#Digital persecution

[tassodelmiele]

-Break the chains. Once you've fallen, there's nothing as good as feel the void phagocytising you whole-

.....

I was gonna draw something cute with Gaz and the Cap. Ok? Something cute.

But those two bastards boycotted my goddamn drawing ability.

I just can't do them.

So I draw Ghost, in some sort of "rage-mode", 'cause not being able to draw the hell I want makes me furious.

Maybe my brain took inspiration by the holy beautiful monster AU from @bluegiragi

Thank you for blessing us, now your wraith-Ghost lives in my heart forever.

.....

[kaesnpoint-art]

Some fallout ocs of mine and @noah-pology’s that I was thinking about.

[theblackjinx]

I like to hype up my players by making a poster for each "season" of the campaign. We're in the last season booooiiiiiiiiiissssssss

Commission form

[just-a-ghost00]

What's your life purpose?

Trigger warning : the content of these readings may be touchy. My intention is never to hurt or make anyone feel uncomfortable. Feel free to stop reading if it is too much to handle.

Group 1 - Rollerblade

Cards : Shadow, Compassion, Power, 9 of cups, Hierophant, 9 of swords

This felt very emotional and very specific but for some of you your sole purpose is to come out. Is to finally be yourself unappologetically, to get out of your shell and express your true nature. This will speak to anyone that considers themselves queer or wonders about their identity in general, whether it's about genders, sexuality, fashion, beliefs. Your purpose is to hep other people do the same. To raise awareness and compassion about being out of the norms, thinking and feeling outside the box. To empower people so that they can be themselves without feeling ashamed or fearing other people's opinion. Your purpose is to help people feel secure in their beliefs and feel fulfilled, to stop worrying about the future or whether they'll ever be able to be free. You're here to help shift paradigms around the notions of identity, norms and beliefs. Some of you may have faced public shaming in the past, whether it is in this lifetime or previous incarnations, surrounding your sexuality and/or your appearance. I was picking up specifically on World War II. There might be people amond your ancestors that were persecuted for similar reasons. I'm feeling very emotional doing this reading. If that is something you have gone through, I am sincerely sorry and I hope that you will no longer suffer the pain of being rejected for who you are. I'm getting the feeling of people being demonized because of their beliefs and wrongly accused of things they had nothing to do with. Your purpose is to help people get rid of such karma, to cleanse and purify transgenerational wounds surrounding sexuality, body image, cultural differences. Especially for women. And one of the ways you could be doing that is through art and/or entertainment. Like dancing, rollerblading, singing, painting. I asked for further information regarding hobbies or careers that you can pursue to accomplish your purpose and you got Self Love and The Explorer. So the general answer would be anything that gets you to explore and deepen your sense of self love. If I'm getting more specific, I'm thinking of modeling, yoga, group therapy, reiki, hypnose, meditation, sound healing. Since Self Love depicts a peacock, the activities have to have a connection with beauty/aesthetics/the body somehow. I'm also thinking of tantra. For some it could be related to surgery. Like helping people transition from one gender to another.

Keywords/signs/extras : In the shadows - The Rasmus, bats, ravens, crows, Pisces, Taurus, life path numbers 9/5, pride, rainbows

Group 2 - Lips

Cards : The Warrior, The Universe, Sacred Sexuality, 6 of swords, 10 of pentacles, 4 of cups

There are possible future public speakers among you. And also artists such as graphic designers, digital artists because when I started to do your reading, my drawing software just randomly opened when I didn't even click on it. So if you were hesitating about starting to draw or going digital, this is your sign to go for it. Your life purpose is to bring people together, to reunite people that were seperated. I'm specifically picking up on immigrants, war victims, orphans, people that are homeless or that have a precarious situation. Your purpose is to raise awareness about these subjects, to join an organization and fight for these people's rights. Again, the theme of sexuality is brought out here, similarly to group 1. You could be helping out people that had to flee their home in order to be safe because of their sexuality. Your purpose could be to help people free themselves of toxic environments if that is their wish. So it could be helping victims of physical abuse, domestic abuse, victims of racism/homophobia or any kind of hate crime. I sense some influencer energy coming from this group as well. In all cases, your purpose is to provide people with a safe space where they can either live freely or share their truth. So you could be creating an app to gather people facing the same issues or to put in contact people that are willing to help with people who are in need of help. You could be using your social media and your status to raise awareness about specific causes. You could be getting legally involved by filing lawsuits, by protesting, by adopting. You could be helping people with their administrative papers. There are so many ways this can be done. But I'm getting a very proactive vibe from your group. If group 1 was more about providing moral and emotional support, you are more of the kind to go to the trenches and fight the battles. So some of you could even literally fight by applying for the military. The 6 of swords can indicate travel and we also have the Universe card so this would make sense. Also you could be donating money, funding the construction of shelters for instance.

Keywords/signs/extras : Aries, social media, roses, cranes, dogs, mountains, river side, Indestructible - Disturbed, letter S, life path numbers 1/6/9, NGOs, Not today - BTS

Group 3 - Disco ball

Cards : Patience, The Magi, The Weaver, knight of pentacles, 10 of wands, The Star

Some of you could be tarot readers or use any other form of divination. If that is not your case now, you have the potential to be. You also have the potential of being a public figure. And by that I mean an important one. Kind of Beyoncé level or any other artist that you can think of that you like, no matter the field. It could be acting, it could be film making, it could be fashion design, singing, dancing, ice skating. Anything. Writing also seems really significant. Your purpose is to guide other people. To help them weave their way through illusions and obstacles. To help them move forward and lighten their load so that they can shine their light onto the world and be the best version of themselves. We also have teachers here, coaches, spiritual practitioners of any kind, healers. You bring people to life. You help them give birth to projects. It could be litteral. As in you help moms give birth to their beautiful babies. You help new souls come to life and navigate through this world. I'm picking up on One Piece and Magi references. Specifically I was thinking of Nami and Basil for One Piece. As for Magi I was mainly picking up on Aladdin. I did some research on these characters, especially Basil because I didn't know this character that much and it turns out Basil's ability uses Tarot. He's a fortune teller. When it comes to Aladdin, he's one of the most powerful magicians and his lineage is beyond great but he has no idea because he doesn't remember his past and part of his powers are tied to his memories. He is destined to save his world and become the most powerful wizard of his era but has to fight a lot of enemies to do that. So it could be that you won't reach your full potential until you've uncovered some of your past life memories / traumas. Also you may be facing a lot of challenges and opponents on your path. You may meet a lot of naysayers or a lot of people trying to distract you from your truth and your calling. So that could transpire in your work environment, in your family, in your group of friends. You might notice people hating on you for no reason. That's because your light and power disturbs them. Since there are a lot of magical mentions it could be that some of your ancestors were accused of being witches and persecuted because of that. That might be part of the past life memories you have to deal with. Or you might be living in a country / city that has a lot of legends surrounding witches/wizards (i.e. Salem in Massachussets, Rouen / Orléans/Domrémy in France for their history with Joan of Arc, Britain when it comes to Arthurian legends, New Orleans, Greece with Circe / Hecate, Russia with Baba Yaga and Rasputin, Ireland with the Morrigan, Northern Africa for Kahena).

Keywords/signs/extras : life path numbers 1/8/11/22, psychic abilities, magic, snakes, moon cycles, cranes, stars, Aquarius, Gemini, Youtiful - Stray Kids, wizards

[gaargoyle]

My current much-loved possession, an original 1993 copy of Space Marine. I wanted it for its lovely cover, mostly, (also physical media is supreme) even though it's seen better days. The pretty foil lettering has worn away in spots.

Inside is the timeline that was canon in 1993. You can still get this book today digitally, but I do not know if they include a timeline with it still, and if they do, if they kept it as it was for posterity or made updates.

Transcribed below!

A TIMELINE FOR THE WARHAMMER 40,000 UNIVERSE

15th Millennium - Humanity begins to colonise nearby solar systems using conventional sub-light spacecraft. At first, progress is painfully slow. Separated from Terra by up to ten generations in travel time, the new colonies have to survive mainly on local resources.

The Dark Age of Technology

20th Millennium - Discovery of warp drives accelerates the colonisation process and the early independent or corporate colonies become federated to Terra. The first alien races (including the ubiquitous Orks) are encountered. The development of the Navigator gene allows human pilots to make longer and faster 'jumps' through warp space than was previously thought possible. The great Navigator families, initially controlled by industrial and trading cartels, become a power base in their own right.

Humanity continues to explore and colonise the galaxy. Contacts are established with the Eldar and other alien races. A golden age of scientific achievement begins. Perfection of the Standard Template Construct (STC) system now permits an almost explosive expansion to the stars.

The Age of Strife

25th Millennium - Humanity reaches the far edges of the galaxy, completing the push to the stars begun over ten thousand years before. Human civilisation is now widely dispersed and divergent - with countless small colonies as well as many large, overpopulated planets. Localised wars and disputes with various alien races (especially the Orks!) continue, but pose no threat to the overall stability of human-colonised space. Then, two things happen almost simultaneously. First, humans with psychic powers begin to appear on almost every colonised world. Second, civilisation starts to disintegrate under the stress of widespread insanity, demonic possession, and internecine strife between these new 'psykers' and the rest of humanity. Countless fanatical cults and organisations spring up to persecute the psykers as witches, and/or degenerate mutants. At this time, the existence of the creatures of the warp (later known and feared as demons), and the dangers they pose to the human mind with newly awakened psychic powers, is far from understood.

Terrible wars tear human civilisation apart. Localised empires and factions fight amongst themselves as well as against fleets of Orks, Tyrannids [sic], and other aliens whose forces are quick to seize the opportunity to sack human space. Many worlds fall prey to the dominance of Warp Creatures whilst others revert to barbarism. Humans survive only on those worlds where psykers are suppressed or controlled. During this time, Terra is cut off from the rest of humanity by terrible warp storms, which isolate the home world for several thousand years, further accelerating the ruin of humanity.

The Horus Heresy

30th Millennium - Humanity itself teeters on the brink of the abyss of extinction. Civil war erupts throughout the galaxy as the Emperor of human space is betrayed by his most trusted lieutenant, the Warmaster Horus. Possessed by a demon from the warp, Horus seduces whole chapters of humanity's greatest warriors - the Space Marines - into joining his cause. When the final battle seems lost, the Emperor defeats Horus in single combat, but only at the cost of his own humanity.

His physical life maintained by artificial means, and his psyche by human sacrifice, the Emperor begins the long task of reconquering human space. With the creation by the Emperor of the psychic navigational beacon known as the Astronomican, the foundations are laid for the building of the Imperium, as it to be known in the 41st millennium. Fuelled by the dying spirits of those psykers who would otherwise fall prey to the demons of the warp, and directed by the Emperor's indomitable will, the Astronomican soon becomes an invaluable aid to Navigators throughout the galaxy. Interstellar travel becomes even easier and quicker, while the repression and control of psykers and creatures from the warp releases much of humanity from its hellish bondage.

The Age of the Imperium

41st Millennium - Throughout the portion of the galaxy known as the Imperium, humanity is bound within the organisations and strictures of the Administratum. The Emperor grows ever more detached from the day to day concerns of his mortal subjects, while the Inquisition works ceaselessly to protect humanity from the ever-present dangers posed by renegade psykers and the terrible creatures inhabiting warp space. The armies of the Imperium - the Guard and the almost superhuman Space Marines - maintain a constant vigil against the threat of invading Orks, Tyrannids [sic] and other aliens. But still the number of psykers increases steadily, and other more sinister groups associated with Warp Creature domination continue to gain ground...

[warframestuff]

PRIDE 2024

CELEBRATING INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY THROUGHOUT THE ORIGIN SYSTEM!

There are wondrous vibes aplenty in the Origin System this month as we reach Pride 2024! Join us in celebrating the vibrant LGBTQIA2S+ community in Warframe! We are thrilled to honor and support our incredibly inclusive and diverse player base this Pride month and all year-round.

There are many ways for you to join in on Pride throughout June and onwards. Pick up in-game Pride items, support Warframe Creators, and so much more!

RAINBOW RAILROAD AND TRANS LIFELINE

In honor of Pride 2024, Digital Extremes is immensely proud to support not one, but two organizations offering aid to LGBTQIA2S+ people around the world.

Rainbow Railroad is a global not-for-profit that assists at-risk LGBTQIA+ people worldwide in reaching safety. Their mission is to protect vulnerable communities facing persecution based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics from systemic, state-enabled homophobia and transphobia.

Trans Lifeline is a grassroots hotline and nonprofit organization offering direct financial and emotional support for trans people in crisis. Their mission is to connect trans people with their community and provide the resources everyone needs to survive and thrive.

Both Rainbow Railroad and Trans Lifeline have received $10,000 CAD donations from Digital Extremes, respectively, to kick off Pride 2024! If you’re interested in supporting both organizations yourself, check out the donation pages for Rainbow Railroad and Trans Lifeline!

PRIDE IN-GAME

There are three all-new items available for Pride 2024! Add dazzling Customization like the Pride Glyph III designed by NimkeArts (He/They) and the Pride Display III designed by RoboMythos (She/Her) to your Arsenal via the in-game Market for only 1 Credit each!

Fill your Orbiter with neon Pride! The brand new Neon Pride Wings Decoration is also available in the in-game Market for 25,000 Credits. There is no limit to how many you can purchase, so that your Orbiter, Dormizone and Dojo can all be elevated with dazzling colors.

If you couldn’t pick up any Pride items from previous years — good news! We’ve also brought back the Pride Display I, Pride Glyph I, Pride Display II, Pride Glyph II, and Pride Celebration Color Palette back to the in-game Market for 1 Credit apiece!

These new and returning Pride items are available in the in-game Market until June 30 at 11:59 p.m. ET. If you missed out on the Pride III Glyph and Display, a code will be shared on July 1st for you to claim them both all the way until next June 2025.

FEATURED CREATOR STREAMS

Featured Warframe Creators will be celebrating Pride all throughout June! Watch these streams for 45 minutes each this month and receive Twitch Drops to even further enhance your Arsenal. Just don’t forget to link your Warframe and Twitch accounts ahead of time!

June 1 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET - Miabyte (She/Her)

Drop: Ordis Reified Statue

Twitch: twitch.tv/miabyte

June 1 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET - Nerdtured (He/Him)

Drop: Xaku Prex

Twitch: twitch.tv/nerdtured

June 8 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET - Tibetansun (He/Him)

Drop: Fibonacci Floof

Twitch: twitch.tv/tibetansun

June 8 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET - AuntieTan (She/Her)

Drop: Domestik Chapp Drone

Twitch: twitch.tv/AuntieTan

June 15 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET - LadyTheLaddy (They/She)

Drop: Panzer Vulpaphyla Floof

Twitch: twitch.tv/ladytheladdy

June 16 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET - MjikThize (She/They)

Drop: Solaris Food Can Decoration

Twitch: twitch.tv/MjikThize

June 22 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET - JamieVoiceOver (She/Her)

Drop: Corbu Shawzin

Twitch: twitch.tv/JamieVoiceOver

June 22 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET - SiejoUmbra (He/Him)

Drop: Warframe Articula

Twitch: twitch.tv/SiejoUmbra

MAKESHIP KALYMOS PLUSHIE

If you’re keen on making a feline friend, Makeship has your back! They’ve brought Albrecht Entrati’s elegant companion Kalymos to life!

The Kalymos plushie campaign is part of Makeship’s Pride event, with 100 percent of Digital Extremes’ net proceeds from sales going towards the Trevor Project, a not-for-profit organization committed to suicide prevention for LGTBQ+ youth. As part of the event, Kalymos will arrive with a Pride Flag cape, based on the flag design by Valentino Vecchietti. You can purchase the Kalymos Plushie today and help make this limited item a reality!

Please note that this is not a charity item associated with the nonprofit organizations mentioned above.

NEW TWITCH & DISCORD EMOTES

Enjoy new Discord and Twitch Emotes to celebrate Pride 2024 via BTTV! Flaunt sensational flair in chat with the Pride Citrine, Pride Limbo, Neon Pride Wings Emote (right), and Neon Pride Wings Emote (left) created by our very own Community artist TadaCharly!

PRIDE TIME STREAMS

Our weekly Prime Time streams are all about celebrating Pride throughout the month of June! So tune in every Thursday at 6 p.m. ET on Warframe’s Twitch channel to hang out with the community team, play Warframe and celebrate Pride!

[itsnothingofinterest]

The implication that society at large hasn't learned a thing from its Original Sin (Shigaraki's backstory) is making me ill... Between this and Touya/Dabi's ending, I feel like I'm reading the ending of a tragedy from an Outsider POV or the bad ending path in some video game and being told to Suck It Up Buttercup, because this is a Good Ending Actually!! I've never felt more insulted reading the ending of a story...

Oh same here; a part of me is even beginning to wonder that you might be on to something labeling the whole story a tragedy. The more closely you look into things, the more it looks like every aspect of this ending is a tragedy underneath a thin veneer of “well things are happy and the day is saved now.” I’m almost suspecting if it’s on purpose.

Dabi was beaten, and now Touya is stuck in cenobite cosplay in prison as he lives out the rest of his single digit days letting his abuser talk at him while the rest of the Todorokis wait to hear that the eldest son has died once again.

Anyone considering that the next AFO or Tomura could be out there is taking the exact opposite approach from correct; saying they need to not be sympathetic and instead close their hearts to such a person to better persecute them, driving such folk to villainy faster.

We don't know what happened to Toga but the faces we've seen on Uraraka these past few chapters do not fill me with hope.

We started out with a 4-digit, maybe even 5-digit hero figure when this all started, and the only solution we’ve seen anyone think of (and only as a joke) is to fill the streets with more heroes. Otherwise you can’t fix this; Deku’s talk with AM and Taukauchi ends concluding that you can’t prevent these tragedies.

That sucks when the end of humanity is coming sometime in the next century; just far enough away that no one cares, just close enough that no one can stop it. And though a cure was developed, Deku smashed it to dust and scattered it to the winds alongside the guy he vowed to save; and when the end comes, likely no one will know that Tomura could have prevented this.

It feels poetic how much this reflects hero society as a whole, how much it repeats everything Tomura said in real time. All this present tragedy and future disaster swept under the rug of “but the big bad villain is dead, smashed to pieces by the next symbol, the day is saved, isn’t it?” I once thought MHA was supposed to be optimistic. It has not turned out that way. But it might turn around my opinion on Hori’s writing if that turned out to be on purpose.

...But that might be too much to hope for.

[icannotgetoverbirds]

so you go to the train station in a us city right. and there's an old man sitting there, waiting for the train. the intercom announces that the next train will be there in five minutes. really odd since you just missed the last one and they usually go through in thirty minute intervals.

except the announcement says it's an evil train, and that's even weirder. you look at the old man, confused, and wonder aloud what could possibly make a train evil.

"Well," he begins, "the Evil Train comes every five minutes, and the drivers are paid a six figure salary, and every car is air conditioned, and the seats are extra wide with no armrests, but the cost to ride is a one-time payment of your immortal soul."

You stare at him, unsure if he's joking or not.

"Course, most people only have one soul, so that one time payment allows you to ride the Evil Train anytime, anywhere after your payment, however many times you want."

He says all of this in such a matter-of-fact manner that it leaves no room for doubt that he believes what he says, wholly and truly.

"How... How do they collect the payment?"

"Oh, that's really fascinating. See, those ticket booths have an option to sign a contract for an Evil Train pass, giving away your immortal soul. But there's nobody enforcing against fare evasion on the Evil Trains, so technically you can use them for free if you don't mind committing a crime that you'll never be persecuted for."

"Huh."

The old man leans in close. "Some people say that the reason they don't enforce it is because they're doing research on who's willing to commit a petty crime they know they can get away with. I think that's a load of bull, since they don't have any way to track the identity of the riders that evade the fare."

You can hear the train approaching. It's triple digit heat outside, and you don't have time to sign the contract before this train gets here. Then again, the next one should get here in another five minutes, but you don't know how long the contract is, or how many Evil Trains run before the schedule returns to normal trains that only run every thirty minutes, and the air conditioning in those is always broken, and the seats are so narrow you'd swear they're made for children.

Edit: this is your reminder to reblog for sample size.

[dykesynthezoid]

I think including the human audience in the trial is so integral bc it serves as a reminder that the depravity and cruelty of vampires are 100% human traits. Vampires have all the same negative qualities as human beings; they’ve just been given greater, more devastating tools to enact that cruelty, and an unending amount of time to do it.

And we’re able to see how the social mechanisms that allow these cruelties are functioning in both the coven and the human audience. We see how it is easier to hurt people when we’ve othered them, alienated and dehumanized them. We see that in-group vs out-group bias. We see the diffusion of responsibility. We see persecution being used to unify, to consolidate power by aligning everyone else against an imagined evil. We see the fear of social reprisal and rejection (and that fear is directly aligned by the narrative with the fear of actual violence and personal annihilation!) and how far most people will go to avoid it.

There’s a reason Santiago speaks directly into the camera in 2x02. And that’s because we, the audience beyond the theater, the one behind the digital screen, are just as culpable, just as a capable of allowing cruelty to be made manifest.

[beardedmrbean]

Now here’s a divine development. 

Just ahead of the holidays, archaeologists have “digitally unrolled” a 1,800-year-old silver amulet to decipher an inscription that’s being hailed as the oldest known evidence of Christianity in Europe. 

Authentic evidence of pure Christianity north of the Alps has never existed before now. And the findings have the potential to change holy history forever. 

“It will force us to turn back the history of Christianity in Frankfurt and far beyond by around 50 to 100 years,” said Mike Josef, mayor of Frankfurt, Germany, where the artifact was exhumed. 

“The first Christian find north of the Alps comes from our city,” added Josef. “We can be proud of that, especially now, so close to Christmas.”

The amulet housed a “wafer-thin” foil, measuring 1.4 inches, and featuring text referred to as the “Frankfurt silver inscription.”

It was found beneath the chin of a man’s skeleton at a burial site on the outskirts of Frankfurt in 2018. However, the ancient wording, dating back to between 230 and 270 — when the predominant religions in Europe were Judaism and paganism — has been virtually illegible until now.  

Specialists from the Leibniz Center for Archaeology (LEIZA) used computer tomography (CT) scans to decode the 18-line engraving, which declares Jesus Christ the “Son of God.”

“In the name of Saint Titus. Holy, holy, holy! In the name of Jesus Christ, Son of God! The Lord of the world resists with [strengths] all attacks [or setbacks]. The God grants entry to well-being. May this means of salvation protect the man who surrenders himself to the will of the Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, since before Jesus Christ every knee bows: those in heaven, those on earth and those under the earth, and every tongue confesses (Jesus Christ),” reads the translation, per DailyMail.

The deific discovery closely trails the recent decrypting of the Meggido Mosaic, a 1,800-year-old relic that says, “Jesus is God.” It also follows the July 2024 unearthing of a nearly 2,000-year-old manuscript that details the earliest known account of Christ’s childhood. 

To crack the code on the Frankfurt silver inscription, which is written in Latin, LEIZA experts used sophisticated technologies on the extremely delicate scroll. 

“The challenge in the analysis was that the silver sheet was rolled, but after around 1,800 years, it was of course also creased and pressed,” Ivan Calandra, an archaeologist at LEIZA, said in a statement. “Using CT, we were able to scan it at a very high resolution and create a 3D model.”

The pros reportedly placed individual segments of the scan together, piece by piece, until most of the words were visible. 

However, there are said to be a few gaps in the text — which is being dubbed “purely Christian” as it spotlights Jesus Christ and Saint Titus, a missionary and church leader, but avoids pagan themes as well as elements of Judaism. 

Professor Markus Scholz, an archaeologist from Goethe University in Frankfurt, helmed the deciphering efforts. 

“I called in experts from the history of theology, among others, and we approached the text together, piece by piece, and finally deciphered it,” said Scholz, who was surprised that the etchings were in Latin.  

“Such inscriptions in amulets were usually written in Greek or Hebrew,” he noted. 

And while little is known about the man who was buried with the amulet, scientists reportedly believe that he was a devout Christian — although believers of the faith were still subject to persecution at the time of his death. 

According to insiders, the late Jesus-lover likely wore the amulet on a cord around his neck for protection before transitioning into the afterlife. His grave also boasted an incense bowl and a jug made of fired clay.

Researchers consider him the “first Christian north of the Alps,” and speculate that there could be more historical, untapped Christian burial sites around Europe. 

“This extraordinary find affects many areas of research and will keep science busy for a long time to come,” said Ina Hartwig, Frankfurt’s head of culture and science. 

“This affects archaeology as well as religious studies, philology and anthropology,” she continued. “Such a significant find here in Frankfurt is really something extraordinary.”

[historicity-was-already-taken]

Very cool study titled "Recommendations for Gaming and Play in Holocaust Memory and Education" just dropped on my linkedin feed, via study contributor Dr. Christine Beresniova.

Its opening paragraphs read:

Digital games are becoming increasingly significant within Holocaust memory and education as professional memory institutions continue to explore the affordances of integrating digital technologies. The so-called Holocaust gaming taboo which has burdened both the mainstream gaming industry and small indie studios seems to show signs of lifting. Scholars have pointed out that major FPS (first-person shooter) franchises such as Wolfenstein and Call of Duty have only teetered on representation of this past, often taking liberty with Nazi themes while placing the Holocaust within the margins or completely eliding the persecution of European Jewry altogether. At the other end of the spectrum, game designers working with small budget proposals had been “promptly pressured to abandon the project” due to the backlash in public discourse, often prompted by professional Holocaust organisations denouncing the very premise of Holocaust games. However, the rising prominence of indie studios such as Paintbucket Games responsible for the historical resistance sim Through the Darkest of Times (2020), as well as the recent Forced Abroad (2022) and The Darkest Files (forthcoming), and Prague-based studio Charles Games who have produced Attentat 1942 (2017); Liberation Svoboda 1945 (2021) and Train to Sachsenhausen (2022) mark the significant shift underway. Indeed, professional Holocaust memory institutions such as the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial and the Arolsen Archives are working in collaboration with game designers and developers to produce digital games on the subject. Furthermore, one designer, who faced public backlash for a game project designed as early as 2013, has since released The Light in the Darkness (Voices of the Forgotten, 2023) and is responsible for creating the first Holocaust Museum in Fortnite (Epic Games, 2023). This would not be the first Holocaust museum in a gaming environment, however. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum launched ‘Witnessing History: Kristallnacht, the 1938 Pogroms’ in Second Life (c. 2008). The proliferation of interest in the medium’s potential to offer new modes for engaging with the past raises critical questions regarding opportunities for digital Holocaust memory practice, while also bringing into sharp focus issues regarding player/user experience, contextualisation, accessibility, funding and digital obsolescence. This report serves as an important first step in this work.

You may read the full report here. I'll be reading it later today or tomorrow. Very excited engage with this new(ish) terrain of Holocaust memory construction!

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 7 June 1954, British mathematician and pioneering thinker in the field of artificial intelligence Alan Turing died of cyanide poisoning at the age of 41. Turing had also helped the Allies win World War II by decoding encrypted Nazi communications, and after the war helped develop some of the earliest digital computers. In 1952, he was convicted of "gross indecency" for homosexuality and sentenced to chemical castration by the state as punishment. His death was officially ruled a suicide, in response to the persecution he had been suffering. However, the police investigation of his death was entirely inadequate. And while they concluded he deliberately ingested cyanide from an apple, they failed to test the apple for the presence of cyanide. Alternative explanations for his death were that he could have accidentally inhaled cyanide from an experiment, or that British security services killed him to prevent state secrets being passed on to the Soviet Union, which was a common fear held about LGBT+ people whom they typically considered a security risk. Years of campaigning against the legacy of UK state homophobia eventually resulted in Turing receiving a posthumous pardon in 2013, as well as the passing of the so-called Turing's Law, which granted posthumous pardons to nearly 50,000 other men convicted of "gross indecency" for same-sex relations. This Pride month, learn more LGBT+ history in our podcast series: https://workingclasshistory.com/tag/lgbtq/ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=639839551522597&set=a.602588028581083&type=3

[theblackjinx]

I finally got to reveal this guy during session last week. I will admit there were times I couldn't draw because he made me...feel things XD

He's the BBEG, so I just had to make sure he had a presence.

Commission form

[lightman2120]

I will never take the mark. I stand with Jesus.