#Boom Models Agency

[lowkeyrobin]

still so disappointed that mr pennycrumb [fives dog in the comics] didnt rlly appear much in the show </3

ok ok so its the academy's birthday and the reader is insanely good at gift giving and never forgets to give presents if theres smth special happening. they hand out the gifts to everyone except they avoid five and disappear w/o them knowing where they went, only to come back at dusk w/ a larger box. obviously five went insane and rambles on how worried he was before the reader finally shuts him up by plopping the box on him, and boom. theres a puppy.

[loved the last viktor fic btw. literally bawled my eyes out]

- 🦇

OMG YES the only appearance we saw was in s3 when Luther went on a jog before he got napped :( ; and thank you!! I got bored and I couldn't extend it any further so it's kinda dumb but it's alr haha ; thanks for requesting, hope you enjoy! ; also sorry this is so short and dumb idk writers block is so picky

FIVE HARGREEVES ; mr pennycrumb

summary ; when the umbrella academys birthdays roll around, you get five a whole ass dog

warnings ; language

disclaimers ; some of the gifts are related to hobbies/interests that are more of hcs than actual canon

word count ; 738

masterlist

When you walked into Allison's with multiple boxes and bags for the Hargreeves, they all knew you were at it again with your insane yet accurate gift giving. They started with cake, then moved over to presents.

Gift giving in the family was like secret Santa in a way. Everyone would essentially get gifts for all the others, and they'd pass around gifts one by one, usually by number order. Luther was always first, Viktor always last. Lila usually snuck in around Diego, because duh. Viktor had gotten used to being last, the forgotten one. But around his family now, he knew it wasn't like that anymore. He'd rather go last so everyone else could have their special time on their special day.

So, the group sets the gifts tagged for Luther on the table in front of him. The kids halfway watch from afar, paying attention to the TV and their toys more than their celebrating parents, aunts, and uncles.

You were among the minority in the house that didn't share a birthday with them, thank God. You would've gone insane over big birthdays like this.

Five, meanwhile, was going insane over you basically ignoring him all day.

You'd gotten Luther some workout gear, knowing he'd taken up going to the gym within the past couple of years. Among other gifts were little trinkets and other things he wanted. He was a little hard to shop for, never really wanting anything, enjoying the quality time over any gift giving.

Next was Diego, and inside the gift you got for him, was a knife sharpening kit. He'd lost his old one just in time. Lila came up next, receiving a few nice outfits you found for her and a gift card to Cosmoprof, as she'd been thinking about re-dyeing her hair to white again.

Next up was Allison, grateful for the numerous acting job business cards you'd given her on top of a bunch of books that were on her Amazon wishlist. She was a serious reader who wanted to get back into acting, now.

Klaus was after her, ecstatic about a carry-around cleaning kit. You were going to go with a joint maker to make his life easier before he got sober. Now he wouldn't need a full bag of cleaning supplies, he'd have your perfect gift.

Five decided to go last, wanting to watch his family be happy more than open presents himself.

Ben was next, receiving some letters from modeling agencies. As he should.

Viktor was second to last, very appreciative for the new drink recipes you'd made and found for him atop the pile of clothes you'd gotten him.

You disappeared around dusk, leaving Five to open his presents without presence. He was physically eighteen, mentally sixty-two today.

As he looks up, seeing the lack of you around, he hides a soft frown. He noticed how you weren't standing near him all night, how you barely even spoke around him.

"Did you do something to Y/n?" Klaus asks out of the blue. "They just kinda... dissappeared"

Five shrugs. "I don't think I did. Even if I did do something, they'd talk it out with me"

Allison shrugs. "I think that's them" she comments, looking out the screen door to see you pull up in your car again. "Diego, could you get the door?"

Diego turns around, unlocking the door for you, holding it open as he sees you holding a big box.

"Why is that box bigger than you?"

"Also, why is it moving?"

You set the box on the table in front of Five, a wide smile on your face. "Open it"

He slowly sets aside the large box of coffee pods he received from Diego to the side, slowly reaching for the box flaps. As he pulls them to the side, out jumps a little dog.

"Oh my God?"

Five smiles, pulling the puppy into his lap. He looks up at you, a glimmer in his eyes. "Why did you get me a dog?"

You shrug, moving the box off the table. "You're a lonely old man, you need some company"

He chuckles, petting the pug's head.

"What're you gonna name it?" Ben asks, arms crossed.

"Him" You correct

"Mr. Pennycrumb" Five answers.

"Why?" Luther asks.

The physically younger boy shrugs. "Why not?"

"Interesting choice" Klaus mutters with a shrug.

Five smiles up at you, giddy like a little kid. "Thank you"

"I try"

[ihopesocomic]

Wait so you mean to tell me MP ISNT someone's indie creation passion project and actually a show with a buject and stuff??

Great, now I can finally say this without feeling bad: why does the animation look like THAT. It just looks so wonky??? Like the characters are about to fall appart at any second because they are made of paper that has been hastly glued togheter?

Because if its your passion project, yeah I get it, animating is hard. I animate too, and god making the characters move and look good is difficult. But if its a show and you're getting paid (or u have money to give someone else to animate it) why dont make it look better? And actually learn how ro use the engine you're using?

My Pride was not somebody's indie passion project, no. It had a budget and said budget was funded by "an agency of the provincial [Canadian] government" (Ontario Creates) via taxpayer money. You'll notice that they're credited at the end of each episode.

I'm sorry to hear you've been misled. You're not the first and you certainly won't be the last. oof

As for the animation, we know somebody who offered Tribble assistance on how to use Toon Boom more effectively and make the process easier for her. Their offer was turned down. To compound this, since Tribble opted for limited animation, and since a lot of the time the characters are standing while talking: re-drawing characters for every single scene was just a further waste of valuable time that could've been spent doing other things to make the show presentable.

I do feel there are some parts of the show that do look nicely animated, as we said in our analysis. It's just a shame that this wasn't a consistent thing. I don't know the reasoning behind that either. I can only assume that the most obvious culprit seems to be a lack of model sheets. I feel the animation team did their best with what limited direction they appear to have been given.

And it's also this inconsistent animation that has led people to believe that it wasn't a professional project. Even though professional = polished and nice looking/hobbyist = bad and amateurish is a very common misconception that needs to die already. lol - RJ

[callmerainman]

Cameras | Reigen Arataka x fem!model!Reader

plot. The last thing you expected when you entered the office of Reigen Arataka, was to be head over heels for him. Reigen can't seem to believe it himself when Dimple points out that the beautiful model who came in his office for help is, in fact, flirting her way towards him. It's your first time chasing a man and not the other way around, and it's so much fun.

fandom. mob psycho 100

word count. 2.2k

tags. fem!reader, reader is a model, flirting, seducing, awkwardness, suggestive tones, implied sexual reference, oblivious Reigen Arataka, photoshoots, smoking, wingman Dimple.

part. 1/2

An elegant smile softly spread across your face, your hands touching your soft hair with delicacy, your legs crossed under the wooden desk. And, hard to ignore, your foot moving slowly in a circling motion. Your classy composure hides your real emotions so well, you're a woman of style. But, in reality, you're completely losing it.

Shit, he's handsome.

The blond man sitting in front of you is explaining his parcels and exorcism plans as he moves his hands left and right. He looks serious, professional, and focused. His name is Reigen Arataka, or The Greatest Psychic of the 21st Century. You didn't know anything about him until twenty minutes earlier, when you entered his office.

You work as a photo model in a well known modeling agency in Seasoning City. You recently started catwalks, but you're mainly featured on local fashion magazines covers and billboard signs across the city. Your career is going well, except for this feeling that you just can't shake off. In the last few months, every time you pose for a picture you feel a haunting presence weighing on your shoulders. It's like a cold, gloomy breeze. It didn't stop you from getting your work done, but it was more energy consuming than it should be. You didn't believe in ghosts, to be clear. But your friends suggested you call a psychic, and so you did. You chose the cheapest in town, just to give it a try. But nothing could have prepared you for this situation.

«So, considering the context, I think the best exorcism plan is the second in my list, miss»

You snap back to reality and quickly realize that you didn't listen to a single word he said. Too busy staring at the smooth gestures of his hands. You have to play it cool.

«How about you come with me to my next shooting? I have to get there in 30 minutes. Maybe you can take care of the problem on the spot. I'll be glad to pose for you if it can help, Reigen-san» you smile, resting your chin on your open palm.

It's weird. Usually men were the ones who chased you, and fell for you right on the spot. This is your first time being head over heels for a man, and at first sight too. You can't exactly pin point what it is that makes you twirl your hair around your index, and smile so intently. Maybe his ginger hair, or the way he articulates words. Or his grey suit and eccentric pink tie, and charismatic smile.

The man exudes sex. In sort of a pathetic, sketchy way.

«Fine by me» Reigen replies.

You clap your hands together and spark him a shiny smile «Great! Let's go then!»

As you go ahead to bring your car in front of the building, Reigen closes the office. Mob is at school and no clients are expected to come for the next few hours.

The conman trots down the stairs quickly so that he can go wait for you outside the building. But he feels a presence floating behind him.

«Oi, Reigen»

Reigen turns around and grumbles as his gaze meets a familiar green cloud.

«What, Dimple»

«That lady is most certainly hitting on you»

Reigen almost trips down the stairs. He quickly recollects himself as he stops in the middle of the stairwell.

«That's not true»

«Pff» the spirit spits «it's so obvious»

Reigen descends the stairs again, the sound of his shoes stomping on the floor booming in the echoey building.

«It's not obvious because she's not hitting on me! You're just saying it to make fun of me»

The green spirit floats backwards, in front of Reigen's face. He looks dead serious.

«Look man, I would never use such a poor excuse for a joke. I mean, a knockout of a model hitting on you? That would be too unrealistic!»

Reigen rolls his eyes and just keeps going, trying to ignore Dimple.

The latter agitates a little green arm in front of his face «Hellooo? She was literally eating you up with her preying eyes! Basically giggling and kicking her feet like a schoolgirl! And what about the "I'll be glad to pose for you~"»

Dimple channeled his most feminine, high-pitched voice to say that. Green little hands intertwined, eyes glittering and lashes fluttering. It pisses Reigen off.

«Miss (Y/N) is not hitting on me. And even if she were, obviously in a very parallel and distant world, I would never get my way with her. She's my client, and I'm a professional»

«Whatever you say dude...I warned you»

Dimple didn't pop out until later on, when you and Reigen get to your modeling agency. Everything is ready for today's photoshoot: lights, cameras, setting. As Reigen wanders around pretending to scan for spirits, you're approached by your publicist, Haru.

«Is he the male stripper we rented for Sakura's birthday?» she asks, pointing a finger towards Reigen.

«What? No! That's the psychic you suggested I call!» you exclaim.

«Oooh! Is he here to help you exorcise that spirit?»

«We don't know if there's a spirit yet, but he's here to help me out»

«And how are things going?»

«I want to sleep with him»

«(Y/N)!»

«I'm sorry, I can't help it!»

«Okay, I'll reschedule your Christmas jumpers shooting for next week. No big deal even if we don't do it today. Now go put some lingerie on»

«I love you so much, dearie»

In the end, there really was a spirit giving you a hard time during shootings. Or, to be specific, a curse. Dimple was able to detect it in no time, a cloud of gloomy, red smoke hovering over your shoulders. He absorbed it completely and you immediately felt the pressure on your back being released. Your pics came out perfect, flawless. You even put some extra work with that lingerie since you had a guest. And you did catch his brown eyes getting lost in the fabric of your garments, not without a sprinkle of guilt. It was a sight you yearned from men. Seeing them guilty for how mesmerized they are. But Reigen was dense. All afternoon you sent many hints that you, in fact, were flirting with him, but he didn't catch them. You still have time. Of course you have no idea that the one to get rid of the curse was Dimple, Reigen played it out as if he was the one doing all the magic. Dimple got accustomed to it.

«Thank you so much, Reigen-san» you smile, stunning as always. You already changed in your casual clothes, your body covered in a long, beige trenchcoat.

«No big deal, it was a small fish»

Dimple rolls his eyes behind Reigen's shoulder, but you can't see him. The sun is setting behind the building of your modeling agency. Reigen is smoking a cigarette, he asked you in advance if it bothers you, and you asked if you can join him. Reigen takes a quick glimpse at you. Even the way you smoke transpires elegance. His cheeks are lightly powdered in pink.

«I feel kinda bad though, I didn't pay you enough»

«No need to feel bad, I'm confident in my pricings»

«So you're gonna reject my drink invitation?»

Reigen chokes a puff of smoke. He throws you a quick glance and sees you smiling calmly, smoke slowly flowing out of your half-open lips. Dimple's words started floating in his own head. Was he right all along? Or you're just being nice? Do you really want to go out for a drink? Then, words just spill out on their own.

«Never said that»

You take a hit of your cigarette «Good, I'll lead the way»

There's something in your presence. So resolute, classy, confident. A different kind of confidence compared to Reigen. You always know how to behave, how to present yourself. It's hypnotic, magnetic even. Reigen can't help but be left speechless. He would lie to himself if he said that you weren't the prettiest woman he has ever seen. As you two walk towards your parked car, Reigen feels a familiar presence again.

«I told you, dude! She's all over you!» Dimple exlciams, waving his cloudy hands in front of Reigen.

«Shut the fuck up, she's not!»

You turn around «Did you say something?»

Reigen shakes his head vigorously, a bead of sweat running down his temple in embarrassment «N-nothing!»

The lounge bar you picked looks too expensive for Reigen's pockets. But you assured him that the drinks were on you, and ignored his insistence in paying. So now you and Reigen are sitting in front of each other, still dressed as you were this afternoon. He kinda feels out of place with his office suit on. But you fit the luxurious atmosphere so well. Your figure, your red dress, your make-up and smile. The way you talk, and laugh, and politely order two martinis. This place looks like it was made for you and you only. Talking with Reigen is an experience that you honestly expected very much. He's an interesting person, he's kind, funny, and smart. You didn't get the hots for him only for his looks. You understood the kind of person he was the moment he started listening to your problems this afternoon. He might look like the average japanese functional working citizen, but you saw right through him immediately.

And Reigen thinks the same of you. You're not only extremely attractive, confident and classy. You're cultured, intelligent, witty. He feels like talking to you is so easy, a feeling he didn't always get from others, or at least it wasn't often reciprocated. He wants to listen more of your words, of your mind. He's slowly getting hypnotized. You have a way with words, with gestures. The way you place your hand on your chin, or tuck hair behind your ear, is not casual. Everything you do is measure and balance. And the way you listen to his most complicated thoughts makes him want to tell you more, to stay a bit longer. He's enjoying himself for once in a while, laughing without thinking about anything else.

You put down your martini after taking a sip «By the way, Reigen, I think my photoshoot came out really, really well»

In a slow, sensual movement, you cross your legs under the table, your dress brushing against your bare skin with a velvet-like sound. You let one of your heels hang from the tip of your foot, then drop it down to the floor completely. Without any premeditation, you let your foot travel up Reigen's leg, first his ankle and then all the way up under the fabric of his pants.

«Maybe you should come to all my shootings from now on» you coo.

His shock is evident. Reigen locks his lips and holds his breath as he feels your foot stroking his leg under his pants. He wants to say something, but he can't.

Is she playing footsie with me?!

And then, for only God knows how many times, Dimple pops out again behind him, making Reigen jump on the spot.

«I fucking told you man!»

«I'm flirting with you, Reigen-san»

«Okay Dimple maybe you were right but what the fuck do I- say what?!»

You suppress a small giggle «I said that I'm flirting with you, Reigen. Since you didn't really seem to catch it»

Reigen is too stunned to speak «Oh!»

«I can stop though, if you're not interested in...more. Pursuing men so much is not my style. But I don't regret trying»

Your foot falls down from his leg and gets back to your heel, sliding it inside. You rest your chin in your hand, scanning Arataka's face for a reaction. He looks so embarrassed that it has you concerned. Did you go too far? To be completely honest, you liked messing with men. Making them look at you, leaving them speechless. But in a completely harmless way. Your last wish was to make Reigen uncomfortable in any way. You're about to say something, but you get interrupted.

«No, it's fine!» Reigen yelps, a nervous smile cracking on his face.

He mentally facepalms himself for sounding too excited, and too high pitched. But the reassuring smile you show him makes all his worries fade away. He doesn't feel judged, or under scrutiny.

«I-I mean» he resumes «I won't hold back if you're interested in...more»

Jesus he feels so stupid. But maybe you like stupid. It's written in the way you lean forward on your shared table, your hand reaching for his pink tie. You lightly pull it to encourage Reigen to come forward as well, sensually stroking it with two hands as you see his throat gulp out of nervousness.

«I'm glad to hear, Reigen. Otherwise I would have felt very lonely tonight, in my apartment»

«Good...»

Then, you let go of his tie and get up from your seat, and Reigen does the same. Mustering up some courage, Reigen extends his hand for you to take it. You happily oblige, placing yours in his palm. With a satisfied look on your face, you proceed to walk out of the lounge bar, hand in hand.

Without you noticing, Dimple appears in front of Reigen one last time.

«Can I come?» he asks.

«Fuck, no!» Reigen growls under his teeth.

«What did you say?» you ask.

«Nothing!»

[natalievoncatte]

“Careful with that! We have to assume everything here is dangerous.”

Lena would have preferred to be anywhere else. The last thing she wanted to occupy her afternoon was dealing with yet another reminder of her brother’s sprawling insanity. Every one of these weapons caches -he probably would have melodramatically called them “hideouts” or “secret bases”- was like a tombstone marking the grave of the only truly sincere, loving relationship she’d ever had in her life.

He hadn’t always been the slavering maniac with an incoherent obsession with killing a superhero. He’d been a protector and a benefactor, a chess opponent and a confidant, the only person in her life who presented an uncomplicated human connection, without any ulterior motives or conditions.

Everyone else wanted something from her. Money. Power. A competitive advantage. Technological secrets. Or just sex. Lena resented that most of all, the gray old men who saw nothing of her achievements or her intellect and regarded her as just another piece of ass with blue enough blood that they had to ask permission rather than simply grope.

Watching her crew load up the equipment in this sweltering heat made her physically ill, and she was glad she’d skipped breakfast. Kara would be upset if she knew.

She’s had to text Kara and let her know that she’d be out of the office and would have to skip their lunch plans. Kara was…

Kara was becoming a complication, because Kara was doing the one thing Lena wished she wouldn’t: She was giving Lena hope. She’d barreled into Lena’s life with an earnest intensity that had been bewildering at first and intriguing afterwards, with her insistence that they be friends, and constant reminders that they were friends, even as her eyes wandered to Lena’s cleavage or she unconsciously bit her lip and stared that smoldering stare just to look away at the last second.

Lena shook her head, clearing her thoughts of yet another Straight Best Friend taking her down that well-worn path of sapphic suffering. She had bigger fish to fry right now.

It was too bad that her relationship with Supergirl had been so chilly lately. It might have been easier to simply tip off the hero and the government agency she worked with and let them handle the clean up.

Lena was deep in reverie when one of the crates, a bulky reinforced one, dropped a good two feet from a forklift and the wood splintered as the locks burst free.

“Idiot!” Lena shouted at the driver. “This equipment is sensitive and potentially dangerous, and…”

“STARTUP SEQUENCE INITIATED.”

A metallic voice ground out of the crate and it shifted as something vast and bulky moved around inside. Lena stumbled back, glad she’d opted for a sensible set of flats for this, and turned to run.

A metallic claw crashed out of the crate, followed by an arm-mounted rotary cannon. The older model Lexosuit, one of the originals that Lex had planned to illegally smuggle out of the country in a fake theft scheme and sell to the Kasnians, stood up in its shaky, clanking way and took a few steps, shaking off planks and nylon straps the way a baby bird might shake off pieces of shell.

There was nowhere to go. The machine scanned the room, moving jerkily as it zeroed in on her.

Lex’s voice, a recording, boomed from its loudspeakers.

“Ah, dear sister, I see you’ve found another of my hidden fastnesses.”

You melodramatic-

“Oh well. I should thank you for setting off the security system. I won’t have to waste my precious time killing you myself. Au revoir, Lena!”

The suit spun its arm cannon and aimed at her. The barrels assembly made a half turn, the electric motor charging up as it cycled the first 32mm mass-reactive exploding shell into the chamber. Lex had once called it a masterpiece in the art of violating the Geneva Conventions. It was about to blow Lena inside out, and the subsequent shots reduce her to a the chunky consistency of a good bolognése.

But then there was a wind that was not a wind, and SHE was there.

Supergirl seized Lena with precision and grace, hands that could crush diamonds pressed just so over Lena’s ears to protect her from the roar of the guns. Lena wasn’t sure who screamed louder, her or Supergirl, as the revolving barrels ripped out their entire supply of ammunition in a few seconds, pummeling Supergirl’s back with explosions that could have shredded a tank, as the hero cradled Lena, sheltering her with her superhuman body.

When the hellstorm was over, the machine charged at them.

Supergirl did scream now, and fell upon the machine in a berserk rage. Lena had seen her in a fight before and knew she could be terrible to behold, but this was different. The empty suit was struck with such unending fury that she reduced it to shreds of metal and oil-spitting chunks of machinery in moments, spreading it halfway across the floor of warehouse.

When Supergirl rounded on her, Lena’s heart skipped. The hero’s chest was heaving, straining at the crest on her chest even as the bunching muscles on her arms and stomach pulled at the material, her perfect hair swirling around as she turned, that angelic face marred by a streak of oil and a sheen of sweat.

How dare she just look like that. It was incredibly unfair.

Before Lena knew it what was happening, Supergirl was lifting her into a heart-skipping bridal carry, pulling her much too close as she took off. On instinct, Lena pressed her eyes shut and buried her face in the Kryptonian’s neck, to hide from the heights.

Moments later they landed, and Supergirl threw Lena’s balcony door back and deposited her on her feet, leaving her stumbling back against her kitchen island in a daze. Supergirl stared at her, looming over Lena with the height difference increased by her stacked heels and Lena having lost her shoes at some point, so her stocking toes were left curling on the cold floor.

“That thing almost killed you,” Supergirl snapped. “If Is been a millisecond later you’d be dead.”

Her voice was tight with emotion, somewhere between anger, exasperation, and terror, and it felt like a fist closed in Lena’s chest.

“Are you sure you just weren’t there to make sure I wasn’t taking Lex’s old suit for a spin myself?” Lena spat, though her voice trembled. “You don’t seem to trust a thing I say lately. If I tell you the sky is blue you’ll go check.”

Supergirl’s face flushed and Lena braced for another booming, self righteous speech about trust or safety or the meaning of teamwork or some such heroic nonsense, but then her voice shattered into a million pieces and tears welled wet in her eyes.

“All I want is for you to be okay.”

A thousand thoughts danced in Lena’s mind. To ask her why, to defy her, to taunt her, to demand what exactly it was that made Lena so damned important that this woman was so intense about her safety one moment and so angry the next.

In the dance of all those thoughts, the more base instinct won out. Lena grabbed Supergirl by the neck of her suit, just below those delightful collarbones of hers, and used it as a handle to pull herself into a hard, aggressive kiss.

The world hung still for a moment, and Lena felt it all pivot around her. Something big was happening here. Something huge, something…

Something forgotten entirely as Supergirl’s tongue roughly claimed Lena’s mouth and her hands raked over Lena’s ass, dragging her skirt up.

Oh God, she thought, this is actually happening.

Lips pressed to her skin, the words burning hot into her flesh like an invocation.

“Is this okay?” Supergirl whispered.

“Yes,” Lena moaned, without hesitation.

To be continued…

[cognitivejustice]

The International Energy Agency estimates that data centres’ total electricity consumption could double from 2022 levels to 1,000TWh (terawatt hours) in 2026, approximately Japan’s level of electricity demand.

AI will result in data centres using 4.5% of global energy generation by 2030

Data centres play a crucial role in training and operating the models that underpin AI models 

Pledges to reduce CO2 emissions are now coming up against pledges to invest heavily in AI products that require considerable amounts of energy for training and deployment in data centres, along with carbon emissions associated with manufacturing and transporting the computer servers and chips used in that process.

Water usage is another environmental factor in the AI boom, with one study estimating that AI could account for up to 6.6bn cubic metres of water use by 2027 – nearly two-thirds of England’s annual consumption.

[dermy-der-demp]

Hey it's me bringing saiki model back bitches

After his "boom" many companies begin to offer him work, everything is fine until one of them suggests that Saiki take off his glasses to show off his eyes in to the camera,He obviously wants to refuse but since his boom was very recent he has to follow the rules they set for him so he starts making excuses until everything becomes absurdly ridiculous,however this ironically ends up making him more popular

The rumor spreads through the agencies and now everyone is fighting to get Saiki to model without his glasses,Something that no one achieves because of the attachment that Saiki has for them

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Kylie Ora Lobell

Now, Klompas has come out with a book, “Stand-Up Nation: Israeli Resilience in the Wake of Disaster” (Wicked Son), which is a unique approach to Israel activism. Rather than sharing news about the war, this book highlights Israel’s altruism towards the world. 

“Today, Israel is nicknamed the ‘Start-Up Nation,’ and it is celebrated for its booming economy and ingenious innovations,” she wrote in the book. “Less celebrated is the story of how Israel lifted up other nations as it lifted up itself — the story of Israel, a force for good in the world.”

“Today, Israel is nicknamed the ‘Start-Up Nation,’ and it is celebrated for its booming economy and ingenious innovations. Less celebrated is the story of how Israel lifted up other nations as it lifted up itself — the story of Israel, a force for good in the world.”

Klompas’ book outlines MASHAV’s work, such as when they built the first utility-scale solar field in East Africa, spearheaded clean water initiatives in Israel, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza and provided meals to starving children in India. 

“For a while, Israel became a global leader in supporting newly independent states. Precisely because it was small and poor, Israel had an advantage over larger, richer, and more established countries,” Klompas wrote. “It was a model and source of inspiration for newly emerging nations facing their own array of challenges.”

She saw this with her own eyes. After finishing up at the UN, she founded and led Project Inspire, an initiative to show Israel’s work in social, environmental and economic development in low-income nations. She ran tours in Uganda, Kenya, Guatemala, India and Nepal, showing participants how people in these countries utilize Israel’s teachings and technologies to tackle poverty and inequality. 

 When Klompas traveled, she saw Israel in “the most unlikely of places,” she wrote. “While trekking in East Africa and walking through a small craft market, I spotted a handmade beaded bracelet with the flag of Israel alongside bracelets with the flags of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. In the remote hills of Nepal, I happened upon a group of children, and as I passed by they yelled to me: ‘Shalom! Namaste! Hello!’ In Uganda, I visited a remote island on Lake Victoria. Getting there required a windy bus ride, followed by a rickety boat ride, followed by another bumpy bus ride. When we finally reached Osanidde Village, an orphanage for children with HIV, we were greeted by teenagers who sang the Ugandan national anthem followed by ‘Hatikva.’”

“Stand-Up Nation” is a callback to what Israel really is, and what a massive impact the small Jewish State has had on the world – a much-needed reminder post-Oct. 7, when it is being bashed everywhere we look. Klompas believes that enough isn’t being done to communicate Israel’s nation-building initiatives. 

“I think I’m the first one to write a book about it, if not one of the first,” she said. “I’m not sure that people who have been to Israel dozens of times are even familiar with MASHAV. How many people know this story about Israel as a developing country and founding an international development agency at the same time? It’s an untold story. And the more that I learn about it, the more it shocks me that people don’t know it.”

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

For the second time, a federal court struck down a regulatory agency’s authorization of two controversial, multi-billion-dollar gas export projects in far South Texas, one of which is already under construction. 

In an Aug. 6 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, D.C. Circuit cited “the nature and severity of the flaws” in reviews by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of the two proposed gas liquefaction and export complexes, Rio Grande LNG and Texas LNG, along with the associated Rio Bravo Pipeline. 

“Although we do not take this step lightly, the circumstances here require it,” the ruling said. “We appreciate the significant disruption vacatur may cause the projects. But that does not outweigh the seriousness of the Commission’s procedural defects.”

The court wrote that FERC failed in its analyses of environmental justice and climate impacts, air pollution modeling and procedural obligations. FERC and the developers now have 45 days to seek a re-hearing.  

The two complexes in question plan to pipe in Texas shale gas, condense it and load millions of tons per year onto tanker ships for sale overseas as liquified natural gas, or LNG. Each complex costs billions of dollars, spans hundreds of acres and makes up part of an ongoing boom in gas export projects along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana. 

Rio Grande LNG parent company NextDecade said in a statement it was “disappointed in the Court’s decision and disagrees with its conclusions.” 

The company added that construction continues on the first three liquefaction trains and related infrastructure at Rio Grande LNG near Brownsville and it will examine what impact the court’s order will have on future plans for added infrastructure.

The company announced last July it had secured investor funding to begin construction on its 750-acre, $18 billion facility. 

A spokesperson for Texas LNG, a smaller, adjacent project on the Brownsville Ship Channel that is yet to secure sufficient funding, said the ruling was a procedural decision to correct a technical deficiency, which they were still studying. 

“We have full confidence FERC will address this matter judiciously and efficiently and look forward to working with them on this important issue,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Three small surrounding cities and the local water district have passed resolutions opposing the projects, situated between national wildlife refuges and atop wetlands. 

[dg-outlaw]

Batfam Retail and Character Agency

So I've been thinking about how some people take issue with certain ships in the Batfam, especially in fanfic or general fanon. For example, JaySteph and how people will cry "ince$t" when these two or other characters are paired up in a ship.

One, I don't think these people know how biology/ancestry works because the only blood related members of the Batfam are Bruce, Damian, and Kate Kane despite them being called the BatFAM. Two, most of Bruce's adopted children were older or barely interacted in a sibling way as far as growing up together. Sure, they might have a sibling-coded relationship and are legally related, but the best example I can think of in how the Batfam works is not the Brady Bunch or Cheaper by the Dozen, but that they all are or have been co-workers at the same minimum wage retail store. Friendships, drama, dating, rivalries, and other such nonsense is sure to happen. It's called forced proximity and shared experience.

I'm thinking of writing up a humorous parallel of who's who in the retail realm when it comes to the Batfam, but including it here would make this post WAY too long

The other annoyance, that I sort of get IF looked at from the POV of DC editorial or writers (if that's their ill-conceived intention), is the idea that a character, more specifically a female character, is just getting "passed around". Instead, my only guess is that whoever is complaining about this is saying that the male character should be given a new, shiny, fresh off the showroom floor love interest and not some high-mileage used model. I use a car reference here because that's exactly how that female is seen when a person says this, whether they acknowledge it or not.

The female character, for example: Stephanie Brown, is no longer a person with her own autonomy and ability to choose or have agency. She's an object to be owned, possessed, or used for the sake of forwarding the male character's arc or to add drama (e.g. fridging or damsel in distress). To imply that Stephanie Brown (or any other character) is being "passed around" from Tim Drake to Jason Todd is to imply that Steph doesn't have nor did she ever have choice in the matter (again, JaySteph isn't even canon, but if it were to become canon, some people would still have a fit). And yes, these are fictional characters, but in writing them (whether officially by DC or in fanfics) they should be treated as real people with real choices and not some object or virginal "bride" for the male protagonist where you'd retcon past relationships.

Has Stephanie Brown always been treated fairly in comics? No. Has Jason? Also, no. Would pairing these two be some sort of "passing around" or "sloppy seconds" for Jason? If I have to answer that for you or you think 'Yes', then you probably don't see women as people. Canonically, I think Jason has had more love interests so if anything Steph would be the one getting someone else's "sloppy seconds", thirds, fourths, etc.

Again, see the above about retail co-workers. Steph once dated Tim. It was their first job and their first real, young love. It was good, it was bad, they made out in the break room, they broke up in the middle of Customer Service, etc. Former employee, Jason, comes by and picks up random shifts when Bruce is really desperate. Steph and Jason meet and hang-out over a few shifts, even though Bruce doesn't trust either of them and would rather they work somewhere else. Maybe they got stuck working Black Friday and the holidays together and boom, sparks happened. It's maybe weird or awkward for Tim, but Tim fell in love with the snack and soda machine vendor, Bernard, so it's really no big deal.

So if someone can date their co-worker, break-up, and then date another co-worker, it should be none of your damn business (assuming everything is legal, consenting, and above board) if none of those people are you.

Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk.

[siremasterlawrence]

In The Spiral

Jackson Michael Piven is the CEO and head of the largest and most major label Quest Modeling agency to hit the scene since the main ones have shuttered.

Jackson is disgusted at the sight of this ass of a nerdy guy walking in to the main studio room as he is thinking a lot of god awful bits in his head.

The man slams the door locking it at his one sight just shock but before he can say a single word and reach for his gun the man pulled out his own.

“Where did you come from?”

“Put that shit down”

“Or what ? Motherfucker”

“What did you say?”

“Get ready”

“SET”

“Go!”

“NOOO!”

“BOOM!”

“Do me a favor?”

“I’ll do anything “

“Drop your wallet, keys and such”

“Your belt “

“Strip”

“Get on top of the desk”

“Do a dance “

The man pulls the trigger shooting in to the air the bullet ricocheting from wall to wall as he hit in the chest sending his back flying in to the wall.

He slid down to the wall hitting his ass on to the ground shaking his body out of the way for a second and soon he flails out of his way.

He hits his back wit his eyes rolling back in to the sockets, turning into spirals he finally succumbs to his will and soon he stood up to his side.

“What the bloody piss is going on?”

“Calm down fuck face”

“Piss off”

“Bitch”

“Yes Sir”

“Tie him up”

“Strap him down”

“Strip him”

“Master”

“As you wish”

“Hurry Up!”

“My lover”

“Let me go”

“Fuck off!”

“Mind if I climb on you “

“Like you have a choice “

“It’s all I want “

“About to fuck you”

“Slip it off”

“Finally”

“Play with me”

“Yes Master

The end

[mariacallous]

Western governments’ rapidly growing defense spending sounds like a straightforward equation: More spending equals more weapons. But skilled weapons workers are in short supply, especially explosives experts, and without a sufficiently big bang behind them, even the most sophisticated weaponry is pointless. But blowing things up is not learned in a quick crash course. We need more explosives professors.

NATO member states’ defense spending is on an extraordinary growth spurt. This year, Poland, for example, is spending 4.1 percent of its GDP on defense, up from 2 percent five years ago. Sweden, too, has doubled its defense spending. Germany, of course, is spending not just its regular defense budget but its special 100 billion euro fund introduced in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There’s a ton of military equipment being ordered—and not nearly enough people with the skills to make it, producing massive backlogs at defense manufacturers. When it comes to the level of training needed to do a job, think tankers or bankers can’t hold a candle to submarine welders.

Amid the biggest problems: We don’t have enough people who know how to make things go boom. “In Sweden, we used to have a big explosives sector, both civilian and military—for example [explosives manufacturer] Nitro Nobel and [weapons-maker] Bofors,” Bo Janzon said. “People would graduate from university, and the companies would train people themselves, both at the manual worker level and at the academic level. But these days, the company-led explosives training barely exists anymore, nor do university courses in it.”

Janzon knows because he’s an explosives scientist himself. Until he retired in 2007, he spent four decades enhancing and studying explosives of all shapes and sizes at the Swedish Defence Research Agency, a career that included weapons and underwater effects, shaped charges, kinetic energy penetrators, advanced armors, land and underwater mine detection and clearance, humanitarian demining, IED and explosive detection and neutralization, wound ballistics, forensic ballistics, gunshot trauma, fragmentation warheads and effects, penetration mechanics, numerical continuum dynamic modeling, and more.

In the years immediately thereafter, he remained convinced that his field had a future. “I and others launched an explosives engineering course at KTH [the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm] in the 1990s, but it was shelved due to lack of student interest.” In the 1990s, bomb-making was as unfashionable a career choice as could possibly be.

Then Janzon and other explosives gurus retired, and they did so not with a bang but with a whimper. Their skills were just not in demand anymore. In Sweden, the explosives and specialty chemicals empire that dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel had built was merged into foreign firms and faded, both in size and in public awareness. Western nations even outsourced the production of gunpowder to China.

Today, though, explosives expertise is in massive demand again because without that kick behind it all, the sophisticated military equipment being made is impotent. This spring, Ukraine’s ammunition shortage was so acute that soldiers often couldn’t counter Russian attacks. Kyiv’s Western friends are not in a position to resupply it at the same rate that Russia resupplies its troops. The United States and Europe only produce about 1.2 million pieces of ammunition per year, while Russia produces some 3 million, CNN reported in March.

This alarming state of affairs has prompted the Czech Republic to scour the world for existing ammo among non-Western countries that use the same Soviet-model equipment as Ukraine. The goal is to secure 800,000 such artillery shells. That wouldn’t help the West’s ammo production, though, and Ukraine would of course need more rounds even after receiving the 800,000 shells (if they can be procured).

“Today, people’s interest in work in the defense industry has increased significantly, but there is a lack of specialists and engineers in specialized areas, such as explosives development,” said Matthias Wachter, who leads the Department for International Cooperation, Security Policy, Raw Materials, and Space at the Federation of German Industries.

We need more explosives engineers, and that means more explosives professors. To be sure, mining companies still train explosives experts, and a few universities—such as Britain’s military-linked Cranfield—offer master’s degrees in explosives engineering. So, too, do state universities in mining-heavy U.S. states. But even though a few ordnance experts join the labor market each year, and even though some companies have managed to entice retired explosives engineers back to their factories, there aren’t enough members of this rarefied profession to satisfy the needs of the booming defense industry.

The problem will linger for years even if governments act now because explosives expertise can’t be gained on the quick. To even qualify for an academic program that can lead to a job in industry or an academic career, applicants must typically have a degree in civil engineering, chemistry, or physics. A few universities and vocational colleges also run rudimentary courses for technicians. Though the courses themselves are usually relatively short, a year or so, given the nature of explosives they naturally have to be followed by lengthy supervised training in the workplace.

There’s no blasting a shortcut to expertise. “The problem is just that explosives are very dangerous,” Janzon said. “You have to produce extremely high pressure, and the materials involved are enormously destructive. And explosives are also very difficult and very different from anything else. That’s why you need trained people.” Janzon is proud to still be in possession of all 10 of his fingers.

Explosives are no business for amateurs or the faint-hearted. Although it’s a good thing that a few retired explosives engineers here and there are still willing to do a stint in industry, these Cold War remnants won’t be able to single-handedly fill the gaps. Their rare younger colleagues need to train the next generation. That means universities—and most especially technical universities and colleges—need to start offering explosives degrees. Industry is good at providing practical training and product development, but it doesn’t teach the fundamentals, nor does it conduct much basic research.

But seats of higher learning can’t build the curriculum and model the workforce needed on their own. On the contrary, explosives engineering is the sort of specialization that requires government steering. If governments, industry, and academia work together to identify the explosives expertise needed and project the size of the future explosives workforce, we can hope for a sustainable future, explosives-wise.

Until then, our best hope is silver-haired scientists whose expertise was considered passé just a few years ago. But even in Sweden, where the Nobel empire created a veritable cadre of explosives experts, there are few left who are willing and able to return to the field or the lecture pulpit. These days, Janzon is often asked to teach and even to help out in industry. Being well into his 80s, he doesn’t feel he has the energy for it.

[es46]

- A quick sketch concept on my take for Elesa and Skyla design in a hypothetical Black White 3. Some facets of it could be better smoothed out, but you can see the general concept. -Elesa's more asymmetrical, contrasting the stylised shoulder pad and cape with the skirt and different coloured leggings. Her hair would dyed cyan and have a long ponytail in a twist on BW2's bangs. -Skyla's got a thicker jacket, the helmet with ponytail hole, more holsters and badges. And a scarf. Follow up then, a brief muse on what they've been up to. In my take, BW3 is set eight years after BW2 and two years after Indigo Disc. -Elesa's been driving her ambitions along, forever aiming higher and shinier. Nimbasa City's gotten more entertainment venues and thanks to her collaborating her agencies with Skyla's air cargo service, funding events that net more income. She also took to the process of applying for the Elite Four, eventually winning the trial matches and setting up a new quartet alongside Marlon, Marshal and Iris. Bringing in glamorous new designs for the Elite Four's venues, Elesa's been promoting Unova's league matches to bolster the region's reputation, essentially the go-getter in showing off Unova's flair. But high as her sights have lifted, she's still got time for the sweeter things; she's married Skyla in the interim, and has the courtesy to rein her amibitions in if they may conflict with her friends and family. Her E4 team (in the match, Electric Terrain is perpetually active):

-Skyla's likewise been perfecting her business and training, working her way up to the eight slot of the Unova gym roster. She's been generously supporting Elesa's efforts, expanding on the cargo services and honing her flying skills. Occasionally she'll do stunt flights for charity and promotions. It's a busy routine and Skyla's had to leave most flights to subordinates, though she keeps an eye on how business is booming. There was a point Skyla briefly hung the pilot/gym attire to model with Elesa, advertising their joint ambitions. It got a bit dicey when Skyla was worried Elesa's efforts would end up gentrifying Mistralton, but between them they worked it out and Skyla's hometown is still calm and quiant, with only the airport and gym boosting up. Her principle gym team:

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Researchers simulate moon dust collection with teleoperated robots

Teleoperated robots for gathering moon dust are a step closer, according to research by scientists at the University of Bristol. The researchers presented their paper "Demonstrating Trustworthiness in Open-Loop Model Mediated Teleoperation for Collecting Lunar Regolith Simulant" at IROS 2024 (IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems).

The team were able to complete a sample collection task by controlling a virtual simulation, which then sent commands to a physical robot to mirror the simulation's actions. They were able to do so while only monitoring the simulation—without needing physical camera streams—meaning this tool could be particularly useful for delayed teleoperation on the moon.

Alongside a boom in lunar lander missions this decade, several public and private organizations are now researching how best to extract valuable resources, such as oxygen and water, from readily available materials such as lunar regolith (moon dust). Remote handling of regolith will be an essential step in these activities, as it would first need to be collected from the moon's surface. Beyond this, moon dust is not easy to work with. It's sticky and abrasive, and will be handled under reduced gravity.

Lead author Joe Louca from the Bristol's School of Engineering Mathematics and Technology, and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, explained, "One option could be to have astronauts use this simulation to prepare for upcoming lunar exploration missions.

"We can adjust how strong gravity is in this model, and provide haptic feedback, so we could give astronauts a sense of how moon dust would feel and behave in lunar conditions—which has a sixth of the gravitational pull of the Earth's.

"This simulation could also help us to operate lunar robots remotely from Earth, avoiding the problem of signal delays."

Using a virtual model of regolith can also reduce the barriers to entry for people looking to develop lunar robots. Instead of needing to invest in expensive simulants (artificial dust with the same properties as regolith), or have access to facilities, people developing lunar robots could use this simulation to carry out initial tests on their systems.

Now, the team will investigate how people actually respond to this system when controlling a robot, with several seconds of delay. Systems with human operators that are technically effective may still have to overcome non-technical barriers, like whether a person trusts that the system will work.

Louca added, "The model predicted the outcome of a regolith simulant scooping task with sufficient accuracy to be considered effective and trustworthy 100% and 92.5% of the time.

"In the next decade we're going to see several crewed and uncrewed missions to the moon, such as NASA's Artemis program and China's Chang'e program.

"This simulation could be a valuable tool to support preparation or operation for these missions."

The testing was carried out at the European Space Agency's European Center for Space Applications and Telecommunications site in Harwell.

[emptyanddark]

what's actually wrong with 'AI'

it's become impossible to ignore the discourse around so-called 'AI'. but while the bulk of the discourse is saturated with nonsense such as, i wanted to pool some resources to get a good sense of what this technology actually is, its limitations and its broad consequences. 

what is 'AI'

the best essay to learn about what i mentioned above is On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? this essay cost two of its collaborators to be fired from Google. it frames what large-language models are, what they can and cannot do and the actual risks they entail: not some 'super-intelligence' that we keep hearing about but concrete dangers: from climate, the quality of the training data and biases - both from the training data and from us, the users. 

The problem with artificial intelligence? It’s neither artificial nor intelligent

How the machine ‘thinks’: Understanding opacity in machine learning algorithms

The Values Encoded in Machine Learning Research

Troubling Trends in Machine Learning Scholarship: Some ML papers suffer from flaws that could mislead the public and stymie future research

AI Now Institute 2023 Landscape report (discussions of the power imbalance in Big Tech)

ChatGPT Is a Blurry JPEG of the Web

Can we truly benefit from AI?

Inside the secret list of websites that make AI like ChatGPT sound smart

The Steep Cost of Capture

labor

'AI' champions the facade of non-human involvement. but the truth is that this is a myth that serves employers by underpaying the hidden workers, denying them labor rights and social benefits - as well as hyping-up their product. the effects on workers are not only economic but detrimental to their health - both mental and physical.

OpenAI Used Kenyan Workers on Less Than $2 Per Hour to Make ChatGPT Less Toxic

also from the Times: Inside Facebook's African Sweatshop

The platform as factory: Crowdwork and the hidden labour behind artificial intelligence

The humans behind Mechanical Turk’s artificial intelligence

The rise of 'pseudo-AI': how tech firms quietly use humans to do bots' work

The real aim of big tech's layoffs: bringing workers to heel

The Exploited Labor Behind Artificial Intelligence

workers surveillance

5 ways Amazon monitors its employees, from AI cameras to hiring a spy agency

Computer monitoring software is helping companies spy on their employees to measure their productivity – often without their consent

theft of art and content

Artists say AI image generators are copying their style to make thousands of new images — and it's completely out of their control  (what gives me most hope about regulators dealing with theft is Getty images' lawsuit - unfortunately individuals simply don't have the same power as the corporation)

Copyright won't solve creators' Generative AI problem

The real aim of big tech's layoffs: bringing workers to heel

The Exploited Labor Behind Artificial Intelligence

AI is already taking video game illustrators’ jobs in China

Microsoft lays off team that taught employees how to make AI tools responsibly/As the company accelerates its push into AI products, the ethics and society team is gone

150 African Workers for ChatGPT, TikTok and Facebook Vote to Unionize at Landmark Nairobi Meeting

Inside the AI Factory: the Humans that Make Tech Seem Human

Refugees help power machine learning advances at Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon

Amazon’s AI Cameras Are Punishing Drivers for Mistakes They Didn’t Make

China’s AI boom depends on an army of exploited student interns

political, social, ethical consequences

Afraid of AI? The startups selling it want you to be

An Indigenous Perspective on Generative AI

“Computers enable fantasies” – On the continued relevance of Weizenbaum’s warnings

‘Utopia for Whom?’: Timnit Gebru on the dangers of Artificial General Intelligence

Machine Bias

HUMAN_FALLBACK

AI Ethics Are in Danger. Funding Independent Research Could Help

AI Is Tearing Wikipedia Apart  

AI machines aren’t ‘hallucinating’. But their makers are

The Great A.I. Hallucination (podcast)

“Sorry in Advance!” Rapid Rush to Deploy Generative A.I. Risks a Wide Array of Automated Harms

The promise and peril of generative AI

ChatGPT Users Report Being Able to See Random People's Chat Histories

Benedetta Brevini on the AI sublime bubble – and how to pop it   

Eating Disorder Helpline Disables Chatbot for 'Harmful' Responses After Firing Human Staff

AI moderation is no match for hate speech in Ethiopian languages

Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and other tech companies are in a 'frenzy' to help ICE build its own data-mining tool for targeting unauthorized workers

Crime Prediction Software Promised to Be Free of Biases. New Data Shows It Perpetuates Them

The EU AI Act is full of Significance for Insurers

Proxy Discrimination in the Age of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data

Welfare surveillance system violates human rights, Dutch court rules

Federal use of A.I. in visa applications could breach human rights, report says

Open (For Business): Big Tech, Concentrated Power, and the Political Economy of Open AI

Generative AI Is Making Companies Even More Thirsty for Your Data

environment

The Generative AI Race Has a Dirty Secret

Black boxes, not green: Mythologizing artificial intelligence and omitting the environment

Energy and Policy Considerations for Deep Learning in NLP

AINOW: Climate Justice & Labor Rights

militarism

The Growing Global Spyware Industry Must Be Reined In

AI: the key battleground for Cold War 2.0?

‘Machines set loose to slaughter’: the dangerous rise of military AI

AI: The New Frontier of the EU's Border Extranalisation Strategy

The A.I. Surveillance Tool DHS Uses to Detect ‘Sentiment and Emotion’

organizations

AI now

DAIR

podcast episodes

Pretty Heady Stuff: Dru Oja Jay & James Steinhoff guide us through the hype & hysteria around AI

Tech Won't Save Us: Why We Must Resist AI w/ Dan McQuillan, Why AI is a Threat to Artists w/ Molly Crabapple, ChatGPT is Not Intelligent w/ Emily M. Bender

SRSLY WRONG: Artificial Intelligence part 1, part 2

The Dig: AI Hype Machine w/ Meredith Whittaker, Ed Ongweso, and Sarah West

This Machine Kills: The Triforce of Corporate Power in AI w/ ft. Sarah Myers West

[mythvoiced]

-. Ji Hyun - Celebrity verse (Under Construction)

Manifesting Ferre and Alex's bullet points power abilities, I'm compiling this little post with things about Hyun for this verse before polishing it and eventually adding it to their about (and bothering the SHIT out of Lynnie's characters, I MEAN-); I just need to put the brainstorm brain bubbles somewhere, YAOH-

Hyun is human for this verse, so all details of her main verse pertaining to her gumiho nature are understandably removed (hehehe, past lives though?).

She's physically perma-fem presenting, but she/they genderfluid (closeted, I mean, consider the industry, leans slightly more into 'she') Pansexual, but still very much single-ship with @theimpalpable 's Yeong Boram, that's just... the way it be, I love love. (Which, by the way, means her boyfriend is a CEO~ PLEASE read up on Boram, I love him so mUCH)

Hyun is a 30-year-old super-model of sorts in the South Korean modelling industry, she's made her debut some-time in her late teens and has climbed the ranks of relevance, desirability and brand-deals ever since. Even at an 'old age' such as hers, her youthful appearance (and expertise within the industry) still garners her love and admiration from especially the impressionable female audience following her on social media, and agencies who like working with someone who knows what they're doing.

A few years prior to the 'present', Hyun has publicly announced her interest in venturing deeper into the entertainment industry and stepping out slightly from the beauty industry: not a very welcomed move. Models transition into acting relatively often enough, and actors are almost always simultaneously models, brand deals, ads, sponsorships, not to mention you can only truly make it into both industries if you flex your pretty privilege. Which is why it's so much easier for the populi to forgive a bad actor for being bad if they're at least pretty. Not to delve into how race plays a part in determination of beauty standards, Hyun was set out to make the transition just as easily... so what happened?

If there's one thing people hate about women and fem presenting people... is that they're women and fem presenting people. A woman is adored... until she does something someone else considers 'stepping out of line' and BOOM, dead in a ditch. Hyun does like stepping out of line: prioritizing brands and agencies she actually likes, refusing to work with people she doesn't, caring more about the crew than whatever fashion designer shows their face around, openly expressing her general distaste for the fashion elite, honestly... a bitch. At least according to the people, once news of her 'ungrateful, unprofessional, diva behaviour' started flooding the internet.

A scandal ruined her chances of an easy transition from modelling into acting.

You might argue, WAHOO, feminism~ Hyun is a hero~ No. A lot of people get hurt all the time, a lot of women and fem presenting folks have fought and lost these battles. Hyun never even took political stances, pretended nothing bad ever happened to the world in her bubble of notoriety and fame. The world has never helped her, what does she care about helping the world. But now that bubble burst. And while Hyun doesn't crumble with the lack of it, it sure as fuck pissed her off.

Problem is... she's just a model. Most people in the regular world know her as mannequin of expensive things, she doesn't manage her accounts, she doesn't talk to people, she barely even shows up to places: her beauty is the primary reason for her success, not her PR-ing. So... how to move on from here?

The scandal: I have NO IDEA yet, but I do believe she intended moving into acting for very specific reasons, either to get back at someone or destroy something from within, Hyun may not act like it in any verse but they do actually absolutely hold grudges, one of the things most debilitating to their mental health at times; so whatever happened, was orchestrated specifically to ruin her reputation.

Someone did something they shouldn't have, something he shouldn't have, a man most likely, maybe some kind of harassment, maybe something along the lines of Pro.misi.ng Y.oung W.oma.n but kept hush hush, maybe it wasn't anything that serious but definitely a personal attack against Hyun and Hyun simply snapped, either way... she's hear to make a few pigs squeal in pain.

Hyun also doesn't partake in 'scenes' and 'public scandals'; if she's attending some big social event (against all odds) and you start shit with her, throw a drink at her, she'll laugh in your face (if she can be bothered) and bill you the damages. Head held high, continues sipping on her drink. There's a good chance she just goes get changed and comes back. She is very condescending to people who try to start drama. I'm saying shit like 'oh sweetie, I don't play with kindergarteners' or instantly cutting all ties if she sniffs that kind of behaviour. If befriending Hyun elevates your status, best believe she does not care and will get rid of you if you start shit, good luck keeping that status. This also works against her, if you play your cards right, making her look even more like a diva.

Her way of putting you in your place is not even deeming you worth the trouble.

Now, the question: is this attitude always possible in these industries? Nay~ There are always consequences, there'll always be people stronger than you, with better ties. That's the fun of the plot, though~

She works in the fashion industry specifically and has had some minor cameos in shows as herself mostly.

I tried to sweet-talk around her demeanour but she really simply is a diva isn't she lmao at least she doesn't lose her shit as quickly as Some Celebrity Characters

YOU KNOW WHAT SHE'D DO? She'd help Kang Yohan. I don't know why I thought of that but she'd fuck around and find out and help TDJ's Kang Yohan if he needed a model's services, she'd be down to mess around there.

She's... odd, when it comes to how willing she's to fight for human rights, things she actually does secretly care about, feminism and classism and queer issues and systematic issues, but... she never EVER uses what platform she has. Ever.

Her Instagram handle is @/rubonyhyun which stands for Ruby Onyx Hyun (reference to a pet name Boram has for them in canon verse, I will name-drop Boram as OFTEN as possible) and her PR team runs it... most of the time, at least. She refuses to get a TikTok (she has one, but it's private for mindless scrolling), and her KakaoTalk is obviously private.

[princ3ssd1]

I got this sudden urge to be a model.

Never wanted to be one, but I’ve been daydreaming of walking around and suddenly a woman stops me and mentions she works in a model scouting agency and hands me her business card. And boom, suddenly I’m at the met gala.

I know it’s unrealistic, but let a girl dream fr.