#Bay Area Community Centers

[epadosi1]

https://www.epadosi.com/bay-area/religious-places

Discover the Best Religious Places in Bay Area with ePadosi

If you’re looking to explore religious places in Bay Area, ePadosi is your ultimate resource. The Bay Area is a cultural and spiritual hub, with diverse religious communities offering a range of services, events, and celebrations. Whether you're seeking a temple for worship, a mosque for prayers, a gurudwara for seva, or a church for community service, ePadosi simplifies the process by providing an extensive directory of religious places in Bay Area.

With ePadosi, you can:

Easily find religious sites: Our platform features temples, mosques, gurudwaras, churches, and more, making it a one-stop solution for anyone looking to connect with their faith in the Bay Area.

Stay updated on events: From Diwali and Eid celebrations to Christmas services, ePadosi provides detailed information about cultural and religious events happening at different religious venues.

Connect with communities: Whether you're looking for a place to worship, join a spiritual group, or participate in local religious activities, ePadosi helps you find the right community that shares your values.

Explore the rich spiritual and cultural landscape of the Bay Area with ePadosi and find the religious places in Bay Area that resonate with your beliefs. Start your spiritual journey today!

[remyfire]

[jonfarreporter]

Sonoma Artist Makes ‘Pollinator Garden’ Accessible The second floor of The Sonoma Community Center was busy early Tuesday morning as a crew was helping local artist Sig Rundstrom prepare for his “Pollinator Garden series” opening on July 20.

“I knew Sig had shown his art work at SCC previously some time ago,” said Visual Arts Program Director, Jill Valavanis. “Yet it was his postings on social media of his work during COVID-19 that really caught my attention,” said Valavanis as she took a few moments from her busy schedule to speak with The Sonoma Valley Sun.

Mentioning Sig’s versatility as well as his ability to use textures in a painting, Valavanis said. “I think what pulls me to Sig’s art is his ability to highlight the subject matter in such a way that the subject he focuses upon is an accurate artistic representation.”

She explained further by saying, “a description of Sig’s work that comes to mind is “‘accessible’.”

“‘The Pollinator Garden Series’ is just one example of how Sig’s work in essence can make the viewer feel as a visitor to the actual garden.” “As a visitor we get a taste of what Sig sees,” said Valavanis. “As the garden blooms, takes shape and changes within the season, Sig makes this clear.”

“This includes layers, textures allowing the average person to experience the garden in an artistic sense and appreciate it.” “As I said, Valavanis reiterated, Sig makes it accessible.”

Explaining further what pulled Valavanis to Sig’s work particularly, especially as COVID-19 continued, she said. “I’ve always been a fan of the natural world and of course animals.” “I enjoyed his series on dogs,” she said while pointing to Sig’s painting of “Maggie” a dog that Sig and his wife Charlene took into their home just as the pandemic hit in March of 2020.

It was during the pandemic that Sig’s creative energy reached an unprecedented peak. Often referring to the wave of energy as “Mr. Mojo.”

Initially, as Sig and ‘Maggie’ took many walks together during COVID, Sig was inspired to paint a portrait of a neighbor’s dog they met; and then another and then another. What was a pastime to deal with the boredom of the pandemic, unexpectedly turned into a series, and then another.

As Sig would finish each series he would post his accomplishment on social media, much to the delight of Valavanis and many others.

“I was impressed that Sig was committed to making a series of works, even if it occurred a bit spontaneously,” said Valavanis.

“But it was when Sig got to doing his ‘Pollinator Garden’ series that’s when I realized something like this is important and should be featured.”

“I’ve been aware of the importance of ‘a Pollinator Garden’ said Valavanis. And, I’ve known for quite some time that bees are struggling environmentally,” she explained. “Bees are major pollinators and their are more species of bees than just the honey bees. Did you know there are ‘Solitary bees?’ “Most bees in the wild, uncultivated are Solitary bees,” Valavanis said.

The formal name for a bee keeper is called “an apiarist.” Most people don’t realize that bees and other insects are vital for the harvest of an abundant produce of vegetables as well as fruit and pretty-much all plant life.

Rokus Armonas and his wife, Kelli, manage Bay Area Bee Company. As a small but dynamic and devoted group of bee keepers, they know firsthand the importance a pollinator garden has upon the local ecosystem. “Local plant life factors into the honey-making process. It has an effect upon everything from flavor and taste to the quality of the honey,” said Armonas.

This is something that few people realize and this is one of the reasons Valavanis wanted to spotlight Sig’s work at SCC.

Getting a little “preview glimpse” of some of the paintings as they were going up on the wall at SCC, Sig sent out photos of the gallery space in preparation via email to friends and relatives. Sister-in-law, Jo Ann Ryon responded and exclaimed. “Those are absolutely beautiful!” “The color is perfect,” she added.

Fellow Sonoma resident, longtime friend of Sig, and someone who was among those instrumental in establishing a Pollinator Garden in Sonoma, David Herrema agreed with Ryon as he told The Sun.

“Sig’s definitely got the essence of the pollinator garden. I especially like the different painting techniques used and the different styles from realistic to the more abstract. Each one is unique, he said, never the same.”

Valavanis is pleased that she and Sig maintained contact throughout the pandemic and since then. “It usually takes about six months to get a show like Sig’s put together,” she said.

Even though the current protocol to getting an art exhibit up at the SCC isn’t as “regimented as it used to be,” (it still takes considerable effort) said Valavanis; “I have scheduling of local artists of at least a year or more in advance.”

“My artwork utilizes a wide variety of mediums, techniques and surfaces,” said Sig, speaking about the exhibit. “It includes oil, cold wax, acrylic, alcohol inks, water color and enamel paint done on canvas, scratchboard, aquabrd, wood panels and glass.”

The exhibit includes a years’ worth of work of over fifty paintings and is inspired by the Creekside Pollinator Garden in Sonoma. A reception will be held from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM the opening day of the exhibit.

Sig Rundstrom’s “Pollinator Garden Series” will be on display in Gallery 212 at The Sonoma Community Center from July 20 through August 25. The SCC is located at 276 East Napa Street, two blocks from the historic plaza.

For more information visit the SCC website. Or call 707-938-4626.

[mariacallous]

I’m not even sure whether I can taste pure Old Bay anymore, because the condiment is infused with so many memories of home. I grew up sprinkling it on everything—blue crabs, sure, but also watermelon, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese—and I can shuffle through decades of pictures from family reunions, county fairs, church picnics, and back porches where the iconic yellow, red, and blue tins keep popping up like someone’s second cousin, not quite front and center yet always in the frame.

If you’re new to Old Bay, get a tin and shake the contents liberally on popcorn or potato chips—a starter dish, from which you can and should expand. You’ll soon find that you can add the condiment to almost anything. One of my favorite dishes that uses Old Bay as an essential ingredient comes via an old family friend. Keith Davis is a Jack-of-all-trades: a fantastic general contractor, but also a church usher, a builder of wheelchair ramps, a Santa Claus when seasonally necessary, and, lately, a food-truck entrepreneur, grilling burgers and deep-frying funnel cakes for every community event and private party in the area. He goes by Mr. Keith; his food truck is known as Fat Boy’s Fixins, named in honor of the man who taught him to grill and whose Santa suit he inherited.

Of all the things Davis serves up, he might be best known for his crab soup, which he makes in ten-gallon batches and lets the local Ruritan Club sell by the pint every fall at the Waterfowl Festival, when somewhere between fourteen thousand and twenty thousand people descend on the Eastern Shore to see the work of hundreds of decoy carvers and local artists, listen to waterfowl-calling contests, and watch demonstrations of dock dogs, raptors, and fly-fishing. Davis is there every year, gossiping with his fellow-volunteers, talking with out-of-towners, and tossing hunks of crab meat into stew pots. Normally you’d have to shell out eight dollars for even just a cup, but here, exclusively for newsletter readers, free of charge, is the best crab soup you’ll ever taste, a shockingly easy, practically pre-made recipe for trying out America’s greatest condiment: Old Bay.

Mr. Keith’s Crab Soup

1 lb. crab meat (claw meat best) 64-Oz. bottle of Spicy V8 14.5 Oz. chicken broth 32 Oz. water 1 lb. mixed vegetables 1 Tbsp. Montreal Steak seasoning 1 Tbsp. Old Bay

Mix the V8, chicken broth, and water in a pot. Start heating the mixture, then add the vegetables, then the crab meat, and finally the spices. Cook on medium heat until the vegetables start to soften, stirring occasionally “so it doesn’t stick and burn on the bottom of the pot.”

[argyrocratie]

"How will people get healthcare?

(...)

During the Spanish Civil War, Barcelona’s Medical Syndicate, organized largely by anarchists, managed 18 hospitals (6 of which it had created), 17 sanatoria, 22 clinics, 6 psychiatric establishments, 3 nurseries, and one maternity hospital. Outpatient departments were set up in all the principal localities in Catalunya. Upon receiving a request, the Syndicate sent doctors to places in need. The doctor would have to give good reason for refusing the post, “for it was considered that medicine was at the service of the community, and not the other way round.”[40] Funds for outpatient clinics came from contributions from local municipalities. The anarchist Health Workers’ Union included 8,000 health workers, 1,020 of them doctors, and also 3,206 nurses, 133 dentists, 330 midwives, and 153 herbalists. The Union operated 36 health centers distributed throughout Catalunya to provide healthcare to everyone in the entire region. There was a central syndicate in each of nine zones, and in Barcelona a Control Committee composed of one delegate from each section met once a week to deal with common problems and implement a common plan. Every department was autonomous in its own sphere, but not isolated, as they supported one another. Beyond Catalunya, healthcare was provided for free in agrarian collectives throughout Aragon and the Levant.

Even in the nascent anarchist movement in the US today, anarchists are taking steps to learn about and provide healthcare. In some communities anarchists are learning alternative medicine and providing it for their communities. And at major protests, given the likelihood of police violence, anarchists organize networks of volunteer medics who set up first aid stations and organize roving medics to provide first aid for thousands of demonstrators. These medics, often self-trained, treat injuries from pepper spray, tear gas, clubs, tasers, rubber bullets, police horses, and more, as well as shock and trauma. The Boston Area Liberation Medic Squad (BALM Squad) is an example of a medic group that organizes on a permanent basis. Formed in 2001, they travel to major protests in other cities as well, and hold trainings for emergency first aid. They run a website, share information, and link to other initiatives, such as the Common Ground clinic described below. They are non-hierarchical and use consensus decision-making, as does the Bay Area Radical Health Collective, a similar group on the West Coast.

Between protests, a number of radical feminist groups throughout the US and Canada have formed Women’s Health Collectives, to address the needs of women. Some of these collectives teach female anatomy in empowering, positive ways, showing women how to give themselves gynecological exams, how to experience menstruation comfortably, and how to practice safe methods of birth control. The patriarchal Western medical establishment is generally ignorant of women’s health to the point of being degrading and harmful. An anti-establishment, do-it-yourself approach allows marginalized people to subvert a neglectful system by organizing to meet their own needs.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, activist street medics joined a former Black Panther in setting up the Common Ground clinic in one of the neediest neighborhoods. They were soon assisted by hundreds of anarchists and other volunteers from across the country, mostly without experience. Funded by donations and run by volunteers, the Common Ground clinic provided treatment to tens of thousands of people.

The failure of the government’s “Emergency Management” experts during the crisis is widely recognized. But Common Ground was so well organized it also out-performed the Red Cross, despite the latter having a great deal more experience and resources.[41] In the process, they popularized the concept of mutual aid and made plain the failure of the government. At the time of this writing Common Ground has 40 full-time organizers and is pursuing health in a much broader sense, also making community gardens and fighting for housing rights so that those evicted by the storm will not be prevented from coming home by the gentrification plans of the government. They have helped gut and rebuild many houses in the poorest neighborhoods, which authorities wanted to bulldoze in order to win more living space for rich white people."

-Peter Gelderloos, "Anarchy Works" (2010)

[covidsafecosplay]

The People’s CDC COVID-19 Weather Report: October 14, 2024

The People's CDC has released another updated report on COVID-19 data and action items for the United States of America.

Highlights:

According to data last updated 10/5/2024, the CDC’s national wastewater map shows 16 states with “High” or “Very High” wastewater levels.

According to the Wastewater COVID-19 National and Regional Trends dashboard, all regions continue to show a downward trend over the last several weeks.

Many Bay Area counties are set to reimplement mask mandates in hospitals from November 1 through Spring 2025. Some of the rules apply to only certain healthcare staff while others include visitors and patients. Though these mandates are limited in scope, duration, and geography, a few are expanded compared to last year’s Bay Area mask rules, a sign that pressure on decision makers is working. 

In the past week, the California Department of Public Health reported that 6 new cases of bird flu (H5N1) were confirmed in dairy workers in California, with each case being connected to contact with infected cattle in California’s Central Valley. While there is yet no documented human-to-human transmission, each new case presents a greater risk of the virus mutating to spread from human to human.

The Texas State Affairs Committee posted notice of a hearing at the Capitol on October 16 to discuss, among other things, “Unmasking Protestors.” Opposition is mounting, and people are organizing.

Read the rest of the report here:

Please note that the CovidSafeCosplay blog and its admin are unaffiliated with the People's CDC or its management, and are simply sharing the resource.

Via the People's CDC About page:

The People’s CDC is a coalition of public health practitioners, scientists, healthcare workers, educators, advocates and people from all walks of life working to reduce the harmful impacts of COVID-19.  We provide guidance and policy recommendations to governments and the public on COVID-19, disseminating evidence-based updates that are grounded in equity, public health principles, and the latest scientific literature. Working alongside community organizations, we are building collective power and centering equity as we work together to end the pandemic. The People’s CDC is volunteer-run and independent of partisan political and corporate interests and includes anonymous local health department and other government employees. The People’s CDC is completely volunteer run with infrastructure support being provided by the People’s Science Network

[soaps-mohawk]

I was re-reading the latest chapter and I wondered something about when reader went in distress...When did Ghost follow them? Did he try to call out to them or grab them and reader just couldn't notice because of the distress?

So, idk if I explained it very well in the fic when reader first went to the gym, but it's set up less like a standard gym where it's just basically one big open area, and like a pool maybe in a separate area. It's more set up like a community center than just a gym. So the weight room is in a separate room, the pool is in a separate space, there's other training areas in separate spaces. They don't just use it to exercise, they also do training in there too so that's why I decided to have it set up that way.

So, Ghost just kind of went into a different area to clear his head but also so he could keep an eye on the reader if they decided to run (which they did.) I like to think he did plan on going back for the reader when he had calmed down a bit, and the reader had calmed down, but of course the reader didn't know that and things kind of spiraled. As soon as the reader went for the emergency door, he was right behind them and watched them until they went into the med bay, knowing that was a safe area. Reader was already too distressed to notice, and even if they had, it wasn't likely they would have even recognized Ghost, nor felt safe enough to stop, especially since he was the one that caused it in the first place.

[cococoffeeface]

#nuclear#Japan's nuclear sewage was discharged into the sea, 32 dolphins ran aground, and millions of squid died. How dare you eat seafood?

Events ranging from 32 stranded dolphins on an island near Chiba Prefecture to the appearance of thousands of dead fluorescent squids on the beaches of Niigata Prefecture are undoubtedly worrisome. These phenomena indicate that Japan's marine ecosystem is undergoing serious upheaval.

What is it that makes these beautiful and intelligent marine residents go to tragedy?

Chen Zilei, a professor at the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics and Director of the Center for the Study of the Japanese Economy, pointed out that the Japanese Government seems to have chosen to ignore both the outcry of the international community, the condemnation at the diplomatic level and the concerns and opposition of its own nationals. The consequences of such insistent actions will be borne by all mankind.

"Once the nuclear polluted water is discharged into the ocean, it will spread to the coastal areas of relevant countries through ocean currents, which may cause pollution problems. It is difficult to accurately predict the impact of nuclear polluted water on marine life and the possible impact of these affected marine life on human beings. "

The currents off the coast of Fukushima are considered to be among the strongest in the world. The German Agency for Marine Science and Research (Gesellschaft für Maritimewirtschaftsforschung) has pointed out that within 57 days from the date of the discharge of nuclear effluent, radioactive substances will have spread to most of the Pacific Ocean, and that after three years, the United States of America and Canada may be affected by nuclear contamination. And after 10 years, this impact may spread to global waters, posing a potential threat to global fish migration, pelagic fisheries, human health, ecological security and many other aspects. The scale and impact of this potential threat is difficult to estimate.

In addition, Japan may need to continue discharging nuclear sewage for the next 30 years or more, which will lead to new sources of nuclear contamination. Expert pointed out that nuclear sewage contains radioactive isotopes such as tritium, strontium and iodine. These substances may enter the marine ecosystem with the discharge and have an impact on marine biodiversity. Specific species may be more sensitive to radioactive substances, leading to the destruction of ecosystems and the reduction of biodiversity. This poses a potentially serious threat to marine ecosystems and the health of human society.

Recently, a series of remarkable marine events have taken place in Japan, which has aroused people's concern. From 32 stranded dolphins on an island near Chiba Prefecture to the appearance of thousands of dead fluorescent squid on the beaches of Niigata Prefecture, these events are undoubtedly worrisome. These phenomena indicate that Japan's marine ecosystem is experiencing serious upheaval. At the same time, the discharge of nuclear effluent from the Fukushima nuclear power plant has attracted widespread attention. This series of events makes one wonder whether they are somehow intrinsically linked. Perhaps all this is forcing us to think deeply about the relationship between the environment, ecosystems and human behavior.

Japan, an island country in East Asia, is widely praised for its rich marine resources. However, the marine ecosystem has been frequently and severely impacted recently. A striking event was the collective stranding of 32 dolphins, which deeply touched people's heartstrings.

Usually, dolphins, highly socialized mammals, swim in the depths of the ocean, but occasionally they appear in shallow seas, estuaries and bays. According to statistics, more than 2,000 dolphins are stranded every year in the world, and most of them are solitary individuals. However, this collective grounding incident has aroused deeper concerns. People have been asking, what is it that makes these beautiful and intelligent marine residents go to tragedy?

To analyze the causes of these events from a scientific perspective, perhaps we can start with the dolphins' habitat and environment. Ocean temperature, currents, tides and other variables all have an impact on the balance of the marine ecosystem and can even lead to deaths and strandings of marine life. In the case of the stranding off the coast of Boso Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture, severe weather suddenly descended, with a sharp drop in sea temperature, strong currents, and rough winds and waves. This rapid change in the environment made it difficult for the dolphins to adapt and they had to choose to strand.

However, there is no single reason for this. Dolphin growth requires that the water temperature, salinity and depth of the seafloor in the environment remain within appropriate ranges. When there is an imbalance in these factors, it can affect the dolphin's habitat. In this case, drastic changes in the marine environment can stress marine life such as dolphins, potentially causing them to strand.

Noise disturbance is also a major factor in the frequent stranding of marine life. Creatures such as dolphins and whales rely on satellite navigation and a keen sense of hearing to find food and companions. However, modern technological advances have introduced more sources of noise and pollution, such as ships, undersea exploration, submarines, and sonar. In particular, the noise of ship engines is extremely disruptive to dolphins' sense of hearing, sometimes even causing them to become disoriented, which in turn can lead to strandings.

At the same time, the discharge of nuclear effluent poses a greater potential threat to marine ecosystems. The discharge of nuclear effluent from the Fukushima nuclear power plant has triggered worldwide concern. Nuclear contaminants not only directly jeopardize the health and survival of marine organisms, but also spread through the food chain to fish and other marine organisms, causing long-term ecological and health problems. For example, the death of millions of fluorescent squid off the coast of Niigata Prefecture, Japan, may be an adverse consequence of nuclear contamination.

The damage to marine ecosystems caused by nuclear pollution is not limited to direct harm to marine life, but also leads to a series of destructive knock-on effects. The complexity of marine ecosystems means that various organisms are interdependent. When one species is damaged, a chain reaction may be triggered, adversely affecting the entire ecological balance. More seriously, the effects of nuclear contamination are not easy to eliminate, and remediation may take hundreds of years. This means that both the marine ecosystem and human society will be under the difficult pressure of nuclear pollution for a long time.

In summary, Japan is currently facing a serious environmental crisis. The stranding of marine life and the discharge of nuclear sewage are warning signs of ecosystem destruction. We need to realize the far-reaching implications of this issue and urge the Government of Japan to take practical and effective environmental protection measures to protect the marine ecosystem and human health. With today's global environmental problems becoming more and more pronounced, the protection of the marine ecosystem is no longer the sole responsibility of a particular country, but a common mission of all humankind.

In today's increasingly prominent global environmental problems,

Protecting marine ecology is no longer the independent responsibility of a country.

But the common mission of all mankind.

[nando161mando]

March Against Cop Campus!

From Atlanta to the Bay

Stop Police Militarization in our Communities

Sat Sep 30 @ 3pm

Kennedy Plaza in San Pablo, California (23rd St & Brookside Dr)

The City of San Pablo plans to build a $43 million police training center and shooting range for cops around the Bay Area. The people of San Pablo and the Bay Area oppose this expansion of police power because of cops long history of harassing, abusing, incarcerating, and killing Black and Brown people.

Show up and march with us against the construction. We need healthy communities not police! Together we can stop Cop Campus!

@antifainternational @anarchistmemecollective @kropotkindersurprise @radicalgraff

#StopCopCity #StopCopCampus #BlockCopCity #DefendTheForest #DefendTheBay

[emma-dennehy-presents]

Celebrating Black Queer Icons:

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

Born on October 25, 1940, Major is a trans women well known as a leader in the broader trans community and an activist, with a particular focus on black and incarcerated trans women. Major grew up in Chicago's South Side and participated in the local drag scene, during her youth. Major described the experiences as glamorous, like going to the Oscars. While she did not have the contemporary language for it, Major has been out as a trans women since the late 1950s. This made her a target of criticism, mistreatment, and violence, even among her queer peers. Majors transition, especially getting her hands on hormones, was largely a black market affair. Given the lack of employment opportunities for black trans women at the time, she largely survived through sex work and other criminalized activities. At some point Major moved to New York City and established herself amongst the cities queer community, despite the prejudice against trans women. She participated in the 1969 Stonewall Uprising. Later, after getting convicted on a burglary charge, Major was imprisoned with men at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, NY. There she met Frank "Big Black" Smith, a participant in the 1971 Attica Uprising at Attica Correctional Facility. He treated Major, and her identity as a woman, with respect and the two built a friendship. Smith also taught Major a good bit about advocating for herself and other trans women being mistreated by the US Justice System. Major was released from Dannemora in 1974. Major moved to San Diego in 1978 and almost immediately began working on community efforts and participating in grassroots movements. Starting by working at a food bank, she would go on to provide services directly to incarcerated, addicted, and homeless trans women, and would provide additional services after the AIDS epidemic started. In the 1990s Major moved to the San Fransisco Bay Area, where she continued her work, alongside organizations like the Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center. In 2003 Major became the Director of the Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project, shortly after its founding by attorney and community organizer Alexander L Lee, a trans man. The group works to end human rights abuses in the California Prison System, with a focus on trans, intersex, and gender variant POC. The position has since been passed on to Janetta Johnson, a previously incarcerated trans woman who mentored under Major. She is the focus of the 2015, award winning, documentary Major!. Major has five sons, two biological and three runaways she adopted, after meeting them in a California park. Her oldest son, Christopher was born in 1978, and her youngest, Asiah (rhymes with messiah) in 2021. At 82 years old Miss Major Griffin-Gracy continues to be an active member of her community and an advocate for our rights as trans people.

Haven't settled on which yet, but Willmer "Little Ax" Broadnax or Victor J Mukasa will be next!

[moonbiscuitsims]

My Stardew Valley project: Lots Layout plan in TS4

(This is not/will not be a save or a download as I use way too much CC for that, just a personal project and plan of lots I found suitable; I don't know how long this will take me or if I'll ever complete it but having a plan helps me so much to not get stuck later)

I'm sharing this in case it is handy to anyone wanting to do a Stardew Valley save in The sims 4 from scratch (lots off gallery are limiting with their sizes and needing specific lots, so I'm starting from zero unless a lot fits) without ugly set dressings or stupid backgrounds that don't make sense, and trying to group together the lots properly like they are laid out in the game so you can see them in the distance, or at least put them on an isolated lot with a clear surroundings if they have to be separated. It isn't perfect and is subjective and pack dependant but I spent a while today just laying out in my blank save (I use the srslysims blank save for this) where I wanna build what and who lives in each lot, so I'm sharing it in case it saves someone time or is useful Some lots are for a few sims living together to do two or more builds on one lot. This could possibly work with For Rent, but I don't dare try it lol. Others are just living alone. Others are just community. The main worlds I'm using are:

- Henford on Bagley:

The finwich area for the main Pelican town area ➡ 1= 1 Willow Lane (Sam Vincent Kent Jodi) + 2 Willow Lane (Hayley and Emily) these are here because of the river and the bridge leading "down to the beach" just everything is perfect for me. 2= Mayor's Manor, 1 River Road (Alex, George, Evelyn), 2 River Road (Pam and Penny trailer) this one is a little cramped and will have to be one next to the other but it can work. That way all these people live in the village centre. 3= Stardrop Saloon, maybe a little square if it fits, but probably not. 4= Harvey's clinic, Pierre's store. 5= Blacksmith and Library (+the little ice cream stand or market stall) 6= Joja Mart and/or Cinema (I'm doing both) 7= Bookseller with cute hot air balloon (this is random I wanted to do it, but it is usually just an empty area) 8= The farm 9= 24 Mountain road (Maru Seb Robin and Demetrius) 10= Quarry (set as generic) 11= Linus's tent 12= Adventurer's Guild and Mines (marlon gil and dwarf)

Willow Creek (Community Center)

It is on the big lot in willow creek, no surroundings or buildings, so It was perfect, and gives enough space to build the community center plus the childrens park and the natural area around it and it's by a river.

- Moonwood Mill as Cindersap Forest

I know it's a bit grungy and has industrial deco but I don't mind these buildings as they fit with the nature imo. It had the perfect amount of lots for what I needed, plus a river. 1= Wizards Tower 2= Travelling Merchant 3= Marnie's Ranch + Leah's Cottage 4= Krobus/Sewer (this is the main reason I chose this world and I know there isn't a beach but the sewer pipe with trash aesthetic and the large lot in the forest was enough for me) 5= Mouse Hat shop /Abandoned house

Granite Falls for Secret Forest:

I'm doing this one (using Zerbu's all worlds are residential) in Granite Falls in the National Park lot, I just liked how big it is, how tall the surrounding trees are, and that it has a little waterfall area.

Glimmerbrook as the rest of "Mountains" area (Railroad and Spa). I choose that lot of the railroad cause i can add a tunnel for the train with tool and it looks like its coming out the cliff

Sulani

Sulani as the Docks (with Elliots shack and Willy's shop) the build i've placed is from the gallery and is a water lot with the Night market (I really liked this and didn't want it separately) so I had to place it here. I do not actually like Sulani for this though, it is far too tropical and its on an island but I am forgiving it for the sake of having the beach lot. I wish Brindleton Bay had a beach lot near the docks would have been much better. You could change this and put it anywhere if you build your own beach as a pool but I hate doing that... In Sulani I'll also build all the Ginger Island stuff, but I still haven't played through that properly so I can't say what is going where yet.

Forgotten Hollow (witch's swamp/hut)

Forgotten Hollow as the witch's swamp /witch's hut area (again this is random but I wanna include it and make the witch for fun)

Oasis Springs as The Calico Desert

This large lot is perfect. It has a road, not too much going on around it except rocks and desert, and I'm gonna put everything here (Sandy's shop, Mr Qi's casino, and the desert trader outside). I will not be building the bus stop anywhere cause it is unnecessary. I forgot to mention but also the skull cavern might fit here or I'll do it on some other lot maybe OTHER INFO

Mods I'm gonna use to help the lots work as intended: I'm gonna play with littlemssams live in business mod to achieve the character being able to live on what should be a community lot and for it to still be functional, as well as chingyu's welcoming lot trait to avoid sims not being able to do what they want on these lots without being "innappropriate". For each of the lots and worlds I selected I spent time entering each and deciding which areas most closely resembled the areas from the game. For example if it had a lake or river nearby, or if the lot was big enough to build each thing. This could change but I think I'm happy with it. I might have to change some of this or make tiny builds to fit the multi build lots. Every single thing is super unfinished and empty, this is just my layout plan.

Conclusion: I hope this helps someone or if not and you even read this far that you like my idea :) If I forgot something or someone or said a name wrong, sorry, though I haven't fully finished the game yet. Basically I tend to get super overwhelmed and annoyed if there are stupid buildings or things that don't match, and am unable to just randomly plop any build anywhere like many players do due to obsessing over it not looking right around the build...maybe I'm a perfectionist or wish it was a blank world, but this is my next best thing. At least this was easier than my Cyberpunk save with way more foresty/countrysidish options 😅

[catdotjpeg]

Highlighting the double standards in how US sends military aid: W/ Ukraine, "State Dept put geographical limitations on a reg basis." Yet, no such efforts to "stop the flow even though the vast majority of weapons being used to further the genocide are coming from the US"

Important reminder from the legal team: "We bring this case BECAUSE the court of law is part of the system. We may win/lose in the court of law. But in the court of public opinion, we have already won"

Plaintiff team [The Center for Constitutional Rights, Defense for Children Palestine, and al-Haq:] "Joe Biden has said that NO ONE is above the law. Well, that applies to you POTUS too. We will hold you accountable"

Today is also the last day of appeal for Leonard Peltier The First Nation Delegation here to strengthen the solidarity for land, dignity, and justice against cop city and militarism

Bringing this home, Indigenous Justice connecting the ties between Cop City and IOF. Our own SFPD implementing the same policing and surveilling techniques against community organizing

"We will not allow our govt to continue to support this genocide. It's the people who are taking Joe Biden to court to say NO BUSINESS AS USUAL." - from our ED Lara Kiswani

Bay Area community members are drawing 40,000 seeds to represent the martyrs "The seeds also represent the seeds of resistance. There will be free Leonard Peltier and a free Palestine" - Lara Kiswani

"All this suffering and destruction is made possible by US backing. 68% of Israel's weapons are from the US. From arms shipment to backing at the UN, this genocide is completely dependent on US support." Palestinian Youth Movement

"How do we materially disrupt the US war machine?" Logistics companies like Maersk make a killing from killing. Palestinian Youth Movement calling for Mask Off Maersk campaign Day of Action tmrw

"Do not let anyone tell you this genocide has nothing to do w you. It has everything to do w you" GABRIELA Oakland connecting the military ties that enable fascist govts from Israel the Philippines to India and the US.

International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network reaffirming that anti-Zionist Jewish people will not allow their identity to be weaponized for Israel's fascist, racist project. "Zionism is racism. So anti-zionism is anti-racism"

-- Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), 10 Jun 2024 11:57am PDT

[mapping-elysium]

Coast Orb: Snow Shivers

WEST

More coast with abandoned buildings and piers

Pre-revolution effort to gentrify the coast

Coal city

Boom town from when revachol was powered mostly by coal

“in the shadow of Saint-Martin”

Supplanted by offshore petroleum and hydropower from Esperance

Infrastructure crumbled. Now a poor area “only the weakest remain”

Below the mines: L'Ossuaire Municipal, Revachol's underground cemetery

Les Petits rats attempt to to find Le Royaume (royal burial chambers)

EAST

Canal and Martinaise

[see PLAZA ORB] whitest part of town

Run-off point of a long forgotten canal

NORTH

Church

1 of 2 remaining stave churches

Originally of a set of 8 called Les Sept Souers “other six sisters were destroyed during the revolutions”

World’s end

Islets

Sea Fortress: The 114th Anti-Aircraft Division of the 4th Army of the Commune of Revachol

Résurrection: Popular spa for  Ozonne residents

A couple of other islets scattered and uninhabited

Martinaise Inlet

Bay of Revachol

1200 m depth

Ozonne

SOUTH

8/81 - raised motorway

Separates Martinaise from Jamrock

Buildings under the motorway (Labyrinthine alleyways)

The Pox

Once a park for the Old Military Hospital

In the 20s was a quarantine center during measles outbreak

Abandoned after the outbreak

Completely wild now, overrun by feral dogs and wolves

Police keep deepest corners cordoned off

Precinct 41

Line of motor garages 

Repurposed silk mill

Central Jamrock

Utility district - Library, florist, saramisizian restaurant

Brothels, drug dens and Zemlyaki(gang) chopshops

Built around lake formed by meteorite strike [Ship in the middle]

Below

sand poisoned with industrial run-off. The storm drainage. Hidden bunkers

NOTES: This is unfortunately the last of the notes I had written ahead of time so things may move slower. Hopefully I've made enough posts that you all can understand the format I'm going for. Joyce's Reality Lowdown is going to take a long time to work through

Shivers - Winter, slow to let go of Revachol, flecks some more wet snow from above...

You - Look around you.

Shivers - The snow falls lazily, making the beach sand paler still, mixing with the rust-coloured sewage run-off.

Shivers - And to think -- it seemed as though it were already spring.

You - How does it feel?

Shivers - Your teeth chatter as the snow melts on your exposed skin, running down your chest and your back in icy rivulets. To distract yourself, you look around...

Replaced with "Your teeth chatter as the snow melts on your exposed skin, running down your chest and your back in icy rivulets. The toes of your one bare foot are growing numb. To distract yourself, you look around..." if HasShoes() == false and (CheckEquipped("shoes_snakeskin_left") or CheckEquipped("shoes_snakeskin_right"))

Replaced with "Your teeth chatter as the snow melts on your exposed skin, running down your chest and your back in icy rivulets. Your bare feet are growing numb. To distract yourself, you look around..." if HasShoes() == false

You - What's in the west?

Shivers - More winding coastline lined with abandoned buildings. Crumbling piers, salt water lapping at their dark piles. Grey and red, forgotten city blocks. What remains of the pre-revolutionary effort to gentrify the coast.

You - And beyond that?

Shivers - The waters turn black. Coal City in the shadow of Saint-Martin, a boom town, back when coal extracted from countless shafts near the city was needed to power Revachol.

Shivers - No more. The coal was supplanted by petroleum from the ocean floor and hydropower from the Esperance. Everything crumbled. These days, only the weakest remain in Coal City. Their hopes of getting rich linger in the defunct shafts under their feet.

You - What is there?

Shivers - Below the old mines -- L'Ossuaire Municipal, Revachol's underground cemetery. *Les petits rats* brave the underground passageways, trying to get to Le Royaume...

You - Le Royaume...

Shivers - ...where the Filippian kings were interred, with their doctors and their admirals. Mausoleums, burial chambers, leaf gold still remains on the Double Door of the Morning.

You - That's where Cuno said he's gonna go...

Shivers - Yes. To peel the gold off with his fingernails.

You - Les *petits rats*...

Shivers - Children under 14. They go underground, looking for artefacts to sell to foreign museums -- and for fabled relics. Their parents let them. They go deeper...

You - Deeper...

Shivers - ...after rubies, melchiorite, lapis lazuli plundered from Safre and Seol during the time of the Suzerain. In the burial chambers of the kings: Grand Old Filippe, Guillaume II, and even in the mausoleum of Filippe the Opulent.

Shivers - Two kilometres underground, in a winding shaft along whose walls mirrors have been placed so that daylight may eternally fall upon the richest of all the kings.

Shivers - The mausoleum contains untold quantities of gold -- and that special, purest-of-the-pure magenta cocaine favoured by Revacholian royalty.

Electrochemistry - Did someone say *untold quantities of cocaine*? Drop everything immediately and go looking for this hoard!

Logic - How can it be pure if it's magenta?

You - Wipe the snow from your shoulder.

Shivers - Few *petits rats* return from the shafts -- and even fewer find what they're looking for. A small child steps out of a black tunnel, with silver trinkets in her pockets.

Shivers - All around her, white snow on the extinguished coke furnaces, and on the weather-worn shacks, where fathers beat their sons after drinking. The snow melts on your fingers, turning to water.

You - What's in the east?

Shivers - The canal you crossed to get here, and beyond it -- Martinaise proper, the district the police forgot to police. There is laughter, lights, attempts at entrepreneurial activity, cynicism.

Shivers - Someone is scraping snow off their windshield. At the roundabout, in the midst of which a statue of Filippe the III serves as a destination for grade-school field trips and a fine perch for winter birds.

You - And further...

Shivers - A fenced-off yard. There's a truck belonging to a logistics company parked next to the gate. Bright light from a building behind the fence reflects off its hood.

Replaced with "A fenced-off yard. There's a truck belonging to a logistics company parked next to the gate. You've seen it. Bright light from a building behind the fence reflects off its hood." if Variable["jam.dlc_truck_shivers_orb_done"]

Replaced with "A fenced-off yard. There's a truck belonging to a logistics company parked next to the gate. You've heard about it. Bright light from a building behind the fence reflects off its hood." if Variable["village.idiot_cocaine_dlc"]

Conceptualization - Clean white light, coming from the windows of a clean cube-shaped office building hidden amidst ruins. A secret...

You - What's in the north?

Shivers - The abandoned church. One of two remaining stave churches which were collectively called les Sept Soeurs. The other six sisters were destroyed during the Revolution.

You - And further north?

Shivers - A serpentine strip of land weaving its way into the Martinaise inlet. Unfortunates on the run -- from the law, from themselves -- sometimes hide out on nearby islets. Little dots in the ocean that are occasionally submerged when the tide is high and the weather foul.

You - And on the islets?

Shivers - The remains of a camp on a jagged piece of rock -- a tent, old dishes and cutlery. Long since abandoned. A hermit crab scuttles among the debris, looking for a new shell.

Shivers - Further out, the lights burn bright on Résurrection; way beyond Martinaise -- a popular spa destination for ample-bodied Ozonne kids with equally ample pockets.

You - And on the other side of the inlet?

Shivers - Then there's Ozonne... but the snow falls too thick. You cannot see that far.

You - Before that? Before the curtains are drawn...

Shivers - The Bay of Revachol, vastness, great depth -- over 1200 m at its deepest. Water, air brinier than here. It is crisscrossed by huge cargo ships bearing company logos: Wild Pines, ZAMM, Moriyn.

Shivers - And, at the farthest reaches of the Bay of Revachol -- the shadow of Coalition Warship Archer, on perpetual patrol duty, ready to unleash artillery fire if you were to rise up against the market. You shudder.

You - What's in the south?

Shivers - The raised motorway, 8/81, separating Martinaise from Jamrock. Vehicles whoosh past one another day and night, while those who reside in the labyrinthine alleyways beneath the motorway attempt to carry on with their lives in the snow and the slush. And south of the 8/81 is the Pox.

You - The Pox...

Shivers - ...was once a park, a place for reflection and recuperation for the patients of the Old Military Hospital. In the Twenties, it was used as a quarantine centre during a measles outbreak that killed many children. Most everyone has avoided the hospital and surrounding park ever since.

Shivers - The Pox is completely wild now. Evergreen thickets covered in snow and industrial dust. Feral dogs and even wolves roaming in packs. The police try to keep the deepest corners cordoned off.

You - But still...

Shivers - ...heavy drug users do slip through and hole up in the Old Military Hospital, hoping to find something to get high on among the hastily abandoned supplies. Or just to overdose in peace.

You - Further south...

Shivers - A line of motor garages with armoured carapaces, hunched in the cold. A mechanic is hard at work, patching up bullet holes in the side of a Coupris 40. These are the garages of Precinct 41. Snow settles on the roof of the re-purposed silk mill that serves as your station. Shivering RCM personnel hurry in and out of the main entrance.

Mack Torson - "Wonder if Vic's found his hetero-sexual life partner yet." The man in the fishnet wifebeater looks over at Chester McLaine.

Chester McLaine - "Damn, I don't know. Even a real *bröderbund* like that can't survive everything..."

Shivers - Around you, the snow continues to fall. To the west, the ocean swells.

You - No, it was home. I want more.

Shivers - The stairs descend -- to Central Jamrock. A man named Kuklov has a snow-covered stall there, in the market across the bridge. He sells kebab infested with fly larvae to your colleagues who believe eating it will make them immune to food poisoning.

Shivers - Snow falls on the utility district: the library, the florist, the Saramirizian restaurant that offers homemade wine. And also on the brothels and drug dens, and the chop shops of the zemlyaki.

Shivers - All of this built around a lake that formed in a meteorite strike. At the centre of this lake, there is a little ship. There are lights at the bottom of its hull. They are lights directed toward the sea floor, looking for something, like whiskers...

You - For what?

Shivers - A chill comes over you, crawling down your back. The sand under your feet is wet. Somewhere in the south, tarpaulin flap in the wind.

You - What's below me?

Shivers - Layer upon layer of sand poisoned with industrial run-off. The storm drainage. Hidden bunkers. Rats scuttle...

You - Tell me a secret of the sands, wind.

Shivers - Someone's stuffed a big old polar anorak into a concrete pipe under the boardwalk. It would keep you warm. You will probably never happen across it, but who knows.

You - Stomp your feet for warmth, brushing off the snow. [Finish thought.]

Kim Kitsuragi - "We should keep moving. Who knows when this snow will let up?"

[covid-safer-hotties]

COVID surging in California, nears two-year summer high. ‘Almost everybody has it’ - Published July 29, 2024

If it seems like many people around you are getting COVID-19, you’re not alone.

Federal data show coronavirus levels in California’s wastewater are surging to levels not seen in summertime since 2022, indicating a wide and worsening spread of COVID.

“We are seeing ... a definite, definite surge,” said Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious disease at Kaiser Permanente Southern California.

The surge is clearly apparent in doctor’s offices and clinics where people are seeking outpatient treatment, Hudson said. But, thankfully, not many people are having to be hospitalized because of COVID-19 at this point.

“The wastewater numbers are still headed up. So we’re definitely seeing more and more cases,” Hudson said.

She urged people to test for COVID-19 if they have respiratory symptoms.

“If you have cough-and-cold symptoms, at this point, living in Los Angeles, you should really think that they are COVID until proven otherwise,” she said.

This latest surge is being fueled in large part by the FLiRT variants — a collection of highly transmissible sibling strains that have out-muscled last winter’s dominant strain, JN.1.

In particular, one of the FLiRT strains, known as KP.3.1.1, “has really taken off,” Hudson said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that that strain accounted for 17.7% of coronavirus samples nationwide for the two-week period that ended July 20, up from 6.8% for the prior comparable period.

At that rate of growth, that strain is likely to become increasingly dominant in the next few weeks, Hudson said. “So, unfortunately, I think we are going to see a lot more cases.”

Coronavirus levels in California sewage are considered “very high” for a third consecutive week, the CDC said Friday. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia — home to nearly 3 in 4 Americans — have either “high” or “very high” coronavirus levels in wastewater.

For the seven-day period that ended July 20, the most recent data available, coronavirus levels in California wastewater were at 93% of the peak from the summer of 2022. They’ve already exceeded last summer’s height.

And there are indications that this summer’s COVID-19 wave might have some staying power. Coronavirus levels in California wastewater have been “high” or “very high” for seven straight weeks, with no sign of cresting. The wave from the summer of 2022 played out over 16 weeks during which viral levels were “high” or “very high,” and last summer’s wave lasted eight weeks.

The proliferation of the FLiRT variants may lengthen this summer’s surge, experts say, since they show a particular knack for immune evasion.

“It does seem like we are spitting out more and more variants a lot more quickly, and that’s probably to be expected,” Hudson said. “This virus is still very, very new to humans, and the virus wants to live, and the way that it lives is by evading immunity” — circumventing people’s defenses by evolving in a way to keep the chain of infection going.

Also, “things are pretty much back to normal,” Hudson said, with many people abandoning their once-cautious pandemic behaviors.

Even at the Olympics in Paris, COVID-19 is now treated like any other respiratory illness. The protocol among infected athletes is — if they’re feeling well enough to train — to have them wear masks, isolate when they’re not training and avoid certain communal areas such as the gym.

Regions across California are reporting high coronavirus levels in sewage. In the San Francisco Bay Area, San José and Palo Alto have generally had high coronavirus levels since the end of May. Fresno County health officials said last week that coronavirus levels were high across the San Joaquin Valley.

The rate at which California’s COVID-19 tests are turning up positive has now exceeded last summer’s peak. For the seven-day period that ended July 22, 13.8% of coronavirus tests came back positive. That exceeds last summer’s maximum of 13.1%.

Anecdotally, there are many reports of people getting COVID-19 from events including weddings, work meetings and flights, causing symptoms strong enough to make them miserable for days. Some have been surprised by nastier symptoms this time around compared with earlier bouts of COVID-19, although there are no indications that the latest subvariants result in more severe illness overall.

Those who are older or immunocompromised remain at highest risk.

Read the rest at either link! (You don't have to hop a paywall at the covidsafehotties archive!)

[quaintbuilds]

@clovercrafted ‘s Summer Fun build event Day 8 - Orange

My build for orange day of the summer fun build event is a tranquil orange house on the riverbank, a short ways down the road from the main city of my kingdom. The first floor of the house has a cozy sitting area and a large kitchen (with TWO bay windows). The second floor uses an open floor plan to maximize space. This space is mostly filled with plants and bookcases, as most of a house’s floorspace should be. There is a bed crammed in one corner, and a desk and window seat in another corner. The center of the floor is dominated by a raised garden bed growing lilacs that have plenty of sunlight from the large window with an azalea arch growing over it. The landscape around the house has a small vegetable garden, some old oak trees that house a bee community, and another raised garden bed filled with lilacs. Down the hill is a secluded boat dock that is perfect for a fisherperson who wants to quietly fish without having any weird strangers talk to them.

[spectrechosts]

My Bloody Valentine

I want to be done reuploading and all I have left is shorter stories I haven't touched in forever which means shit is getting CONDENSED into single posts so I can have all this done by Halloween.

This one is about a warlock on an elven spaceship and the human who's newly hired to work with her. Five chapters in this post.

"For future reference, when you're hiring a human weapons tech, generally they know how to maintain particle beams, autocannons, things like that. Not… whatever this is."

"I'll keep it in mind, rook. Now touch up those containment sigils before we all fry."

The weapons bay on the Ivy Cudgel was a single small room. Refrigerators filled with bags of blood lined one wall, and five IV poles to place them on were arranged in the center of the room. The "weapons system" was a single elf, currently sitting within a summoning circle and gibbering to herself almost imperceptibly as the IVs dribbled blood onto her face.

The rookie had been introduced to her when she got the job ("Hello," She had said, not making eye contact. "I will be in your care, I look forward to working together."), and had seen her around the ship since. She was a quiet, fragile thing, even for an elf. She didn't speak unless spoken to, she was never in any of the communal areas if she could avoid it, the rookie only knew that she ate on account of her boss grumbling about making sure she did before going to the mess hall. Her uniform was unique among the crew, ceremonial black robes and various eerie trinkets. The rookie didn't know where exactly "warlock" fit into the command structure, but everyone on the ship treated her with respect, so she did too.

Even if she had to be the one to pour blood on her head so that she could channel a demon to rend enemy ships asunder.

The ship shuddered, sending IV poles clattering to the floor.

"Shit!" Her boss cursed, "Fix those, now!"

"Weapons officer, status." Came a voice from her boss' comms badge.

"Not ideal if impacts are going to keep knocking our shit over, captain."

"Shields are on their last legs, we need to end this quickly. Full power."

"Yes captain." She said, and clicked off her comm badge. "Okay rook, what you're about to see never leaves this room, got it?"

"…Yes?" She said, unsure of what could possibly be more taboo than what they were already doing.

"Good." Her commanding officer said, and then swiftly drew a dagger from her belt and drove it into her own palm.

"What the FUCK-" She screamed, and her boss waved her off with what was now her good hand, the other pressed to her mouth. Blood gushed from the wound, staining her face. She strode into the summoning circle and the demon snapped to face her, pupilless eyes trained on the source of fresh blood.

Before the beast could pounce, the officer removed her hand from her face and pulled her into a kiss, blood pooled in her mouth flowing between their lips. The containment sigils smoked and hissed and the rookie scrambled to repaint them all fast enough to prevent a breach.

She could worry about what the fuck she was watching later.

Her boss was now kissing the warlock's neck while she lapped at her bloody hand like an animal, and it wasn't hot, and she was focused on the circle and not blushing.

"We're in the clear, shut her down officer."

Her boss whispered something unpronounceable in the warlock's ear, and she shuddered and went limp as the demon left her. She held her tightly, kissed her forehead reassuringly.

"Pass me the bandages, rookie."

She did as she was told, and her boss started wrapping her hand. She had so many questions.

"Is… Is that part of my job?"

"No."

don't say it don't say it don't say it

"Can it be?"

Her boss chuckled. "Ask her when she's feeling better, rookie."

~~~

She has the same dream every night.

The ship is empty, but she isn't alone. She can feel it.

She wanders the corridors for an eternity. There is nothing to find. There is never anything to find.

She is alone, and something is with her, and nothing has ever been on the ship.

She tries to call upon her demon, but it isn't part of her anymore.

She wishes her demon was still here. She is terrified that her demon is still here.

She opens her eyes to a knock at her door, and the dream fades from her memory. She can feel the demon tugging at the edges of her mind again. She ignores it.

"Open door." She says, and the door opens, and the human pokes her head in sheepishly.

"Heyyy, um, boss wanted me to make sure you eat?" The human says, unsure of herself. "I brought you the blue nutrient paste, she said you like that one?"

"I don't like food." She says in response, but she pokes the straw into the pack and drinks it slowly. It tastes like ash in her mouth.

"Yeah, she uh, she said that's why I have to watch and make sure you eat. If that's okay."

The human is new to this, she thinks this is a quirk of hers and not something that happens to all conduits.

"It's fine. It's procedure."

She takes another sip. She is starving. This will not sate her.

"Why's that?"

The human is, if she's being honest, probably not qualified for her position. A weapons tech should know these things.

"Becoming soulbound to a demon results in complete loss of mortal appetite within 18 months in almost 100% of cases. To prevent physical degradation, conduits must be forced to eat regularly."

"…Mortal appetite?"

Another slow sip.

"We crave blood."

"Oh. So that's, that's an all the time thing?"

"Yes." She says, nodding solemnly.

"…Do you want some?"

"Always."

The human takes out a pen knife and cuts her fingertip, offers it to her.

She takes it into her mouth. The trickle of blood is ambrosia to her twisted senses. Her demon digs it's claws into her, eager for more.

She releases the human's finger and replaces it with her straw. The last dregs of nutrient paste make her want to puke.

"Thank you. I'd like to get more sleep now."

"Yeah, sure. I'll be back tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

The door closes and she climbs back into her bed. A fortress of blankets and plush toys quiets her mind enough to drift back into the dream.

The human's taste lingers on her tongue.

She is alone, and she is never alone.

~~~

The human keeps coming back on meal duty, eager to talk.

"So this is uh, the second ship I've been stationed on, and the other one was a human ship so this is all pretty different."

"Mm."

She sips her nutrient paste under the human's watchful eye. This is likely not the kind of work she signed up for.

"How many ships have you been on?"

The human makes a habit of asking things that she shouldn't. She could very easily tell the captain that the human is unfit for duty, with how little she seems to understand of her work.

"I am the Ivy Cudgel's weapon."

"So you never worked on any other ships while you were training?" The human asks, not understanding.

She slurps the last of the disgusting paste through her straw.

"Blood."

"Oh, sure."

The human cuts her finger once again, allowing her to drink from the wound. The crimson fluid washes the awful taste from her mouth, and she feels a little less tired.

"I have spent my entire life aboard the Ivy Cudgel." She elaborates, in exchange.

"What? Why?"

"Conduction is a multi-layered process. The demon is bound to the ship, the demon is bound to me, ergo I am bound to the ship."

"Okay, uh, why?"

"If the demon were bound solely to me, I couldn't exert it's influence beyond what I'm aware of. If the demon were bound solely to the ship, it would be… haunted, for lack of a better term."

"So like, what do you get out of it?"

She definitely shouldn't ask that.

"It is a great honor to be born into the service of the fleet." She says. And then, when the human looks unconvinced, she gestures around her room and adds: "I am well compensated. I want for nothing."

"You don't want to like. Leave?"

"Ohhhh no. No. No no no."

She shakes her head.

"I have a drone that I can fly around when we're docked and even that is… overstimulating. I can leave, there are ritual procedures that facilitate it, I just don't want to."

The human still looks unconvinced.

"You've never even wanted to go out like, on a date?"

Why does the human ask her such strange things?

"Why would I go out on a date?"

"…Like if there's someplace romantic, you and the boss-"

"Me and the boss?" She repeats, flabbergasted.

"Y-Yeah? Because- You, you kissed that one time?"

"I've never kissed anyone???"

Her demon loves this, because it knows she hates it.

"You, you did though, you and-"

"The demon did that! I don't want to kiss my boss!"

"O-Okay, I didn't mean-"

"Get out!" She screeches, and the human scrambles away.

Her face feels hot as the doors slide shut.

The human thinks- Ugh!

Why was she talking to her so much then, if not-

She slumps back into bed and squeezes a stuffed elk.

Stupid human.

~~~

Piloting her drone around the spaceport market, the warlock finds herself sending a request for assistance to the human against her better judgment. It doesn't take long for her to arrive.

"What's wrong?" She asks, eager to please.

She's been cold to the human, these past few feedings. It's making her act strange, desperate to rebuild their relationship.

"Carry this." She says, and her droid's mechanical arm points at a large plushie of a creature native to the planet, something between a walrus and a bear.

"Oh." The human says, grabbing it. "Is that all?"

"Yes. I would carry it myself but I don't want it to drag on the ground."

She pilots the drone to the checkout and transfers payment, then hovers away, human and plushie in tow.

"So, uh, about the other day-"

"I don't want to talk about it."

It is… unfair, of her, to remain mad at the human. She didn't understand the distinction between her and the demon, it was not a moral failing or an intentional slight.

She floats into another store, peruses their selection of games.

"Right, uh, we don't have to talk about it. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I uh, I misunderstood."

"You did."

"Yeah. And uh, I made things weird. And I would like things to not be weird."

The warlock would… also like things to not be weird, really. The human is on meal duty regardless of either of their feelings on the matter, any weirdness is going to be constantly out in the open.

"Speak no more of it then." She says, plucking a holodisc from the display and stashing it into a small compartment on the drone as she transfers credits to the clerk. "Accompany me as I return to the ship."

The drone can return autonomously, but the human is… peculiar. She shouldn't be here, she doesn't know what she's meant to be doing, and that makes her beguiling. The ship is her domain, she knows every inch of it's corridors, every scratch on it's hull as if it were her own skin. The crew behaves predictably, orderly, disciplined, except for the human.

She wants to understand her.

"Tell me, how did you come to work on the Ivy Cudgel?"

"Oh, uh, exchange program as part of the alliance. Humans go work on elf vessels, elves go work on human vessels, we all get a little more used to having aliens around."

"I'm aware, I meant you specifically."

"I dunno, seemed interesting I guess? See a new culture, or whatever."

"And do you find it interesting?"

"Sure. I mean, it's not super different, aside from all the magic stuff."

"You don't have magic on earth?"

"We have the concept, but like, we didn't think it was real."

"How did you become slipspace capable without magic?"

"I dunno, it's not my field. Some physics thing."

"How strange." The elf said, thinking. "No magic at all?"

"None. I mean they're probably working on it now, now that we know, but-"

A harsh gust of wind cuts her off, blowing out the drone's microphone and sending it spinning. Her viewport sweeps over the open sky, the massive skyport, the endless miles of city below.

She suddenly feels very ill.

"I-I-" She stammers, struggling to breathe. She wrenches the control helmet from her head and looks around her room, her four walls, safe and known and hers. "I'm setting the droid to autopilot. I have to lie down." She says, flicking a switch and leaving her desk before the human can answer.

She slumps into bed and covers her head with a pillow. She is inside. She knows the ship. She is the ship. Her demon creeps out of the back of her mind, sensing her agitation. It makes her feel strong when she is weak, brave when she is afraid. It is her only-

Her door slides open.

"Are you okay!?" Comes a voice, along with rapid footsteps. The human is in her room, panting from exertion after running all the way here. She places the walrus-bear into her bed and touches her shoulder gently.

The human is new. The human is an unknown factor. The human is in her room.

"Leave!" She hisses. She doesn't like change. The human is in her room.

"Okay, of course-" The human says, and she scurries away.

"W-Wait."

Her footsteps pause.

The human is trying. The human is in her room. The human doesn't know any better. The human is leaving her room because she asked, because she didn't know.

"Th-Thank you. for trying to help." She says. "But leave."

"Okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow." The human says.

And then she is gone.

The elf clutches her new plushie and cries until they leave port, until she is safe in the void again.

~~~

Someone knocks on the warlock's door, and she opens it and finds that it is not the human, but her medical officer.

"Evaluation day?" She asks, her mood sinking.

"Evaluation day." The doctor confirms. "May I come in?"

"Of course."

The warlock sits on her bed, grabbing a large stuffed shark from among her things and clutching it close to her chest, resting her chin on its snout.

"Relax, sweetie." The doctor says, trying to reassure her. "We do this every four months, you know it's not a big deal."

It is a big deal, because this is the part where the doctor asks her questions and most of them are easy but some of them are hard and the doctor always just nods blankly at whatever she says and writes it down, never telling her if she's behaving normally or if she's going to be decommissioned for suspected possession risk.

"We'll start with the systems checks, okay? There's an asteroid field to our starboard side, tell me how many objects are within your range."

She closes her eyes, and lets the line between her and the ship and the demon blur.

"Twenty-three." She says.

"Mhm. Destroy the object at 290 -051 368, please."

The ship pinpoints the relative coordinates, she gives the go ahead, and her demon crushes the asteroid like it's a glass bauble.

Blood trickles from her nose and drips onto the shark.

"Destruction confirmed, thank you. You may return to your body."

The medical officer offers her a tissue to wipe away the blood.

"Now, I have just a few questions for you about the past few months." She says, and the warlock squeezes the shark tighter because this is the awful part. "Have you been eating?"

"Yes."

"Exercising?"

"I… take walks." The warlock says.

"How often, and what distance?" The doctor asks, writing on her terrible notepad.

"A few times a week, and I don't know. I just wander."

"Wander where?"

The warlock wishes she had a good answer. There's nothing wrong with just walking around aimlessly, but everything she does needs to be scrutinized because there's a demon in her head. It's oppressive.

"C Deck, mostly. I just walk around the halls until I want to stop."

"Okay." The doctor says, and she writes in silence for a long moment. "There was a recent staffing change, per our alliance with the humans. An engineer, Faye Hoffman, has been assigned to you, correct?"

It occurs to the warlock that she has never asked the human her name.

She doesn't have a name, but she should still try to learn other people's. She'll apologize for being rude, next time she sees her.

"Correct."

"Has she made any attempts to interfere with your work in any way?" The doctor asks, clinical.

"No?"

"Is that a question?" She asks pointedly, looking for something in her response.

"No, I just wonder why you would ask that."

"There have been concerns raised that Miss Hoffman is unfit for duty. Do you agree with this?"

"No." The warlock lies, and immediately becomes very nervous because she has never felt the need to lie before.

"Elaborate." The doctor prompts, clicking her pen.

"She performs her duties adequately." The warlock says, which isn't really a lie if she thinks about it. "Menial tasks, mostly. Meal duty. Hostile engagements are a rarity, and I am insensate during them, but we have suffered no breaches."

The doctor nods, and writes, and reveals nothing.

"Okay, that's all for right now." She says, and she leaves the warlock alone in her room.

The warlock is loyal. This is her ship, she can say that more truly than even the captain. If the human were a problem-

Well, she isn't.

Not worth thinking about.

The warlock pulls a blanket over herself and her bloodstained shark and drifts to sleep.