#International Facade Technologies

[blueiscoool]

Former Nazi Bunker Turned Into Luxury Hotel in Germany

At 58 meters tall - just a little taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but with considerably more heft - the St. Pauli bunker in Hamburg, Germany, has dominated the city skyline for just over 80 years.

Built using forced labor during Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime, it’s a relic of the darkest period in Germany’s history - but this concrete hulk has had a surprising rebirth.

The relaunched Hamburg Bunker is now packed with two restaurants, a five-story Hard Rock Hotel and a newly built pyramid-like rooftop bar and garden from which greenery flows abundantly over the concrete facade.

The REVERB by Hard Rock is a fitting addition to a city with an impressive musical history – this is, after all, where The Beatles began their career at the start of the 1960s.

The Karoviertel neighborhood in which the fortress-like bunker sits is a cool enclave filled with stylish coffee shops and vintage stores, plus the Knust nightclub in a repurposed abattoir.

The amenities

Rooms in the 134-key REVERB range from 180 euros for a classic room, with amenities including a 55-inch flat screen TV and Alexa in-room assistant, to 269 euros for a suite with sweeping citywide views.

The hotel also has the kind of modern details you’d expect in any self-respecting hip hotel, such as self check-in, smart technology and co-working spaces.

You don’t have to be a hotel guest to enjoy the bunker’s amenities, however. On the ground level, there’s the Constant Grind coffee shop and bar, and a Rock Shop for those seeking Hard Rock merch.

Bar-restaurant Karo & Paul, by German TV chef Frank Rosin, opened as a bar in April 2024 and occupies the first three levels of the building. The restaurant area is still coming soon.

The restaurant La Sala – Spanish for living room - is open for business on the fifth floor, offering lofty views and an international menu.

Finally at the top is the Green Beanie roof garden, with bar and walkway looping round the building, which can be accessed by the public for free.

The challenge

The Hamburg bunker was one of eight flak towers – above-ground anti-aircraft bunkers which doubled as air raid shelters - which Germany built after British air raids on Berlin in 1940.

The history the Hamburg Bunker wears is heavy, but a 76,000-tonne concrete behemoth with walls 2.5 meters thick can’t be easily demolished or ignored.

The only flak tower to have been completely destroyed is one at Berlin’s zoo, as the others are in heavily populated areas where the explosives involved would be too great a risk, AFP reports.

“The idea of raising the height of the building with greenery was to add something peaceful and positive to this massive block left over from the Nazi dictatorship,” Anita Engels, from the Hilldegarden neighborhood association which supported the project, told AFP.

The association has helped with this new chapter in the Hamburg flak tower’s history by collecting testimonies from people who lived in the wartime bunker as well as records of the hundreds of forced laborers who built it.

An exhibition on the first floor now tells the full story of the building’s history.

By Maureen O'Hare.

[exhaled-spirals]

« Today’s AI technology allows people of different cultures to communicate instantly and effortlessly with one another. Wow! Isn’t that a centuries-long dream come true, weaving the world ever more tightly together? Isn’t it a wonderful miracle? Isn’t the soon-to-arrive world where everyone can effortlessly speak every language just glorious?

Some readers will certainly say “yes,” but I would say “no.” In fact, I see this looming scenario as a great tragedy. I see it as the beginning of the end of the age-old tradition of learning foreign languages [...]. The problem is that people of all cultures instinctively follow the path of least resistance.

Today’s young people [...] who grow up with translation software, will not be lured in the same way that I, as a teenager, was lured by the fantastic, surrealistic goal of internalizing another language. They won’t feel the slightest temptation to devote a major fraction of their lives to slowly and arduously acquiring the sounds, vocabulary, grammar, and cultural richness of another language. To them, someone with my self-punishing attitude would seem hopelessly wedded to the past. Why on earth cling to riding a horse or a bicycle for transportation, when you can drive a car (not to mention flying in an airplane)? [...]

[I]t strikes me as possible—in fact, quite likely—that humans are collectively going to knuckle under and throw in the towel as far as foreign languages are concerned. [...] As my friend David Moser put it, what may soon go down the drain forever, thanks to these new AI technologies, is the precious gift that one can gain only by immersing oneself deeply in another culture and thereby acquiring an entirely new set of ways of looking at the world. It’s a gift that can’t help but turn any human being into a far richer and broader one. But David fears that it may soon become as rare as hen’s teeth.

[...I]t’s incredibly depressing to contemplate the profound impoverishment of people’s mental and emotional lives that is looming just around every corner of the globe, thanks to the slick seductiveness of AI translation apps, insidiously creeping their way into ordinary people’s lives and sapping their desire to make other tongues their own.

When children first hear the sounds of another language, they can’t help but wonder: What in the world would it feel like to speak that language? Such eager childlike curiosity might seem universal and irrepressible. But what if that human curiosity is suddenly snuffed out forever by the onrushing tsunami of AI? When we collectively abandon the age-old challenge of learning the languages of other lands, when we relinquish that challenge to ultrarapid machines that have no inner life of their own but are able to give us fluent but fake facades in other languages, then we will have lost a major part of what it is to be human and alive. »

— Douglas Hofstadter, "Learn a Foreign Language Before It’s Too Late"

[caffernnn]

Hey idk if you'd be interested but free! Heist AU

Rin - the mastermind

Rin inherited this business from his late father who was secretly running this organization. He is a driven and charismatic leader who only has eyes looking forward to achieve the next goal. He is an intelligent planner who makes sure his heists are perfect and foolproof, and that he is equipped with the best items and personnel for the job. He will not hesitate to use other people to achieve his goals, and views everyone as a stepping stone for success (unless he takes a really strong liking to you and deems you indispensable). He can be very persuasive with his words, with very provoking offers that you can't help but bite and get baited. But he also be very scary and intimidating, and he's very skilled in a lot of things related to his chosen career. He's a strong hand-to-hand fighter, as well as with quite a few weapons, like a handgun and a knife. He leads the operations and he rarely backs down from a fight.

Haru - the fraud

He can copy any item that is presented before him. Penstroke or brushstroke, he can forge or falsify anything on paper created by the human hand. He can recreate any material, and replicate it 100 times more. He has made a living creating and selling fake copies of expensive items, and their authenticity (or rather, the lack of) is rarely discovered. He takes pride in his craft, which he uses to support his best friend and long-time boyfriend's college education and home expenses.

Makoto - the conman

Haru's boyfriend. He can charm people into agreeing with what he says and making them do what he wants to. He knows how to read people like open books, and therefore knows everything that will make people tick and click. He puts up a facade of kindness that creates a false security, making people fall for his words even deeper. They think everything he says is for their own benefit.

He actually has been working with Haru for a long time now, with him selling the counterfeits Haru manufactures. This is how they met Rin, when they sold him something fake and it took Rin a long time to discover that he was astonished.

Rei - the hacker

A computer genius with too much time on his hands, Rei delved deep into computer technology. There is no digital system he can't hijack. His application to a university got rejected after an academic rival sabotaged his chances, and while taking a gap year, fell too deep into tinkering computer programs, codes, wires, and other gadgets. He exposed corruption of several huge academic bodies under anonymous accounts and became a target under hiding. Rin was able to track him and took him under his wing for his service in exchange for protection.

Nagisa - the moneymaker

He's the guy who helps Rin earn his funds, albeit by using unconventional means. He's the greatest thief in the team, being able to steal anything; from pickpocketing a stranger's wallet to infiltrating a heavily-guarded jewel and running away with it. He's also an amazing gambler and bluffer and is able to earn money by betting against people he meets. He ran away from home and made a living on the streets by himself and that's how Rin found him.

Gou - the secretary

Rin's sister whos only in it as a promise to her father to keep an eye on Rin and make sure he stays away from harm. She handles all the internal affairs and logistics of the team, such as record keeping and accounting. She rarely goes out for a mission, unless the team needs a femme fatale to bait a client for her to use her seduction skills on. She can take care of herself, with some fighting moves under her belt and equipped with the skill of using everyday objects as weapons. Yes, she has crippled a man for life with nothing but a clutch purse and her heels.

Kisumi - the backer

This guy has connections everywhere. He knows everyone from everything and therefore is always able to pull several strings whenever Rin is in a pinch. Need a man in Guatemala? He got you covered. Need a guy with a ship? He knows one. Need 25 billion yen? Oddly enough, someone owes him that exact amount. Do not make an enemy out of him. Be his friend! Just like what Rin did with him!

Asahi - the grease monkey

He's a dropout from automotive school after his sister's shop went bankrupt and he can no longer pay for his tuition. Equipped with only a rundown mechanic shop and a dream, he studied automotive all on his own and was discovered by Kisumi when he repaired his car that no one should be able to when it broke down in the middle of nowhere (the nowhere being Asahi's rural town where he is the only mechanic). There is no machine he can't disassemble and reassemble at the same breath. He can fix, modify, customize, and redesign any vehicle with his mechanic skills that the team thinks he could create the next ultimate war weapon if left unchecked.

Hiyori - the chameleon

He can transform into anyone at the blink of an eye. Being a master of deception, he is able to imitate a person's body language, movement, personality, speech pattern, etc. which allows him to turn into a completely different person. With each transformation, he is able to completely erase traces of his former self. Combined with skill in disguise and makeup application, he is the best spy the team could offer. No one knows if they have seen his true face or personality, nor does anyone know of Hiyori's lonely past and desire to be wanted and accepted. Is that his real face? His real self? His real name? Who knows...

Ikuya - the stalker

He can tail a person without letting his presence be detected whatsoever. His attachment issues with his younger, who is a free spirit roaming around the world and tried his best to shake him off of him led him to develop his stalking tendencies. Anywhere his brother goes, he was able to follow. He can bypass any security, any lock system, and no one would be able to detect. He can get in anywhere, even places people wouldn't be able to get into. Lock him, bind him, imprison him, and he will escape. He can follow anyone to the depths of the earth, to the most hidden corner of the planet. He can find anything you need, person or item. When he locks onto a target, he is unstoppable, and no one knows how he is able to achieve these feats. The only way he found out about Rin's team and got recruited was because he followed Natsuya and broke into the hideout. Rin was impressed and recruited him along with his brother.

Sousuke - the wheelman

Rins best friend and very first member of the team. He was the original partner in crime and his job was to take Rin wherever he needed to be. He can drive any vehicle from practice because of his background. He comes from a rich family and has experience driving several vehicles, using his father's money to enjoy the luxury. He was an up and coming car racer but an accident hindered his chances of becoming a pro, so he ran away from his high status lifestyle to join Rin in his adventures (and to try pursue romance with him but really, he hasn't gotten far with his attempts with him yet).

Can he pilot a plane? Yes. Can he man a ship? Yes. Can he drive a van with one arm while shooting his pursuers with the other? Yes. Can he go around the city without getting lost all by himself? No. His only weakness? His lack of sense of direction.

Natsuya - the navigator

He knows everything about everywhere because of his experiences travelling to a lot of different places. He knows every nook and cranny of every town,  village or city and knows how to get around either through the fastest, safest, or easiest way. He knows a lot of things about different buildings as well. He knows the layout of his target's places inside and out. He's an experienced thief like Nagisa, and he usually comes with Rin during infiltration and most of the time works as Sousuke's navigator when he's on the wheel. He's also an excellent shotgun rider, with an excellent aim when shooting from his seat.

Nao - the intel

The only person better than Makoto at reading people. He has a weird ability to know a person's nature and tendency just from a single look, and from there formulate a strategy on how to deal with them. He always submits his reports with extensive personal profiles of their targets and no one knows how he manages to get his hands on these data. Only joined the team after quitting his job of being a corporate worker to keep an eye on Natsuya.

Nitori - the contingency

One of Rin's most trusted subordinates. Rin may be the one planning everything, but not everything goes according to plan. And that's where he comes in. He has backup plans for everything, in case anything that can go wrong, goes wrong. Most of the time his anxiety induced overthinking is useless when things go smooth, but it has definitely saved Rin's ass several times when he got cornered into a pinch. Years of being a victim of bullying made him good in "thinking of what it do in case something goes wrong", but he doesn't like to talk about that. Not when Rin had already saved him from that nightmare of a past.

Momo - the inside job

He works at a media company in charge of delivering headline news. Indebted to Rin for freeing his brother out of prison, his role is to receive intel from a more stable source, and whatever data he receives from the journalists he delivers to the team. He is also responsible for covering up their heists and making sure that none of their activities make it to the public.

Do not let the childish demeanor fool you, he is the brother of a convict and is trained in combat as well. Journalists have many enemies, and he will not hesitate to pull out and shoot when he deems you as a threat.

Sei - the combat master

Rin's most trusted soldier. An ex-military who got suspended for "unknown reasons", he is an expert in several martial arts styles from around the world, and is very skilled in fighting either barehanded or with weapons. He can fight people way above his weight class. He is trained in using all sorts of weapons, from knives in close-range combat to snipe shooting. Rin recruited him after helping him escape from prison because he greatly needed his talents, and he refuses to let him go to waste and just rot locked up in confinement.

Loooove a crime ring or heist AU 😈 a whole bunch of potential for different power dynamics and grey moralities and such. There’s a lot of fun character bits I’d love to hear more about as well 👀

- How much did Rin know about the company/ring/etc before he inherited it? How much did Gou know? I’m curious since it feels like some characters could’ve known Rin before he became a boss figure (Sousuke and Kisumi being the kids of family friends or allies, with their own varying degrees of awareness/involvement in the underground scheming). I’d be curious to see how the few people who are able to get close to Rin (more than an employer) see him take on the mantle, see him will himself into the mastermind by force — the talent is anything but natural, anything but easy, and there’s a reason he tends to put himself on the front lines in their missions despite being the figurehead they all probably can’t afford to lose (pride, obligation, control). I can see conflicts arising from him not stowing himself away with the other roles behind-the-scenes (Gou, Rei, etc) and focusing on management stuff (convening with the info/intel/PR roles to maintain face as a chairman or something). I can see that being a possible beef and debate between Rin and Haru, how Haru doesn’t understand why he would insist on being a part of the action so directly all the time (how he can manage to have any semblance of life/normalcy with his face/identity surely being tied to chaos in the underground scene at least), and Rin hitting Haru in a sore spot by saying something about “for a guy that cares about getting to have security, you sure don’t seem to mind that your boy puts his own hide on the line a lot. Why do you think Makoto does it?” (Something something, Haru trying to insist more than once over the years that Makoto doesn’t need to be involved in the con, versus Makoto’s stubborn “you can’t get rid of me that easy” smooth-talking. Haru hoping they can keep getting away with everything long enough for Makoto to get his degree and an above-board gig, while being acutely aware that each mission involves Makoto taking on more and more conning responsibilities and having less moments to breathe as his most earnest self. The shared struggle of them both making a living off of emulating other things [it’s never his own expression/art, it’s never Makoto’s own kindness/heart] and how that wears them down over time.)

- the Kirishimas of it all are interesting, especially with how Ikuya’s abilities make it sound like he’s versatile enough to be a powerhouse in his own right. Nat functions well with being the navigator for Ssk, and Ikuya and Nao following him into Rin’s ring makes sense, but I almost wonder… do you think Ikuya ever question’s being led by Rin? How his own skillset is versatile enough to compare to Rin’s hands-on leadership (both being honed by their own dedications and desperations to Do What They Have To), and that he might like, idk, impress his older brother and make him “proud” by trying to branch off with his own gang/group? As Hiyori gets attached to Ikuya (originally being an undercover genius and gradually morphing into Ikuya’s right hand man), and Ikuya develops enough connections over time within the company (naturally having pre-existing Nat/Nao connections, getting info from Kisumi, running into Asahi for a few things, etc), I’d be curious to see if they’d like, have a threat of a grand split, or he branches off technically within Rin’s company, but with his own kingpin/leadership type position. IDK, PLOT!!

- One thing I keep wondering is how many people are like, primarily goons under Rin’s thumb versus separate contacts that are seen on equal footing. Momo makes me wonder how much he really gets to know about any of the missions before they happen, rather than being a mostly-removed guy in reporting that Nitori or one of the sweet-talkers convenes with from time-to-time to ensure they get cover stories done. How much does Asahi get involved; does he know much more beyond Kisumi and Rin being wealthy repeat customers who come to him with odd requests he doesn’t ask questions about? So many paths. They can all be called in when needed for the right mission or heist, but how many are still connected to Rin in the in-between? How many have debts or are on payroll, and how many could refuse if the price wasn’t right? Extra little dynamic stuff that could make things ~juicy~.

- (no coherent last notes. Just thinkin about ssk and all the ways he could have lasting disabilities from the incident/injury that took him out of the racing circuit. The possibility of Rin knowing him as a rich boy family friend before the incident and having some sense of closeness that makes him wonder sometimes how selfish it was to invite him in to a more underhanded world full-time. Ssk paralleling Makoto in how he goes from “I’m here because you’re here” with one notable skill/role that develops over time to being more risky and involved. Rin being so used to the noise and chaos at this point that it takes a moment of seeing Sousuke on a Bad Pain Day between missions to remember how human they all are, or have that “why didn’t you tell me you were worn down” talk that makes him realize how far ssk is willing to go simply because Rin’s the one asking. Classic sourins)

[pierre-gable-photographe]

Presentation of a short slideshow of my photos on the wall of a building on November 13 in Hartford Connecticut -

The highly anticipated Magic Mural Art Wall is set to transform downtown Hartford with a groundbreaking public art installation over three nights. This event will turn the facade of the Frontier Communications building into a massive digital canvas, showcasing dynamic artwork through cutting-edge projection mapping technology. Highlights include an opening night with Governor Ned Lamont, stunning visuals from local and international artists, and a celebration of creativity and community

[skelegun]

This weekend I painted some of my Quar! Since most people probably haven’t heard of Quar, I’ll give some Quar Lore. The Quar are a species of leathery anteater like creatures who are basically like us, except technologically they are at roughly WWI levels. Their species has been fighting the Long War off and on again since times immemorial at the whims of their ruling elite.

These four Quar are Coftyrans. They come from the proud and ancient empire of Coftyr, and consider themselves the last bastion of traditional Quar values. They go into battle in fancy uniforms and armed with finely crafted though usually outdated weaponry.

From a war gaming perspective, I rather like their rules and the way their equipment looks, most of their guns are bullpups. Despite being the “old school” faction, they were also the ones to invent SMGs, which is neat and helps prevent them from being flanderized. I also like the way their squads are set up. It’s an NCO with a SMG, 8 dudes with bolt action rifles, and a one guy with a LMG. That’s a solid set up that was pretty common IRL up through WWII and beyond for many countries. Officers are equipped with a pistol and sword which also based as hell.

These guys are Crusaders. They are basically Trotskyites from my interpretation of the lore. The Crusade is an international movement that aims to end the Long War by force, and to smash the ancient class based system that dominates Quar society. They started as a small band of rebels and have since turned into a well oiled martial machine, for a while it seemed they had the royalists on the ropes, but now their advance has stalled and cracks are starting to appear in their facade.

From a war gaming perspective their rules seem kinda strange and at odds with their lore. Like they are supposed to be logistical geniuses who favor innovative tactics, but their standard squad is really goofy. It’s a sergeant with a semi automatic rifle, and three teams consisting of 2 with guys semi automatic rifles and 1 guy with a “heavy rifle” (which seems to be a semi automatic anti-tank rifle with a bayonet). It’s a strange squad composition that IRL would get pinned down and shredded by the coftyran squad’s automatic weaponry. Also their officers use these like handcrafted heirloom shotguns which seems at odds with the lore of them being a hyper utilitarian classless faction.

[leiawritesstories]

Summary: Aelin Galathynius had a hand in just about every illegal dealing in all of Terrasen. Weapons, drugs, organized crime, the black market, blackmail, assassination, coercion, bribery–you name it, she was almost definitely connected to it. The only problem? Nobody could prove it. 

Rowan Whitethorn, fresh out of Terrasen’s elite special forces academy–known only as Doranelle for secrecy–was convinced he could unmask Aelin Galathynius. So convinced, in fact, that he’d managed to obtain special orders from his commander to do just that. The only problem? He had exactly three hundred and sixty-five days. If he couldn’t prove Aelin Galathynius guilty in one year’s time, he’d be booted down to corporal in disgrace. 

Something neither Aelin nor Rowan could have expected, though, was each other. When their paths cross–and oh, their paths will cross–who will come out ahead?

CW: violence, swearing, crime, drugs, death, lots of illegal activities, NSFW

Masterlist

~~~

PROLOGUE: CONCRETE PROOF

Word count: 2.8k

Warnings: swearing, mentions of violence, crime scenes, weapons, drugs, references to homicide

Enjoy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At precisely eight o’clock a.m. each morning, the polished chrome elevator doors swished open with a ping, and a pair of patent-leather stiletto heels so shiny you could see your reflection in the material clicked with brisk, deadly efficiency across the hardwood flooring of Galathynius, Incorporated. 

Located on the top five floors of one of downtown Orynth’s most prestigious office buildings, the technology company had risen to the top percentile of its field quietly, its success largely thanks to years of hard work by the late Rhoe Galathynius and Evalin Ashryver. Upon their passing, their only daughter–Aelin Ashryver Galathynius–inherited the whole company. 

Less than six months after she took over, Galathynius, Inc. was the uncontested leader of its field, perhaps the head of all the businesses in Orynth, perhaps even in all of Terrasen. Her employees, to a person, were either completely terrified or completely starstruck of her. Aelin took that as a compliment. She’d worked hard to build her image; she wasn’t about to break it for some sniveling intern who couldn’t take a word of criticism. Besides, who ever heard of a crime boss that was all sunshine and rainbows? She had an image to uphold, both professionally and…well, less professionally. 

Better the innocent, unsuspecting employees of Galathynius, Inc. think her an unapproachable CEO than a cold-blooded criminal. 

Galathynius, Inc. was a perfectly legitimate business, despite the foul rumors that claimed it was nothing more than a facade for criminal activity. Aelin snorted every time she read a new theory in the news or the tabloids, each claim somehow more outrageous than the last. In the four years since she’d become CEO, she’d seen them all: nepotism, daddy’s money, buying out the competition, bribery, affairs, selling her body for prestige, and more. She even had a few of the funnier ones tacked to her corkboard, blocky headlines about “GALATHYNIUS CEO CAUGHT AFTER MESSY NIGHT OUT!!!” paired with grainy, badly edited photos that were obviously not her making her laugh each time she saw them. 

Aelin kept her personal office on the top floor, a floor reserved specifically for her and her board of trustees, all of whom were close associates in both businesses. She had a work office on the floor below and used that for all the mundane workday things–endless meetings, strategy sessions, presentations, and the like–but her top-floor office was her personal one. The only people who came to see her there were Elide, Lysandra, Ansel, and anyone she needed to…impress. 

There was a reason that the boss’s office had tile flooring.

As always, Aelin stepped into Galathynius, Inc’s offices at precisely eight o’clock, her five-inch stiletto heels clicking over the hardwood flooring. She was greeted, as usual, with a ripple of “good morning, ma’am” and other similar greetings from her employees, and she offered her usual small nod as she strode to the private elevator at the back of the office, ascending to the second floor for the Monday morning planning meeting. 

“Talk to me,” she commanded, sweeping through the sliding glass doors of the conference room. Elide, the chief of operations, nodded, tipping her head at the director of marketing, who stood up and tapped on her tablet, projecting the quarter’s projections onto the screen. 

“We’re completely on track for this quarter, expected to turn a profit at…” 

Aelin mostly tuned out the woman’s monologue, focusing on the numbers on the screen and the few details she picked out that sounded most important or interesting. “And the Cortland acquisition?” 

“The Cortlands and their attorney will be meeting you tomorrow at eleven to finalize the terms of the merger,” Ansel replied. The redhead was Aelin’s attorney, and a kickass one at that. 

“Excellent.” Aelin stood. “Thank you, everyone.” She strode out, got back into the elevator, and went up to her work office, leaving a trail of huge-eyed employees in her wake. They tended to get that look whenever she passed close by. 

After confirming that her schedule for the day was clear, Aelin picked up her dark brown leather briefcase and walked across the hall into the upper-level meeting room, a much smaller space that was used mostly for random storage. All the better for her to conceal the top-floor access door there. She slipped behind a row of file cabinets, touched a button on the remote hidden in her pocket, and pressed her thumb to the small black screen that slid out of its hiding place in the wall. The screen flashed green, and with a soft mechanical whirr, the hidden door slid open, and Aelin stepped through. At the top of the secret stairs was another thumbprint-locked door, this one opening into a short, well-lit hallway with a single mahogany door at the end. 

The bronze plate on the door simply read Galathynius. One name. One hell of a reputation. 

Dropping her briefcase on one of the cushioned chairs in front of her desk, Aelin dropped into her seat, opened her personal laptop–heavily encrypted, of course–and clicked through a maze of innocuous folders before locating the file she wanted. It took her a minute and a half, but she hadn’t clawed her way to this position by taking risks. She let her cursor hover over the file for a few seconds before clicking it.

Opening <Spicy_Romance_Recommendations.xlsx>

Aelin didn’t often consider herself prideful, but she had to admit, that was one of her most clever moves. Nobody who tried to break into her computer would open a file with that name, primarily because it was public knowledge that Aelin Galathynius was a big fan of smutty romances–the less plot, the better. She knew full well that everyone she worked with would likely rather die than read her indecent thoughts about her favorite romance novels. 

This file, though, was hardly romantic. It contained several encoded lists of Aelin’s most important not-entirely-legal dealings–shipments, targets, and the like. Needless to say, if anyone other than herself or her inner circle ever got their hands on this file, she would probably be completely screwed. Hence the encoding.

Right on cue, Elide’s distinctive knock sounded on the other side of the door. 

Aelin snapped her fingers, disarming the door’s protective protocol. “Come in, Ells.” 

Elide Lochan, who was probably the smartest person Aelin knew, strode into the office, her six-inch-heeled boots making her almost as tall as Aelin naturally was. “Mornin’, boss.” 

“What’s new around town?” 

Elide smirked and took a seat in the comfortable armchair across from Aelin. “Hmm, nothing much. There’s a delivery for Kingsflame today at 14:20, Cortlands are meeting you tomorrow–you knew that–and oh, PD’s after whoever so graciously sprang a certain Mr. Allsbrook from prison the other night.” She raised a perfectly plucked brow at the blonde. “I don’t suppose you have any intel about the prison break, do you?” 

Aelin pressed her left hand flat against her chest. “My dear Miss Lochan, I have absolutely no idea what happened! Who could possibly have had the skills, time, and influence to slip such a criminal as Ren Allsbrook from national prison?” 

“I swear, you could bullshit the gods themselves,” Elide chuckled. “Right, then. He’s safe?” 

“Laying as low as low can get,” Aelin confirmed. “I have my reasons, Ells.” 

“Of course.” Elide swiped across her tablet. “Oh–one more thing.” 

“Yeah?” 

The petite woman’s eyes glittered with dangerous cold. “Do you have room in your schedule for a night meeting–say 20, 2100–at the plant?” 

A serpentine smile that had made innumerable people piss themselves crawled across Aelin’s scarlet-painted lips. “The boss always has room for that.”

~

The siren’s blaring screech jerked Rowan Whitethorn rudely from his deep sleep, and he cursed filthily, swearing at the gods-fucking-damned alarms for going off at this gods-fucking-damned hour of the morning. Night? He couldn’t say. Too damned early. On autopilot, he shoved himself out of bed and into uniform, sliding his handgun into his thigh holster and grabbing his Kevlar vest, then splashed some freezing water on his face to shock him into wakefulness and hurried off to the briefing room. 

A hum of conversation, most of it pocked with muttered curses, filled the large space. 

Rowan dropped into a chair next to his close friend and squad partner, Lorcan Salvaterre. The dark-haired man, who was even taller and grouchier than Rowan, barely spared him half a glance. 

“The hell’s all this?” Rowan asked. 

Lorcan shrugged. “Damned if I know.” He flicked a look around the soldiers close by and leaned closer to Rowan’s ear, lowering his voice. “Rumor is they found another body.” 

Rowan swore. “Same M.O.?”

“Yep. And,” Lorcan shot Rowan a very significant look, “I’ve heard it showed up at the dead guy’s own property. Surrounded by a shitload of–” 

“Attention! Now!” The commander’s order cut off whatever Lorcan had been about to say. 

Two hundred of Terrasen’s deadliest special forces, each soldier highly trained and capable of several thousand ways of killing a person, snapped to attention, facing the front of the room, where the squadron commander stood. His hands were clasped behind his back and his face was tight, a barely noticeable flicker in the corner of his jaw marking how hard he was clenching his teeth. 

“This won’t be long,” Commander Gavriel Ashryver said once the room had come to complete attentive silence. Gav had been Rowan and Lorcan’s captain when they were in training; he could be damn demanding, but he was an excellent leader. He’d been named commander a couple of years ago when the former one died. “As I’m sure most of you know, we’ve found another body.” He grimaced. “More accurately, Orynth PD has found another body. Same M.O. as every other one we’ve discovered in the last year or so.” He pressed a button on the tiny remote in his hand. 

On the projection screen, a series of images flared to life. Rowan’s sharp gaze scanned the photos, picking up all the details of the man who’d been found dead. Red hair, gray eyes, six foot one, a hundred and eighty-seven pounds, lean build, a handful of characteristic scars. Fifty-two years old at time of death. 

“Name’s Arobynn Hamel,” Gav continued. 

No amount of training could have kept down the ripple of shock that raced through the room. 

Arobynn Hamel was a known gangster, drug trafficker, smuggler, and otherwise notorious criminal who’d been evading law enforcement for years, if not decades. The oily bastard had been linked to a rather thick file full of crimes during his lifetime; special forces hadn’t been the only ones trying to get their hands on him. 

Gav allowed the shock to die down, then went on. “His corpse was found at his own warehouse at approximately 0500 this morning. Orynth PD reports they discovered the body surrounded by multiple large containers of cocaine.” He clicked the remote again, bringing up the police images of the crime scene–which was, in one word, brutal.

“Fuck,” Rowan murmured under his breath. 

“According to PD reports, Hamel had been dead for at least three hours when his body was discovered. We’ll have the morgue’s full report by this afternoon, but initial inspection showed bruises, lacerations, lesions, and burn marks on the body, with the fatal wound undoubtedly being the severed jugular veins and carotid arteries.” Gav paused, waiting a moment for the news to settle. “As for the cocaine found with the body, it’s definitely Hamel’s. Identical bags were found on the property when PD swept it, and at least one of the bags by the body bore fingerprints identified as one of Hamel’s close associates, a criminal known as Graves.” 

Why the hell would he have been stupid enough to leave prints? Rowan asked himself, turning over the details in his mind. 

Gav swept his gaze over the room, probably noticing the calculation in Rowan’s face. “As of now, this remains an Orynth PD case. However, the most recent communication with the PD chief confirmed that we may be asked to join if–” 

“Sir!” A soldier burst through the briefing room doors, a small red slip of paper in his hand. “An urgent message from Orynth PD, sir. Pardon the interruption.” 

“Excused.” Gav snatched the paper and read the brief message. “Fuck.” He snapped his attention back to the room. “You’re all dismissed.”

The soldiers streamed out of the briefing room, most of them probably headed back to the barracks to catch another few hours of sleep before the day actually started. Rowan was almost out the door when his itch to say something got the better of him and he stopped, turning back to approach the commander. 

“I said dismissed, Whitethorn,” Gav said when Rowan approached. 

Rowan saluted. “Yes, sir, you did. I have something to suggest though, sir.” 

Gav exhaled sharply. “Speak.” 

“Sir, I believe the murders are connected–”

“We already knew that, soldier.” Gav’s jaw was locked. “Say something useful or I’ll have you on patrol for the next eight hours.” He headed out of the briefing room, stalking towards his office.

Rowan followed. “It’s Galathynius, sir. I know it is. Behind the murders.” 

“Show me some proof,” Gav returned. “I’m not discrediting your theory, soldier. But it’s nothing more than conjecture until you have concrete proof.” 

Rowan scratched the back of his neck. “That’s the problem, sir. I…I don’t have concrete proof.” He raised his hands before Gav could dismiss him. “But I can get proof, I swear. I just need time, sir.” 

Gav raised a brow. “You want me to assign you to this case?” He walked into his office, gesturing for Rowan to follow him.

“I, uh–”

“When we’ve only been asked to be quietly involved?” He closed the door.

Rowan said nothing.

Gav shook his head slowly. “I admire your eagerness, Whitethorn, but at this moment I can’t send anyone headlong into this mess.” 

“Then when, sir?” Rowan pressed. “If not now, when will I–we–be able to prove that it’s Galathynius behind the murders? Hell, probably behind the whole damn crime ring.” 

“You’re verging mighty close on insolence, Whitethorn,” Gav warned. 

Rowan clenched his fists behind his back and shut up. 

Gav sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose like he always did when he was working through a shitload of information in his mind. “I’m telling you this as your former captain, Whitethorn, and if word of this gets out, I’ll have you flogged and on KP for the next damn decade. Clear?” Rowan nodded. “I’ve just received word that Graves has also been found dead.” 

Rowan gasped sharply. “Same M.O. as Hamel?” 

Gav nodded tightly. “Severed throat, battered body. Pretty nasty crime scene, too.” He fixed Rowan with a piercing stare. “PD officially requests one special forces officer for the investigation.” 

Not daring to hope he’d be chosen, Rowan just nodded. Please trust me, he screamed internally. 

“Against my better judgment–” Gav sat down at his desk and scrawled his signature onto a document that he passed to Rowan. “I’m assigning you to the investigation.”

“Thank you, sir,” Rowan breathed, folding the document neatly and tucking it into his vest. 

“Whitethorn.” Gav’s voice was steely. 

“Sir?” 

“You have one year.” The words were absolutely final. “One year, Whitethorn. If you can’t prove Galathynius is guilty, I’ll have your ass busted down to corporal and shipped off to Eyllwe. Clear?” 

“Yes, sir!” Rowan saluted sharply. 

“Good. Dismissed.” 

Rowan turned on his heel and left Gav’s office, heading quickly back to his room in the barracks, where he stripped off his gear and took a good look at the letter Gav had given him. It was a simple clearance document, identifying him and his position with the investigative team should anyone ask too many questions and need proof that he was supposed to be there. Good. All in order. 

Kneeling on the floor, Rowan reached underneath his mattress and pulled out a manila envelope full of news clippings, photos, images, screenshots, and his own scrawled notes, a year’s worth of info collected from the string of brutal murders that kept cropping up. Each new murder was a known criminal or gangster, someone the law had been trying to capture for years without success. Each followed the same pattern–brutally beaten (probably tortured), throat slashed, body found on the dead man’s property, surrounded by cold hard evidence of his crimes. According to what Rowan knew and had found from the media, only one person could possibly have any motive to take out every notorious criminal in Terrasen. 

Aelin Galathynius.

Rowan knew–he just knew–Galathynius was the one. The CEO had charmed the public into believing she was just a particularly savvy businesswoman, which she was. But rumors, gossip, and other, darker sources whispered about her ruthlessness, her cunning, her willingness to do anything to see her business at the top. Those sources also whispered about another business–a much less legal one. 

Rumor had it Aelin Galathynius led a criminal organization of her own, and she was taking out her rivals with a heartlessness that even Rowan had to admit was impressive. Either way, the woman was guilty. 

And he, Rowan Whitethorn, was going to prove it. 

~~~

TAGS: please let me know if you want to be added or removed :)

@live-the-fangirl-life

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[emptyanddark]

what's actually wrong with 'AI'

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

what is 'AI'

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

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

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

The Values Encoded in Machine Learning Research

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

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

ChatGPT Is a Blurry JPEG of the Web

Can we truly benefit from AI?

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

The Steep Cost of Capture

labor

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

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

also from the Times: Inside Facebook's African Sweatshop

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

The humans behind Mechanical Turk’s artificial intelligence

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

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

The Exploited Labor Behind Artificial Intelligence

workers surveillance

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

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

theft of art and content

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

Copyright won't solve creators' Generative AI problem

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

The Exploited Labor Behind Artificial Intelligence

AI is already taking video game illustrators’ jobs in China

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

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

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

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

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

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

political, social, ethical consequences

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

An Indigenous Perspective on Generative AI

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

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

Machine Bias

HUMAN_FALLBACK

AI Ethics Are in Danger. Funding Independent Research Could Help

AI Is Tearing Wikipedia Apart  

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

The Great A.I. Hallucination (podcast)

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

The promise and peril of generative AI

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

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

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

AI moderation is no match for hate speech in Ethiopian languages

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

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

The EU AI Act is full of Significance for Insurers

Proxy Discrimination in the Age of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data

Welfare surveillance system violates human rights, Dutch court rules

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

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

Generative AI Is Making Companies Even More Thirsty for Your Data

environment

The Generative AI Race Has a Dirty Secret

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

Energy and Policy Considerations for Deep Learning in NLP

AINOW: Climate Justice & Labor Rights

militarism

The Growing Global Spyware Industry Must Be Reined In

AI: the key battleground for Cold War 2.0?

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

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

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

organizations

AI now

DAIR

podcast episodes

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

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

SRSLY WRONG: Artificial Intelligence part 1, part 2

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

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

[republicsecurity]

The Instructor

In a world meticulously crafted and controlled, "The Instructor: Echoes of Duty" delves into the intricate web of duty, discipline, and determination within the Paramedic Corps. Directed by a masterful hand, this film weaves a tapestry of raw human emotions against the backdrop of a society where every heartbeat is synchronized to the rhythm of the paramedic code.

Starring in a role that seems tailor-made for him, is Jackson LeClarke who served himself in the paramedic corps. He delivers a performance that is as chilling as it is moving. His portrayal of a seasoned intendurd servant, bound by the ironclad rules of the Corps, resonates with an eerie authenticity. With every glance and every word, he embodies the struggle of someone who believes in the system even as it threatens to consume his humanity.

The film opens with a chilling scene — a pristine paramedic station, shadows cast ominously by the harsh fluorescent lights. The silence is shattered by the arrival of the new recruits, fresh-faced and eager. As they embark on their intense training, the audience is thrust into a world where the line between mentorship and indoctrination blurs.

The cinematography in "The Instructor" is both haunting and beautiful. The stark, clinical interiors of the training facility contrast sharply with the serene yet indifferent beauty of the outside world. Each frame is a careful study in contrast, mirroring the internal conflict of the characters.

From the crack of dawn, when the recruits dutifully adorn their chastity cages, to the meticulous scrutiny by the instructors ensuring conformity, the film is a visceral dive into the heart of paramedic indoctrination.

The neuro-based VR training sequences are a spectacle to behold. Through the lens of cutting-edge technology, the recruits' minds are stretched and challenged, forging them into the finest paramedics. The VR training, portrayed with stunning visual effects, captures the surreal blend of reality and simulation, where the line between the two blurs until it's indistinguishable.

As the recruits navigate the labyrinthine corridors of virtual emergencies, the audience is drawn into their world. The palpable tension, the rush of adrenaline, and the overwhelming responsibility are portrayed so vividly that viewers find themselves holding their breath in sync with the characters on screen.

The supporting cast, composed of young recruits navigating their way through a world that demands perfection, brings a refreshing authenticity to the film. Their wide-eyed idealism clashes with the weathered, stoic facade of the instructors, creating moments of tension that resonate long after the credits roll.

The script, penned with a pen dipped in cynicism and splattered with irony, delves deep into the psyche of those who serve the Corps. It questions the price of obedience, the cost of loyalty, and the fine line between devotion and blind submission. The dialogues are razor-sharp, leaving the audience with lingering questions about duty, sacrifice, and the nature of freedom.

Accompanied by a haunting, minimalist score, "The Instructor: Echoes of Duty" is a cerebral journey that challenges not only the characters on screen but also the viewers in the theater. It prompts introspection, forcing us to confront the uncomfortable truths about our own allegiances and the systems we uphold.

In the end, "The Instructor" is not merely a film; it's a thought-provoking exploration of the human spirit under the weight of duty. It's a chilling reminder that even the noblest of causes can demand a price too high, and the echoes of duty reverberate long after the screen fades to black.

[danmeiarchive]

The Virtuous Omega Disguised as the Vicious Colonel by Little Baldy -- a brief review (no spoilers)

Novel length: 101 chapters + 3 extras

My Rating: ★★★★★ / 5

I have recently finished my second read through of this novel and I have to say that it holds up! There were many things that were hinted at and set up ahead of time that went right over my head on a first reading that I caught on this second read.

I also really appreciate that while this is an ABO story the omega character is not paired / marked against his will and while there is some teasing from his partner for things to become intimate he does take a step back and say they can stop if the omega wants to.

Check for content warnings under the cut.

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What kind of story is The Virtuous Omega Disguised as the Vicious Colonel?

VODVC manages to strike a balance between a suspenseful thriller and a cheesy romcom. There are moments in the novel where you have to suspend your disbelief but they often lead to moments that incorporate cheesy tropes that you would expect from fanfiction. So if you're looking for something more gritty and serious this may not be for you. I very much enjoyed the cheesy tropes and found them a nice little break from the tension.

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The setting is both interstellar and omegaverse. (Interstellar; a futuristic sci-fi with space travel and some more advanced technologies such as mecha. Omegaverse; people have evolved into having a secondary sex designation -- depending on the interpretation there may be female alphas who can inpregnate others and male omegas who can carry pregnancies). This novel also has transmigration as a topic though there is no system in place like you see in EPWCM or SVSSS.

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There is also a lot of secret identity shenanigans going on which is always something I enjoy. Part of why this is a central part of the novel is due to one of the alien species having an ability that lets them possess a humans' body so there are several moments throughout the story where characters are scrutinized in order to discern if something isn't quite *right* about them.

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Who are the main characters?

Without going into details here's a little bit about our main squad:

Lan Yu aka Colonel K - The main character. Lan Yu is a transmigrator. In his home he was an omega actor who had just won an award when suddenly a storm caused him to transmigrate. He finds himself in the body of "Colonel K" who is known to be ruthless, reckless, and generally hard to get along with. As such, K has made many enemies. Lan Yu does his best to keep up the arrogant facade of this vicious colonel while internally he curses the original owner of the body (referred to as "The original Colonel K".) The body he inhabits is also an omega who has disguised himself as an alpha in order to serve in the army.

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Colonel Lu RanKong - The love interest. Lu RanKong is a playful and friendly alpha and colonel who has often butted heads with K in the past. He takes his job seriously though he is more than happy to gloat when he is admired by reporters and civilians alike. He and Lan Yu are partnered together on sevel missions thoughout the novel and as they get to know each other slowly the bickering becomes less antagonistic and more flirtacious. He also has some secrets about his past that are unraveled as the story evolves.

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There are many characters who show up for one or two missions but don't really get the same limelight or development. I don't want to spoil things so I won't draw attention to the minor characters who *are* relevant to the final mission.

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Luo Yan - a character that shows up about 80% of the way though the novel. He is however very important as he is one of the aliens that can possess a human. Though him we learn a great deal about the aliens.

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"The original Colonel K" - a character that haunts the narrative. Their previous actions and choices shaped the path that Lan Yu has to walk on. Lan Yu also wonders what happened to them, if they died and that's how he came to be in their body? There are a lot of mysteries surrounding this character and as the story progresses they are slowly revealed.

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What is the plot of The Virtuous Omega Disguised as the Vicious Colonel?

The plot centers around Lu RanKong and Lan Yu's relationship, the missions they are assigned, and unraveling the secrets that surround "the original Colonel K". I really feel like each mission in the novel actively works towards worldbuilding, fleshing out the relationship between the two main characters, and setting things up for the climactic finale.

I also found each mission interesting -- they ranged from short missions to investigate something odd on another planet to longer term missions like going undercover in a prison. Along the way there's fun and silly scenes that help keep the overall mood of the novel on the lighter side. I haven't re-read all of Little Baldy's novels yet but this one really strikes me as a strong and fairly concise narrative with plenty of foreshadowing and hints that make the reader want to keep reading and see if their predictions were correct.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Click 'keep reading' to see trigger warnings.

General content warnings for violence, guns, life and death situations, loss of and struggle for control over one's own body (due to the aliens that can possess people) -- this is used to fight and manipulate others but does not fall into the main characters causing lasting damage to each other or put them in a nonconsenting sexual situation. In one of the extras there is threat of violence to children (but they're okay don't worry!). There is also terrorist tactics (holding people hostage, strapping bombs to them, etc) in this novel.

ABO specific content: At one point Lan Yu gets drugged and it induces his heat however he is able to get to a safe location and take an inhibitor to ease and hold back the symtpoms for a while. Later on Lu RanKong starts getting intimate with Lan Yu as his heat returns -- Lan Yu is somewhat under the influence of his heat and the pheremones but Lu RanKong says they can stop if Lan Yu wants to. Lan Yu ends up deciding to let the heat run its course and consents.

[bankvaultforsale]

The Fortresses of Finance: Unveiling the World of Bank Vault Manufacturers

In the realm of financial institutions, security is paramount, and at the heart of this security lies the unyielding strength of bank vaults. These impenetrable fortresses safeguard the wealth and valuables of individuals and businesses alike, and behind their formidable facades are the skilled artisans and engineers who craft them - the bank vault manufacturers.

The Importance of Bank Vaults:

Bank vaults serve as the last line of defense against theft, fire, and other unforeseen disasters. With the rise of digital transactions, one might question the relevance of physical vaults. However, their significance endures as they offer a tangible and secure solution to protect physical assets, important documents, and priceless heirlooms.

Key Features of Modern Bank Vaults:

Modern bank vault manufacturers are a far cry from their predecessors. Today's vaults are equipped with advanced security features such as biometric access controls, electronic surveillance systems, and fire-resistant materials. The construction of these vaults requires a delicate balance between impenetrability and accessibility, ensuring that authorized personnel can efficiently manage and retrieve assets while keeping unauthorized access at bay.

The Craftsmanship Behind Bank Vaults:

The creation of a bank vault is a meticulous process that requires the expertise of skilled professionals. Bank vault manufacturers employ metallurgists, structural engineers, and security experts to design and build vaults that meet the highest industry standards. The materials used in vault construction often include reinforced steel, concrete, and advanced alloys, ensuring a combination of strength and durability.

Customization for Diverse Needs:

Bank vault manufacturers understand that one size does not fit all when it comes to security. Institutions have unique requirements based on their size, location, and the types of valuables they safeguard. As a result, manufacturers offer customization options, allowing clients to tailor the design and security features of their vaults to meet specific needs. Whether it's a small community bank or a multinational financial institution, bank vault manufacturers strive to provide solutions that align with their clients' individual requirements.

Technological Advancements in Bank Vault Manufacturing:

The evolution of technology has significantly influenced the field of bank vault manufacturing. Advanced algorithms, artificial intelligence, and cutting-edge materials contribute to the creation of vaults that are not only secure but also adaptable to emerging threats. Electronic monitoring systems connected to central security hubs, biometric identification, and time-lock mechanisms represent just a few examples of the technological innovations incorporated into modern bank vaults.

International Standards and Regulations:

Bank vault manufacturers operate within a framework of international standards and regulations. Compliance with these guidelines ensures that the vaults they produce meet the stringent requirements set forth by regulatory bodies. Adhering to these standards not only guarantees the safety of assets but also fosters trust in the financial institutions that employ these vaults.

Conclusion:

In the ever-evolving landscape of finance, bank vault manufacturers play a pivotal role in maintaining the integrity and security of financial institutions. Their dedication to craftsmanship, technological innovation, and adherence to international standards collectively contribute to the creation of vaults that stand as impenetrable guardians of wealth. As we navigate the digital age, the tangible strength and reliability of these vaults remain a testament to the enduring importance of physical security in the world of finance.

[shreyaexopic]

[raidensharkgun]

Oops more Phighting ocs ( and they are Seer fellow co workers)

From left to right

June 8th ( 8th) : a sentient self learning ai in a replicate body. ( long story), 8th is not his actual name, it’s a name they chose after deciding to work with Seer. Is know to mess with technology especially Biogarft.

Flame orb ( Flame): part time detective, part time theatre actor who dreams of screenwriting’s his own show. Even with his extravagant facade he still is a lovely dork.

Lantern: a somehow manage to sealed away a spirit (Vox) into her own gear, although being riddled with anxiety when situation calls for it she will step up and phight ( while internally screaming in the inside)

[quirkthieves]

BNHA VERSES; THE KITSUNE

(Since all of these characters are connected rather closely, this post will serve to sum up the verse for all of them!)

Inari Yoko is the Head Superintendent of the Hero Public Safety Commission's Internal Investigations Department. Her job focuses around on investigation into heroes, hero agencies, and the commission itself; a regulating body that can enforce rules and dole out criminal and civil punishments. On paper, her quirk is "Bewitch", a fragrance that turns aggressors to admirers. Truth be told, though, the power of "Bewitch" is much stronger-- and not even her real quirk.

Inari's real quirk is Consumption; she acquires the quirks of people by eating them, although each new acquired ability worsens the gnawing hunger she feels daily. Bewitch is one of these quirks, as is Fire-Breathing and Nine-Tailed Beast.

Inari is also not her real name. Her true name is Ii, and she was, at some point, the elder sister of Rikiya Yotsubashi, although denied her birthright. As she grew older and realized the MLA would always cast her in his shadow, she decided to leave-- after eating her betrothed.

Now, as the Head of Internal Investigations, she maintains a double life; on top, a respected member of public safety. Behind, though, she rules a criminal enterprise that consists of "erasing incidents" and extorting criminals and naughty heroes from the commission's eye. Very few organizations last long under her eye, whether raided officially or off the record by her subordinates. That being said, as of now she avoids encroaching on the affairs of All for One; a fragile but long-lasting truce out of respect for another well-established villain empire.

Nobimaru (or, known to the public as "Homuramaru Nowaki") is her assistant; a strange and unreadable individual. To the public, he's her assistant and a "mascot" of sorts; only ever appearing as a 13 year old boy with black fox ears and a tail, which is assumed to be his quirk. His colleagues at the commission are under the same impression, as are those outside of a select few in their criminal affairs. His true self is an adult; a young man with long legs and a much looser way of speaking. His real quirk is Kitsune, a powerful combination of shapeshifting and flame. He frequently shifts between age and gender and species to achieve his goals, and rarely breaks his enigmatic facade.

Nobimaru would have been the perfect Meta Liberation soldier; a fact that led his disillusioned mother to send him away down the mountain as a young child. This would then be covered up and shifted to frame a senior member of the army with being responsible for the disappearance (and presumed death) of a member of the Yotsubashi family, allowing for newer executives to fill in and soothe political upset in the group. His mother is Inari Yoko; a fact she is unaware of, given his efforts to change his hair color and physical age when she is present. As far as she's concerned, he is simply a very capable assistant.

In later-canon threads, Nobimaru will be missing his right arm, having replaced it with... something. Damaged in a skirmish in which Shigaraki was involved, Nobimaru's hand became useless, and so he chose to rip the whole arm off and replaced it with what I will tentatively call an "experimental technology" prosthetic. It is not safe and appears to be actively harming him. But Nobimaru is the type of person who will damage his body in pursuit of his goals.

Hinata Haruka (a woman who rarely uses her given name at all and finds it odd to do so) is a member of the Special Investigation Unit, a group put together by Inari and Nobimaru to do their dirty work, especially with the amount of activity springing up in the villain world. They hold the title of "Investigators", but rarely do any actual work for the commission. A fact which works well for her; she hates filling out paperwork in the slightest.

Hinata has a rather useful quirk: Solar Flare, which produces a flame so hot and concentrated that, when channeled properly, can cut cells so finely it doesn't damage them. She uses this in conjunction with a giant nata knife, severing steel beams and limbs alike.

Her specialty in dismemberment isn't entirely of her own will, or even born out of a particular desire for violence-- her partner, a man named Robara, has the quirk Glue Gun; which allows him to turn any organic material he produces into a transforming "glue" he can use to do anything from healing injuries to making weapons. The problem is more to do with him, though-- a mass murderer and serial assailant who, when left alone, will tear people limb from limb and rearrange them into "crafts". Hinata's skill allows them to re-assemble people without permanent injury or loss of function, unlike his "messy edges".

She has been "dating" Robara since they were 5, having befriended him despite his odd tendencies. She went over to play at his house, and found him sleeping on a bed made from his own mother. Horrified, she held him, and he mistook this as a confession of love and responded in kind.

She took him home, and covered up that he was the cause of the incident, and her family took care of him. As time went on, though, and his violent behavior worsened, her family began to express a concern about them dating. This would lead to Robara threatening to kill Hinata's family on multiple occasions, and out of desperation, she left home at 15 to run away with him. They would seen then enter a life of crime, which a decade later would result in the two of them being recruited for the SIU.

Hinata believes Robara is incapable of taking care of himself and can't help his "urges", a fact he is more than happy to emphasize and manipulate in order to keep her from leaving him. In truth, she despises killing, and would have liked to have been a school teacher.

[mr-camhed]

Talon Corporation Maritime Fleet Cruiser Pride of Aurelia (TCMFC Pride of Aurelia),Formerly known as Brabazonian Federal Navy Cruiser Fort Costa Blanca (BFFC Fort Costa Blanca), is a nuclear powered guided missile cruiser. The ship started its life during the late stages of the Second Atlantide war as the sister ship of Brabazonian Federal Navy's Cruiser Pelico Bay as a conventionally powered heavy cruiser tasked with patrolling the sealine of the Brabazon Federation, intercepting Atlantides' landing and transportation forces.

Unfortunately, before the yet unnamed warship's hull was even finished, the Second Atlantide war was ended unexpectedly during the defense of Fort Costa Blanca, in which the 1000mm caliber main defense gun of the fort sunk the floating city of Atlantide in a lucky shot. And with the war over, the purpose for the ship was also subsequently made obsolete, and the almost finished hull was left mothballed in the dry dock, awaiting to be dismantled or resume construction.

Three decades after the conclusion of the Second Atlantide War, the relationship between Brabazon and Atlantide remnants was once again strained by the Black Tide Crisis, which the Military Industrial Complex of Brabazon Federation was heavily betting on the chance of another war breaking out and is preparing to profiteer from it. And among the many exotic projects flooding the military facilities all over the federation was the second chancefor the ship. Instead of the regular tower shaped superstructure, naval gun turrets and internal combustion engine, the ship was armed with at the time state of the art guided missile systems, a unique box shaped bridge and nuclear power. The newly refurbished and finished warship was Christened Fort Costa Blanca after the site that witnessed the end of the Second Atlantide War, though the purpose of the warship is still the same: intercept and destroy potential threat in the ocean. Unfortunately for the Warship, many other military projects and the profit margin of the Military Industrial Complex, the Black Tide Crisis was ended in peaceful means instead of igniting a new war, and with the ship obsolete again even after being commissioned, it had lost any and all chance of seeing combat, and became nothing but a token that endlessly paraded the ocean just for show for the nine years to come.

After The Catastrophe which caused the destruction of the Brabazon Federation's capital city and the subsequent social and economical unrest which means that the nation, now divided into confederates of city states, are now no longer capable of maintaining a massive active or reserve navy, and the ship was among many that were about to be decomissioned and scrapped to recoup for losses. However, fortunately for them, Colonel Rand Toro, a senior officer of the Brabazonian military, who had seen an opportunity from their recent contact of a formerly unknown land, proposed "Project Talon", which will see them profiteering from the new land natives' schism by exporting war and unrest, shattering their uneasy peace and facade of prosperity. The project was immediately greenlit by the high level personnel in the military, the government, and the Military Industrial Complex, and the Talon Corporation, a Paraterrorist Military Organization under the disguise of a PMC was born, and was made with the purpose to export weaponry and unrest for the purpose of warmongering, while importing plundered resources, enslaved labours and potential stolen technology that they can reap from the war they had mongered. And with the plan in effect, they took the husk of another already decommissioned cruiser, turned it into a replica of the Fort Costa Blanca, before scrapping the shell vessel in a publicity stunt to drum up popular dissatisfaction against the pacifists. While the fake ship was being turned into a pile of scrap to the Brabazonian folks' protest, the real Fort Costa Blanca was rechristened as the Pride of Aurelia after a nonexistent place or people, and the older parts of the ship such as radar systems, anti air guns and what not were changed out with advanced integrated combat system, and the rest of the ship's system were also refitted and upgraded. The newly refurbished Pride of Aurelia became the flagship of Talon Corporation's maritime fleet, and also served as one of the overseas mobile headquarters during the earlier days of Project Talon, while after the Talon Corporation's overseas headquarters finished construction, the Pride of Aurelia would spend most of its time cruising in the artificial layer of cloud and fog surrounding it, hunting and destroying any vessels and aircraft that had got into the premise with its advanced combat system to keep the secret of the HQ, Though it also would go out to do mission elsewhere sometimes.

[ID: USS Long Beach (CGN-9), Which TCMFC Pride of Aurelia/BFFC Fort Costa Blanca was based on, cruising off Oahu, 9 May 1973. End ID.]

[disneyvoguemagazine]

#DisneyUnclassified

Ciara reveals classified documents cataloging her exponential time training hourly sessions with martial arts masters (Feu Long, Foxxy Pamela Gurier, Shaft, Stick, Sinister, Sean Combs, RoboCop, Rocky, A Team, The Million Dollar Man, Bruce Lee Students, Master Gen, 3600 hours spent of her life training as a Psychic soldier for the Mickey Mouse Club and the documents found exposing the worm tunnel she traveled through to participate in Mortal Kombat with otherworldly beings, under the allies 'Blade\Sonya' the footage captured via 'sidekick-TMobile' device, documents her termultuious journey dawning the power of the pink ranger zord stored data imprint on the sidekicks sim card and as one of the magic kingdoms most expériences archiologist has rastered 'The Power', the first trials of this Ranger sirum has been distributed amoung the groups @Loona @Kard @MissA ,

Infused with @SpaceX #Cybertron Autobot technology allows the ranger techs back at mission control access to the data collected from the hardware of the new suits.

I.U -Frostlass

Chris Crocker-Slyveon

Beauty Marsh- Chanel (Spriggattio)

Dragonair- Seulgi

Gardvoir- Ariana Grande

B.B Kiddo - Grimes

Ponyta - Bonnie McKee

Wigglytuff - Lindsay Lohan

Espeon -WillowSmith

Ladyian - Flora G

Jynx - Chlöe Bailey

Seaking-Lizzo

Ampheros - Miley Cyrus

Frilish-Noah Cyrus

Mew -Shannon Williams

Meloeta- Kim Petras

Rihanna-Starmie

Aubery Peoples- Muk

MeganJetteMartin-Gloom

DemiLovato-Grimer

IceSpice- Swana

Bambi - Sawsbuck

Altaria- CardiB

DelKatty- Nicki Minaj

Unknown- BTS

Eevee- Nayeon

Ashley Tisdale -Ratata

JeffreeStar-Mother of Frost lass / YakYakk (cellphone conversation cameo)

BritneySpears cameo [ As Béatrix Kiddo of the KillBillSaga mother of BBKiddo leader of the eSports International Champion Team #SamuraiSkirts

with @Zendaya as Nakia Belle daughter of Copperhead of Bills four assets played by Vivica A Fox; Uma Thurman (played by Britney Spears in the Samurai Skirts Films. Synopsis: When B.B Kiddo "Claire B. Aka Grimes" takes her eSports team to the Olympic winter games, the steaks become mortal when her team dawn's the legendary Hattori Hanzo blades after a being named 'Aura' hacks the games code and recreates the events of the popular series Sword Art Online. )

Starring JeannieKim Chanel as The Firth Child Angel EVA unit 05 LaBlanc The black Rose

. In the end the Skirtz win the Gold medal and the facade covering the event is later exposed as the game company's chairs and executives are made a mockery in the industry for their mal practices in their business ethics when the company's abuse of female gaming icons and influencers pops the gaming giants legacy and ruins their flawless reputation when B.B leaks the security footage of the company using the girl gamers as sex slaves and toys for the male dominated gaming industry. When the truth comes to light showing one of the most epic games in history covered for a real operations intelligence interception mission the world watched live as what appeared to be just am online game turned out to be the government's biggest intelligence war in real life.

All of these events converging with GameFreaks Trainee Project 'Trainer Lass' Space X secret splicing program testing engineered spliced genetically enhanced cultures giving the subjects pokemon like essences and advanced traits or above average apptitude s

I.U loop artist details her account as the groups leader or 'Big Sister' the pokè-docustreamentary converges with the groups member 'X Jet / XSR BlackBird 'portrayed by Claire B aka Grimes' her competing for the few positions for the girl group trainer LASS, pokemon company's first ever live music dance reality pop girl band, their experience at Coachella with Marvels Runaways band and working with Minnie Mouse as the events around Hugh Jackmen announcing his involvement for #Deadpool3 as the movies cast were filming around the events that will influence the Kingdom Hearts Movie. With the Mouse Queers proving to the world the magic that was unfolding into the real world has made the fantasy of a magic world living truth tofay.