#Fire starters are my jam

[tips-from-a-tech-worker]

An overview of workplace organising

So you've started a new job and, unfortunately for you, there's no union. Not even a place where you and your co-workers can winge about work. So how do you resolve that? How do you Organise™?

Organising activities generally fall into the following (and often overlapping) groups:

Mapping and charting

You cannot even start organising without first understanding your workplace. Where do people work? Where are the break rooms? Who is friends with who? What positions and responsibilities do they have? How do you contact them? Etc, etc, etc.

Answering these questions is key - and often required before you can even begin talking to co-workers. Of course, this is a continuous process and, once you've got a few folks on your side, this can be a collaborative process.

One-on-ones

In organiser circles, there is a tendency to want to leaflet everywhere to announce your presence, and then immediately gather all workers together in a big meeting to then discuss unionisation efforts. This is an almost surefire way to get yourself fired and kill any appetite for organising among co-workers. On top of that, it is incredibly impersonal, shyer voices will get pushed to the side for more vocal, and potentially more conflict-driven voices.

In the IWW, the union I organise with, we emphasise the importance of one-on-one conversations, as you can find a lot more about your co-workers that way, and often things that might get lost in a huge meeting.

Of course, there is no harm in these larger meetings once you've got the ball rolling. But starting off, one-on-ones are key.

Identify movers and shakers

Some co-workers will be well-connected in the workplace. Some will be naturally more likeable than others. Some might have held social events or helped out a few other co-workers in the past. These people are your social "leaders" (for lack of a better word).

You usually want these co-workers on side as soon as you can. If you don't get them on your side, the boss or management will get them on theirs, which makes unionising efforts so much harder.

They are also very useful during organising efforts and can help out with one-on-one conversations.

Recruitment

Asking people to get involved in a union, especially in a workplace that is hostile to them, can be very tricky (and terrifying). But this is a crucial step.

Get people involved in the organising committee, create officer roles to carry out particular tasks, fill those roles democratically, and recruit your co-workers to the union.

You will actively have to reach out to people in this step. We cannot rely on the "self-starters" who are already interested and are bold enough to ask "How do I join?". A workplace is made up of everyone in it, even the shyer workers - especially the shyer workers in my experience! The union is for every worker.

Additionally, as time passes, it gets very difficult to ask people to join. Some people will start seeing benefits in their workplace but without actually putting in any of the work and think "Well, why bother?"

Planning

Once you've got a few co-workers together, have an active group of you mapping, charting, reaching out to members, and identifying issues, then you've got to start planning how to address these issues.

Pick something, anything, no matter how small. Sometimes it can be an issue where the workplace hasn't got enough office stock. Sometimes the door to the building jams and needs a couple of people to shove it open. Find the issue you want to organise around and plan how to resolve it, together.

The issue you identify can also be used to recruit more people to your cause.

Public actions

Finally, it's time to go public. But what does this look like?

I outlined a lot of actions in my previous post here. But a lot of these may be overkill depending on the issue. Sometimes you can get away with less aggressive action.

The typical way this is done is a march on the boss. This is a great way to start the escalation process and sometimes will get you what you want immediately. Of course, no action is perfect, and you'll have to get creative as the boss pushes back more and more.

In conclusion...

This was a general overview of the organising process. Of course, for brevity, a lot was skipped over. Before trying to carry any of this out, I'd recommend you take part in some form of organiser training with your respective union - the IWW Organiser 101 training is fantastic, just as an aside!

Best of luck in all your organising efforts!

Stay safe and solidarity, fellow workers! xox

[irondad-defensesquad]

(Sorta based on this idea)

“Heavy boots of lead, fills his victims full of dread,” Peter sings with emotion. “Running as fast as they can, Iron Man lives agaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAHHH MR. STARK WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!!!” His voice rises quite a few octaves.

Tony snorts rather loudly.

“No, keep going, I want to hear you do the guitar again,” he jokes.

“Have you been watching me this whole time?!”

“Shouldn’t your Peter Tingle detect me?”

Peter glares at him but decides not to comment.

“Just– forget it, Mr. Stark,” he groans, deciding to return to his homework.

“Aw, come on.”

“I’m procrastinating anyway,” Peter mumbles.

Tony just smiles at him. He already knew Peter would be in the workshop, but he wasn’t expecting to hear his mentee singing Tony’s favorite song. And knowing how to sing all the lyrics.

“You need any help, Ozzy?” He asks.

“No, Mr. Stark.”

“Alright. Call me if you need.”

Tony works on his own things and in the meantime… he realizes his other favorite songs and bands are playing. Back in Black, for starters. The one song Peter loves annoying him about – calling it a Led Zeppelin song, for crying out loud. Iron Maiden might play, too.

But there are some that aren’t part of Tony’s playlist. Some are actually more recent, such as Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, and Audioslave. Bands he doesn’t listen to as often, but they’re great ones.

“Wow, this playlist rocks,” Tony compliments. “Is it yours, Pete?”

Peter might tense at the question. “Uh… no, no. It’s just… playing on shuffle.”

Tony raises an eyebrow.

“... F.R.I.D.A.Y?”

“Wait–”

“The playlist is called ‘Iron Man vibes, three fire emojis’, created by Peter Parker.”

“I hate BOTH of you,” Peter whines.

“Ow, don’t say that to FRI. She’s sensitive.”

“It’s just a really dumb playlist I made when I was– a teenager.”

“Peter, you are a teenager.”

“It’s stupid, okay? I didn’t want you to know.”

Tony might soften the teasing for now.

“Ah, gee, kid. It’s not stupid. You made it.”

“Come on, of course it is–”

“It’s sweet and thoughtful of you.”

Peter’s glare stops resisting for too long. His blush is no longer out of embarrassment.

“Seriously, Pete, thanks.”

“... you’re welcome?”

“Will you send me the link?”

Peter considers and sighs. “Okay.”

He grabs his phone and does it rather quickly, not saying anything else.

“Thanks. I’m going to listen to it all the time from now on,” Tony promises.

Peter rolls his eyes affectionately.

They return to the comfortable silence and Peter’s playlist.

Until, suddenly…

“... Mr. Stark, please don’t tell me F.R.I.D.A.Y recorded my- my thing earlier.”

Tony smirks but doesn’t respond.

“Mr. Stark.”

“Don’t worry, kid, I’m not gonna post it online.”

Peter inhales.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, delete that footage right now!!”

“I’m afraid the video has already been sent to Boss’ personal files.”

“MR. STARK!!!!!” Peter yells, wanting to kill Tony, who only laughs at his demise.

[thegreatfraud]

@princesselmelloi

Money or dust as it's called in this city is such a ****** to amass a lot of

Yes yes. Huey got the starter fund from the city. But he need allies and for a mean to pay off more things. Men and woman, equipment, the cops. No matter how hard he tries he seem to staying afloat only.

"I need a sponsor. Knowing my line of work someone morally bankrupt enough to not care and rich enough to support this line of work.....where the *** hell am i gonna find that?"

Huey sigh as he need to take his mind off of things. He motion his men to put out more ads as he got a alert from one of his watcher.

Couple of the street thugs in the local neighborhood planning a kidnapping on some young rich looking woman. Sure the woman might have powers BUT huey do need to advertise his business. He don't do heroic for free ALSO the bills been pretty bad latetly.

Huey normally the type to let this stuff happen and let the other heros and justice gooder handle it. Huey is....not a great person.

"Blonde Hair, teen, blah blah blah."

Huey set out. The homeless in the streets and a couple of shop owner willing to cough up certain path people take everyday for few hundred Dust as huey spotted the girl on one of the roof top.

And his kidnapper also. Four of them. All the classic tool like pistol, bag or...something don't feel right. Six sense? Something tell Huey he shouldn't do his entrance and just go home.

But the money though. Huey already got a couple of people ready to take photos and spread this online. It just be a simple clean up as Huey leap down from his position and landed between the thugs and the woman. Using powers to cushion the fall of course.

"Heya, This is the End of the Road for ya."

Perfect. He spend a couple minute practicing it as with the element of surprise he fire four shot from his tranq gun hitting all the men as he have this smug smile on him. Now he just need to turn around and....oh god damn it.

One of them wearing just enough cloths the tranq dart didn't hit as HE took Huey by surprise by not attacking him but making a mad dash toward the young lady in a attempt to take her hostage.

Huey try to fire another round but of all times his gun jam

"OI *** I'M THE ONE YA WANT."

No use. The man don't fall for the bait as Huey try to get his gun fixed before a hostage situation can happen.

[queenofquestions]

Off Menu Tag

So the brilliant @the-eclectic-wonderer tagged me in this game and I'm just going to apologize to @valentinaonthemoon right now because I'm going to 100% misinterpret the point of this game.

The thing is, I got this this morning and I was thinking about my favorite foods and they just don't go together at all! Like my favorite dish is probably a Thai yellow curry but my favorite drink is definitely a root beer float and so on. But together, like yuck! So I was really really stuck.

But then I remembered this is a genie and they have magic and I actually do have a list of foods I desperately want to eat and will never ever get the change to have. So without further ado...

You're in your dream restaurant and a genie waiter is ready to take your meal order:

Where does my dream meal take place: late Cretaceous North America, about 66 mya on the day the asteroid kills the dinosaurs. Because I'd get to see dinosaurs and then I'd get to see a brilliant falling star and then an explosion and then the sky would look like it had caught on fire due to all the debris shot up into the atmosphere and burning up.

Still or sparkling water: still. I don't really get the whole sparkling water thing tbh.

Poppadoms or Bread: if these are my only choices probably bread especially if I can have it with jam. But if I can choose anything of this type, chips and salsa and guac because I just got back home from France and I have been craving it so much.

Dream Starter: This is where I'm going to go off the deep end and say a like Spanish tortilla style omelet made out of elephant bird eggs because I really want to know what those taste like. They're so big!!!

Dream Main Course: easy. Velociraptor meat. I want to settle one of the most pressing paleontology questions of all time: did dinosaurs taste like chicken?

Dream Side Dish: Follow me on a detour out of bird/dinosaur land and into the world of archaeology. I desperately want to try some plant dishes from the Eastern Agricultural Complex. There's archaeological evidence that the people in the American Midwest had domesticated plants like sunflower, marsh elder, squash and goosefoot (a chenopod like quinoa) before the arrival of maize from Central America. The domesticated versions of these plants are completely lost and I'm desperate to try a dish made out of them.

Dream Drink: I have no idea. Mammoth milk?

Dream Dessert: Now, because I'm pretty sure none of the stuff on my list actually tastes very good I'm going to go ahead and choose something actually tasty to help get the taste of dead dinosaur out of my mouth. My favorite dessert is lemonade cake. It's a confetti cake that has been soaked in condensed lemonade. It's sickeningly sweet, super sour, and topped with an incredibly large amount of whipped cream :)

Tagging, absolutely no pressure: I'm thinking @herbirdglitter cause you always like the archaeology stuff and @val-bespoke because you know I love talking to you about foods which foods we can't possibly believe the other person hasn't tried

[goqmir]

i kind of like maybe just a little adore the new clue set cards like. the clue set itself is a weird and overpriced product and the physical cards themselves are definitely gonna be stupid overpriced because nobody wants to buy a board game to crack packs but like. the cards themselves? kind of fire?

i kind of adore that theyre not just all rares and we are getting clue set commons and stuff :3 its cute! and we're getting a new lonis too-- its not a super interesting card but i adore lonis and im very excited to play with more of her. and we get an interesting new land cycle in the cluelands too! the art for them kinda blows at the moment but at some point in the future i assume they'll be reprinted in a set that gives them fun and interesting art? maybe? please? im not exactly itching to play them but ill never turn down another cycle of duals teehee

id love to talk about some individual cards from the lineup so far that i adore! these are just my top picks but id recommend going and looking at the full list spoiled so far on scryfall :3

for starters, my favorite card from the whole spoiler season right now i think has to be scuttling sentinel. i dont think i want to play her in any commander deck, but in my opinion this is like one of the top cards for cubes in 2024 period-- like cankerbloom tier of cube card. she's awesome! a crab elf which is such an awesome creature type, playable with green or blue, puts 1/1 counters on things and its main draw is just being a decent body that offers protection :) she's great!!!! ive already slotted her into the cube ive been piecing together recently. i like her a lot.

resonance technician is such a cool spell copier <3 every part of it is kind of expensive so im not really sure where youd play it but it does a lot of cool things all at once on a single card which is fun! the flavor is cool-- we all love weirds here-- and the functionality is useful and cute. cool card. big fan

we also have portal manipulator who is like one of the weirdest and strongest combat tricks ive ever seen? this is like if aetherize also fucked your shit in. so i can absolutely see this seeing a lot of play honestly. but lets be real here this card just has amazing art. thheres portals around her skull !!! god shes so cool.

corporeal projection gets a shoutout because what a fun effect <3 it being izzet is awesome and on-flavor and the card itself is both an interesting choice to give your creature myriad for extra damage and a fun wincon :) im glad theres a simple and convenient way to give one creature myriad now that isn't a brick to run in my commander decks because it has a high-cost endgame mode. yay!

finally it wouldnt be a goqmir set review if i didnt shout out the new cards that work well in Naya Cast From Exile :3 Boros Strike-Captain seems kind of mid but it's important to remember that the card never goes away, and you can cast it any time after when you attack with at least 3 creatures even if BSC is off the battlefield. big fan of this one! im not sure if i can find the space to jam him in my Rocco Street Chef decklist but he's a very playable option.

Personally, i think Headliner Scarlett is the winner this set. She's a very good hit pretty much any time-- you're always gonna get a minimum of 4 free damage when she sticks, and if you play her early you get some pretty strong card advantage, which turns into very very strong card advantage in both Rocco and Prosper. if you pull her late, she can win you the game straight up by allowing you to swing out uninhibited-- though i can't speak for Prosper players, this will pretty much always be at minimum a knock out if you pull it lategame in Rocco. definitely making room for her in my decklist.

anyway thats just some cards i liked from the weird product thats coming out :3 i was and still am iffy on purchasing the product and expect the cards to be a little too expensive but as far as designs go they're pretty cool and im very happy that they exist! um sqrrk <3

[vegaprose]

Legend ( 1985 ) Sentence Starters

The dreams of youth are the regrets of maturity.

Black as midnight, black as pitch, blacker than the foulest witch.

You are nothing but an animal.

We are all animals.

Oh, Mother Night! Fold your dark arms about me.

Protect me in your black embrace.

I sit alone, an impotent exile, whilst this form, this presence, returns to torment me.

What are you without me?

I am a part of you all.

You can never defeat me.

We are brothers eternal.

I require the solace of the shadows and the dark of the night.

Sunshine is my destroyer.

What care I for human hearts? Soft and spiritless as porridge.

A faerie's heart beats fierce and free.

Every wolf suffers fleas. 'Tis easy enough to scratch.

May be innocent, may be sweet.. ain't half as nice as rotting meat.

Are you afraid to kiss me?

I'm afraid you'll break my heart.

Then still your heart, for you are dear to me as life itself.

What is light without dark?

Higher, higher, burning fire, making music like a choir.

I vote we run like hell.

I second the motion.

You don't really mean to eat me, do you?

Oh, indeed I do.

That would be a shame because someone as fair and lovely as yourself, deserves far better than scrawny me. Don't you think?

Think me fair, do you?

All the heavenly angels must envy your beauty.

What a fine meal you'll make, be the rest of you as sweet as your tongue.

I hear a throat begging to be cut.

Are you so eager to see blood flow?

As eager as you are to drink it.

If life is a dream, better you dread the waking.

This place holds more magic for me than any palace in the world.

How do you know my name?

Did you not see something odd today, any strange spirits? Did nothing untoward happen?

Neither country proverb nor King's command could keep me from the woods today.

I do nothing for your pleasure.

Dreams are my speciality. Through dreams I influence mankind.

I've found my true mate and you know it.

Beneath the skin, we are already one.

Even now the evil seed of what you've done germinates within you.

There's only one thing I want to know.

She was so sweet, I could eat her brains like jam.

This shot be just as sweet as pie.

You willful sprite! How dare you keep such secrets?

They're mine to keep.

Ah, that's a sad sight for a sober man.

There is only one lure for such disgusting goodness, one bait that never fails.

Love you say? Well, love is another matter.

You all look like mourners at your own funeral.

That's one place an arrow won't do no harm.

You! you're the cause of all our sorrows.

In the dark is where we'll stay. We're cursed.

Tonight the sun sets forever.

There will never be another dawn.

Do you think you can upset the universe and not pay the price?

Have you no sense of humour?

Call that a kiss? Am I not sweet?

[newagekryptid]

⋆｡˚☽˚🦇｡⋆.NewAgeKryptid.⋆🦇｡⋆ ☽˚｡⋆

A little about me —

29 l She/Her l Lover of writing, drawing and gaming l huge traveler l Tiny l Texan l Wiccan l Autistic and eccentric 4/1/20 💙🧡

Lover of many ships + Your ship is not my ship and that’s okay! 💞

Proud momma of five fur babies!! 🐾 + an adopted baby (my dad’s cat, lol!)

Projects — Eleven WIPs and a handful of one shots

Dancing With Fire; The Fusae Clan – 7 chapters in of 20, ongoing

Madara Uchiha x Oc (Chiaki Fusae)

Under My Supervision – 7 chapters in of 10, ongoing

Shisui Uchiha x Oc (Hanako Moegi)

Konoha’s Favorite Enigma – 5 chapters in of 20, ongoing

Gaara x Oc (Kiyoshi Megumi) *Pending Slight Rewrite!

Blooming Blossom – 6 chapters in of 30, ongoing

Sakura x Ino Endgame

A Raven’s Whirlpool – 2 chapters in of 15, ongoing

Itachi Uchiha x Oc (Hanako Moegi)

Ninken Academy – 3 chapters in of 15, ongoing

Kakashi x Oc (Yūko Torii)

Adoption Day – 1 chapters in of 8, ongoing

Kakashi x Reader + Kaka’s Ninken

Cop Cutie – 2 chapters in of 10, ongoing

Shisui x Oc (Hanako Moegi)

In The Night – 1 chapters in of 5, ongoing

Madara x Reader (Civilian)

Fortnight – 1 chapters in of 10, ongoing

Tobirama x Oc (Hoshiko Senju née Hayashi)

Sleepyhead Ranch: A Simple Life – 1 chapters in of 5, ongoing

Marlin l Matt x Reader

Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life/Another Wonderful life

All WIPs are slower to be updated to preserve quality, prevent from burnout and so I can stockpile so I’m not writing and posting practically same day. Sorry for the inconvenience, I promise it’ll be worth the wait!

Future Projects –

Coming In Winter ❄️☃️ Ranging from Dec to April for me being in EST!

‘Let It Snow’ Xmas Event (Kinktober in December!)

One week of kinky works!

Coming In Spring 🌼🧹

Gotta Catch ‘Em All: Starters

Original 151 Pokémon, cute trainer/starter chapters

Future Oneshots

(X2) Madara x reader (porn with and without plot)

Madara x Oc (semi porn/semi fluff)

Kakashi x reader (porn with plot)

Dad’s of Konoha (various DILF oneshots)

Hashirama x Kakuzu (enemies/angst/fighting)

Shikamaru x Reader (fluff/friendship)

Indra x Reader (slice of life/romance)

Madara x Hashirama (frenemy)

Sakura x Ino (first date/fluff)

Hinata x TenTen (friendship/fluff)

Minors DNI with any NSFW content on this blog, you will be blocked!

Please enjoy a collage of my taste in music! Feel free to skip anything you don’t like! There truly is a mix of different genres on this playlist! :)

[akilahdrawssometimes]

Full posts on my a03 :D @/akilahdrawssometimes -

Jysyal sat slumped in the cockpit of the starfighter. Leaning as far back as the tilt lock of the pilot seat would allow. Still clutching onto the fresh wound it continued to pulse hot with pain. Running right into a clone trooper base had been free from the to-do list but the force always had a funny way to give you unnecessary problems. With a shot in her side from their blaster, the bilious scent of her burning flesh flared her senses.

A cauterized wound was the worst pain she had ever experienced by far. The med patch was the only thing preventing her guts from spilling out. The cooling gauze was compressed so tightly, almost squeezing her organs together. The dark red splotch became more abstract as blood seeped through the pale cotton. At that moment everything started to feel blurry.

It was almost like she could see spots.

Or was it shapes?

Squiggles?

It was too difficult to think clearly when the only rational thing her brain was screaming at her to take care of first was the growing injury. Her skin felt like it was on fire and slightly sticky from the condensation beads of sweat, her slow shallow breaths grew quicker with the anxious energy of not being able to make a miraculous recovery with the med bey being bare she had already used the last of her myoplexarii on the bounty mission in the outer rim after a three on one with Trandoshands.

Which in turn left her a bruised bloodied mess R4 had barely been able to recognize her aside from the gruff attitude she constantly wore. Strenuously leaning forward she jammed the starter button and gave a minute for the battery-powered motor to convulse the diesel engine. As it softly clicked to life she flicked the paddle switch and engaged autopilot.

Forcibly slamming back into the pilot's seat with a huff. R4-B9 shuffled into the small space on her motorized threads chirping and beeping as the droid announced her presence.

“ … R4?”

She turned her head to look down at the quippy astromech from the corner of her eye. She had never been so relieved to see such a provoking droid. She swiveled her cone-like head and chirped in curious recognition.

“I need you …” Drawing a long breath through her nostrils she tried to continue the one-sided conversation.

“Rhinnal take us there.”

Figuring the droid would take her stale statement easier than explaining why she was ten shades paler and half-dead in her pilot's seat.

The expressive droid gawked at the harsh monotone of the Togrtua. Sharply chirping and clicking a demand of a nicer plea. With an internal roll of her eyes, Jysyal quipped stalling and spilling her guts across the cockpit floor for the sake of theatrics just for the droid to shut up and enter the coordinates. It seemed like she was already half dead, the nausea and clammy, sweaty skin as the result of her blood loss had already taken a toll on her body.

Capitulating defeat the droid programmed the coordinates into the ship's navicomputer, skipping a beat when the hyperspace ring of their shared X wing began to glow a subtle white. The hyperdrive motors rolled into rhythm as the all-familiar blue tunnel appeared swallowing the ship into the deep outer rim of space.

As the ship continued to be pulled through space a thought came to her mind. ‘Why does blood always smell like iron’ The same metallic, copperish taste filled her mouth as the air infused with the scent of her raw wound. As she dwelled in the pain she could not help but feel ashamed that her torment and discomfort were so minor compared to those of the Jedi order.

While on Jakku a few rotations ago to refuel and restock basic supplies, she got in touch with an old contact who had informed her of the massacre and betrayal of the clone troopers, even her master, the steady anchor of a mentor had fallen. It was too difficult to comprehend at first but the Jedi temple on Auratera had been burning for a long time when she had to see the evidence herself. The charred remains of the five spiral building only drew her further from the truth it was all too much to believe.

The piles of bodies, the smell, broken lightsaber hilts, and torn robes it was all too much at once. The empty libraries and training halls. Broken holocrons and keber crystals. Everyone deserved a proper burial with their lightsabers but Jysyal doubted herself as the one to do it. “I’m sorry.. ’ her voice wavered in turmoil and shame.

I’m sorry I have no right to give you all the proper burial you deserve I was banished I can't do what you all crying out for me to do. She was forced to leave the guilt burning in her stomach to cease and ignore her internal conflict that was the Jedi order and everyone in it.

The tunnel of blue had finally ended and the planet of Rhinnal had finally come into view. Quickly swatting the few stray tears that had fallen Jysyal slouched forward ignoring the way her lekku fell awkwardly in the process. The landing was a bit rougher than what the two of them were used to but given her condition, she hoped the flailing droid and her dramatics would go easy on her and turned to the droid as she did something else caught her eye.

“R4 we're here.”

Her abandoned lightsaber hilt she had tossed across the cockpit days before. The dull brass handle craved with her initials, the blue and gold ribbon looped around a crease in the base to remember an old friend... a dead friend and the familiar grip of her hand almost imprinted into the surface. It was a part of her, a piece of her, her identity was now a constant reminder of the pain of leaving everything behind.

Leaning over into the passenger seat she grabbed the old sheet that would normally be a safety blanket when doing various repairs on the X-Wing and lazily covered it with the grease-stained fabric. And pressed a various set of buttons to unlock the hydraulics of the ship and let down the ramp. The hiss of the hydraulics finally stopped and the standard controls looked fine, the aerator warning light and circuit breaker were in okay condition. Now she could get the medical attention she desperately needed.

If she could even get there.

[kcyars99]

What’s the greatest diss track you ever heard?

PHOTOS

15 Most Shocking Diss Songs: From Taylor Swift's 'thanK you aIMee' to Gwen Stefani's 'Hollaback Girl'

Drake's 'Back to Back'

Drake pushed Meek Mill down with his diss track "Back to Back" after the latter artist called his "Charged Up" diss track "baby lotion soft."

"When I look back, I might be mad that I gave this attention / But it's weighing heavy on my conscience / And fuck, you left me with no options," Drake rapped. "I'm not sure what it was that made y'all mad / But I guess this is what I gotta do to make y'all rap."

Meek Mill also fired back by releasing his track "Wanna Know."

Drake's 'Push Ups'

In April, Drake fired at Kendrick Lamar while also targeting artists like Rick Ross, The Weeknd, J.Cole and Metro Boomin. The 37-year-old Canadian rapper responded to Lamar and mocked his features and size.

Eminem's 'Killshot'

Eminem dropped scathing bars and targeted Machine Gun Kelly in his 2018 diss track "Killshot" by highlighting his "irrelevance."

"But I'm 45 and I'm still outselling you / By 29 I had three albums that had blew / Now let's talk about somethin' I don't really do / Go in someone's daughter's mouth stealin' food," Eminem rapped.

He also made fun of MGK's man bun by delivering the line, "Here's that autograph for your daughter, I wrote it on a Starter cap / Stan, Stan, son, listen, man, Dad isn't mad / But how you gonna name yourself after a d--- gun / And have a man bun?"

Gwen Stefani's 'Hollaback Girl'

Gwen Stefani did not hold back when she dropped her single "Hollaback Girl" after receiving unfriendly comments from Courtney Love.

"I was being bullied by someone and was being called a cheerleader, which was a bad thing!" she told Billboard. "Growing up, that was not cool. I thought I was the opposite of that. I told Pharrell we should write a song about that."

The No Doubt co-founder did not mention Love's name directly, but the Hole lead vocalist called Stefani a cheerleader in her 2004 interview with Seventeen.

Ice Cube's 'No Vaseline'

Called the "best diss ever" by Ice Cube, the 1991 track "No Vaseline" directly lambasted his former N.W.A. members. He said the song "knocked 'em down like bowling pins."

Jay-Z's 'Takeover'

In 2001, Jay-Z targeted Prodigy and Nas in his classic diss "Takeover." He dropped brutal lines to bring down the pair and nearly finished their careers.

Jay-Z rapped about Prodigy's small record sales and his small stature while also making fun of the ballerina picture he showed at Summer Jam 2001. Meanwhile, Nas got hit right in his core when Jay-Z laughed at his catalog and mentioned his baby mama, Carmen Bryan.

Kendrick Lamar's 'Not Like Us'

Lamar continued his seething rap battle with Drake with his chart-topping diss track "Not Like Us." He claimed in the song that Drake and his "OV H--" team were pedophiles.

"Say, Drake, I hear you like 'em young/ You better not ever go to cell block one/ To any b—- that talk to him and they in love/ Just make sure you hide your lil' sister from him," Lamar rapped some of the scathing lyrics.

Megan Thee Stallion's 'Hiss'

For her first 2024 track, Megan Thee Stallion immediately sparked rumors she dissed Nicki Minaj, Kenneth Petty, Tory Lanez and Pardison Fontaine.

"These h--s don't be mad at Megan, these h--s mad at Megan's Law/ I don't really know what the problem is, but I guarantee y'all don't want me to start/ B---h, you a p---y, never finna check me/ Every chance you get, bet your weak a-- won't address me," Stallion's lyrics for Minaj read.

Nicki Minaj's 'No Frauds'

Minaj released her harsh diss track "No Frauds" for Remy Ma in 2017 following the release of "ShETHER." The song, which featured Drake and Lil Wayne, contained lyrics about Ma's jail time for assault.

Olivia Rodrigo's 'Drivers License'

Olivia Rodrigo's heartbreaking anthem "Drivers License" sparked rumors that it was a secret diss track for Sabrina Carpenter, who was linked to her rumored ex Joshua Bassett. Fans pointed out that Rodrigo changed the lyrics from brunette to blonde, fueling the rumors more.

"And you're probably with that blonde girl / Who always made me doubt / She's so much older than me / She's everything I'm insecure about," the Bizaardvark alum sang in her track, seemingly hinting at Carpenter's hair color and their three-year age gap.

However, Rodrigo soon shut down the buzz in her interview with Variety.

"I put it out not knowing that it would get that reaction, so it was really strange when it did," she said of the song. "I just remember everyone being so weird and speculative about stuff they had no idea about. I don't really subscribe to hating other women because of boys. I think that's so stupid, and I really resent that narrative that was being tossed around."

Rick Ross' 'Champagne Moments'

Ross also dissed Drake in his track "Champagne Moments." He rapped about his former friend being a "white boy" and accused him of undergoing rhinoplasty.

Taylor Swift's 'The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived'

Known for making songs about her exes and lovers, Taylor Swift targeted several men in her The Tortured Poets Department album — including Matty Healy in her track "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived."

The pair dated before Swift's romance with Travis Kelce started.

"Was any of it true? / Gazing at me starry-eyed / In your Jehovah's Witness suit," the song started, referencing her exes' outfit.

Swifties also assumed that the track's choreography confirmed that it was about The 1975 frontman as Swift danced to moves similar to Healy's routine in "Love It If We Made It."

Taylor Swift's 'thanK you aIMee'

Even Kim Kardashian was not spared on Swift's TTPD diss.

"thanK you aIMee" immediately confirmed it was a diss track for the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star amid the "So Long, London" singer's feud with the KKW Beauty mogul.

Swifties said the lyrics referenced Kardashian's tan skin, her infamous phone call with Kanye West and the snake emoji the TV personality tweeted in the past.

In December 2023, Swift spoke about her feud with Kardashian and West.

"You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim [Kardashian] edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar," Swift said during the interview with TIME after becoming the 2023 Person of the Year. "That took me down psychologically to a place I've never been before. I moved to a foreign country. I didn't leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn't trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard."

The Notorious B.I.G's 'Who Shot Ya?'

The Notorious B.I.G. dropped "Who Shot Ya?" months after Tupac Shakur was shot five times during a robbery in 1994. The "Unchained" rapper believed the individuals were affiliated with Biggie's Bad Boy Records crew.

The provocative track then mocked Shakur and the shooting incident.

"Who shot ya? / Separate the weak from the obsolete… I can hear sweat trickling down your cheek," a line from the track read.

Tupac Shakur's 'Hit 'Em Up'

A few months before his death, Shakur rapped about several artists, including The Notorious B.I.G., Lil' Kim, Chino XL, Sean "Diddy" Combs and Mobb Deep.

He rapped the lyrics, "Biggie, remember when I used to let you sleep on the couch / 5 shots couldn't drop me : I took it and smiled. / Now I'm back to set the record straight. / With my AK, I'm still the thug that you love to hate and we bust on Bad Boys, n----- f---- for life."

[doubleddenden]

Well it only took me a few months, but I finally got around to beating Pokemon Abstract- a fan game made as part of Relic Castle's Game Jam #9 back in August of 2023. The short and sweet of it is that during their game jams, groups of fan devs will team up to create a fan game in a small window of time- this one being completed in about... 2 weeks, I think?

Pokemon Abstract definitely doesn't feel that way, though. It's understandably not perfect, but given the quality, I'd say it's up there with some fan games that have had a few years of development. The big appeal of this fan game is that it actually supports an open world format with adjusting levels in accordance to your progress. So it's not like Scarlet and Violet where you can technically go wherever but gyms are stuck in certain levels- literally you can challenge whatever gym you want in whatever order you want, your progress only hindered by what traversal items you've obtained, such as an ax for cutting, surfboard for surfing, climbing gear for rock climb, etc.

The fakemon in the game are also pretty decent looking, although there's only a small handful, so you're more than likely going to be using oldies. That being said, there's a pretty great variety present in the game with even Megas returning, and new ones at that.

My one gripe is that I think you should be given the flying taxi MUCH sooner in the game, because there's times you'll have to progress through the entire map again to get somewhere you need to go on the opposite side.

Otherwise, fun game! Again, very impressive that this was done in about 2 weeks. Serious kudos. Fun characters, fun adventure, I'd love to see something like this in the future again but with more time invested into original music and more fakemon.

As for my team:

Mega Rusalkat (Water/Ground cat mermaid)- My starter. Like Uranium, the starters only evolve once and get 1 mega evolution. Rusalkat was a pretty fun one to use and super strong, with its mega having the ability Sap Sipper to nullify the Achilles heel that would be Grass types. Really tanky, and also capable of sweeping.

Yusagi (Ice bunny)- My first capture, and also the one that never evolved. Despite that, she was actually the strongest in a lot of cases. Potentially the weakest, but has also wiped out huge chunks of tough teams with a literal snowball effect of Ice Ball. Known for slaying dragons quiet easily, and was the fastest to grow to level 100.

Veewiweev (Bug/Dragon, the Girafarig looking guy)- what I suspect is a convergent species of Farigiraf. One of my early game captures and also very reliable. I really relied on it when fighting everything from dragons, psychics, dark types, even fairies in some cases.

Goober/Arcanine (fire)- Another early game catch, and although he had a ruff beginning, he easily became the most important team member towards the end. With an arsenal to deal with grass, ice, steel, ghost, psychic, ghost, dragon, and fighting types, plus extreme speed, he was often the last standing member of my team and saved me during the final battles of Team Eclipse and the Elite 4.

Gaga/Espathra (psychic)- Yet another early game catch, but ultimately replaced before the last 3 gyms (aka a few days ago lol). It didn't win much, but it came in handy when I needed it most. I felt bad about boxing it.

Gengalita/Mega Gengar (ghost/poison)- my fav mega and a lovely find when I came back to the game after a few months. Gengar was actually caught a day after the rest of these guys back in November, and ultimately became a glass cannon when I finally got her mega. It was useful for a lot of cases- most frustrating was the fact I didn't get a single poison type move for it. Well, in any case, it had psychic and electric moves for additional coverage.

Narlgrimm/Grimmsnarl (dark/fairy)- A late game change up, but a pretty smart one for dealing with more ghosts, dragons, etc- surprisingly it was my main FIGHTING type user with drain punch.

For my trainer sprite, I actually edited gen 3 sprites like Abstract did for the most part, and adjusted my usual character head to gen 3 size. Its a neat little dude.

The rest of the sprites are found within the game files itself and I claim no ownership to them.

Think I might try to finish out Insurgence next

[mememanufactorum]

Things I've said to my friends out of context (July 2023 edition)

* FEEL FREE TO SHARE AS YOU PLEASE, NO CREDIT NEEDED. CHANGE PRONOUNS OR ANYTHING ELSE AS DESIRED.

Stop tiptoeing your fucking death.

I see someone else has played Project Wingman.

Get your Taco Bell orchestrion roll.

I already know the smart thing to do in this situation, but when you're both enforcing it on me like this, it makes me want to buy it out of spite.

It'll just make my bank angrier, that's all.

Don't you flimflam me here, fucker.

HOW MANY LAYERS OF NEGATIVES ARE YOU GONNA BE ON?

HEY YOU WANNA SHOOT SOME OUTER GODS?

Have we just been Mandela Effecting ourselves this entire time into thinking that [name] was ever smart?

But there's a lot of little factors that probably wouldn't end up killing things that are already basically dead.

Dogs don't tend to like fireworks.

He wanted the magic fire stick.

I have TWO legs.

Where's the part where God sends down legally distinct Godzilla?

God wants to pick a fight with the human race? We're going to shoot God.

We don't quite have the power of God and anime on our side, but we do have the power of anime and a ridiculous defense budget.

One guy manages to survive and put out his own fire by RAPIDLY SPINNING on the ground.

Sure hope he found out he can punch his own shotgun blasts.

You know the funny thing? I wasn't about to yell at [name].

Man goes "Who the hell is Story of the Year?" I felt personally attacked.

I learned to claw and I liked it.

Just don't stare at the mirror, that way you don't have to worry about the mirror demons.

Whatever you do, don't look up Tallgeese Flugel.

Everything exists so [name] and [name] can slam and jam.

So I have finally found something that made me experience cringe overload for the first time in years.

I feel like I got gut-punched.

How the fuck did you make it through 90% of this game without ever using items?

You know how my ass has consistently played Pokemon since I was a kid? Pick my starter, literally use nothing but my starter, Unga Bunga my way through 100% of the game. Wing bang boom done.

Thank God we don't actually live in Armored Core timeline shenanigans, because something like this would probably result in war crimes between corporate mercenaries using mechs.

Missile launcher: Not actually a missile launcher. Just fires non-explosive, pointy, metal rods.

I also have food, you're not so special.

It wasn't just that I walked into a web, it's that fucking spooders kept shooting webs at me.

That's super fucking rude of you.

Fuck it. Take me, YHVH.

I'll blare Ace of Spades by Motorhead the whole time while we're on the freeway and the whole trip will take less than 2 hours.

Drop the bomb on me, [name]. I'm ready.

But if the dog comes to me and refuses to leave me, I have no choice but to give the affection.

I want to go back to the times where I could shitpost openly again.

Bad cosplay. He still has two arms.

So [name] is about to get BAJA BLASTED for once.

I am not sure what to say other than the fact that this sounds like an intricately layered shitcake.

Surely you would not mix and match M&M's and Skittles together, right?

You're both fucking creatures.

You fucking nondescript entity, beyond a creature at this point.

So I reserve the right to sit back and heckle from my heckler box.

I bet you ate it like a squirrel.

[rainroseedits]

For Jiara prompts I’ve been really dying to see someone do either Kie getting hit with the machete instead of JJ on the boat or a more in depth look at what happened when the Chateau got set on fire (if you can’t tell, I’m a bit of a fan of protective/worried JJ) :) no worries if those don’t speak to you! Love your writing!! <3

AHH thank you so much for your prompts, nonnie <3 !!

I actually hadn’t considered Kie being hit by the machete on the Coastal Venture instead of JJ tbh, but now that you mention it… well I might actually have an idea 👀. What if both of them get hit, and try to save each other?

As for the fire at the Chateau, well I’m gonna take this as a sign to finish the little one shot I have already started about that very scene! I too am a total sucker for protective & worried JJ (plus, Jiara & hurt/comfort is also kinda my jam so if I add a little of that in there as well… we might have ourselves a winning combo 👀).

Thanks again for your prompts, ily!! I can’t wait to get started on them.

Oh, and remember guys, my asks are currently open for any Jiara one-shot prompts (or sentence starters, if you’ve got any of those too) ❤️

[theloniousbach]

TERRAPIN CLUBHOUSE, EPISODE 3: PHIL LESH AND FRIENDS (Stu Allen, Jason Crosby, Grahame Lesh, John Molo, and Elliot Peck)

I am not going to miss a chance to see PHIL LESH in these literally episodic sets, as a chance to continue to think about Grateful Dead music and as a chance to see an aging hero while I can. I had the same impulse in July 2019 when I saw basically this band (sub Cris Jacobs from Grahame Lesh) at the Outlaw Festival with Allison Krauss on To Lay Me Down and a stunning Morning Dew. Even Elliot Peck’s presence for the Estimated Prophet closer echoed Krauss.

I did not see this set straight through and there were ads (grr, but my own fault for not seeing it in the first day or so). Further, it was not a straight through performance with each tune a discrete segment (Playing in the Band>New Potato Caboose>Playin’ Reprise was a straight through jam). So these are not exactly coherent performances with magic to get lost in. But it is Grateful Dead music, so I know how to settle into it quickly.

For starters, I am relieved to find PHIL himself still doing magical things, but it has taken me some time to catch it. He’s no longer playing energetic lead bass like a Great Blue Whale diving and singing. But, particularly on Crazy Fingers and Estimated Prophet, it was there in subtle ways, interesting fills and little countermelodies. There has always been space and quiet in Grateful Dead music, so he can be quieter too.

Allen and G. Lesh capture that lilt and tone. They aren’t slavish Garcia imitators but they are clearly derivative. It’s what we want but they aren’t distinctive either. It’s fine. Vocals were rarely a high point and they still aren’t, but again they are evocative and I hear the songs, singing along in my head, rather than the performances. Peck though contributed to an appealing vocal jam at the end of Estimated Prophet.

I am really glad to be invited to this Clubhouse and to see versions of this music 59 years since the band was formed and, oh, at least 55 years since I started listening.

I like seeing it all from a soundstage, particularly in comparison to the admittedly stunning Dead Forever shows at The Sphere in Las Vegas by Dead and Company. I’m sure the band is firing on all cylinders but they are the soundtrack to the visuals and the music is secondary. But I too am accepting guitar evocations of the old days and only adequate singing.

I have in the car a CD of late 1971 Grateful Dead and, whoa, that is so strong compared to even the band itself 20 years later, much less, most of the latter day legacy bands. Lesh’s Quintet in the early 2000s and the Larry Campbell/Jackie Greene band of 2007+/- had some fire as does Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. Both were grounded in the aesthetic of the single drummer 1971-1974 Grateful Dead which is the segment of the history that I claim with the Anthem of the Sun/Live Dead era as important pre-history.

Lesh has played with John Molo for over 25 years and his drumming remains essential. He too has adjusted to the quieter version and has a jazz player’s subtlety.

I will be watching all of these (and earlier to avoid the ads). Writing about them will wax and wane or even disappear. But this time around, I found I had something to say at least to myself.

Playlist: High Time (I don’t know that I’ve seen this one performed), Playing in the Band>New Potato Caboose>Playing Reprise, Crazy Fingers, Estimated Prophet

https://youtu.be/IntAIiFCpzU?si=itmbBpTX55--lLe7

[vitaliadev]

1st jam update 2: success

I participated solely to get a freebie course for Unreal Engine. I own multiple courses from gamedev.tv, they are good for starters (except lack of subtitles).

Once i actually got to the choosing freebie part, i understood most of the stuff i'd pick i already owned.. but i picked this:

Now I can make my own Chris punch a boulder or something

Despite my entry for the jam being extremely rudimentary, I achieved my main goal. Now I am too fired up to participate in a lot of other jams that have zero prizes, because it is an alternative for accountability buddy to progress for me.

[greenteaandtattoos]

1 and 3 of course

I'm pretty sure this is for the Pokemon Ask Game, so

1: favorite type

I've always been in love with fire-types and dark-types. I've almost always chosen the fire starter for my first playthroughs. I also love ghost, grass, electric, fighting, and water-types.

3: favorite dual type

I really love Houndoom's fire/dark typing, of course. But I also love, love, love fire/ghost, too. Hisuian Typhlosion is my JAM.