an unfamiliar city with an uncertain future.

“Oh relax,” Nightingale dismissed his anxieties with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

He flipped through the pages and scanned the data. He hummed at random intervals. Nightingale clicked his tongue as he traced a finger down the paper to follow each of the levels printed on the page. His finger paused at a number and the clicking ceased. He looked solemn.

“Low CBC,” Nightingale enunciated. He tapped the page with the pen several times. He was stalling.

The doctor looked up at the enderman, making eye contact with the respirator next to his head instead of his eyes. “I had a hunch.”

“And?” Atticus pressed through his unsteady breaths.

“I was debriefed by the proper authorities when you were taken into custody and I was informed I would be treating you,” the doctor began apprehensively, “each account said that one of the enderman, I’m referring to you, by the way, didn’t teleport out of harm's way. Your results indicate cytopenia, low CBC if you will.” Nightingale chose his next words with utmost care.

“An Enderman’s cardiovascular system, unlike other species, contains an extra organ. Their ender pearl is connected to their heart by an extra vein stemming from their superior vena cava.” The doctor pointed a finger at his own chest in a demonstration. “The pearl is responsible for much of the enderman’s hematopoiesis instead of relying on bone marrow. It’s also responsible for an enderman’s ability to teleport via a blood process where the blood cells go through a semipermeable membrane to the outside of their skin, then evaporate, except this happens at light speed. Similar to osmosis in other species with water but in enderman we get something similar with their blood, and this is the fun part, this quick process of moving blood cells from one place to another triggers a quantum reaction.”

Nightingale snapped his fingers. He was getting more excited with each sentence. It was candid that Nightingale was passionate about his work. He loved spilling science lessons into a room and always has. The phantom continued his ramble, “hence, the ability to teleport. With your pearl being damaged, your body is being deprived of blood cells and your cardiovascular system can’t function without that pearl being in tip-top shape. This explains why you’ve been experiencing fatigue, headaches, lightheadedness… But it also explained why you didn’t teleport. You couldn’t.”

Doctor Nightingale pushed his glasses up with his pointer finger then tapped the ballpoint pen onto the stack of papers again. “Science,” he added proudly.

#minecraft #minecraft writing #minecraft ao3 #minecraft enderman #minecraft fic #ao3 #minecraft lore #minecraft steve #minecraft fanfiction #enderman #endermen #endermen lore

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sag-dab-sar · 18 days ago

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I almost just fell for a very serious scam that would have given some fucktwits remote access to my entire laptop. I'm so angry at myself and feel so fucking stupid. But the emails looked so legit, the email address looks exactly the same as the real paypal one, links on the email redirect you to the actual paypal website, etc. I had no clue until alarm bells in my head went off half way through phone call. I then had to spend an hour wiping my computer clean of any trace of the "anydesk" application they were having me download. Like windows+r -> regedit tv-programmer-looking-screen level combing through the files. Until I wiped every last one. It was one of those false sense of urgency emails that I read when I woke up and it properly scared me so I called their """customer service""" line. I did not have the spoons for this.

Lesson learned, never use a phone number in an email no matter how legit looking, log into your account first.

I feel so fucking dumb. I know I shouldn't feel this way but I still kinda do.

Part of email (left)—they had actually sent two which makes it even more realistic—I called that number. After I figured it out I went back and clicked "report" I was redirected to the second page (right) so hopefully thats a good thing

Also the bastards called me like 5 times after I ended the call, I only stopped to block the number once I knew they lost all remote access.

#scams #paypal #paypal scam #phishing #scam #anydesk #this is going to cause a massive cfs/me crash

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thesims4blogger · 2 months ago

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The Sims 4 New Game Patch (January 14th, 2025)

EA has shared the patch notes for an upcoming game update, scheduled to drop today (January 14th) at 10am PST.

If you have auto updates enabled in Origin’s “Application Settings”, the game will auto-update once you open Origin. If you have auto-updates disabled, you will need to manually update by clicking the game in your library.Advertisement

To ensure your game is up to date, check the game version found in Documents > EA > The Sims 4 > GameVersion.txt. Your game should now read: PC: 1.112.481.1030 / Mac: 1.112.481.1230; Console: 2.05.

Hoople Borpna Simmers! Ok, it’s not February yet, but The Sims 25th Birthday is just around the corner and it’s exciting to think about twenty-five years of The Sims!

At 10 AM PST, the first update of the new year will begin to roll out bringing a range of improvements from a brand-new Main Menu to memory and performance optimizations, a refresh of the base game homes, and a few bug fixes.

Thank you for your support and continued reporting efforts via Answers HQ, it really helps us identify the issues you care the most about. If you’re ready to start the birthday party early, come join us in The Sims Discord!

Dag dag!

-The Sims Team

What’s New in The Sims 4 ?

Base Game Updates

Main Menu Visual Refresh

To start off with, we have a brand-new Main Menu visual refresh! We’ve pushed aside the clutter to make space for your Sims! New Game / Resume Game has moved from right to left, as have a few of the other navigation options. Home, Events and Store can be found at the top, along with the Options panel in the far right. It may take a moment to get used to the New Game / Resume Game new location, I know it took a moment for some of us. A few other changes to mention:

The visual update includes a bit of fresh paint, a little less clutter, with the desire to keep information clear and discoverable for you!

The Sims in the center are your last played household Sims, all of them!

And important updates and information from The Sims are focused on the right side.

Speaking of the Main Menu, you’ll receive a message about the upcoming Blast from The Past Event.

Starting on February 4th, this birthday event will feature rewards inspired by iconic items from the 2000s, such as a milk carton, telephone, alarm clock, triple-tiered birthday cake, and inflatable chair and loveseat.Advertisement

Performance and Memory Improvements

Smoother Gameplay

We’ve optimized mouse movements, preventing slowdowns and making gameplay more responsive on PC, Console, and Mac.

Improved Graphics and Performance – On Mac and PS4, we’ve optimized how graphic data is handled, resulting in smoother and more efficient rendering and overall performance.

Memory Efficiency

Various enhancements have been made to save memory across all platforms, helping the game run more smoothly and reducing crashes.

Base Game Townie Home Refresh

New year, new homes! All Townie Homes in Willow Creek and Oasis Springs have been updated and renovated to breathe some fresh life into classic lots.

Willow Creek Homes: Cypress Terrace, Ophelia Villa, Pique Hearth, Garden Essence

Oasis Springs Homes: Sultry Springside, Affluista Mansion, Cacti Casa, Slipshod Mesquite

Both the Legacy and Updated Lots are automatically available in the “My Library” tab.

New Saves

Players who start a New Game will automatically see the updated lots in the world!

Existing Saves

Players who would like to see the update in their existing saves must manually update the homes by placing the new lots from the “My Library” tab.

Bug Fixes

Console

Potion Color Issue on Consoles – Fixed a bug where potion colors in cauldrons would change to gray after loading a saved game.

Texture Reloading Optimization – Improved the texture reloading process on Xbox One to reduce “out-of-memory” crashes, and providing more efficient loading of game lots.

Base Game:

[AHQ] Fullscreen Minimization Fix

We resolved an issue where you couldn’t minimize the game in Fullscreen mode using DirectX 11. Now, key combinations like Alt + Tab and the Windows key will work as expected.

“Work in Off hours” interaction does not clear the Tense buff for workaholic Sim.

[AHQ] Fixed cases of really high Bills. Lot Taxes will now only count the property value and household_net_worth not add value from anything in inventories.

[AHQ] “Try for baby” in shower will now fill the Hygiene motive.

[AHQ] Inspired Sim will no longer mix drinks excessively.

Discomfort Relief Value is no longer missing for Bath tubs.

“Purchase Garlic Seeds“ has its own interaction and should be categorized/available under the “Purchase Seeds“ interaction.

[AHQ] Outgoing and Socially Awkward traits cannot be selected together. If one is selected, the other will appear greyed out and cannot be chosen.

[AHQ] Female frame facial hair on Male Sims will no longer disappear.

[AHQ] Shoes are now replaced with barefoot when a Styled Look with barefoot is applied.

[AHQ] Neon signs no longer break due to rain.

[AHQ] Water puddle VFX animation will no longer appear on the ground floor when Sim is swimming on the second floor.

“Revive” is now available on a dead Cowplant.

Ponds properly display water textures in Map View.

Comfort Value attribute is no longer missing for Toilet objects.

Affecting Multiple Packs

[AHQ] Sims’ weight and muscle levels are now properly affected by Bike Riding, Horse Riding, Jog here and Rock Climbing.

[AHQ] Thumbnails of Guidry and Temperance Sim are visible in relationship panel, Sims profile, Manage HH.

Sim no longer has the option to give the toddler fertilizer as food from inventory.

[AHQ] Sim can now set the waffle/pizza oven/stand mixer for sale in a retail store.

“Invite to Hangout at Current Lot“ interaction is no longer available for Infants in the Sim profile.

Get Together

Clubs are now under the default section under the social groups interface.

City Living

[AHQ] “Play with emotion“ interaction is now greyed out when the piano keyboard breaks.

Cats & Dogs

[AHQ] Dog and Cats with the fire obsession perk are far less obsessed with the fireplace.

[AHQ] Sims no longer gain Fitness skill when cleaning the litter box.

Discover University

[AHQ] Sim with the Gym Rat trait will no longer lose hygiene while juggling a soccer ball.

[AHQ] Frequency of getting electrocuted from Robotic Workstation has been considerably reduced.

Eco Lifestyle

[AHQ] Roaches are removed from the dumpster after Sim successfully performs the “Try to clear roaches” interaction.

Snowy Escape

[AHQ] Seaweed Ramen recipe is now available from the fridge cooking menu.

Sim’s Hygiene motive will now increase when using a Hot Spring.

Cottage Living

[AHQ] Sims can now use Hot Pot with the Simple Living Lot Challenge.

High School Years

[AHQ] When Sims switch from an outfit created in Thriftea to a regular outfit, they no longer revert back to the Thriftea outfit when showering/bathing.

[AHQ] Notification badges no longer displayed when phone is in silent mode and when Social Bunny has notifications turned off.

[AHQ] Bronze prom reward now unlocks correctly in B/B catalogue.

“Hide from Paparazzi“ interaction is available for Sims with Fame level 3 and below.

Growing Together

[AHQ] Fixed an issue where some Life Milestones wouldn’t be achieved when the Sim is off lot,, including milestones for toddlers’ movement skill.

Horse Ranch

[AHQ] ‘Drink an Aged Nectar’ Want fulfils when Sim drinks the aged nectar bottle

For Rent

[AHQ] A serving of Vegetable Chili from the Pressure Cooker will no longer turn into 8 servings.

Spa Day

[AHQ] Applied Pedicure will no longer vanish when a Manicure is requested.

Dine Out

Sparkling Water is now available under the “Fizzy” category.

My First Pet

[AHQ] In new saves Sim will no longer receive “Baby whisked away” buff and TNS suggesting that Rattigan passed away when Rattigan is still alive.

Nifty Knitting

[AHQ] Knitting now counts towards Arts & Crafts for Scouting.

Crystal Creations

[AHQ] Last Exception error will no longer trigger when Ring is placed on the Mystical Moonlight Crystal Grid and the household is reloaded.

[AHQ] Option to order Crystals is now available on the computer.

#news #the sims 4 #st4 #sims 4 #game update

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bisphenol-a · 1 year ago

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Tomorrow, Friday November 17, the German Bundestag will vote on a draft law that could decide that naturalization for residents would be dependent on a commitment to Israel’s right to exist.

The bill, which includes a law that would change the criminal code, was submitted by the Christian Democratic Party’s (CDU) parliamentary group.

It would impact individuals seeking residency, asylum, and naturalization, and its intent is to “provide better protection against the further entrenchment and spread of antisemitism that has “immigrated from abroad.”

“Since the day of the attack,” the law states in its introduction, “disgusting rallies and demonstrations have also taken place on German streets, expressing unconcealed joy at the deaths of Jews and revealing an alarming level of antisemitism.”

A majority of protests across Germany have not only been peaceful but have only called for the German government to back a ceasefire to stop the genocide of the Palestinian people.

I attended multiple demonstrations across Germany, and the only visible threat to public safety has been from the police. In fact, I was a witness to one demonstration in Frankfurt where the police banned it from taking place mere minutes before it was about to begin. Hundreds of people were met with water cannons, extreme levels of police presence, and kettling by law enforcement that led to the detainment of over 300 people.

In another I attended in Mannheim, the only act of antisemitism committed was a man on the sidelines of our protest raising his hand in a Nazi salute to antagonize and intimidate pro-Palestinian demonstrators. He was arrested soon after, and local publications reported he was, in fact, not a part of our planned demonstration.

In 2022, over 80 percent of all antisemitic crimes in Germany were committed by the German far right, according to the federal police. However, the new draft bill does not include these statistics. Instead, it attributes violent antisemitism with sympathy with “Hamas terrorism,” which they claim is “cheered and propagated on German streets and schoolyards.”

The bill clearly singles out Arabs and migrants, claiming antisemitism in Germany is now only “imported.”

“A significant portion of those are obviously immigrants from countries in North Africa and the Middle East, where antisemitism and hostility towards Israel have a particular breeding ground,” the draft law states, backed by no concrete evidence for such remarkable claims.

It continues: “as well as their descendants, the instruments of residence, asylum and citizenship law must be used more consistently than before- in addition to general means such as criminal law- in order to combat antisemitism in Germany more effectively.”

In summary, the law not only creates a prerequisite where a citizenship application will only be granted if the individual declares a commitment to Israel’s right to exist and swears that they did not pursue any endeavors directed against Israel, but it can also strip the residency status and the citizenship of dual nationals who have been convicted of an antisemitic crime. This would also include a prison sentence of at least one year.

“Maintaining the legal status quo is not an option,” the draft law says, “as the current legal situation is clearly not suitable for effectively combating the specific antisemitism that is widespread among some foreigners in Germany.”

In Germany, what constitutes an “antisemitic crime” is extremely ambiguous. In 2017, the federal government officially adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism. Advocates, scholars, and legal experts at the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) as well as other organizations for example, have long criticized the IHRA definition, arguing it redefines antisemitism by wrongly conflating criticism of Israel with anti-Jewish racism.

According to a report conducted by ELSC and published earlier this year, the invocation of the definition almost exclusively targets Palestinian rights advocacy, harming Palestinian and Jewish activists in particular.

Now that Germany has specifically labeled the protests as examples of antisemitism that should be criminalized, there is much cause for concern for pro-Palestinian activists. Already, there have been examples such as the stripping of refugee status from a Palestinian activist from Syria and denying residency to Palestinian doctors who have only been a part of a Palestinian cultural group.

...

“Violent excesses at demonstrations- such as the pro-Palestinian demonstrations in October 2023- must be appropriately sanctioned. However, the increasing abuse of the right to demonstrate can often not be adequately punished,” the draft law says. “The regulation of breach of the peace is too narrow.

We have already witnessed banned demonstrations in cities and violent police arrests detaining people only carrying flags and wearing keffiyehs or simply holding anti-war signs. In Berlin, home to one of the largest Palestinian diasporas in Europe, there have been regular police presence and clear examples of racial profiling, and harassment against anyone who might “look” like they are attending a previously banned demonstration.

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taikk0 · 4 months ago

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PART 1 OF TAIKKO HATES HIS SENIOR ART COURSE AND WANTS TO RANT ABOUT IT ON TUMBLR <3

Hey guys, you may have noticed how art and animations have recently been slowing down. So I'm gonna vent out my frustrations for a lil bit to explain why because I need the world to know that there is hate in my heart :D

Outside of my HOUSE LEAKING causing major disruptions to my workflow both for personal and academic work,

Lately I've been going through insane crunch in order to meet my deadlines lately. This October has been very busy, I have the spreadsheet to prove it.

and I don't care if some terms on here reveals what school I go to, I think I deserve to make it fucking obvious with how poor this institution is. and personally, I don't think they're gonna file for defamation on some random 17 year old on Tumblr. If you know, you know.

See 👆 I got so busy I had to put cleaning my unkept room in the schedule because I was neglecting it so bad with how much work I had to do this month. 💀

My personal life away from academics is very busy, I'm often helping my family with our local business away from my computer. Which becomes a PROBLEM when time itself is a luxury I don't have very often. I don't always have the time to do my schoolwork when I come home, I don't always have the time to make art. So, in turn, I crunch at midnight. Adding commissions on top of that to help rack in extra money for personal expenses, to help support my family, and for any possible emergency expenses. It's a lot to handle.

This problem is then made even worse by how PERMANENTLY DAMAGING the pandemic was. I am a firm believer that if the pandemic never happened, schools wouldn't have switched to this shitty method of administering schoolwork. Not everyone comes home from school and immediately checks the schools shitty half assed broken website to do MORE schoolwork after they have already left school premises. I'm not the only person with this problem, TONS of other students have missed so many assigned tasks. So much so that the teacher announcing missing schoolwork to whichever student in front of the class and reminding everyone of their missing work is standard practice.

I don't want to come off as a petty student who wants all my work handed to me, but I really think that nowadays not many teachers put in the effort to make sure to announce projects for the class anymore.

WHICH BRINGS ME TO MY NEXT POINT. our art teacher is such a bundle of joy (LYING) she is so professional (INCORRECT BUZZER) and establishes boundaries between her and her students (RED ALARM SOUND) and is such a talented and proficient artist that I'm glad she became our art teacher (FIRE AND SCREAMING SOUND EFFECTS) and she knows how to teach her students well (SKIN PEELING OFF AS WE SPEAK) and is very considerate of production pipelines (FULL AUTO RIFLE AND HELICOPTER WHIRRING)

I don't like her.

She has done. A lot of questionable stuff, y'now, just as a person, but right now I wanna talk about her as a teacher.

SHE IS NOT GOOD AT IT.

Now I don't mean she doesn't explain things well or her methods are convoluted, I mean SHE DOES NOT DO HER JOB AT ALL.

She quite literally almost every time; either meets us in the classroom and says she has a meeting to go to and leaves us with no assigned task, or, she actually does stay in the classroom,

but doesn't teach us at all.

Hell, she makes the STUDENTS teach, not even in a report kind of way she just tells that student to sit in front with her, she shows them the presentation she was supposed to discuss, and makes THE STUDENT DISCUSS THE LESSON TO THEIR PEERS INSTEAD.

And even then there is a secret third option. She stays, and assigns us work.

However.

The work is a practical application of a lesson she did not teach the class.

For example, "Your assignment for today is to animate a pendulum swinging left to right on this program!"

Two problems.

None of the students are knowledgeable in the program because she never even tried to learn it in order to teach us.

She never taught us the animation principles.

The pendulum assignment requires knowledge of ease-ins and ease-outs, as well as the use of arcs and possibly timing charts.

My peers knew none of that in order to perform the task effectively.

Our teacher response to that? is to be so unfairly critical. The only reason why her students are failing, is because of her. She fails students for not making an appealing animation BECAUSE she never taught them how to in the first place.

Her grading is very biased and rooted in personal preference rather than a solid understanding of the principles, not even adding notes on what to improve upon.

I GOT A 100% ON AN ANIMATION EXAM, WITH THE SHITTIEST OUTPUT EVER. Like, If i actually went to art school and passed that as our exam, I would get such a low score.

We were told to animate a 10 second clip, no other instructions. Here was my output

THIS DID NOT DESERVE A 100%. it was rushed and I cut a lot of corners in order for it to be done on time. Just the fact that she considered this to have no flaws or room for improvement is telling. I know I should be thankful for a perfect score, but essentially saying that THIS is good enough shows that she has no idea what she's doing and I'm afraid that most likely I am going to walk away from senior high with no new information and being bombarded with skills I didn't learn beforehand when I'm in college.

In an art school I know what I'm signing up for, I want that crunch and that pressure to improve to be WARRANTED. I don't feel that drive to make artwork and animations (for academics) that I am proud of and want to put effort into for a passing grade. Instead I am simply doing the bare minimum with very little time to do so, so I just end up making shitty work that is "good enough" because the environment is made so mediocre by our art teacher.

You know what's more?

SHE IS NOT AN ART MAJOR.

SHE MAJORED IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.

That is my rant for now. I'm thinking of doing three more entries. talking about how shitty the school is in of itself with very poor management as a PRIVATE SCHOOL, our art teacher is a WHOLE can of worms, and our current thesis film.

Right now I just want to focus on finishing all my commissions and then I can focus solely on rough animation on my student film. 👍 I currently have like, four fully rendered pieces lololol

#science and technology institute #i dont fucking care anymore dude #taikko talks 2 much #SCHOOL RANT BLEHH

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