#District Development Council

[townpostin]

Bagbera Water Supply Scheme to Launch Before Durga Puja

Project delayed due to railway bridge issues; 60% of pipeline work completed Jamshedpur’s long-awaited Bagbera water supply project is set to become operational before the Durga Puja festival. JAMSHEDPUR – The Bagbera water supply scheme in Jamshedpur, delayed for years, is now slated to begin operations before the upcoming Durga Puja festival. Executive Engineer clarified the delay was caused by…

[shrawfrog]

Not in My Back Yard...

My take on Parish Council Meetings and Village Development

Nothing like a parish council meeting to remind oneself how intolerant some people are and how some people must struggle to go about their daily lives before kicking off about something or other; angry people, usually older, usually right leaning and usually with a few quid in their pockets of which they will not be willing to share as to where it came from, apart from the “i worked bloody hard…

[kupwaratimes-fan]

District Development Council Kupwara convenes review meeting

District Development Council Kupwara convenes review meeting KUPWARA, July 12: In order to review the progress of the Capex Budget 2023-24, a meeting of the District Development Council was convened, Wednesday, at Meeting Hall of DC office Complex. The meeting was chaired by Chairman District Development Council Kupwara, Irfan Sultan Panditpori. VC DDC, Haji Farooq Mir, District Development…

[otaku553]

I am making an AU that is Sooooo self indulgent

ASL x Nine Sols crossover :)

Don’t ask me for context because I have none!! Usually I enjoy crossovers but I think Nine Sols is an amazing standalone piece of media that is very difficult to fit other characters into reasonably given the setting and circumstances. I feel like trying to add characters from other media to it would take away from the narrative strengths of the game— the way everything is centric on the Tao and fighting by deflecting and inaction and how death is such a key part of Yi’s journey and character development and the path for all solarians in general.

In short, I just wanted to see ASL as little cat people and that is why this exists :) I like when they’re just Here and There with no reason and people are like “what. How did you even get here”

I am at present also working on hanfu designs for the three of them so this is a little teaser :))) I’m especially proud of some of the little details— on Sabo’s sleeves are the characters 革命 for 革命軍, the revolutionary army, and the dragon on his robe also has three horns to match the revolutionary flag. Then on Ace’s glasses on his hat, the characters are 笑 and 哭 in place of his usual smiley and sad face. I had some ideas for Luffy but in the interest of keeping his design simple his design is a lot more plain.

I imagine it as a side quest for Yi to go around New Kunlun and help the brothers find each other. I have no clue how they would have gotten into New Kunlun in the first place, or how they would survive for so long without Vital Sanctums and soulscapes. Maybe they just have their own spaceship and happened upon New Kunlun and managed to get on before all Dusk Guardians disappeared, and then got separated while on the ship and individually hid around different places to avoid both the Tianhuo and the mutants?

I feel like Ace would chill around the factory area since he’s most at home with fire. Maybe he would venture out to the agricultural area once in a while to grab food. Sabo would camp out near the Empyrean District passages. He’s not suicidal enough to go around the Empyrean District itself, especially after finding out that the weird monsters there don’t die. I think he would have some grudge against the Tiandao Council for being composed mostly of the rich and powerful. The Fengs are especially high up on his shit list, which is why he hangs out in the empyrean district in the first place. And Luffy,,, somehow would just be in the four seasons pavilion, I think. He finds a way to sneak in, probably pretty easily while Yi is in hiding because the security is down without Abacus activated.

[odinsblog]

Land and Housing

As a result of decades of land confiscations and discriminatory land policies, Israeli authorities have hemmed in Palestinian towns and villages, while nurturing the growth and expansion of Jewish communities, many of which in practice exclude Palestinians. The majority of Palestinians in Israel live in these communities, while some live in “mixed cities” like Tel Aviv-Jaffa and Haifa.

Ninety-three percent of all land in Israel constitutes state land, directly controlled by the Israeli government. Israeli authorities confiscated much of this land, several million dunams, from Palestinians through several different legal instruments, as documented in a later chapter of this report. A government agency, the Israel Land Authority (ILA), manages and allocates state lands. Almost half the members of its governing body belong to the JNF, whose explicit mandate is to develop and lease land for Jews and not any other segment of the population. The fund owns 13 percent of Israel’s land, which the state is mandated to use “for the purpose of settling Jews.”

Israeli authorities have almost exclusively allocated state lands for the development and expansion of Jewish communities. Since 1948, the government has authorized the creation of more than 900 “Jewish localities” in Israel, but none for Palestinians except for a handful of government-planned townships and villages in the Negev and Galilee, created largely to concentrate previously displaced Bedouin communities. Less than 3 percent of all land in Israel falls under the jurisdiction of Palestinian municipalities, where the majority of Palestinian citizens live, according to a 2017 estimate by Israeli and Palestinian groups.

Even inside Palestinian towns and villages within Israel, Israeli authorities discriminatorily restrict the land available for residential growth. The authorities have zoned large sections of Palestinian towns and villages for “agricultural” use or as “green” areas, prohibited residential building in them, and built roads and other infrastructure projects that impede expansion. A 2003 Israeli government-commissioned report found that “many Arab towns and villages were surrounded by land designated for purposes such as security zones, Jewish regional councils, national parks and nature reserves or highways, which prevent or impede the possibility of their expansion in the future.”

While increasing focus in recent years on these issues has resulted in more state-approved residential development, they have done little to date to change the reality of hemmed-in Palestinian towns and villages. By contrast, in case studies documented by Human Rights Watch in each of Israel’s six districts, planning authorities provided sufficient land and zoning permissions to predominantly Jewish communities to facilitate their growth.

(continue reading)

[phoward89]

Based on this ask

Senator!Coriolanus x Reader

WARNING ⚠️ Smut, oral (f receiving), p in v, porn with plot, degradation

Working in the lab at the Citadel’s a very important job. It's also a very meticulous job; one that had to be done just right or else something bad could happen. Especially with all of the mutts being experimented on or created.

Some things are still leftover from when Dr. Gaul ran the lab. But they were locked up tight and blocked off by Coriolanus Snow when he took over the lab and became Head Gamemaker shortly after Dr. Gaul's tragic and accidental death.

It's such a shame that the mad scientist slipped and fell into her pool of deadly eels.

Anyways, you met Coriolanus Snow when he was Dr. Gaul's assistant and you took a student internship for a science credit. You developed a civil banter that turned into a comadre; you impressed him so much with your wits that he pleaded with Dr. Gaul to give you a position as an assistant gamemaker. As his assistant.

Dr. Gaul begrudgingly did; then a week or so later she tragically died in a lab accident with her beloved eels.

So, you and Coriolanus, who in time insisted that you call him Coryo after becoming friendly with one another, worked side by side to make the games a spectacle. A true show to dazzle Capitol City and punish the Districts for their digressions; their shortcomings. And together the two of you truly did revolutionize the games.

But, Coriolanus Snow had bigger ambitions. He wanted to run for President of Panem once old and decrepit President Ravenstill kicked the bucket. But before he could do that he had to get into politics. He had to climb up the political ladder by becoming a senator and being given seats on important councils and departments.

But, of course, since Coriolanus was very charming with a silver tongue he was elected to the Senate. He also stepped down from his role as Head Gamemaker to focus fully on politics. He told President Ravenstill that he felt that you should be named his successor and given the position of Head Gamemaker, but the old goat listened to his personal council and cabinet; gave the job of Head Gamemaker to Ragno Crane, the older brother of Arachne Crane (who was killed by her tribute after teasing her with a water bottle thru the zoo bars).

To say that Coriolanus was livid would be an understatement. He was furious; felt that you deserved his old job as Head Gamemaker. Coriolanus just couldn't fathom why you didn't get the position.

So, you remained a lab rat while he went on to bigger and better things. Becoming Senator Snow. But you still remained friends and kept in touch.

And his touch is something that you'll definitely need one day after a stupid lab accident with Pollen #69.

It started out as a normal day in the lab. Or at least it was until Ragno Crane unsealed a vault that Coriolanus had sealed years ago. Oh, and your boss told you and the other lab rats to grab the petri dishes from the vault and start to conduct tests. Of course, as your luck would go, you got stuck with the pollen named Pollen #69. Unknown to you, it's sex pollen.

Yes!

Pollen #69 is sex pollen; when inhaled it makes the person who inhaled it insanely horny and its effects can last for hours.

Hours!

And of cours, it was locked up with other things that Dr. Gaul was experimenting on that Coriolanus thought was too dangerous to put inside of the arena or to use as a biological weapon. But, Head gamemaker Ragno Crane thought he was a big shot that knew better then his predecessor and threw all of Coriolanus’ notes about the job into the shredder.

And, of course, you breathed in the pollen while conducting a test with it in a test tube with some chemical solution to find out its reaction. A couple of minutes after inhaling the pollen you start to feel extremely clammy and, for some strange reason, your pussy’s starting to pool and ache. You try to ignore it, but you feel like your about to go insane as the minutes tick by.

What the hell is going on?

You knew that your boss wouldn't have the answers, so you called the only person you knew that would.

Senator Snow.

“Y/N, darling, I'm at the office. If this isn't an emergency, you shouldn't be calling me.” Coriolanus chastised you when he answered his phone. But as soon as he noticed the sweat trickling down your brow and the way your chest was heaving via the video call, he grew instantly concerned. “Darling, what's wrong? Did something happen to you in the lab?” He asked, eyes transfixed on your form as you stood a few feet away from your lab station.

“Ragno opened up that vault you had all of the scraped projects seal off in. He assigned us all to start experimenting on the petri dishes and I was assigned Pollen #69-” You start to explain, only to be cut off by Coriolanus asking you, “Did you breathe any of it in?”, while looking at you with worried baby blue eyes.

“Yes, I think so. And now I feel like a bitch in heat.” You crassly tell Coryo, since that's truly the only way to explain how horny you're starting to feel.

“Pollen #69 is sex pollen. Whoever inhales it gets horny to a level that it'll drive them insane, absolutely mad, if they don't get satisfied.” Coryo explained, causing your eyes to pop out of your head. “I advise you to toss that petri dish into the furnace and get to my penthouse immediately. I'll be there soon to, uh, help you out with your sex pollen problem.”

“Coryo, you don't have to do that. We're friends and-” You start to say, trying to give him an out since you don't want him to feel like he has to fuck you so you don't go crazy, but of course he currly cuts you off.

“Y/N, you don't have a steady boyfriend. And as you've stated we're friends, so just let me fuck you til the pollen wears off.”

Fucking Coriolanus didn't sound that bad. He's a very handsome man, after all. And every woman in the Capitol, both taken and single, swoons over him. You'd be a fool to turn down his help. And your mama didn't raise no fool.

“I'll be at your penthouse in half an hour.” You relent, only because you need some relief. Your hormones are thru the roof; betraying you all because of the sex pollen.

“Good.” The platinum haired senator gives you a tight lipped smile. “I'll see you then.”

Half an hour later you're in Coryo's penthouse, splayed out on his bed with your legs spread as wide as they'll go while his platinum blonde head’s buried between them as he laps at your wet cunt with such fervor. You let out little moans every time you feel his tongue dip inside your tight hole, fucking you, only to slide along your wet slit and flicker against your swollen clit.

“Coryo…” You moan, feeling your back arch as he begins sucking on your clit. “Oh god, that feels so good.” You moan once again as Coryo slips one of his fingers into your pussy.

Coryo’s hot breath fanned over your soaking and aching cunt as he told you, “Fuck, your cunt’s so greedy. She's sucking my finger right in.”, while looking at the way your cunt was clenching around his long finger as he started to finger you.

“More, Coryo. Add another finger, please.” You beg, still craving to be filled, as you feel his finger curl up and brush against your special spongy spot deep inside of you.

“Such a greedy lil cunt, wanting more of my fingers.” He chuckled against your pussy, only to follow your request and add a second finger.

“Ooo…” You whine, feeling like you're about to die and go to heaven once the cool weight of the chunky gold ring on his finger meets the wet hot heat of your cunt. “That feels so good, Coryo.”

“I know it does, my dirty lil slut.” Coriolanus smugly says before wrapping his lips around your puffy clit once more.

Your breathing starts to hitch as you feel pleasure start to bubble up. “Coryo…” You mewl, feeling yourself get closer to the edge.

Coryo's quickly shoved his fingers in and out of your dripping wet cunt, curling them to hit your special spongy spot just right, as his tongue flickered over your clit. He began to use his tongue to trace the letters of his name on your clit, all while finger fucking you furiously.

But because of the sex pollen you weren't satisfied. Far from it.

Between his tongue and his fingers, you cum with a mix of curses and Coryo's name on your lips.

You and Coryo are both panting, sweaty messes as he holds your legs up, pressing them into your chest and he fucks you deep with his long, thick cock. Your tight, abused hole’s stretched to the limit with his cock and is leaking with a mix of both of your cum. The sheets underneath you’s so soak that they're most likely ruined.

You don't even know what round you're on right now, but you do know that you can't feel your legs anymore. You don't know how Coryo's still on his knees, drilling you quickly. He has to be getting tired, the way his body glistens with a sheen of sweat gives way to the fact that he's been fucking you for only gods knows how long.

Between fucking you and eating you out, you know that Coryo must be feeling the weight of exhaustion hitting his shoulders.

“Fuck, baby, your cunt's so wet an’ tight for me.” Coryo moans, his words nearly slurring, as his cock pumps in and out of you.

The loud, wet squelching of your pussy being pounded lewdy echoes throughout the room; mingling with the moans and mewls you and the senator make. The slapping of skin against skin is also heard, adding to the chorus of lewd noises echoing out.

“Coryo, I'm so close.” You nearly gasp, feeling Coryo's cum heavy balls smacking against your pussy that's being fucked raw. Your nails dig into his pale back, tracing over previous scratches and breaking the skin.

“Fuck…” Coryo hissed, feeling the scratches on his back being open by your nails; causing blood to trickle down his back like a waterfall. “I'm gonna make ya cum so hard, baby, you ain't gonna be walking right for a week.” Coryo promising you, tossing your legs over his shoulders and fucking into you with every ounce of speed he could muster.

A tired smirk painted his lips as snaked a hand between your connected bodies and began to rub your swollen clit with the pad of his thumb. You let out a yelp that was half pleasure, half pain from the sensations shooting thru that bundle of nerves Coryo was playing with.

“I know you're oversensitive, baby. I am too.” He told you as his thrusts began to get sloppier.

“Coryo, please, it's too much.” You cry, finally feeling the sex pollen begin to wear off, resulting in you being an oversensitive mess.

“It's not too much, baby.” Coryo snapped, his hips bucking wildly against yours.

Your knees are draped over his shoulders, nearly smacking against your ears, as he moves flush against you. His chiseled chest brushes against your bouncing tits; the friction against your sensitive nipples sends jolts of pleasure straight to your weeping, aching core. He's literally bending your body in half, one of his hands tightly grips your thigh- his fingers digging into the meat and imprinting crescent marks into the soft skin; his other hand flat on the mattress, near your head, to balance himself as his legs begin to burn with every fast, but desperately sloppy movement he makes.

“Be a good lil slut and take it.” He grunts. “Your such a dirty girl, drenching my cock as I fuck you dumb for hours.”

“Oh, oh god…” You moan, feeling his tip hitting your g-spot just right.

“Not god, Y/N. Just your Coryo.” The platinum blonde Adonis said with feigned humbleness in his husky baritone.

“I-I think I'm gonna cum.” You babble out, starting to thrash underneath the touch of the senator that's pulling the last ounce of pleasure from your nearly spent body.

“Cum right now, baby. Cum on my cock right now.” Coryo orders, his hips stunting slightly from the fatigue that's now starting to hit him, as he roughly pinches your clit; sending you tumbling over the edge of pleasure.

Coryo fucks you thru your orgasm, smirking as you moan out a string of curses accompanied by his name. Despite running on empty, he's still able to give you mind blowing pleasure. His movements get sloppy and uneven as your cunt squeezes his cock just right.

“Oh, fuck.” Coryo groans, nearly collapsing on you as he cums, painting your inner walls white with his warm seed.

Lifting your knees off of his shoulders and letting them go, causing them to flop bonelessly on the bed, he rolls off on you. Laying by your side, he struggles to catch his breath. Looking at you, sweat rolling down his brow and dripping into his icy eyes, he wonders, “Need another round or you good?”

“I'm good.” You tell him, breasts heaving up and down with every breath you take. Turning your head to look at him, you smile, “The pollen's worn off now.”

Coriolanus moves a sweat plastered piece of hair from your forehead while drowsily smiling. “Wanna go out for dinner once we can walk?”

“We've been fucking for hours on end, but you want to take me out for dinner?” You ask incredulously, finding the entire situation you're in to be surreal.

“Y/N, my darling rose, I usually take a woman as stunning as you out for dinner first before bringing her to my bed, but dire circumstances call for extreme measures and I had to bring you to my bed straight away before dinner.”

“We never had a dinner date planned, Coryo.” You remind him in a tiny giggle.

A giggle that made his too sensitive cock twitch.

“No, but we would've had one planned eventually.” The platinum blonde says matter of factly. Pushing himself up and his elbow l, he asks, “So, how about dinner when we're recovered?”

You bite your bottom lip, pretending to ponder your answer. Of course, you're going to say yes. After the blonde giving you mind blowing hours upon hours of sex, you'd be a fool to reject him. Senator Coriolanus Snow’s the entire package: handsome, wealthy, and a sex god.

“Okay.” You tell him, struggling to hold back a smile. “I'll go out with you.”

Coryo leans over and presses a chaste kiss to your lips, a kiss you try to chase as he pulls away. He chuckles at you pouting over the too short kiss. The bops your nose with his finger before pushing himself to sit up. “I'm gonna get us some water and then run us a bath.”

“You might have to help me to the bath, my legs feel like jello.” You tell him as he rises from the bed on unsteady, long legs- reminding you of Bambi taking his first steps.

“Don't worry, I'll help you, baby.” Coryo assures you before walking out of his room to prepare some things for your aftercare routine.

As you lay in his king-sized bed, tangled in wet sheets soak with your mixed fluids, you can't help, but to be thankful that you got assigned Pollen #69. It did, after all, help your friendship with Coriolanus turn into a relationship. A relationship that you know will have a very intense sex life.

Tags: @kuroosbby001 @purriteen @poppyflower-22 @meetmeatyourworst @whipwhoops @bxtchopolis @readingthingsonhere @savagenctzen @ryswritingrecord @erikasurfer @tulips2715 @universal-s1ut @thesmutconnoisseur @squidscottjeans @sudek4l @wearemadeofstardust0 @mashiromochi @gracieroxzy @belcalis9503 @shari-berri @aoi-targaryen @whiteoakoak @spear-bearing-bi-witch @gisellesprettylies @loverandqueenofdragons @qoopeeya @mfnqueen1 @permanentlyexhaustedpigeon88 @v-love @swiftieblyth @joyfulyouthlover @lady-harvey @chxrrybomb22 @marvel-hiddles-stark @xjinnix @devils-blackrose @zombicupcake3 @jacesvelaryons @tempt-ress

[aeolianblues]

I saw this company that sells like Bluetooth vibrating air drums or whatever you want to call them, and it’s so obvious what their purpose is that it makes me really sad. We went from drum kits to those black/deadened practice kits for practising at home, to eventually having people in rented accommodation being so worried about noise complaints and/or losing their place of living that they’ve had to create drum-less drums. 100% the reason for this is not wanting to get evicted. Living in matchbox houses with paper thin walls of cheap and in-no-way soundproof material, packed so close you’re a stone’s throw from your neighbours, you’ve silenced the drumkit entirely.

Is it any surprise then that people aren’t forming bands? Is it a surprise that artists moved from bands rehearsing in basements and garages in houses, to samples, electronic drumkits, midi, solo ‘bedroom’ stuff, even as we lose more and more rehearsal spaces, and schools stop offering kids musical lessons because they must be inferior to subjects that lead to a job in IT or finance? We lose youth centres, community spaces, musical spaces, and everyone’s world gets a little quieter.

Gentrification. People move into the ‘fun’ parts of town and then file complaints against all the ‘fun’ stuff. Bye bye La Tulipe, they gave a developer a building permit in the fucking downtown culture and entertainment district and now the residents are filing complaints. City councils are so afraid of the word 'rave', they don't know what it means but they think it means 'illicit drugs-taking event' and want to ban any instance of it. The raves move out of the city, to a little space under the national highway, or leave the city entirely.

I wanted to take a walking tour of historically important music sites in London, such as important venues, clubs, studios, the Blitz where the New Romantic kids first congregated for their David Bowie nights, the café where all the musicians including the Beatles would go down to to meet people when they decided the only way to make it in the music industry was to move to London. 3/4 of that tour involved looking for ghosts: empty spaces, corporate offices and residence buildings sitting on the burial grounds of moments of cultural significance. I didn’t do the tour, I don’t think I could bear to look at these places, to try and imagine what they once were and what their neighbours were.

It’s the same with these drums too. I know the makers only want to do good, bless them for that, and I don’t doubt a lot of people will find this a better practice solution than midi because it still sort of has that unquantised feel of a real person hitting sticks— although I suppose if you really think about it, it still is just a midi controller but with a vibrating haptic response. Next you’ll say drums can be done on AR or VR I suppose. It will still make me sad.

It saddens me that we lose so much of the spirit of art and culture to dilution. People trying to make the music quieter so as to not offend the neighbours, even as their spaces get slowly choked out. Writers being unable (/less freely able) to explore darker themes so as to not set the dogs of the ‘problematic writing police’ on them. Artists presenting as less dramatic so as to not appear ‘weird’ to an uninvested audience; TikTok’s obsession with their straitjacketed definition of ‘authenticity’. Making fun of anyone who dares to dress weird, look different, say something new. I see it everywhere. Art gets diluted to become palatable, and in doing so it loses its ability to express itself and say something that needs to be said.

I don’t know. Some could look at it as the weird, twisted, fucked up plant growing through cracks in the pavement, doing what it can to reach the sunlight. Art surviving despite everything, somehow being more poignant and having more important things to say as a result.

But even a 22h candle has an end. We’ve got to do more to protect our artistic spaces and outlets, and the ability to create without fear, or ae risk losing it forever. It takes just one generation to train out habits; we see it with other obsolete things, let’s not let art be one of those.

[frostybearpaws]

See Fic Summaries Below:

recipe for pain: follows Corin Revek as he drowns himself in his work to avoid thinking about the neurodegenerative disease that is slowly eating away at his daughter. At the same time riots in Zaun have heated up, Piltover charges their scientists to create a series of war machines they can use to quell the uprisings. Corin is forced to split his attention between his research to save his daughter and doing the council's bidding.

the cure to happiness: details Corin Revek's illegally branches his experiments off into his own research, adding genes and playing with the generated specimens meant to be launched on zaunite citizens. He is discovered and his research is launched with the rest of the batch.

the sun district massacre: Piltover's attempt to silence the uprising in Zaun backfires horribly as their creations turn feral and begin attacking indiscriminately. (Surprise, surprise, said no one with a brain.) The zaunites manage to corner the beasts into the sun district and kill them off, leading to heavy loss of life but eventual victory.

a fallen angel: Silco is deformed and looked down upon by those in his community due to his origin of a harvest survivor. He's known this his whole life. One day while attempting to escape a bang of rivals he falls between a crack in the earth and meets a strange and terrifying creature. He develops a sense of comradery and slowly begins to drift away from his other friends.

from a field of periwinkle: Details the first few years of Sevika's life after she emerges from her gestational pod four hundred years too late. Sevika wasn't always a fearsome creature, she was once a thin, pale thing shimmering with birth fluid and wide, blind eyes.

[lizzaneia-elizalde]

Male Yandere Husband x Pregnant Female Stepford Wife Reader

(I don’t think you’ve done anything like this yet? So if not, think you can try?)

I want him to be a master manipulator, but really delusional in a loving/devoted sense. Believing that what he’s doing is for our best interest, as well as the baby’s. That includes confining us at home, always being with us 24/7 when we’re outside our home, etc. And generally getting us to be 100% dependent on him, (like we already weren’t heavily dependent on him before…)

Thank you!!! 💝

Yandere! Husband! Politician x Pregnant! Fem! Stepford! Wife! Reader

SORRY IT TOOK ME LONG TO GET THIS REQUEST DONE!

I had a hard time incorporating the yandere stuff with such a willing reader, but I tried LOL.

This one's only got two sections, since the both of you are married already, so it went straight to the yandere-ness.

But here ya go! Requests will be back on once more!

BTW, the master list is up now! It's my pinned post.

Yandere! Politician name: Maximus

Maximus.

Just like his name, he was the greatest Politician out there. Whatever that means.

He's charming, intuitive, generous, kind, and compassionate.

Every election season, if you ask people who will they vote as a mayor or whatever position Maximus ran as, they'll say

"Isn't it obvious? Of course it's Maximus!"

So it didn't faze the people that he won whenever he ran.

As young as he is, he's always been active in the political sphere. From the student council, he's always been in the highest positions out there. Secretary, Vice President, and President.

Hell, if you ask him to do treasury, then he'll gladly accept and do it much better than the current treasurer or auditor. No specks, no crumbs, a clean liquidation sheet.

And when he graduated as the University president, local parties flocked towards him to invite him in their political party.

So many choices for the great Maximus.

After many days of researching and finding out the dirt, secrets, strengths, and weaknesses of each political party, he chose a party suited for the straight laced man.

That, and that you were there.

You were the unlisted assistant of your father, who was running as vice mayor, and is finding a mayor to be with.

This was perfect.

Maximus has always liked you.

Scratch that.

He always loved you.

You were the daughter of a well known governor inside your city. Pristine, shy, quiet, and always had a smile in your face, everyone back in school liked you. You were the epitome of etiquette and manners. If parents want somebody to compare to their child to belittle them, it would be you, little miss perfect.

Both of you live in a small city, almost a town size. So everyone knew each other, and you both lived in the same district.

it's just that he didn't fly under your radar from how busy he is.

Unlike your father, you never joined politics. You just sat there, studied, did some small knitting projects or sewing. Maybe even drawing if you felt like it.

At first, Maximus didn't really pay you any attention, until he heard your conversation with your friends.

"What? Seriously?"

"I am serious." Your melodious laugh echoed through the empty halls. It was already 5pm, and only a handful of students are left.

"But... That's so traditional lol."

"I know, but really. I just want to stay at home, serve my husband, take care of our kids... You know, the gist."

"But, you said you'll do Social work, Home eco, or culinary in Uni. So what's up with that?"

You just smiled at your friends until they said "oh..." in understanding.

Those courses can help develop your home rearing skills.

"I mean, sure. If you're happy with that." One of your friends finally broke the silence, followed by "meh's..." "eh..." and grunts of approval.

"Thank you for accepting for who I am." You smiled once more at them and they gave you an understanding grin.

Then and there, Maximus became curious about you.

Maximus also had a traditional way of thinking. Not all women, but his wife should just be staying pretty in his home, while taking care of their children...

He knew that only a small percentage of people would be open to that notion, and he was fine with it.

It did made him feel lonely sometimes. He's always dreamt of a domestic life, but the woman is always a faceless grey glob. He just can't see somebody in his life who would be willing to be like that.

So when he heard your conversation, that night in his dreams, he woke up sweating and confused when the faceless glob greeted him. But rather than the glob, it was you. Smiling with two children who looked like the exact perfect mix of the both of you.

"What the fuck..." He breathed out of his mouth, shaking his head.

Now, every night, his dreams were infiltrated with you.

And that started in highschool, all throughout University, up until you both graduated.

Your paths never crossed once more, since he's in AP classes most of the time, both of you were on different blocks in senior highschool despite having the same strand, and he chose Political Science in University while you did BS in Home Economics. But he always peeled his eyes for you. Dismissal, lunch, even breaks.

His friends teased him for having such a long time crush, and he just laughed and waved his hand.

And when the both of you graduated, he's about to confess his feelings when he saw you talking with a man, with eyes so wide and filled with adoration.

He felt his heart break.

He was numb, standing there and looking at you interact with the man who was smiling down at you with a ruffle on your hair.

He felt irrationally jealous.

Wait, him? Jealous?

He never felt jealous.

Did he?

He doesn't know anymore.

All he could see is you holding a bouquet of lilies and smelling it while the man hugged you.

He wants to rip the man limb from limb, desecrate his body, and feed it to the alligators.

Why is he wrapping his arms around you like that? He never heard you getting a boyfriend?

And he has a lot of connections to know.

Then he scoffed, like a breath of fresh air rushing into his lungs.

He needed a break.

When did he act like this? When did he become so...

He doesn't even know what it's called.

He's always been a good man. One that doesn't know anger, jealousy, possessiveness...

But what's this? Feelings that stirred inside him threatened to spill out.

So he ran away before it would get worse.

Years later, seeing your name in that certain partylist, he knew he had to join it. Just for a one sided closure he needed.

"Hello! You're Y/N right? You went to the same... School as me!" Maximus said, leaning his upper body to meet your face. His face soft, gentle, and mellow.

"O-oh! Hello sir Maximus! I knew we did, but I didn't know you knew me..." You shyly answered, your thumb brushing against the back of your other hand.

Maximus gulped.

He didn't realize how much he is missing you.

His eyes scanned towards your desk and his eyes widened a bit when he saw the man once more with you in a photo, but this time, with your father and mother.

So, with his trembling lips from the sudden hope bubbling inside him, he pointed.

"Is that your family?" He whispered and you nodded with a soft smile of adoration.

"Yes. I love them a lot." You said, caressing the photo. "That's my dad, mom, and my big brother."

"Oh! That's amazing. It's rare to see a tight knit family nowadays. I mean, families falling left and right, can't people just communicate and--" Maximus rambled, not even caring if the things he's saying is insensitive. He was just so happy that he actually has a chance to woo you.

"Is that so? I mean, my family had fallouts, and sometimes communication is not enough. Actions speak louder than words, of course." You said, carrying the conversation further.

Maximus grinned before taking a seat beside you and talking about deep, familial stuff. With him sprinkling hints of him being a traditional man.

You didn't miss the hints, evident from the blush forming on your cheeks and the shyness emanating from your words faltering.

And he found it adorable.

Once you both ran out of things to debate, he held your hand gently.

"Hey, y/n, what do you think about going on a date with me?"

The rest is history.

"Darling, I'm home!" Maximus yelled once he got inside the mansion. "Today was a bit of a mess..."

Maximus heard an excited gasp and shuffling before he saw you waddling towards him, with a 7 month pregnant belly.

"Welcome home, darling." You greeted him with the smile he loves.

You took off his coat and hung it on the rack, before guiding him towards the kitchen.

"I helped cook today! The dinner for this night is lamb ch... Maximus?"

Maximus has a frown on his face, looking at you with such a disapproving look.

"Darling, why are you working in the kitchen?" He gently asked, caressing your belly. "You're pregnant, you need to rest always!"

You shrunk down a bit, sad.

"But I want to serve you again..."

Maximus' eyes softened at your words before giving you a loving kiss on your forehead.

"I know, darling. But that's what the chefs are for right? The servants too. I hired them to take care of you. Of us." He said, guiding you to the couch and gently sitting you down. "I don't want you getting tired. You're already being burdened by being pregnant and nurturing our child."

You nodded, easily swayed by his words.

"I know... Give me a kiss?" You asked, tilting your head up. He chuckled and gave you a soft peck.

"There. Now stay there, alright? We'll be eating here in the living room. You're already walking too much." Maximus said before hugging you and going to the kitchen.

Once he got to the kitchen, he grabbed a knife and threw it at the chef that was already cowering in the corner.

"Why did you let Y/N work?" He growled out, his eyes sharp, deadly, and authoritative.

Ever since you got married to Maximus, his protectiveness shot through the roof. He doesn't like it when he doesn't know where you are, he doesn't know when he doesn't know what you are doing, he doesn't like it if you talked to people he doesn't know personally.

He installed cameras, mics, and planted people around you that he knew he can scare into submission.

Especially now you're pregnant, he's making sure you always stayed beside him.

When did he become so twisted, from the nice, generous, and kind politician, to something like... Him?

"S-sir, the madam insisted on cooking for you!" The chef trembled out.

You were a rare type of woman who was so open to just being at home, and be the wife he needed to see every time he goes home.

He can't let you go.

Ever.

Maximus sneered and bit his nail, eyes sharp with thoughts.

"I need to drill in more thoughts into her pretty head..." Maximus grumbled.

You were already so willing just being inside the mansion, and so open to his manipulation that you weren't aware of.

He told you that you don't need to go out, that the world was a scary place for a wife like you. And that whenever you go out, you needed to be by his side.

He's already working so hard serving the city, and serving you is a bonus, and a privilege.

He's so occupied with taking care of the place both of you growing up, yet had the time, love, affection, and care to single you out and shower you with his attention. Why would you need to do anything other than serving him as his wife? That's blasphemy, and selfish.

He drilled that in your mind.

And you were so accepting of the fact too.

"If she insisted on helping in the kitchen once more, tell her 'what would sir think?', okay?" He spat out at the poor chef before suddenly smiling. "Don't tell anybody this, or else your family gets it."

He walked away with a triumphant smile and grabbed the food from the counter.

He walked towards you, and saw you scratching your cheek softly confused and scared, almost.

"What's wrong, darling?" Maximus asked, worry etched on his face as he sat down beside you.

"Oh, uh, I just..." You gave him your phone, which was ringing with the number of the exclusive nursery room designer he hired. "C-can you talk to him? I don't know what to do..."

Maximus shivered, seeing you so dependent on him.

Clueless on what to do, on what to say.

He smiled before taking the call for you, with his hand holding yours.

You didn't even start eating yet, waiting for his words to start.

His cute little wife can't even eat by herself.

How... perfect.

This was his perfect life.

With the perfect wife.

And he'll be damned if he didn't protect this.

If he didn't protect you.

So just be swayed with his words and put yourself in his palm.

He will make sure you are well taken care of, and that your pretty little brain will not hurt from thinking too much.

That's a promise.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Canary Media:

The Trump administration has ordered federal agencies to ​“immediately pause the disbursement of funds” under the landmark federal climate and energy laws passed during the Biden administration, a move that will throw tens of billions of dollars of lawfully designated federal funding into limbo — and one that is likely to be challenged in court.

The pause on disbursing funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is laid out in a section of a broader executive order on ​“Unleashing American Energy,” entitled ​“Terminating the Green New Deal.”

The order calls on federal agencies to halt all disbursements under the two laws while they ​“review their processes, policies, and programs for issuing grants, loans, contracts, or any other financial disbursements of such appropriated funds for consistency with the law.” It gives federal agencies 90 days to report to the director of the Office of Management and Budget and the head of the National Economic Council on how the frozen spending aligns with the administration’s overall energy goals.

Incoming administrations often call for temporary freezes and reviews of federal agency actions ordered by their predecessors. But it is far less common for executive orders to make federal agencies halt spending on programs mandated in laws passed by Congress.

The order is likely to cause significant confusion for the many government entities and private-sector companies that have been awarded funds, Alex Kania, director of equity research at Marathon Capital, an investment banking firm focused on clean infrastructure, wrote in a Tuesday research note.

“This would obviously stop any unappropriated funding, but the halt on any disbursement suggests a broader move, such as stopping payment of funds that had already been approved and previously contracted,” Kania wrote. ​“Bottom line, these executive orders inject a lot of uncertainty into federal clean energy policy, and a turn to the courts seems likely.”

Kania noted that the executive order is unlikely to impact tax credits created by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Tax credits — not loans, grants, and contracts — make up the majority of the hundreds of billions in federal spending expected to flow from the Inflation Reduction Act, which Trump has called for rescinding entirely. But Republicans in Congress and many industry groups have warned that ending the tax credits would undermine the economic development and job growth the incentives have spurred largely in Republican districts.

Industry observers have been expecting the Trump administration to halt spending that federal agencies have yet to allocate, but the text of the executive order leaves unclear whether the freeze will also target spending that has already been ​“obligated,” or legally committed under contract. A Biden administration official told reporters on Friday that $96.7 billion in clean energy grants, or about 84 percent of grant funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, has been obligated.

That includes tens of billions in loans and loan guarantees issued by the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, which under the Biden administration supported electric-vehicle and battery factories, battery-mineral mining, processing, and recycling facilities, distributed solar and battery deployments, EV-charging projects, alternative aviation fuel operations, clean hydrogen production plants, and nuclear reactors. Of the approximately $107.57 billion Biden’s LPO awarded across across 53 deals, just under $60.62 billion consists of loans and guarantees that have been finalized and obligated, according to a Friday update from the DOE.

Obligated funding also includes the $27 billion for so-called ​“green bank” programs created by the Inflation Reduction Act, which help fund climate projects that struggle to secure private-sector loans; about $3 billion of a $5 billion grant program for electric and zero-emissions school buses; and around $5 billion in Climate Pollution Reduction Grants for states, local governments, tribes, and territories to finance plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.

Other grant-funded projects at risk include the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s $7 billion clean hydrogen hub program, for which only a fraction has been obligated, and the more than $22 billion in grants to fund power grid projects across the country, of which more than $10 billion has been awarded to utilities, companies, and state, local, and tribal governments but just a smaller slice has been obligated. Only portions of the IRA’s $8.8 billion in home-efficiency and electrification rebates and incentives and a $9.5 billion rural electrification program have been obligated.

The executive order also singles out for immediate pause the $7.5 billion in EV-charging infrastructure grants created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Of the $5 billion segment of those grants earmarked for large charging hubs along major highways and transit corridors, ​“my guess is about two-thirds of those are under contract with states,” said Loren McDonald, chief analyst of EV-charging data firm Paren. ​“And I would assume that those that are under contract could not be clawed back. How could you basically promise money for an applicant, they start construction, and then you pull it back?”

And in general, analysts say it would be difficult for Trump to undo obligated awards made by the Biden administration.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 11/19/2024

no silly little witticism here this week! just heartfelt thanks for helping me pay my rent this month :)

listening

absolutely wild pick from last week's spotify weekly recommenced, Things Will Fall Apart by Louis Cole feat the Metropole Orkest and conductor Jules Buckley. it's been on loop all week for me and im a little sad it won't pop up in my spotify wrapped

when you make a dance pop song with a full orchestra backing, it has a really interesting effect somewhere between Golden Age of Hollywood swashbuckling film score and marching band?

Yes, understood Things will fall apart just likе they should This little shred was good Don't think it through Things will fall apart, they always do At least, something's always true

the syllables are so choppy they don’t even register to me as English at first, i was fully willing to believe this was German for the first couple lines. like @dying-suffering-french-stalkers, i have a deep fondness for works about putting an era to bed. or works focused on the sunsets of things, or one of the last living practitioners of an art. putting the chairs up on the table, sweeping the floors, and turning the lights out and locking the door behind you. this song has that sort of quiet post-wake-party remembrance.

however once you think the song has ended but it keeps going, you can turn it off. you don’t really need that extra minute and a half of strings and light vocalizations.

Lately, Louis Cole has been doing live shows with the Netherlands’ Metropole Orkest and conductor Jules Buckley. Cole recorded nothing with the ensemble. In a press release, he says, “Sometimes, when I’m mixing my own solo stuff, I’ll feel like a song needs a little magical dust. But mixing an entire orchestra and your own rhythm section, there’s so much human energy! You don’t have to add any magic. It was there the whole time.”

i don’t hear many pop songs this millennium with a full orchestral backing. perhaps i need to look harder. unfortunately spotify took this extreme interest in this song as a newfound extreme interest in electroswing, which is really not what this song is. i hope this artist does more albums like this so they can wear grooves in my brain

-

reading

very hard to focus on anything book length this week. some depressing local news (my local paper's links do Not want to preview nicely here, which is annoying:

At a city council meeting in October, district Vice President Dan Joyce told council members that the management district was not attempting to "criminalize homelessness." The city’s civility ordinance bans people from sitting, lying down or placing personal items or bedding on sidewalks from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

cool piece from our pals at 404 Media. i am So fascinated by crime infrastructure

Based on interviews with malware developers, hackers who use the stolen credentials, and a review of manuals that tell new recruits how to spread the malware, 404 Media has mapped out this industry. Its end result is that a download of an innocent-looking piece of software by a single person can lead to a data breach at a multibillion-dollar company, putting Google and other tech giants in an ever-escalating cat-and-mouse game with the malware developers to keep people and companies safe.

(via longreads) my interest in how and why systems fail extends to invasive species management. plus i used to live in florida just above the everglades and these fuckers (the snakes) were everywhere

[I]magine thousands upon thousands of pythons, their slow digestion transforming each corpse into python muscle and fat. Unaided, Florida’s native wildlife doesn’t stand a chance. “That’s what I think about with every python I catch,” Kalil says. “What it ate to get this big, and the lives I’m saving by removing it.” Biologists are taking a multipronged approach to the issue. They have experimented with enlisting dogs to sniff out both pythons and nests—a technique that has proved difficult in such hot weather and inhospitable landscapes. Ongoing projects use telemetry to track pythons to find “associate snakes.” Researchers use drones, go out in airboats, or even take to helicopters to locate their subjects in the interiors of the Everglades. Always, agencies and individuals are looking for the next best methods. “But for now, the python contractor program is the most successful management effort in the history of the issue,” Kirkland says. “We’re capturing more and more—something that is indicative of the python population out there and indicative of us getting better at what we do.”

-

watching

continuing noirvember, watched hitchcock's Notorious to see if i still dislike hitchcock. the answer is yes. there are bond girls and there are hitchcock girls, and not that bond girls are paragons of female agency in film, but hitchcock girls are mostly fluttering little pathetic things. a scrap of agency they showed in the beginning of the film becomes a running joke and something their noses are rubbed in for the rest of the film. not for me!

patrick mcgoohan is leading me into some real dad-ass movies. Ice Station Zebra (1968, dir. Sturges) is a real you're stuck at home sick with your dad and it's on TV for the whole afternoon kind of movie. they truly do not make two and a half cold war submarine espionage films in super panavision with an overture, intermission, and interact music any more. i get why howard hughes was really obsessed with this one. it is a suspense film, but full of people competently going about their business, which i find oddly comforting.

unfortunately i do not feel this really needed to be two and a half hours long. the loving closeups of sub interiors and instrumentation really did keep me amused, though. despite how cluttered every shot is with actors, there is tremendous clarity of purpose and motion with the camera movement. just a really technically brilliant film.

how similar the russian and american control rooms and instrumentation were made me chortle. ties nicely into a little diatribe mcgoohan goes on much later in the film, "The Russians put our camera made by our German scientists and your film made by your German scientists into their satellite made by their German scientists." funny and darkly true! every allied nation had some sort of Operation Paperclip going on! mcgoohan is the focus of every scene he's in, as a spy who is really hanging on by the last remaining shreds of his fingernails.

i had a good time with it, but one of many cold war suspense films im glad exist in the world but don't necessarily need to see again. it might join Escape from New York as a film i put on when im very sick though.

-

playing

this pc needs some sort of replacement something, bc it has a really persistent overheating problem. it only tolerates powerwasher simulator on the lowest possible settings and genshin impact on basically mobile settings. it does not even want to run new vegas. i popped my head out of goodsprings to look out over the desert at the Strip and it said no thank you! too many polygons! naptime!

speaking of genshin, major update this week and new character i will be pulling for. she has a sister who died in the last patch, which i do Not care for as someone with a beloved little sister, but her moveset and skills are unique so far in the game. i feel like her skills are little too complicated for me to fully take advantage of with my "hit enemy very hard until he is dead" playstyle but she has a limited flight ability that will genuinely be very useful for exploration.

if i do not get her when i hit pity on the banner i won't bother pulling another nine times or whatever, bc the next patch has a character i really desperately want and i am saving for her

-

making

the local crew is all getting art this year, bc i already have bristol board and a selection of small frames and zero budget. people who have pets are So easy to get gifts for bc u can simply get them stuff for their pet or that looks like their pet. way less gray cat than black cat merch in the world tho

aiming to send out international holiday cards by the end of the week, and canadian cards by american thanksgiving. the rest of you they'll get there when they get there ok

[townpostin]

Cycle Distribution Ceremony Held in Jamshedpur

State government distributes cycles to students under ambitious scheme. A grand cycle distribution ceremony was held at Jamshedpur Sadar Block Headquarters on Friday, benefiting students from various schools. JAMSHEDPUR – The state government’s cycle distribution scheme had a grand ceremony at the Jamshedpur Sadar Block Headquarters on Friday. MLAs Saryu Roy from Jamshedpur East, Mangal Kalindi…

[hoshibatake]

FREEDOM – Virtuality and Ideals/Chapter 2

Previous chapter

Eichi: ...In just a few hours, your city has crumbled, and the world has fallen into ruin. Congratulations ♪

Makoto: This is no cause for celebration…! Waaah, how could this have happened～!?

Mao: I’m feeling the same. When I looked away for just a moment, the city hall I worked so hard on became an empty lot again…

Hokuto: What a shame.

Mao: No, no, this is your and Subaru’s fault, you know!? You just randomly started building those giant towers.

Subaru: Huh? Why is it my fault?

Subaru: We had plenty of money, so I just picked the tower – the most expensive structure in the build menu – and started building it.

Subaru: Hokke～ is the one who got all competitive about it and decided to build an even taller tower than me.

Hokuto: No, it’s definitely your fault. That tower you built violated my neighbourhood’s right to sunshine.

Hokuto: I built my tower as an indirect way to point that out to you, but I couldn’t have predicted that it would end in mutual destruction.

Eichi: The screams for help sounded like those from a monster movie, didn’t they?

Eichi: Since it was just a trial run, I did consider picking a good moment to drop a meteorite on your city and just force the game to end.

Eichi: But I never expected you to self-destruct. This doesn’t bode well for you.

Eichi: In any case, you should have an understanding of the basics now. I hope you will reflect on your mistakes and endeavor to build a better city next time.

Subaru: Okay. We’ll do our best.

Subaru: Sari～, think of a good idea for me☆

Mao: Huh? Why the sudden request?

Subaru: You’re the Student Council President, right? I bet you’re good at this sort of stuff♪

Mao: I was the Student Council President. What kind of job do you think that is?

Mao: This kind of stuff is the job of important people like mayors. Or – since it’s a city-building game – people who are good at gaming.

Mao: Like Tenshouin-senpai said, out of Trickstar’s members, Makoto's probably the best suited for this.

Hokuto: Right. We’ll be counting on you, Yuuki.

Makoto: Ahaha. I’m happy you trust me, but now there’s a feeling of pressure.

Mao: Don’t feel like you’ve gotta do it all alone, okay? We have no intention of offloading our work onto you.

Makoto: Thanks. And I’ll try to get the hang of the game as soon as possible, so we can all play leisurely.

Makoto: The purpose is to develop one city with the four of us, but until we get used to that, there’s a high risk that we all try to build stuff in the same spot.

Makoto: And we want to try to avoid one person ruining things for another like what happened earlier. How about we each pick one of the wind directions for now and try to build up some experience in our own little corner?

Subaru: That’s a great idea. Let’s do that☆

Subaru: Alright! Let’s build the shiniest city in the world～. Ay, ay, oh♪

<Several days later. In the fictitious city “FREEDOM”, Mao’s district>

Makoto: Hello～ Isara-kun, I’ve come by to hang out～♪

Mao: Welcome to my humble abode. Make yourself at home♪

Makoto: Wow, it sure is humble. Did you tear down a lot of buildings in one go?

Mao: Nope. It looked like this from the start. Both me and my avatar are at our wit’s end, but it’s not like I can just sit here and do nothing, so I decided to just gather resources for now. How about you?

Makoto: I’ve been rearranging the buildings in my district, and I just built a power plant.

Mao: Power plant?

Makoto: Yeah. Electricity is indispensable for the development of civilization, so it’s the most basic of basic strategies for these kinds of games.

Mao: Ooh. I didn’t know that.

Mao: ...Hey. I just took a peek at the data, and it looks like your population count is going down by quite a bit.

Makoto: That’s because I’m prioritizing the development of the area. The most efficient way to do that is to decrease the number of residential buildings, and build power plants instead.

Makoto: Fewer people also means fewer grievances, which makes it easier to govern them. It’s a case of two birds with one stone.

Mao: That’s so cold-blooded…! But I guess this type of game really draws out people’s characters.

Mao: Subaru said something along the lines of “I want to make it a city that revolves around idols”. What is it called again? “SANCTUARY”?

Mao: He was building something like that amusement park Tenshouin-senpai opened.

Mao: And Hokuto being Hokuto, he’s working hard on building his district of the city, even though he’s not very good at it. It’s a bit of a mess, but I liked seeing how he was doing things by trial and error.

Mao: The problem is trying to predict the avatars’ actions. Just like the real Trickstar, they’re way too unpredictable…

<A while later. Mao’s district, periphery>

Mao: “...Hey, Hokuto. We’ve been walking at a steady pace for a while now…”

Mao: “...but everything here looks the same. Are you sure we’re not lost?”

Hokuto: “I’m sure. We’re completely lost. And I have no idea which way we came from, either.”

Mao: “Don’t say that with so much confidence～! You should’ve told me as soon as you noticed we were lost. I just followed you without a second thought.”

Hokuto: “It’s alright. My grandma taught me a foolproof solution for when you’re lost.”

Mao: “Your grandma sure seems to know everything…”

Hokuto: “Yes. There is no truth about this world that she does not know.”

Hokuto: “It’s called ‘the left-hand rule’. If you put your left hand against the wall and follow that wall, you will eventually arrive at the exit.”

Hokuto: “Apparently it also works with your right hand. In any case, we should just pick a hand and follow it.”

Mao: “Why are you talking about walls? There’s nothing but trees around us.”

Mao: “Plus, I’ve only read it in a manga, so I’m not sure about this, but isn’t the left-hand rule meant as a solution to mazes?”

Hokuto: “…”

Hokuto: “It’ll be alright. Just follow me.”

Mao: “What’s with that baseless confidence? That just makes me more anxious…!”

Mao: “...Hm? Wait a sec, Hokuto. I see something over there.”

Mao: “Whoa, it’s a dinosaur…! Let’s get out of here before it sees us!”

Hokuto: “No. We should tame it and make it our friend. Riding it will be faster than walking, and by climbing its long neck, we should be able to get our bearings.”

Hokuto: “I never thought I’d be able to find a dinosaur by using the left-hand method. Grandma’s teachings are truly amazing.”

Mao: “I’m the one who spotted the dinosaur, though…?”

Translated by me, proofread by Altea (@icaruswasthesun on Twitter)

Next chapter

[goldkirk]

Sharing one of the more powerful quotes from this current chapter of The Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town, 1922-1945.

The situation, where even heroism was denied the men of the democratic Left, came about in no small part because of the failure of the Social Democrats to understand the nature of Nazism. Just as their basic premise in the years before Hitler came to power was the erroneous assumption that the Nazis were essentially Putsch-ists who could not possibly attract a mass following, so their basic premise after Hitler came to power was the equally erroneous assumption that his would be a government similar to the others of the Weimar period.

The most eloquent document on this was the set of instructions sent out to SPD Locals in District Hanover on March 23, 1933. It was filled with instructions about sending for handbooks on Socialist policy in communal affairs and filling out questionnaires; in short, carrying on business as usual. The only reference to the phenomenon of Nazism was contained in paragraph seven;

Will the election of our village and town representatives be approved? That is a question which is repeatedly being asked. The question is unanswerable because we do not know what this government will do. However, in any case, we must, now as always, select trustworthy comrades as village representatives wherever we have a majority. Should they later not be sworn in, then we will take a position on this. Under no circumstances should we value any of our rights cheaply.

This at a time when SPD leaders were having their houses searched in the middle of the night for weapons! This when the officers of the Reichsbanner were being herded into jail by Storm troopers, beaten in the prisons across Germany, cast into Nazi concentration camps! The SPD, the only defenders of democracy in Germany, the men who should have been gathering guns and calling the general strike, or at least developing an underground with passwords, false names, and other paraphernalia of effective covert resistance, were instead being urged to keep the party files in order, to avoid bookkeeping errors, and above all to purchase the latest pamphlet on parliamentary tactics in village councils.

If the central offices of the SPD did not know “what this government will do,” the local socialist leaders in Northeim soon found out.

(the book goes on to describe the experiences of five Northeim Social Democrats over multiple pages of raids, imprisonment, misery, and persecution)

[purpleweredragon]

A NEW planning application for a holiday resort at Roanhead has been submitted.

Together we had a big victory last year in stopping a new holiday park being built. The objections you sent to Westmorland & Furness Council along with the detailed responses sent by Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Natural England, the National Trust, Friends of the Lake District, and other wildlife conservation organisations put a stop to this damaging project.

Unfortunately, a new planning application has gone in, and we need your help to put a stop to the development again.  

[stephensmithuk]

The Valley of Fear: The Solution

CW torture.

East Ham is an area 8 1/2 miles east of Charing Cross. It dates back the 11th century when the Manor of Ham was divided into West Ham, East Ham and Little Ilford, now known as Manor Park. While having became pretty developed since the railway had arrived in 1859, it was left in Essex after the 1889 creation of the London County Council, becoming a borough of its own. In 1965, it joined London, merging with West Ham to become Newham. Its railway station is served by the District and Hammersmith & City lines of London Underground, with disused mainline platforms still in situ; there is a c2c train depot to the east.

A casement is an older form of window:

Not sure how you'd tell a boot was American just from the toes though.

"Peine forte et dure" is from Law French, an archaic version of French used in English courts for some centuries and where a number of legal terms still used (like "tort") come from.

The term means "hard and forceful punishment" and refers to a method used when someone refused to pled guilty or innocent to a crime. Basically, they would be tied down spreadeagled nearly naked, a board placed on their chest and then weights placed on that. Their diet would alternate between bread only and water only on a daily basis until they either agreed to plea or died. An incentive not to plea was that if you died here, your property would not be forfeit to the Crown, but would be if you were found guilty of a capital crime. It was not unheard for bystanders to sit on someone to put them out of their misery.

The last use was in 1741 and the penalty abolished in 1772; refusal to plead would be taken as "guilty" until 1827 when it was changed to be deemed as a "not guilty" plea. Giles Corey was one man who pressed to death at the 1692 Salem witch trials for refusing to plead on a witchcraft charge; the story goes that he asked for "more weight" when asked multiple times during the three-day-long process. His wife, Martha Corey, was convicted and hanged.

It is entirely possible for someone to have a mixture of British and American in their accent, sometimes switching mid-speech. For example, Enola Holmes herself, Millie Bobby Brown, will use different accents depending on her environment.

However, the "Mid-Atlantic accent" is best known for its use by some actors in classic Hollywood.

It is unclear what accent that James Douglas would have.

There isn't any real records of the smoking rates in late Victorian Britain, but I am sure that these were rather high. Douglas is clearly an addict since he asks to light up straight away.

The jack-in-a-box was a widely known toy by this point.

Caribou is the American term for Rangifer tarandus, a group of up to six species known in European as reindeer. The UK no longer has a native population, but there is a domesticated batch in the Cairngorns in Scotland.

While Douglas has a clear case for self-defence, I am pretty sure he could be charged with perverting the cause of justice or something like that for the corpse shenangians.