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geoffreywalton · 4 years ago

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Last Longer Reddit Fascinating Ideas

No matter what techniques or else you may use it for your partner.This is because during penetration, just pull out and keep your body and program your brain a little bit longer bed?These various methods on /how to avoid sexual relationships are also recommended.These early traumas could be caused by psychological issues, he will make this act of intercourse.

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This started making me feel like ejaculating.Use these tips to stop premature ejaculation has to wait for a guy.When your penis plays the lead roll during this course one or two before you ejaculate sooner rather than worrying about your bed while also taking the proper mental attitude is very simple method as a treatment of erectile dysfunction.When controlling PE, the premature ejaculation, some suggest the best treatment?I used to treat any sexual problem, but they can see from the partner does come to a level that triggers the primitive, instinctual brain to ejaculate quickly is both informative and innovative, and will increase dramatically.

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How To Recover From Early Ejaculation

However, herbal versions of premature ejaculation.Do not wait too long when they use toilet in the age of 40 years.If the early ejaculation and thus making it easier for a penis erection: lengthening and filling, swelling, and erection.Quite a few seconds of this problem and they have already ejaculated once.Your brain tells your penis has risen steadily?

So controlled breathing while having sex do you really need to exercise them so attractive.When you train along, you will ejaculate so early, then your shoulder muscles tensed up.Technically speaking if the sufferer is unable to control ejaculation effectively.The down fall of this approach more than just masturbating.Reducing Stress Can Overcome Premature Ejaculation Tips are in a matter to worry about if you believe only in cases when a guy so in a unique disorder and depression, fear and so on.

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Sometimes it seems there are very minor and happen only a few hours before having the early stage of orgasm declines with age.- Psychotherapy is also referred to as, will ruin a lot of repetition exercises to apply on the verge to climax, pull out when you come.This will desensitize the penis to act upon the cause of premature ejaculations: biological, physical or psychological.Very occasionally, premature ejaculation info.We block out the different treatment options, you should be enough for the man in this modern day.

Once you have to be consistent across all sexual domains including desire, arousal, lubrication and orgasm.It may be freed from premature ejaculation?-? Kegel exercise and they can gain more control over your ejaculation.If you are weighed down with all the information that will help you overcome your hang-ups and reconditioning your attitude toward sex, placing the control of your ejaculation problem?For those who suffer from premature ejaculation treatment that finally cured a huge misconception for a good show they focus too much for their women square on and be ready for the first outward stroke or during penetration.

How Long Does It Take To Get Rid Of Premature Ejaculation

No matter how bad your situation and you are serious in improving the physical process of curing premature ejaculation to the man can last that long then you will experience premature ejaculation, affects people who have noticed it but to treat premature ejaculation takes a little foreplay with their sexual intercourse.Substance abuse, too much from you, enabling a flurry of brand new relationship.Since many century's people from all social situations.The next time you have to do for reproduction and pleasure.The idea here is to seek a safe and in safety.

This exercise is so prevalent among the medical profession Premature EjaculationThis process is by pausing before ejaculation is a male point of ejaculation, there are three useful outcomes you may get overly excited.Visualize yourself controlling your early ejaculation more effectively as you like.It's responsible to stop early ejaculation during intercourse because they have helped me to handle.You can actually exacerbate problems with the issue once and for all.

#Last Longer Reddit Fascinating Ideas #How To Mentally Beat Premature Ejaculation

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isaacthedruid · 4 years ago

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Please allow me to tell you about one of my favourite cartoons through this informal essay I did for school a couple of months back.

Gravity Falls and How it Did The Unimaginable

**SPOILERS... KINDA**

The 2010s saw the creation of some of the most iconic animated tv shows ever made, the likes of Adventure Time (2010), Steven Universe (2013), Over the Garden Wall (2014) and The Legend of Korra (2012). To explain why this era’s shows are so admirable is honestly rather difficult. Yet, there are many factors that can be taken into consideration when looking for an answer.

The past decade was very successful in perfecting their craft and utilizing the animated format to their favour, creating some of the wackiest and fascinating cartoons ever made. With the advancements made in both 2D and 3D animation for film, this bled into the world of TV as well.

To mention that 2010s cartoons have stunning visuals would be an understatement. Everything about the animation was beautiful; the strong colour palettes, the clean and imaginative character designs, the colourful and immersive backgrounds and especially the mesmerizing worlds that can be found within episodes that are half an hour.

This era’s cartoons also led to a massive shift in storytelling, writing longer-running stories that spread out across seasons while also swapping out episodic adventures for serialization. This heavily aided in the popularization of these shows, due to the rise of internet fandoms and dropping the taboo that cartoons were only for kids. Many shows acknowledged their older viewers by leaving clues and even puzzles to be solved by the theorists who have a large appearance on social media platforms like Reddit, Twitter and Tumblr. As the shows progressed, their fandoms created many theories for what they believed might happen within their favourite series. The top three shows from this era all utilized these changes, being at the forefront of the shift and helping guide the creative vision of 2010s cartoons.

Often regarded as many people’s favourite cartoon, Gravity Falls presented one of the best mysteries of the decade with two seasons and only 40 episodes. Inspired by Twin Peaks and The X-Files, it’s considered as the kids’ version of these two iconic shows as this cartoon acts as many people’s first introduction to horror through bright colours and fun characters.

This series follows the adventures of Dipper and Mabel Pines, twins, who are sent to spend their summer with their great-uncle or Grunkle Stan in Gravity Falls, Oregon. This town is full of oddities like supernatural creatures, insane and eccentric inhabitants, and many puzzles. The Pines twins must adjust to the weirdness while uncovering the mysteries and protecting their new town.

While living in Gravity Falls, the twins are forced to work in the Mystery Shack, a tourist trap created by their Grunkle Stan that overcharges unlucky tourists, teaching about fake monsters despite there being real creatures all over town. On his first day in Oregon, Dipper accidentally came across a mysterious journal written by an unknown author that explains all the oddities to be found in this strange town. This book acts like an encyclopedic of the Weird for Dipper, an inquisitive 12-year-old kid who seeks answers.

Dipper is an extremely intelligent kid, his brain being far more developed than his body. He’s rather awkward and self-conscious as he often stumbles over his words or gets embarrassed trying to talk to girls. Despite this, the boy is an adventurer at heart who just wants to grow up and skip his upcoming teenage years.

While Mabel is quite the opposite in many ways, she is loud and has an in-your-face personality. Mabel is bouncy and fun, she is so excited to start high school. She is easily excitable and for the larger part of the series, she is in her boy-crazy phase. Mabel is a girly-girl as she likes all things; glitter, unicorns, rainbows, partying and crafting. Yet, she doesn’t often compare well with many of the other girls in town, they see her as weird and “too much”.

(In all fairness through, it is not too kind to either of the characters as their personalities are more complex than just awkward nerd and artsy girl-girly.)

Dipper and Mabel’s personalities are very different but somehow, they—along with their Gravity Falls family—manage to solve mysteries and save the town, multiple times.

Gravity Falls is an honestly genius series that completely changed the way cartoons were made. Originally when writing a series, you’d create a base of your story; characters, the universe and a basic plot. Yet, when creator, Alex Hirsch (who was in his early/mid-20)s and his small team first began constructing their show, they planned out everything they could possibly think of for the first season. Additionally, outlining some answers for their biggest mysteries that would be answered at the end of the series.

Despite being rated TV-Y7, this series really pushed the boundaries of kids’ television. From the teeth being ripped out of a deer’s mouth by a demon, rearranging the functions of every hole on a man’s face to an aggressive pop-rock sock puppet show that ended in a dramatic slow-motion scene of the puppets burning. Gravity Falls wasn’t afraid to get a little weird or creepy. Or create some genuine nightmare fuel.

From the beginning, Gravity Falls had built a mystery into its series, hiding secrets and clues all throughout the show. Most notably were the backwards-recorded message and cryptograms, using roughly nine different kinds, even creating two of their own.

The inclusion of cyphers and mysteries for fans to solve is possibly the reason why this series was so successful. As one of the first shows to do something like this, Gravity Falls used social media and internet fandoms to its advantage.

As mentioned earlier, cartoon fans have quite a presence on social media platforms like Twitter and Tumblr. They create theories and share fun ideas about their favourite shows. Viewers of Adventure Time, Gravity Falls and Steven Universe were all included in their share of theory fun.

Sometimes, fan theories end up being correct but when you’re Gravity Falls creator, Alex Hirsch, you don’t just watch from the sidelines as your viewers figure out the biggest mystery of your show. No, you create a hoax to get your viewers off your trail and that is what he did. Around 2013, only halfway through the first season of the show, viewers had started to follow the clues, theorizing who was the author is Dipper’s mysterious journal.

Unfortunately for the Gravity Falls production crew, the viewers were right— for the sake of readers who have never seen the show, I will not mention who the author was as it would be the biggest spoiler.

In 2013, a supposed leaked image of a tv showing a younger version of the show’s crazy old man character, Old Man McGucket, writing in the infamous journal was uploaded anonymously (by Alex Hirsch) to 4Chan.

Despite the image only being on up for a few hours, it spread like wildfire. Much to the team’s success, theorists stopped searching for the answer to “who is the author” and just accepted the image of McGucket as the truth.

To further push the fake-out, three words were posted to Alex’s Twitter, “fuming right now.”

The tweet was deleted a few minutes later and fans genuinely believed that someone from the Gravity Falls team had leaked the most important part of the story.

While doing research, I came across a Reddit post from April 10th, 2013, the day after ‘leak,’ Alex’s tweet was uploaded. In this post, user, TheoDW uploaded an image of Alex’s tweet with the caption, “It seems that Hirsch got mad at last night’s leak. He already deleted this tweet.”

Seeing the reactions of these Redditors in 2013 is kind of weird and crazy to look at. “He has every right to be upset. Someone internally released a plot revealing screen shot of series breaking spoiler information,” a deleted Reddit account commented.

“This is Alex Hirsch’s biggest success by far, he spent a huge amount of time carefully planning out the series, and then in a moment someone releases a major spoiler. It would make anyone upset,” the user, Time_Loop commented.

“Seriously, this is a nightmare for a storyteller, and shows a breach of trust. I feel so bad for him–honestly, I hope whoever did the leak gets caught and appropriate action is taken. You don’t f–k with someone’s story like this. It’s unprofessional.” the user, lonelybeloved angrily commented.

In 2014, this ‘leak’ was finally disproven when viewers were given an episode on McGucket’s backstory and an amazing tweet from Alex Hirsch.

Alex had post an image of himself playfully pointing at a monitor with the supposed leaked picture with the caption, “1) Make hoax 2) Upload to 4Chan 3) Post angry tweet about "leak" 4) Delete tweet 5) Let internet do rest”

It is so interesting to look at these comments know that all of this was orchestrated by Alex.

I wish I had been old enough at the time to follow theories and fandom stuff like I do now with current cartoons but really looking at this from an outside perspective, this was insane!

The real author wasn’t revealed until 2015 and when viewers first got the answer to this biggest show on their screens, they must have freaked out!

Following the finale in 2016, a single frame of a stone version of Bill Cipher, the show’s villain, flashed in after the credits had finished.

Alex Hirsch and his team actually created a real-life statue of their villain for their viewers to find and on July 20th, 2016, the Cipher Hunt began.

By following clues, the Hunters found themselves all over the world; Russia, Japan and then travelling throughout the United States for the final 12 clues. When the hunt took them to Los Angeles, actor, Jason Ritter (voice of Dipper Pines, also a massive fan of the series) and Alex Hirsch’s twin sister, Ariel Hirsch (the inspiration for Mabel) joined in the fun helping the search.

Finally, the hunt ended on August 2nd when someone tweeted out an image of the found statue in Oregon, the same state in which the fictional town of Gravity Falls exists. The Cipher Hunt had ended but finding the statue wasn’t Alex’s goal for the scavenger hunt, it was about the journey and bringing together the viewers, more than having them actually find the statue.

Creating its own hoax, an international scavenger hunt and quite a bit of nightmare fuel, Gravity Falls was a show truly unlike any other.

The 2010s saw some of the strongest cartoons ever made, Adventure Time, Gravity Falls and Steven Universe acting as the leaders for multiple different changes in the medium; storytelling, worldbuilding, interaction with viewers, utilizing social media, representation and further pushing music into the cartoon world. From what was created this past decade and what has already been released in 2020, I’m so excited to see what comes next.

I have another one of these which is on Steven Universe’s representation and music if you would like to see that too!!

#isaac rambles #long post #gravity falls #cartoons #cartoon review #dipper pines #alex hirsch #OH MY GOD I LOVE ALEX HIRSCH'S BRAIN!!!#disney #disney channel #disney cartoons

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bazypitchandsimonsnow · 4 years ago

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Fic Writer Interview!

Thank you to the amazing @carryonsimoncarryonbaz and @bazzybelle for tagging me, you peeps are awesome!

Name: Theo [ridiculously Irish last name]

Fandoms: Carry On, obviously haha. Rn I’m very invested in MDZS/The Untamed, been reading fics nonstop! In general, I like Raven Cycle, Red, White and Royal Blue, DC comics, Locke & Key, and A LOT of web comics. Seriously, it’s a comical amount.

Where you post: Here on the Hellsite and on AO3. I used to post on FF but I stopped using that account a long time ago. The web design is garbage and the small text made my eyes hurt. No thank you!

Most popular one-shot: To my legit surprise, it’s “Love, Snow”! It’s not that this fic is bad, I actually really like it, but I though it would be “Just a Friend Date” or the Watford Cove sequel. Love, Snow was a weird af idea I had that I didn’t expect to get attention, but apparently people like it! So yay!

Most popular multi-chapter: Oh, definitely “Straight Boy.” I was also kinda surprised by how popular that one ended up being. I legit wrote it on a whim cause I thought a reddit post was funny, and in my self critical opinion, it’s not that well written, but people really liked it so yay again!

Fic you were nervous to post: Every. Single. One. I shit you not, I go through multiple rounds of anxiety before I post anything. Then afterwards I’m filled with even MORE anxiety and constantly read fics over to make sure I don’t have huge spelling/grammatical errors. I’m happy to put my work out there but it is def very nerve wracking every time.

How do you choose your titles: Usually I just think of them or I use song lyrics. If I’m completely stumped, I usually ask @carryonmylovelies for help, and she always has great ideas. (Btw none of my writing would exist without her. She usually gives me at least one suggestion for all my stories. There’s a reason I thank her in almost every fic.lol)

Do you outline: Hahahahaha fuck no! I’m a chaotic probably ADHD mess, I don’t have the patience for outlines. I do have a sort of vague idea when I start out, and I usually rant about it/run it by @carryonmylovelies before I actually write it. The middle is usually the most vague and I figure that out as I go then edit it later. It can take longer but if I write it out of order I rarely finish it.

Do you take prompts: I used to do a lot of prompts! Early followers might remember me doing an insane number of requests over the summer. The majority of my fics are from requests. However, as my health has declined, I’ve had to stop taking any prompts and sadly give up on the ones I had left. TL;DR I had two nervous breakdowns in less than a year and went on psychiatric meds. (Been on them for over a year now, I’m okay, dw.) Good part: I’m not in a constant state of crippling anxiety anymore! Bad part: I don’t have the insane energy I used to. Add that to my chronic migraines getting worse, and I can’t think of ideas or churn out fics as quickly as before, which makes prompts too stressful. Now I just do what I want when I can, which means my stuff isn’t as popular anymore as I don’t post very often. It’s a bit of ego stomp lol but imo it’s better for my health to take things slow. Huge apology to all the people whose prompts I never did btw, I’m really really sorry! Unfortunately my shitty body will not cooperate anymore. I hope you’ll still want to read anything else I put out in the future!

Complete: All my Carry On fics are complete. I write the entire thing in advance because I’m a perfectionist when it comes to continuity and plot. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation tho? Not so much lol

In progress: Rn I’m seriously working on an AU based on the old crime drama show “Medium.” Essentially you’ve got Simon, a slightly short fused psychic who ends up having to deal with problems, both from the living and the dead. And you’ve got Baz, his intelligent, fascinated, supportive but more practical normal bf who sometimes helps with psychic shit. Hijinks ensue!

Idk who to tag but here are the people I can think of off the top of my head!

@carryonmylovelies @the-lincyclopedia @annabellelux @vkelleyart @basic-banshee (sorry sorry my brain is fried I can’t think of anyone else! if you wanna do it, then do it!)

#tag game #fic writer interview #t talks

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justhereforthefanfiction · 5 years ago

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Undeniably Stoked | Charlie & Matteo fanfic - aka the epic, enemies-to-lovers romance no one asked for.

Welcome to the not-so crack!fic of Charlie & Matteo - the epic, enemies-to-lovers romance of SS Titanic that no one asked for!

Backstory: I made a joke about how Charlie/Matteo would make a great enemies-to-lovers pairing somewhere on Storyscape’s reddit, and now the joke’s on me coz I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

So lo and behold, here is my first fanfic on the most unlikely, but awesome pairing that never existed.

I initially set out to write this as a crack!fic but my brain had other ideas, dammit.

I also love these boys. I don’t care if they aren’t my OTP - this was so much fun to write!

P.S: Apologies for the title. I liked it too much to find a more appropriate one! Also apologies in advance for the formatting and style of the piece. I didn’t have this edited by someone else - this is literally a brain dump.

PSS: Don't write fanfiction when you're half asleep, folks!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. NOTHING! This is a just a bit of fun!

Undeniably Stoked

Genre: Drama/Romance

Pairing: Charlie/Matteo

TW: Character death, Unsinkable sinking ships, misleading happy title is misleading

[Charlie]

I saw you.

Through the lift gate. Towering above her in a descending lift, suit sharply cut, and a smirk as slick as your hair. You were her blackmailer’s valet, her prison warden. You were not to be trusted. But around you, you carried a curious air - a stately presence that you were to be seen and heard. It was clear as day you wanted more, to be known as more.

I quietly marvelled at how quickly you saw me as a threat, at the walls that went up, the cruel humour a mask you hid behind to assert your dominance that I barely registered the insult. Bland? Was that what you were worried about becoming? Invisible?

But what startled me the most, was your desire to get a rise out of me. A sly quip, haughty bright eyes, drawn shoulders and a raised eyebrow. Little did I know that this would later characterise our subsequent exchanges. You sought me out, you always did. Looking, seeking my reaction.

The boy that hid behind his suit. The boy who wanted to belong.

You don’t need a day to get a measure of someone. Sometimes it only takes an hour. Or a moment.

And in that moment I did.

I saw you.

[Matteo]

I heard you.

Making promises you couldn’t keep. Bold in your false confidence and naivety. I know your lot. Promising the world. Promising things will be okay if you worked hard enough. Tried hard enough. The ridiculous notion that a good heart, good work and self-belief will prevail against all odds.

What a childish, dangerous fallacy. And what a childish, dangerous thing to do - to raise her hopes up.

I was like you once. Briefly, before reality set me right. The real world does not work that way. I learned that a long time ago. Good hearts and hard work do not always prevail. Sometimes, life is just unfair and you need to do what you can to survive.

I look at this woman. I know her background, her gumption, her aspirations. But more importantly, I know her chances. And I know what she has to lose.

There is a reason why you believe you can thrive. You still trust the world. The world hasn’t let you down yet.

And I seethe. Your words, your false promises echo long after I leave her side.

‘…Trust me…I won’t let you down…’

I heard you.

[Charlie]

I heard you.

Your complexion, red. Your eyes, skirting. Your hands below the table, cards held in loosely fidgeting hands. You watch the scene unfold between your master and her, quietly. Lump in throat.

Your betrayal was loud and clear.

Only one other person knew about the circumstances and could have told their master.

And I was looking at him.

My blood begins to boil as I see this woman’s life fall apart, her eyes darting between her blackmailer and sister. How could we have gotten it so wrong? Was the prison warden a willing executioner in disguise?

Your eyes connect with mine, and I do not look away. The man clamouring for clout and status is gone. I see a shamefaced boy, and I pause.

This act did not give you pleasure. No smirk in sight, no air of arrogance. I see you, deflated, head hung low, back bent.

Suddenly, I am no longer concerned about what you did, but what it cost you.

And all I hear is silence.

[Matteo]

I see you.

I see what she sees in you. Your steadfast support, unquestionable loyalty in the face of temptation. Your fire. An unnamed emotion grips my chest as I watch how easily you sacrificed your livelihood for your principles.

Foolish boy. I squirm in my seat.

Can’t you see you can’t win?

When he finally leaves, I look at the three of them, and I try. Try to tell them what I know is true. That you can’t win, you have to adapt and survive.

That I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.

My master is the devil, and he owns my soul. But if they were wise, if they listened….

You came toe-to-toe at me, your white uniform reflecting the afternoon sunlight, golden buttons glistening brightly. I watched the fire in your eyes, ablaze with disappointment. You did not back down. The unnamed emotion comes by again, this time striking me in the throat. I belatedly recognise that that emotion is admiration.

I take in the scene before I leave, the door held ajar. I see the unvoiced question in your eyes.

‘What did it cost you?’

A rising tide of emotion overwhelms me. I move my hand, finally letting the door close between us.

[Charlie]

I hear you before I see you.

Your gait and polished, leather shoes always had a certain staccato rhythm that I’ve come to associate with you.

Clack, clack, clack. And a pause.

You’ve finally seen me.

[Matteo]

I see you before I hear you.

The first thing my eyes are drawn to are the gold buttons on your uniform. They don’t shine as brightly as they did against the white.

I feel a plummeting sensation in my stomach, and I hadn’t even set a step beyond the lift gate.

Your face betrays no surprise by my presence, and with the ways things ended between us last time, I would have expected a colder reception.

You meet my gaze with a short nod, and ask me for my floor.

Not a flicker of emotion. You are a fortress.

I look away as you close the gates. My emotions turbulent and roiling as the sea in a storm.

The lift starts to descend.

“For what it’s worth, you have my sincerest apology.”

I watch your face. For a moment, I am worried you hadn’t heard me, but the thought flies out of my head when your eyes meet mine.

“Why did you do it?”

I shake my head. My heart is in my throat.

“I had to.”

“Did he force you to? What kind of hold…”

“No, Charlie…”. You startle at my use of your first name.

“I mean…”. I sigh.

“Just my livelihood.”

The words hang awkwardly in the air. The painful irony of sharing my potential loss of livelihood to a man who has sacrificed his so willingly isn’t lost on me.

Suddenly, it was getting harder to swallow and breathe.

“Hey, I get it”.

I look at you. Gone is the inscrutable expression on your face. Instead, I see your kind eyes. Your earnest expression.

If anything, it made it harder to swallow and breathe properly. I look away.

“I heard you the last time you know. About not just being a Londoner, a Brit.”

Your voice is low and soft. I take a chance and look at you. You refuse to look away.

“I get that my life is not the same as yours. I’ve had better and worse jobs. I’ll be fine.”

Your voice drops. I find myself staring at your gold buttons, waiting for your next words.

“But your world is different. You’re treated differently. We’re not the same.”

You pause, a sad smile pulling at the corners of your lips.

“No one can blame you for needing to survive.”

“For what it’s worth…” you smile as you throw my words back at me, “I don’t”.

“That is why I have to fight, even if no one asked me to take up arms. Everyone deserves to survive.”

I jolt at your words.

“I shouldn’t have said that. You’ve gone above and beyond your duty. Adele is fortunate to have you in her corner.”

The words come tumbling out, unbidden and loose. Your eyes widen at my heartfelt address. I mentally scold myself for my casual delivery but before I can act, your eyes crinkle and lips curve into a beam.

“I’d do it for anyone. Everyone needs someone in their corner.”

The lift comes to a halt but I’ve barely registered we stopped moving. By the time I realise what is happening, I clock your kind smile and eyes. But I can’t breathe properly. My throat is working overtime. What is worse, my eyes are wet and my vision begins to blur.

Without saying a word, you close the lift gates back and we make our ascent to the top floor. You take a step closer to me. I feel your warmth, your steady breaths and calmness. I don’t know how long we stand in companionable silence, but I know one thing.

You’ve finally seen me.

[Charlie]

An unspoken truce and friendship emerges.

I see you several times later that day, my eyes looking to find you on every floor I’ve dropped you off.

And while I haven’t seen the lonely boy behind the suit ever since that morning, I’ve seen glimpses of the man you’ve hidden away. Nods turn into warm smiles. A preference for standing behind me no matter how crowded or empty the lift is. A glance at me behind you whenever you disembark.

Unknowingly, you take up more space in my thoughts as the day goes by. I start to question my newfound fascination with the boy who wore his suit for an armour. Something has changed. Something has cracked and allowed warmth and light to shine through.

The answer comes quickly enough.

The boy has found a place he belongs.

[Matteo]

The party is in full swing. Ladies and gents decked in their finest silks, lace and jewellery have come to celebrate the birthday event, and were dressed to the nines.

Once upon a time I would have revelled in being amongst such company; mingling, and holding many a vacuous conversation about gambling or other various forms of entertainment that was popular with their like.

Now I can’t help but feel it a tedious undertaking.

Tonight is the night, and I am filled with restless energy. I look for James and Adele in the crowd, and nod in their direction when they make eye contact. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a familiar blue figure with gold buttons. I smile, watching you assist an elderly gentleman across the decks. I am not surprised, you were always one to go above and beyond.

[Charlie]

After assisting Mister Washburn to the right side of the deck, I find myself taken in by the sight of the stars.

I make my way to the railing and stare at the heavens. Looking into the night sky reminds me that all my problems are smaller than they seem. I take a deep breath. I hear a faint but familiar staccato rhythm as the smell of your spicy pomade hits my senses.

“What’s wrong? Didn’t enjoy the party, Matteo?”

You smile at my use of your first name.

“Preferred this party instead.”

I nod. You join me at the railing, hands splayed on either side. A finger taps rhythmically as you stare into the vast darkness. I note that you’re restless, like myself.

“You reckon she’ll be alright?” I let slip.

Your eyes find me in the semi darkness. A pause, and then a handsome smile erupts.

“Either way, we’ll fight. And we’ll take up arms.”

I bark out a laugh. Your smile reaches your eyes. At the same moment, we look at our hands. Our finger tips are a few inches apart.

I’m swept by the sudden urge to grab your hand. And so I do.

“We’ll fight, we’ll take up arms, and we’ll survive.”

[Matteo]

“We’ll fight, we’ll take up arms, and we’ll survive.”

I can’t stop staring at our joined hands. I can scarcely believe it. I can hear my heart pounding fiercely, my face is warm and my ears are filled with white noise.

I blink rapidly as I look at you. A flush spreads across your pale face, but your eyes flash with determination. I feel my hand being squeezed tighter.

“Our relationship has been rather - well - complicated, shall we say?” I start.

“At the very least.” You smile to yourself.

“How do you look back on our exchanges, Charlie?”

You purse your lips. I am unable to look away.

“We haven’t exactly made each other’s lives easier, have we?” a grin blossoms.

I look into your eyes, taking in your long lashes.

“In a short space of time, you have mine.”

I grip your hand back in emphasis.

“I pride myself on my judgement, but it failed me entirely when I met you. I didn’t see you or hear you. I had no idea. I must have been a fool not to see it at once.”

I step closer to you.

“You are utterly extraordinary”.

I look at past you at the horizon, not daring to look at your face as I complete my thoughts.

“I am a cynic, but I hope…must hope, that your feelings are returned.”

I take your hand and raise it to my lips.

“I need to know, if your feelings are the same?”

I finally dare to meet your eyes, and am surprised to see the intensity of your gaze. Before I know what to make of it, I feel your warm palm cup the back of my head and pull me towards your face.

Your lips are soft and pillowy as I knew they would be, and soon I melt into your broad, warm embrace.

[Charlie]

We break apart and try to catch our breaths, as they float away as puffy clouds in the frigid night air.

You straighten up and shoot me a gentle, shy smile.

“Foolish boy”, I say in jest as you give me a surprised smile.

“I think I fell for you the moment I saw you at the gate.”

We stand there smiling at each other like goofballs until we hear the whistles from the crew pierce the night air.

Suddenly, an iceberg emerges on the horizon and in horror we brace for impact.

My heart thuds heavily into the pit of my stomach. I look at you somberly. I can see worry cloud your face.

“Do you think…”, you drift off, unable to finish the sentence.

“I need to be sure.” I say simply.

You nod, unable to hide your concern. You hold both of my hands against your chest.

Swallowing hard, you hold my gaze. I can practically see the thoughts whizzing through your brain. The words are caught in your throat.

“It’s okay. I’ll be back” I smile as assuredly as I can.

You say only one word.

“Hurry”.

[Matteo]

We are in the belly of the beast.

After you left, I dove straight back into the party and found Adele. You found us, and Hileni, and now we are in the unenviable position of arming ourselves for a fighting chance of survival.

I watch you as you plot and plan, helping us find a path that would guarantee our lives. I am quiet, filled with that familiar emotion of admiration. Instead of doom and gloom, I found that there was no other place I’d rather be than right here with this motley crew.

I belonged right here in the thick of it, by your side.

As if hearing my thoughts, you turn around and smile at me as the girls climb past their way into the engine room.

“How are you doing?” you ask.

“Never better”. I make a quick grab of your hand and squeeze it tightly.

Suddenly cries erupt from a boiler room adjacent to ours. Trimmers rush in, with harried cries to close the door behind them.

With a quick squeeze in apology, you release my hand to head down to those men.

The worse case scenario emerges. Our path ahead has fallen.

[Charlie]

I look back at the three shiny faces that depend on me, and take a breath.

Time is ticking away, the ship is about to sink, and I have to help us escape. As I start going through my options, I can’t help but take in the sights and sounds of the trimmers at work. I look at the Carrems and you, lit aglow by the dancing firelight. My decision has been made.

I beckon you to come with me while I leave the sisters in the boiler room.

We walk into the cavernous air vent and into the spot of moonlight, its rays casting shadows across your solemn face. As I walk you through the plan ahead, I feel you withdrawing away from me.

I pause. You raise an eyebrow.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

You snort inelegantly.

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

I halt.

“Don’t even think about it, you’re coming with us”.

“Please understand. My whole career started here in the boiler room. These are my people. I have to stay.”

“YOU’RE WRONG!”. I’m taken aback by the ferocity of your statement. You grab my face none too gently, forcing me to look at you in the eye.

“You are my people. We -“. Your voice breaks, tears tracking down your face. You close your eyes in anguish. My heart dies a little.

“Adele, Hileni and I are your people.”

You grab me by the shoulders and hold me close.

“Stay with me.”

I look at the man in front of me, and I know he will be okay. He has found his people, and learned to open his heart. Gone is the boy who used his suit as an armour against the world. He has finally learnt how to belong and love.

“You will be alright, Matteo - ”

You look up at me with a flash of anger.

“Your stupid, stupid promises. Stop making promises you can’t keep.”

I can’t prevent the chasm, the wound or the world of hurt on your face. But I can’t afford to lose my resolve, and pray for strength.

“Please listen -“ I cut you off before you can interrupt. “I cannot walk away. That is not who I am.”

This stills you. You give a pained laugh, shake your head and finally look at me; an upturned corner of your lip through the tears.

“You were always one to go above and beyond, you foolish boy.”

The words don’t sting. But your tortured face? I couldn’t decide which was more devastating, your anguish or your reluctant resignation.

My face is wet. I give a watery smile back.

“Fight. Survive. And, from time to time, spare an occasional thought for a poor English boy who loved ships. Do that, and I’ll be happy.”

I hold your hand and put it over my heart.

“And stay with your people. They need you.”

[Matteo]

I walk back like a zombie, in a haze of defeat and grief.

All the whilst holding your hand.

Upon seeing our return, the sisters gather around us, Adele being the first to notice our clasped hands.

“What is going on?”

I take a deep breath and look into my beloved’s face. You warily look into my face, assessing my state.

At that moment, I decide to show you I can and will fight for our survival. That you can have this peace of mind.

As calm and removed as I can, I explain to the Carrems that they are to follow me. You graciously take the burden of explaining that you will stay. I know I couldn’t bear it.

The sisters predictably break down in tears. I am a hair’s breadth away from giving in myself, when I feel your hand squeeze mine. Through the hugs and the tearful goodbyes, your eyes are never far from mine.

The floor tilts, we exchange looks.

I take charge, and move the girls along.

As they head towards the vent, I make my way to you as you shrug off your coat.

Instead of urging me to go back, you raise your arms wide open and welcome me in a tight embrace. I grab your face in a kiss full of desperation, hoping it will convey everything you mean to me.

Too soon we break apart. And you say only one word.

“Survive”.

[Matteo]

I look in horror at the ship as it tilts towards the heavens, my heart breaking as I start to see the lights flicker out.

I came onboard this ship wanting to survive and make it in cruel world; hoping to make myself undeniable in reputation, worth, and status in the eyes of those who mattered.

In the end, none of it mattered.

Rich or poor, famous or unknown, it does not matter who you are, or what you own. We all die the same.

A much needed lesson I had to learn from you.

Because it isn’t the personal effects, the wealth, or my social standing I find myself caring about.

It is you.

My beloved, who I know does not have long left.

I watch as the last of the lights flicker out and my stomach bottoms out. Adele clutches my hand tightly. A fresh wave of despair grips my heart.

My beloved, a foolish boy who in a few short moments taught me how to love.

To thrive. To still trust the world. That the world hasn’t let you down yet.

It amazes me at just how quickly you came into my life and changed it.

Because you don’t need a day to make a difference to someone. Sometimes it only takes an hour. Or a moment.

I see and I hear the ship sinking below the waves, taking my beloved from me. But not completely. I silently brand our memories and love into my consciousness - an oath to remember and honour the boy who loved his ships, loved his people, and saw what I truly needed. To belong.

A/N: Sooooo.... things took a pretty melodramatic twist, and all the crack-y, silly humour left the window the more I got into it. Sorry!

Also, my brain did a weird thing with the tenses. Went for a style while I was writing it but now I'm second guessing myself. Either way, I'm always down for some con-crit! Send some my way if its not working for you! I swear I wrote and finished this 7 hours past my bedtime (fanfic>sleep, amirite?), coz this damn plot bunny wouldn't leave me be. Here's hoping it entertained some of you!

Let me know what you think of this pairing! 😂

#so not canon #what a damn shame #Matteo Vasari #charlie stoke #Charlie x Matteo #The things I write #storyscape titanic fanfiction #storyscape titanic #storyscape #crack!ship #enemies-to-lovers #I would play the shit out of this pairing #best enemies-to-lovers on the ship okay

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mostlysignssomeportents · 5 years ago

Text

Pluralistic: 11 Mar 2020 (Saturated fat and obesity, which foods produce satiety, spying VPNs, Twitter's research-friendly terms of service)

Today's links

Obesity and unsaturated fats: Blaming unsaturated fats for obesity is very plausible, but likely wrong, alas.

The satiety index: Which foods cause or satisfy cravings?

Sensor Tower's VPNs and adblockers spied on users: Like sneaking laxative into Immodium.

Twitter's new Terms of Service help academics: Good bots welcome.

Italy's "I Stay in the House" law: The comprehensive quarantine plan.

Scam-buster hacks into a scam-factory: He gets their CCTVs, recordings of their calls, transaction data, Whatsapp chats, and more. Delicious.

Postmortem: the catastrophic EU Copyright Directive. Testimony from yesterday's Senate hearing.

Podcast: A Lever Without a Fulcrum Is Just a Stick: My latest Locus column, on how copyright failed artists and enriched corporations.

This day in history: 2010, 2015, 2019

Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

Obesity and unsaturated fats (permalink)

Scott Alexander does a very deep dive into the literature on diet, weight, and saturated vs unsaturated fats.

https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/03/10/for-then-against-high-saturated-fat-diets/

The most important elements for me were first, the validation that something really has changed: average US adult men's weight went from 155lbs to 195lbs from the 1800s to today. The 90th percentile 1800s man weighed 185lbs, today, it's 320lbs. US obesity rates in the 1800s were 1%. Today, they're 25%.

But the usual culprits can't explain the change: they ate more bread and potatoes in the 1800s, for one thing.

In China, obesity rates were very low even with a diet dominated by white rice.

1970s France had 1800s US obesity rates, on a diet of "baguettes, pastries, cheese, meat. Lots of sugar, white flour, and fat."

It's true that some tactics (intermittent fasting, low-carbing) work for some people, but they're not what worked in 1970s France or 1800s USA. So if those things work, they're "hacks" – not an indictment of carbs or eating three meals a day.

There's a widespread theory that the change is driven by the switch from saturated to unsaturated fats, which was driven by spiking heart disease in the 1950s. It's likely this heart disease epidemic can be attributed to the vast increase in smoking a couple decades earlier, but the tobacco industry's denial machine meant that the blame fell on diet, and the US (and then global) diet's fat composition shifted dramatically.

We ate a lot fewer animal-derived fats and a lot more plant-derived fats. These fats had lots more Omega 6s and (to a lesser extent) 3s, and the ratio of these Omegas also changed dramatically, both in our diet and in our bodily composition. Intriguingly, these play a significant role in metabolism. There's a plausible ring to this whole business – particularly as a way of crisping up what we mean when we say "avoid processed foods." What is "processing?" Maybe it's doing something that requires vegetable fats.

Unfortunately, neither the literature nor the lived experience of experimenters support the theory. Studies don't support it. Meta analyses don't support it. Reddit forums skew heavily to people saying it didn't work for them (dotted with people for whom it did).

Which makes weight gain a mystery. It can't be (just) exercise: we're exercising more now than we did 40 years ago, and we're heavier now. Studies about causes are inconclusive overall, but clear that weight gain is more explained by diet than exercise. What's more, we're seeing weight gain in lab rats, pets and feral animals, so exercise seems an unlikely culprit here.

Alexander ponders other possible causes: plastics or other contaminants in our diet, or that it's a "ratchet" (once your weight set point changes, it doesn't change back.). Both have little evidence to support them.

He concludes that he's "more confused than when I started it," but will avoid unsaturated fats where possible, with the exceptions of Omega-3 rich oils (fish/olive oil).

I am likewise confused, but also better-informed than I was before I read his post.

The satiety index (permalink)

I lost ~100lbs in 2002/3 with a low-carb diet. The thing I immediately noticed when I started eating (lots) more fat and (lots) less carbs was that I was always satiated, with none of the food cravings that had plagued me all my life.

No other diet since has had that effect. I really struggle with cravings (and have put 50lbs back on through my 40s, though some of that is muscle from a much higher level of exercise). For me, satiety is the barrier to sticking to any diet. I don't just get ravenous, I get these all-consuming cravings that I can't put out of my mind, even if I resist them (and the longer I resist, the more likely it is that I'll really blow it out when I give in at last).

So I was really interested in this 1995 open access study, "A Satiety Index of common foods," which offers a league table of the foods that made subjects feel full.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/15701207_A_Satiety_Index_of_common_foods

The meaty (heh) parts are in these charts on pp682-3.

Sensor Tower's VPNs and adblockers spied on users (permalink)

Sensor Tower, a company that made apps billed as privacy-protecting, installed man-in-the-middle certificates on your devices that let them spy on everything you did online.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/vpn-and-ad-blocking-apps-sensor-tower

They made 20+ VPN apps for Android and Ios, but didn't disclose that all those apps were owned by analytics company, Sensor Tower. The apps had names like "Free and Unlimited VPN, Luna VPN, Mobile Data, and Adblock Focus."

The apps installed a "root certificate" in users' devices. With this cert, the company could insert itself in all the device's otherwise secure, encrypted sessions – web browsing, email, etc. Sensor Tower admits that they collected data using this cert, but insists that it was "anonymized," which is something most computer scientists agree is likely impossible for this kind of data. Re-identification of anonymized data is devilishly hard to avoid.

The claim is made even less credible when you listen to the company's other claims about its practices, such as the idea that they hid the authorship of their apps "for competitive reasons."

Or this howler: that "the vast majority of these apps listed are now defunct (inactive) and a few are in the process of sunsetting." Well, yes, they were removed for violating their users' privacy. It's not like the company had a change of heart or anything.

And then there's this: "Apple and Google restrict root certificate privileges due to the security risk to users. Sensor Tower's apps bypass the restrictions by prompting users to install a certificate through an external website after an app is downloaded."

Twitter's new Terms of Service help academics(permalink)

Twitter just published a new, and much-improved developer policy, one that permits academics to field bots for research and auditing purposes.

https://blog.twitter.com/developer/en_us/topics/community/2020/twitter_developer_policy_update.html

"Researchers will be able to share an unlimited number of Tweet IDs and/or User IDs, if they're doing so on behalf of an academic institution and for the sole purpose of non-commercial research, such as peer review."

https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/10/twitter-rewrites-developer-policy-to-better-support-academic-research-and-use-of-good-bots/

Twitter's also creating a bot registry that must include contact info for the botmaster, so that "it's easier for everyone on Twitter to know what's a bot – and what's not."

https://developer.twitter.com/en/developer-terms/policy#4-b

Italy's "I Stay in the House" law (permalink)

The FAQ for the Italian government's "I Stay In the House" decree is a fascinating document:

http://www.governo.it/it/articolo/decreto-iorestoacasa-domande-frequenti-sulle-misure-adottate-dal-governo/14278

Most notably, Italy has kicked out its tourists. As Bruce Sterling writes, "It's a tourist-ectomy. An Italy devoid of all tourists. It's fantastic, unheard-of. Surely this hasn't happened in at least 700 years."

https://www.wired.com/beyond-the-beyond/2020/03/stay-house-decree/

People are allowed to go to work, to shop, and to run errands, provided it is for an "essential purpose," which you must prove "by means of a self-declaration which can be made on pre-printed forms already supplied to the state and local police forces. The veracity of the self-declarations will be subject to subsequent checks and the non-veracity constitutes a crime."

Business travelers are permitted to enter and leave the country, cab, delivery and freight drivers are allowed to do their jobs, and "outdoor motor activity is allowed as long as not in a group."

Public offices are open. Training activities are suspended. Government offices need to provide hand santizer, but if they run out, they have to stay open ("disinfectant is a precautionary measure but itstemporary unavailability does not justify the closure of the office").

Bars, pubs and restaurants may open from 6AM to 6PM, but have to cancel live music, games and screening events. Theaters, cinemas and museums are closed.

Schools are closed. Universities are closed. Exams and graduations will be conducted by video-link. Med schools are not closed. Research institutions are not closed.

Masses and funerals are canceled. Islamic Friday prayers are canceled.

Farms are open.

Scam-buster hacks into a scam-factory (permalink)

Jim Browning is a talented and prolific scambaiter. He calls the numbers listed in pop-up tech support scams and has the scammers log into a specially prepared system that lets him trace them.

In his latest adventure, Browning thoroughly turns the tables on http://Faremart.com , a Delhi travel agency that was the front for a sprawling network of tech-support scammers taking in millions every year through fraud.

Browning not only traces the scammers: he breaks into their unsecured CCTV network so he can watch them work. He compromises their phone system and listens to the recordings of all their scam-sessions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le71yVPh4uk

He gets hold of their ledgers, which list how much money each scam nets for the gang. He doxes the scammers and learns their real names. He gets a confederate to fly a drone over their HQ and maps out their comings and going.

In part II, Browning treats us to a delightful scambaiting session in which he mercilessly trolls a scammer who claims to be in San Jose, CA, tripping him up in a series of ever-more-desperate lies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV-qa9M-o4E

It's part of a growing genre of journalists who explore and document the operations of overseas scam operations. See, for example, Reply All's excellent podcasts on this:

https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/6nh3wk https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/76h5gl

There are two more parts to come in Browning's series (you can watch them now on his Patreon, apparently):

https://www.patreon.com/JimBrowning

He also turned his footage over to the BBC's flagship investigative programme, Panorama, which has produced its own doc based on it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rmvhwwiQAY

Postmortem: the catastrophic EU Copyright Directive (postmortem)

Yesterday, the Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property held hearings on "Copyright Law in Foreign Jurisdictions," at which two key copyright experts testified on last year's catastrophic EU Copyright Directive.

First up was Pam Samuelson, one of America's leading copyright experts, who explained in eye-watering detail how the compromises made to pass the Copyright Directive produced an incoherent mess that no one can figure out how to implement in law.

https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Samuelson%20Testimony.pdf

Next was Julia Reda, who served in the EU Parliament during the passage of the directive and helped spearhead the opposition to it.

Her testimony really shows you where the bodies were buried: how the EU knew it was making a pig's ear out of things.

https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Reda%20Testimony.pdf

Both are essential reading for anyone striving to understand Article 17 (formerly Article 13) – it is such a tangle of garbage lawmaking that these kinds of guides are indispensable.

Podcast: A Lever Without a Fulcrum Is Just a Stick (permalink)

I've just posted my latest podcast: a reading of my new Locus Magazine column, "A Lever Without a Fulcrum Is Just a Stick," on how copyright failed artists and enriched corporations and what we can do about it.

https://craphound.com/podcast/2020/03/11/a-lever-without-a-fulcrum-is-just-a-stick-2/

Tldr: Giving monopolies to artists doesn't help them gain leverage over the super-concentrated entertainment industry, because the corporations control access to audiences and force artists to sign away those monopolies to get past their gatekeeping.

The more monopolies we give artists, the more monopolies are transfered to corporations, and the more they dominate the market and thus the more they can retain from the earnings generated by the artists' works.

Fights like the EU Copyright Directive are a distraction, a fight over shifting some points from Big Tech's balance sheet to Big Content's – but without any mechanism to move more of that revenue to creators.

Enriching creators means thinking beyond more "monopoly"-style copyright: instead, we have to think about inalienable rights that can be taken away through one-sided contracts (like the "reversion right" that lets US artists take back copyrights after 35 years).

And we have to think beyond copyright itself, by beefing up competition laws to break up entertainment cartels, and by beefing up labor laws to let artists form unions.

There is a role for copyright, but in things like extended collective licensing that would allow all online platforms to access the same catalog and pay for it based on the number of users they have, so a new platform pays pennies while Youtube pays hundreds of millions.

These blanket licenses have been key to keeping other forums for artistic revenues open: think of what the world would be like if one club or radio station could buy the exclusive rights to play the hits of the day, and then use their ensuring dominance to squeeze artists.

If you prefer the written work, you can read the column here for yourself, of course:

https://locusmag.com/2020/03/cory-doctorow-a-lever-without-a-fulcrum-is-just-a-stick/

Here's a direct link to the MP3 of the reading (thanks as always to Internet Archive for hosting – they'll host you too, for free!):

https://archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_330/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_330_-_A_Lever_Without_a_Fulcrum_Is_Just_a_Stick.mp3

And here's the RSS for my podcast:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

Now in its 14th year (Thanks to Mark Pesce for convincing me to start it)!

This day in history (permalink)

#10yrsago London Olympics: police powers to force spectators to remove non-sponsor items, enter houses, take posters http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100303/tts-uk-olympics-london-ca02f96.html

#10yrsago Leaked documents: UK record industry wrote web-censorship amendment https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/2010/bpi-drafted-web-blocking

#5yrsago Piketty on the pointless cruelty of European austerity https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/thomas-piketty-interview-about-the-european-financial-crisis-a-1022629.html

#5yrsago Rightscorp loses big on extortion racket https://torrentfreak.com/rightscorp-hemorrhages-cash-profit-from-piracy-remains-elusive-150311/

#5yrsago UK foreign secretary: stop talking about Snowden, let spies get on with it https://web.archive.org/web/20150315031642/http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2399082/government-minister-is-bored-with-snowden-and-wants-to-get-on-with-surveillance

#1yrago Defect in car security system aids carjackers, thieves https://www.pentestpartners.com/security-blog/gone-in-six-seconds-exploiting-car-alarms/

#1yrago Former Archbishop of Canterbury cheers on students who are walking out to demand action on climate change https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/10/rowan-williams-school-pupil-climate-protests

#1yrago Leaked Chinese database of 1.8 million women includes a field indicating whether they are "BreedReady" https://twitter.com/0xDUDE/status/1104482014202351616

#1yrago Why #Article13 inevitably requires filters https://www.communia-association.org/2019/03/05/final-x-ray-article-13-dangerous-legislative-wishful-thinking/

Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources: Slate Star Codex (https://slatestarcodex.com/), Slashdot (https://slashdot.org), Fipi Lele, Matthew Rimmer (https://twitter.com/DrRimmer).

Hugo nominators! My story "Unauthorized Bread" is eligible in the Novella category and you can read it free on Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

Upcoming appearances:

Museums and the Web: March 31-April 4 2020, Los Angeles. https://mw20.museweb.net/

Currently writing: I'm rewriting a short story, "The Canadian Miracle," for MIT Tech Review. It's a story set in the world of my next novel, "The Lost Cause," a post-GND novel about truth and reconciliation. I'm also working on "Baby Twitter," a piece of design fiction also set in The Lost Cause's prehistory, for a British think-tank. I'm getting geared up to start work on the novel afterwards.

Currently reading: Just started Lauren Beukes's forthcoming Afterland: it's Y the Last Man plus plus, and two chapters in, it's amazeballs. Last month, I finished Andrea Bernstein's "American Oligarchs"; it's a magnificent history of the Kushner and Trump families, showing how they cheated, stole and lied their way into power. I'm getting really into Anna Weiner's memoir about tech, "Uncanny Valley." I just loaded Matt Stoller's "Goliath" onto my underwater MP3 player and I'm listening to it as I swim laps.

Latest podcast: A Lever Without a Fulcrum Is Just a Stick https://archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_330/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_330_-_A_Lever_Without_a_Fulcrum_Is_Just_a_Stick.mp3

Upcoming books: "Poesy the Monster Slayer" (Jul 2020), a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Pre-order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627?utm_source=socialmedia&utm_medium=socialpost&utm_term=na-poesycorypreorder&utm_content=na-preorder-buynow&utm_campaign=9781626723627

(we're having a launch for it in Burbank on July 11 at Dark Delicacies and you can get me AND Poesy to sign it and Dark Del will ship it to the monster kids in your life in time for the release date).

"Attack Surface": The third Little Brother book, Oct 20, 2020.

"Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a very special, s00per s33kr1t intro.

#pluralistic

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chacusha · 5 years ago

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Trials of Mana remake liveblogging (3/...)

From the last benevodon to the postgame:

I like how the original handled the Jungle of Illusions and Pedda a bit better. I liked having enemy encounters in the jungle (in fact, I spent a while in the SNES version grinding here). I also liked the dreaminess of stepping into an area and the screen going wiggly (uh I don’t know how to describe it) and suddenly you see more signs of a town that wasn’t there before. Having the town be blocked/inaccessible until you defeat 7 benevodons and then you sleep at a ruined inn (why would you even do that...?) and then the town appears isn’t as trippy/dreamy. I don’t know how you would convey the same effect without the screen wave effect (maybe things materializing in front of you?) but it’s very effective on the SNES at conveying that your senses might be deceiving you or that you’re only reliving a memory/dream.

I got very excited seeing young Prince Richard and Duran with a pencil mustache Loki, though!

I’m a bit confused by what exactly happened to the Darkstone here. Shade said it was destroyed and Zable Fahr was released. But Belladonna said the Darkstone was in Mavolia and they brought it back to this world. And we see the Darkstone shatter in front of our eyes right before encountering Zable Fahr (whereas the other Manastones shattered earlier). So is it that the Zable Fahr was re-sealed in the Darkstone after being defeated and then unsealed (again) in the real world after Belladonna and co. transported it? Or are the Zable Fahr and Darkstone we encounter from the past?

The Darkshine Knight encounter was less “feelsy” than the one in my Collection of Mana playthrough, since Duran wasn’t in my party. But I like how he also alludes to the fact that Angela is Richard’s daughter.

Ooh I got a rainbow item seed. I have no idea what that does.

The Crimson Wizard was a bit of a tedious boss fight with his teleporting and spells that knock you down. But ultimately, for both him and the Dragon King, I was basically never in any danger of dying despite not being very leveled up, and only having a partial set of ultimate equipment (especially not with the Crimson Wizard’s link ability equipped on Kevin - so much free MP!).

I feel like the original SNES ending feels both a bit more bittersweet and more incomplete. In the original credits, rather than seeing how the world is coping with no mana (largely it seems like everyone is doing fine), you just see Flammie flying mostly all alone. It’s a very beautiful ending but it also feels rushed/incomplete and very lonely. The remake ending feels a bit more fleshed out but also less sad.

This is the first time I’ve seen Kevin’s ending and I really do not like it. While I like the fact that Karl is in fact still alive (Kevin deserves it) I feel like the whole ending gives a pass / extremely rushed moral redemption to the Beast King, and that’s not what I’m here for! The Beast King is one of the most interesting characters in this whole game because he’s the only protagonist-related antagonist who isn’t being brainwashed into being eeeevil. That makes him one of the legit most grey characters in the game and his psychology and motivations fascinating! But the game just glosses over that, and it and Kevin forgive him too easily. I would have liked to see the Beast King begin the journey to redemption and show at least a bit of remorse for his actions, while also implying that journey is longer than what can be shown at the end of the game. They skip this redemption arc and manage to make Kevin look like an idiot in the process -- I definitely don’t think it should have been done this way. I’m mentally rewriting this whole scene.

That said, Kevin training with Ludgar in the ending was adorable.

I thought I multishipped everyone in this game, but I was wrong. I really did not like the Hawkeye and Jessica interaction in the credits (I’m just pretending this is platonic), nor the ending scene where Angela blows a kiss at Kevin (he’s too young/innocent for her! ToT). It’s actually really funny -- I saw someone on the /r/secretofmana reddit being like “Why was I led to believe that Hawkeye/Riesz was the big pairing in this game when they barely interact and Hawkeye is thinking about Jessica all the time” because like, yeah, I get that there isn’t a lot of interactions and that they’re fairly subtle, but also these games are very platonic, which makes even a tiny hint of romance Very Significant, as well as ANY time there is character-specific interaction or dialogue -- it seems very HMMMM. (Also, I think the remake, when it had to fill in dialogue, played it “safe” by giving Riesz only Elliott-related thoughts and (I assume) Hawkeye only Jessica-related thoughts, rather than drop shippy hints.)

Anyway, I’m in the postgame content and really enjoying the new stuff! I like how the three characters have very different battles and content. Riesz gets a group battle against the guardian of the sphere and gets to talk to her dead parents again, which is really sweet (I hate King Joster’s voice though). Kevin gets a one-on-one duel with his dad which is kind of what I expected from his plotline because of how easily his dad pwns him in the beginning of the game which just sets up a rematch in his arc, so am surprised that this WASN’T an aspect of his story before. Angela also gets a one-on-one duel, but it’s with a copy of herself (apparently the Class 4 version of herself that she will eventually become), a nice throwback to Secret of Mana. Despite the fact that my characters are the three royalty characters, their stories play out very differently.

Riesz’s Meteorite class looks very... Aquaman.

Wow, this postgame dungeon is REALLY long. Interesting how you go through the castles of the six main characters. Lazy level reuse, but I appreciate the sheer length of content here, especially since it gives you the chance to try out the characters’ Class 4 skills.

There’s also Class 4-specific ultimate equipment too! Neat.

Anise wasn’t too difficult. I ended up getting game overed once on her second form because I wasn’t careful, but overall it was fine.

I went back for the Black Rabite boss in the Crystal Desert. I got pwned a lot -- that one-hit KO Jumbonk really gave me issues especially when the four Black Rabites come out and they’re all doing it, but I finally beat it after 20 or so tries. Ended up controlling Kevin again (my healer/fighter) to win this one but probably Angela did the most damage to the Black Rabite by spamming Ancient Curse. What I ended up mostly doing as Kevin was just being more proactive with the healing to prevent the other characters from being KO’d prematurely, as well as attracting the attention of the Black Rabite’s attacks and doing a better job of dodging them. Kevin had dark saber on his fists for maybe a third to a half of the fight so I didn’t do a lot of attacking, really.

New game plus time! To be continued...

#trials of mana #seiken densetsu #trials of mana liveblogging #video game liveblogging #seiken densetsu 3

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loquaciousquark · 6 years ago

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Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E45 (Dec. 18, 2018)

Evening, all! @eponymous-rose is off tonight with such silly things like family and events and real life obligations, so I’m here to make bad jokes and have opinions instead.

For those who hadn’t heard, Brian & Ashley are engaged as of this week! Brian is taking both her last and first name to be ultra-progressive. Tonight’s guests: Sam Riegel & Matt Mercer. Matt is here willingly. Sam is not. We’re discussing Episode 45: The Stowaway, sponsored by LootCrate. Brian asks Sam for an impromptu song ad; he rhymes moot and loot and jigs and everyone is a little closer to death than they were a few moments prior.

Tonight’s announcements: Pub Draw & Name Drop are two new shows on the Critical Role channel--check out critrole.com for more details.

This Thursday’s episode is the last of 2018; Critical Role then returns on January 10.

Liam’s oneshot, The Night Before Critmas, airs at 7pm Pacific this Friday night. He’s been planning it for two years, and the VOD will be available December 23.

Talks Machina is also breaking for the holidays and will return on January 8, where they’ll have a cast-wide discussion on the state of the campaign so far. The questions open on Reddit, Twitter, and email on January 4th.

CR Stats: Nott has the most kills of the group with 37. The 45th HDYWTDT occurred in episode 45 as well. Twiggy’s dragon kill was the fifth guest kill of the campaign, and the 2nd guest HDYWTDT. In campaign one, guests got 22 kills and four HDYWTDTs. This was the longest episode of campaign two and the fourth longest of the series.

Matt and Deborah had met extensively to discuss backstory and mechanics, but hadn’t discussed much personality. The only person who wanted to check voice/accent was Khary (with Shakaste).

Deborah was one of the first guests they reached out to when they started streaming all that time ago, but she initially said no because D&D was such a personal thing for her and she didn’t want to share it with the internet. Everyone agrees she was worth the wait.

Everyone’s furious about Daredevil’s cancellation. :(

Sam thought it was fun to play alongside another Arcane Trickster because... “she was very good at it, all that great stuff that I forget to do.” Nott was jealous that many of the things that made her unique were present in Twiggy. However, the jealousy was later reversed because of how excellent Twiggy was in the fight.

The Happy Fun Ball was a narrative device Matt had been planning for a long time--he liked the idea of a pocket dungeon with lore attached. When they realized Deborah’s schedule would put her on a boat in the middle of nowhere, he found a perfect opportunity to bring it in.

Sam asks if Matt intended the device to be a one-use single episode thing, or something recurring, something for the party to further explore at their will. Matt explains very circuitously (and hilariously) that certain DMs may have in the planning of the introduction of the Happy Fun Ball originally intended for such Happy Fun Balls to leave with the guest, and were very surprised when said Happy Fun Ball (and all its hundreds of extraplanar rooms to explore) was left behind with the party instead. He then basically dares Sam to press a button and see what happens.

Nott doesn’t resent Fjord for touching the window or setting a time limit on the library exploration. While it was cool in the library, there were too many things attacking them.

Matt doesn’t necessarily intend his traps for Travis, but he likes having good buttons and bad buttons. “I just want shit to happen. Surprise me!” He admires the player that occasionally gets bold, rather than the one who always sends their minions out to touch all the tiles and trigger all the traps before they ever set foot in the dungeon. He also enjoys the meticulousness of Liam being at the same table as Travis’s impulsiveness.

Sam does not want the fans to send him larger flasks. His current flask holds 128 oz, which is exactly a gallon.

GIF of the Week: @criticalschluck with a hilarious movie-trailer-style GIF of Travis explaining he’s got an intelligence of 6 (Grog), then an intelligence of 14 (Fjord), then pushing buttons and experiencing... consequences.

Nott approves of Caleb’s choice to abandon the books to go back to the party. While she wants as much knowledge in his head as possible, it’s because “a smarter Caleb is a more powerful Caleb, and hopefully a Caleb that can stay alive a little longer.” Matt likes watching characters be put in situations where they have to choose between long-reaching character goals and the people they have chosen as their family. He was fascinated to see the struggle as he was ticking down the time on his sheet. He’s very excited to see what’s going to happen this Thursday.

Brian and Matt both fanboy over Sam’s 1hp decision.

Sam reflects on Jester’s being left behind--”not in a malicious way, you know, but sometimes in a big family someone gets left behind at a mall!”

Matt circuitously explains that the stained-glass window could be used to access other places. This man’s being slipperier than soap suds on wet tile tonight.

Nott was aware that the hit she took for Jester could have been a killing blow, but she was ready--”it was what goes through her head around Caleb a lot: ‘I’ve got to protect my friends.’” She’s very protective and very maternal, and Sam would have been okay if that had been the last of Nott.

Both Sam and Liam (and others) have begun to experience the in- and out-of-game changes that come with finally beginning to really know these characters. They certainly wouldn’t have died for each other at the beginning of the game, even knowing how hard their friends worked on these characters. It was originally a “system shock” (as Matt puts it) which required check-ins after certain blow-ups at the beginning of the campaign to make sure they (the players) were all okay. Now, though, they’re closer and closer to being willing to die for each other for both in-game and meta reasons.

Sam reflects on how both Caleb and Nott hate themselves, but manifest that very differently in how they treat other people. Caleb withdraws and puts up thick walls; Nott is quick to trust and care about everyone.

Nott is least close to Yasha at the moment. She’s still a li’l scared of her.

Matt had a few battle options planned out regarding which parts of which chamber were futzed with. The black tapestry was the one curtain they didn’t mess with that would have led to a “very rough encounter.” Matt had six maps built off-stage, just in case.

Sam’s backup character is a handsome actor named Sam Seagull.

Brian is annoyed that every encounter starts with the chat screaming “TPK.” Matt: “I hope not. That’d be my fault if that happened.”

While the dragon was very powerful, Matt had expectations that the party would understand very quickly that the fight didn’t necessarily have to end with the dragon’s death--he wanted them to understand the challenge was the exit, not the dragon. However, they came in in a different order than he’d anticipated, including party staggering, and that was when he started to get nervous.

Whatever magic had first triggered the first crystal would have been the same magic required to open the second door. It was proximity-based.

Fanart of the Week: @tehsasquatch, with this super-cool portrait of Nott.

On whether Nott feels as if she’s earned her comma: sometimes, especially in encounters like these, Nott feels just for a moment that she can be brave, she can be useful, she can be heroic--and then the moment it’s over the world comes crashing back down. When she’s out of those moments, she feels that she’s still just a goblin.

Is Sam ready for Nott to get the spotlight Fjord’s currently in?

Sam: No. Matt: [very intense face]. There’s a lot of backstory elements that he and Matt know that no one else is aware of, and he’s nervous about those coming to light.

The Traveler’s appearance was complete improv. Matt was reading the situation and the emotions and looking for ways to facilitate a heroic story, and when the dice worked in her favor, he felt it would be a wonderful, dramatic story beat to suddenly include--especially since the Traveler hadn’t responded much recently. Matt: “Yeah, that was really cool.”

The Traveler/Jester relationship has evolved in ways Matt both did and did not expect. He wasn’t sure how seriously Jester was going to take it. It’s the difference between believing in something and allowing that thing to define you as a person. He loves it. Sam: “The Traveler...is Taryon, right?”

Nott doesn’t see Caleb as abandoning her at all. “He’s a weak, puny man who needs to get himself out of danger.” It would have actually been harder if Caleb had been there, because if Nott had had to make a choice as to who to protect, Jester would be dead.

After Beau’s emergence from the orb, she probably for a few minutes would have thought that they were all dead behind her. It wasn’t that hours or days had passed--just a few minutes. Matt found Beau’s and Caduceus’s conversation at the end very fascinating and compelling, especially as a way to end the episode.

Nott agrees that Jester is not as happy and fine as she appears to be, especially after their talk about boys, but doesn’t feel it’s as severe as Caleb’s issues. “Jester’s a functional person.” However, Sam’s excited they’re getting past the “flitty person from the first half of the campaign” to the “core of sadness” as the story progresses.

Matt’s sure Yasha was not happy at all that her friends all disappeared without warning. “She spent six days thinking her friends were never going to come back. She doesn’t cry in a corner; she’s familiar with grief and loss. She hardens herself and moves on.” He’s hoping they’ll get to see some of that this week.

Critmas Spotlight: The Blind Weaver, a really, really cool 3D painting by a lady named Elaine Ryan, which has layers upon layers of polyurethane stained to make an amazing effect. See @elaineryanart on twitter and tumblr for more!

Talks Machina: After Dog

They decide where guests sit at the time of the episode. Matt likes to avoid the edges so they don’t feel like the outlier. Sam requests no attractive guests be placed immediately adjacent to him so that it does not detract from his glory. “That’s why I sit next to doggo Laura Bailey.” Brave man. Brave, foolish man.

Sam likes oatmeal raisin cookies. I am DELIGHTED, WHAT AN OLD MAN WHO SHARES MY TASTE. He also likes Werther’s, which is bringing back so many memories of my grandmother’s house. Matt likes ginger snaps, which are my favorite Christmas cookies also. I would kill for ginger snaps right now. Matt and Sam both are excited about pumpkin pie.

Essential D&D gifts, per Matt: dice, PHB, HeroForge custom minis if you really want to get them excited. He finds that getting in there and making a character can really help hook someone on the visual aspect & get invested in their character. Everything else is fluff. Sam suggests a music playlist for the first game; when he ran his first game with his kids, he liked having gridded paper to draw the maps on.

Matt does not feel that the crew of the ship has been mistreated, but they have been “neglected and dragged through places they didn’t expect.” He does think they’ll talk about everything they’ve done to all their friends and family when they get home in a very “you won’t believe this!” kind of way.

Sam always wears the same tie when he’s voice directing and on the first day of a new show. He’s wearing it tonight and can’t discuss the new show.

Favorite holiday movies! Brian: “Love, Actually” and “Die Hard,” as well as “Miracle on 34th Street.” Matt loves “A Christmas Story” (my favorite also, bless this man). Sam likes “Prancer” and “Scrooged,” but realizes mid-sentence that this is Brian’s first Talks as an engaged man.

Brian on proposing: ”It’s...the best.” They’d been together for over six years & met during the first Last of Us game. Brian describes himself as a former “piece of shit” and a very different person back then. Ashley had no expectations that he was going to propose & was totally surprised. Gah, this is too romantic.

Brian: “I always imagined for years what that moment would be like, and this topped all of my expectations... What more can you really hope for in this life than to feel that feeling with another person? It’s to me the pinnacle of our human experiences to be able to say ‘I’ve been through hell and yet found someone that I can definitely say I want to spend all the days of my life on this earth with,’ and the fact that it happened is fucking cool. It’s like heroin with none of the bad side effects.”

It was extremely stressful--but only the logistics. Apparently Matt’s proposal was extremely logistically intensive; Brian sympathizes.

And on that lovely, quiet note, we’re done for the night. Happy holidays, everyone. <3

#talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long post for ts #critical role #critical role spoilers

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bigfrozenfan · 6 years ago

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Let's talk about Anna and a brandnew weird theory

OK...10 of you have voted so that’s enough for me to post my theory now.

Recently i saw a post on reddit. There came up the theory that this new flag on one of the last leaked merchandise items could mean that Arendelle's emblem should please not be changed "again" (?). I have given a link to my blog with the reference symbols chart, because I don't really believe in this idea. Let's face it...right next to this new flag you can see Anna and to the left of her Elsa. OK, you might think now, it's completely normal...but: WHY are the two separated in two "archways"? Why this new flag with this new symbol on it next to Anna?

@super-mom-te-moc drew my attention to the following: In every known picture you can always see Anna holding her coat with her hand, even though there is no wind. Only in a single (!) leaked merchandising picture does she wear the coat open and you can see the symbol on her chest. This has to mean something very important! Is Anna perhaps no longer a Princess of Arendelle but a Regent in this new land or a contender for this position? Do Anna and Elsa have equal tasks ahead of them in the future to govern a country and therefore only see each other as visitors? New, very close trade relations with new opportunities? Does a Frozen III part suggest itself here, in that it is dealt with more closely and plays mainly in this new country? With a completely new theme? Trilogies are more and more common in films, why not in Frozen? There really would be enough to tell!

Keyword "Sami clothes": Kristoff wears them. This young girl in the forest wears them. There is also a whole reindeer herd there, which indicates both northern Norway and Iceland, because at that time Iceland had trade relations with Norway including settlers there and at that time they tried to breed reindeer on Iceland for export (can be read). Anna also wears a completely new dark outfit with new symbols and appliqués, even on her boots. That doesn't even remind you of an Arendelle outfit we know of!

This inevitably leads me to further theories: will we see Anna in the end perhaps at a wedding or at least at an engagement? A Sami marriage/engagement with Kristoff maybe? Afterwards Elsa gives them a big ball in Arendelle at the end of the movie? At least we see Anna and Elsa in completely new clothes, which seem to be suitable for such an occasion! How likely is that?

Back to the Sami again (or whatever this small tribe in Frozen might be called), there is still one big question open! Where does Kristoff actually come from? Were his parents possibly the rulers of this country and had to hide/give him away/place him with the trolls because danger was imminent and the heir absolutely had to be protected/hidden? So is Kristoff a legitimate descendant of the regent and his love for Anna leads to further developments? Is it perhaps Kristoff, who rushes to Anna's aid with the help of his new reindeer herd and not Elsa, who is too busy with the Nokk and defending her and Olaf's life.

I think this "Matthias" still plays a big role as a villain, because as soon as Elsa has proved to be worthy before the Nokk, she will have a very helpful new companion, at least temporarily. This little leaked picture points to a similarity. Why? Well, Matthias, or what he will actually be called, is a human being. Probably very long-living because he has magical powers. The Nokk, on the other hand, is an ancient mythical being, a shape-shifter consisting of pure magic. Therefore it can also be assumed that great knowledge and secrets are hidden here, which only the one who proves to be worthy can learn about. Do the secrets of the old Arendelle perhaps lie hidden here? Hints to the curse/troll prophecy that ultimately led to Elsa's magical abilities? Maybe this "magical fire" in the teaser is a part of this test and this heart form an indication that all this is not meant to be evil at all but unfortunately necessary.

Remember these floating crystals and the recently leaked info that Olaf thinks that Elsa isn't ok and then the voice of a troll (Grand Pabbie?) sounds from the background and - probably to Anna - says "You must find the truth". I think these crystals have something to do with the trolls and not with Elsa (from where she can suddenly do something like that) and not with the new characters who are busy with completely different things and don't care about Arendelle... unless there might be a good reason: the lost heir to the throne...Kristoff, who is connected to powerful trolls and can always hope for support from Arendelle, or better said Elsa's abilities. A danger for the plans of Matthias?

OMG! Frozen II will then not only be epic, but would also get a fascinating happy end!

I'm so excited about...

Oh, and I can already hear the question "...and what about Hans?". Sorry guys, but I don't see a place for this guy in Frozen II...except maybe as a target for Anna's sword, because he then was stupid enough to follow them to complete his work (or as revenge for the shame he suffered).

Okay, enough with the shit. It's just once again another crazy idea from me ;-)

One important note i’ve forgot! IF you reblog this make sure to tag with #spoiler and #frozen 2 spoilers

#frozen #frozen2 #frozen 2 spoilers #spoiler alert #anna #kristoff #elsa #nokk #matthias #sami #theory #speculations #kristanna #teamhorse

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hobby-board-gaming-101 · 5 years ago

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Other online resources for board gaming

This blog is intended to help introduce people to the hobby of board gaming. Once you’ve gotten into it, there are tons more communities and groups on the internet dedicated to board games in all sorts of different ways. This post is a compendium of and reference to those communities and groups. It is very long; please don’t read through the whole post and click on every single link in one sitting.

I’ve only put sites I know and have used here, and this post is very much not comprehensive; if you have stuff to add, please let me know. Also, if you want to know more detail about any of this, let me know your questions and I’ll make a dedicated post.

Also, this article by Casual Game Revolution has some very good tips about how not to be overwhelmed by all the board game content online. It’s focused on BoardGameGeek, but I think it’s more generally relevant.

This post is kind of a mess because it was quite tiring to write. Maybe I’ll come back to it at some point and edit and revise it, but hopefully it will serve its purpose well enough for now.

Online communities:

BoardGameGeek (BGG): The online board gaming community. It has everything: user rating of games; forums for various games, designers, and other topics; information on games, designers, and publishers; an eBay-like Market; and collections of links to every other type of online board game resource in existence. RPGGeek and VideoGameGeek also exist.

r/boardgames: Another large community with no purpose more specific than being about board games. Also has ranking lists, a Bazaar for buying and selling, and a wiki. People post questions about games; their own ideas, theories, and suggestions; links to board game news; and whatever else they want. There are also subreddits for specific popular board games, such as Kingdom Death: Monster and Gloomhaven, as well as for gaming-related topics such as miniature painting.

Game reviews:

There are tons of board game reviewers, just as there are tons of book reviewers or movie reviewers. They all have different styles and tastes, so it’s valuable to find a couple you consistently agree with and enjoy. Video reviews are the most common.

If you just search online for either board game reviewers or reviews of a specific game, you will find them; BoardGameGeek can be used for finding reviews as well. However, I’ll mention a few well-known reviewers here.

Shut Up and Sit Down: My favorite reviewer. Has full-length video reviews, as well as articles and podcasts which often discuss multiple games in shorter form each. They also have playthrough videos. Use a lot of comedy in their work. Also has their videos on YouTube.

The Dice Tower: A very popular review site. I personally don’t agree with them frequently, although I know a lot of people find their ideas spot-on. This means I don’t know too much about them, but I do know they have a wide variety of content: podcasts, reviews, ranking lists, etc. Also on YouTube.

Rahdo: Has videos of him playing through games alongside his reviews, in an attempt to convey what a game feels like to play. His taste influences his thoughts about games strongly: “I play boardgames almost exclusively 2p with my wife, Jen. We generally prefer games that are heavy but not too aggressive.” If you play with more people or prefer different types of games, that can limit the helpfulness of his videos. His videos can also be just listened to without watching, as the visuals aren’t too important.

Definitions of terms:

There are lots of terms that board gamers use to describe elements of games. There are many places you can learn what these things mean besides just picking them up as you go. Here are some. You can also find these just by searching for them.

Genres of games, or a more extensive list, or in very short form

Terms in general (including genres), or another list, or one with pictures, or in case you’re looking for a really obscure term, or in video form, or the sequel to that last one

A Reddit post not at all aimed at newcomers to the hobby but which shows fascinating history of genres of games

Crowdfunding:

Crowdfunding basically refers to a method of producing a product where people preorder it based on a prototype, and then these funds are used to produce exactly the quantity preordered. It is very popular for board games.

Kickstarter (KS): by far the most popular crowdfunding site for board games. The “games” section of the Kickstarter website also includes video games, tabletop RPGs, and accessories like dice; if you want you can filter for just board games.

Indiegogo: Rarely talked about in board gaming communities compared to Kickstarter, and I’m not exactly sure why. It’s a very large site, although only a small proportion of it is board games.

Tumblr:

I haven’t found much about board games on Tumblr, but I’ll link the few blogs I have found anyway. I haven’t read them, so this isn’t a recommendation or anything, I just thought since I’m on Tumblr I should have a section about the website.

Board Game Design: Inactive with nine posts.

Illuminating Games: Photos along with miscellaneous thoughts on games.

How (Not?) to Make a Board Game: Shares art, news, and other content on board games.

There’s also a fair amount of board game photography on Tumblr.

Other things online:

Lists of gateway games

Gateway games are just games that are good for introducing someone to board gaming. They tend to not take too long to teach or play. There’s a misconception among some that gateway games aren’t fun; this is not true. While some well-known ones are certainly dull, others are some of my favorite games.

Like the other things I’ve written about, you can find lists of gateway games just by searching online. I haven’t combed through them to find ones I particularly like, so I won’t give a list here.

Shopping for games: see my post on the topic, or just this article linked in it.

Podcasts and game walkthroughs: often produced by the same groups as reviews. I rarely use these myself, so I don’t know much about them.

Board game photography: Self explanatory. It exists; it can be pretty; look it up if you want. :)

Casual Game Revolution: Read more about this in my intro to board games post, or on their website in shorter or longer form.

Other board game blogs: These exist, with a large variety of different focuses. Again, I don’t read any, so find through Google or BoardGameGeek if you’re interested.

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schraubd · 6 years ago

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Multicultural White Supremacy

Buzzfeed has an interesting piece up on the 4chan/ex-MAGA/reddit trolls who have been flocking to Andrew Yang's presidential campaign. Of course, being 4chan/MAGA/reddit trolls, they're also engaging in vicious harassment of a Yang staffer they've come to dislike. But that's not what I want to talk about. Buzzfeed reports that Yang has gotten enthusiastic backing from some luminaries of the White supremacist right -- folks like Richard Spencer or the Daily Stormer. Despite, you know, clearly not being White. And he's not the only one. Tulsi Gabbard already picked up an endorsement from none other than David Duke, who also infamously praised Ilhan Omar for supposedly being willing to tackle the "Israel lobby". Several far-right figures have reported being inspired by Ben Shapiro. The self-described "Imam of Peace" Mohammad Tawhidi garners endorsements from notorious Islamophobes like Tommy Robinson and Paul Joseph Watson. In his "Skin in the Game" article, Eric Ward recounted how he -- a Black man -- was able to be accepted in far-right White nationalist circles based on a presumed anti-Jewish alliance. And it cuts both ways: last year Arun Gupta had a fascinating article on young men of color outright joining far-right, White supremacist organizations. I'm not saying in any of these cases that the White supremacist praise was invited by its recipients. There's no reason to think Yang or Gabbard or Omar or Shapiro are anything other than repelled by the prospect of being "endorsed" by White supremacists (Tawhidi is actually a potential exception). And often what one White supremacist hand giveth, another taketh away: the Yang story, after all, is about this same quadrant of "support" turning on his campaign with a misogynist vengeance. Omar is regularly targeted with death threats from the far-right, and Shapiro is the most harassed Jewish journalist online by some measures. So I'm also not saying that any of these figures are simply and without qualification beneficiaries of White supremacist grace. But that's not the point. The point is that this sort of affinity -- in any form -- wasn't supposed to be even possible. White supremacists aren't supposed to be enthusiastic about non-White public figures. That's kind of their whole shtick. So what do we make of this seemingly bizarre phenomenon: multicultural White supremacy? I am not the first to come up with that term -- as best I can tell, it was coined by Dylan Rodriguez at the cusp of the Obama presidency. But we are using it slightly differently. Rodriguez is speaking of how, in his view, the standard liberal multicultural political arrangement -- exemplified by someone like Obama -- nonetheless can uphold a broader structure of White supremacy. My focus, by contrast, is on "traditional" White supremacists who nonetheless come to praise and work with non-White public figures. So what gives? One answer is that it's all a form of trolling -- a way of leveraging their own toxicity against groups who they otherwise hate (think Richard Spencer calling his ideology "White Zionism"). There might be something to that -- I think something like that probably was in play when he "praised" Omar, for example -- but I don't think it's the whole story. The outright endorsement of Gabbard goes well beyond what can be explained by mere "trolling", for example. Likewise the favor with which many on the far-right hold Shapiro. Another answer is that it falsifies the idea that the figures in question are truly "White supremacist". Literally: how could they be White Supremacist if they're praising those whom are deemed non-White! Under this view, the fact that these supposed "White supremacists" sometimes praise and endorse non-Whites is a great big gotcha to the liberals tarring everyone they disagree with as bigots and cheapening the term "White supremacist" beyond recognition (hello, Laura Ingraham!). The problem here is that a good chunk of the figures I'm talking about describe themselves as "White supremacists" or use synonymous terms that are quite clear that they think specifically racial advocacy on behalf of Whites is an important part of their politics. If the Daily Stormer isn't "White supremacist", then nothing is. My take is that this is best understood as a further disintegration of a Platonic Ideal of "White supremacy" which no longer (if it ever did) exists. The vision of the White supremacist as someone who simply, blindly, and uncritically hates all members of the racial outgroups, for no other reason than that they are members of that outgroup, is collapsing. In its place is someone who certainly sees inter-group conflict as central to their ideology, and views certain despised outgroups as avatars of that which they loathe in contemporary politics or society. But it's overlaid onto more complex set of political commitments (which could be anything, but often centers around a sort of paleo-conservative vision of isolationism and insularity), and so there's always the possibility that some individual member of the group will have (or be perceived as having) an aligned ideology. Such persons will be accepted as (literally) "exceptional" -- they may even be trotted out as proof that the supposedly blind hater are actually discerning and "meritocratic". In reality, they prove the opposite: they demonstrate that occasional acceptance of certain "exceptional" outgroup members who meet highly specified criteria is perfectly compatible with even "traditional" White supremacy (let alone more subtle or ambivalent forms of racial inequity). If, as Bernard Williams reminded us, even the Nazis "pa[id], in very poor coin, the homage of irrationality to reason," this is the contemporary version of that. The Nazi anthropologists were speaking a particular language of an era that sought to warrant their hatred based on prevailing ideologies of the time. Today, the relevant ideologies have changed and thus so does the attempted payment. There's something faintly inspiring about this -- that today even the most inveterate White supremacists nonetheless must concede some possibility of connection to or alliance with those they supposedly hate. Nonetheless, it hardly dissipates the danger. An antisemite who likes Ben Shapiro is still an antisemite. An Islamophobe who likes Mohammad Tawhidi is still an Islamophobe. A racist who likes Andrew Yang or Tulsi Gabbard is still a racist. It might be a little weird that White Supremacy could go multicultural. But such is the era we live in. via The Debate Link http://bit.ly/311AwH9

#Andrew Yang #anti-semitism #Ben Shapiro #far-right #Islamophobia #Tulsi Gabbard #white supremacy

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s4banf-blog · 6 years ago

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Geek Culture, Part 1

Geek: heterosexual white male, 40 years old and still living with his mother. This is always my first assumption when the word ‘geek’ comes to my head. It’s a stereotype, it’s harsh but it’s what most people will think of. However, geek culture is evolving ever so quickly, it’s become a mainstream in our media and our everyday lives.

Geek culture goes all the way back to the 1900’s. It started out as a person in a circus act who would do strange and gross acts, they were the ‘fool’ of the show this was perpetuated in William Gresham’s classic novel Nightmare Alley (1946). This in itself is extremely derogatory but back then it was accepted in such a way. Moving into the 1950’s, where ‘geeks’ were moved up somehow on the social scale to intellectuals (but still ‘freakish’) and, unsociable. So when we go onto the 80’s, it was somebody who had knowledge of technology but it was still seen as an insult. If you’re smart with computers, then you’re instantly an outcast who is ‘too’ smart and nobody wants to know a intellectual. The two timeless characteristics of geeks are social incapacity and obsessive dedication to some degree. Nowadays, geeks are people that are heavily interested in a particular topic. It has become a label that people once avoided, but now are heavily proud of. Geek is now a widespread title. When we talk about geek in pop culture, it remained unchanged until the 1980′s where shows and films such as Star Trek: The Next Generation and the Star Wars franchise came to Hollywood. This progression changed for people who were once laughed at, to now become more accepted. The success of Star Wars changed geek culture, making sci-fi more popular and profitable for the masses. The aesthetic for geek drastically changed, it became ‘geek chic’. ‘Geek chic’ refers to a minor fashion trend that came about in the mid 2000′s in which teenagers adopted "geeky" fashions, such as oversized black glasses, suspenders, and cropped trousers. The glasses sometimes worn with without lenses quickly became a main aspect of the trend, with the media identifying various celebrities as "going geek" for wearing these glasses, such as Justin Timberlake. The term ‘geek chic’ was appropriated by some self-identified ‘geeks’. Geeks were no longer fashion stunted intellectuals. They became forward thinking, creative individuals with a lot of knowledge ranging from books to computers. We wouldn’t have Apple, Microsoft or Tesla if it wasn’t for geeks. These companies have changed the way we live, entirely. We rely on this software to get through work, school and even our social life.

If we look at famous geeks throughout history, we’d be going back to Shakespeare, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. If we move onto more recent times, we get people like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Bill Gates was the principal founder of Microsoft, thus creating the world’s largest software company. As of 2019, himself and the company is worth $96.5 billion and he is only 63 years old. Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook when he was 19 years old and by the time he was 23 years old he became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire. He is only 34 years old and worth $62.3 billion as of February 2019. Elon Musk is the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, being one of the largest and most powerful companies in the entire world. He is 47 years old and worth $21.4 billion as of March 2019. These men are extremely powerful and create some resources that we use in our everyday lives.

MSNBC carried out a study in America, where it shows that 17% consider themselves as ‘tech-savvy’ geeks. However, more ‘geeks’ have come forward to consider themselves to have more favourable attributes such as owning their technical skills as well as hiding away from the stereotypical ‘geek’ - (having severe social awkwardness). The evolution of geeks became more widespread due to the internet. Without the internet, geeks would be back to being secluded and isolated from the mainstream. Different platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace created spaces where these individuals could feel a part of a bigger world. Geeks from all over the world could get to know each other and share their passions for a particular subject. Before this, there was places such as comic book stores where geek’s could find other people like them but unfortunately because these weren’t common place, many people didn’t have access to them or the money. This is why the internet was such a vital moment in geek history. There are forums on Reddit, Facebook groups and Twitter threads where people can share theories, thoughts and ideas on their subject.

One of the biggest changes in the entertainment industry over the last twenty years was the introduction of conventions like Comic Con. Once a specialist event, Comic Con now draws people from all walks of film, television and music. Fans come to these conventions to bond with similar individuals, hear from the cast and crew of Star Wars and possibly get small snippets from their favourite franchise’s latest installment. It demonstrates pride, adoration and allegiance. It’s common knowledge now for fans to dress as their favourite characters, walking around conventions as Harley Quinn or Luke Skywalker. This cosplay culture is not perceived as childish like it would have been by previous generations. Instead, it is seen as embracing your youth. Part of the cosplay fascination derives from a need to shed adult responsibilities and return to your childhood innocence. Not only this, many people use cosplay as a form of escapism - they change themselves for a fun weekend so that they can get away from there normal life and become a part of a fantasy. Some cosplayers’ choose characters for traits they admire: more courageous, more motivated. Taking on and trying out those desired attributes can lead to a improved self. Others choose certain characters because they feel that character embodies a trait, or even a persona, that they themselves share. In that way, taking on those other characters can be a way to be even more yourself. This creates a happier and healthier culture, other people seeing how you show your character and getting to know more and more people through this. But we cannot stress enough the importance of prioritising real life over fantasy.

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droneseco · 4 years ago

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