#Load Bank Market

[crow-ooc]

while YOU were sleeping I was busy studying the FUCKING STOCK MARKET

[abbiistabbii]

I don't think people realize how absolutely wild Linux is.

Here we have an Operating system that now has 100 different varieties, all of them with their own little features and markets that are also so customizable that you can literally choose what desktop environment you want. Alongside that it is the OS of choice for Supercomputers, most Web servers, and even tiny little toy computers that hackers and gadget makers use. It is the Operating System running on most of the world's smartphones. That's right. Android is a version of Linux.

It can run on literally anything up to and including a potato, and as of now desktop Linux Distros like Ubuntu and Mint are so easily to use and user friendly that technological novices can use them. This Operating system has had App stores since the 90s.

Oh, and what's more, this operating system was fuckin' built by volunteers and users alongside businesses and universities because they needed an all purpose operating system so they built one themselves and released it for free. If you know how to, you can add to this.

Oh, and it's founder wasn't some corporate hotshot. It's an introverted Swedish-speaking Finn who, while he was a student, started making his own Operating system after playing around with someone else's OS. He was going to call it Freax but the guy he got server space from named the folder of his project "Linux" (Linus Unix) and the name stuck. He operates this project from his Home office which is painted in a colour used in asylums. Man's so fucking introverted he developed the world's biggest code repo, Git, so he didn't have to deal with drama and email.

Steam adopted it meaning a LOT of games now natively run in Linux and what cannot be run natively can be adapted to run. It's now the OS used on their consoles (Steam Deck) and to this, a lot of people have found games run better on Linux than on Windows. More computers run Steam on Linux than MacOS.

On top of that the Arctic World Archive (basically the Svalbard Seed bank, but for Data) have this OS saved in their databanks so if the world ends the survivors are going to be using it.

On top of this? It's Free! No "Freemium" bullshit, no "pay to unlock" shit, no licenses, no tracking or data harvesting. If you have an old laptop that still works and a 16GB USB drive, you can go get it and install it and have a functioning computer because it uses less fucking resources than Windows. Got a shit PC? Linux Mint XFCE or Xubuntu is lightweight af. This shit is stopping eWaste.

What's more, it doesn't even scrimp on style. KDE, XFCE, Gnome, Cinnamon, all look pretty and are functional and there's even a load of people who try make their installs look pretty AF as a hobby called "ricing" with a subreddit (/r/unixporn) dedicated to it.

Linux is fucking wild.

[iwanted7]

Silkroad Server Retro

Watch Now silkroad online retro FW guild HaVoc

[eupheme]

— orange colored sky

joel miller x f!reader

rated e - 2k

tags: fluff and smut, pre!/no!outbreak!joel, summer lovin’, flirting, references to readers hair, oral sex, soft piv, creampies, soft and mushy head-over-heels joel

a/n: my contribution to the writing through the seasons challenge hosted by the lovely @guiltyasdave and @sizzlingcloudmentality 💕 thank you for the gorgeous moodboard & theme! 🍊

Joel tasted like citrus, when your tongue dipped past his lips.

Like the orange he peeled for Sarah as you all dried under the sun - thumbnail sinking into the flesh and tugging, passing a segment her way before popping a piece into his mouth.

Now, it melds with the taste of you.

(or - a soft summer weekend is spent at the lake with Joel and his family)

You wish you could have a million more days like this.

The summer heat and the wind whipping through the rolled-down windows, ruffling your hair. Joel’s truck packed to the brim for the weekend away - the hours of open road passed as the radio worked its way through boy bands and top hits.

Tripping back in time once Sarah’s head had begun to bob sleepily in the back seat. The dials twisted, before a warm hand curled around your thigh - eyes lingering under the stretch of blue sky.

Familiar faces greet you at the cabin - a wide wrap-around deck jutting up against the lapping shore of the lake. Tommy’s hand clapping Joel’s shoulder. Bags slung across backs, a box of fresh produce from the local farmers market tucked under your arm. The bed of the truck unpacked efficiently, the sights taken in with each trip you made.

Truly a little slice of heaven. The property is surrounded by a thick ring of trees. The waters stretching as far as you can see - and when your squint your eyes, you can just catch the pin-prick of a boat on the horizon.

You soak it all in.

The cabin itself. Two levels, all wooden planks and soft, worn furniture. A large stone fireplace already stocked with wood - the large window on the back wall framing the picturesque view, sunlight pouring across the floor.

Watercolor landscapes framed on the wall, pride in the way Tommy tells you that their mother would spend their summer trips painting them.

More stories are shared, woven around you as the groceries are tucked into the fridge, clothes unpacked. A shy smile shot Joel’s way when he shows you the room you’ll share - butterflies taking off at the thought of spending the long weekend together.

Everything still tinged in a rosy-hued newness. Still eager to prove yourself as part of the pack, to fit in amongst them.

Ready to throw yourself into those traditions. Sarah’s fist rapping on the door, her swim suit already tugged on. A shouted reminder, as her feet thunk down the stairs - lake first, and then dinner.

Joel smiles, when you join them. Something loosened, this step away from the heavy load of responsibility. The ease of three days ahead of him, spent with those he cares about most.

Something you can emphasize with. Eager yourself for this getaway. To leave behind your own weight that follows you, shedding it for this brief pocket of time.

Promising yourself to enjoy every minute.

Laughter is layered with the splash of water. Sarah follows the bank, barely visible as she crouches near a downed tree - a collection of water-polished rocks tucked carefully into a bag.

You linger next to Maria, inching your way deeper into the lake with each step. Shrieking when hands curve against your hips from behind, pressing you to a broad chest before dragging you deeper.

A low laugh at the way you squirm, then go limp. The chill wearing off as you get used to the water, as you lean into the reprieve of the heat. Going boneless in his arms, as he flips you around, carrying you deeper.

“You havin’ a good time?” It’s murmured - the low sound melding in with the buzz of cicadas, and rustle of trees in the breeze.

An eyebrow lifted at the way your legs hook a little more tightly around his waist, a warning look that lights up a spark in your belly.

Your arms winding around his shoulders, meeting those soft, brown eyes.

“Yeah.” You smile, “Really good. You’ve got a nice place, Joel.”

A breath, before you’re adding, “I’m really happy I’m here with you.”

More than happy, though you’re not brave enough to say it yet.

But you think he knows - the kiss he steals stoking the embers.

Daring in the way a hand drops beneath the water to squeeze your ass, nudging you flush against him as his tongue brushes the seam of your lips.

Only breaking when he hears Tommy’s heckling, the wave of water that is splashed your way.

He flips you back around before he loses himself, arms banding around your waist beneath the water.

“Later.” Joel murmurs, into the shell of your ear. To himself, you think, with the way his sun-warmed fingers trace patterns against your skin.

It feels right. Your body weightless, in his embrace. Safe, in his arms.

Your head tips back against his shoulder, and you let the clouds drift by above.

The rest of your worries slipping away, with the ebb and flow of water. Lips press against your temple, and finally - you can breathe.

Joel finds you as soon as the truck disappears around the bend.

The remaining three off on an adventure to find the shell necklace Sarah had been eyeing last year, in the little collections of gift shop near the docks.

The door creaking open - clothes peeled off, shoulders rolling as he tugs his t-shirt off to pool on the floor.

A trail leading to the bed, the mattress dipping under his weight. Joining you where you doze - sun-drunk, hair still damp from your shower.

“Was hoping you’d join me.” Your voice is soft - raspy with sleep, arms opening to coax him down to you.

Your eyes are heavy-lidded as he kisses you. Lips curling as a hand cups the back of your head, already parting as he deepens it. Fingers drifting down to rucking up the fabric of your shirt, as his mouth follows.

“I like having you here.”

It’s mumbled out - a kiss pressed to your throat, your sternum. Another warm exhale against your skin, as more of himself slips free.

“Like to come back sometime. Just you and me”

Something behind your rib flips, your heartbeat kicking up a notch.

You can imagine it.

That pretty lake, frozen over. Nothing to do but spend time together in front of that roaring fire - hands wandering beneath the layers of handmade quilts.

“Joel.”

Your breath hitches, palms clamping against his shoulders when he mouths at your tits. An amused hum at how your hips lift, pressing into his belly.

Your shorts next, his fingers dipping below the waistband. Kicked off as he shoulders his way between your legs, his hot mouth leaving a wet mark against your inner thigh.

A groan pushing from his chest when he sees the way you gleam for him. Fingers running feather light up your slit, a slick thumb rolling against the sensitive bud.

Your thighs flex. A soft whine as the pressure increases, the sound drawing out as he finally puts his mouth on you.

He could never resist. Idle threats to match your coy grin - an “I’ll make you wait, sweetheart” murmured in your ear, as you brush your ass against his front one too many times at the bar.

Only for it to be forgotten, the moment he has you alone and under him.

Your fingers twist in his curls. He hums against your cunt, long lashes resting against his cheeks. Eyes shut - lost, in the taste of you.

Hot and wet strokes of his tongue - your sounds muffled with the tight clamp of your teeth.

Loosening when he sinks two fingers into you - those heavy-lidded eyes flicking open and up.

You almost expect a reprimand. A sharp look, but instead he echos a low moan - lips shining as he pulls away from you.

“Wanna hear you, darlin’,” He husks, “No one’s home but us.”

Home. It’s funny how right it sounds, coming from Joel. In this moment, in this room. Your head nods, as the sounds loosen further.

Gasps and sighs, your breath following the crescendo of your heartbeat. Everything winding tight with the curl of his fingers, middle and ring tucked together and plunged deep. His hips working against the bed, unable to help the need for friction.

Joel’s name breaking, drawn out like a song, when you reach your peak. Lips parted as his tongue slows, flattened to feel the pulse of your clit.

His mouth finds yours again, as the sparks still glitter through your system. Slick fingers denting flesh as he grips at your waist, drawing soft patterns.

Joel had tasted like citrus, when your tongue first dipped past his lips.

Like the orange he peeled for Sarah as you all dried under the sun, on the shore - thumbnail sinking into the flesh and tugging, passing a segment her way before popping a piece into his mouth.

Now, it melds with the taste of you.

His hand steady on your jaw, keeping your face tipped up to meet his. Indulgent in the way he kisses you - as if he cannot get enough.

Pressed into the mattress beneath him, as his body settles over yours. The stiff curve of his cock nudged up against the seam of your thigh, his hips rocking downward as you tug him flush against you.

Breathless, in the way you kiss him. Lost in the soft haze of your orgasm, how the simmering heat flares with the way he rubs against your slick core.

Catching on your entrance, as your toes curl in anticipation. The kiss breaks, Joel’s head tipping back to watch the way your brow pinches as he sinks an inch inside, and then another.

A slow slide until he’s flush, pressed snugly against you. His hand catching at your thigh, hauling it around hip, as if he’s not close enough.

Wanting to feel every inch of you against him. Needing you to feel how deep he is like this, the shallow thrusts that sends up sparks behind your lids.

Fitting so perfectly inside you. Almost too much, but you know you can take it - aching foe the way only he can fill you. The way his cock strokes the spot his fingers found, sending bliss to pool warm and low in your belly.

Joel holds out for one more.

Something to tide him over since he can’t have you this weekend as often as he’d like. Thumb working against you again, the crooning “come on, baby. One more, give me another” that sends you pitching into your second orgasm.

Stronger than last time, with the slick plunge of his cock, the wet swirl of his fingers. His low voice in your ear, the words turning into a rough and senseless string as you clench around him.

And when you return it - your arms winding around his neck, hips lifting to match his, the “wanna feel you Joel. Want you to come too, baby-” moaned against his throat - he follows.

Three sloppy thrusts, the needy snap of his hips and a ragged groan, and he’s spilling inside you. Cock throbbing as he loosens a long-held breath, the bristle of his scruff pricking the soft curve of your neck.

Warmth flooding through you, as your nails scrape across his back. Through the finger-mussed curls, the harsh breath turning slower, relaxed.

Content, as his arms curl beneath your back. Molding you against him, kisses trailed against your throat, jaw, cheek.

And wrapped around him like this, you silently will time to slow.

Just for a little bit.

“Today has been perfect.” It’s breathed against his chest, your eyes and body heavy. Leaden, where you curl into him, his nose buried in your hair.

“Not over yet.” He rasps - fingers flexing, where they splay out across your back, “Got a couple more days ahead of us, too.”

Hopefully more than that - the sentiment reflected in the soft crinkle of his eyes, a shy smile. You hum happily, and the minutes slowly slip into each other.

Later, a kiss is pressed to your bare shoulder, with the slam of a car door. The slow untangle of limbs, with the promise of dinner - an appetite worked up, after a long day.

Smiles bright as they show off their finds. A different necklace than before around Sarah’s neck, but “infinitely cooler” with the addition of colorful beads strung between them.

The quiet cabin coming alive, with the bustle of plates and sides. Both brothers bent over the grill, a bark of laughter at good-natured ribbing and of more old stories, almost forgotten.

The sun dips low behind them, spilling across the waters. Lighting them both in a soft, hazy silhouette of orange and gold - the scene a perfect mimicry of the pretty watercolors inside.

Maria’s shoulder nudges yours, as she sidles up to you. A knowing, sideways look that has your eyebrow raising, head tilting.

“Love looks pretty on you.”

Her quiet observation feels like a jolt. A live wire against your heart, as heat blooms - settling in your cheeks. A little, self-conscious laugh as you shake your head at the soft, added insistence.

“Both of you.”

The words punctuated just as he turns - almost as if hearing - though he’s certainly too far away. A hand lifting your way, his smile bright in the golden sunset.

Yours matches its illumination.

Yeah.

Maybe it does.

thank you for reading, and thank you again jana and daphne for this amazing event! it’s been so cold here, I loved getting to jet off to summer for a little bit 💖

[majimaisms]

Majima Goro – Disco Elysium Skillsheet

i've been inspired by @violentlydefending (thank you!) to write up a disco elysium style skillsheet for majima. its VERY long and includes a thought cabinet section as well, so be warned. made a disco style portrait for him too

INTELLECT

DECOUPLING: Betray your values. Act against your nature.

COOL FOR: HYPOCRITES, FAMILY MEN, UNDERCOVER AGENTS

Decoupling is your compartmentalization skill. You have separated your identity, your values and your behavior into neat little boxes that don’t touch each other. With Decoupling, you can justify and stick to any plan, say things you don’t mean, and not worry about what any of it says about you. Compromise is the way of this world – if you can’t hack it, you won’t make it. This includes suppressing your own self-interest; Decoupling allows you to negate the Morale damage from not getting what you want, or need.

Low levels of Decoupling will turn you into an indecisive, ineffective idealist. Preoccupied with your need for authenticity, you will be afraid to compromise your values *at all*. You will be stubborn in your methods, and your identity will become a rock you trip on and fall. You will prioritize being consistent above all else, at the cost of success. However, high Decoupling will turn you into a fraud with a devil-may-care attitude. You will be fully aware you’re doing the wrong thing, but it won’t bother you. You will become unable to recognize your own needs. People will struggle to make sense of your decisions as your behavior becomes more and more inconsistent. If you're not careful, you just might lose sight of your soul entirely, like a stray balloon.

RISK MANAGEMENT: Know exactly how and where everything can go wrong. Then prevent it – but only if it’s worth the cost.

COOL FOR: OPPORTUNISTS, GAMBLERS, WORRIERS

Plan, predict, prevent. Risk Management allows you to understand the economy of possibilities. You don’t need to run the numbers; you have a talent for appraising value in this market. With Risk Management, you can easily identify and mitigate risks and, failing that, deal with the fallout using cost-effective methods. It also makes you immune to sunk-cost fallacies… for the most part. 

Low levels of Risk Management will have you struggling to imagine different possibilities, future-blind. Having no faith in your ability to deal with risks, you will risk becoming paranoid. High levels, on the other hand, will give you a dangerous sense of infallibility. You will become overconfident in your assessments and ironfisted in your methods to prevent undesirable outcomes. In other words – a control freak.

BUSINESSMAN: Make the line go up. Make bank.

COOL FOR: BREADWINNERS, PENNY PINCHERS, INDENTURED SERVANTS

An undeniably useful skill, Businessman makes you really, really good at turning a profit. You understand what sells and how to sell it, who will buy it, and at what price. You can bring a business about to go bankrupt back from the brink, you know how to make the right investments, and you don’t hesitate to cut your losses. All you have to do is make a little bit of effort.

At low levels, poverty will be an ever-present obstacle, and life will be nigh impossible. The world and its many doors will remain closed to you; opportunities will dwindle, people will desert you. Your career as a yakuza will be short-lived, if it ever starts at all. But when you have high levels of Businessman, money will become an end in itself. Absurdity whirlpools will dominate your life. You will be loaded, but it will come at the cost of sentimentality. You will be surrounded by people who want to be close to you, only to take advantage of you. But hey, I’m sure you could compensate for all that somehow. Where there’s money, there’s a way… or however that saying goes. 

LIQUID ASSETS *: Keep your options open. Stay flexible. 

COOL FOR: MONEY LAUNDERERS, IMPULSIVE SPENDERS, PEOPLE WITH COMMITMENT ISSUES 

Liquid Assets lets you reassign your skill points at crucial moments, effectively enabling you to switch between different builds. Your biggest investment is in yourself, and you are determined to polish yourself into maximum efficiency. But what that efficiency looks like depends on the situation, so you’ve learned to min/max your own abilities. It’s almost like turning off a quarter of your brain only for another to light up. You’ve mastered fluidity. You don’t have *complete* control over your skills, but when the situation calls for it, Liquid Assets will give the option to switch things up a little.

At high levels, you will be unable to hold onto any currency you can spend. Cash will burn a hole in your pocket, and the maximum amount of unused skill points you can hoard will reduce dramatically. You will become prone to splurging, urged on by a compulsive and persistent need to empty your pockets *now*. At low levels, however, you will cling to anything you have left in an attempt to hold onto them. You will be afraid to take financial risks or invest in anything, or anyone. You will simply have too much to lose. This will make you conservative with your spending, but it won’t end there. Don’t expect to be able to keep up with a changing world when you are too preoccupied with trying to preserve the things you already have. 

PSYCHE

SHEDDING: Change your skin. Cycle through masks. 

COOL FOR: FUGITIVES, PROFESSIONAL ESCORTS, METHOD ACTORS

Shedding functions as a way to craft and adopt different identities. Your accent, looks, mannerisms, inflection, clothes, demeanor – these things are nothing more than means to an end for you, and can be modified to adapt to any situation. Shedding is the skill that allows you to change tactics as you navigate society, seamlessly switching between characters like putting on different hats. From patriarch to pirate captain, cabaret manager to hostess, idol to construction company owner, role after role becomes you. 

With a low Shedding skill, you will be inflexible and awkward. Change will scare you. You will be unable to commit to any role, any bit, and fail to deliver a convincing performance even when you try. Your ability to see things from different perspectives will suffer, and you will have a harder time understanding others. This will lead to difficulties in dealing with friend and foe alike.  At high levels you will be a master shapeshifter, but a concrete identity will elude you. You will run the risk of getting trapped under the weight of all that dead skin. Be careful that you slough off your old skin all the way, or what was originally underneath may never see the light of day again. You may need the help of another person, preferably someone who really knows you… if that's even possible.

BLACK RIVER: Obscure your intentions. Stay in motion. 

COOL FOR: CULT LEADERS, HUMAN ENIGMAS, THE ROOTLESS

Black River is a pathfinding skill for navigating dreams and desires. It makes you a force of nature through sheer willpower. You can and *will* do anything it takes to reach your goals. You just don’t know how to quit. This gives you a magnetic quality that draws people in, and inspires obsession and devotion in equal parts. People can’t help but get caught up in you, ready to follow you wherever you lead. But you are a river that runs underground; you cannot be seen or heard. Your motivations are opaque to everyone but you. To follow you, people must learn to read signs and symbols – a self-selection mechanism that produces highly dedicated followers. 

At low levels, you will be adrift and aimless. With nothing to work towards, you will stagnate. You will try and hold onto anything that has momentum in hopes it might get you moving, no matter how pointless or out of reach it may seem. Life, for the most part, will just pass you by. At high levels, that drive to achieve your goals will consume your every waking moment, and failure will bring out the worst in you. You will be incredibly charismatic, but seeing nothing except the horizon, you will struggle to stay grounded. Unmoored and unable to come down, you will suffer from motion sickness and have no choice but to keep moving unless you find something, *someone* to tie yourself down to. However, because your intentions remain indecipherable to everyone, you will find yourself lacking in anchors. 

MOXIE: Give yourself pep talks. Get to the top. 

COOL FOR: CHEERLEADERS, GO-GETTERS, INCURABLE OPTIMISTS

You’ve got Moxie, baby. Nerve, guts, determination – you know you’ve got what it takes to make it in this world. You can talk yourself into taking on any challenge, and push past any failure to try again, and again, and again. And people love you for it. Your vigor and courage are contagious. You lift people up and inspire them. Moxie gives you the ability to heal Morale for yourself and others, and acts as your Morale pool. 

Without Moxie, you will struggle to keep going after life has knocked you down. You will be insecure in your ability to succeed, afraid to take risks and embarrass yourself. Too much Moxie has the opposite effect. You will be desperate to put yourself out there, to prove yourself, and never learn. People will watch you with morbid curiosity, like a trainwreck they can’t look away from. 

TIGHTROPE: Indulge in pure escapism. Don’t look down.

COOL FOR: VESTIGIAL SHAMANS, ILLUSIONISTS, SLEEPWALKERS

Tightrope allows you to go through life as if it were a dreamscape, where anything and everything is possible. You are an expert storyteller, and your primary audience is *you*. Tightrope permits you to lie to yourself, to buy into your own fictions. You can fit any series of events into a narrative that makes it more interesting or convenient for you. All you have to do is keep the fantasy going; keep walking and keep your balance. This skill is especially useful for dealing with highly stressful situations, and can be used to protect against Morale damage. 

At high levels, Tightrope will have you playing hide and seek with reality. You will lose yourself in blissful ignorance and have a great time doing it, but the consequences may be dire. Gravity is an uncompromising teacher; the comedown will be painful. The Morale damage you negate in the short term will come back to bite you in the ass later – expect heavy Morale losses. It will also make you completely opaque to yourself as you go to great lengths to avoid doing *any* self-reflection. However, low Tightrope will make life a total slog. You will be susceptible to depression and substance abuse, seeking stimulation through other means, just trying to make it bearable. Seeing life only as it is and not as it should be, you will be extra vulnerable to Morale damage and struggle to keep your sanity.

DIAMOND HEART: Don’t break. Stay vigilant.

COOL FOR: SUPERHEROES, SURVIVORS, IDEALISTS

Life is an unending series of horrors, and Diamond Heart is your last bastion against the meaninglessness of it all. It enables you to absorb the blows life throws at you, and learn the right lessons from them. It’s what reminds you not to lose sight of what’s important as the world pushes your limits, over and over. It is spiritual endurance. Regardless of how bleak the situation you find yourself in becomes, Diamond Heart shows you the right thing to do, acting as your moral compass. Pressure brings out the best in you; you shine brighter the darker it gets, and set an example for others to look to.

Low levels of Diamond Heart will make you cynical, pessimistic and uncharitable towards the world and its people. You will become depressed and isolated, and constantly look to others for guidance. At high levels, you will appear mad to most people around you. Cynics and skeptics will accuse you of “not understanding how the world works”, of being spoiled, sheltered, or even stupid, but you won’t pay it any mind. This will lead you to take massive risks for the sake of doing good – be careful that you’re equipped to deal with failure, or make sure you’re going to succeed. 

NURTURING: Understand reward and punishment. Help people reach their full potential. 

COOL FOR: SCHOOL TEACHERS, PERSONAL TRAINERS, PATRIARCHS

Nurturing is your skill for teaching, mentoring and training people. You see *possibilities* in everything, and people are no exception. You have a guiding instinct that draws you to roles where you have direct influence over a person’s development, and an inclination to play mentor to anyone you meet. Whether you choose to hammer them into shape or take a softer approach, Nurturing is the skill you use to forge people into the best they can be. 

At high levels, Nurturing will make you a master of operant conditioning. You will be able to make legendary fighters out of street brawlers, obedient subordinates out of the most rebellious punks, and #1 hostesses out of awkward, flat-chested wallflowers. But you will risk becoming overly protective and coddling, having to constantly fight the urge to go easy on people. However, low Nurturing will turn you into a tyrant of a teacher as you rely entirely on negative reinforcement. You will be violent and uncompromising in your methods, preferring to employ a sink-or-swim strategy, and it will only get your students so far – the ones that make it through their training, anyway.

PHYSIQUE 

DEMONFIRE: Tap into raw physical power. Unleash your inner demon. 

COOL FOR: SADISTS, JILTED LOVERS, THE CRIMINALLY INSANE

Demonfire allows you to *force* your will on the world in the only way that is guaranteed to work: violence. It is your go-to skill for *hurting* people – your primary combat skill, in more technical terms. Bats, blades or just your bare fists: choose your instrument of pain and go all out. Bash skulls in, send teeth flying, and stab-stab-stab your opponents until they fall. There’s something within you that just can’t get enough, and she demands to be let loose. 

At high levels, Demonfire will make you practically unbeatable. People will be simultaneously afraid and in awe of your martial prowess. Your legend will precede you. But you will risk being controlled by your own bloodlust, struggling to stay moderate in your violence. You will not only *take* every opportunity to beat people up, you will start to create *new* ones. At low levels, however, you will be too weak to even swing your fist. Even the most pathetic punks will beat your ass in a fight. You will be unable to fight for the things you believe in, or protect the people you care about. You will be powerless.

PLAYMATE:  Talk with your fists. Get to know people another way. 

COOL FOR: BROTHERS, PACK ANIMALS, FERAL CHILDREN 

A necessary skill for any yakuza, Playmate is used to gain information about someone through fighting them. It can be thought of as a social skill, utilized the same way any other language would be: self expression, discussion, building connections. With Playmate, a fight to the death can be a bonding activity or an efficient way to learn things about someone, to help you understand what drives them. 

High levels of Playmate will make you overly antagonistic. You will rely solely on fighting to build and maintain relations, and you will seem needlessly hostile to everyone around you. Emotional closeness will not be a defining feature of your relationships. At low levels, you will be unable to find any joy in fighting your loved ones. You will be forced to rely almost entirely on verbal communication to understand each other; something that can be time consuming, and cause for many dead ends as you attempt to resolve your interpersonal problems using words.

RAZOR’S EDGE: Refuse to take orders. Spit in the face of danger. 

COOL FOR: MASOCHISTS, ADRENALINE JUNKIES, HORROR FANS

Something has gone badly wrong with you. The wires in your poor, traumatized nervous system are all jumbled up. You can no longer tell the difference between fear and excitement – if you ever could in the first place. Razor’s Edge allows you to suppress your natural fear response, and makes you effectively immune to intimidation. You simply do not think to negotiate with pain. You are not scared off by threats of bodily harm. In fact, you get a kick out of it. This makes you both difficult to control and unpredictable, willing to take risks most wouldn’t. At the same time, it lets you stay sharp, on the edge, where you need to be. 

Without Razor’s Edge, you'll be questioning whether or not it’s worth it to push back. Staying quiet and letting people have their way with you will seem easier. But if you take it, they'll give it. At high levels, Razor’s Edge will make you brash and arrogant. Seeking thrills, you will become reckless to the point of seeing your life – and others’ – as something for you to toy with. Don't expect others to take kindly to this, though. Most people care about living to see the next day. 

COMPETITIVE STREAK: Go the extra mile. Push your limits. 

COOL FOR: OLYMPIC ATHLETES, #1 HOSTESSES, WINNERS

There is a constant and deafening voice in your head that tells you to *do more* and *be better*. To beat everyone at their own game. And your longest-standing opponent? Yourself. More specifically, yourself from one minute ago. That guy is old news. You can do better, beat your own record. Competitive Streak is your drive for self improvement. It allows you to identify and create situations you can gain experience from. It effectively offers a way to *grind* for that sweet, sweet XP.

At high levels, power dynamics will rule your life. People will find you intense and off-putting as you turn even the smallest interactions into something that is possible to win or lose, and you will burn yourself out trying to outdo them all. But low Competitive Streak will make you a sore loser. Or worse, a *killjoy*. You don’t want to be a killjoy, do you? *Nobody* likes a killjoy. Not even the people that nobody else likes. Not even *other* killjoys. One way or the other, a healthy dose of competitiveness is required to avoid becoming insufferable. Just make sure you don’t push your limits beyond repair.

LIVING ORGANISM: Be an animal. Trust your instincts. 

COOL FOR: BODYBUILDERS, SOOTHSAYERS, HEALTH FREAKS

Your body is an animal, and Living Organism is your connection to it. Like any animal handler, you know what it needs, how to keep it healthy, and how to make it useful. You can train it, feed it, take care of it, and it will repay you in kind. It has access to wisdom that you don't, and it knows what you need and how to provide it. Listen to it, and you will come out on top. 

At high levels, you will develop a seemingly uncanny ability to predict events as you rely on your gut feelings to guide your actions. However, you will become preoccupied with your health to the point of neurosis. Strict about your diet and excessively worried about *symptoms*, you will be prone to disordered eating and regular full body check-ups will become a staple in your life. Naturally, the time and effort spent on your body will lead to vanity as well. At low levels, you will disregard your body’s needs altogether. The animal will seek revenge on you for the years of neglect, payback for the poor treatment you've subjected it to. Aches and pains are only the beginning of the debilitation. You will be in a constant battle with your body, working against it instead of with it. 

ENDURANCE

MOTORICS

SHOWTIME: Live your life as performance art. Captivate your audience. 

COOL FOR: POP-STAR SENSATIONS, THEATRE KIDS, KARAOKE ENTHUSIASTS

Dance. Move. Feel the rhythm and lose yourself in it. Sing your heart out. Pull crazy stunts for shock value. Do cartwheels and backflips. Confuse and dazzle onlookers. Cause distractions. Command attention. The world is your dance floor – Showtime allows you to utilize this fact to its fullest potential, and have fun doing it. 

High levels of Showtime will make you unable to *stop* performing; even when you have no audience, even when you are completely alone. The show must go on *indefinitely*. Your entire life will be a bit, an inside joke you share only with yourself, and nobody will be laughing. With low levels, though, you won't be able to draw anybody's attention to save your life. Or worse, you will draw the wrong *kind* of crowd. Attention – there’s unwanted kinds.

DISTAL PRECISION: Know exactly where you're striking. Maim, but don't kill. 

COOL FOR: ACROBATS, MARTIAL ARTISTS, THE PASSIVELY AGGRESSIVE

Distal Precision makes you a master of self-restraint in combat. It’s your spatial awareness and motor control skill. It allows you to have precise control of your movements, right down to every minute twitch of your muscles, and gives you a perfect sense of your reach. It enables you to execute complicated maneuvers with proficiency, strike with everything you’ve got and stop just millimeters short of your mark, or gauge the exact distance between you and the edge of the rooftop overlooking a 100m drop. It’s a skill any fighter needs.

At high levels, Distal Precision will make you unable to rely on muscle memory. You will be deliberate in your every movement, too preoccupied with precision to enter a flowstate. It will significantly impede your fun, and your performance will suffer as your movement becomes stilted. Expect particularly catastrophic Red Check failures at low levels, though. With poor control over your movement, you will find it much, much easier to fatally wound someone without meaning to. Human bodies are more fragile than they seem, including your own; low Distal Precision will have you flinging yourself at walls instead of opponents, aiming for the wrong body parts, or leaving yourself open in ways that might prove fatal for *you*. 

PEOPLE WATCHING: Observe human behavior. Understand social culture.

COOL FOR: TALENT SCOUTS, WRITERS, MARKETING AGENTS

People Watching is the skill you use to observe and recognize patterns in human behavior; your ability to make connections between disposition, cultural background and presentation. You know who likes and dislikes what, who gets bullied and who becomes popular, even if you don’t always understand *why*. But that’s not important here – People Watching mainly serves as a way to glean a lot of information about a person from just a glance. It helps you notice details about people that most wouldn’t, and ensures you draw the right conclusions, letting you do things like: single out the richest person in a room, clock closet-cases, or correctly infer someone’s hometown from a brief conversation

At high levels, you will be able to play the social game effortlessly. You will be in-tune with stereotypes most people have never even heard of, knowledgeable about people from all walks of life. But you will find yourself too preoccupied with other people, neglecting to consider how *you* fit into society. You will be a permanent outsider, unable to truly belong in any group. With low People Watching, however, you will be navigating society without speaking its language of style and presentation. You will be oblivious to cues that most pick up on effortlessly. You will live your life on this earth like an alien, indefinitely culture-shocked, an outsider of a different kind.

COMPOSURE

REACTION SPEED

THOUGHT CABINET

MY BROTHER'S MAN 

Problem: You are outside a warehouse as Shibata explains to you that you have no choice but to betray your brother. You refuse to understand. Then choice is taken from you, but only because you allowed it to happen. Your only brother is in prison on death row, and you are not. This was not how it was supposed to go.

Solution: You swore an oath, and the price of betrayal is death. Saejima will never get back the years of his life that he lost. It’s only fair that yours gets cut short. In the meantime, try to make up for it anyway. Loyalty – it's supposed to mean something. 

+4 Black River: Feel the half that is missing +4 Razor’s Edge: Nothing to lose -1 to all skills when separated from your bonded pair To forget this thought, you have to forget all of them

LONG DEAD ANIMAL 

Problem: You've been ready to die since the day you swore your oath. You’ve erased your past, and you’ve got no future. You’re not interested in having one, either. This makes it difficult to give a shit about… well, anything. It’s no way to live. 

Solution: Life is just a consecutive series of days where you are cheating death, and dying early is just part of the deal for yakuza. But with the way you've been living, you may as well already be dead. The sooner you make peace with this, the easier it will be to focus on the work that needs to be done. On the upside, you can incorporate this into your fashion for a *really* cool style. It will act as a reminder.

+1 Composure: Taxidermied +1 Reaction Speed: Moments have consequences +1 Health for each item of clothing you are wearing that's made of leather +1 Shedding if you’re wearing 3 or more items of leather clothing -1 Living Organism: It doesn’t feel like living

LOOKING-GLASS SELF

Problem: You don’t relate to your peers. Not in the way they relate to each other. And they don’t understand you, either. At least not the way you understand yourself. How are you going to bridge the gap? 

Solution: According to some sociologists, individuals develop their concept of self by observing how they are perceived by others, a concept Cooley coined as the “looking-glass self.” You’ve not only mastered this ability, but your self worth has miraculously remained unaffected. Congratulations! You are now a full person. At least in the eyes of others. As far as your need for authenticity is concerned, though, you’ve simply given up on such things. Oh, and be prepared to have a really complicated relationship with mirrors – whether they’re made of glass, or flesh and bone.

+3 Shedding: Mask to survive +3 Decoupling: Lost cause +1 Composure: Live behind your eyelids +1 People Watching: Watch and learn Prerequisite for 24-HOUR CINDERELLA

NEWTONIAN MECHANICS

Problem: You did not have the *happiest* childhood (really, it was very, very far from being happy – we’re talking, like, *light years* away) but it’s part of what made you who you are. You may be damaged goods, but hard times have also taught you some valuable lessons. You’ve learned not to take anything for granted, and that you can’t afford to ignore *reality*. Life is short – and you know how to appreciate it. But above all, your childhood has made you *kind* – you have a relentless drive to protect and defend the weak. But courage alone isn’t enough. There’s more to the story.

Solution: “A body remains at rest, or in motion at a constant speed in a straight line, unless it is acted upon by a force.” This is true of all bodies, including human ones. Force is the language of this reality, and violence is the way of this world. At the end of the day, all power boils down to your capacity to inflict physical harm on another person. Forcing your will upon people is forcing your will upon the world. And you are determined to use your power for good, but you must first *acquire* it. That’s right – you have to get *strong*. Really, really strong. In fact, you have to be the strongest guy around. There’s no way around it, it’s the only way to keep your loved ones safe. You need to be able to generate force, or you will be a null factor in this universe, unable to help anybody when it really counts.

Demonfire learning cap raised by 5 +3 Competitive Streak: Moral imperative +3 Razor’s Edge: The fear has been beaten out of you +3 Endurance: You can take it

HYPER-COMBATIVE LIVING

Problem: The world of yakuza is one where people only respect brute strength and authority. You’ve got your fair share of issues with the latter, but you have to admit, it’s a little *unstylish* to rely entirely on the former. There are cleverer, more sophisticated ways to solve problems. Diplomacy and compromise should not be *entirely* out of the question… right?

Solution: Life is too short not to solve your problems using violence. Besides, who said violence wasn’t stylish? Violence is cool. Red hot, sparks flying *cool*. And you can make it even cooler. By making it your whole *thing*. Diplomacy and compromise are boooring. Problems need solutions, and violence is a one-size-fits-all solution that has not failed you yet. You can forget about romance or tenderness, though.

+3 Demonfire: No holds barred +2 Playmate: Howling forever -3 Businessman: Doing business honest man style is tedious -2 Diamond Heart: Play the antagonist

LORD OF THE NIGHT

Problem: The nightmares are the easy part. The year you spent in that place *did* something to you. Okay, it did *a lot* of things. Honestly, even you're not sure about the extent of the damage. I'm talking about *psychological damage*, boyo. Not just to your mind, not just to your spirit, but to your *pride*. Your dignity has been stripped away, pissed on, and left to rot in that cell. There has to be some way to get it back.

Solution: Good news! There *is* a dignified way to deal with indignity – a way to handle it with grace. And you've found it. Okay, are you ready? It's about *consent*. That’s right. If you volunteer to the daily stripping of your dignity, you can, in fact, retain some of it. Enough of it. Enough to keep your head up – look people in the eye, look at yourself in the mirror. All that good stuff. So why not embrace it? Just stop fighting it. It's not like you have a choice, anyway. 

+6 Composure: The customer is king +6 Businessman: No time to waste -6 Razor’s Edge: Orders are absolute -6 Living Organism: Broken and battered Prerequisite to unlock MAD DOG OF SHIMANO

MAD DOG OF SHIMANO 

Problem: Her small hand between yours as you bow your head in silent prayer: Please, please let her live. If she doesn't, you will have failed her forever. It will be your fault that she's dead, and you will have to live with the knowledge that she died because of the organization you've dedicated your life to. How did it get to this? How will you prevent it from happening again? And most importantly, how are you going to go back to the clan after this? 

Solution: The people who put her life in danger make up the majority of the world's population. Life is cruel and stupid, and nobody around seems to be able to tell the difference between right and wrong. So what’s the point of doing the right thing? Go back to the clan. Climb the ranks. Do whatever it takes. Nobody gives a shit, least of all you. 

Decoupling learning cap raised by 5 +3 Demonfire: Let her loose +3 Decoupling: Don’t think about what Saejima would have to say about it +2 Reaction Speed: Guard dog -1 Razor’s Edge: You still have nightmares about Shimano -1 Diamond Heart: It doesn’t make any difference Internalizing this thought will make you forget LORD OF THE NIGHT

UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION

Problem: You have to kill Dojima Sohei. If you don’t, she will be in danger her whole life. You can’t kill Dojima Sohei. If you do, she will feel indebted to you her whole life. Sera offers you a way out of this conundrum – he has the money and power to do so. But you won’t always be so lucky. A more readily available solution is required. 

Solution: You were put to that impossible choice in 1988 not only because you cared about Makoto, but because she also cared about *you*. This is the trick, the principle that underlies all human connection: it goes both ways. Everyone feels the need to trust and be trusted, to provide and be provided for, to love and be loved. People aren’t selfish; sacrificing yourself for your loved ones won’t make them happy. Everything that hurts you will also hurt *them* – such is the nature of love. However, none of this changes the fact that sacrifices are necessary, and you are more than happy to be the one making them. The only way to circumvent this problem, then, is to do it without anyone noticing. As long as no one *knows* you’re making sacrifices, you can keep doing it without anyone feeling indebted to you. 

+3 Nurturing: Protect the weak +3 Black River: Stealth aid +3 Endurance: Stay alive for their sake

21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN

Problem: Your reflection stares back at you in the cold steel blade of your tanto as a blind girl clings to your legs. Your hair pulled back, cheeks gaunt and gaze distant, you are a ghost. Almost two decades later, Shimano’s dead and you’re the head of your own subsidiary. You’re going to turn in your tanto in a couple months when you disband your family. The echoes of your past trapped in that steel will be locked away in the treasury at Tojo HQ, and you will lose the sharpest mirror you’ve ever had. What has it all been for? What the hell have you been doing with your life *really*, this whole time? Have you done any lasting good in this world? 

Solution: The world is sick, too sick for anyone to save it, and it’s difficult to love a dying thing. All the rape and murder and hunger in the world will not go away because you want it to, and there’s nothing you can do about it. But forget saving it, you’ve been actively contributing to its worsening condition since the day you swore your oath. Becoming a civilian now won’t change that. This shit is in your blood, there’s no other life for you. The world is what it is, and you have to adapt to survive. There is no point in arguing with facts. Trying to save *everyone* is a lost cause, and you have to pick your battles. It’s simply the *smart* thing to do. 

+2 to all INT skills +1 Tightrope: Keep your eyes closed +1 Showtime: Have some fun while you can  -2 Diamond Heart: Callous 

YAKUZA FOR A BETTER PLANET

Problem: Shimano’s new favorite subject to harp on seems to be *climate change*. You’re not even sure what that is, but all this talk of greenhouse gases and dioxides is getting to you. Maybe it’s time to get on board with this whole *sustainability* business. You could be the first yakuza to ever become an environmental activist. A *trailblazer*… 

Solution: Wake up! The planet needs you. Glaciers are melting, animals are going extinct, and all those CO₂ emissions are absolutely *destroying* the ozone layer. You may have been ignorant until now, but there is no time to waste. It’s time to take responsibility – and it all starts with *recycling*. Separating your trash is a man’s civic duty! That’s right, this is about *individual responsibility*. Get on it, and while you’re at it, get everybody else on it, too. Plus, it makes for a really good excuse to beat people up.

+1 Reaction Speed: On the lookout for litterers +1 Competitive Streak: Reduce your carbon footprint +1 Tightrope: Pollution stops with you!

A DOZEN WINTERS OF LONELINESS

Problem: It feels like it stretches out into eternity, this emptiness within you. It was not left by anyone or anything in particular, as far as you can tell. And it seems to *intensify* at night. But that’s the extent of your understanding of it. All you have are half-remembered nights in your memory to flip through like a scrapbook when the feeling paralyzes you again. On good days you pass out on the couch watching a nature documentary or some horror flick. On bad days it makes you want to curl up and die. Is there no end to it? 

Solution: No. Learn to live with it. 

+1 Risk Management: No one looking out for you +1 Decoupling: Easier to betray yourself +1 Composure: Bottle it up -1 Diamond Heart: A dozen summers against the world -1 Tightrope: Alcohol helps in ways you can’t help yourself -1 Living Organism: Starving animal

ONCE UPON A TIME 

Problem: You filed the divorce papers yourself immediately after you left the apartment. The first thing you did was take the gloves off. It was stupid of you to try, to think this could ever work out. You will never be a father. The taste of bile in the back of your throat is almost drowned out by the cigarette smoke as you sit with your increasing shame. You fucked up, slim. You fucked up *big time*. 

Solution: Dreams. Memories. The past. You are a chain of ill-defined disappointments. There's a lot you didn't get to do, and a lot you never will. You may have given up on your dreams, but that just gives you more room to take on others’. The story isn’t over yet.

Distal Precision learning cap raised by 3 +2 Distal Precision: You have to be more careful -1 Demonfire: You scare yourself -1 Moxie: You only get one shot at some things -1 Tightrope: Reality check

BUTTERFLY DANCING IN THE NIGHT

Problem: Kiryu won’t fight you. More accurately, Kiryu won’t fight you *unless* you manage to really, really piss him off. This is harder to pull off than you initially thought. If there’s one thing about men, though, it’s that they never fail to get irrationally angry where *women* are concerned. And it’s never for the right reasons. There *has* to be a way to use this against Kiryu. You just have to think outside the box. 

Solution: The most perfect of all solutions has appeared to you in the form of a cabaret girl – and she’s right there in the mirror. Goromi is your ticket to a *guaranteed* fight with Kiryu. There’s not a man on this earth who wouldn’t be furious to have her as his hostess, and this is your opportunity to make them pay. Just try not to question why this particular role comes so naturally to you, or why it feels so good.

+2 Demonfire: Righteous anger  +2 Showtime: Make everybody happy -1 Shedding: Comfortable in your skin

24-HOUR CINDERELLA 

Problem: You wake up, wash your face, take an aspirin for your headache. You look in the mirror and the thing that stares back at you is the same every day. You think this is normal. What isn't normal is the fact that it feels like looking at someone else. How did you lose track of who you are? When did it happen? What does it even *mean* to be a person? Does it even matter?

Solution: You are, at any given time, whatever you happen to be in that exact moment. There are no lasting states of being. Self in motion. Identity is a scam; all we have is the shifting, tangled mess of desires, intentions and dreams. The only thing that matters is what you *do*, and as long as you can do whatever you want, you can *be* whatever you want.

Shedding learning cap raised by 5 +2 Showtime: All that jazz is bullshit +2 Tightrope if you also have ONCE UPON A TIME internalized  +1 Decoupling: It doesn't say anything about who you are +1 Razor’s Edge: Freedom of choice is everything

METAXÚ

Problem: So many have gone from your life. Left, lost, died. A lifetime of mourning would not cut it – you would need several. You could miss them every second of every day and it would not be enough. You are in pieces. How many more will leave you? To say nothing of the lives *you* have left. How many people have a you-shaped hole in their lives? How many more will *you* leave? 

Solution: Every separation is a link. Weil wrote, “Two prisoners whose cells adjoin communicate with each other by knocking on the wall. The wall is the thing which separates them but it is also their means of communication.” So it is with everyone you’ve ever been separated from. Presence in absence. Communication in silence. Love in grief. Connection in separation.

The following skill pairs will level up together (only applies when using skill points to level up, does not apply retroactively): Demonfire & Distal Precision, Risk Management & Razor’s Edge, Decoupling & Diamond Heart, Liquid Assets & Black River -1 Tightrope: Acceptance

VOID JANITOR

Problem: Kashiwagi is dead, and now there is no one left in Kamurocho. In fact, there is *nothing* left in Kamurocho. The Tojo is a dying thing, and everyone you care about is gone. They've left you here to take care of things in their absence. To janitor the emptiness. Sometimes you want to join them. Leave Kamurocho, leave the clan, leave this world, leave it all behind. There is no joy here. There is *nothing*. Why are you still around?

Solution: Your number isn’t up yet, and you’ve got time to kill. You might as well start mopping floors and taking out trash. Make yourself useful, one way or another. Plus, someone still needs to look after Daigo. You’ve done less than a bang-up job in that department so far, to say the least. It’s time to get to work.

+1 Nurturing: Your responsibility now +1 Black River: There’s some use for you yet -3 Showtime: No audience  -2 Tightrope: Reached the end of the rope

THE GREAT MAW

Problem: The abyss. The darkness. The great maw of the void, the one that will swallow you and everyone in the world whole if you let it. I’m talking about *cynicism.* How will you ward against its siren call? Its threat is ever-present, and its song is deafening. With the life you’ve led… *can* you even resist it?

Solution: Yes you can. You resist it one day at a time. By deciding, every single day, that today will not be the day you give into it. You can’t cut corners here. This is too important for that. You have to give it your all, and it *will* take everything you have in you. You will never not need to stop reminding yourself of what's at stake. And it will get exhausting. Hope is vital, and there is precious little of it to be found. Hold onto it.

Diamond Heart learning cap raised by 5 Decoupling Red Check failures can be retried at the cost of all of your Morale but if you fail again, you get a permanent -1 Diamond Heart and your Diamond Heart learning cap is reduced by 1

WASHED-UP YAKUZA

Problem: You woke up on a beach with no memories. You know nothing about your past, except for what you can glean from your appearance and your muscle memory. None of it bodes particularly well for your karmic debt. If you’re being honest, you don’t really *want* to remember any of it. And who’s this Saejima guy everyone keeps talking about?

Solution: Actually, this feels pretty good. It’s kinda like being reborn. And you can really get behind this whole pirate thing. You’re having a ton of fun. Fuck being a yakuza, that shit blows. Saejima can deal.

+10 Diamond Heart: Captain Majima is a man of his word +10 Moxie: Blissful ignorance  +10 Black River: Stars in Noah’s eyes +10 Tightrope: Worry about it later -10 Shedding: Lost your jacket to the sea -10 Decoupling: Reunited with your soul -10 Liquid Assets: Starting from scratch -2 Reaction Speed: Blunt fangs This thought can only be internalized if you have no other thoughts internalized (except HEART OF THE DRAGON)  You cannot internalize any other thoughts while researching WASHED UP YAKUZA

HEART OF THE DRAGON

Problem: This is one of your favorite legends. It's about a guy who just can't give up, and inspires others to keep going. He's had a hard life. Someone needs to make up for this. But it is an unrepayable debt that the world owes him, and you are only one person. Who is going to make this right? How? 

Solution: He is a better man than you ever will be. And maybe, just maybe, if you try, you can be a little more like him. But that is not enough. You have to save him; from the world and from himself, as many times as it takes. Over and over and over. If you don’t, who will? And by doing this one thing right, you might even be able to hope to begin to atone for your own mistakes.

Diamond Heart learning cap raised by 5 +1 Black River: Something to do +1 Diamond Heart: True north +1 Nurturing: Live up to the legend +1 Competitive Streak: If he can do it, so can you +1 Playmate: Wolf like me This thought cannot be forgotten

[jtownholla]

Please find links to all my mods here, I will try to update weekly with any changes/updates. As always, please go direct to the modder or check Deaderpool's discord for any urgent mod updates. cas

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[coochiequeens]

Another sex offender TIM released into the public.........and given a laptop

Daughter's fury as paedophile father who abused and shared images of her with other sick perverts online before changing gender in prison is quietly released (...and given a laptop by an offender's charity)

By ROSS SLATER

PUBLISHED: 10:47 EDT, 16 July 2023 | UPDATED: 10:49 EDT, 16 July 2023

A paedophile who changed gender while in prison for sexually abusing her own daughter as a child and sending explicit photos of her to perverts online has been quietly released back into the community - and given a laptop by a do-gooding charity.

Claire Fox, 61, who was previously known as Clive Bundy, a father of six, served just seven years of a 15-year jail sentence, before being settled into a tiny market town on the Welsh borders.

Fox, who wears a black wig and floral dresses told neighbours, who knew nothing of her sordid past, that she was an electrician from Bangor as they helped her get settled into her new surroundings and helped her furnish her flat.

Fox's release from prison has appalled her daughter Ceri-Lee Galvin, who bravely waived her right to anonymity, having been abused by her father for nine years from the age of eight.

Revealing her astonishment, Ceri-Lee, 24, told MailOnline: 'My father is not a woman and I refuse to recognise him as such. He changed his gender in prison to make his life there easier.

But now he is out and already up to his usual tricks – conning everyone he meets. 

'The fact he is now dressed as a woman makes him more dangerous as young girls are his thing and he has never shown any remorse.

'My father is a highly manipulative man who has attended no sexual offender rehabilitation programmes, shown no remorse for what he has done and openly admits finding children attractive.

'There have been no meetings I'm aware of to tell local schools about his presence, he has no tag and no curfew. He has just been put into this community and given all he could wish for – food, furniture, a home and a laptop.'

Ceri-Lee, now a student paramedic, added: 'I am in no way transphobic and I feel incredibly sorry for people who genuinely need to transition. They face stigma and worse because of cases like this.

'But it should just not be an option for those convicted of sexual offences against children to suddenly say that they want to be a woman.

'This only arose at the end of 2021 when he was due to be moved to an open prison but then had a fight with a fellow prisoner that was serious enough to stop the move.

'That is when he went for the gender change – when he was almost 60, having been a macho man all his life and having had eight children and having never mentioned gender dysphoria before.

'Now he is being indulged by everyone. The prison service gave him make-up and women's clothes and now a charity for the armed forces have provided him with so much stuff when all he did was a short stint in the Territorial Army in his 20s.

He has conned them. He was never a soldier. The whole thing is outrageous.'

Fox arrived in a sheltered accommodation block for older people in a tiny town at the start of June.

She was given new furniture, a television, printer, washing machine, crockery and a laptop by the armed forces charity SSAFA because she had once been in the Territorial Army.

Fox's neighbour Lyn Robinson, 74, said: 'My first impression was that this person was very cheerful and amenable, assuring all us older people that they'd be no trouble. They seemed very confident despite the outlandish appearance.

'I thought she might find it difficult fitting in so I really took care of her. I gave her clothes and even lent her £70, which is a lot for a pensioner.

'I took her to the food bank at the Baptist Church where she was given loads of stuff including vouchers for a butcher in town and for a coffee shop.

'And we went to a concert at St Edward's Church where I introduced her to the vicar. I had no idea of her history.

Fox's decision to change gender before being released from prison, provoked a storm of protest when it was revealed in April.

She chose the same name as gender-critical campaigner and media pundit Claire Fox, now sitting in the House of Lords as Baroness Fox of Buckley.

Campaign groups fear that by changing their gender, sex offenders can effectively whitewash their past and could avoid detection under the Home Office's Disclosure and Barring Service, set up to protect children from abusers.

DBS uses official paperwork such as a passport or driving licence to carry out their checks, both of which can prove difficult to check after choosing a new name and gender.

The potential loophole is provided by the Gender Recognition Act (2004), which created a 'sensitive applications route' for trans people.

Ceri-Lee added: 'The victim liaison officer told me the only reason I was being informed about the name and gender change was because he had given permission for this to happen.

'It's allowing him to say that Clive Bundy never existed, that my abuse never existed and it is clearly a danger to children which is why I decided to speak out.' 

Fox is not the first sex offender to change gender while in prison

A rapist who carried out sexual attacks as a man named Adam Graham in 2016 and 2019 sparked a heated debate earlier this year after changing gender and name to Isla Bryson while waiting to stand trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

And in 2018, convicted rapist 'Karen White' – branded a 'highly manipulative' predator by a judge – was moved to HMP New Hall in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, and sexually assaulted two women inmates.

Fox was arrested after police discovered images of Ceri-Lee online that the abuser had been trading with other pedophiles.

She was later charged with and admitted to several counts of sexual activity with Ceri-Lee, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and distributing indecent images.

In 2016 she was sentenced to 15 years in prison. It was not until the end of 2021 that she told the authorities she wanted to change gender.

A SSAFA spokesperson, said: 'SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity provides practical, emotional and financial assistance to serving personnel, reservists, veterans and their families in their time of need. Due to data protection laws and our need to protect our beneficiaries' and employees' confidentiality, we cannot comment on individuals or their circumstances.'

A spokesperson for Dyfed-Powys Police said: 'In line with national guidelines we can neither confirm nor deny the information you have provided.

'However, we can confirm that Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements are utilised throughout the entire force area to manage appropriate offenders living in the community and they will be closely supervised by local officers to minimise any risk.'

[not-poignant]

This is a weird question I’m sure. How much does Arden and Kadek charge for scenes? I guess I’m trying to understand their income. I’m assuming Kadek makes a lot more money than Arden since he owns several clubs and is more tenured.

Hi anon,

I'm not sure! Except that I'm sure it's been very variable over time.

It's definitely not at all the primary source of Kadek's income. His biggest income source would be subscription access to all the classes he teaches, and also flow-through funding from entry fees and course fees at the clubs he hosts.

When Kadek gets paid in kink, it's not as a professional dominant, it's as a rigger to host workshops at ateliers, where the atelier is likely to pay or partially fund his flights and accommodation, etc. Or workshop fees are expected to cover that. What he does is extremely different to what Arden does. He's not really opening himself up for like, clients who pay him to dominate them at all. He's not charging by the hour for that because he doesn't do that.

But Kadek's always about a smart hustle, and to him that was creating online courses at a moderate/minimal subscription fee, in all aspects of kink, and establishing one of the best databases online for it (similar to Shibari Study now).

He makes a fair amount of money from the stock market and financial investments too. He probably makes the least from the bookshop (which is more like a novelty project for him).

Arden on the other hand charges a sliding scale based off a person's income/circumstances for professional domination of around $200-500 per hour, as he's often tipped very well by clients, he could sometimes easily pull $20,000 in a week without working anywhere near to full-time hours (which gives him time to teach classes, work - as a novelty project - at Cosy, do judo etc.). A lot of that is down to his level of expertise though. Starting pro doms are not charging this much, but the ones who have a reputation and are experience are definitely making bank.

Kadek has much more money than Arden, but he's older, and he's also been raised to invest broadly and widely, and also work less for more. His parents are financially savvy and he enjoys being good at what he does. If he quit every job he had tomorrow, he could survive on stock investment alone and occasionally selling stocks / re-investing alone.

Kadek lives literally like 1-2 streets away from Crielle and the An Fnwy estate, he's loaded.

[dianadeadwing]

Inktober Day 5- Map

TLDR - Here’s a map of the shops on Bob’s Burgers Ocean Avenue as based on the Bob’s Burgers Movie and parts of season 13. Extensive Notes to follow.

This is the map I alluded to earlier in the week of the storefronts with visible names in the movie. The dimensions of the buildings are based on the aerial shot from the end of “The Plight Before Christmas”.

There are inconsistencies between the movie and the series (as well as within the movie itself) as far as the color and location of some of these buildings. I’ve defaulted to colors used in the series but names from the movie. Several of these shops have had different names earlier in the series so I’m working from the movie onward for consistency’s sake.

1. Hotel- Unsure if this hotel has a name.

2. Reflections

3. Spoke of the Devil (Bike Shop) - Shop is named “Spoke of the Devil” the words “bike shop” can be seen as part of a neon sign in the window.

4. First Oceanside Savings Bank

5. Yours Truly, Stationary

6. Jimmy Pesto’s Pizzeria

7. The Petalphile

8. Unknown store front - This building is usually depicted as blue with a large front window indicating that it’s some sort of storefront but I’ve been unable to find a name so far.

9. From Here To Maternity (Pregnancy Clothes) - The movie depicts this building as being brown but the series almost always shows it as green so I’ve made it green on the map.

10. Fresh Off The Presses (Cleaners) - Shop is named “Fresh Off The Presses” with “cleaners” in a neon sign in the window.

11. Unknown Store Front - This shop has a visible name in several shots from the movie but I can’t make it out.

* Some shots from the movie show an additional pink building at the end and others don’t. It does not have a awning or large front window and could therefore possibly residential or a service (such as a lawyer). This building does not appear in the aerial shot so I did not include it.

12. Ocean Market

13. Needles to Say - This shop as well as the following three also appear in season thirteen and are particularly visible in “What a (April) Fool Believes”.

14. Walk All Over Me (Flooring Showcase)

15. You Were Framed (Picture Framing)

16. For Pete’s Cake

17. It’s Your Funeral (Home and Crematorium)

18. Bob’s Burgers

19. Store Next Door - The often vacant orange store front next to Bob’s.

20. Red building- This building is very visible in several shots but isn’t shown to have a name. It has three front doors at the top of some stairs. Because of its layout it seems most likely to be residential. (As we know this neighborhood has mixed zoning, such as Mr. Huggins’ apartment building)

21. Blue Building - The positions of this building and the beige building are switched in the movie. In the series it’s fairly consistently blue so that’s what I’ve included. It seems similar in structure to the red building and could also be residential, but we don’t get many good shots of this part of the street so it’s hard to tell.

22. Beige Building - This part of the street is most often seen from the alley. It appears to have a loading dock. This where Alice parks her food truck in “As I Walk Through the Alley of the Shadow of Ramps” in season 8.

23. Liquor - This building has been depicted in different colors but has a prominent sign stating “Liquor”. I’ve seen it called “Oh La Liquor” but I’d like to see this in later season materials.

This is just what I’ve gathered as of ep 14.1. Please feel free to let me know if you have any additional information. (Or an official map) I’m absurdly invested in this.

There is also an aerial shot from the movie that shows Wagstaff in relation to Ocean Avenue (it’s also mentioned to be four blocks away) and I just wish I could take screen shots so I could study it better. I’ll make a map of this whole dang town.

[firestormmaidenanddragon]

50 Things Del & Friends Have Said - An 18+ RP Sentence Pack.

NOTE - Features bad language through-out.

"Move bitch, I'm prettier than you!"

"I can't read, I'm British."

"It is a chore, since I feel nothing but satisfaction."

"Ooh! He's mounting me! Someone just come on me."

"Are you mixing up the stages of grief with the 12 Days of Christmas?"

"They must be related to you because they keep repeating the same shit."

"(Place) is expensive, and the shower's leaking."

"I just threw a grenade in the water, and got a load of fish."

"It's not your turn to fuck me, it's (X's) turn."

"This isn't a fucking gangbang, mate."

"Don't fuck my day! It did nothing to you!"

"Hello, and welcome to Pokemon Research, and today, we're going to cook a Wooloo."

"Okay, I just slid UPWARDS."

"So, shout-out to me almost being jumped by five wolves and two bears."

"I just twatted him with a machete."

"I've never heard of a "what-the-fuck"."

"The true question is, when have we ever known you to be a person to ever give a single fuck? So why start now?"

"I think with my head, not my head."

"I hate this game! Let's play another round."

"I'm smiling because it's all I can do to hold back my rage."

"I fired a rear mortar just to get an enemy vehicle, and I was reversing at the same time."

"A landing worthy of Jeff Hardy, or Shane McMahon, take your pick."

"Fuck getting a plate, I'm having pop-tarts."

"You toasted a pop-tart to the degree, where placing the pop-tart on the napkin, nearly combusted it?!"

"I've never jerked my beef."

"What do you mean I got contented on!? I'm the one who made content!"

"Hey! There's pandas on the Twitter feed!"

"We're starting to have a streak of just killing ourselves, and it does it for us anyway."

"Welcome to me literally two minutes ago."

"Hey kids! Help us commit tax fraud by giving us your parent's credit card number!"

"That's why there's the super-secret digits, asshole!"

"I've got a safe word, bank vault."

"Did you know if you die, it's a Mortal Kombat reference?"

"I don't think demons have a gender."

"I know I joke about (game) being set in England because it's just dark and rainy, but this is just taking piss."

"Remember, all titties matter."

"I prefer for you to shut the fuck up."

"This is quite the soundtrack for me to be fleeing police too."

"Listen, I don't need to develop a new fetish, I could just fuck (X) if I wanted."

"Every succubus is personalized."

"No-one's gonna buy a kidney that has stab wounds in it, that's not how you do business on the black market."

"May have just pranked (X) by blowing them up."

"How can they kill themself if they're still alive?"

"Okay, my boy's giving them the suck! Nice! I love it when my boy gives them the suck."

"You should know I'm a fucking idiot."

"You're breaking up more than the relationships I never had."

"Hey, you ever just sit on your balls weird?"

"One literally has eye-liner, and the other one doesn't, okay, cool, that makes her goth, definitely."

"I kind of hope this is one conversation (X) can't hear."

"We did it boys, we fucked their bitches."

[cozylittleartblog]

hey, so I'm trying to figure out what places would be good to sell my own art at, and I'm wondering- what has been your experience with selling on etsy? I've heard mixed reviews from people, and I want to know your perspective as an etsy seller.

etsy is not perfect but i think it gets a little more shit than it deserves, i've thought about opening my own website but generally i'm actually pretty okay with the services i get on etsy compared to what it costs so i'm just gonna make a subjective pros/cons list for you under the cut (because its loooong)

oh and if anyone else has experience selling on etsy and would like to add their two cents in the replies/reblogs please do!

Pros

⭐ The search function - this is etsy's biggest selling point. it already has a dedicated userbase of millions of people and a search feature to help them find your shop, which takes a lot of the load of marketing off your shoulders, and marketing is a huge factor for pushing sales. i am not good at marketing and a lot of my sales just come from people searching my stuff up lol

⭐ Purchase protection program - if USPS loses or damages your package, you file a missing package report and they confirm they don't know where it is, Etsy will refund your buyers order out of their own pocket (under $250). this is my favorite etsy feature because USPS likes to eat packages every now and again. delicious keychains. if you had your own storefront, you'd just have to replace the order yourself.

⭐ Share & Save program - every time someone makes an order on your shop through a special Share & Save link, etsy will refund you 4% of the fees. it's a nice perk to doing some of your own marketing and it helps combat the moderately high etsy fees!

Trackable letter mail - selling stickers but think it's insane to charge $4 shipping? you can buy letter mail labels for about the rate of regular postage, which is like .65c. this tracking is done through etsy though so you can't track with usps, but it does give customers a little peace of mind. this only works in the 50 US states though.

Customs forms built into your shipping label - shipping internationally is a nightmare. etsy makes it easy though, generating everything you need to ship internationally on one label that you just have to sign and date and slap on your package like normal. for some countries they will actually just have your package sent to a domestic facility where they literally do all that for you. this is miles easier than having to do all that paperwork yourself.

buy shipping labels directly from etsy - related point, and just what it says on the tin. when you fulfill an order, you can buy your labels right there on Etsy so you don't have to mess around with a third party website. it comes out of your sale funds so you don't need to charge a card or a bank account or anything.

star seller program - some people say this is completely useless but i actually disagree! it's incredibly easy to earn this badge, and it lets buyers know you've got some of the best products, shipping, and customer service around. it helps you stand out from some of the more... questionable shops on the website.

sales tax - they remit sales tax for you. i don't think any of the other online platforms similar to etsy do this but i could be wrong. doing any kind of taxes sucks so i consider it a perk if they do it for you.

website promotions - every now and again etsy likes to host sales out of their own pocket. you get all the perks of having a sale without eating into ur profit margin. HUGE sale booster

generally the site is just very easy to learn and use and it's very beginner and dumbass friendly. i say this as a former beginner and current dumbass 👍

Cons

❌ the fees. oogh the fees. they claim it's just a 6.5% fee per sale, but on top of that you have to pay .20c automatically for every individual item you sell, plus there are processing fees (3% + .25c) that apply both to the item you sold AND the cost of shipping. i think it comes out to like 10% total in fees on average @ > @

❌ but wait, there's more fees! if you make more than $10k in sales a year (very easy number to hit actually) you are forced to participate in offsite ads, which i believe takes 15% of your total sale on top of the fees in the previous point. these kinds of sales are not as common as you'd think, but it's still annoying having a couple bucks shaved off your profits a few times a month because of them.

corporate bullshit - etsy is like renting a space in a mall. you don't own your lot, nor the mall itself, so if upper management decides to make any stupid ass decisions, you just have to deal with it or pick up and move. if they decide to raise fees again, you just gotta Deal. you are a little bit helpless on this website unfortunately

the push for discounts - etsy is constantly shoving it in your face that they want you to do discounts. they want you to have free shipping on orders over $35, they want you to do 25% off or more on sales, they want you to have returning customer discounts and abandoned cart discounts and 'you recently favorited this item' discounts - but you already have to compete with the steep fees, and when a customer gets free shipping, you still owe USPS that $4-ish bucks to send the package. you don't have to do any of this, but they do reward participating shops by favoring them in the algorithm and search results, so you can feel like you're missing out.

there aren't as many cons imo but they Are steeper cons. generally etsy is very beginner friendly and easy to get into and set up, and in spite of everything i do actually recommend everyone looking to get into online retail start on etsy and perhaps move to other platforms in the future. plus, you can combat all the fees by just... making your prices a dollar or two higher than you initially wanted to, and using your 'save and share' link as frequently as possible. the fees are a little bit much, but you have to think about what you get in exchange:

the search is invaluable, you could argue the fees are partially a marketing budget lmao. if you have a private website you alone have to push traffic to your website, and not as many people know about things like shopify and bigcartel so they might not be as trusting putting their card details into it. i miss out on a lot of REALLY COOL STUFF because artists only advertise on instagram and i don't hear about them, meanwhile if i want some cool owl house stuff i can literally just search that in etsy and find a lot of TOH stuff super easily. i cannot highlight enough how GOOD the search function is, especially in this day and age where social media like instagram and twitter will blacklist your posts if you say words like 'shop' or 'sale' and now nobody can find your stuff in that website's search either. its very hard to do your own marketing now a days :(

being able to refund customer's lost orders out of the company's pocket is such a nice thing to fall back on if you have to and worth its weight in fees. USPS lost like... four or five packages of mine in december. that's like $100 or more worth of stuff that Etsy Covered Completely, and a lot of the times the customer will take that refund to make their order again. don't abuse this system, make sure you check with usps that the package is actually Gone, but it's a godsend when you don't make billions of dollars and eating the cost of lost orders would otherwise sting a bit.

if etsy did not make international shipping easy i simply would not ship anywhere but the US to be honest. shipping to europe is still a headache though but that's because europe is stupid

that's everything i can think of, but tl;dr yes please open an etsy 👍 i recommend it completely in spite of everything

⭐ if anyone wants to open their own etsy shop, use my referral link to make your first 40 listings for free! :)c ⭐

[daniel-nerd]

while everyone is talking about the bullet that scratched trump, israel is yet again committing some of its most disgusting crimes in weeks, if not months.

(the video showcasing the medical teams trying to rescue civilians and save lives, when another airstrike hit, directly where the ambulances gathered.)

we live in a world where after idf warplanes dropped hundreds of kilograms worth of tnt, on a self designated ‘humanitarian zone’ that they demanded civilians to evacuate to, many of the medical teams who rushed there to try and save as many human lives as possible, were rescued by civilians who went to them to either help or get medical treatment, because the so called israeli ‘defense’ force targeted specifically the ambulances in another bombing shortly after, specifically to prevent them from saving lives. killing over 100 civilians, injuring hundreds more. 8 confirmed us made jdam bombs dropped in total, with estimation at a minimum of half a ton(around 1 thousand pounds) worth of tnt.

and the excuse? israel claim mohammed deif(the head of hamas’ military wing) was hiding between these civilians, even through last known appearance of him was most likely around 2018, and the one before that was in the year 2000, also there are hundreds if not thousands of underground tunnels that israel know they can’t get into, and admit they have no idea where most of them are.

hamas in response STOPPED ALL HOSTAGES NEGOTIATIONS, khalil al-hayya, (deputy chief of hamas’s political bureau) stated “we affirm that the claims of the occupation and netanyahu are false. we say to netanyahu that mohammed deif is listening to you now and mocking your false and empty statements. the claim of targeting leaders here and there is a ridiculous justification for killing women and children, and every palestinian, whether in gaza, the west bank, or anywhere else. this is an attempt by the criminal army to market its crimes against our people” he also described the attack as an attempt by the idf “to restore its dignity” after its defeat in the face of “resistance”

netanyahu admits israel have no idea if deif is alive or not and promised to go after all hamas leaders, which the idf later retracted the statement, after hamas alleged deif to be alive and well.

cheif of lebanon’s hezbollah declared this massacre will not go unpunished “the zionist enemy commits a massacre in al-mawaski, khan younis, justifying it by claiming they aimed to target hamas leaders … we will emerge victorious from the battle of the al-aqsa flood, heads held high…”

meanwhile hamas is successfully targeting and assassinating israeli combatants all over gaza.

this confirms that netanyahu’s claims about “cracks and weaknesses within hamas forces” was nothing but empty lies

the vast majority of israelis stopped believing in the ridiculous claims and blatant lies of the israeli government and the idf, with protests against the war, for hostage deal of everyone for everyone, and for the overthrow of netanyahu’s regime, such numbers of protests and protestors haven’t been seen since the last elections, which marked the very controversial 5th election in 4 years in israel.

lastly, the us started its sanctions against more terrorist settlers, known terrorist who organized the attacks against humanitarian trucks trying to bring food to gaza, the same attacks that standing together’s humanitarian guards stopped by physically protecting the trucks throughout their entire trip, saving as much vandalized food, and loading the saved food onto the next humanitarian trucks.

on an unrelated note: i’ve tried a new formatting, i hope y’all like it. i’m (hopefully) back at reporting about the stuff you might won’t hear in the mainstream news, showcasing the war from the point of view of israeli citizens.

[solarpunkwitchcraft]

"When the British Empire occupied Palestine and set about implementing the Balfour declaration, the fossil fuel of the day was not coal. It was oil. Promising deposits had been located in the countries bordering the Persian Gulf, and the central industrial project of the Mandate came to be the pipeline that brought crude oil all the way from Iraq, across the northern West Bank and the Galilee, to the refinery of Haifa. The Mandate as such cannot be understood outside the deepening control over the region in the pursuit of oil; and the Mandate used oil to reallocate land from Palestinians to Jews. In his forthcoming Heat: A History, a wonderfully rich history of high temperatures and fossil fuels in the Middle East, On Barak shows, among many other things, how the Yishuv wrested citrus production from Palestinians by linking up with the most modern circuits of technology: irrigating their orchards with fossil-fuelled pumps, loading their fruits on lorries, sending them over roads to ports, offloading them onto steamers to the European market – a symbiosis with the fossil empire by which the natives could be squeezed out of their iconic citriculture. The Mandate authorities systematically privileged the building of roads between colonies. Oil-based infrastructure tilted Palestine in the direction of the settlements on the coastal plains and further towards their patrons on the other side of the ocean."

[trooper1023]

Dean Blundell

April 10, 2025

Let’s talk about the moment Donald Trump blinked. It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t a tweetstorm or a rally rant. When the tariff threats that had the world on edge—125% on China, 25% on Canada’s autos, a global trade war in the making—suddenly softened. A “pause,” he called it. A complete turnaround from the chest-thumping of the past week. And the reason? Mark Carney and a slow, deliberate financial maneuver that most people didn’t even notice: the coordinated Treasury bond slow bleed.

This wasn’t about bravado. It was about leverage. Cold, calculated, and devastatingly effective.

Trump’s pause wasn’t because people were getting yippy…

Rewind a bit. While Trump was gearing up his trade war machine, Carney, Canada’s Prime Minister, wasn’t just sitting in Ottawa twiddling his thumbs. He’d been quietly increasing Canada’s holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds—over $350 billion worth by early 2025, part of the $8.53 trillion foreign countries hold in U.S. debt. On the surface, it looked like a safe play, a hedge against economic chaos. But it wasn’t just defense. It was a loaded gun.

Carney didn’t stop there. He took his case to Europe. Not for photo ops, but for closed-door meetings with the EU’s heavy hitters—Germany, France, the Netherlands. Japan was in the room too, listening closely. The pitch was simple: if Trump went too far with tariffs, Canada wouldn’t just retaliate with duties on American cars or steel. It would start offloading those Treasury bonds. Not a fire sale—nothing so crude. A slow, steady bleed. A signal to the markets that the U.S. dollar’s perch wasn’t so secure.

Here’s a brief explainer about Treasury Bonds and why Carney encouraged other countries to follow Canada’s lead, and why it worked:

How Treasury Bonds Work and Why a Global Sell-Off Could Tank the U.S.

* What Are Treasury Bonds?

* They’re IOUs the U.S. government issues to borrow money.

* Countries, banks, and investors buy them, lending cash to the U.S.

* The U.S. promises to pay back the loan with interest over time (e.g., 10 years).

* Who Owns Them?

* Foreign countries hold $8.5 trillion of U.S. debt (as of 2025).

* Big players: Japan ($1 trillion+), Canada ($350 billion), EU nations ($1.5 trillion combined).

* They buy bonds to park money safely and earn steady interest.

* How Do They Affect the U.S.?

* The U.S. uses this borrowed cash to fund everything—military, Social Security, tax cuts.

* Cheap borrowing keeps the economy humming; the government spends more than it collects in taxes.

* What Happens in a Coordinated Sell-Off?

* If countries like Canada, Japan, and the EU start selling bonds together (even slowly):

* Flood of Bonds: Too many bonds hit the market at once.

* Prices Drop: More supply than demand pushes bond prices down.

* Interest Rates Spike: When bond prices fall, yields (interest rates) rise to attract buyers.

* Why Does This Hurt the U.S.?

* Borrowing Gets Expensive: Higher interest rates mean the U.S. pays more to borrow.

* Debt Snowballs: The U.S. owes $34 trillion already; pricier loans make it harder to manage.

* Dollar Weakens: Selling bonds means dumping dollars, so the currency’s value drops.

* How Does This Cause a Depression?

* Spending Dries Up: Government cuts back as borrowing costs soar—fewer jobs, less aid.

* Businesses Tank: Higher rates choke loans; companies can’t expand or hire.

* Imports Cost More: A weaker dollar makes foreign goods (oil, tech) pricier, jacking up inflation.

* Markets Crash: Panic hits stocks and banks as confidence in U.S. debt fades.

* The Domino Effect:

* Jobs vanish, prices spike, savings erode—classic depression triggers.

* A slow, coordinated sell-off isn’t a bluff; it’s a quiet gut punch that would take the US YEARS to recover from.

And here’s the kicker: Canada wasn’t alone. Japan, holding over $1 trillion in U.S. debt, signed on and started to sell those US Treasury bonds which scared Trump shitless. Key EU countries—collectively sitting on another $1.5 trillion—nodded in agreement. This wasn’t a bluff. It was a silent pact. A coordinated move to remind Trump that the free world doesn’t just roll over when he swings his tariff bat. Hurt us, Carney said, and we’ll hurt you—right where it counts.

The U.S. Treasury market is the backbone of the global economy. Foreign holders like Canada, Japan, and the EU keep it humming, financing everything from America’s military to its tax cuts. Start selling those bonds in unison, even gradually, and the yields spike. The dollar wobbles. Borrowing costs climb. Suddenly, Trump’s “beautiful” bond market—he bragged about it just yesterday—looks like a house of cards in a stiff breeze.

That’s the message Carney delivered in his call with Trump last week. No leaks on the exact words, but the outcome speaks volumes. Trump didn’t just pause the tariffs; he backpedaled hard. China’s still in the crosshairs—125% duties are no joke—but Canada? The EU? Japan? They’re off the hit list. For now, at least. Why? Because Carney’s play wasn’t noise. It was power.

Let’s be real: Trump’s spent years calling Canada a freeloader—remember his 2019 NATO jabs?—while ignoring the inconvenient truth. Canada’s $350 billion in U.S. debt isn’t charity. It’s a lifeline. Japan’s trillion-plus? Same deal. The EU’s pile? Ditto. These countries aren’t just buying bonds to be nice; they’re bankrolling the U.S. government. And when they threaten to pull the plug, even slowly, Washington listens.

This was the determining factor in Trump’s surrender. Not the public spats, not the retaliatory tariffs Canada slapped on U.S. autos (though those stung). It was the quiet, coordinated threat of a Treasury bond unwind that bent Trump’s knee. Carney didn’t need to shout. He didn’t need to posture. He lined up the free world—Japan, the EU, Canada in lockstep—and showed Trump the cliff’s edge. Strategic brilliance doesn’t get louder than that.

Carney also issued Canadian Treasury bonds in USD which was another brilliant way to strengthen Canada’s position and financial reputation. Little triggers and strategies you get when the world’s most respected economist is your PM…

When Trump announced his tariff “pause,” it wasn’t a victory lap. It was a concession. Carney moved markets without firing a shot. He gave Canada a seat at the power table and proved that global respect isn’t won with bluster—it’s earned with moves that hit where it hurts. Trump talks tough. Carney plays chess. And right now, the board’s his.

Want the raw data? Check the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s “Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities” report. Look at Canada’s holdings. Japan’s. The EU’s. Then ask yourself: who’s really holding “the cards.”

OH, and will Canada’s tariffs and countermeasures remain in place until after the election on April 28th? Yup.

Carney made sure to tell the world that despite Trump kissing our northern ring, we’re not negotiating shit until after the election. He also said we’re still moving away from our relationship with the US for greener, saner pastures.