#Counterweight design

[crazydiscostu]

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[op3ra]

never stays away

textless + silly below

also silly meme because i spent most of the entire time drawing this looping CRJ's Call Me Maybe. and i don't regret it

[wereshrew-admirer]

a little collection of cass and audy hanging out, being coworkers,

[krawdad]

Oh fuck me that weird feeling is me missing the stage

[tiredspacedragon]

Y'know what bothers me most about Bionicle weaponry?

It's not the metallic beings covered in plate armour still wielding swords; I have no trouble believing in fantasy super-metals that can shear and punch through each other when shaped into a blade. Plus blades could still do significant damage to all the exposed organic tissue and vulnerable joints.

It's not any of the comically oversized weapons either; these characters are much stronger than humans, they can get away with proportionally implausible equipment.

Dual-purpose weapons, impractical designs, utterly bizarre contraptions, none of that really irks me at all. I'm here for it.

What bothers me is the near-complete lack of counterweights.

Seriously. None of these swords have pommels. None of these spears' butts are weighted (Or spiked! Huge loss!). It seems like the handles of most tools end somewhere in the user's palm. You're lucky to even see a shaft continuing beyond the hand, let alone properly finished. These things would be flying out of people's hands all the time, not to mention the balance issues.

Basically, Axonn is the only bitch I respect. Even if the shaft of that axe is so thin that a single swing would snap it like a twig, at least he understands the importance of a good weighted grip.

I can overlook most aesthetic quirks, even appreciate them, but this I say, is where I draw the line. This and all the holes in the shields, I mean honestly.

[carionto]

When in doubt, duct it

The prevalence of mass printers means that if the design is functional, anything can be built. Humanity boasts the largest orbital shipyards in the known Galaxy, capable of constructing vessels beyond reasonable scope and complexity, which they need to be able to do due to the sheer number of redundant systems, safety features, and the compartmentalized nature of their space craft.

So why is that half of them begin to look cobbled together after a while? Nearly all civilian craft appear unique, every single small military craft has personal modifications reflecting the pilot's and crew's personalities. We've even seen whole engineering teams rip out large sections of their massive Dreadnoughts and replace them with parts from others. One time we even saw them cut off the propulsion system of a smaller Destroyer and just...

plug it under a Capital ship.

Once again, we desperately are trying to understand the nature behind this odd behavior.

"Well, the architects and designers do a fine job, but when the rubber meats the road, or I should say, when you bump into an asteroid for the first time, only then you begin to understand what each ship is like, you know? A good pilot and crew can feel what their ship wants to really be only after you've been on it for a while.

Any ship or station starts off as a blank slate, but after a while it starts to develop a personality. And like any good friend, they take care of you, so you take care of them. Sometimes the lights just aren't right, so you replace them with a different model. Other times the recoil tilts it a little bit to where it makes the life support hiccup, so you gotta add a counterweight, but not just anything, it has to fit the vibe. Then that has it's own little complaints, and it just goes on like that.

As a matter of fact, the oldest ship in the Fleet started off as a Carrier, but over time the crew, without saying a word, just knew it was meant to be a Battleship. A few "surgeries" later and the Jubilant Axolotl added six extra generators and now can't hold a single fighter craft, is always leaking something, and has two of the biggest Rail Cannons we've ever built. She could probably punch a hole through Mars if she overloaded all her generators, but the crew think that that would be the last thing she, and everything within a few hundred thousand kilometers, ever does."

[apropensityforcharm]

I don't know anything about anything, but I'm fascinated by the PR angle of that Daniel and Max interview. The Project (the show this aired on) is an popular current events show in Australia, so there's going to be a lot of general audience members who don't know a thing about F1, and this will be their first time being exposed to either Max or Daniel - so imagine you don't know them, and the first thing you see is a character interview designed not only to make these two drivers likeable, but also as if they like each other.

Daniel's team want general audiences to look at Max and think of Daniel. They want people to think Daniel and Max are 'bound' in some capacity, even though they're technically no more connected than any other drivers on separate teams. It lends credibility to the bid of Daniel at Red Bull, without explicitly saying so. Even if audience members don't know anything about F1 or Max & Daniel's history, they're going to understand on some level that you wouldn't be doing a cheesy fun interview together if you were only 'competitors'. Some might be interested enough to google Daniel after the show, and find out that he's in the mix to go to Red Bull, i.e. the team that's been dominating for the last few years - and an Australian audience will respond very well to that.

Meanwhile, Max has been dogged by his reputation of being rude and standoffish basically his entire career, so imagine the benefits of a primetime show introducing him to a whole group of new people as basically this giggly, sweet guy who happens to be very good at racing. What about that 'domino' effect of easily likeable Daniel liking Max, aka "we like Daniel and Daniel likes Max, so we like Max"? There have already been Australian shows perpetuating the narrative that Max's dominance is boring, and this is a counterweight; he'll win, but that's okay because we (the audience of the Project) like him. Max is a polarising figure in the sport, but this interview isn't about F1 fans - it's about the general public, and getting them on Max's side.

It's all just interesting to me!

[goodlucktai]

17 with rise b-team?

dialogue prompts

17. “How many fingers am I holding up? ... I don't have six fingers.” 

x

“Ohmigosh!” Mikey scrambles down the fire escape with half of his usual grace—which is to say, not much—and lands with a clumsy splash next to Donnie’s boneless sprawl. “Donald, you hit the ground so hard pops probably heard it at home. Are you okay?”

Donnie makes a noise that just sounds like eeuuugrrgghheeuugh. Rainwater is seeping into him from all sides thanks to the puddle he landed in. Normally, he would be making this everyone’s problem by now. The fact that he’s just kind of laying there like he’s given up on life is really worth freaking out about. 

Worried, Mikey tugs frantically at the shoulder of Donnie’s jacket until he opens his eyes, then demands, “How many fingers am I holding up?” 

Squinting at him, Donatello thinks about it for a moment, then announces, “Six.”

“I don’t have six fingers!” Mikey shrieks, the peace sign he’s still holding up an inappropriately cheerful gesture for the current situation. 

His big brother scrambles upright at that, his wooden expression falling away and sheer panic flashing across his face instead. 

“What in Lovelace’s name do you mean you don’t have—”

Mikey lifts his left hand in its bright yellow short arm cast. They both look at it, and then Donnie puts his face in his hand without speaking in a way that manages to speak volumes. 

“You’re the one who told me to pretend like my broken hand wasn’t even there!” Mikey says defensively.

“Yes, because Nardo will hunt me for sport if you make that break any worse while I’m directly responsible for you.”

Drawing himself up to his full height, which isn’t remarkable on a good day and even less-so when he’s kneeling in the rainy mush of a Brooklyn alleyway, Mikey grits out, “I’m not a baby. I don’t need supervision.”

“Counterpoint, you are a baby and you do need supervision,” Donatello says dryly, heaving himself up off the ground. The battle shell absorbed the brunt of the impact, designed to protect his spine in pretty much every conceivable scenario, but he still looks like he feels pretty sore after that dramatic fall. He puts his hand out for Mikey to take, but Mikey sulks at him and ignores it. “Michael, I just watched you do a handspring off the railing of a sixth-story fire escape. 

“Yeah and it was sick.” 

Or it would have been, if not for the rusted joints that gave beneath roughly one hundred and fifty pounds of ninja turtle. Donnie’s last-minute save was sick as hell, though. 

He didn’t think twice before grabbing Mikey and hauling him onto the safety of the solid rooftop, using himself as a counterweight to pull it off. He wasn’t wearing the battleshell that could fly or turn into spiderlegs, because they were doing a junkyard run and he wanted the one with extra storage space instead. He knew he’d fall, he’s too smart not to have run all those calculations in the split-second he had, but he didn’t miss a beat. 

Mikey doesn’t like that Don almost got hurt helping him. It sours his righteous annoyance a little. And it also lessens his argument by a lot. 

“There are four of us, which divides neatly into two halves of two,” Donatello says patiently. “Two of us who are older, and two of us who are younger. You are firmly in the younger half. If it makes you feel any better, our fearless leader is, too. Why do you think Raph refuses to let him out of his sight while his leg is in that brace? You’re both the babies.”

“Bet you wouldn’t say that to his face,” Mikey mutters, but it does make him feel better, so he lets Donnie haul him to his feet. 

And Donnie was right about more than that, because the second they meet up with Raph and Leo, Leonardo demands, “Miguelito, what did you do?”

As one, Donnie and Mikey look down at his cast—which, okay, which has a thin crack down the middle. Presumably from when Mikey landed on the roof after Donnie’s Hail Mary throw. How did Leo even see it from way over there? 

Donnie starts to look hunted even before Leo whirls on him and says, “You had one job, Tello—make sure his razz stayed un-tazzed!” 

“That is easily a three-turtle operation and there is only one of me!”

Since the twins can go on for ages once they really get started, Mikey drifts over to Raph, offering his biggest brother his best smile. Raph smiles back like a knee-jerk reaction, reaching over to rub Mikey’s head affectionately.

“Have fun, big man?”

“Yep!” Mikey says sweetly. “Donnie will probably tell you some crazy story about acrobatics on a rooftop, but you know how he likes to exaggerate when Leo eggs him on. We had a totally lowkey junk run. Can we get Crazyshakes on the way home?”

Raphie’s not stupid, but he has three very significant blind spots, and they’re all little-brother-shaped. He softens completely and lifts Mikey up to sit in place of pride on his shoulders, tall enough to see all of Manhattan. Then he passes up his phone, even though Mikey totally would have ordered the shakes on his!

He’ll never not complain about being one of the babies, but he has to admit—just to himself, in secret—that there are definitely some perks. 

“Make sure you get that shortcake one for Leon,” Raphie says offhandedly. “He’s been on a strawberry kick recently.”

Part of Mikey wants to roll his eyes at this additional bit of proof that Donnie is constantly right about everything. The much larger part of him just feels warm and sweet and cared for.

He wraps his arm around Raph’s head and squeezes, as much of a hug as he can manage with the phone in one hand and the other in a cast, and adds all four of their favorites to the order. The twins’ argument bounces off the alley walls around them, both of them on the verge of laughter by now and trying not to be the one who breaks first.

Mikey normally isn’t very fond of rainy days, but this one he wouldn’t mind living in. 

[mothlady-garden]

My two cents about the anatomy of the Angel Arm & the Gate

Last update: 3rd of January

Spoilers for basically the whole story

• Core starts to form in the Ulna

• The core is formed first in the ulna, of independents through either physical contact with a trigger or a triggering biochemistry that is found in stressfully situations, if willingy or not.

can also be triggered though Plant-Song (presence of Knives in a close distence in JuLai)

Hardening of the skin and partial melting and with clothing (assimilation of matter into body)

Prominent Plant markings appear on the whole area

• Tissue growth around the core follows this

• Groth before Structure

• Solid and dense at first

• Changes from solid to more feathery

• Winglets develop, which will provide stabilizers/visor

dominant side seems to differ from individual to individual

Arm Design

• 4 Structural Supports:

• 2 act like heart muscles, which can achieve contractions and expansions -that's propaply whats been his lower arm

2 maybe be the same but didn't need to spread

massive core

• 2 lower growths for stabilization to better shoot at city's (fuck Knives)

• 2 floating rings-one at the very front and one at the tail of the Arm while charging (most likely for energy concentration and To polarize the energy in one direction

• 4 Faces Encased in Forearm

• Depict 2 men, 1 woman, and 1 angel?

• Wing-like Structure, Bat and dragonfly wing crossed

• Probably finger bones transformed to extend as wings from the arm

Muzzle Design

• The tip has parallel striped bands evoking muscle fibers or connective tissue for stability

• Feathers form at the end, which may subconsciously formed for resisting maximum recoil and hurting of Knives

Smaller "Backfire-prison-break" version

• Later in the manga, a small and compact version of the Angel Arm is used.

• No secondary sexual characteristics appear.

growth of another 4 faces at the elbow part, they appear more deformed

• New growths act as counterweights for upper and lower parts.

• Hand behaves like an end of the arm with plates of bone that help to control the release of energy.

• Golden Angle Alignment, its design probably has the Golden Angle, about 137.5°, which may help reach energy and structural optimisation

Symbolism of the four faces and different genders

•There are four faces: two? men, one woman, and one angel. This could be the manifestations of humanity in their various facets, such as strength, compassion (Rem) the struggle between human and godhood

They have legs

the core seems to be located in the stomach area

• Perhaps the inlayed male and female figures are indicative of the balance between masculine and feminine character traits of him

Vashs first Angel Arm (July)

realease seems to aktivate a part of thier brain that is responsible for pleasure, adds to the impression that the Fith Moon Incident was way worse than on first sight

This post about it is great:

The structure is less smooth, which may be due to the missing inexperience with the newly developed body part. Similar to certain animals, whose bone surfaces appear blocky or rough—such as in birds or dinosaurs, where these structures serve as anchors for tendons, muscles, or scales—the rough texture here could also be the result of incomplete adaptation or development bc of the inecpirience with his power

more feathery than later apprances

very small core with a single little wing on the (later would have grown) angel part

feathers spread on arm to upper torso

Additionally up to 2m (6.5 feet) long feathers grow out of right shoulder

Small faces grow on the upper arm above the core without any distinguishable features

Shoulder feathers will grow up to 5m (16ft)

Feathers seem to be more like Primaries (more for ranged actions like protecting or maybe fleeing)

Further characteristics of his arm in the trance like state and a few ramblings about Vashs phycology

possibly a mental hellscape when using the gate connected to one's mind

No Plant-Marks appear

matter seem to be more flesh-like than the other versions

Self image displays several eyes mouths and disformed bodyparts

Doesn't seem to follow a order, spreads like a Tree into more and more parts

human and snake like with tongues and even carnies

similar are also apperand in Knives pardon

10+ tentacle like growths at the former hand part

~15 deformed finger like growths

the deformed faces seem to be in pain from his selfharm -same nerves system

he tried to scratch his arm of at the schoulder area (where a emmense scar-cut in his skin and muscle is)

Survivor's guilt in relation to traumatic experiences or PTSD will, more than likely, involve self-image at its core. In having survived a tragedy, he is overcome with an immense amount of responsibility and guilt for having lived while others have died. More often than not, this is attached to the guilt associated with being unworthy of having survived, leading to feelings of low self-worth (for example jumping into line of fire or not healing his scars if subconsciously or not) and or blame being placed upon one's self. This may result in distortion of their self-concept and in the feeling of being undeserving of happiness or unable to move further in life.

PTSD can exacerbate this guilt through intrusive memories, flashbacks, and hyperarousal, whereby the survivor is pressed to continually relive the event in question. This inability to escape such mental relapses can further promote feelings of helplessness that will degrade one's self-esteem and reinforce negative self-judgments. The latter, in turn, can promote further avoidance behaviors, such as dissociation or emotional numbing, possibly counterproductive for trauma processing and creating a self-sustaining cycle of repression.

Another coping mechanism we see, is repression this can even more strongly compound the problem. By excluding painful memories or emotions from consciousness, survivors skip confrontation with guilt or trauma in a straightforward way. Yet, this usually leads to internal conflict because the unresolved feelings of the survivors continue to impress their subconscious, confusing them, self-doubting, and fragmenting their identities. The usually resultant picture is that of a deformed negative self-image, alienated from one's real self.

Ultimately, his past actions and unresolved trauma may trap him in a cycle of guilt, anger, and self-hate. This inner conflict, combined with toxic relationship with his brother, could leave him emotionally isolated, struggling to reconcile the good he tries to show with the darker parts of his past, unable to find peace with himself or others.

Also in the Book of Revelation, Revelation 13:1 is a kinda similar thing discriped: “And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.” (ESV)

Vashs Gate in the elevator-arc

Clothing seem to intigrate itself into the skin

Carnies growing

iris and pupil seem to dissappear

components of the eye may have regressed to better adapt to the environment of his sisters

a huge number of featers maybe bc not controlled use of his gate

a wide variety of feathers from small to Primaries like, partly because Merly and his body needed protection?

power to connect to one's mind much like the feathers of his dying sisters

Perhaps bc of a special frecency plus some kind of Mykorrhiza so transfer signals interspecies

Primary Wing

the growth of a wing seems to be triggered by a flee instinkt (in Vashs case)

4 sections, one extra on the back for horizontal range -from fused together limbs?

Vash Angel wing in the end and defence mechanism of the Gate

2,5 meters long, bird like minus the Coracoid

Sooo he's got feathers that protect him like I'm my food, as seen right after the elevator-arc

If a shot’s fired at you from 4 meters away, you’ve got almost no time to react. Bullets typically travel at speeds ranging from about 300 to 1,200 meters per second, depending on the type of gun and ammo. At 4 meters, that bullet’s gonna hit you in a blink—literally. For a rough estimate, if the bullet’s speed is, say, 340 meters per second (a typical handgun speed), it would cover 4 meters in roughly 0.012 seconds. A blink of an eye takes about 100-150 milliseconds. So yeah, by the time a human even think of moving, that bullet’s would have already hit its mark.

Extreme elegance is key to dodge bullets (as seen in the Legato fight)

At this range roughly of 3 meters, a bullet traveling at 800 to 1,000 meters per second is gonna reach you in about 0.003 to 0.004 seconds. That’s less than the blink of an eye, hell, even thinking about dodging would take longer than that.

With multiple angles and those rounds coming at you that fast, you’d basically need to start dodging before they even fired. We’re talking some ultra-instinct, superhuman reflexes here.

Trigun: We have some of the most powerful characters in seinen hehe

Power of Vashs Gate-Bullets

Trimax Vol 12, Chapter 08: Lights

the shots seem to inplode like a black hole

Anti matter bullets

Explanation (As seen in the battle against the Arc-Collective)

If a single shot could destroy 7% of the Northern Hemisphere of a habitable planet, we are dealing with a weapon of cosmic-scale power. The energy released in such a shot would far exceed any terrestrial weapon, venturing into the realm of exotic physics. To put it into perspective, to annihilate an area of around 14 million square kilometers, the energy output would need to be on the order of 10^24 to 10^27 joules, which rivals phenomena like gamma-ray bursts or the Sun’s total output over several hours.

The cartridge contains exotic matter capable of distorting space-time enough to form a micro black hole. This might involve the use of antimatter or even negative mass to reach the required density and energy concentration. By collapsing the mass-energy within the cartridge through an exotic quantum process, a micro black hole emerges, which can either evaporate through Hawking radiation or expand, depending on the stabilization mechanics used. Luckily for them he's made them evaporate after a second.

To control and limit the effects of the micro black hole, the bullet employs gravitational confinement techniques or manages Hawking radiation to ensure the black hole persists for just long enough to cause catastrophic damage. It uses quantum field manipulation to create a gravitational gradient, holding the black hole in a state of quasi-stability before allowing it to collapse in a burst of energy.

The transfer of matter across dimensions occurs through a temporary connection to higher-dimensional space, such as in brane cosmology theories, where our 3D universe interacts with a higher-dimensional structure. When matter is drawn into another dimension, a transient wormhole or topological defect, like a cosmic string, forms, allowing matter to be siphoned off.

This process resembles Kaluza-Klein theory, where compactified extra dimensions permit the energy to escape from our familiar three-dimensional space-time into the higher-dimensional realm. It’s as if the explosion opens a drain that lets matter flow out of thier universe, erasing the affected area from existence.

Imagine it as pulling the plug on a bathtub; the water (representing matter) rapidly drains into an unseen reservoir (the higher dimension), leaving behind a chaotic disturbance on the surface (massive explosion and gravitational disruptions). It doesn’t just destroy; it erases a portion of space-time itself.

If he limits a shot to a maximum diameter of 50 cm and a duration of 1 second, while ensuring that it does not cause terraforming-scale damage, then we’re dealing with some extreme physics constraints.

Energy Compression and Containment

To achieve such massive destructive power within a confined space of max 50 cm, the energy would need to be incredibly dense and compressed, using some form of exotic energy state or quantum-scale manipulation. We might think of a process similar to creating a quark-gluon plasma, where matter is compressed to such high densities that conventional atomic structures no longer exist. This would allow for an incredibly high energy concentration without needing a massive physical size.

Control Over the Shockwave

To prevent the shot from causing terraforming-level damage, the shockwave dynamics would have to be controlled precisely. This could involve using fields or containment mechanisms that limit the expansion of the blast wave to a very small effective radius, absorbing or dispersing the energy beyond that point.

For example, a localized gravitational field could be used to constrain the energy within the 50 cm radius, causing the shockwave to rapidly lose intensity beyond that point. This would result in a highly concentrated but short-lived explosion, powerful enough to cause intense localized destruction without spreading its effects over a larger area.

Duration and Rapid Energy Dissipation

With a duration of only roughly 1 second, the energy release would need to be extremely quick and then dissipate almost immediately. One way to achieve this could be by utilizing a form of Hawking radiation or controlled quantum tunneling, allowing the energy to decay rapidly into other forms of radiation or be siphoned off into a higher-dimensional space right after reaching its peak.

This approach would make the explosion appear like a brief, intense flash of destruction, where the peak intensity lasts less than a second, followed by rapid normalization of the local environment. There would still be a violent local effect, but it would be contained to prevent any significant alterations to the landscape.

Think of it as a controlled fusion explosion, where the fusion reaction is ignited but then immediately halted by a containment field, causing the released energy to dissipate almost as soon as it appears. It would be like a microburst of a star’s energy, contained and then extinguished just before it gets out of control.

The shot would feel like a brief, intense thud, with a powerful but contained shockwave that wouldn’t extend far beyond the immediate vicinity, preventing large-scale geological or atmospheric effects. It would still be lethal within its limited range but without causing collateral damage on a world ending scale.

Knives Angel Arm

possess more animal like traits

Pant markings seem to appear more regulary maybe a matter of practice to hide them

Massive Blade(s) on left arm

For direct slashing

Seem to be able to reach for hundreds miles

probably with some kind of ultra thin blade almost like a wire

The Ark-Collective

First sister to be absorbed seems to trigger growth of multible tumors, some kind of autoimmune response

at first 2 wings, they possess more bones

Width: 689 feet

roughly the length of two football fields placed end-to-end (a standard football field is about 360 feet long).

Height: 453 feet

about the height of a 45-story building, as each story is approximately 10 feet tall.

length to the space ships round about 311 miles (500km)

It has its own gravity field

It's gonna be interesting when/if they ever animate that behemoth.

Gate

form seems to be similar

Theory about his worp usage of the higher dimension

he's creating a cut in the reality goes into the higher dimension and reappears at a different place propably with exotic matter (warping space-time)

The Ark is organic in composition and, in structure, would be much like a biological entity that achieves buoyancy, from certain deep-sea life forms to large organisms with gas-filled cavities. In its advanced organic material, there is a percentage of gas pockets or low-density compounds, enabling it to stay aloft in a dense atmosphere. The organic superconducting materials of the combined might also serve to create strong magnetic fields upon activation. This highly developed organic structure creates these fields for the lifting effect on objects in a certain radius. It apparently has the ability to emit or manipulate antigravitons-particles that act against gravity-and such an ability would reduce gravitational pull on everything in a localized area. In creating a small field around itself, it is essentially working against or neutralizing gravity. The Ark also has the possibility of causing local distortions in gravitational fields, creating a sort of "bubble" that decreases the pulling power of gravity on objects around it, hence allowing it to levitate them. In such a case, the bio-machinery of this organism would need high energy density structures, such as muscle fibers, that store energy and afterward release it. It’s cells would need organelles with very high output energy, which would be able to store energy and afterwards release it to build force or fields. These cells function like biological equivalents of batteries or power cells, generating very powerful bioelectric fields. The Collective amplifies bioelectric potentials to considerable magnitudes to generate site-specific magnetic fields, or any other force-related phenomena that are powerful enough to levitate masses. In its domain of quantum biology, the entity uses quantum effects for levitation or lifting. It taps and channels energy with high efficiency through processes somewhat related to quantum coherence in photosynthesis. Presumably, this biological use of quantum interaction enables it to achieve the very fine control over force fields and manipulate gravitational pull on a quantum scale, thus enabling the lifting forces.

To be added:

lower part resembles a flower🌺

Characteristics of his wing

struckture reflects his gate

is made of many different blades

its made of 2 different sections

lower section is connected to his back /schoulderblade

Phycological factor

does he has the need to harm humans trough his true nature

The Gate of their Sisters (Independends)

look at Death Omen

thier core starts in their womb

So my theory is that Vashs power is to delete/absorb/take matter into the higher dimension and Knives is to add/give materia into the lower dimension.

Feel free to comment your own thoughts.

Also, I was listening to that while making this🔥:

Have a good day

[wilwheaton]

What’s strange about the opinion? First of all, there is the supposed harm to the plaintiff. Smith, by her own account, is not a designer of wedding websites. She is merely an aspiring wedding-website designer who reportedly dreamed from childhood of the heterosexual wedding websites she would someday create. While one can admire the particularity of this vision, her plight pales a bit beside the counterweight of gay couples trying to plan weddings without facing discrimination. On top of that, according to the mind-blowing reporting of the New Republic’s Melissa Gira Grant, a 2016 email included in the plaintiff’s filings from a gay man asking Smith for wedding design services is apparently fake. His contact information led Gira Grant to a straight, baffled, married web designer who says he would have had no reason to contact Smith. Then there is the argument itself. A wedding website is an example of “expression,” sure — both sides agree on that. But Gorsuch, following a lower court, calls such a website “pure speech,” as if no services were being provided and the primary point of the website was to express the designer’s views on matrimony. In any case, he argues, the right of protected classes to equal treatment holds no weight before the free speech rights of expressive vendors: “When Colorado’s public accommodations law and the Constitution collide, there can be no question which must prevail.” This seems awfully odd if only because there is such an obvious comparison to interracial marriage — historically anathema to certain religious groups but not, in my lifetime, something for which vendors could legally withhold services. But maybe I was the crazy one. So I asked for help from Lewis and Clark Law School professor James M. Oleske Jr., whose 2015 article comparing religious exemptions for interracial marriage and same-sex marriage is cited by Justice Sonia Sotomayor in her dissent.

The Supreme Court's 303 Creative ruling is 'profoundly wrong'

The White House clearly saw the student loan ruling coming, and was ready with a speech and a plan.

Where is that for Affirmative Action? Where is that for the LGBTQ+ community?

I mean, come on, man. This ruling is fucking INSANE.

[hestzhyen]

Hakuri Propaganda

The second fan-made popularity poll is open! This means it's time to hype up the Best Boy out of all Best Boys, Sazanami Hakuri!

Overview

I'll be completely honest here. Hakuri is my favourite character from anything, ever. And I read a LOT of manga and fiction. Like, a lot a lot. So I am here today to convince you to cast your vote for him in the only way I know how to communicate: a long yapfest broken up by relevant manga panels.

I'll be covering his appeal from various viewpoints, starting with a basic overview and the gist and appeal of his character and design, his major moments, his powerscaling and theorycrafting potential, his main ship options, and ending with a final plea to vote for him because he deserves it, dammit.

If that sounds like a lot... it kind of is! But I'll be as succinct as I can be with links to some more in-depth explanations I've done for those who want more yapping for some reason.

So now, without further rambling... HAKURI!

Character Profile

"Will you listen to my story?"

Name: Sazanami Hakuri

Age: 17

Birthday: March 27th (Sakura Day)

First Appearance: Volume 3, Chapter 19: "Knight of Darkness"

Colour Scheme(s): White/Blue, Black/White/Tan

Abilities: Isou, Storehouse

Status: Alive

A passionate and strong-willed young man who was disowned from his family for being too weak to live up to their ideals. He forces himself into Chihiro's life after witnessing his courage as one of the innocents spared from Sojo's attempted massacre. Has a strong desire to save anyone and everyone he can, no matter the cost to himself.

Who Is Hakuri, Really?

Someone's gotta make all the expressions Chihiro never will.

In essence, Hakuri is the ultimate counterweight to Chihiro. Whatever Chihiro's got going on, Hakuri's the opposite- stoic vs. emotive, black/red vs white/blue, etc. I've rambled at great length about how Hakuri exists to be the perfect compliment to everyone's favourite sad goldfish boi down to to the last detail.

But of course he also exists as an incredibly compelling character in his own right or I wouldn't be here to yap about him for the millionth time. Hakuri's deeply intertwined with Chihiro, but not in a co-dependent way. He's his own person with separate motivations, goals, and appeal points that are unique to him. In fact, he's one of the most relatable characters in the manga thanks to the quality of the writing for his backstory and the author's care in depicting how what he experienced affects him in the present.

Most importantly of all: he's vital to the story not only as a narrative device, but as a true friend and companion to Chihiro.

So Hakuri is a very solid option to invest in as a character that will remain relevant and continue to grow as the story goes on- he will never be written out or left behind as he only exists a tier down from Chihiro in terms of importance. He's also going to keep providing valuable parallels to Chihiro's story so that arc themes can be explored from a separate yet deeply connected perspective. All while being one of the most ridiculous and impressive guys in the whole series!

But No, Really, Who is He?

Honestly, in any other manga he'd probably be the protagonist.

Always trying his best.

Hakuri's a really expressive guy who wears his heart on his sleeve (for the most part). He's loud, passionate, even borderline rude in his enthusiasm sometimes. There's also not all that much to guess about him since he's always saying exactly what he's thinking. Hakuri pulls double duty as exposition device and comic relief a lot of the time when he's around too, since he's not exactly worldly in most respects. He's got a lot to learn about the outside world and he approaches everything head-on with no restraint.

He's even got the standard shounen glow-up from down-on-his-luck kid to potential hero thing going on. Hakuri starts at rock bottom as a helpless weakling before he's saved by Chihiro and forces himself into the guy's life. With just a little genuine care and encouragement he's able to bloom into the genius he was always meant to be, ending his own family's cruel legacy at Chihiro's side.

In terms of his motivations: for Hakuri, saving lives is everything. He cares deeply for others and has the best of intentions, willingly throwing himself in danger to protect people even if they don't really him to. "I'll never let another life slip through my hands again!" is something like a mantra to him, spurring him to act no matter what it will cost him. The mindset has allowed him to come up huge in a crisis several times now but it's also one of his biggest flaws.

Because for all the good vibes and hope Hakuri brings to Kagurabachi, he's also got some rather relatable deep-seated issues.

The face of a guy willing to bomb the shit out of an audience of low-life scumbags without feeling even a shred of remorse.

The best way to describe Hakuri is probably just a short phrase: "despite it all, for better or worse".

Hakuri is a deeply layered character who asks the reader to read between the lines of what he says and does to get the full picture of his personality and who he is. He's more than just Chihiro's goofy sidekick and main foil- he's also a traumatized guy with a savior complex and a heaping helping of guilt that compels him to save other people. Throw in a realistically written abusive past that he's had no time to process and you've got a character who really, really needs some time to sit down and cry for a while if he gets the chance- if he'd even let himself.

He's not just another guy who only needed a chance to prove his worth. In fact, he has no concept of how to value himself at all and that's why he's able to be borderline suicidal in his heroism.

He's so tragic under the goofy exterior that we see most of the time, despite most people writing him off as The Funny Guy that comes in clutch from time to time. The way he thinks about the abuse he endured, the way he internalized his family's view on "love", the way he blames himself and tries to make the world a better place because of it... he's so much more than the first impression of a silly guy spilling soda out his mouth that people cling to.

Hakuri's only just starting out on a journey of learning how to love himself despite the mistakes he's made and how he was raised to view the value of life. There's so much more to say about him for as long as the story goes on while he's deprogrammed from thinking of himself as a worthless tool to serve a cause, someone who needs to atone no matter the cost. He's a fascinating character that deserves all the genuine love he's never gotten to experience.

So... What's the Appeal?

Hope: restored

Hakuri is well-loved for being the underdog who could- a guy who was considered worthless but turned out to be a complete genius not just in the context of his family's history, but to the world at large too. He's a truly unique talent that was misunderstood and not given the right environment to succeed in until he found Chihiro and Shiba at his lowest. That's a pretty tried-and-true character hook, and Hakuri certainly earned his moments of triumph during the Rakuzaichi arc. He's got a great feel-good story for anyone to enjoy.

Hakuri's also the most emotive character in the manga and is almost guaranteed to get a few laughs when there's not a life-or-death situation happening. His effusive enthusiasm coupled with a hilarious lack of self-awareness bounces off of Chihiro extremely well to get great dead-pan reactions! Other characters interact with him well too, especially in the rare moments when someone can match his manic energy. He brings a lot of sorely-needed levity in a manga that can (and does) get pretty damn dark on the regular.

There are a few less-talked about points to his character that deserve just as much attention.

For one, Hakuri's a rare example of an abuse victim that's written extremely well. He doesn't exist just for the good vibes and catharsis of overcoming his past- what he endured still affects him a great deal even now that he's totally free to find his own happiness. He's just at the starting line of learning how to overcome serious, realistic issues like learning how to love himself and being able to admit that he didn't deserve what happened to him in the first place.

Second, he's got some appeal for folks who enjoy characters with lots of cohesive contradictions. Hakuri is pretty relatable in how he struggles to apply things to himself, like how he can sob over Chihiro's backstory but minimizes his own. He's also got an ice-cold core that allows him to be absolutely ruthless. Not to mention his super cool aspects like being the most determined determinator there ever was clashing with his cute appearance. He's a character of extremes, always 0 or 100 in everything he does.

Oh, did I also mention that he's cute as heck?

Design Appeal

Yeah, Hakuri was intentionally designed to add cuteness, per the Word of God himself. That's a bonkers thing to say about the male deuteragonist in a gritty action series aimed at presumed cishet male teens, but what do I know?

Boy howdy did the author make good on that, though. Whenever Hakuri's not looking cool or tragic, he's cute. Ridiculously, intensely, overwhelmingly cute.

Kagurabachi characters: Cool Woman, Cool MC, Cute Guy

Hakuri being the "cute" character is absolutely insane to me, and not just because I'm a fudanshi. There are plenty of guys in shounen who have cute aspects to their characters, like Kiyoshi's awkward friendliness and Yuuji's excited country bumpkin moments. But for a major male character to be designed with cuteness as part of their core appeal is pretty unusual, I think. Especially since it looks like that's one of Hakuri's "jobs" in a narrative sense when Char's not around- he's the only one who can pull some softness out of Chihiro other than her so far. No soft "feminine touch" needed in the story when Hakuri's on the job.

But it's not like Hakuri's one of those "trap" characters that exists for not-so-great reasons and jokes. He's clearly masculine, it's just that his cuteness comes from his boyish looks and silly mannerisms. If anything he's "soft" and "cute" only relative to the rest of the hard-edged cast. He's still a guy who didn't hesitate to toss grenades into an audience or kill his brother, y'know? It's all relative.

The best part about Hakuri being the "cute" one in the cast is that it doesn't at all affect how strong he is or what he can do. He's still a tragic badass that gets shit done no matter what. If anything, it gets kind of annoying that some parts of the fanbase only focus on his cuteness to the point of excluding almost everything else! He's not meant to be a soft marshmallow of a character- the cuteness is just a huge part of his design that further accentuates some of that gap appeal between how he looks, thinks, and acts.

Major Moments

With that out of the way, let's highlight his most iconic moments as of chapter 59. He's got it all- silly, tragic, heroic, badass, everything you could want from a character in a cool action series!

RAKUZAICHI ARC

Ch. 19: Hello and Meeting a Samurai

Our very first impression!

Way to make a good first impression, Hakuri. Honourable mention from the same chapter: "That day, a samurai lit my helpless existence on fire".

Ch. 21: Freaky But Meaning Well

Giving encouragement after putting himself in unnecessary danger- that's Hakuri, alright.

Ch. 24: Suicidal Leap

The first time we learn the nature of what's going on beneath his goofy exterior, and that's not even the worst of it.

Ch. 25: Hope Rekindled

Hakuri hears he's been useful for the first time in years, and from someone he deeply admires at that. It's the start of his turnaround from zero-to-hero despite being the lowest point we've seen him at (so far)

Ch. 32: Using Isou for the First Time

He finally starts to awaken to his true potential when he's backed into a corner. The difference this time was having people who believed in him and treated him kindly despite his "uselessness".

Chapter 35: Ice Lady

Hakuri finally opens up about the root of his issues in this flashback, then has the trajectory of his life changed forever.

Ch. 36: Genius Awakened

Hakuri finally understands his true potential...

... and puts his biggest abuser down for good.

Ch. 38: Crowd Killer

Many low-life Yakuza scum were harmed and killed in cold blood.

Ch. 43: Breaking the Cycle at Last

Finally got the acknowledgement he wanted (and deserved all along) from Kyora during his final moments.

Ch. 44: First Steps

Hakuri decides to stay with Chihiro and do as much good in the world as he can.

SWORD BEARER ASSASSINATION ARC Ch. 56: Resonating with the Desire to Save

Hakuri pushing himself well beyond his limits to summon Tobimune for Samura to save the day (not knowing that Samura was a traitor, of course).

There's an image limit to be minded, unfortunately! It'll be hard not to hit the cap for next year's poll propaganda post for sure. But I hope this showcase is a good reminder of everything he's been through and done already- and all the potential he still has to keep being incredible as the story progresses.

Powerscaling & Theorycrafting

Hakuri's the Special Boy!

It's difficult to powerscale in a series that relies mostly on soft power like Kagurabachi does- it's safest to assume that Rule of Cool will take precedence whenever possible. That said, there are enough rules in place to roughly gauge the relative strength of most characters in-universe.

In canon, the Bearers of the Enchanted Blades and a select few singularities like Hiyuki are at the apex of power. Underneath them are elite sorcerers like Shiba and Azami, then regular sorcerers, then regular folks. The categories are very broad and have a lot of room for differences in power within the same tiers. Shiba, for example, did well for himself in a 3-v-1 scenario against the Sazanami Tou, who would be in the same "Elite" class as him.

Where does Hakuri fit in? Well, for one, he's another in-universe anomaly: he has two sorcery techniques available to use instead of the one that most people are limited to. It's quite rare and is one of the unique selling points of his character. This means his potential is quite high as well in terms of placement in the charts! If he can get there, that is.

Abilities

The first of his abilities, Isou [威葬, Majestic Funeral], allows the user to command and create shockwaves. It's not so impressive in terms of visuals but his brother Soya demonstrated how strong it could be by destroying the side of a building while also using it to move in mid-air. The experienced user can also use it in a utility sense to enhance their momentum or slow others down, implying there's some degree of control over the power output.

In terms of downsides, it seems the user can only project the shockwaves in one direction at a time and using the power takes a toll on the body. Isou users are thus expected to be in excellent physical shape in order to use this sorcery to it's maximum potential. Hakuri's build and fitness has never been remarked upon directly, but he's had some of the same training as his siblings and is quite sturdy thanks to being a punching bag for a few years, so he's at least got a solid foundation to work from.

The second of his abilities, ownership of an inter-dimensional storehouse, is the one that gets the most attention. The raw utility of this ability makes Hakuri one of the most useful characters in the cast even though it doesn't provide any direct combat power on it's own. He can transport people and objects he registers to and from a personal subspace only he has access to, move them from wherever they are to somewhere else in the real world, create projections of them, and manipulate the storehouse's configuration at will. He can also register objects that are bound to the owners in certain ways without needing to touch them, which made him an MVP in the current arc. This power is so convenient that many corners of the fandom regard his current status of being KO'd as necessary to prevent him from becoming OP.

The biggest downside to this ability is the huge amount of power it takes to transport things in and out of the subspace, which we've seen lead to severe head pain, nosebleeds, and passing out when overused. Transporting objects also isn't quite instant so an alert enemy can probably react in time if they see or hear the tell-tale bubbles preceding something being summoned. Also, the registration portion of the sorcery falls under the groundwork category, so any sorcerer can resist being registered. Registered sorcerers can also resist being transported after the fact as well. This means that Hakuri can't just tap most of the enemies he'll be facing and shunt them into his storehouse to win a fight.

Where's Hakuri at Right Now?

As a neophyte sorcerer, Hakuri's still pretty limited in what he can do. He woke up to his powers yesterday in-universe and has already overtaxed himself to the point of full-body paralysis and probable burnout. However, since his powers are one of the most unique hooks to his character, there's good reason to believe that he'll only be temporarily side-lined before he can recover and start to train. So there's a lot of potential for him to grow into a true powerhouse that can sit at or near the top of the rankings! Having someone with the raw power of Soya and the insane utility of Kyora sounds awesome, doesn't it?

While he's recovering, though, he's basically no better off than a regular person. He has little to no fighting experience outside of a single day with Chihiro before knocking himself out. He's not proficient with any weapons either. So Hakuri's kind of a wildcard in terms of where he'll ultimately end up in the series' power rankings. He's constantly underestimated in-universe and in the fan community despite how many times he's come in clutch. If you like dark horses and potentially risky bets, he's a great choice!

For the Theorycrafters

There's plenty to chew on for the theorycrafters too. Hakuri's only just awakened to his potential, and we don't know the finer details of how he needs to allocate his spirit energy, so there's wiggle room for interpretations and headcanons for those who like to imagine various what-if scenarios. And if he doesn't recover his sorcery, there's always the option for him to become a Bearer himself- a corner of the fandom has fun theorizing which blade would suit him and how it would happen, where it would place him in the rankings, etc. There's a variation on this where he might give up Isou or the storehouse to bond to a blade, but as we don't know how the mechanics would interact with his special status as someone who has two abilities yet, that's an endless point of debate.

Ships

What is a shounen fandom without a strong shipping element? A pretty boring one, probably. Anyway, Hakuri's actually kind of lacking in ship options based on canon events- he hasn't interacted with many characters other than the three listed below in a significant way yet. But at least they all provide very distinct vibes that have unique appeal. He's got options that will hit some major areas of interest for a wide range of shippers!

Warning: the last one is Dead Dove incarnate. I'm not going to sell it because there's nothing good that can be said about it, but it is included in this list as it's (sadly) his second-most popular ship.

Chihiro - HakuHiro/ChihiHaku (伯チヒ/チヒ伯)

Main Appeal: Soulmates

HakuHiro is a quintessential shounen ship between the protagonist and his best friend/deuteragonist guy and more.

I've written a novel's worth of material about these two already, including why I went all-in on them less than 40 chapters into the series despite not being much of a shipper myself, the romantic tropes they've invoked to varying extents in canon, even actual-factual 13k words worth of fan fiction after over a decade of not being inspired to write much of anything at all. I am quite literally here yammering away about this manga every week in large part because of the HakuHiro ship, it's that incredible to me.

IN CANON, Hakuri and Chihiro are designed from the ground up to be perfect partners on a spiritual level. They've only known each other for a week but they're already fighting as a team like they've been doing it all their lives thanks to the harmony inherent in their relationship. Even now that both of them are down and out, there's no doubt that they'll eventually be at it again. Their souls even call out to each other and resonate when they're in distress! These guys are A and Un: a perfect pair, the beginning and end of all things. IN CANON.

I want to give equal billing to the next ship so I'll leave it at that. But seriously, HakuHiro is the m/m shounen ship to beat in terms of wholesomeness and crazy level of material present in canon to work from already (they even have a few ship tease moments just for the lols! I'm not kidding!).

Ice Lady - Hakuri/Ice Lady (伯氷)

Main Appeal: Tragedy

A sad ship, to be sure. It's also Hakuri's only het option that gets sustained attention.

Ice Lady will probably never have a name reveal but she's a major influence on Hakuri and the reason why he's out in the world to meet Chihiro in the first place. He's also constantly flashing back to her to emphasize the impact she had on his life and philosophy. She's the person who set him on the path to do good in the world instead of continuing to try and earn his family's love through abusing others.

This ship has a strong appeal for people who like thinking about "what if" scenarios- what could have been if things had gone a bit better between them, or if they had met under different circumstances, or if the world was less cruel... it's the ultimate Kagurabachi "what if we all lived?!" pairing this side of BanUru.

Her disingenuous attempt to seduce him failed, but that's no reason to not let the ship set sail- maybe in a different timeline where they did escape together it could have become mutual affection. Or you can believe that Hakuri not only mourns the damage he did to her, but also what could have been between them if he had done things differently. Whatever works best for your tragic shipping senses!

Soya - SoHaku (宗伯)

Main Appeal: Dead Dove

It exists.

Vote for Hakuri!

You're far more loved than you think you are!

Hakuri's been through a lot and still has a ton more to experience. He's had great emotional highs and some deep, deep lows but he's always back on the upswing before long. He's worth the one precious vote given to us for all his charms and relatable traits, amazing moments, and the enhancements he brings to Chihiro's character and the story at large. The manga would be seriously a lot worse off without this tragically heroic goofball!

If you already voted for someone else, it's not too late to change it! The poll will be open until December 21st, so there's still plenty of time to go back in and vote for the Best Boy in Kagurabachi. I think. It's a Google Form so if you leave the page it might be set forever. But anyway, please vote for Hakuri and show him some love! He deserves it all and more!

[whirligig-girl]

The S282 from the train sim game Derail Valley, interpreted as a prop built in the first two or three seasons of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends.

I tried to imagine how a prop builder would actually put something like this together on a children's TV series budget. Like the other original props, this one uses kitbashed parts from Marklin model trains as well as plastic card bodies and sculpted faces. The chassis is taken from a Marklin BR55 0-8-0 and the pilot and trailing wheels, and cylinders, modified from a Marklin BR78.

There are some design changes to make it just look more Thomas, like the thomas style headlamp, the flat prominent buffer beam, and the blocky red-sided footplate. The geometry has been simplified as it needed to be made out of folded, bent, and cut plastic card.

More details and alternate versions under the cut:

The actual locomotive as it appears in Derail Valley: Simulator. Note the much larger cylinders. They could have built more proportional cylinders--they did so when they built Murdoch in season 7, but I wanted it to fit in better with Henry and Gordon.

The valve gear shown is accurate to the BR55, not to the BR78 Gordon and Henry use nor the game model (which has much thicker rods)

Other details, like the air pump (not needed on sodor, which seems to use vacuum brakes), bell, and dynamo (again, not used on sodor) have been removed. The ladder detail on the running board has been simplified. A cowcatcher is not needed, but i kept it as more or less the only obviously foreign feature of the engine. The electric headlamp on the top of the S282's smokebox has been replaced with a white

The S282's tender is a four wheel tender on a pair of freight car trucks. The thomas version is a six wheel tender based on Gordon and Henry's.

The livery was changed to make it feel more Sodor. The sides of the running board were painted red, and red lining was added to the boiler bands, cab, and tender. And 282 was given as a number on the tender, in red-lined yellow text. The wheels retain the red paint of the model that contributed their wheels, but dulled a bit by weathering. The game model has black wheels with white walls and red counterweights, but that didn't look right with the small counterweights on most of the wheels and the one single large counterweight on the number three axle.

With so many red accents, the loco bears more than a passing resemblance to Hiro from the cgi series, though this is only a coincidence.

Here's a variant with a game-accurate livery. No striping, and the wheel spokes are black with white walls and red counterweights.

Here are squeaky clean versions of both liveries.

and here are NWR green, blue, and red variants. I actually made a texture pack for the previous major version of Derail Valley, before they updated the model and the UV maps changed. (obviously my texture pack did not go so far as to add faces)

Final variant, the ES&DT version. [sniff sniff] can you hear a guitar riff slowly building tempo?

[stevebattle]

The Grivet Arm (1978) by Gallaher Research Inc., Western-Salem, North Carolina.

"Purchasing some form of "experimenter's arm" kit? There has been one attempt at a commercial kit product for the robot arm experimenter, a product which was advertised in this magazine starting last spring. I refer to the Gallaher Research "Grivet" arm, which is shown in photo 1. The photograph was taken using the kit I bought for $400 and put together one Sunday morning in September. … Mr Gallaher's robot arm was a crude start at best, for all we got is a rather shaky mechanism with six DC motors. The purchaser's inventiveness must supply the details of electronic interface and control. A suggestion, in the marketing literature supplied with the kit, is that relays be used to provide control of the 6V DC which will run the motors. This kit provided what you see in the photograph: a limited mechanical start on a complete arm which must include a mounting of some sort, power supplies, bidirectional motor drive electronics, and sensory feedback. There is not even a suggestion of how to mount and use sensors to provide feedback control of the arm in a practical object manipulation environment such as a chessboard with chess pieces as the objects.

The designer of this arm did his homework with respect to balance, for it will sit upright on its counterweight with no particular urge to topple over. The photograph was taken with the arm in this position. But if mounted in a horizontal position as suggested by the sales literature (assembly drawings, but no instruction manual, come with this device) several of the parts are under enough stress to be visibly bent. The only way I can see to practically mount this arm is by having it hang down from the shaft furthest from the hand mechanism (flipping it 180 degrees around the vertical axis of photo 1).

The Gallaher arm kit's parts are apparently handcrafted. When you think of the time and energy that went into its creation, it is obviously a bargain at $400, even if incomplete. Some of the first microcomputer kits such as the Mark-8, Altair and Sphere were similarly incomplete, and a whole industry was formed filling in the gaps to provide a complete computer system in assembled form. Therefore, we can expect more complete robotic systems as further products are offered to the experimenter. Just as "hardheaded realists" (ie: unimaginative people) scoffed only four years ago at the idea of a personal computer, I can almost hear the equivalent comments about domestic robots being uttered as I pen these words at the keyboard of my personal computer." – Byte Magazine February 1979, Volume 04 Number 02 (p6).

[evegoldenwoods]

I don't have a particularly emotional story about my enjoyment of friends at the table. I can't say that it changed my life or anything. I started listening in the middle of 2019, and I've enjoyed it a lot over the years. I think it's made me a better writer and game designer. I like drawing fanart for it. something about the combination of looseness and specificity vis a vis character description, as well as the serial nature of the show, really sparks my imagination and has helped me to improve my craft by pushing me to do work I otherwise might not have done.

But I do have some very fond memories of listening to it. Washing dishes and cracking up laughing over counterweight. Walking back from the dreamfeel office (when we still had an office, gosh) and listening to twilight mirage. Particularly in the dark of winter, around maybe November of 2019, the music of twilight mirage playing through my headphones in the cold night air is a sense memory I think I'll keep for the rest of my life. I feel really lucky to have those memories, and to have found a group of storytellers who make work I connect so strongly with.

And they were right in the palisade post-mortem: they do need to take more breaks. I'd rather have a little for a longer time than a glut that causes unsustainable burnout.

[fancyfeathers]

I am very invested in your William and author reader fanfic, I must say it is very interesting. Would it be alright if I trouble you a little?

May you write a chapter where reader has gone missing right, and reader does actually outsmart William for the very first time? to the point where HE'S the one crawling back?? and is amazed? and begging her to come back? and she's not having it.

If it is too much, you may ignore this>

Thank you. Love you sm!!!

YES!!! Omg yes, I already started thinking about this with the idea of her being in a writer’s club or friends with other authors like J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis who would help each other with their works and what not.

So like her friends who heard about her disappearance and after writing mysteries and murders alongside her, they are completely ready to find her.

And Then There Were None (Yandere William James Moriarty /w Author Darling Masterlist)

No one would be able to tell anything was wrong at first glance when they saw William James Moriarty, to anyone outside they would see nothing wrong, to anyone besides Louis and Albert he would still behaving as normal…

But his brothers, William is on edge, but in the best way possible, like when Sherlock is at his heels and all because his darling beat him at his own game, truly remarkable. He thought that she would only be off for a week or two but over a month has passed and every time he thought he found something the trail ran cold. Then the cherry on top of it all was every hint he found that ran cold related back to her books, like she was mocking him and what he had done…

And it was thrilling.

Then one evening after William had returned home from teaching at the college, Louis had also returned home from the market and fight as he was going to unpack-

A letter fell from the basket, and it was addressed to a Professor William James Moriarty, the name inked in red pen.

Louis handed the letter off to William when he was speaking to Albert in the drawing room over tea, telling him it was in the basket but he had never knew it was there, so someone must have slipped it in. William opened the letter as he sat up straight in his chair…

“I'm where the drama unfolds with arias grand,

Where masks may conceal a mysterious hand.

Within these walls, stories old and new,

Echo in halls with a theatrical view.

Where am I found? Seek the stage's grand spree,

Where performers enchant with operatic glee.”

Meet us at the answer at 8:00 PM tomorrow night, show them the letter and they will let you in. Bring your brothers, or leave them, I really do not care.

The letter was not signed, but the riddle was written in the same red ink, slightly smeared. The answer was obvious, an opera house, the question was who sent this and why? It was clear it was connected to his darling, so hopefully this was not a trail that goes cold.

So William follows the instructions hoping alone since this was obviously going to be a passive encounter since it was in public, and upon arriving to the theater and seeing all the members of the audience flocking inside, the sender was among the crowd.

While the other patrons showed their tickets to the staff at the door, he showed the letter and a small smile comes across the man’s face as he tells William to go to box five and that they were already waiting for them. Then as William made his way to the box and pushes open the door to see two individuals, a gentlemen reading a newspaper and William could tell was years old, and then sitting next to the man was her, his darling. Then as the door shuts behind the professor, the one reading the paper speaks up without looking at him.

“A counterweight supporting an opera house's chandelier fell through the roof and crashed into the audience, injuring several people and killing one. Imagine if it was the actual chandelier instead, what would have happened? What do you think, Professor Moriarty?”

“It would have resulted in a fire most likely, and due to the unique design of the chandelier more people would have gotten injured and certainly more than one would have died-“

“Hm, I thought so as well, good to know what I wrote in my book then was accurate.”

William glances at his darling who is just sitting there, not looking or speaking to him. The other man laughs at this and sets his paper down to look at the professor, a gleeful smile across his face.

“She almost refused to come, but we need to have closure on this whole affair so we can move on with our lives. A shame though, I quite enjoyed tracking her down with the others, it was like a competition to figure out what happened to her and who did it, and a bonus to beat the culprit at their own game, and it seems like I was the one to win, Professor William.”

William’s eyes drifted to where his darling sat in the box, her eyes still not going to meet the man who was publicly called her husband but who was in reality her worst nightmare.

“And if I may ask, how do you two know each other?”

“At an university funny enough, we were both invited to give lectures on our shared field of expertise, we became friends almost immediately and exchanged letter for a number of years when I lived in France, along with meeting up with a few of our colleagues to review our work-.”

“So you are an author as well, I do not think I have read any of your works.”

“Hm, that is a shame seeing as this meeting point revolved around my masterpiece, but I suppose you would like to cut to the chase.”

“Yes, as fun as this has been, I would rather her return-“

“Return with you? But that would mean you won, but you clearly did not, you lost. I invited you here so we can put this behind us.”

The man cut him off with a smile as if nothing was wrong, and it sent an almost thrilling shiver down William’s spine. He was about to reply to the man but then-

“Could you please leave William and I alone?”

She spoken up for the first time during this entire meeting, her eyes now snapping to glance at William for the briefest moments. The man gunned in response to her, standing up from his chair to leave the box, but as he passed William, he grabbed his shoulder-

“You may know how to murder people but rest assured so do I, after all both her and I write about it for a living. So try anything and I promise one of your friends will not be alive in the morning.”

The man’s cheerful tone had all but faded away and William hummed in acknowledgment to the threat right as he slipped out of the opera box, leaving William and his darling.

“Do not worry, he is bluffing, he does not have the heart to kill and nor do I.”

“Dearest…”

“I… I wanted to say goodbye, I figured it would be to cruel not to even after all the times you have done to me.”

“And how long do you think you can run?”

“Longer and faster than you can, and that became clear in my absence, you could not find me, so I think I will be fine. But I suppose if you find me again it is fair game, so… hm, what was that thing you told Mr. Holmes on the train with Louis and I that one time…”

She hums for a moment as she stands up from her seat, adjusting the gloves she wore as she prepared to leave. She stand before the Lord of Crime, looking him dead in the eye.

“Catch me if you can, Professor Moriarty.”

With that, she walked passed him, leaving the box and him alone as a smile came across his face…

“Oh you smart little thing…”

[bethanythebogwitch]

I talked before about fish Pokemon and that was great, but it's not the only mon series I like. So fuck it, fish Digimon time. This will definitely be less analytical and more me gushing about Digimon I like because I may be a bit out of it right now. Also sorry if I missed any.

Starting at rookie/child level we only have one fish but why would we need more when we have Swimmon?

Loot at it, it's amazing! It's some some sort of tropical fish, obviously, but with some embellishments, like the beak full of teeth. I love how colorful and pointy it is. It works great as a rookie for so many aquatic lines. I think some great lines for it would be Swimmon -> Coelamon -> Piranimon -> MetalPiranhimon or Swimmon -> Tobiumon -> DIvemon -> Surfimon. Speaking of which...

I'm going over champion/adult Digimon together and starting with Coelamon.

It's a coelacanth! Coelacanths are amazing as some of the last lobe-finned fish. In this case, the lobes have been exaggerated into proper limbs, like how lobe-finned fish are the ancestors of tetrapods through intermediate limbed fish stages like tiktaalik. Its armor might also be based on placoderms, extinct fish with bony armor.

We have surprisingly few shark Digimon, but one we do have is Tobiumon, and it's amazing.

A shark with arms that can fly with its fins is such a Digimon concept that all it needs are some guns to be peak Digimon. It even has a remora missile launcher on its chest!

The armor Digimon give us several fish, and while I don't think any of them particularly work as armor evolutions, they're fine as Digimon on their own. And before anyone mentions it, Tylomon is a tylosaurus, not a fish. The first is Manbomon, and while it's a terrible armor evolution for Patamon, A mola mola wearing boxing gloves is such a goofy concept I can't help but love it.

Next is Seahomon, which is pretty obviously a seahorse, but its snout is a trumpet and it has a cape that turns into wings I guess? I dunno, it's a pretty weird one.

My favorite of the three is Mantaraymon. Despite the name, it doesn't have a manta ray's face, instead having a rostrum like a shovelnose ray or even maybe a dolphin. I do like how they used Patamon's ears as the cephalic fins.

Mantaraymon also has a more mechanical X-antibody variant that gives it kind of a stealth fighter vibe. I kind of like it more than the original Mantaraymon, which is saying something since I usually don't like X-antibody Digimon.

Moving onto the ultimate/perfect level we have a new mon from China, Huankunmon.

I love this design so much. Its based on the peng, a mythical creature that can turn from a bird to a fish. Fittingly, Huankunmon's line goes from a bird (Xiquemon) and goes to a bird/fish/dragon hybrid (Xiangpengmon). It'a also based on a flying fish since it can fly with a swimming motion. And it can turn invisible. There's nothing not to love about it.

Next is Piranimon, and look at this absolute beast

Some might call it overdesigned, but I absolutely love it. I particularly dig the tail being a fish hook covered in barbed wire. Its based on a red-bellied piranha, but the pop-culture version where they're bloodthirsty monsters that attack everything they see. Real piranhas are not like that. The helmet it wears may also be based on placoderms, some of which only had the bone armor on the front of their bodies.

Finally at this level, we have Divemon.

I'm not as big of a fan of this as I am of the other two, but I do like the Polynesian-style tattoos it has. Its a combination hammerhead shark and professional swimmer.

Maxing out at the mega/ultimate level we have MetalPiranimon.

While I appreciate any fish megas, I think this is a step down from Piranhimon. It's just a red-bellied piranha with a big metal head dragging around a counterweight. I'm not saying its bad, I'm just saying that Piranhimon is better. Fun fact, Metalpiranhimon came first. Piranhimon was designed because someone thought it was weird that there's a MetalPiranhimon but no regular Piranhimon. There are a few examples of that in Digimon, like SkullBaluchimon coming before Baluchimon.

Next is Regalecusmon, which might be stretching the definition of fish a bit, but it does have an oarfish for a head.

I really like this design, especially it using Zudomon's horn as a sword and what looks like Ebidramon's claw as a shield. I think it would make a great villain for an aquatic episode or storyline of a show. Maybe like a more modern version of MetalSeadramon from Adventure.

Finally, we have Surfimon.

It's a mechanical shark man riding a rocket-powered hammerhead shark surfboard with a buzzsaw on the front. We have reached peak Digimon, people. And even better, it was created by a fan as part of a contest. Frankly, it's a shame that it hasn't gotten any appearances in the anime or games. I don't get why some fan-made Digimon can go onto have major appearances like Dobermon, Cyberdramon, and SoundBirdmon while others get ignored. A lot of them don't even have art. I'd be pretty bummed if I was a kid who won a contest to have my design become official and then it was never used. I think Surfimon should get an anime appearance and the English dub should make it talk like a Californian surfer dude.