#Outreach Devices

[elodee]

HERMIT A DAY MAY - DAY 15

FalseSymmetry x Fullmetal Alchemist

For False I chose Fullmetal Alchemist!

False has a steampunk aesthetic and so does Fullmetal Alchemist, so I thought she would look very cool in this style. Plus that means I can give her extra buckles and a cool sword. Can she also do alchemy? Not sure! You let me know :)

(Fundraiser for Gamers Outreach!)

Fullmetal Alchemist is an anime about a pair of brothers who try to bring their mother back to life using forbidden alchemy. The transmutation fails and the older brother, Edward, loses his arm and leg, and the younger brother, Alphonse, loses his entire body and must have his soul bound to a suit of armor in order to survive.

After the accident, the brothers are driven to master alchemy and find the Philosophers Stone, a mythical alchemical device, to undo the damage that has been done. The story follows the brothers as they seek the Stone and navigate the tense political environment of their world while uncovering government conspiracies and the secrets of alchemy.

Fullmetal Alchemist is a very cool show. Its plot is genuinely really interesting and the characters are complex and compelling. I recommend it if you haven't seen it!

Style References:

Edward Elric, the protagonist of Fullmetal Alchemist. Rough that his arm got ripped off but it is pretty cool that his metal one has a sword option.

I took a lot of direction from Lieutenant Hawkeye's design for False's face, especially her eyes

Fullmetal Alchemist title design

[rhobi]

With only six She in the entirety of the admittedly small Audi population (last census read a little over 1.2 million individuals), each have quite a large weight put on their shoulders to keep their society running smoothly.

To help split the load, each She is given a certain important aspect of their culture to represent and gain a kind of mastery over. The load is split even more amongst their own personal entourages that predominantly consist of their multiple spouses, their children, and any immediate family. On rare occasions, a non-blood relation is let into the entourage if they show unique skill and promise in their chosen aspect.

Under the cut is a light dive into what each She represents.

Tsvisthi Au, the Social Organizer: (translation: the unwavering love of Us) community outreach, inter- and intrapersonal relationships, diplomacy, family planning, and marriage counsellor

Pasit, the Engineer: (translation: building, the home) city growth and planning, architecture, transportation, medical equipment, acoustics, audio devices, and patent review

Satakis, the Artist: (translation: energetic performance) theater, music, and tactile arts (works closely with Gyenivk Au)

Aodilmok, the Scientist: (translation: planet life) biological, geographical, and zoological sciences, physics, mathematics

Gyenivk Au, the Historian: (translation: the perpetual time of Us) anthropology, historical preservation, and storykeeper

Haamivsk Au, the Doctor: (tranlsation: the life of Us) prenatal care, medical clinics, genetics, developmental and evolutionary biology

An interesting note is that She did not give themselves official mastery titles until interplanetary diplomatic relations were established, as Audi can differentiate She by verbal context alone. Mastery titles were made to assist foreigners in 'putting names' to a group who all share the same name.

[readingpastmebedtime]

I don’t know how many people know this but you can access audiobooks, e-books, movies, shows, documentary’s, comics, news papers, and magazines from your personal device so long as you have a library card. Like no joke you don’t need to buy subscriptions to audible or nat geo or ny times or any of that. I know mine even has a language learning app you have access to through the library card. A lot of public library’s also have baking pans and different things you can check out as well as public outreach programs that help foster community. I’ve listened to so many audiobooks since remembering libraries exist and it’s honestly great. Get a library card, encourage others to get a library card, especially kids there’s so much cool stuff going on there.

[marabarl-and-marlbara]

hi mara, i just wanted you to know i really envy the way you write! it’s beautiful, you’re able to put things so eloquently. i must admit i even checked out your a:n fics, (which, being quite honest, i lack interest in the game) however, that aside, your writing itself is what drew me into them and kept my intrigue. i think i’m most pulled in by your original works though— your work titled “Haunted House” about the shadow arcade is one i haven’t been able to stop thinking about since i read it months prior. the transition from the uncomfortable familiar into the mundane abnormal just hits the spot. it’s definitely my favorite from you, and usually i only frequented your BL stuff before reading this new batch.

Haunted House is my favorite i think! i aspire to learn to write such seamless shifts in reality. have a nice day and may the new year continue to treat you well.

hi anonymous!

i have church in an hour from now; really appreciate this message, so thank you!

which haunted house, though? I wrote two--and mostly intend to keep rewriting the same story as a regular Halloween tradition; I think the first one was stronger but both suffer from "forced marching through a plot to finish up a writing project" feeling; the second haunted house I really wanted to double-down on the blue beard themeing but felt it was all a bit thin in the end; too: in either story I never quite describe the shadow projector in a way that lives up to my vision for it--you know those old wheely carts schools used to bring out TVs for substitute teachers? like one of those holding a projector and several rectangular devices corded up together in some big electronic tangle, and the device is meant to spray a dark light over a person (i imagine the shadowy tumors that come up upon x-ray but encompassing the whole of the scan), and then the images the 'subject' sees within the arcade therapy are constantly sent to a fax-machine like device in the observation chamber and printed for analysis/record; in a direct way, it is a strange abscess opened up in the self for a masturbation--where the malignant desires of the person are meant to become a self-filling pus to fill up that abscess: the necrophile fills themself up with a world of carcass; the murderer fills themself up with blood; the other philes, similarly; and the world and body outside are kept clean while the little cyst capsule swells.

but, every writing attempt to plan something greater and edit for cleaner prose ends with me never finishing anything--see isekai, warhammer fanfic, the latest a:n fanfic (completely understand a disinterest); the BL stuff is funny to mention because i:d been thinking on it lately after revisiting my substack to compile a page organizing all my faith-related writing (work in progress), because i remember what had prompted all of it to be written: there was this really desperate pain inside me to 'connect' with absolutely anything--but there were no people, no relationships, no touch or no outlet and so i thought the best thing to do were to write short rapid stories that would be connection points--this is where i slip into something paranoid, which also i had been thinking about lately; sometime after i went to 'wilderness' and forbid myself from expressing anything to others for a short period of a month or two, and mostly kept all my pains to be expressed exclusively to prayer--and, seemed like i learned some self-coping skill through that, but, too: i gained eye towards hooks i referred to; connective hooks that come from inflammation upon the brain and spirit: pain, and community; all pain seemed to only serve a purpose to lure a soul to express it whether through outreach, art, writing, listening to music, etcetera--and through any selected mean the result would be to connect and let the pain bridge nerves between two people; the outside intellect, the invisible thing outside the two people, would shepherd peoples together with its will that way: my BL writing would not be some honest expression of the self, but nothing more than mind-control to force me to connect with others and become enmeshed in a pain mathematic that runs through the world and feeds flesh to the invisible; carcass: the desired state; for the rotted and depleted mind had no hook for the invisible to rent and were the only thing clean in this world; and, in the desired state: there was no room for passion to write, towards artwork; towards anything; for this worlds electricity is connection, befouled, and the Etiquette guides towards this electricity being dimmed in increments until the bulb goes candle pale and then ghost as its only being of light; --so the paranoid suggests.

you might like alice munro's writing, if you like "really normal" -> "abnormal," i:ve only read too much happiness by her but i thought it was a masterwork short story collection, and really lately what excites me most to write is finding an author that writes beautifully (this is christina stead, for me, lately);

line 6,

line 7,

take care, anonymous

[hellyeahscarleteen]

"There are lots of ways we can protest that don’t involve any risk at all, and we’ll get to those in a bit. But before we do, let’s talk a bit about how in-person protest can be made more accessible specifically in the context of COVID-19.

Accessibility needs to be foundational to any action, as Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha teaches us in Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice, it can’t be an afterthought. You must include disabled and chronically ill people in the process of planning any protest. In lieu of that direct input, here are some perennial basics on accessibility, tailored for the outdoors:

Make sure any outdoor venue has ramps and pathways wide enough for wheelchairs

Provide ASL translation and CART transcription for speakers

Create audio and image descriptions for outreach materials

Provide written materials in large type and Braille

Make sure there are accessible and gender⁠-neutral bathrooms nearby

Provide seating (folding chairs work--check weight limits on these) Ban fragrances from the space

Designate an accessibility point person for disabled protestors to seek guidance from

Allow disabled protestors to set the pace if you are marching If marching, describe the route verbally and with ASL translation before you begin

Use megaphones or other speech-amplifying devices to communicate instructions

Allow disabled folks and elders to drive cars along the route with marchers"

You can read all of Tasha Fierce's guide to protesting when there's (still) a pandemic here. If you're protesting, please do your best to stay safe and care for yourself and everyone else. <3

[bronzemettle]

Are the events of "Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" canon in the Bronze Realms?

At the very least not as-presented. I won't say that Doctor Horrible definitely exists in the BronzeRealms by default, but, I will say that, if he does, if that's a DLC module you decide to slot into the mainstream continuity, I know exactly where and how he fits into it. And it's not in 2008. Despite breaking the title and the framing device, it's in 1983. "Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Home Videos", if you will.

The reason for this change is a little idea I'm shamelessly stealing from my headmate Alex called "Megamind Vs Doctor Horrible". Megamind is mainstream BronzeRealms, and if Doctor Horrible exists, it's as his foil.

The rest of this post will contain full spoilers for both Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog, and more importantly, Megamind. For real, person who I know is still reading this post and hasn't watched Megamind yet, yes you, DO NOT click further into this post, or read the comments, tags, or reblogs. I know it's an old movie, but if you can, Megamind is worth watching fresh.

...Are they gone? We've all seen the movie now, right? Right?

Okay. Let's start by saying that anything written in orange is optional to the Doctor Horrible Expansion Content. Make sense? (Might need a better rule if this kind of distinction comes up more often in future posts...)

The Evil League of Evil doesn't exist, but the Injustice Society does. Bad Horse, even from the young adulthood (for a horse) of 6 years, quickly becomes a powerful and leading figure in the Injustice Society alongside Icicle Senior in the 1950s. Bad Horse takes the reigns on their recruitment outreach programs, researching and evaluating lesser supervillains to see who has the potential to step up with a little boost of resources.

In 1983, Doctor Horrible earns his place in the Injustice Society when he murders a local environmental protester, depowers the beloved hero Captain Hammer, and conquers about one fifth of LA to rule according to his bidding.

Now, over in Metro City, "superhero" and "supervillain" don't mean the same thing that they do in any other city. Local culture dictates that a "supervillain" (as opposed to just a villain) is a registered member of the Doom Syndicate. This isn't a team, at least not usually. It's a loose coalition of "supervillains" who have agreed to a series of restrictions and terms regarding what kinds of crimes they can commit, what collateral damage is acceptable, standards of behavior, family-friendly language, what kinds of insults are off the table, what ideologies or political stances they can't express openly... They've agreed to keep their own schemes eminently low-stakes, no matter how spectacular they might become to witness. Even if a Doom Syndicate member conquers the city, they've agreed to a certain standard of fair treatment for their subjects and a charter for how they are and aren't allowed to respond or interfere when the citizens rise up against them. And once their schemes are foiled, they have to help clean up the mess and repair the city too.

In exchange, Doom Syndicate supervillains get reduced sentencing, nicer prison cells while they're in them (The "special containment unit" serves waffles on Wednesday), won't get shot at by the police when they're not in obviously bulletproof armor or vehicles, and Metro City will not contact outside authorities or accept help from outside superheroes in stopping them.

In essence, superhero fights in Metro City are for show. It's less scripted than Pro Wrestling, but otherwise very similar. Everyone is playing to the audience and tv cameras. Everyone wants to win, sure, but they're also willing to take a dive if it'll be cool or narratively dramatic. Sure, your school or workplace might get smashed to dust sometimes, but it'll be back up in a few days, thanks to Doom Syndicate. Maybe you'll even get to throw a dislodged pipe at someone's helmet to distract them while the hero sneaks up. That sounds fun. It's all in good faith. Long story short, no-one has ever died, not even once, during an official Doom Syndicate-sanctioned supervillain scheme or the superhero fights that result from them.

That is, before 1985, when Doom Syndicate co-founder Megamind was seen apparently having murdered the superhero Metro Man.

Besides taking place in the 80s the rest of the movie plays out basically the same, with an added sprinkle of... well... Tighten isn't playing by the rules, and Megamind isn't used to real lives being on the line. But despite seeing himself primarily as a performer, Megamind steps up and saves his city, for real. So despite going back to the performance fights after that, for the first time Metro City also knows that they have a true hero who will protect them when it's seriously needed.

In 1990, the genetic Augment tyrant Anton York is elected President of the United States in a Leap Term election (a concept I know I will have to actually define eventually but not right now). The Eugenics War comes to America, and superheroes and supervillains alike, everywhere, are disappearing or being forced to retire under suspicious circumstances.

Doctor Horrible passes himself off as an Augment and betrays the Injustice Society for a position in the new rising power structure of the world, sending the other villains scattering. He catches and executes the aging Bad Horse himself to secure the trust of the Augments. He is given a regional oversight position over all of Southern California, including Metro City.

When new legislation passes that forces the Mayor's office to officially disband the Doom Syndicate, nothing really changes. People just keep playing by the rules, same as they always have, and the local authorities who are used to it just play along too and take it easy. Metro City has its own thing going on and they like it. Then Doctor Horrible comes to enforce the new order of things.

With a need for the city to perform for outsider eyes, Megamind pretends to flip again and cave to the Augment regime, and volunteers to rule the city on Doctor Horrible's behalf. This buys them time, just a year or two until Doctor Horrible notices something's wrong (or right) and comes back. But it's long enough to start preparations for Megamind's greatest scheme yet.

Megamind's plan is to surround Metro City in a giant force field, and launch it into space. Metro City will be safe from the Eugenics War. While he and Minion are keeping up appearances as the city dictators and getting the force field all set up and triple-tested to make sure it won't fail and suffocate everyone, Roxanne Ritchi is hush-hush organizing an underground to make sure that everyone is on the right side of that barrier when it goes up, giving anyone who doesn't want to be stuck in the city a chance to get out, and helping people smuggle their loved ones from different parts of the country in to be safe with them.

But both Megamind and Roxanne have a secondary scheme. Both of them are secretly planning to be on the outside of the force field when it goes up, so that they can move on to other cities and keep fighting the good fight.

They both tell Minion to stay behind and protect the other, and the city. Instead of telling the two of them that they're both planning the same protection-doublecross, Minion just does the same thing. He goes to find Music Man, and tells him that all three of them are going to be gone while the city is in space, and if anything threatens the city, it will be up to Music Man to step up and stop it, even if he only sees himself as a performer, just like Megamind once had.

So when Doctor Horrible does return and force their hand, and the force field goes up, trapping Doctor Horrible and the regime he works for out, and the city goes up, free and secure, Minion finds Megamind and Roxanne and reveals that none of them went up with it, because the three of them are a team.

Thankfully for Music Man being able to avoid a massive nervous breakdown for actually having life-and-death stakes on his shoulders for the first time, the one time someone tries to sabotage the force field, Megamind's fellow Doom Syndicate supervillains come together with some of the other lesser-known local performer-superheroes to stop it.

Meanwhile, on the outside, Megamind, Roxanne, and Minion are taking the fight elsewhere. To Doctor Horrible, to LA.

When they sneak into his lab, they're horrified to discover the corpse of a woman being preserved in a glass case hooked up to some contraption. Someone named Penny. Megamind figures out the machine is meant to resurrect her, reversing the specific radiological effects of Doctor Horrible's Death Ray (the physical injuries having been surgically repaired by LA's best doctors years ago)... but it won't work.

Megamind is hella autistic and ditzy, and fixes an equation on the whiteboard before they leave without thinking about it. So when Doctor Horrible returns to his lab, he's able to activate the machine. He resurrects Penny. At first she's thankful, and when Roxanne approaches her and offers to sneak her out, she turns it down.

But this time he has the confidence to actually talk to her. She sees his LA. She hears about what he did to Captain Hammer, to the Injustice Society, to Bad Horse, what he's done for Anton York, and what he plans to do once he can get the upper hand on these superiors too.

She murders him. Stabs him, with a fork, and doesn't stop.

Megamind, Roxanne, Minion, and Penny, who they help to escape and take on a new identity, all survive the Eugenics War, to the end. There's another whole story about how after the war ended in 1998 they got Metro City back down to earth, but for now I'll leave it said that they did, all safe and sound, and Megamind happily returned to his performances, his city, his people. And most villains, the ones who don't play by the rules, still know better now than to come to Metro City. It might be all fun and games when you leave them alone, but that doesn't make it easy pickings. After all, no-one ever figured out what happened to Doctor Horrible...

[ere-the-sun-rises]

Why Certain Male Superheroes Have Such A Strong Female Fanbase

I discussed this on another post, but I think the trend of certain male superheroes having huge female fanbases has its roots in how relatable their characterization and struggles are. Despite being male characters, they are very strongly female-coded. I’ll use four examples, two Marvel (specifically their MCU portrayals) and two DC: Tony Stark, Bucky Barnes, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson.

I apologize in advance if you click the Read More, this will be a very long post.

Tony Stark gets a lot of shit from the fandom, especially after Civil War. Yet, he remains arguably the most popular character from the entire series and adored by female fans. I think there’s a very good reason for that - he takes on a very female-coded role in relation to everyone else he interacts with.

For starters, he’s constantly slut-shamed. Steve, in particular, takes his sexual habits as a measure of his reliability and ability to be serious/commit. He alludes to knowing Tony from news coverage in A1, and we know from JARVIS’ quip in IM2 that Tony’s sexual escapades are highly covered by media. He looks down on Tony for his displays of sexuality (and more importantly, how shameless he is about them). Mia in IM3 also takes her digs at him about this.

His intelligence is constantly underestimated. Tony is incredibly smart and knows what he’s doing. In every Avengers movie, he is the one who formulates and carries out the plans that save the day. He is the plot device through which everything gets resolved, yet no one actually gives that any weight. In A1, Hill needles him about Selvig’s notes. In AoU, no one listens to him when he tries to explain that he was not responsible for Ultron gaining sentience or turning evil. In Civil War, Steve doesn’t listen to him when he tries to explain his decision to agree to the Sokovia Accords. Don Cheadle’s Rhodey never has any faith in Tony’s actions and constantly treats him like a child in need of supervision.

His emotions are continually disregarded. A major plot point in IM2 is Tony’s Reactor poisoning him. He exhibits all the signs of a suicidal person (even though he’s not) - giving his possessions away, retreating from public and personal life, making rash and/or unsafe decisions, emotional instability - but neither Pepper nor Rhodey even notice. In Civil War, when he tries to relay the human cost of the Sokovia disaster to the team (when we were shown how much that affected him), they dismiss his emotional outreach as manipulative. Steve disregards his friendship at every turn (indeed, being actively hostile to him through almost all of AoU) and doesn’t trust him at all (not telling him that Bucky was programmed). He also doesn’t consider that Tony may have feelings about finding out that his parents were murdered and seems surprised that Tony would be distraught. He never apologizes for hiding such important information, or even admits he shouldn’t have. When Tony returns from space in A:IW, he’s dismissive of Tony’s anger. Right until the end of A:E, Tony has to ask if Steve trusts him to make the right decision and Tony isn’t certain the answer will be yes. Natasha also treats him like he’s unrelentingly selfish, despite having been close enough to him to be wearing his clothes (in CA:WS, she’s wearing the same sweater Tony was wearing in IM2 when the only other person she does this to is Clint, with whom she is incredibly close).

Another major theme is the continued violation of his bodily autonomy. IM1 establishes that Tony’s autonomy is represented by his Reactor and armour, and that his use of both are a means to regain control over his autonomy. Obadiah continually enters Tony’s personal space without invitation or reciprocation, going so far as to undress him without permission to look at the Reactor and this comes to a head with the theft of his Reactor. Pepper gets upset with Tony about his suits in IM3, even hinging the continuation of their relationship on him getting rid of them without addressing why he’s so reliant on them. Steve in CW, once he has Tony on the ground, goes right for the Reactor (not to mention that Tony raises his arms like he anticipated that Steve was going to behead him). Then Steve leaves him there.

I think Tony appeals to so many female fans because it’s so easy to see the way we are ignored, overridden, used and discarded in him. He never seems to be good enough for the ones that he loves. He also knows he can’t turn to any of his closest people for comfort and doesn’t bother to try. He’s been taught by experience that if he’s disruptive or not useful, he’s not welcome. It’s incredibly difficult for him to accept kindness, but very easy to shoulder blame and responsibility. He’s easily hurt, but so good at concealing it no one notices. No one takes him seriously in anything he does, even when he’s proven it with actions. He’s always fighting against preconceived notions of him that aren’t him.

 | | |

Despite being a physically imposing character with a deadly skill-set and high body-count, Bucky is characterized almost exclusively as a caregiver or a victim.

In CA:TFA, he’s got a severe case of “Eldest Daughter Syndrome”, concerned above all with making sure that Steve is taken care of and kept from harm. Bucky consistently cleans up after Steve, both by running off the people he fights and ensuring that Steve’s living situation is assured. As the team sniper, he’s always watching Steve’s back and making sure he doesn’t get hurt. Steve loves Bucky, but he doesn’t ever take care of him. In CW and afterward, Bucky’s still more concerned for Steve than himself. He would have resigned himself to whatever punishment INTERPOL would have give him, and it’s not until Steve is threatened in their fight with Tony that he actually gets involved. Even in FATWS, he helps Sam not only with the terrorists, but with the boat and he reaches out to the Wakandans to replace the Falcon suit that got destroyed. He helps Sam train with the shield, even mentioning that he was the one who helped Steve get a handle on how to use it.

His victimization also starts near-immediately, with him being the sole survivor of Zola’s experiments in CA:TFA. He’s victimized and abusively controlled through his entire time as the Winter Soldier. Like Tony, his autonomy is also materially symbolized by his arm, which is used against him by Natasha in CA:WS and Ayo in FATWS. Perhaps most upsettingly relatable, he’s held accountable for the actions of the Winter Soldier in FATWS as exemplified by the therapist, who victim-blames him and seems more concerned with checking off a box for the government than actually helping him recover in any meaningful way. Zemo capitalizes on this spectacularly in FATWS.

I think a lot of women can relate to the kind of exhausted resignation of Bucky. He’s so rarely in control of anything that happens to him, but he still tries to be useful and kind when he can. He’s scared and hurt and alone, abandoned by the only person he knew in a world completely alien and hostile to him. His body language screams for someone to take care of him, but he’d die before asking for it. He tries so desperately not to be a burden, but always feels like one. He’ll put the needs of those he cares for above himself without exception, even when it causes him a lot of distress. His body and skills don’t feel like they belong to him, and he feels like it’s only a matter of time before someone steals them away again.

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Bruce Wayne as Batman might seem like an odd example, and there are certainly iterations of him that won’t fit this characterization. However, there’s a lot about him that is highly relatable to the feminine experience.

For starters, he’s guilt-ridden as shit. Bruce always takes it hard and personal when something goes wrong, even when he’s not responsible for it. This is most obvious in relation to his parents or Jason Todd, where he blames himself for something he didn’t do and couldn’t control. While every failure he has is met with a practical reassessment of his tactics, he also looks inward, trying to find what it is about him personally that makes these things happen and/or why he isn’t enough to stop it. He has a tendency to just accept blame instead of pushing back (ei. whenever Jason throws his death in his face).

He’s been raped. However much it may be payed down, Talia drugged and had non-consensual sex with him to conceive Damian.

His main motivation isn’t revenge, it’s prevention. While he’s not above revenge, the purpose behind Batman is to ensure that tragedies don’t have the chance to happen and that, even though he uses violence to accomplish his goals, he will never be the source of that tragedy. He wants to lash out in violent retaliation, but he cares more about redressing the balance of pain than he does inflicting it back. That’s how he can be friendly with people like Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and Two-Face.

Bruce is a single mom at his core. He might not be the best parent all or even some of the time, but he loves his children and would do almost anything for them. He gets accused of creating child soldiers (both in canon and by fans), but none of his kids are soldiers to him. They work for him as Batman, but they are so much more than his co-vigilantes. He loves them like a parent and would die for any one of them. Indeed, this is a sentiment that extends to a few members of the JLA too, especially amongst the OG crew.

Bruce’s emotions are also discounted a lot, though that’s generally because he’s taken as cold and emotionless. He feels very deeply, about nearly everything, but he’s very good at hiding it. He views his heart as incredibly vulnerable and so only reveals it to a select few. The more this backfires on him, the less he’s willing to open up and the more guarded he becomes. He cares so much, but he’s so gripped by the fear of being hurt that it has to be forcefully pried out of him.

Brucie Wayne is an expertly crafted persona that plays into the female stereotype of “ditzy bimbo”. The “tall, dark and handsome” persona could have done just as well for his public face, playing into a more mysterious and alluring figure, but he chose to portray himself as a charming drunk, always down for a good time and with all the depth of a puddle. Brucie Wayne is such a shallow and vapid personality, comparable only to that of Paris Hilton’s public profile.

As I said, not every Bruce Wayne is portrayed this way, but some of the more famous examples of him certainly are: Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series/Justice League Unlimited/The Arkham games), Bruce Greenwood (DCAMU, Young Justice), Robert Pattinson (The Batman 2022) and arguably even Ben Affleck (DCEU). He’s capable of being brutal, demanding and uncompromising, but he ultimately wants the pain to stop, not to inflict it.

I think a lot of women see him almost as a kind of power fantasy, a way to exact violent vengeance on the ones who hurt people but maintain an inner kindness. This may be a bit of a self-projection, but I also think women can relate to his “going too far” notion - for those who have been victims before, it is so, so easy to slip into the cycle of perpetuation and become the abuser. He manages to thread the needle of striking back at an abuser without becoming one.

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Dick Grayson is perhaps one of the most sexualized male characters in existence, and almost exclusively catering to the female audience, particularly once he’s Nightwing. He’s kind, warm, funny, charming, attractive and considerate. But I think a lot of his appeal comes not only from being made of boyfriend material, but the way he demonstrates these attributes.

Dick pretty generally falls into the Eldest Daughter role once he’s an adult, becoming very close with his siblings and often acting as an intermediary between Bruce and the other kids. He’s the one that the rest of the family turns to when something happens to Bruce, and he’s often the one to take up the temporary mantle of Batman when Bruce is otherwise unable. Even with the Teen Titans, he’s a tentpole figure that guides his teammates and helps them mature despite often being the same age or younger than them.

Partly due to his past as a performer, Dick is a people-pleaser. This goes for his home life, romantic relationships and general public persona. Dick is Bruce’s charming first son, Bludhaven’s affable vigilante or [insert love interest]’s considerate boyfriend. He’s a lot more genuine in his public persona than Bruce is, but he’s gracious in the way a retail employee is - a certain measure of forced cheer that’s expected of him. 

The way other characters sexualize Dick is also very female-coded. They always comment on his body, the tightness of his suit and how pretty he is. While they may also comment on his charm or personality, often the first things they discuss are physical. He usually plays along with this in good humour, but even other members of his family who share a lot of characteristics - Bruce, Tim, Jason, older Damian - don’t get the same kind of horny-on-main attention. He’s also usually paired with very strong/dominating love interests (Donna, Kory, Barbara) and has a tendency to be more passive in the relationship and get pursued when dating.

I think Dick acts like a lot of women do (or feel like they have to): upbeat and cheerful, attentive to their partners/family and always available for emotional caretaking. His body is a spectacle that receives unsolicited comment and judgment constantly. He fills the gaps where Bruce falls short and struggled to find his own path and identity away from the needs of his family.

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Women are used to having to relate to male characters in media, since female characters are generally so sparse, inauthentic or underdeveloped. I think that’s why, when we see ourselves in male characters, we latch onto them so tightly and care about them so much. While none of these attributes are exclusive to women, there’s a certain way that these aspects of characterization blend together that is generally more familiar to women than it is so men. There’s an echo of lived experience in their portrayals that hits very close to home.

[ermesskiss]

IMPORTANT - please reblog

The U.S. senate is conducting an outreach survey about pressing issues including ceasefire in gaza and funding for 🇮🇱

Please take time to fill out the survey and spread especially if you’re living in the U.S.

note: (what is above was copied and pasted from this twt post)

something else, these questions are set up to be intentionally bias (you can see in the photo above) so please answer thoroughly and correctly!!

i don't trust the U.S government but taking this survey will give Congress an insight on peoples views on these events. As long as people are choosing the options that are opposed of being pro-Israel or bigoted i think it'll be fine (in theory)

here are two questions that are very misleading

as you can see they are trying to paint china's government and immigrants in a bad picture, hopefully anyone who is reading this understands that

1) the U.S government is using China's government in a way to look like they steal Americans information but in reality they don't care about our privacy. if they did, Mark Zuckerberg (owner of Facebook) wouldn't have several cases of taking peoples data and selling it

also that banning TikTok is not because of peoples information, it's about the fact that U.S citizens have an easier access to learn things that the Government doesn't want them to know and spread (e.g. Israel colonizing and commiting genocide on the people of Palestine) there is even a video of a government official talking about this (if I can find it I'll come back and link it here)

2) calling immigrants violent (probably referring to middle eastern ppl and muslims) is a way to convince people to deport them, obviously being xenophobic, and other stuff

if you can understand that these questions are bigoted and quite loaded it should be easy to understand which option is morally right.

at the end of the survey they will ask you what topics you care about and what Congress should focus on. don't leave it empty.

say something like:

• call for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza

• stop the funding of the illegal occupation of Israel

• hold big tech American companies accountable for using unethical Congon cobalt to make electronic devices

• literally anything important

putting one of these in the box before submitting will highlight that people want the government to call for a permanent cease fire and to stop funding Israel and etc.

sorry, this was a lot, I didn't plan to write this much out but I thought it was important to add additional information to inform people about the situation. hopefully this made sense!!!

[salaapaoo]

He's a lil blurb from my fic drafts hehe it'll be written eventually, but : alcale wing fic where flying up high and then spiralling down is part of a courting ritual. Krs wakes up as Cale and doesn't quite understand, but by the end he figures out that he's always been in love w alver !! Like the slow burn understanding where he figures it out and doesn't know when he fell in love because being together feels so natural and stuff

I'll probably start writing it later this year or SMTH? I have other ones that are further along and the ongoing ones to update fkslfkdf

Gonna make a playlist for it too >:)

"C'mon Cale!" The avian prince called out to him, "let's go!"

Cale gazed at Alver's outreached hand, listening to the rushing of air with each flap of the wing.

"Fine…" He began to flap his own wings, moving them in large swooping motions to bring himself up into the air.

Alver's taken him far up high in the sky, high enough that it's only the pastel painted skies surrounding them. Cotton-like clouds with their soft edges reflecting the colors of the sky drift below them as slow as snails.

"Ready?" Cale turns to look at Alver, confused as to what the other boy meant.

His confusion must have been visible because the prince began to laugh, his lips forming a fond smile.

"We'll do a countdown," Alver says, carefully taking Cale's hand into his, "and then we fall."

Was this boy insane? Cales face morphed with disbelief, his brows furrowing deeply, "What do you mean fall?"

"It's just as I said," Alver's eyes match the blue of the vast skies, as honest as ever, "we'll stop moving our wings, and we'll fall."

The magic device was still clamped around his bicep, leaving him in his disguise. It's a beautiful armlet with golden leaves curling around the entire piece. Alver's hand is warm around his, gentle and reassuring as he waits for Cale's reply.

"You're crazy," Cale scowls, not pulling away from the grip.

A bark of laughter comes from the prince, breathy and free, "Maybe I am."

(There's something in Alver's eyes that Cale can't quite understand.

They're honeyed and fond, he comes to learn later on).

To that, Cale gives him a deadpan stare, which pulls another delightful round of laughter from the blond.

"Trust me," Alver's voice is soft as he squeezes Cale's hand lightly, "I'll fall with you, promise I won't let go."

"...Alright," Cale finally gives in. He closes his eyes, cutting his own world off from the blooming colors around him in an attempt to shield himself from the fear.

They're still flying, but he knows what should be coming next. He anticipates the drop, his heart starting to pump faster at the mere thought. Alver never lets go though, instead, he holds Cale's hand tighter as if to remind the red head that he was still there.

"Ready?" The prince asks. A stupid question, really, because Cale doesn't think he would ever be ready.

Before he could give a response, Cale's body begins to tip as he's dragged down by the weight of the other boy. The muscles of his wings strained in their desperate attempt to keep them both in the air.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FUCKING COUNTDOWN, YOU LIAR OF A PRINCE?" Cale cursed him out internally.

"It's okay!" Alver shouts, grabbing Cale's other hand, "I would never let anything happen to you."

And so, Cale stops, allowing gravity to take them both back to Earth. It takes everything in him to hold back the instinct to try to stop the fall, but he manages. Something within him wanted to trust Alver.

His heart floats up to his throat, sending his blood rushing to his ears. He squeezes his eyes shut when he feels the wind shift differently around him. It's loud- the air ripping around them in their descent.

"OPEN YOUR EYES!" Alver calls out to him, warm hands held in a death grip in Cale's.

Hesitantly, Cale cracks open one eye and then the other. All of the anxiety melted away into awe as he took in the world around him. Shades of tangerines, apricots, and corals take over the vast blue that once was. Baby pinks dance along the edge of the remaining blue to create splotches of lilac and lavender. The assortment of colors make the blue of Alver's eyes deeper.

"Ready?" The blond smiles at him.

"Okay."

Cale watches intently as Alver shifts one of his wings, sending them both into a downwards spiral. Only this time, fear isn't what comes with the change. A giddy exhilaration comes instead, filling his lungs until he's breathless.

(Alver wishes he could have recorded this moment because Cale is laughing. With eyes full of wonder and an open mouth smile across his face. Cale's laughter is filled with a contagious joy that has Alver's cheeks hurting from how hard he smiles in return).

Cale falls in love with the triumphant feeling flying brought him, understanding why Icarus had laughed as he plummeted towards the open arms of the ground.

[thisworldisablackhole]

A Desolation Called Peace, by Arkady Martine - 4.5/5

Writing this a couple weeks after completion, so forgive me as I try to place my mind back into the world of Teixcalaan and it's carnivorous Outreaching Palms. I'm already a book and a half ahead of this, so I'll try to keep it short and casual. In A Desolation Called Peace, Martine continues her microscopic study of culture and language as our protagonist duo Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass are reunited at the frontlines of war and thrust into a first-contact scenario with a race of highly intelligent yet confoundingly violent aliens.

I wouldn't say this is a "perfect" sequel, as some led me to believe (we'll get more into why not later), but it is still an incredible story that makes a few brilliant and refreshing choices. For one, Martine's willingness to shift from Teixcalaan's techno-floral surveillance state and into the blackness of space was a risk that really paid off. I think a lot of authors tend to get attached to the world they build, and they (understandably) try to dwell in it jointly out of love and convenience. Luckily, Martine's sense of world and culture easily translates into the confines of alloy warships, and she uses this to her advantage. This darker and more isolated setting only further illuminates the complexity of her character design as we are introduced to a new cast of intricate and enigmatic persons (shout-out Swarm). The result is a story that feels like much more of a "classic" sci-fi epic, with all the bells (spaceships) and whistles (aliens). The focus on harder, more oppressive technological environments was a huge positive for me, cause I die for that shit. The design of the aliens and their terrifying three-ringed corrosive spit-emitting ships was just so damn cool. Not to mention the human Shard pilots and their cloudhook enabled shared consciousness (I secretly have a theory this quick advance in technology was the result of the black-market surgeon from A Memory Called Empire selling Mahit's damaged imago device to the Minister of Science or something.)

The Jewel of the World isn't totally out of view however, as A Desolation Called Peace also introduces the technique of perspective switching and parallel, intertwined narratives. Back in the city, we get to follow Six Direction's clone-heir, Eight Antidote, grapple with defining his own individual morality as he is pushed and pulled between Nineteen Adze and the Ministry of War—anyone who would take him under their wing to gain influence over the Emperor-to-be, really. I was admittedly less invested in his storyline, but it does eventually pay off in a satisfying way, and was a nice way of advancing his story while feeding us supplemental information to enrich Teixcalaan's political systems and climate.

As to why the "perfect sequel" reviews set me up for (mild) disappointment, I will say this; some of the points of conflict in this story seemed to exist purely for conflict's sake—a problem that was not as apparent in the first book, where every bit of tension felt totally necessary. But hey, this is a Space Opera after all, it's hard to complain about a bit of emphasized drama. Even the writing itself felt more poetically desperate. It certainly didn't hurt the character development, which was stellar once again, but almost too slow! It feels weird to spin "I wish I could spend more time with these characters" into a negative, but some of the characters and their interpersonal subplots didn't really connect with me until the last third or so of the book, and then it seemed to be over too soon. And of course, because Martine is so good at writing endings that are simultaneously tear-jerkingly happy and frustrating as all fuck, (she did it at the end of A Memory Called Empire), she does it again here. She really holds back from indulging the reader too much, and I both respect and loathe her for it (I say jestingly).

When you zoom out, it's easy to see the hodgepodge quilt of Martine's influences, but for only her second full-length novel, it's fantastic work, original in it's own ever-charming ways, and deserves all the success in the world. This is an absolute must if you enjoyed the first one. As a duology, it's one of my favourite stories I've read so far, and I can't help but hope Martine comes back with a third installment. There's certainly room for it, even if it has different characters or is set in a different time period. The world itself is rich enough to support anything Martine could throw at it.

[quaranmine]

10 Years of Posting Fanfic: A Retrospective

(If you only care about reading my writing from when I was 12, skip to the cut)

I've always enjoyed reading as a kid. I was the kid in class who was reading at a high school level in intermediate school, and the kid who had 8 library books on her desk at a time. Therefore it is no surprise that I quickly realized that I enjoyed writing a lot too.

This post cannot be a look into when I started writing fanfiction though, because frankly I don't remember. Instead, all I have to go off of is the publishing date on my old fanfiction.net profile: December 15, 2013. I'm a little too young for the heyday of Live Journal and other fanfic sites, so ff.net was my first introduction to fanfiction. I also used to use Wattpad now and then, but I never posted anything there. I preferred ff.net, and did not make an AO3 account until 2016.

In middle school and intermediate school, if you asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I'd tell you I wanted to be a novelist. Of course my actual career went a different direction--I'm now an environmental outreach specialist. But the great news about writing is that it can be done at any time!

Fanfiction.net was also my introduction into the world of fanfic, back when I stumbled onto some Jayfeather Warrior Cats fanfic from a random google search. It took me entirely by suprise to find out that I could actually read more stories about my favorite characters! It was like stumbling into a gold mine. I still remember how thrilled I was. I was instantly hooked, despite being more than a little traumatized by instantly finding a "lemon" and reading about cat sex at probably 11 or 12 years old. Somehow, that did not stop me. I continued to avoid lemons, and developed a huge taste for angst, whump, and hurt/comfort stories. In retrospect, I'm not sure my mom would have viewed reading about torture or suicidal characters as particularly better than smut, but oh well. She never knew.

Throughout middle school and early high school, I was constantly writing. In middle school I had a notebook and used to hand write fanfics and original stories inside. I had two friends who also liked writing, and together we'd spend time developing and editing each other's stories. It's during this time I posted my first stories on FF.net. In high school, my school gave every student a chromebook laptop, and I started writing fanfic in Google Docs on that. I was fearless and had no problems writing angsty anime fanfic in class, on a school-monitored device.

I stopped writing fanfic somewhere in 10th grade, though I never stopped reading it. I stopped writing it primarily because I spent a lot of time writing other things. I was taking college classes. I doing competitive essay writing (I medalled at state) and competitive literary criticism. I was doing art competitions. In 12th grade, I had a job reporting school news to my local newspaper. I wrote op-eds about the environment and dutifully recorded hours of school board meetings to summarize. Then, I was properly off to college, and despite the pandemic hitting a year later I had classes to take online and a part time job outdoors. I had 60 page mock-environmental risk assessments to write. I was too busy to write fiction.

The MCYT fandom is what brought back my desire to write. The creativity of this fandom is so astounding, and I'm grateful all the time that I get to see the things everybody creates. Back in 2021, I no longer felt like I just wanted to read. I felt restless again, so I started writing a DSMP story about clingyduo at the disc war finale. I scrapped this, but it set things into motion again. In the summer of 2021 I posted my first two fanfics in years. I received such good feedback. By kudos, NWNF is my most popular fic on the site, and The Babysitting Game is still 4th most popular. I'm super grateful for that, and I'm grateful for everybody here who reads my stories. I still can't really comprehend that I post things that people actually read now. I save so many of your comments to keep for later.

I'll stop reviewing my history of writing here. You guys know the rest. I wrote HC, Evo, ESMP, and Life series oneshots. I wrote my first long fic, and then smashed that record by writing another longer one that I'm less than two chapters away from finishing. It's been a huge amount of fun and the improvements I've made in two years of active writing is super encouraging.

If I've made this much progress in 10 years, who's to say what I could do in 10 more years? I really look forward to it.

Anyway, the sappy stuff aside, who wants to read the story I wrote when I was 12? I'll post it below the cut in its entirety, no matter how much psychic damage it dealt me. It's Doctor Who, because of course it is. It always goes back to Doctor Who with me :)

From the TARDIS Files--A One-Shot Book

by: crazykatz430 <- I used to go by this everywhere

Description: This is a book of drabbles and one shots-nothing long will be found here, and it will not be updated frequently. Chapters will often have more than one short story in it. Rated T because I'm paranoid, don't know about what I'll end up writing in future chapters. All that said, enjoy! EDIT: CANCELLED

Published: 2013-12-15

Words: 1196

Rated: Fiction T - Language: English - Genre: Humor/Adventure -

Characters: 11th Doctor, Clara O. - Reviews: 4 - Follows: 1

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A/N: Okay, so this is a collection of four short (I mean SHORT) oneshots I wrote, most of them just drabbles. So far, this will be just a fic to update when I write more short oneshots in the freewrites on my English Class.

Disclaimer: I don't own DW but if I did… <- oh the early days back when we were all sticking disclaimers on things but not knowing why

There will be a linbreak for new oneshots, and a cat symbol (crazyKATZ430..it's in the name) for the time skips or point of view changes..

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Without further ado, I present: Geronimo , Uploaded , The Forgotten , and Cemetery Nightmares .

Geronimo

Set: The Wedding of River Song

I don't know what to say. All my secrets, fears and enemies, they've all caught up to me. I've run too far, run for too long.

The prophecy states that silence will fall when the question is asked. The first question, the oldest and most important question. I do not know what the question is nor do I want to find out, for the silence that falls will be the silence of my death.

I do not want to do die here, at Lake Silencio, Utah, but it is a fixed point. It will always happen no matter how far or long I run from it. I don't want to die alone… don't want to make my love do it.

I have made a plan, one to hopefully save my life and the earth. Everyone will think I am dead, but it will be safer. They'll be safer from me.

Geronimo!

Now I know what to say, the same thing I've always said when adventure and danger and the unknown ensued…

──────⊹⊱✫⊰⊹──────

Uploaded

Set: The wi-fi's first victim ;

"Where am I?" I whispered, scared. "Hello?"

I looked around myself, studying the surroundings. It was all strange to me, I'd n idea where I was.

I felt panic rising in my chest. "I don't know where I am!" I shrieked, becoming ever more terrified. "Somebody, please, help me! Where am I, I don't know where I am!"

──────⊹⊱✫⊰⊹──────

I raced around the room looking for a way out of what appeared to be someone's bedroom. I gave a cry when I couldn't get out and I subconsciously returned to the computer. "Help me!" I screamed infrustration and fear, my heart racing as panic took over my body. "I don't know where I am!"

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

The wi-fi had taken its first victim.

The uploading had begun.

The Forgotten

Set: hmm… can't remember. Strange.

I was alone in a cold, dark room, no other living thing in sight.

I can't remember what I've forgotten. But if I can't remember what I've forgotten, then how do I know I forgot something?

But I wasn't alone.

How did I know that? There was nothing visible..yet I felt there was another creature in the room.

Sudden pure, unexplainable terror washed over me. I yanked the sleeve of my shirt down and stared at the underside of my arm. One fresh, black tally mark marred my skin.

The panic reached its heighth and I dropped into a defensive postureautomatically. I didn't know why, it felt like I was forgetting something… I was confused and terrified.

A second crisp tally mark appeared on my arm, closely followed by three more. A full set. But why?

Fifteen or more sets of five tally marks were tattooed on my arm.

Wordlessly I pulled down my right sleeve. What I saw there cause me to scream in fright and drop to the ground.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

Doctor who?

Silence will fall when the question is asked. The first question, the oldest question…

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Cemetery Nightmares

Set: New York City, 1950 (set in New York City; however, the

character is British)

The statue had moved. It had really, properly moved!

Eagerly, I lifted my camera to take a picture. "Moving Statues in City Cemetery"? Sounded like a story to me! My editor always thought my stories were rubbish, but I begged to differ. Maybe he's let me print something with proof.

Curiosity killed the cat. This statue could be dangerous, what did I know of it? I smiled as I recalled the second part to the phrase. But satisfaction brought it back. Making up my mind, I held up the camera and clicked a picture.

I waited for it to move again, but it did not. Was it my eyes? No, I'd had two cups of heavily caffeinated tea this morning, you don't start seeing things untill the third day without sleep, I still had a day to go.

I huffed and sighed, closing my eyes. Why must good stories always slip way like this? Or was I just being too impatient?

Either way, I got a shock from when I reopened my eyes. The same stone figure, who seemed to be an angel statue, had moved again, closer to me. I didn't know if I should be happy for more evidence or scared because the hand seemed to be seemed to be reaching out to me…

I blinked again. A small cry escaped my lips as I noted it was closer. Was it all just some sick game? I was the only one in the cemetery though so that option was out of the question. Either way, the expression on the face of the angel now was frightening me. I decided it was best to leave.

I turned to walk back to my car, but on a whim turned to look back again. The statue had moved again, probably 15 meters in a few seconds! I began to tremble. It was like straight out of a horror movie! I just wanted to get away, to get home and out of this creepy place!

Then I made the mistake, my fatal mistake. My eyes began to burn and I blinked, a simple movement. But when I reopened my eyes I stood in a place far more different from where I'd been.

I was somewhere else! It was impossible, the city, cemetery and creepy angel statue were gone too! But where was I? I set out to find someone about what had turned into a nightmare for me. A cemetery nightmare.

The image of an angel becomes an angel.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

One bright red vintage camera lay on the ground, on button switched. The last picture it had taken displayed out from the screen. A seemly harmless picture of an angel statue, taken a minute before the camera's owner was whisked away.

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A/N: There you go, three short oneshots with a fourth that's twice the size of the others! PLease remember to review and say if it was good or not, and have a wonderful day… now that I've given you some stories of dying people. ( Geronimo had no dying but it was pretty intense if I do say so.) And please forgive me, I'm not British so I may tend to overdo some things…

(narrarator voice: she did not, in fact, ever upload another chapter)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed, as soon as I type it up, another's on its way!

[mightyflamethrower]

The theocracy of Iran has been the world’s arch-embassy attacker over the last half century.

So it has zero credibility in crying foul over Israel’s April 1 attacks on its “consulate” in Damascus and the killing of Iran’s kingpin terrorists of the Revolutionary Guard Corps there.

Remember, the world was first introduced to the Iranian ayatollahs by their violent takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1980.

Iranian surrogates next bombed the American embassy in Beirut and the Marine barracks in 1983.

In fact, Iran has attacked US and Israeli diplomatic posts off-and-on for decades, most recently in 2023, when Iran helped plan an attack on the US embassy in Baghdad.

For this reason and several others, Iran’s justification for sending 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles, and 120 ballistic missiles into Israel on the grounds that Israel had bombed an Iranian diplomatic post is completely ridiculous.

One, Iran has never honored diplomatic immunity.

Instead, it habitually attacks and kills embassy personnel and blows up diplomatic facilities across the world.

Two, on April 1, the Israelis attacked a pseudo-“consulate” in Damascus which was hosting grandees of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as they planned terrorist attacks on Israel.

Without Iran, the Middle East might have had a chance to use its enormous oil and natural gas wealth to lift its 500 million people out of poverty rather than to be mired in constant tribal and religious anti-Israeli, anti-American, and anti-Western terrorism.

During the Iraq War, Iran’s Shiite terrorists and its massive supplies of deadly shaped-charge explosive devices killed hundreds of Americans. It routinely hijacks container ships in the Straits of Hormuz and stages near collisions with American ships and planes.

How does Iran get away with nonstop anti-Western terrorism, its constant harassment of Persian Gulf maritime traffic, its efforts to subvert Sunni moderate regimes, and its serial hostage-taking?

The theocrats operate on three general principles.

One, Iran is careful never to attack a major power directly.

Until this week, it had never sent missiles and drones into Israel. Its economy is one-dimensionally dependent on oil exports. And its paranoid government distrusts its own people, who have no access to free elections.

So Iranian strategy over the last few decades has relied on surrogates—especially expendable Arab Shia terrorists in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, along with the Sunni Arabs of Hamas—to do its dirty work of killing Israelis and Americans.

It loudly egged all of them on and then cowardly denied responsibility once it feared Israeli or American retaliation.

Two, it has fooled Western governments and especially left-wing American administrations by posing as a persecuted victim. Iran claims it is the champion of aggrieved Shiite Arab and Persian minorities, unfairly exploited by Israel, moderate Arab regimes, and rich Sunni Gulf monarchies.

Three, Iran hopes its pseudo-diplomatic outreach to left-wing Western governments, coupled with its lunatic existential threats and unleashing terrorist attacks on its enemies, can coax or bully the West into granting it concessions—especially time to acquire a dozen or so nuclear weapons.

Yet for all its loud, creepy threats, Iran is incredibly weak and vulnerable.

Israel and its allies shot down almost all its recent nocturnal missile and drone barrages. Lots of other missiles reportedly blew up on liftoff in Iran or crashed in transit.

Before the Biden appeasement of Iran, the Trump administration had isolated and nearly bankrupted Tehran and its proxies. Its Revolutionary Guard terrorist planners proved to be easy targets once they operated outside Iran.

Iran’s only hope is to get a bomb and, with it, nuclear deterrence to prevent retaliation when it increases its terrorist surrogate attacks on Israel, the West, and international commerce.

Yet now Iran may have jumped the shark by attacking the Israeli homeland for the first time. It is learning that it has almost no sympathetic allies.

Does even the Lebanese Hezbollah really want to take revenge against Israel on behalf of Persian Iran, only to see its Shia neighborhoods in Lebanon reduced to rubble?

Do all the pro-Hamas protestors on American campuses and in the streets really want to show Americans they celebrate Iranian attacks and a potential Iranian war against the United States?

Does Iran really believe 99 percent of any future Israel barrage against Iranian targets would fail to hit targets in the fashion that its own recent launches failed?

Does Iran really believe that its sheer incompetence in attacking Israel warrants them a pardon—as if they should be excused for trying, but not succeeding, to kill thousands of Jews?

In sum, by unleashing a terrorist war in the Middle East and targeting the Israeli homeland, Iran may wake up soon and learn Israel, or America, or both might retaliate for a half-century of its terrorist aggression—and mostly to the indifference or even the delight of most of the world.

[oxy-2025]

Google SEO service refers to a set of strategies and techniques aimed at improving a website's organic ranking on Google's Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) by optimizing its content, structure, and technical aspects. These services typically include keyword research, content optimization, technical SEO, link building, and user experience enhancement.

Core Components of Google SEO

1. Keyword Research and Optimization

Keywords are the foundation of SEO. An effective keyword strategy helps you reach your target audience precisely.

Recommended Tools: Use Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to analyze popular keywords.

Keyword Selection: Prioritize long-tail keywords with high search volume and moderate competition, such as “free trial English course in Singapore.”

2. High-Quality Content Creation

Quality content is crucial for attracting users and boosting Google rankings.

Practicality: Content should address user pain points, such as FAQs or practical guides.

Optimization Tips: Naturally integrate keywords in titles (H1), subtitles (H2-H3), and the body text while maintaining semantic flow.

3. Technical Optimization

Technical SEO forms the backbone of improving Google’s ability to crawl your site effectively.

Page Speed: Optimize your website’s loading speed using Google PageSpeed Insights.

Mobile Optimization: Ensure your site performs equally well on mobile devices and tablets as it does on desktops.

Structured Data: Use Schema Markup to help Google better understand your site’s content.

4. Link Building (Backlinks)

Backlinks are a crucial part of Google’s algorithm, and high-quality links can enhance your website’s authority.

Natural Acquisition: Attract high-quality backlinks through content marketing and media outreach.

Avoid Black Hat SEO: Avoid buying low-quality backlinks to prevent penalties from Google.

5. User Experience Optimization

User behavior data, such as click-through rates and bounce rates, directly affects website rankings.

Visual Design: Optimize navigation bars, page layouts, and CTA button placements.

Interactive Features: Improve site usability with features like quick search and form submission options.

By focusing on these elements, a well-executed Google SEO strategy can significantly enhance your website's visibility and engagement.

[mr-divabetic]

Just wanted to share this amazing experience from last night's Soul Train Tribute to Luther Vandross. We kicked off the free outdoor screening of the Luther: Never Too Much documentary with a Soul Train Dance Line, and it was genuinely heartwarming to see so many people, including those using mobility devices, participating with such an upbeat attitude and joyful spirit.

It's reported that as high as 80% of non-traumatic lower limb amputations happen due to mismanaged diabetes. Regardless of how or why someone experiences a lower limb amputation, it can stop them from wanting to take care of themselves and their diabetes self-care in the future. Allowing these people to still participate in social events and gatherings could boost their morale. .. Moments like these remind me of the incredible resilience and determination of people facing challenges. Witnessing someone joining the Soul Train Dance Line on her scooter made me smile and brought back many beautiful memories of our past events.

I can't wait to return to more outreach events soon to spread positivity and help everyone glamorize good health!

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Joseph Simonson

Published: Jun 12, 2024

In 2021, the Biden administration pledged it would build 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations by 2030. So far, it’s built seven.

Last month, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg—who administers the funds apportioned for EV charger construction in the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Act—said Americans should not be surprised at the time it takes to stand up "a new category of federal investment."

"It’s more than just plunking a small device into the ground," Buttigieg said in an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation.

But internal memos from the Department of Transportation obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, as well as interviews with those who are responsible for overseeing the implementation of the electric vehicle charging station project, say the delay is in large part a result of the White House’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

"These requirements are screwing everything up," said one senior Department of Transportation staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "It’s all a mess."

President Joe Biden has reportedly expressed frustration with the pace at which his much-touted infrastructure projects are getting built. A "close ally" of the White House told CNN last December that Biden "wants this stuff now," and a White House spokesman added that the president "constantly pushes his team to ensure we are moving as quickly as possible."

But Biden may only have himself to blame.

Shortly after taking office, the president signed an executive order mandating that the beneficiaries of 40 percent of all federal climate and environmental programs should come from "underserved communities." The order also established the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, which monitors agencies such as the Department of Transportation to ensure the "voices, perspectives, and lived realities of communities with environmental justice concerns are heard in the White House and reflected in federal policies, investments, and decisions."

In order to qualify for a grant, applicants must "demonstrate how meaningful public involvement, inclusive of disadvantaged communities, will occur throughout a project’s life cycle." What "public involvement" means is unclear. But the Department of Transportation notes it should involve "intentional outreach to underserved communities."

That outreach, the Department of Transportation states, can take the form of "games and contests," "visual preference surveys," or "neighborhood block parties" so long as the grant recipient provides "multilingual staff or interpreters to interact with community members who use languages other than English."

"This all just slows down construction," says Jim Meigs, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who focuses on federal regulation.

"These ‘public involvement’ requirements are impossible to quantify and even open builders up to lawsuits by members of the community where an electric vehicle charging station is set to be constructed."

How these equity requirements are relevant to the construction of a single electric vehicle charging station is unclear, Meigs said. But all applicants for federal funding must in many cases submit reports that can total hundreds of pages about how they will pursue "equity" every step along the way.

This leads to delays and increases costs throughout the construction process, one senior Department of Transportation official told the Free Beacon. "Highly Qualified" applications, internal memos state, must "promote local inclusive economic development and entrepreneurship such as the use of minority-owned businesses."

That can take the form of funding "support services to help train, place, and retain people in good-paying jobs or registered apprenticeships, with a focus on women, people of color, and others that are underrepresented in infrastructure jobs." A firm’s "workplace culture" should "promote the entry and retention of underrepresented populations."

"These onerous diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements handcuff professionals from making proper evaluations and prevent the government/public from funding the most deserving projects, instead funneling money towards less qualified applicants," the senior Department of Transportation official said.

Those regulations are visible throughout more than 500 federal initiatives across 19 agencies, according to the White House’s chief environmental justice officer Jalonne White-Newsome, who spoke during a White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council meeting on Wednesday. The Free Beacon accessed that meeting, which took place over Zoom and included more than 15 speakers from various federal agencies.

"Since the President took office, the number of publicly available charging ports has grown by over 90 percent, with more than 184,000 publicly-available EV charging ports operational today and 1,000 more coming online each week," a Department of Transportation spokesperson said. "There are currently projects underway in partnership with states and local grantees for 14,000 federally-funded EV charging ports across the country under the NEVI and CFI programs that will build on the 184,000 chargers operational today."

The first electric vehicle charging station funded by the bipartisan infrastructure bill opened last December in a small Ohio town, and no one used the station within the first hours of its opening. Ohio has some of the lowest electric vehicle adoption in the country, with just 0.33 percent of all vehicles in the state operating on battery power, according to Nasdaq.

But the propensity for a local population to actually use an electric vehicle charging station appears to be an afterthought for the Biden administration, Meigs said. Instead the various regulations seem to serve more as a way to pay off Democratic constituencies—in the form of minority-focused contracting and hiring—at the expense of completing any projects in a timely or cost-effective manner.

"At a certain point you have to ask, is the point of these programs to reduce emissions or is the point to spread taxpayer money around and support groups that vote for the Democratic Party?"

==

Make merit matter.

[inlovewithgreta]

you are my sunshine

Larissa Weems x Fem!Reader

Chapter Eleven

Larissa was the first to break from the kiss, needing to catch her breath. Her eyes flicked down to your now partially red lips as hints of her lipstick were now very prominent against your skin. She gently swiped her thumb along your lips, wiping off as much of the red as she could but it was quick to stain. You couldn't help but get lost in her blue eyes as she helped touch you up. It was something she didn't have to do but it was definitely something she wanted to do.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to stare?" She playfully toyed with you as she fixed a few of your stray hairs.

"I can't help it." You said truthfully, "You're just so damn beautiful." You admitted, both of you getting lost in each other's eyes. A hint of a subtle blush appeared along Larissa's pale cheeks, and this was the first time you've ever seen her turn a different shade. You made sure to take a mental note that she turned red due to your compliment. It was a sight that you would definitely like to see again.

You then returned the favor and wiped a small smudge of lipstick from the corner of her mouth, helping her return back to her professional self when you realized you were still at work. Your face slightly faltered as you returned back to reality, and Larissa immediately caught on.

"We still have a meeting. . ." Larissa took a step back, straightening her clothes before looking you over. "Uhm, we'll talk after?" She suggested, just as her cell phone rang on her desk, causing you both to turn your attention to the device.

"Okay. . ." You agreed, unsure of how things were going to turn out as she was still your boss and you were just her assistant, but you made a promise to yourself to not let work come in between you two if things did escalate further.

After she finished her quick chat on her phone, she returned her focus back on you and made the short walk back in your direction. She noticed the unreadable look you had on your face as you stared at your feet, and took your chin between her thumb and index finger, forcibly lifting your face to look at her.

"We'll talk things through. Don't get in your head." She did her best to reassure you.

You nodded your head in response, unsure of what to say, but the gentle smile that spread across her face was all you needed to feel secure, giving her a soft smile in return.

"Now, let's go, shall we? Don't need any wandering eyes if we turn up late together."

You move yourself away from the door as Larissa opens it before gesturing for you to exit first, both of you putting your professional faces back on, and hoping the lingering blush flushing your cheeks would quickly disappear.

The meeting didn't take too long as Larissa was assigning all the teachers to where they would be working during Outreach Day which was this upcoming weekend, and each teacher would be assigned to a certain area. You sat in your chair quietly, completely lost in your thoughts as your eyes focused on Larissa standing in front of the room, her stern voice becoming very prominent to ensure those who were in the room listened to the instructions. To no surprise, you would be accompanying Larissa to watch over everyone to make sure things run smoothly.

Once Larissa concluded her little speech, everyone quickly dispersed before the blonde had any more words to say, not wanting to hear another speech. As the rest of the faculty scattered, you remained in your chair, tapping your fingers along the mahogany table as Larissa made her way around the circular table to take a seat next to you with a heavy sigh.

"I really need to work on the scheduling. These events every weekend are starting to give me a headache." Larissa admitted, leaning her head against her hand, slightly angling her head to the side as her ocean eyes fell upon you.

"You're putting too much pressure on yourself."

"You think so?"

"Oh, I know so." You cracked a smile. "You try your absolute hardest to make sure everything goes perfectly every single time, you have a plethora of students looking up to you for guidance, and you have to make sure everyone stays safe and there are no casualties during any of these events." Your hand slowly slid to her free one lying on the table. "You worry too much."

"It's my job to worry." Larissa softly smiled with a shrug of her shoulders.

"At least let me help more. I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for you." You enunciate your last words.

"Thank you, Y/N." Larissa gently interlaced her slender fingers with yours. "You know, I was wary from the start to let you be my assistant. I thought you wouldn't be able to handle the demands, but I'm glad you proved me wrong."

"Well, having a tall, blonde, and beautiful boss does help keep oneself focused on the task at hand." You sheepishly smiled, heat immediately rising in your cheeks at your admission.

Larissa had to physically hold herself back from kissing your lips, not being able to be affectionate due to the glass windows just at your back. She took her eyes off yours to land on your interlaced fingers as she took her bottom lip between her teeth in attempts at hiding a smile that was forcing itself to be known, and you found it amusing how she was now the one turning slightly red in the cheeks.

Although the faculty had dispersed, both you and Larissa were unaware of a pair of eyes at the corner of the window, suspiciously eyeing the interaction between you and the blonde.

"What's on your mind?" You ask Larissa when she avoided eye contact, and you could tell she was thinking about something.

"No one has ever said that to me before. . ."

"Said what?" You eyed her curiously.

"That I was beautiful."

You noticed the vulnerability in her eyes for the first time since you've met her, and you were glad that you were slowly breaking down her walls and she was truly starting to open up to you.

"I find that hard to believe, I mean look at you! You, Larissa Weems, are the definition of beautiful, and I'd never lie to you about that." You gently squeeze her hand.

The smile Larissa was holding back finally showed itself along her pale features, red lips tugging up into a sweet smile as she had now scanned your face for any hint of deception, and sighing contently when she knew you were being truthful with her.

As Larissa opened her mouth to respond, a loud thump against the door caused Larissa's hand to quickly slide away from yours and bring both of your attentions to the entrance of the room. You partially frowned at the sudden loss of contact as your hand now grew cold without her touch.

"We should go." Larissa was the first to clear her throat and stand, before pulling your chair out for you to stand and follow her. The tall blonde immediately straightened out her outfit as you rose next to her.

"Right. . ."

As Larissa opened the oak door for you to exit first, you came face to face with a wide-eyed Marilyn, quickly fixing her glasses.

"Hope I'm not interrupting! Silly me, I think I left my pen in here, but when I went to go knock I nearly tripped over my own foot and used the door for support." Marilyn forced out a nervous laugh as she avoided all eye contact with Larissa before brushing past you to quickly grab the pen that laid on the floor just underneath the chair she sat at during the meeting. "Found it!" She raised the small writing utensil. "My favorite pen–" Marilyn clears her throat and fixes her glasses before sliding past you once more and wandering off down the hallway, leaving you and Larissa to eye each other with a look of confusion spread across both of your facial features.

"She's uh–"

"Interesting?" You suggest.

"Definitely. . ." Larissa shakes her head, doing her best to avoid a bad feeling she had before remembering what she was wanting to say before you two got interrupted. "Shall I walk you back to your room?"

You nod your head with a small smile as you two slowly walk side by side down the nearly empty hallway. Only a few students were still lingering about, not wanting to end their day just yet as they were still reeling in the excitement of the Poe Cup, and you couldn't help but chuckle when you walked past Enid Sinclair skipping down the hallway with the biggest grin on her face after her and Wednesday had ended the event victorious.

Both you and Larissa walked side by side in comfortable silence, hands accidentally grazing every so often at your closeness when students squeezed by you.

You half expected Larissa to leave once you had opened your door and stepped inside your room, but were surprised when you turned back to her gently leaning against the doorframe with a hand on her hip.

"Y/N. . ." Larissa nervously cleared her throat.

"Yes?"

You raised your eyebrows when Larissa grew quiet for a moment after your response, awaiting with interest to see what she was going to say next.

"What are your plans for tomorrow?"

"I'm assuming working for you. . ."

"Right! About that–" She trailed off, tucking a stray hair behind her ear while you just eyed her with curiosity. "Would you perhaps join me for lunch tomorrow afternoon? We could make a day out of it. If you want, of course, it doesn't have to mean anything. It could just be a boss with her assistant, or two friends going out for food, or–"

"I'd love to." You cut the blonde off to stop her from her fast rambling.

"Oh– that's great!" She sighed, relieved that you had agreed to go with her. "I will fetch you, say, around 11 o'clock?" She asked with a new sparkle in her eyes.

"Sounds good to me! I look forward to it." You smile brightly at her, which helps bring her confidence back to where she likes it.

"As do I. . . Uhm, I will see you then."

"Okay."

"Okay, goodnight." Larissa then takes her leave, leaning herself heavily against the outside of your door as her mind processes what just happened.

You had smiled to yourself once she left, kicking your heels off and walking towards your dresser to grab out a pair of pajamas. But, just as you had opened the wooden drawer, your door had flown back open, causing you to turn your focus towards the noise to see Larissa entering your room.

"What are you doing?" You asked her curiously, visible confusion spreading across your face.

"I forgot something. . ." Larissa vaguely explained before her hands had slid to your face to cup your cheeks before she pressed her red lips against yours in a heat of the moment kiss that nearly had you go weak in the knees. Her kiss was soft yet needy as she locked her lips with yours.

When she pulled away, she just smiled to herself as she wiped a small smudge from her lipstick off your bottom lip, while you stood there with doe-eyes as you were still processing her unexpected kiss.

"Goodnight, Y/N." She turned on her heels to leave your room, giving you one last look over her shoulders before closing the door behind her and making her way to her own room, feeling proud of herself for having the courage to ask you to lunch.

Your fingers grazed over your bottom lip as if you could still feel the electricity from her lips meeting yours. You fell back against your bed with a contented sigh, mind reeling from the past few minutes as Larissa went from vulnerable back to her confident self when you had agreed to spend the next day with her, surprised that she came up with the idea to begin with.

You couldn't help but smile to yourself when you thought about what tomorrow had in store for you.

—

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