#Lewis Machine Tool

[attackcopterblog]

HRF CONCEPTS GOES LIVE WITH THE RCM FOR LMT MARS-L

HRF Concepts has announced the roll out of the RCM for the LMT MARS-L HRF Concepts state “The LMT RCM (Rifle Combat Magwell) features a 250% larger funnel surface allowing for consistent and fast reloads under any condition. Compatible with all major magazines (including M3 PMAGs) on the market as well as higher capacity options like the Magpul D60 or Surefire MAG5-60. The LMT RCM fits onto…

[loreleismusings99]

Late Night Repairs

In which the quiet becomes a bit too much for Mark to handle.

Hi folks, I'm back for a little bit because I really wanted to participate in #spookyseasoninthebarrens2024 by @jmathesonandsiblings so I wrote this quick little thing for my baby girl, Mark! :3

This is for prompt 6: Haunted House

Happy Halloween, y'all 👻

Warnings: isolation, auditory/visual/tactile hallucinations, grief, fear/anxiety, hopelessness, brief discussion of sleep deprivation, description of someone suffering/dying from suffocation/asphyxia, discussion of death, eye horror, blood, missing loved ones, angst (technically). Please, please, please let me know if I missed anything that should be added to this list.

The soft beeps of the CO2 scrubber’s emergency alarm are deceptively loud and make Mark jump as it cuts through the impossibly still silence that comes with the night. One thing he still hasn’t gotten used to after being here for 23 days is how dead nighttime is on Mars. The increased thermal energy that comes with the sun usually yields soft winds that lightly rustle the HAB canvas and make small clouds of sand hit the airlock door, making it sound like he’s inside a rain stick. Once the sun sets though, an eerie silence creeps in with the sunset’s cold, blue, Mie-scattered light. 

Maybe he’s just really missing having his crewmates with him, but he’s quickly started to hate the stillness that comes with living on a dead planet by himself. The more unsavory side effects of his isolation are much more unbearable--there’s something about not knowing when his solitude will end that makes the emptiness of his surroundings so much worse than the isolation training module he went through back on Earth. For the past few nights, every other corner he turns has an extra shadow he didn’t account for; the occasional puff of wind feels just a little too much like a hand and the whirring of the water reclaimer and heating unit running sounds devastatingly like a murmur. It was easier to ignore the first couple of nights--filling the silence as best as he could with episodes of Happy Days and Commander Lewis’s disco. Sometimes though--when he needs to charge his iPad or when he hyper-focuses on his work and forgets to turn something on to fill the space with more than the sounds of his breathing and the rustling of tools--his mind fills the void for him. Sometimes it’s a persistent ringing in his ears, others it’s a convincing recreation of Martinez’s laugh muffled by the walls of the HAB and his memory, making him tear through the HAB trying to find his friend only to be met with nothing but his loneliness. 

He finishes typing out his log for the day, outlining the maintenance tasks he completed to keep his tragically high-tech tomb operational (if he’s gonna die here, he might as well do so warm and breathing clean air), and stands up out of his chair with a strained groan. Scratching at the stubble growing on his cheek, Mark walks across the main room of the HAB bubble to the complaining machine and takes off the white panel hiding the ducts, intake valves, and pumps of the robust Four Bed CO2 scrubber. The mechanical engineer takes some time listening to the motors and pressure-driven sounds of the machine, trying to locate a clue as to what part of the damn thing is blocked up this time. A soft whistle coming from the interface between the pre-cooler and a pipe connecting it to bed A-2 catches Mark’s attention, and he sees a small chunk of ice growing around the collar keeping the pipe in place at the valve. 

“Well there’s your problem,” Mark utters under his breath as he turns the apparatus off using a panel immediately to the right of the box containing it and slips on a pair of cryo-gloves before touching the parts surrounding the cooling element, lightly dusting off the collection of ice crystals surrounding the collar before carefully removing it and cleaning the ice clogging the mouth of the duct. He re-mates the duct and the valve, torquing it back to a satisfying tension, and turns the machine back on, the pumps chugging away happily now that the blockage is gone. 

Mark nods and puts the cover back onto the front of the scrubber’s casing before turning around to append a record of the repair to the end of his log. Or, he would if he wasn’t frozen in place staring out the porthole in the airlock door across the room from him. The scene outside is dark and barely perceivable due to the small diameter of the window and the contrast of the bright LED lights, but your piercing stare is something he’s profoundly accustomed to seeing--just… not outside the HAB’s airlock. He tries to move but the muscles in his legs merely twitch uselessly with the idea of walking towards the glass of the porthole. He tries to blink, but an impending sense of doom prevents him from attempting to break the unexpected eye contact. His heart clenches agonizingly in his chest, and he can feel the beginnings of a sob bubble up from his chest. Logically he knows this is a hallucination--likely made worse by stress and sleep deprivation--but that doesn’t stop him from calling out to you in a horse, pitiful squeak. His knees buckle slightly before the lights above him flicker and shut off, plunging him and the phantom image of you into near-full darkness.

 Your face is now only dimly illuminated by a light that didn’t go out at the center of the room, but it’s enough for Mark to see angry red petechiae begin to bloom across your face, lips, and the delicate skin surrounding your now blood-shot eyes. The warmth drains from your face and his ears begin to ring as he watches you open your mouth, frothy and bloody fluid pouring beyond your lips. He’s shaking now as he watches you scream silently at him through the fluid pouring down your chin, pins and needles accosting his hands and feet as he finally musters the strength to turn away from your dying, angry visage and squeeze his eyes shut.  

“This--this isn’t real, there’s no one there…” he mutters to himself, tears streaming down his cheeks as he tries to calm his breathing down. He opens his eyes again to discover that the lights either turned back on or were never off in the first place and he starts to lower his hackles, the muscles in his neck and shoulders beginning to relax. Slowly, Mark turns back around and looks through the porthole to find nothing staring back at him. Mark lets out a relieved, shaky breath before running a hand down his face and walking back to his chair to update his log. Typing the details of his repair with shaking hands he begins to properly sob and has to pause, scooting the chair back and winding an arm around his middle, the other raised to clasp his hand over his mouth to try to stop himself from screaming in grief and fear at both what his brain just conjured up and the very real possibility of never seeing you again and leaving you behind to mourn him. The force of his anguish makes him fold in on himself and he continues to sit there, trying to calm himself down at least for long enough to finish his log and get to bed. 

After a bit, he feels the temperature drop and a shiver shoots down his spine. He goes rigid and his sobs stop abruptly and a soft, high-pitched, and short-lived whistle coming from somewhere else in the HAB commands his attention. The same feeling of dread oozes back into his chest as he listens to faint taps sound from behind him, getting louder as whatever is creating them gets closer to his chair and stops, letting emptiness fill the soundscape of the main lab space. In the silence, Mark can hear the blood rushing in his ears and his shaky breathing. With his eyes closed it almost begins to feel like he’s in his space EVA suit back on the Hermes. The sound of his breathing tapers off as he quiets enough to hold his breath and try to listen for either the sounds of the HAB or anything that would alert him to the presence of… something, anything behind him. He’s about to let out his held breath when he feels shockingly cold fingers lightly wrap around the back of his neck, causing a terrified wail to rip out of his lungs as he stands up out of his chair and sees… nothing behind him. 

Mark continues to stand and stare silently at the false wall behind him, raising a hand to touch the warm skin of the back of his neck and feeling goosebumps bloom across it. He basks in the violently loud silence before the tension is broken by the sound of the HAB’s temperature control unit letting out a shrill, piercing tone alerting him to a new malfunction in its system.

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

Thanks for reading!

works referenced:

4 Bed CO2 scrubber

The Martian Fan-Made Timeline

Wind on Mars

Sunsets on Mars -> Mie Scattering experiment!

Pathology of Asphyxial Death MAJOR CW: death, and suffocation both described in text and shown in images.

[tactical-weapons]

Lewis Machine & Tool Co. - LMT® L129 A1

[suzukiblu]

den mother Tony from "oh don't you dare look back, just keep your eyes on me" AU excerpt:

“What?” Tony says in alarm, jerking his head up from the repulsor he was in the middle of fine-tuning. He thinks he just hallucinated something.

“We need you to babysit for this rut,” Darcy repeats from the other end of the video call. The sentence makes no more sense the second time around.

“No you don’t,” Tony says inanely. “Where’s Barton?”

“Home,” Darcy says.

"Rogers?"

"Mission with Natasha and Sam."

“Thor and Foster?”

“Off-planet.”

“Pepper?”

“Running your company.”

“. . . J.A.R.V.I.S.?”

“Tony,” Darcy says patiently. “Can you handle this or not?”

“What?” Tony sputters indignantly. “I can—absolutely I can handle this! I am more than capable of handling this!��

“Okay,” Darcy says. “We’ll drop the pups off in an hour, then.”

“Okay!” Tony says. “That’s fine. That works. I can handle that.”

“Thanks, Tony,” Darcy says, and hangs up. Tony panics.

“J.A.R.V.I.S.!” he says, dropping his tools. “What just happened?!”

“You agreed to babysit the children for the duration of Ms. Lewis’s upcoming rut, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. says. Tony panics further.

“They asked me to babysit?!” he says.

“Yes, sir.”

“On purpose?!”

“Apparently, sir.”

“Fuck!”

Tony does the reasonable thing, which is to call Pepper on the emergency frequency. She answers, looking alarmed.

“What’s wrong?!” she says.

“They want me to babysit!” Tony says frantically. Pepper . . . pauses.

“What,” she says.

“Babysit!” Tony repeats, gesturing wildly.

“Tony,” Pepper says with a clear lack of respect for the crisis level Tony is currently operating at. “I’m in the middle of a meeting.”

“I know,” Tony lies.

“J.A.R.V.I.S., please pencil us in for a call in an hour,” Pepper says with a sigh.

“An hour?!” Tony protests. "They're getting here in an hour!"

“An hour,” she repeats firmly. “I’ll call you back then.”

“Pepper—!”

“An hour,” Pepper says, and ends the call. Tony groans, dropping his head into his grease-stained hands, then mutters a curse as he remembers the machine oil and grit all over them. This is what he gets for taking calls when he’s working, he thinks. This is what he gets for ever taking calls at all.

“I cannot believe they want me to babysit,” he says.

“Ms. Lewis did say you were the last option, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. says, which is not helpful.

“So how was I an option at all, then?!” Tony demands. “They know me! They know better than this! What’s wrong with Bruce?!”

“Dr. Banner informed Ms. Lewis and Sergeant Barnes that he was not capable of babysitting fairly early in the children’s lives,” J.A.R.V.I.S. reminds him.

“Yes, but that was him being paranoid about the Hulk, not him actually being incompetant to do it!” Tony says, getting up to start pacing behind the workbench. “I’m incompetant to do it!”

“I wouldn’t know, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. says, which, again, is not helpful. Tony groans again.

“Oh my god, I’m not prepared for this,” he says. “They’re dropping them off in an hour. One hour. My lab isn’t childproofed!”

“Yes it is, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S reminds him. “You’ve updated the childproofing in the Tower twice this year.”

“Not enough!” Tony says. “How often are they actually in here unsupervised? Never! They are never in here unsupervised!”

“You are technically supervision, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. says.

“Technically at best!” Tony says. “At best!”

“I suppose, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. says.

“Where’s Bruce?!” Tony demands, looking around the lab. He’s this close to calling Rhodey’s emergency frequency too, but Bruce is definitely closer. Rhodey’s in another damn state right now, and frankly it's a miracle it's not another damn country.

"I believe Dr. Banner is currently in his personal lab," J.A.R.V.I.S. says.

"Call him!" Tony says.

"Is that really the best idea right now, sir?" J.A.R.V.I.S. says.

"An hour, J.A.R.V.I.S.!" Tony says.

"I'll see if he's available, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. says diplomatically. He's saying "sir" an awful lot, which Tony suspects is him trying to placate him or something equally ridiculous, but he's too frazzled to call out his own AI for patronizing him right now. People are leaving children with him. On purpose! And he agreed to it!

He definitely does not have time to call out J.A.R.V.I.S. right now.

"Tony?" Bruce says as a screen pops up in front of him. "Is something wrong?"

"I need you in the fabrication lab," Tony says, because "come help me babysit the Winter Soldier's pups before I fuck them up" is obviously not gonna work. Bruce would probably just leave the damn Tower if he tried that. Possibly the country.

"I'll be right there," Bruce says, getting up from his seat as the screen blinks out. Small victories, Tony thinks.

"That wasn't entirely honest, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. says mildly disapprovingly. Tony still doesn't have time for AI patronization.

"It's an emergency," he says feelingly. "Bruce can be mad at me later, when the kids aren't all traumatized for life. Now what in this place is flammable and where can I hide it?"

[lestappenforever]

I know its been a day, but I wasn’t able to watch the race fully yesterday, and this is my take on what I saw

Firstly, VCARB. The cars just wasn’t there this weekend, and we can’t lie, their quali and the fact that they kind of got stuck all throughout the race cost them, and being stuck behind someone in a track like Circuit de Catalunya, which teams go for 2-3 stops in because tyres are dead, and with dirty air. Yeah it just wasn’t it for these guys. But hopefully next seek they are able to be back, because they do have the speed, and they could go far in terms if points this tear.

Williams just aren’t on the right foot all year. And this race was no exception, poor quali, slowest car. You can’t expect your drivers to compete if you don’t give them the tools. 2023 parts in the 2024 car for a driver and the other that had the 2024 parts still is p18. Yeah, they need to get their shit together and stop blaming Logan for not getting points when nit providing him with the Machine and an equal opportunity as his team mate, who isn’t also performing.

Aston Martin was in the wring foot this week. The car isn’t bad, but they still need to wirk hard. A team like them is “supposedly” a top 5 team in the constructors. That’s what they gave us last year. But they need to work on their car because it just is not adding up.

Alpine, double points for the second week running is VERY impressive and important because of their tractor at the beginning of the season. They seemed to have put the work and it’s starting to show. But in order for it to be a fair comparison, give both your drivers the lighter chassis, not just one while leaving the other with the overweight one, and expect hin to perform greatly. It just doesn’t make much sense tbh.

Ferrari are way better than Canada, that’s for sure. Getting back up after a hard blow is not something easy, but they were not too bad all weekend, but they were also not that good. Charles and Carlos having an incident, then Carlos and Lewis. Carlos is getting frustrated for sure, but he needs to get his head in the game, because these silly mistakes could coat him , Charles and Ferrari points, like it did in Canada. But nonetheless, their strategy was not on point , with pitting Charles quite late, almost same time as Lando, it cost him a fight fir forth or even third place.

Second race in a row, second Mercedes podium. Tbh, these upgrades have given both George and Lewis so much confidence in their cars, with the lead that George stole fron Lando, to both being able to keep Lando, in the fastest car of the race behind them a couple of laps, to their calls. They are on the right trajectory and it’s something we don’t hate to see.

McLaren are getting cocky. And don’t get me wring, I’m impressed with their progress in one year, but they’re getting too cocky for their own good. Oscar did a phenomenal race from starting in p9 to ending p7, overtaking and a right strategy, but he’s in the fastest car, and couldn’t get past the Ferraris who were on a considerably “wrong foot” since Canada. Meanwhile Landi started on pole, by the end of lap 1, lost 2 positions, tried to overtake and got stuck in dirty air, and when his engineer asked him , he said fight for the win, which I respect, but fucked his strategy with the time he pitted and then being stuck unable to regain first. Let’s be real. McLaren have no one to blame for this race but themselves, because they were the fastest all weekend and have been for a while, yet they didn’t win. And Zak Brown should definitely eat his words that if you put someone other than Max in the fastest car, they’d win, and no one is faster than Lando, well guess what. Lando had the fastest car, and has had it since Miami, yet won only one race, why is that Zak. Eat. Your. Words.

Lastly Red Bull. Are they making progress, yes for sure and that could be evident on Checo, who is regaining more confidence after 2 horrible races for him in a row. Starting P11, regaining and ending p8 (granted not the best result, but points finish nonetheless) and be wasn’t 100% happy with the car. And saying he’ll continue to fight, I’m sure he will, and Checo will return to the podium very soon, especially because his strategy wasn’t the best and the penalty cost him a bit, but he’s regaining that confidence and that’s what we like. Then we have the one who literally destroyed the dreams of those around him. You can’t tell me that that race wasn’t all Max, because it was. The overtake on George that was as it was written in the book. To being able to communicate effectively with GP. To the strategy that had Max lead into lap 2. To then win the race in the second fastest car, snatching the win from the fastest. Yeah he’s unbelievable, but the team need to wake up, and provide him with upgrades that would enable them both (Max and Checo) to be more confident and less concerned with how their cars will perform (upgrades please red bull thank you)

Well, this is my race analysis for 1/3 of the upcoming triple header. And I want to end it on something I read about Max. Because HE is what makes the difference, not the car

It said something like there are great drivers in fats cars then there is the fastest driver in a great car. And I guess this sums up the Spanish GP top 2 in a nutshell

BRING ON AUSTRIA (May we listen to the Austrian and Dutch anthems tomorrow and enjoy it, and hopefully more on Sunday)

As I didn’t get the chance to watch much of anything this past weekend, this analysis is golden. Thank you so much for sharing once again, I truly enjoy reading your post-race analyses. ❤️

Honestly, people who still believe Max's success is only because of the car and not that man's raw, once-in-a-generation talent, they haven’t been watching the races. Or they have, but they're simply too blinded by jealousy and/or their dislike towards Max to see him for the exceptional driver he is. And those people are simply not worth your time or energy.

Let’s fucking go Lestappen holy temple!

[andmaybegayer]

Last Monday of the Week 2024-10-28

Back in the saddle

Listening: Went to a show at DNA Lounge, the nightclub run by James Zawinski of Netscape and Firefox and Xscreensaver fame. Small show, thursday night deal, but pretty good. Main event was I Speak Machine.

Good show! Lots of screechy unnerving sounds, and a really well choreographed stage performance that pairs with replays of the music videos very precisely that was impressive to watch.

Reading: About halfway through The city and the city which is extremely funny in a very dark way. What do you do about border control when two cities exist in the same space, do you simply give up and allow people to mix freely? No, that's insane, you enforce rigid customs and laws to prevent the mixing of two spatially colocated populations from different countries. Duh. I should read more Mieville.

Watching: Watched Solo: A Star Wars Story on the plane mostly to pad out the front half of a flight until my scheduled sleep time. It's not a good movie! Every other line feels like a pick-up mandated by an anxious marketing team who were worried someone might not understand what's going on. Near constantly explaining the blatantly obvious.

Look. Okay. Han Solo can be an interesting guy. He is a scoundrel with a heart of gold which is a great archetype to play. They decide to play this bizarrely.

I cut the weird style some slack. Much like Rogue One, they were trying to see what happens if you make a movie that isn't a samurai movie in the Star Wars universe, in this case this is a sort of war refugee/insurgency/espionage deal. I think that's interesting. The imperial trench warfare raises patently unanswerable questions about the state of the imperial military. Making Han an ex-Imperial soldier could be more interesting if they played into it at all but they don't. Which is stupid. They have Qi'ra taking up with Crimson Dawn which is a great parallel! It writes itself!

In a great example of not trusting the audience the final-ish scene features Qi'ra talking to Darth Maul, the most recognizable motherfucker in the Star Wars Universe and they have him deploy his lightsaber for no fucking reason JUST IN CASE YOU DIDN'T GET IT IT'S DARTH MAUL YOU KNOW THE GUY FROM PHANTOM MENACE? WITH THE DUAL LIGHTSABER? IT'S THAT GUY. They should have saved some time by providing ushers in the theaters with physical copies of the script so that they could individually beat moviegoers over the head with them.

Playing: Gave my partner a brief tour of the games library while they were hanging out which ended in us playing Drink More Glurp together, which is a fantastic party game, gotta organize that with my friends sometime. If you haven't played Glurp, it's a QWOP-like party game where you play various chopped-and-screwed sports events as aliens with two huge arms and a freespinning body where each stick on a controller controls one arm. Watch this LRR stream to see it in action.

Making: Busy with some printing designs but they are not yet realized. Also I have other things to do including Diwali foods. Technically the timeline is really tight but no one else knows when Diwali is so I can do whatever I want.

Tools and Equipment: A coat with a lot of pockets plus a window seat on a plane means you can use the coat hook on the seat in front of you to stash a large number of readily accessible items in a convenient way without really inconveniencing anyone if you plan this out correctly.

[frank-olivier]

Bayesian Active Exploration: A New Frontier in Artificial Intelligence

The field of artificial intelligence has seen tremendous growth and advancements in recent years, with various techniques and paradigms emerging to tackle complex problems in the field of machine learning, computer vision, and natural language processing. Two of these concepts that have attracted a lot of attention are active inference and Bayesian mechanics. Although both techniques have been researched separately, their synergy has the potential to revolutionize AI by creating more efficient, accurate, and effective systems.

Traditional machine learning algorithms rely on a passive approach, where the system receives data and updates its parameters without actively influencing the data collection process. However, this approach can have limitations, especially in complex and dynamic environments. Active interference, on the other hand, allows AI systems to take an active role in selecting the most informative data points or actions to collect more relevant information. In this way, active inference allows systems to adapt to changing environments, reducing the need for labeled data and improving the efficiency of learning and decision-making.

One of the first milestones in active inference was the development of the "query by committee" algorithm by Freund et al. in 1997. This algorithm used a committee of models to determine the most meaningful data points to capture, laying the foundation for future active learning techniques. Another important milestone was the introduction of "uncertainty sampling" by Lewis and Gale in 1994, which selected data points with the highest uncertainty or ambiguity to capture more information.

Bayesian mechanics, on the other hand, provides a probabilistic framework for reasoning and decision-making under uncertainty. By modeling complex systems using probability distributions, Bayesian mechanics enables AI systems to quantify uncertainty and ambiguity, thereby making more informed decisions when faced with incomplete or noisy data. Bayesian inference, the process of updating the prior distribution using new data, is a powerful tool for learning and decision-making.

One of the first milestones in Bayesian mechanics was the development of Bayes' theorem by Thomas Bayes in 1763. This theorem provided a mathematical framework for updating the probability of a hypothesis based on new evidence. Another important milestone was the introduction of Bayesian networks by Pearl in 1988, which provided a structured approach to modeling complex systems using probability distributions.

While active inference and Bayesian mechanics each have their strengths, combining them has the potential to create a new generation of AI systems that can actively collect informative data and update their probabilistic models to make more informed decisions. The combination of active inference and Bayesian mechanics has numerous applications in AI, including robotics, computer vision, and natural language processing. In robotics, for example, active inference can be used to actively explore the environment, collect more informative data, and improve navigation and decision-making. In computer vision, active inference can be used to actively select the most informative images or viewpoints, improving object recognition or scene understanding.

Timeline:

1763: Bayes' theorem

1988: Bayesian networks

1994: Uncertainty Sampling

1997: Query by Committee algorithm

2017: Deep Bayesian Active Learning

2019: Bayesian Active Exploration

2020: Active Bayesian Inference for Deep Learning

2020: Bayesian Active Learning for Computer Vision

The synergy of active inference and Bayesian mechanics is expected to play a crucial role in shaping the next generation of AI systems. Some possible future developments in this area include:

- Combining active inference and Bayesian mechanics with other AI techniques, such as reinforcement learning and transfer learning, to create more powerful and flexible AI systems.

- Applying the synergy of active inference and Bayesian mechanics to new areas, such as healthcare, finance, and education, to improve decision-making and outcomes.

- Developing new algorithms and techniques that integrate active inference and Bayesian mechanics, such as Bayesian active learning for deep learning and Bayesian active exploration for robotics.

Dr. Sanjeev Namjosh: The Hidden Math Behind All Living Systems - On Active Inference, the Free Energy Principle, and Bayesian Mechanics (Machine Learning Street Talk, October 2024)

Saturday, October 26, 2024

[is-the-battlemech-cool-or-not]

What is the hardest, most horrific battle you have participated in Star Captain?

- Star Commander Hannah Lewis

Hardest? The ilClan Trial, for certain. The fiercest combat ever seen between two Clans, nonstop for three days. And at the end? The Clans gained Terra, yes, but the ilKhan stupidly made enemies in the process. Seeing the feed of him handing the Wolf's Dragoons leader those 30 pieces of silver, declaring them no better than Judas, and simply as a tool to be used...

Well, this old bird nearly leaped out of her hospital bed to challenge to a Trial of Grievance right then and there. Damn the broken ribs and bruises from the Trial, that was... Cold, and uncalled for. The first thing I did with my newfound Order of the Star privilege, to air out my opinions to the First Lord directly? Well, I believe the Fidelis may have the recording, if you can contact @starcolonelkatrinamoon. It is glorious.

To any Wolf's Dragoons that may see this, know that I counted many of your unit among my friends for years.

But enough of that. Your question had a second part. The most horrific battle I have ever seen... was also on Terra. 3081. The Word of Blake's final stand. I remember deploying with the Fusiliers to northwestern Germany. We were tasked with assisting in taking Frankfurt. The Blakist troops, their Militia, had... Gone mad. Nearly feral, it seemed. They deliberately targeted civilians during the combat, with Inferno weapons, flamers, plasma cannons, machine guns, feet, tracks, boots and fists. They almost didn't even care we were there, they were focused on their depravities towards the civilians of Frankfurt.

After the battle, after the last Blakists had surrendered, one of our number asked why the city seemed so quiet. No one had an answer at the time.

It was two days later we found the graves. They'd put them in subway stations, in basements, underneath parking lots, and in the public parks.

The Word had, over the course of the battle on Terra, seemingly from the first minute an enemy JumpShip jumped into the system, had started killing the civilians of Hamburg. I do not know the exact count. I do not know if anyone ever will. But Hamburg had a pre-invasion population of roughly 7.5 million. The last estimate I saw for the amount of recovered civilian bodies was 5 million.

The Blakists did not survive that night.

[attemptsonherlifepdf]

bondage and binaries: autonomy recontextualised as a narrative device in science fiction

increasingly popular in mainstream media, science fiction has deep roots in both ancient storytelling and the gothic. the genre covers an expanse of themes that remain socially relevant throughout the entirety of its career; autonomy, transgression, transformation, and corruption. these themes originate from the gothic, the heart of many modern genres. science fiction repurposes gothic themes in fantastical, dystopian and extra-terrestrial contexts and serves as both a well-received source of entertainment and a mode of social commentary. consistent through various eras of sci-fi is the theme of autonomy. much like the gothic, sci-fi stories reflect the social fears prevalent at the time of writing: the fear of a loss of autonomy has always remained an anxiety of western audiences. this fear presents itself in various contexts throughout time. for instance, western societies have dreaded losing autonomy to religious figures abusing their authority (1790s), eastern european immigrants (1890s), and the corruption of the state and technology (1990s). matthew gregory lewis’ ‘the monk’, bram stoker’s ‘dracula’ and the wachowski sisters’ ‘the matrix’ address all these, respective to their time period. bondage has it’s place as a narrative device when it comes to depictions of autonomy as many authors use restraints as a tool to create a sense of helplessness against threat, or to symbolise social or interpersonal constraints. the core difference, of course, between restrains and bondage is that bondage exists in a sexual context and provides gratification for one or both of the parties involved. another key trope of the gothic, and by extension science fiction, is the involvement of taboo, perverse or otherwise transgressive behaviours. the atypical, ‘transgressive’ nature of bdsm gives it’s use in media that relevance, fulfilling two notions of the genre at once. additionally, both styles, at least in their earlier stages, utilise what is referred to as ‘dark romanticism’. this involves taking the stylised language of romantic literature, characterised by purple prose, decadent architecture, etc, and recontextualising it in darker, more morbid settings. the contrast between this lyrical writing and the macabre, violent, alien or taboo content that it is used to describe creates an uneasy, disjointed feeling for audiences. the dynamic between language and content weaves uncanniness into the structure of both genres, which defines them and distinguishes them from other forms of storytelling. for this reason the nature of bondage is integral to the discomfort that sci-fi relies on.

to understand the significance of this writing style and how it characterises science fiction, we need to first understand the chronology of the genre and what impacted its development over time. while sci-fi as we know it today is largely influenced by the gothic, we see fantastical elements in some of the earliest works of fiction, such as the epic of gilgamesh (around 2000 bce) and the indian poem ramayana (5th-4th century bce). ramayana tells of vimana, which are mythological flying palaces or machines that have the ability to travel underwater, into outer space, and to use advanced weaponry to decimate cities. these early references to technology, often used as narrative devices, are a common theme among ancient works of literature. similar examples include the rigveda collection of sanskrit hymns from approximately 1700-1100 bce; the first book contains a depiction of ‘mechanical birds’ that are ‘jumping into space speedily with a craft using fire and water…containing twelve pillars, one wheel, three machines, three hundred pivots and sixty instruments.’ descriptions of technological inventions like this can be found both in early literature, and in later works such as mediaeval stories. it was just prior to the era known as the ‘enlightenment’, which is credited to have begun in 1685, that science fiction started to morph into the form that we see today. 16th century european works such as thomas moore’s ‘utopia’ (1516) and ‘the faust legend’ served as early prototypes of science fiction tropes. moore’s work was the basis for the utopia motif used in sci-fi, similar to how the ‘faust legend’ exemplified the emerging ‘mad scientist’ trope. when the enlightenment era began in europe, it signalled a dramatic shift in thinking, from blind religious faith to knowledge obtained by ‘means of reason and evidence of the senses.’ this was largely influenced by the separation of the church and state, and sparked a wave of speculative fiction concerning the sciences, including: jonathan swift’s ‘gulliver’s travels’ (1726), exploring alien cultures and unusual applications of science, and margaret cavendish’s ‘the description of a new world, called the blazing-world’ (1666), describing a noblewoman’s discovery of an alternate world in the arctic. however, mary shelly’s 1818 ‘frankenstein’ is widely regarded as a major turning point for modern science fiction. shelly’s gothic horror text is the moment where sci-fi and the gothic converge and began to share core elements before developing in their own separate directions again.

shelly’s use of science, and of technology beyond the scope of scientists in her time period as a conceit to drive the narrative is a hallmark of science fiction as we engage with it in the twenty-first century. she develops upon the notion of a ‘crazed scientist’, using the contrast between technology and religion as an extended rhetorical device to alienate frankenstein’s monster. brian aldiss, in ‘billion year spree’ makes the case that ‘frankenstein’ represents ‘the first seminal work to which the label [science fiction] can be logically attached.’ he goes on to argue that science fiction in general derives from the gothic horror novel. the usage of science as a narrative device is one among multiple tropes and elements that shelly imparted to sci-fi with her work. in having an ‘alien’ character fulfil the role of antagonist, shelly comments on the human condition from a new perspective. as put by kelley hurley, ‘through depicting the abhuman, the gothic reaffirms and reconstructs human identity.’ frankenstein’s monster, referred to often as ‘the creature’ is born into bondage; a popularised image from the novel, and several film adaptations, is that of the creature strapped to a board surrounded by rudimentary scientific equipment. from his first introduction to the world, he has no autonomy. these restraints strip him of humanity and reduce him to an experiment. they are not only physical and have practical use, but are symbolic over his general lack of control over the creation of his body, this perverse ‘otherness’ and the public’s decision to outcast him. frankenstein’s monster is an alien in every sense of the word, and it is the subjugation he is born under that characterises him as such. shelly’s work emerged just prior to the fin de siecle (turn of the century), where western science experienced rapid development, which in turn increased the volume of speculative fiction being produced. after ‘frankenstein’, the gothic and science fiction generally parted ways again, but sci-fi now had a host of characterising traits lended to it by shelly’s novel. the general recipe for modern science fiction is a combination of fantasy literature, gothic horror, and advances in western science, allowing us to pinpoint the fin de siecle as a catalyst for the development of the genre. as the era continued, more proto-science fiction was published; most notably was ‘journey to the centre of the earth’ (1864), by jules verne. the tale combines adventure, romance, current technology and predictions of future technology. lyon sprague de camp, an author active in the ‘golden age’ (1940/50s) of science fiction, refers to verne as ‘the world's first full-time science fiction novelist.’

understanding the outlined framework that modern science fiction operates under, we have space to explore the relationship between bondage and sci-fi in detail. in ‘aesthetic violence and women in film’, joseph h kupfer describes violence as having three framings: ‘symbolic, structural and as a narrative essential.’ as previously discussed, violence is an integral factor in the structure of science fiction, starkly contrasting the writing style to create unease. as a narrative device, restraints are often used in conjunction with rising conflict, to create adversity for characters that drives the plot onwards; this is how it functions as a ‘narrative essential.’ the final facet of the relevance of violence is symbolic. typically, women, queer men and ethnic minorities in fiction experience violence on a symbolic level; their identities are seen as purely political, and thus they face adversity against an themselves as an idea rather than as individual people. both the gothic and science fiction rely on the use of the ‘Other’, usually referring to uncanny or supernatural creatures, and often minority characters are ‘Othered’ to code them as a threat to audiences. in this instance, physical restraints are often representative of social, interpersonal or systemic barriers against a character, and by extension, against the minority that they belong to. to exemplify this, we can turn once again to shelly’s ‘frankenstein.’ while frankenstein’s monster is not immediately recognisable as a minority, lennard j davis has insisted the ‘creature’ is disabled or at least treated as such: ‘hideous appearance...inarticulate, some- what mentally slow, and walks with a kind of physical impairment.’ this interpretation of the character leans more towards the social model of disability, rather than defining disability as an impairment of the body or mind, making his argument somewhat controversial. frankenstein’s monster is not functionally hindered, but he is characterised by his disfigurement and unconventional appearance, which davis refers to as ‘a disruption in the visual, auditory, or perceptual field as it relates to the power of the gaze.’ his estrangement from society reinforces his animosity towards people; bound by the physical limitations of his disability, he develops into a ‘monstrosity’ as a result of his ableist environment. this reading sees ableism through the lens of bondage, as a social restraint or barrier that alienates the creature. he is born into physical restraints, strapped to an operating table, and is followed by metaphysical constraints that bar him from social function and acceptance. in his initial creation, what defines our understanding of the use of bondage is the power dynamic; victor is the dominant authority, controlling the movements of the creature, while the creature himself is subordinate to him, with no birthright to autonomy. his inability to control what victor inflicts upon him is illustrated by his restraints, and becomes an extended metaphor for his alienation and lack of autonomy throughout the novel. shelly’s work serves as a commentary, intentional or not, on the estrangement and ‘othering’ of disabled peoples and the impacts this has on their wellbeing and understanding of themselves. additionally, the novel functions almost as a warning tale surrounding the concept of abusing the development of science, and ‘playing god’ as victor does.

adjacent to science fiction is the genre of magical realism. it utilises the fantasy aspects of sci-fi and combines them with a realistic worldview to blur the lines between magic and reality. angela carter’s ‘the erl king’ (1979) is a prime example of using fantasy to illustrate social and systemic bondage in similar ways to sci-fi. carter uses imagery of caged birds to create a visceral picture of female entrapment. interestingly, the metaphor of caged birds can be likened to that of emerging feminism. in mary wollenstonecraft’s ‘a vindication of the rights of women’(1792), she argues that women of the eighteenth century were ‘confined in their cages like the feathered race.’ similarly, carter refers to ‘larks stacked in their pretty cages you’ve lured.’ rather than reinforce the idea that femininity is inherently trapping, carter uses this concept to create an almost tangible illustration of the narrator breaking the cycle of this ingrained imagery. in freeing the erl king’s victims and usupring his position of sexual power, the narrator subverts traditional tropes of female submission and prevents violence against women rather than indulging in it. this is evidence of carter’s signature feminist twist: she writes from the perspective of second-wave feminism. the use of ‘caged bird’ imagery as an allegory for violent and sexist systems is reminiscent of the usage of restraints in science fiction and indicates its relevance across similar genres. sexism and female entrapment are forms of social bondage in ‘the erl king’ the same way ableism is in frankenstein. genre differences aside, carter’s work is an example of how bondage as a narrative device has developed throughout literature. while in more traditional texts, it is used to trap and villainise ‘Othered’ characters, or to demonstrate an antagonist is a threat to audiences autonomy, more modern texts take the approach of reclamation. not only does carter subvert the roles of bondage to allow minorities to shift the power dynamic, she holds up a mirror to society and allows them to witness the abuse of power that she is dismantling. this subverted approach to bondage as a narrative device began to emerge in western literature in the 1970s. second wave feminism and the beginning of what is known as the ‘post civil rights movement’ era in the united states shifted the dynamics of western society in a way that we see reflected in media. as more legislation was put into place in both the united states and united kingdom to protect the rights of more marginalised groups, media produced at the time began to reflect these sentiments. while this does not apply to all movies and literature, many authors began depicting the state as the topic of fear, rather than villainising minorities.

a core example of dystopian fiction that comes to mind is margaret atwood’s ‘the handmaid’s tale’ (1985). themes of subjugation, autonomy and reproductive rights run through the novel. atwood stated that the novel is speculative fiction, rather than science fiction, as she ‘didn't put in anything that we haven't already done, we're not already doing, we're seriously trying to do, coupled with trends that are already in progress... so all of those things are real, and therefore the amount of pure invention is close to nil.’ while this distinction has massive significance in terms of the social commentary atwood is offering, her work still operates, in part, under the writing structure of science fiction. the year of the book’s release, reviewers commented on ‘the distinctively modern sense of [a] nightmare come true, the initial paralyzed powerlessness of the victim unable to act.’ atwood depicts the social bondage enforced upon women by the theonomic, totalitarian state by building an environment full of physical limitations; women are treated as commodities and are stripped of the right to chose clothing, sexual partners, pregnancy, and so on. these are all forced upon them in very particular ways, to the sexual benefit of both men domestically and men in authority. ‘the handmaid’s tale’ combines two core aspects when it comes to control. the fear of religious figures abusing their authority, which has deep roots in both traditional gothic literature and true historical events, and the fear of a surveillance state, often utilised in modern science fiction.

the 2017 television adaptation of ‘the handmaid’s tale’ uses forms of physical bondage as a clear symbol of control: red or leather ‘masks’ are worn by handmaidens as ritualistic punishment for ‘disobedience’ or ‘independent thought’, covering their mouths, and handmaidens are often forced to wear veils. this use of bondage is multi-dimensional; it prevents women from seeing and being seen, from speaking and being heard. it removes the humanity of the individual and solidifies their objectification.

similarly, a well-loved trilogy in modern sci-fi, the wachowski sisters’ ‘the matrix’ (1999) truly leans into socially relevant anxieties surrounding the corruption of the state. the movie itself was  ‘born out of anger at capitalism and the corporate structure and forms of oppression’, according to lilly wachowski. the film’s core message is one of reclamation and rebellion against a controlling state; aside from the anti-capitalist rhetoric driving the plot, many of the constraints shown represent social barriers preventing the population from experiencing reality or affirming their own identities. twenty three years from it’s release, ‘the matrix’ is more widely understood now as an allegory for the sisters’ experiences as transgender women in an unaccepting society. there are various uses of bondage and unbalanced power dynamics built into the plot, largely where the ‘agents’ of the state hold authority and dominance whereas the ‘rebels’ and general population are the subordinates being controlled. an example of this is a scene where the protagonist, neo, refuses to cooperate with these agents. in retaliation, they fuse his lips together, removing his ability to speak for himself and creating a terrifying, mangled version of his original face. neo is then pinned down as a ‘tracking bug’, shown to be a robotic centipede, is implanted in his torso. the agents, the dominant force, take his display of autonomy as a threat, and immediately respond with physical restraints in an effort to control it, or at the very least discourage it with scare tactics. this sentiment is echoed in other media, such as the aforementioned masks in ‘the handmaid’s tale.’ forms of gags are often utilised as the ability to speak opinions, call for help, express oneself holds an incredible volume of inherent social value, and having that ability supressed or blocked creates a far more tangible image of the loss of autonomy that resonates strongly with audiences.

a popular image from ‘the matrix’ comes from the infamous ‘red or blue pill’ scene, where neo is exposed to the physical system used to keep the population in a simulated reality while their ‘bioelectric power’ is harvested by machines. gasping for air in a pod filled with liquid not dissimilar to that of the womb, neo is shown to be one of millions of humans being held in pods and kept alive via medical tubes. this is a particularly visceral method of depicting the world’s population as enslaved; humans are stripped of the ability to experience the ‘real world’ and are not even able or permitted to breathe on their own. the way humans are tied into their ‘pods’ that feed their consciousness into the matrix is an example of sci-fi utilising forms of restraint to represent vulnerability and abuse of power. while this is not, by definition, bondage as it does not include sexual arousal it does exemplify why restraints are a vital narrative device. in the context of the wachowski sister’s film, the constrains represent systemic barriers preventing the population from experiencing reality and affirming their own identities. even in instances like this where restraints are used against a protagonist who does not find pleasure in the experience, the perpetrator, such as the agents in the matrix, tend to react with pleasure and almost delight at having someone captive, and the arousal is on their end of the experience as the dominant figure in this interaction. modern sci-fi often has plots rooted in a protagonist or group of protagonists’ journey to dismantle corrupt systems, systems which are reflected as binding or restricting population’s bodies, choices and autonomy. the agents of these systems take pleasure in enacting this restriction as it is a method of maintaining their power and control. consequently, protagonists reclaiming control serves as a natural way for the tables to turn on oppressors and for the narrative to reach its’ hope-filled conclusion.

the aesthetics of bdsm have their place in modern science fiction, but specifically in the matrix. western gothic and alternative fashion appear to be culturally associated with bdsm accessories, namely chokers, harnesses, garters, and so on. kym barrett, the costume designer for the matrix, has stated ‘[the costumes are] reflecting back more obviously to what’s really going on in the world, so maybe subconsciously people are connecting to it.’ the cast sports ensembles comprised of latex, leather, harnesses and accessories; while their clothes must serve a practical purpose and be appropriate attire for action, this also comes across as a co-opting of bondage gear as an act of reclaimation. barrett goes on to explain, ‘when they go into the matrix, they create their persona, which is how they see themselves.’ the depth of these characters centres around their reactions to their oppression, and co-opting symbols of this oppression helps to reinforce their fight against it.

other iconic fashion uses of bondage such as vivienne westwood’s alternative lines of clothing follow a similar vein, described as ‘clothing and imagery that appear dirty, ripped, scarred, shocking, spectacular, cruel, traumatised, sick, or alienating.’ this description matches western societal perspectives on bdsm, specifically the practice of bondage. uses of bondage in the mainstream are often a tool in shock fashion, largely influenced by both the gothic and by punk. punk subculture in particular is built upon shock culture, and utilises bondage alongside the themes of anarchy and anti-capitalism to promote a deeply political message. again, bondage gear and physical restraints are co-opted to form an anti-establishment narrative that jeers in the face of social restraints. despite music and fashion not being the same as literature, we can still see bondage being used as a narrative device. westwood’s sado-masochistic inspired clothing saw the addition of a punk line, named seditionaries, in 1976 after the designer met with the sex pistols. as previously discussed, what defines the gothic genre is the uncanny relationship dynamic between two binaries: romantic language and horror content. this translates to the worlds of both fashion and music, where gothic or alternative content relies on the uneasy contrast between the glamour of fashion or the melodic sound of a song and the shocking, counter-culturalist ‘traumatised’ method of presentation, be it the bdsm influence in the design of a garment or the macabre lyrics. this places bondage at the forefront of alternative media and reinforces its’ relevance as a narrative device.

the history of science fiction narratives is peppered with taboos, bent social conventions and abuses of power. the genre’s framework is inherently a development of gothic framework, recontextualised in a fantasy setting. we rely upon science fiction as a means of coping with capitalism; it is therapeutic to see an unlikely hero burst into the office of a space warlord, a corrupt government, a rogue machine, and blow the fucking place up. in order to experience this catharsis, we have to be able to visualise the constraints that they are dismantling, and to see the perverse nature of them in the first place. bondage traps the core sentiment of a narrative in manacles and allows it to violently break free and confront audiences head-on. it asks the audience, do you feel restrained? do the systems restraining you take pleasure in holding you in place? do you see how unjust it is to be controlled? and as our protagonist triggers an exodus of people ripping off the duct tape, loosening the rope, and unlocking the manacles, our narrative device turns to the audience again and asks, do you see how just it is to be free?

i.k.b

[theitalianscribe]

WTDW-Tober Day 3: Founders

Before we start, I want to give the heads up that part of this will be a bullet point fic. Some parts are written out, and others are summaries of or just the gist of what would happen. I am already running behind on these, so this seemed like the best way to catch up.

(Also, also: Reminder that tomorrow is Loud Noise Wednesday October 4. Americans, there will be a nationwide alarm test, at least that's what I've heard. Here is an article with more info.)

-Sara is in some elective on storytelling or performing. The class is doing presentations where they tell a story that has specific elements their teacher put on the rubric. (This is based on a class I had in junior high but that was a really long time ago so all I remember is this assignment and us watching the show Get Smart)

"And that is the story of how I earned this shiny rock at summer camp," The brunette took a bow. The class applauded, then began scratching at the peer review cards they were handed for the assignment. 

"Right. Excellent work, Lewis. Though be sure to move around more. You are telling a story with your movements as well as your words."

Sara frowned at that. The boy was doing a lot of gesticulating, definitely more than Marco before him and Nancy before him. In fact, most of the students stood stiffly and forgot how to  move their bodies.

"Do my notes of stage directions in the script I wrote mean Nothing, Mr. Edricson?" the boy grumbled under his breath as he passed Sara on his way to his seat. 

Sara agreed. Mr Edricson was kind of a tool. Most of the class was either watching clips from tv shows or having the students do the work for him. With a click of her tongue, Sara began the most thorough review card she had ever written in the whole trimester. Under the section for special compliments, she wrote, “I like how he had a gesture for each action in his story. He acted out what he was doing as well as using his narration for emphasis. This guy is the best performer in class, let alone public speaker. And that includes the teacher. Do better, Charles.

Later, when they got their grades back, she saw the boy sigh in defeat, then flip through the peer review pages. Eventually he let out a snort of laughter, which he attempted to disguise with a cough. He looked around the class and met eyes with Sara. “Charles Edricson is a tool,” She tried to mouth. The boy titled his head in confusion. Right. Her grade said she needed to work on annunciation. Charles could be right about this one thing.

“Thank you,” the boy mouthed. Sara grinned at him and gave him a thumbs up.

The boy hung back after class and introduced himself as Lewis Bright. Sara gave her own name in return, surprised that anyone would want to talk to her. She was even further baffled when he asked where she usually sat at lunch. That afternoon, they exchanged snacks and ideas. Through the story they weaved together between bites of carrots, a long-lasting friendship was forged.

-They are paired with Oliver for a physics project. Sara is setting up a Rube Goldberg machine while Lewis draws a diagram of it. They are used to doing most of the work on the project and with how scarce Oliver is, they figure this is no different. Then they see him at lunch fleshing out their powerpoint presentation. 

-He asks to see Lewis’s drawings

-Oliver then scans the drawings and they are amazed like “You know how to do that?”

-He is able to get them into the mechanical engineering class. Is that a class? Whatever class Eric teaches alongside the class he teaches them in their last year. He gets a cameo in the fic and the trio are able to spend a lunch period setting up the Rube Goldberg machine and recording it.

-Eric makes a comment about the twins being welcome to stay with him and Carly after school so he can go straight to his job.

-At this point, Oliver explains a bit of his home life and how he has a job (or jobs) to support himself and his siblings and that is why he has been so scarce.

-They get a good grade on the project and they get slushies or ice cream to celebrate. While there, they run into some old bullies of Sara’s. One calls her the Happy-Hollow-Pockets Arsonist, another possibly calls her Flare-a Covet-Our-Money-Man. I was not happy with how this scene turned out, but they verbally bully Sara while Lewis is getting their ice cream.

The bullies maybe try to tell Oliver about Sara’s past. Also at some point in this conversation, it is established that Oliver has a reputation about being a soft spoken sweetheart. I only bring this up for this next part.

"I have heard enough. All I can gather from this interaction is that you two are pathetic enough to make yourselves feel better by dragging others down with misdeeds from their past. I don't know what she did to gain your ire and I don't care what it is. 

"Do you know what I do think is interesting? How much of our lives is online. We are so well-documented now-a-days that it is difficult to bury your own pasts. 

"Did you know that schools can search through your electronic footprint? That if they find something they don't like, that can influence their decision to admit you or not?"

Oliver took a step closer

"Did you know how poorly defended the highschool's records are? It would be so easy to change someone's grades, remove their ability to participate in extracurriculars, to make you look like a terrible choice for the college you are aiming for. Your behavior, your attendance? They are so poorly protected."

“Are you threatening us?”

“Am I? It’s hard to say. Besides,” Oliver leaned in close and whispered into their ears, “N O  O N E  W O U L D  E V E R  B E L I E V E  Y O U .”

Oliver walked backward to be back at Sara’s side. “I would be careful about tarnishing my friend’s reputation. Think about how it would feel if someone ruined yours.” With that, Oliver smiled and dragged a shellshocked Sara into the restaurant where Lewis was waiting.

“What’s got you in such a good mood, Darling?” Lewis asked.

“I ran into some old classmates and I am just really happy to have you two as my friends instead. If, if you guys want to call me your friend, of course! You don’t have to! I didn’t mean to assume!”

A hand landed on his shoulder and Oliver turned to see Sara giving him a watery smile, “You have no idea how much your friendship would mean to me.”

—-

I think that is a good stopping point, but there were other scenes I had wanted to write:

-Them having a sleepover and painting each other’s nails. Lewis has a collection of holographic nail polishes. There is a dark plumb one that makes him powerful.

-Them talking about project ideas for the competition. They chose to make a miniature moving figurine of a character they make up for the contest. It is Starlight. They include ideas for other characters in the report.

-Them waiting for the results and getting an envelope with tickets to a fair inside. They buy ice cream to celebrate. Sara treats them and the others assure that she doesn’t owe them anything. 

-Sara having imposter syndrome because Star Light is mostly Lewis’s idea and Oliver did the programing and 3d printing.

-They point out that the actual physics and movement logistics of the project was all Sara.

-At the awards ceremony, the director of this competition is looking at Sara in a way that makes her shiver, but she shakes it off. (This is my hint to a conspiracy that Litho possessed someone to make this competition happen and he wanted the trio, especially Sara, to win from the start.)

-The trio arriving at the space that will become Dreamworld. They are so excited.

-Oliver recruits Pen and Eric to help him set up the speakers throughout the facility. He then gets to pick the music to test the speakers. He plays some songs that he just likes, with some meme songs and especially Siivagunner rips peppered in. He watches as everyone catches on. Lewis is the first of his best friends to notice. The Flintstones jingle gives it away. He remembers Wiatt infodumping about this particular game called 7 Grand Dad and how the channel will sneak the Flintstones theme into their songs as one of their more recurring jokes. Sara is the last to notice. She has been getting phone calls more frequently ever since the reward ceremony. This particular one must have taken a long time and captured all her attention. Once she does notice, she has this look on her face that is both fond and exasperated and cry of, “Oliverrrrr,” that devolves into giggles is music to his ears.

[wildmonkeysects]

War Profiteers

Remember President Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower, who after green-lighting the overthrow of Iran’s democracy in 1953 at the behest of petrochemical corporations, had a change of heart and warned about the Military Industrial Complex? Here are the top 100 USA Military Industrial Complex “defense” contractors, all corporate welfare queens mooching off the public, who have blood on their hands in Palestine and elsewhere:

Academi

Action Target

ADT Corporation

Advanced Armament Corporation

AECOM

Aerospace Corporation

Aerovironment

AirScan

AM General

American Petroleum Institute

Argon ST

ARINC

Artis

Assett

Astronautics Corporation of America

Atec

Aurora Flight Sciences

Axon Enterprise

United Kingdom BAE Systems

BAE Systems Inc

Ball Corporation

Ball Aerospace & Technologies

Barrett Firearms Manufacturing

Battelle Memorial Institute

Bechtel

Berico Technologies

Boeing Defense, Space & Security

Booz Allen Hamilton

Boston Dynamics

Bravo Strategic

CACI

Carlyle Group

Carnegie Mellon University

Ceradyne

Cloudera

Colt Defense

The Columbia Group

Computer Sciences Corporation

Concurrent Technologies Corporation

CSRA (IT services company)

Cubic Corporation

Omega Training Group

Curtiss-Wright

DeciBel Research

Dillon Aero

Dine Development Corporation

Draper Laboratories

DRS Technologies

DynCorp

Edison Welding Institute

[Israei]l Elbit Systems

M7 Aerospace

Ensco

United Kingdom/Military contractor Ernst & Young

Evergreen International Aviation

Exxon

Fluor Corporation

Force Protection Inc

Foster-Miller

Foster Wheeler

Franklin Armoury

General Atomics

General Dynamics

Bath Iron Works

General Dynamics Electric Boat

Gulfstream

Vangent

General Electric Military Jet Engines Division

Halliburton Corporation

Health Net

Hewlett-Packard

Honeywell

Humana Inc.

Huntington Ingalls Industries

Hybricon Corporation

IBM

Insight Technology

Intelsat

International Resources Group

iRobot

ITT Exelis

Jacobs Engineering Group

JANUS Research Group

Johns Hopkins University

Kaman Aircraft

KBR

Kearfott Corporation

Knight's Armament Company

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

L3Harris Technologies

Aerojet

Brashear

[France] Lafayette Praetorian Group

Lake Shore Systems

Leidos

EOTech

Lewis Machine & Tool Company

Lockheed Martin

Gyrocam Systems

Sikorsky

LRAD Corporation

ManTech International

Maxar Technologies

McQ

Microsoft

Mission Essential Personnel

Motorola

Natel Electronic Manufacturing Services

Navistar Defense

Nextel

Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems

Northrop Grumman Ship Systems

Northrop Grumman Technical Services

Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems

NOVA

Oceaneering International

Olin Corporation; also see John M. Olin and John M. Olin Foundation

Oshkosh Corporation

Para-Ordnance

Perot Systems

Picatinny Arsenal

Pinnacle Armor

Precision Castparts Corporation

Raytheon Technologies

Collins Aerospace

Rockwell Collins

Goodrich Corporation

Pratt & Whitney

Raytheon Intelligence & Space

Raytheon Missiles & Defense

Raytheon BBN

Remington Arms

Rock Island Arsenal

Roundhill Group

Ruger

Saab Sensis

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)

SGIS

Sierra Nevada Corporation

Smith & Wesson

Smith Enterprise (SEI)

SPRATA

Springfield Armory

SRC Inc

SRI International

Stanley

Stewart & Stevenson

Swift Engineering

Tactical Air Support

Teledyne

Teledyne FLIR

Textron

AAI Corporation

Bell Helicopter Textron

Trijicon

TriWest Healthcare Alliance

Unisys

U.S. Ordnance

Verizon Communications

Vinnell Corporation

Westinghouse Electric Corporation

[eliteprepsat]

Clause (n): a unit of grammatical organization next below the sentence in rank and in traditional grammar said to consist of a subject and predicate. — New Oxford American Dictionary

Search the internet for “run-on sentences” and you’ll likely find examples of long lines (some run-ons, some not) by William Faulkner, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, and other authors famous for their verbosity. Some sites (which will go unnamed) tell you that one of the iconic lines of twentieth-century American literature—the first line of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye (1951)—is a run-on sentence.

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.

This is, indeed, a long sentence—63 words and six commas, to be exact—but it is not a run-on. On the other hand, this sentence is:

Julia likes cats, however, she prefers dogs.

Just seven words and two commas, but a run-on. (By the way, that last line is a fragment, a sentence lacking even one independent clause.)

How is the second sample sentence a run-on if the first is not?

The answer hinges on the definition of a run-on sentence. Contrary to popular belief, run-on sentences are not defined by length or complexity; a 1,000-word sentence could be grammatically correct and a four-word sentence could be a run-on.

A run-on sentence is something far more precise. It’s a sentence that contains two or more independent (aka main) clauses not properly separated. Generally speaking, independent clauses can be separated by a period, a semicolon, a colon, a comma and a conjunction, or a dash (though not all of these solutions work for all sentences).

We might fix the run-on above to read:

Julia likes cats. However, she prefers dogs.

or, more commonly:

Julia likes cats; however, she prefers dogs.

or even better:

Julia likes cats, but she prefers dogs.

The reason why the original “Julia” sentence is a run-on is fairly arcane: a conjunctive adverb like “however” cannot separate two independent clauses. Students preparing for the SAT and ACT should learn how to identify independent clauses, dependent clauses, relative clauses, relative pronouns, conjunctions, subordinators (words that make clauses dependent), and conjunctive adverbs—all terms and ideas that need to be understood in order to master the art of avoiding and fixing run-ons and fragments. This is likely the most important cluster of grammatical issues to master for both tests.

But my purpose here is not to unpack the nuances of these issues (you’ll need to take a class for that). It is simply to note that preparing for the SAT and ACT requires that students begin to see conventional English sentences as things constructed along pretty exacting guidelines. Sentences, like machines, are objects made out of properly connected parts.

Like an automobile, a sentence is made of interlocking units. Just as there are many correct and incorrect ways to build a car, there are countless ways for the parts of a sentence to interlock correctly or not. And just as a good auto-mechanic sees a car for its parts and knows exactly what to do under the hood to fix a mechanical problem, SAT and ACT test-takers need to be able to see sentences as constructed things made of clauses, which need to be connected with the right tools and in the right ways.

This is precisely the kind of thinking at work in Salinger’s opening sentence in The Catcher in the Rye. The sentence is something of a master class in English grammar.

If you really want to hear about it, | the first thing | you’ll probably want to know | is | where I was born, | and what my lousy childhood was like, | and how my parents were occupied and all | before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, | but I don’t feel like going into it, | if you want to know the truth.

This sentence contains nine clauses total, 7 dependent and 2 independent, all properly separated. A clause consists of, at minimum, a subject and a predicate. I have highlighted only those terms necessary to complete each subject and predicate and italicized all conjunctions used to connect clauses. Things get tricky at the beginning of the second clause, whose subject is “thing” and whose verb is “is,” followed by an entire dependent clause (“where I was born”) that acts as the object of the verb “is.” In this sentence, “you’ll probably want to know” acts as a dependent clause since it is contained within a larger independent clause.

As a whole, a good SAT or ACT grammarian should see this sentence like this:

Dependent clause 1, Independent clause 1 Dependent clause 2 Independent Clause 1 continued Dependent clause 3, and Dependent clause 4,  and Dependent clause 5, Dependent clause 6, but Independent clause 2, Dependent clause 7.

We could dig into this complex sentence further by looking at, say, how Salinger subordinates those seven dependent clauses, or by considering how to identify when a clause begins and ends. But, again, the point here is not to explore all these complexities (though that’s an important task for those preparing for the SAT and ACT).

My point is at once much simpler and more challenging: it is to show you that sentences are made of smaller units called clauses, and that there are rules for connecting and separating these units from each other. This is all to say that improving one’s grammar isn’t about memorizing countless rules or running your eyes over countless pages of writing.

It’s first and foremost about changing the way you see sentences—as constructed machines made of individual parts rather than as finished wholes.

[tactical-weapons]

Lewis Machine & Tool Co. - R20 RAHE

[cornwithhorn]

Welcome to my Tumblr page!

Hello, hello, hello, the name is Corn or Cornelious. I'm Non-Binary going by They/Them. And I'm also Bisexual. I'm 18yrs old, and I generally prefer if minors don't interact with my blog considering I sometimes post drawings that lean more on the NSFW side of things, and I sometimes reblog stuff that's not meant for kids. So if you're a minor, I kindly ask you leave. For your safety and my own. On my Tumblr page, I post art, my hyperfixations, sleep deprived rambles, and all as such. I love these Movies/TV Shows: Doctor Who (9-12 fucking hate 13) Invader Zim, Trollhunters, Good Omens, Ghost Adventures, Darkwing Duck, Ash Vs. Evil Dead, The Dark Crystal, The Labyrinth, Star Trek DS9, Beetlejuice, Gargoyles, Rocky Horror Picture Show, The X-Files, The Addams Family, DBZ, MIB 1-3, Gremlins 1-2, and TMNT (2010 because it's the best version and you can fight me on that). I like these Movies/TV Shows: Star Trek Voyage, Edward Scissor Hands, Beetlejuice, The Lost Boys, The Neverending Story, Willow, Goonies, Critters 1-4, It old and new, Duck Tales, Astro Boy (The original), Inspector Gadget, Sweet Tooth, Angel, The Matrix, Back to the Future, Sailor Moon, The Witches (I fucking hate the newer one), The Pagemaster, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Casper (Live Action), Hook (Live Action), Jumanji (Old, I think the newer ones were alright), Hercules, Anastasia, Bartok the Magnificent, Matilda, Hocus Pocus (The old one, the new one was alright I guess), Ferngully, The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Brave Little Toaster, Wild Wild West, The Iron Giant, A Goofy Movie, Aladdin (Original one), The Lion King, The Jungle Book, Cats Don't Dance (Watch it if you can, it's so underrated), and I love these music artists: Forrest Day, Sub Urban, Will Wood and the Tapeworms, Imagine Dragons, Lemon Demon, The Correspondents, Venga Boys, Lady Gaga, Queen, Twenty One Pilots, David Bowie, Elton John, Neoni, Cg5, Missio, Layto, Unlike Pluto, Glass Animals, SAFIA, ck9c, AViVA, Aurelio Voltaire, Adam Jensen, updog, Jake Daniels, The Chainsmokers, Jagwar Twin, Des Rocs, YOHIO, NIVIRO, Depeche Mode, grandson, Weathers, Halsey, Icarus Dive, Dagames, FAKE TYPE., Cosmo Sheldrake, Lorde, Lewis Blisset, They Might Be Giants, Mia Rodriguez, UPSAHL, The Ready Set, Timmy Trumpet, Bronze Radio Return, Napolean XIV, and Conor Maynar. I love these video games: The Last of Us, PVZ, Psychonauts, Batman Arkham Asylum, Destroy All Humans, Little Big Planet, Infamous, Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas, Kingdom of Amalur Reckoning, Medievil, Dragons Crown, Bendy and the Ink Machine, Stray, Skylanders Spyros Adventure, Alice Madness Returns, Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction, Astroneer, Minecraft, Terraria, Forager, Cookie Clicker, Grounded, Roblox SCP: 3008 Infinite Ikea, Roblox Bee Swarm Simulator, Ark: Survival Evolved, Sonic the Hedgehog, Pacman, Alex Kidd, Bonanza Bros, Death Jr. Root of Evil Wii, Coralina Wii game, Rabbids Rayman TV Wii, and Mario Kart Wii. DNI: P*dophile/MAP

Minor N*crophilia

Foot Fetish

Scat or piss fetish

Conservative/Republican/Far Righter/Libertarian

Transphobic, Homophobic, racist, sexist, and or misogynistic

[exnihilo-comic]

hello zero. do you have a rec list of songs? a playlist?

ok, so theres no easy answer for this

idk how to describe my musical tastes. i guess i could put them in a 3-axis graph, like this, and just kinda let the artists fall where they may

ive always enjoyed obscure and acoustic indie artists, as well as weird and obscure rock bands and mainstream rock bands. im always scared to "actively" listen to music for some reason. ill just find something i like and then seek it out organically after listening it.

pink floyd - i used to listen to my mom's pink floyd CDs on my sisters stereo a lot. my mom bought them to entertain guests whenever her friends would come over for drinks. 'Animals' is my favorite, and i never got into 'Dark Side of the Moon' that much but i liked its themes. 'Animals' gives me feelings of being a kid and imagining what it's like to be an adult. if you look at the album art for 'Wish You Were Here' along with the art and lyrics in the CD booklet, it all gives a very futuristic machination feel and it unnerved me so much i didnt listen to it. it scared me. now i love it, and its my favorite PF album art. look up tattoos of it, its great.

the real tuesday weld - contender for my fav band. i own physical music from them more than any other artist. i saw the video for Bathtime In Clerkenwell as a kid on MTV and it blew me away (anyone who knows me knows i love animation + black and white + russian art). when i realized it wasnt just a video but a music video for a band, i went down this rabbit hole of the entire band and it made me appreciate weird electronic lounge music. this is what P!ATD tried to do but failed spectacularly. its music from the past if they had the tools of the future. i listen to their music and i feel like im dreaming, its ethereal. their last album they released (the next to last to be released) was called Dreams and thats what i feel when i hear them.

i think my fav songs lately are Let It Come Down (calming jazz lounge) Silicone (noir theme for two fucked up lovers) One More Chance (cabaret duet letter from Lucifer addressed to God). one of my fav videos is probably the one for Me And Mr Wolf (contains blood and cartoon violence) my popsocket is lifted right from the video. it looks rough, i know

the peculiar pretzelmen - i heard these dudes bc i was actually looking for music like TRTW. they describe themselves as "voodoo death stomp" and it reminds me i love sad angry folk music and bluegrass. you, yes you, specifically, notfredjohnson, ive told about them to before. i have listened to a LOT of their work all year and are my current go to for music to listen to during my drive to work.

rabbit foot blues - hardcore romp ode to those with nothing and everything

sing along - how do you accept that someone doesnt want to be in your life anymore? i guess sing a song

crazy man michael is an amazing heartfelt cover of a beautiful song from the 70s

other songs i tend to like a lot solely bc i REALLY like female vocalists. i just do, they carry so much pain and hurt in their voices that just comes natural to a female singing voice.

behind these hazel eyes by kelly clarkson, nobody's home by avril lavigne, im sorry i love you by the magnetic fields, sober by p!nk, the lions roar by first aid kit,

diamonds cutting diamonds by lydia ainsworth, waiting around to die by the be good tanyas, iron horse by mean mary, with me wherever i go by laurie lewis

theres so much more in so many weird and different genres so i think ill close with ein astronaut. heres turn, which im obsessed with (i fucking love accordion) and here he is doing vocals for WREN in she'd never know

[ausetkmt]

Chances are, you have Jan Ernst Matzeliger to thank, at least partially, for the shoes on your feet.

Matzeliger, an immigrant from what is now the country of Suriname, in South America, revolutionized the business of shoe manufacturing with a patent he earned in 1883 at the age of 30 – an innovation that underlies the methods shoe companies use today.

At one time, the upper part of a shoe was typically stitched to the sole by hand. A cobbler could churn out perhaps 50 shoes a day through the stretching and stitching process known as “lasting.” The lasting machine that Matzeliger invented allowed a shoemaker to complete more than 10 times as many shoes a day, according to the Smithsonian Institution and the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Shoes became more affordable. 

“He was truly an entrepreneur, doing what he did in the late 1800s, facing such discrimination and racism at the time,” says D’Wayne Edwards, a former Nike executive who has designed footwear for such athletes as Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter and Carmelo Anthony and who is founder and president of Pensole Lewis College of Business & Design in Detroit. Pensole is a successor school to Lewis College of Business, a historically Black institution that closed in 2015. 

“For him to have the vision and foresight to want to improve an industry and do something bigger than himself was truly amazing,” Edwards says. “He has been a pioneer for this industry that has been overlooked.” 

Matzeliger was born in 1852 in Dutch Guiana, now Suriname, to an enslaved mother and the slaveholder in whose house she worked. He moved to Massachusetts in the 1870s. 

After learning that a Black man was behind a key industry invention, Edwards wanted to honor Matzeliger in a way that would keep his legacy front and center. The solution: incorporate Matzeliger’s name into a shoe brand.

“JEMS by Pensole” — the acronym standing for Jan Ernst Matzeliger Studios — will open its factory in March, marking 140 years since Matzeliger received his patent. Edwards says the company expects to launch its first shoe in September. Shoe designs will be the result of collaboration between Edwards and Pensole students. 

The name “JEMS” has additional layers of meaning, Edwards says.  It represents gyms — where athletic footwear is often worn — and gems, which is what Edwards calls the primarily Black and brown students at Pensole who are being mentored. 

“We really do feel that the people we’re going to serve and honor in this factory are truly the hidden gems of our industry who have been overlooked, and/or have not ever had an opportunity,'' Edwards says.

The new venture is backed by an initial $2 million investment from Designer Brands Inc., parent of shoe retailer DSW . JEMS by Pensole shoes will be sold exclusively in DSW retail stores nationwide.

“The reason we’re partnering with Pensole is to get the next generation of designers, and very specifically, African American designers, in the footwear industry, and using DSW as a tool,” says William Jordan, Designer Brands Chief Growth Officer. “Less than 3%of designers in the footwear industry today are African American. We need to change that.”