#Self-Analysis and Research

[artzonestuff]

Differences Between the Southern and Northern Renaissance: A Study Through Jan van Eyck's "Portrait of a Man" (self portrait?)"

Written by ArtZoneStuff, 2024

The Renaissance, a period of cultural rebirth and revival of classical learning, manifested differently in the southern and northern regions of Europe. While both regions shared a common interest in humanism, art, and science, the way these ideas were expressed varied significantly due to differing cultural, social, and economic contexts.

The Southern Renaissance, centered in Italy, emphasized classical antiquity, proportion, perspective, and human anatomy. Artists like Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo (1475-1564), and Raphael (1483-1520) focused on idealized beauty, harmony, and balanced compositions.

In contrast, the Northern Renaissance, which flourished in regions such as the Netherlands, Germany, and Flanders, focused more on meticulous detail, naturalism, and domestic interiors. Northern artists like Jan van Eyck (1390-1441), Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), and Hieronymus Bosch (?-1516) were known for their detailed and realistic depictions of nature, landscapes, and everyday life. Their work often contained rich symbolism and a focus on surface textures and fine details.

Jan Van Eyck's self portrait

Jan van Eyck's "Portrait of a Man" (Appendix 1), also known as his Self-Portrait from 1433, is a small-scale Dutch portrait measuring 25.9 x 33.1 cm (Google Arts and Culture, n.d.). The man in the painting emerges from a dark background, with his body depicted in three-quarter view. On his head, he wears a red chaperon, often mistaken for a turban, styled upward rather than hanging down (Nash, 2008, p.154). His dark fur-lined garment resembles the attire in "The Arnolfini Portrait" (Appendix 2), indicative of wealth during an era when textiles were extremely costly (ArtUK, 2019). His detailed face features a faint stubble, white highlights in his eyes and on his cheekbones, non-idealized features such as wrinkles and veins on his forehead, showcasing the Northern realism (Hall, 2014, p.44).

As described by the English art historian James Hall, the painting appears almost fleeting and alive - with the gaze seeming to capture the viewer before the face, and just like that, the penetrating stare turns away, perhaps followed by the light streaming from the right (Hall, 2014, p.43). The portrait conveys that the artist scrutinizes everything closely, including himself, without losing sight of the bigger picture (Hall, 2014, p.43). All these naturalistic details clearly indicate a Flemish painting.

The work is considered a self-portrait due to the frame. Jan van Eyck often used frames he designed and painted to enhance understanding and add meaning to his works (Hall, 2014, p.43; The National Gallery, 2021, 4:45-5.15). The gilded original frame of "Portrait of a Man" is crucial for interpreting the piece. Inscribed at the top of the frame is Jan van Eyck’s motto: "Als Ich can," translated to English: "As I can." At the bottom is his signature, and the date in Roman numerals: October 21, and in Arabic numerals, the year 1433. This results in the inscription: "Jan van Eyck made me on October 21, 1433" (Hall, 2014, p.43). He capitalizes the "I" in "Ich," playing on the pun Ich/Eyck. The motto can be interpreted as either boastful, "As I can," or modest, "As best as I can" (Hall, 2014, p.43).

The inscription highlights the relationship between words and image, indicating his awareness of his talent. His skill in painting surpasses that of a craftsman, which painters in this period was considered as. "As I can" suggests he is the only one capable of achieving such stylistic naturalism which cannot be imitated (The National Gallery, 2021, 5:10-5:58). "Jan van Eyck made me" also reflects a high degree of self-awareness, as he claims a painting of this quality, emphasizing that he created it and is conscious of his own abilities (The National Gallery, 2021, 5:10-5:58). All of this, along with his signing of his works as one of the first artists to do so, demonstrates a desire not to remain an anonymous craftsman (Hall, 2014, p.43; Farmer, 1968, p.159; Blunt, 1962).

The motto "Als Ich can" appears on several of his works, but the self-portrait is the only one where it is so prominent and clear. Additionally, the motto is placed at the top of the frame, where he would usually write the model’s name, thus, the motto can be seen as the model's identity (The National Gallery, 2021, 5:15-6:25). This, along with his direct gaze at the viewer, suggesting it was painted from a mirror, are the strongest indicators that the portrait is a self-portrait (Hall, 2014, p.43).

However, this can be taken with some skepticism, as other portraits by him, such as "Portrait of Margaret van Eyck" (Appendix 3) and "Portrait of Jan De Leeuw" (Appendix 4), share the same penetrating gaze (Pächt, 1994, p.107). This might instead indicate his realism, where the painter’s position does not function as an observer but rather takes an active role. The model’s direct gaze towards the viewer shows that the model has looked at Jan Van Eyck. This shows Jan Van Eyck possessing an active role, which was very different from painters in this period, and by doing so, creating a new respect for the painter as an artist, again showcasing his self-awareness of his position and talent (Pächt, 1994, pp.106-108).

Literature

Books and Journals:

Hall, James (2014). The self-portrait, a cultural history. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd 

Nash, Susie (2008). Northeren Renaissance Art. New York: Oxford University Press.

Blunt, Anthony (1962). The Social Position of the Artist. Artistic Theory in Italy, 1450-1600. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press 

Farmer, David (1968). Reflections on a Van Eyck Self-Portrait. Oud Holland. S. 159 

Online

Google Arts and Culture (n.d.): Portrait of a Man in a Red Turban (selfportrait). Found at: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/portrait-of-a-man-in-a-red-turban-selfportrait/SAFcS1U8kYssmg?hl=en  

ArtUK: Butchart, Amber (2019). Fashion reconstructed: the dress in Van Eyck's Arnolfini portrait. Found at: https://artuk.org/discover/stories/fashion-reconstructed-the-dress-in-van-eycks-arnolfini-portrait 

The National Gallery (2021). Jan van Eyck's self portrait in 10 minutes or less | National Gallery. Found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMJK1EDG2X8&t=1s&ab_channel=TheNationalGallery 

[fundielicious-simblr]

Bonus!

I finally bit the bullet and did an updated group photo for gen 3 because I wanted to replace the header I have for this account right now. I'm still stuck on what to do for a profile picture, but I'll figure it out eventually I guess. When planning out the posing for this, I was inspired by @duggardata to do some info points for my sims, so I'm going to be doing some basic and random facts about these little bunches of pixels to end the year. This ended up being a mini thesis, so grab a snack if you plan on scrolling down, and I'll put the post under the cut to save your scrolling the TL. When I started this it was meant to be a small cute post with random information, and has now become an actual analysis. If I've missed anything or if i find more that I can talk about, there definitely can be more of these later down the line.

I'm going to queue this for 11:30pm my timezone, so I wish you all a very happy new year, may you get everything you desire and more!

This is all 36 people that make up the 3rd generation. I've arranged them in birth order, so this is technically chronological I guess. I did mess up when I got to the end because I forgot about Ashton (Allan & Casandra's 13th - the irony 😂) and plopped her further down than she should be.

Names L-R:

Back: Adalynn Leonard, Barrett Collins, Macie Collins, Carter Paulson, Abbey Hill, Brittany Dahlmann, Zoe Moreno, Valentina Townsend, Alan Paulson, Tanner Collins, Maggie Wright, Celeste Paulson.

Middle: Kyra Shearer, Reece Collins, Kristyn Crocker, Sabrina Crawford, Beckett Collins, Amira Eichelburg, Priscilla Roberts, Annette Collins, Jarrod Paulson, James Hunt, Charles Collins, Zachary Paulson.

Front: Rory Godwin, Ruby Rae Godwin, Parker Collins, Ava Grace Godwin, Conner Paulson, Jarrett Paulson, Gabriela Hunt, James Lee Collins, Matthew Collins, Ashton Collins, Amelia Godwin, Archie Collins.

Now onto the stats!

Basics

Out of the 36 :-

Men: 17

Women: 19

The split between men and women is 49/51 (don't quote me on my maths, I dropped maths classes as soon as I was able to 😂) Within the siblings groups it's definitely not as even, though the final results even themselves out. Gender roles are heavily enforced in these households, so ones that are female heavy (Allan and Casandra's 8 girls to 5 boys) compared to those that are male heavy (Claire and Ryan's 6 boys to 4 girls) will have different experiences. Having girls being born earlier in the birth order definitely helps lighten the load when there's a new children every other year.

Marriage

Marriage is definitely a stage of life that fundies emphasise for their kids, with purity culture pushing for them to be married as soon as possible to (A) prevent sin and (B) produce children as fast as possible. Of course, there's those for whom marriage doesn't happen at the desired time, but in times like this the advice is to wait "on the Lord's timing".

For those eligible for marriage out of the 36:

21 are married

1 is engaged

1 is in a courtship

The average age for marriage is 22. The youngest age being 18 (Maggie, Reece, Priscilla) and the oldest being 29 (Abbey)

I don't have exact data for the courtships so I can't do an average, but I can say the longest relationship prior to engagement was Abbey and Adam's - they dated for two years before getting engaged.

Speaking of dating, fundies and many other conservative christians push courting rather than dating. They reason that it's more serious and with the purpose of marriage, and if you add in purity culture there's the argument that they're saving 'pieces of their heart' for their future spouse. Out of the 23 couples who are either married or on their way there, only 2 couples kissed before marriage: Abbey & Adam and Brittany & Colton. These two couples weren't held to as strict standards as their cousins due to their parents outlook on things, they already knew that their daughters didn't personally agree with the convictions on purity (plus with brittany marrying into a well known political family, they saw it as a means to an end 😂) The other 19 couples (soon to be 20) saved their first kiss for the altar, as will the one courting couple (Zachary & Kelsey). Only 3 couples had no touch courtships the whole way through (and this number is debatable because I myself couldn't keep a storyline straight hehe - but from the character personalities and different plotlines let's agree with 3): Reece & Stacie, Alan & Tessa, and Tanner & Tabitha. In all 3 cases it was the girls family that set the stricter rules, which is more common as girls are engineered to guard their purity.

As if common with real life fundies, the older the kids get the faster they get in courtships that end in marriage. This is one of that things that you can't really predict since people's stories are different, Adalynn was the first one to get married 13 years ago, and the next family wedding was Barrett's 3 years later. In the first 9 years since the 3rd generation started getting married, 8 couples were married. The beginning of the next decade is when things started to happen in a flurry, 5 couples got married with four of them having their first child in the same year (this wont make sense, but if i try to make it fit real world parameters i'll acc go insane HAHA - this is fictional so it's allowed not to make sense) The most couples to get married in a year is 7 couples, and with the 13 left I doubt that there will be the same back to back that was happening earlier. The girls have gotten married faster than the boys, but that was to be expected when you consider that gender roles play heavily into fundie culture. It's easier to marry off a daughter to be a wife and mother than having to marry of a son, she will be provided for but he needs to be in the place where he can provide for a family that has the potential to grow exponentially. Obviously because this is a game where reality is suspended, the men in the game don't have to do much to be providers.

Education

Education is important as it shapes a person's thoughts and opinions, therefore fundies are more than likely to homeschool their children so that they are in control of what their child is exposed to. For those who think total at home education isn't where the Lord is leading them, there are other options available such as a homeschool co-op and private christian schools, with the last resort being the public education system.

The 2nd generation are quite diverse with their belief systems, influencing their thoughts and opinions around how they educated their children - and let's be honest, finances do play a certain role here whether you like it or not.

Allan & Casandra - Casandra totally homeschooled all 13 of their children through K-12.

Branden & Lea - Lea homeschooled their 3 children from kindergarten through to grade 8, and for high school the kids attended a private christian school.

Claire and Ryan - Claire totally homeschooled/currently homeschools their 10 children.

Danielle and Sebastian - Danielle totally homeschooled/homeschools their two children.

Elaine and Taylor - Elaine homeschooled/homeschools their 5 children through a homeschool co-op that she taught at prior to having children. The kids are educated by various teachers that specialise in different subjects using an approved curriculum.

Fletcher and Cara - They've chosen to send their son to a private christian K-12 school.

Grayson and Keira - Keira homeschools the kids until they're in grade 8, then they send the kids to a private christian school for high school.

When it comes to university, fundies definitely don't push it onto their children as they see it as a place where they'd be brainwashed. As the times have changed, there have been more and more conservative christian universities that have opened up that cater to fundies, so there are more fundies getting a tertiary education.

Right now there are only 8 out of the 36 sims that have gotten degrees or are actively pursuing them:

Beckett - He's the only one of his siblings to attach themselves to a university, even if his degree was in Bible & Missions at a very conservative bible college. His siblings' skill sets are either self taught or they were mentored by someone, though his sister Amira is doing an associates degree at some point (I just haven't figured out in what yet).

Abbey - She has an distinguished degree in biology and currently works as a marine biologist. I sent her and her sister to the in game university and physically sent them to classes and everything (which is something I'm never doing again HAHA). Back then I also didn't have the thought to send them to a christian university, so let's pretend she just skipped everything evolutionary for her degree.

Brittany - She has a distinguished degree in communications and worked as a political commentator before getting married. She and her sister were the first girls to go to university from their cohort (as well as the first to not be homeschooled), especially since they're in the first phase of the 3rd generation when the 'vibe' in their extended family was very conservative.

Tanner - He has his MD and is now working as a doctor (using the in-game university mechanics) he was also the first boy to attend a secular university, but there obviously weren't as many opinions on him doing it than on his sisters doing it.

James - He has his degree in Bible Counselling with a focus on Youth and Ministry from a local bible college in his area. It was a two year degree to help create missionaries that could be sent out to help churches. He met his wife whilst at university and they married as soon as they graduated, they now live in henley on Bagley as missionaries assigned to help grow a church there. His sister Gabriella doesn't know what she wants to do (i also have no clue), so that will be revealed in due time.

Kyra - She got her degree in early education and is now a kindergarten teacher at a private christian school, she even met her husband at the school through his niblings. Her mother (Elaine) being a teacher and her father also being college educated was definitely an inspiration to her. Being educated in a homeschool co-op also helped her realise her love of teaching.

Rory - Rory is currently at a local university getting a law degree (for my game i'm using a mix of education systems, incase you get confused) and is currently enjoying it. He initially wanted to join the police force like his uncle and cousin, but decided on enrolling in university instead. His parent's are encouraging him down the political route, but with a law degree he can do anything.

Ruby Rae - She's currently in nursing school and is enjoying learning the curriculum. In my head she's always been that character that I'd send off to nursing school, especially with her uncle marrying a nurse, it just felt meant to be for her character. I initially envisioned one of allan and casandra's girls maybe going to nursing school too, but in the end it didn't pan out.

The only ones I can say are definitely attending college in some form are James Lee (Fletcher), Matthew and Archie (Grayson). They'll be like their parents and go to fairly conservative universities and go on to live your average fundie-lite conservative life.

Children

CW: There will be mentions of pregnancy, problems with getting and staying pregnant, pregnancy loss, and infertility of various kinds.

Fundies think of children as gifts from God, with many taking that ideology and running with it, usually ending up with children in the double digits if their fertility agrees with it. The notion of being 'quiverfull' implies that a couple don't use any methods of contraception, with the idea that if God wants them to have a child then they will conceive and birth one. 6 couples of the 2nd generation (Allan to Elaine, then Grayson) were all open to whatever kids the Lord would give them, and they ended up with a variety of children - one couple having 13 and another having just 2. Life throws various curveballs, or as they say "the Lord works in mysterious ways", so there can be many plans that don't work out - let's not forget that people's fertility isn't always textbook. Casandra had 2 miscarriages that I didn't plan in game, the mod I have gets triggered by certain conditions and the alert was a surprise to me. I don't roll for pregnancy losses, unless difficulties getting and/or staying pregnant are part of that character's story for whatever reason e.g. Madelynn, Stacie, etc.

Out of the 21 married couples, only 4 don't have children: Abbey & Adam, Beckett & Mandy, James & Emma, and the newlyweds Parker and Lana.

Abbey and Adam - They're not quiverfull so they've got a timeline for when they'll have children, but they definitely want them.

Beckett and Mandy - They've been married for around 4 years and have not yet had children, they're marked as a quiverfull couple so they're not preventing pregnancy, there's just no children as of yet. Honestly speaking, I haven't thought that far about the ways that children appear in their storyline but I have 3-4 options about where things could go.

James and Emma - These two are in the same boat as Beckett and Mandy in terms of their views on children, they want them but haven't 'been blessed' with them yet. In the actual game they're side characters, so I let the 'Neighbourhood Stories' take over their story unless I see it necessary to intervene.

Parker and Lana - They're newlyweds, so there could be a pregnancy announcement from them any day now. Though I have taken real life parameters into consideration with how fast a couple does conceive, since in real life it can take the average 'healthy' couple up to a year to get pregnant. So you'll just have to wait and see when Lana will be posting a sonogram 😂

Of the 17 couples that have children, they have birthed a whopping 50 children that make up the ever growing 4th generation. There are currently only 2 pregnant women that are gestating 3 children, which is I think the lowest to ever happen by holiday season. The speed at which they have children has definitely sped up the more couples get married. When Adalynn got married in 2010, she had cousins still being born, so for the first five years (2010 - 2015) the 10 grandchildren that were born came from her, Barrett, and Valentina (let's not forget that Kyleigh had triplets then twins back to back, so she went from zero to five children in 3 years)

The 10 children born in the 4 years after that are from Adalynn, Barrett, Carter, Valentina, and Brittany. The next 3 years (2020-2023; i use years to count so i don't get lost, but I make it a point not to mention years in the posts cause that adds opportunities for confusion 😂) were a wedding and baby boom, bringing us to the present day. 2020 had 5 couples marry and birth four children, 2021 holds the record for the most weddings and the most children born: 7 couples married and there were 12 children born. 2023 isn't finished in the game, but so far there has been 1 couple married with another set to marry at the end of the year. So far in 2023 there have been 5 children born, and the pregnancies that are in game aren't set to give birth this year so that's the number for that year.

With all these births happening in waves essentially, how fast are these sims multiplying? In true duggardata fashion I've got the intervals ready for you:

Adalynn & Mason - 9 children in 13 years of marriage: 7 singletons and 1 pair of twins, 8 boys and 1 girl.

Skills

Fundies are known to have their kids learn a skills, usually in the form of musical instruments. From my own childhood as well as research I've gathered via many hours of watching and reading, a musical instrument is the best thing to learn as the 'easiest' way to glorify God is through music. Music plays an important role in worship services, and so having children that can play instruments well allows for them to 'be of use' for worship; families also capitalise on said talent and travel around playing music as a ministry.

The skillset of the 2nd generation does play a role into how their children ended up:

Allan worked as a carpenter (and by carpenter i mean he reached level 10 of the woodworking skill and would just make things to sell) whilst being a Pastor, before retiring and working as a Pastor fulltime. He didn't learn how to play an instrument as he was focused on learning a skill that would help provide for a family.

Branden found his skills in writing, he worked as a writer in the writer field and wrote books that now provide him with royalties, like his brother, he wasn't enrolled in music lessons as his parents had other priorities set for him.

Claire was enrolled in music lessons and found she had a real skills for playing the piano as well as writing music, her mother also had her and her sisters learn homemaking skills such as gardening, cooking, balancing a checkbook and how to run a household. Claire put being a wife and mother first, but also continues to use her skills to minister for the Lord. She's become well known for her performance as well as her hymnal music arrangements (think Kim Collingsworth-esque vibe) and also teaches music as various music camps from time to time.

Danielle learnt how to play the violin as well as learning how to be a homemaker, and as she got married later in life she was the person who stepped in to run the house after her mother passed. She uses her skills whenever asked, like playing at church or at various worship events, but she's mainly focused on gardening and baking.

Elaine learnt how to play the piano and used to play at church and various events, but found her joy was in teaching. She took over homeschooling her younger siblings and went on to earn her teaching qualifications.

Fletcher was taught the piano by his older sisters, but lessons weren't pushed on him by his parents. He went on to focus on fitness and joined the police force after finishing highschool.

Grayson was more book focused and didn't learn an instrument, similar to Elaine he focused more on books and studying and ended up going to medical school.

Harley is the youngest girl and learnt how to play the guitar as a girl, as she was the youngest she didn't have to perform as often as the older siblings did. She went on to get a degree in Fine Arts and now works as the editor in chief at San Myshuno's biggest fashion magasine.

It's easiest to display the information based on the sibling order from gen 2, so here's the list of the various skillsets of the 3rd generation:

A -

Casandra being your typical conservative fundie woman, made sure that all the kids got music lessons, whatever she couldn't teach herself she found someone to teach them. Piano: Since Casandra plays the piano she taught the kids until they were in their teens, then if they chose to continue they could get lessons with Claira. Adalynn, Macie, Zoe, Beckett, Charles and Ashton chose to learn the piano and so far Zoe is the only one who has taken that and made it a career of sorts like her aunt Claire. Violin: Macie also chose to learn violin, with Amira, Priscilla, and Annette also learning the violin. Guitar: The boys mostly chose to learn the guitar, Barrett, Reece, and Parker all chose the guitar, with Maggie being the only girl to choose to learn the guitar. Of the 13 kids to learn a musical instrument, only Zoe has taken it and made it something that monetarily supports her.

B -

Lea learned how to play piano growing up, and enrolled all three of her children in piano lessons. Abbey, Brittany, and Tanner all had piano lessons until they were in their teens and focused on different extracurricular activities once they joined the private christian school.

C -

Claire made sure all her children know an instrument, the four girls (Valentina, Celeste, Kristyn, Sabrina) all know both the piano and the violin, with the 6 boys all learning piano and Carter and Alan also learning how to play the guitar. There were many suggestions of them starting a family band, but Claire and Ryan didn't feel that the Lord was leading them in that direction.

D -

Both James and Emma have learnt to play the piano, James' wife Emma can play the piano, violin, and the flute and has her degree (from a biblical college) in music with a focus on worship music.

E -

Elaine put all the kids into either piano or violin lessons, Kyra did lessons in both until she was a teenager, Rory did piano until he was a teenager, Ruby Rae did violin lessons and still plays at church, Ava Grace continues to play Piano, and Amelia still does violin lessons.

F -

Fletcher and Cara put their son into organised sports, so no music lessons this side.

G -

Keira wanted her boys to have some musical knowledge, so Matthew does guitar lessons and Archie does piano lessons.

That's all I've got for now, but as I was doing this I definitely found more things that I could write about in a few months. I hope you enjoy this!

[obita-wanita-kenobi]

Do NOT title the special edition of your magazine "Jesus' life through the eyes of artists worldwide" AND THEN NOT ANALYSE ANY OF THE PAINTINGS????

HELLO?! NATGEO I WANT A CHAT. WHAT IS THIS?

[on-stolen-sunbeams]

by the time I graduate I may as well have a second degree in flipping mind-reading.

[what-if-a-dragon]

Finals during summer session blow.

Can someone(s) send me good vibes? I need to go buy more monster if I plan on turning on this research proposal and starting then finishing my data analysis by Sunday night.

I want to fall on the floor and cry, but that would take away any energy I have to write my lit review sections in the morning.

[aimarketresearch]

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[swampjawn]

Time to talk an unnecessary amount about floors!

Episode 6 of Dungeon Meshi was produced in collaboration with a smaller studio, Enishiya - and it went way harder than I expected, for being made up of two relatively simple and self contained stories focusing on one character each.

And you can really see how those extra resources meant the animators could give full focus to both halves of the episode. Let's take a look at one piece that stole the show.

The first half was handled primarily by episode director/storyboard artist Keita Nagahara and co-animation director Hirotoshi (or Hiroaki? [1]) Arai. It's actually kinda insane how much of this section can be attributed to these two.

But the real star of the show is the second half, Chilchuck vs the mimic, led by co-animation director Toya Ooshima in his first animation director role for TV anime!

And the biggest aspect that knocked my dang boots off was something that's very consistent with Ooshima's style: background animation!

By animating the backgrounds rather than using painted still images, Ooshima and the team of other similarly skilled animators are able to create these beautiful dynamic camera movements that wouldn't be possible otherwise. Like these cuts by Takeshi Maenami where the camera becomes an expressive part of the scene, zipping forward and backward, and tilting to emphasize the speed of this murderous hermit crab. (Maenami's style is also very recognizable here - snappy timing and quick camera movements)

Or this cut by the incredible Kaito Tomioka which cleverly combines a traditional background for the walls with a fully animated floor. The level of detail in these tiles is just completely insane, and used to great effect with this wide, diagonal angle, and the way the camera tentatively drifts forward before reversing direction, and the tiles blur out as it speeds up.

I don't think I'm the only one caught off guard by how much they full-assed this little side story, but it was a pleasant surprise!

I broke down the entire episode in this video here. A lot of research went into this one, and I think it's the best one of these videos I've made so far, so if you're at all interested in more of this type of analysis in video form, I would really appreciate it if you checked it out, or re-blogged this post! Thanks

[1] It's listed as Hirotoshi on Anime News Network, but Hiroaki on a key frame that Studio Trigger shared on Twitter, so I'm not sure which one is wrong.

[commercetheories]

Understanding with Market Analysis and Research

[xtruss]

US ‘New Cold War’ Against China Is Self-Destructive

— By Jan Oberg | September 05, 2023

Illustration:Xia Qing/Global Times

Editor's Note:

The China-US bilateral relationship is one of the most important in the world. The trajectory of this relationship has attracted international attention. Still, the US is stepping up its efforts to suppress China on various fronts such as politics and diplomacy, economy, trade, technology, and military security, showing the true meaning of a cold war. The Global Times invites Chinese and foreign experts to expose the US' manipulation of the "new cold war" and reveal the damage it may potentially cause to the world.

A couple of years ago, The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, TFF, in Sweden, of which I am the director, published "Behind The Smokescreen. An Analysis of the West's Destructive China Cold War Agenda And Why It Must Stop."

Among several perspectives of the US/Western accusation industry, we looked into the medialized stories about genocide in Xinjiang, forced labor and Taiwan, and nine mainstream media manipulation methods that aim to manufacture a systematically negative image of China in the Western mind.

We found that a cold war occurs by influencing the "free" press - also the Western state press - through three main mechanisms: a) Fake or fabricated stories, b) Omission - for instance, of every positive aspect of China's developments, and c) Source Ignorance: using the same few sources spreading disinformation, from the US rippling through and being repeated ad nauseam and never checking the root empirical evidence or validity of the assertions, in short, FOSI.

Ultimately, this causes a decay of the crucial and critical role of mainstream media and their conversion toward tabloid banalizing black-and-white worldviews - "we good, them evil" - that promote confrontation and warfare, all operated by the Military-Industrial-Media-Academic Complex, MIMAC.

Tragically for democracy, mainstream media have become the leaders in promoting militarism, armament and legitimizing the empire and its wars. What are the elements of the cold war in all this?

First and foremost, the cold war is a psycho-political phenomenon. It dichotomizes our incredibly complex world into two: good versus evil. It seeks to preserve our superiority and keep others submissive and weaker. It promises war if its deterrence fails. And it precludes a world of equals, cooperation and mutual learning. If you are No. 1 in a system, you do not learn and listen; you teach, bribe and issue orders.

Cold wars may go well for the cold warrior when in ascendancy. In the "old" Cold War in Europe, two fundamentally Western systems - one based on Karl Marx, the other on Adam Smith, to put it crudely - competed while the US/NATO ascended after 1945. On all power scales, it was superior to the Soviet Union and its system. We know how it ended.

The winner then - foolishly - took it all: The US/NATO world did what it pleased within its exceptionalist "international rules-based order," not the UN Charter and other parts of international law. Catchwords: out-of-NATO-area military actions in violation of NATO's own Treaty - Yugoslavia - and regime change/resource/anti-terrorism wars on an assembly line basis; NATO's expansion against all promises given to the Soviet Union.

It all went so well and seemed so easy. Why listen to or empathize with others? Why focus on the changing world when "we" are the change-makers, God's own country par excellence? If we can get away with it, we do it. However, prudence, statesmanship and long-range thinking would have compelled global impact analyses instead of narcissist imperial self-aggrandizement.

The US Unilaterally Initiates New Cold War Against China! Illustration: Liu Xidan/Global Times

It went so well that the West overlooked the Rest: China's impressive socio-economic development based on an eclectic combination of Chinese concepts - that the West still doesn't understand - and imported Western elements; the establishment and maturation of organizations like BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and African and other regional organizations.

The West also did not sense the actual price that would be paid for its militarism: It's huge and growing burden on all civilian sectors, including technology and economy, and - in the wake of the history of colonialism and imperialism - the Rest becoming more and more nationally and collectively self-reliant - a concept developed about 50 years ago and ridiculed by the West.

And what was the result? Well, this is written the day after BRICS expanded with essential countries in Africa, the Middle East and South America - a huge step toward a multipolar and cooperative Rest saying: We can do without you, America and Europe! If you want to cooperate on new, reasonable terms, we are ready, but the days of your Western hegemony and universalization of Western values are coming to an end.

Such is global macro history: Empires have come and gone, and that of the US/NATO is the last: Nobody is so naive as to believe that it has a God-given right to be the ruler of the whole world and force others to accept its values.

The enormous world order changing before our very eyes is as predictable as it is inexorable. Only the ignorance - blinding intoxication - of power overlooks it. The West has run its race and become over-extended, insensitive to other cultures and ways of thinking, and unable to adapt to system changes but insisted on steering unilaterally. It's losing legitimacy in the eyes of others, relative economic and political strength and the creative ability to outline a better future world that the Rest feels attracted to: Classical decline indicators!

What I have said here is pure Gandhian thinking: You may harm others by using violence - physical, economic, military, structural, cultural and environmental - but, sooner rather than later, your violence boomerangs: It corrupts, debases, brutalizes and makes you more loathed than loved. A critical mass will develop.

In a deeper socio-cultural sense, the Christian Occident has never appropriately problematized those many types of violence upon which it built its relations with the Rest.

The West's cold war on China is about so much more than the issues that dominate daily news - chips, trade, Taiwan and the topics of the permanent accusation industry. It's about profound tectonic changes in humanity's way of developing - and about whether or not the West will join and contribute or become a de-developed periphery in the new world. And whether its empire will go down with a whimper or a bang, or adapt to macro history's unavoidable changes.

We know very little about humanity's future in the next 100 or so years. The safest philosophy will be for the Rest to, despite all, extend compassion and cooperation to the good forces of the West and abstain from tit-for-tat against its evil ones.

—The Author is the Director of the Sweden-based Think Tank Transnational Foundation for Peace & Future Research.

[3verythingiknowaboutlove]

the limit does not exist!

how spencer helps college!reader understand a little calculus and therefore understand how he loves her.

MDNI | smut word count: 1931 warnings & tags & stuff: fem reader, fingering, oral sex (f receiving), lil bit of overstim hehe, pure unbridled affection, LOVE, FLUFF, hugging, reader cries, this was in fact meant to be written for spence's birthday... sorry about that school is kicking my butt lets just pretend it's october! author's note: this one is for my folks who HATE their calculus class and want spencer reid to give them head instead <3 maybe this can help you romanticize it a bit. i think this is classified as self indulgent…like REALLY self indulgent… hah... anyway i hope you enjoy! let me know your thoughts if u have any, i loveeeee you!! have a great day my hands are shaking posting this smut is so scary!!!!!

You sat in bed, staring down your notebook, eyes narrowed. Limits stared back at you. You were just about at your own limit, if you were being honest. 

Your brain, however sharp and witty it may be, is absolutely not one designed for calculus. A literary analysis essay? Done in half an hour. In depth scientific research project? Easiest months of your life. But there’s something about finding the instantaneous rate of change of a curve at one point in time by finding the slope of a tangent line that hasn't clicked yet. 

A slew of other papers- notes, practice worksheets printed from obscure websites, and formulas- surround you, a sea of unfinished thoughts from the past month of the semester.

You bite on the end of your pen, the little hope you had for a good grade in this class slipping further and further away with each passing moment, like the last ember dying in the remains of a fire.

What you really wanted to be doing was celebrating Spencer’s birthday with him right now. A chocolate cake lay on the kitchen counter and pasta simmers on the stove, but you and your boyfriend had agreed to do a solid hour of work before the celebrations ensued.

You were never particularly strong willed when it came to following through on such agreements.

“Teach me calculus,” you say, a very impressive three minutes later, flopping down on the couch. Your head makes its way to its forever resting spot, Spencer’s lap. He raises his eyebrows slightly, thumb reaching out to trace over the slope of your nose. His eyes flit between you and the file to the side of him. 

“I thought we agreed on an hour.”

“Yeah. But it wouldn’t be a very productive hour if I didn’t know how to do what I have to do. And I missed you.” 

He sighs quietly, closing the file next to him. 

“What do you not understand?” You smile at that, loving how quickly you won.

“Related rates. Like, conceptually.” 

Spencer hums in response.

“It’s October. You’re not even supposed to know related rates yet.”

“Fine. Then let's open presents,” you respond, smiley. His eyebrows get impossibly higher, hand stroking your cheek delicately.

“No. I want our night to be a little more stress free when we celebrate, okay? How about you think about that lovely cake you made for me. What if I decided to squash it so that the diameter would get bigger, going from…let’s say, 20 centimeters to 26 centimeters in 3 seconds, and the height would get smal-”

“That wouldn't be nice. It took me like four hours,” you interrupt, grumbling. He cracks a smile.

“For the sake of the example, let's say I was an awful boyfriend and really wanted to ruin all the hard work you put in for me.”

You roll your eyes.

“Hey,” he says, hand moving down to touch your jaw softly. “Don’t do that. Don’t be difficult. I’m helping you.”

“Sorry. I guess I need you to zoom out a little. I don’t really get why I’m learning this as a whole.” Spencer’s eyes pore into yours, staring down at you adoringly for a small moment as he comes up with an answer.

“Calculus helps us begin to explain the unexplainable by harnessing what we can,” Spencer says simply. “Einstein once said that, ‘Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas,’ which makes it simple in practice, but I actually like to think about it as the opposite philosophically. Trying to find logic in the more poetic ideas.”

You cuddle deeper in his lap.

“Think he would agree with that?” you ask. “I do answer to Einstein before you, unfortunately.” Spencer bends down to kiss your hair.

“I think so. He also had a really nice quote where he remarked that, ‘Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love.’ He said, ‘How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.’”

Spencer takes a deep breath.

“Math doesn’t explain how I love you. It can’t. But I love the fact that it tries to. It kinda makes you wanna learn it as best you can.”

You process that for a long second and nod. He keeps talking.

… 

Presents get opened, and cake gets eaten before dinner. Of course.

You’re now in bed, on top of the covers, forcing Spencer to give you a fashion show of the new sweater vest and tie you got him. He turns to you after putting it on, and you beam. 

“I really like it. You look great. Do you like it?” you ask. He nods, smiling back at you.

“I’m gonna wear it to work tomorrow.” 

You beckon for Spencer to come closer, sitting up in bed. Your hands go out to the tie, tugging at the knot softly. He stares down at you until eventually interrupting your motions with a slow kiss, hands cupping your face.

“You’re so pretty,” he mutters.

He pulls away and finishes what you started, folding the tie neatly and setting it in the drawer. Then comes the vest, and soon enough, he’s just in his boxers.

“You’re the pretty one,” you say quietly. “Come to bed.” He crawls on next to you, tugging you into his arms. “Happy birthday, Spence. I love you.” He dips his forehead to your shoulder.

“I love you.”

Before you know it, he’s shifted on top of you, moving down. Fast. You blink, hard, trying to rid your head of the hazy endorphins as you register what he’s doing.

“What? No, I was gonna do that. It’s your birthday. You don’t have to,” you protest.

“But I really, really want to, darling girl,” he murmurs back, kissing your knee and softly pushing it to the side.

You fluster and Spencer just looks at you, fingers tracing shapes on your waist, waiting for you to be ready. 

“Well. Um. Okay. If you insist. I can’t really deny the birthday boy.” Your voice is small, and a little giddy smile grows on your face. Of course Spencer Reid would want to give you head on his birthday. 

He smiles a little against the bare skin of your hip where your top meets your shorts. Then he meets your eyes. 

“You know you can, though, right?” he asks, voice a little more serious. You reach out to touch his hair softly. 

“Yeah. I know.”

Fingers hook your shorts, gently pulling them down. He presses a kiss to your thigh, and then he suddenly looks down at it. 

“Soft,” he murmurs, like he’s making a mental note. He presses another, and another, incrementally going closer and closer to your soaked through underwear. His eyebrows scrunch when he sees the wet spot. “All this from a few kisses?” 

You blush, unable to respond. 

Spencer’s fingers hook a centimeter of your underwear. “These?” he checks.

“Yes, please,” you manage. He tugs them down, silently noticing the slickness of your sex, and exhales shakily.

“How many times on average does it take for a guy to call you pretty on a given day before you get annoyed?” he murmurs, soft smile playing on his face. You smile too, head cloudy from his words, but it immediately drops when his lips press directly against your pulsing clit, kissing it softly.

“Fuck,” you say (Spencer would argue moan) softly (loudly). You let out a content sigh, and he moves to suckle it, actions becoming less and less delicate. 

It’s not harsh, but incessant. Spencer knows what you can take. He knows exactly what you can take. You’re both quiet for a bit, save for your breathy moans. 

“Spencer,” you say softly, ripping you both out of your individually hazy and dirty and distracted minds. “You’re too far away.” He looks up to you, face parallel to your aching core, hair beautifully messy and mouth glistening.

After a second, he grabs your hips, gently pushing you up against the pillows so you’re propped up at a better angle. He then shifts his body up wordlessly so he’s more above you, dipping his head down to give you a soft kiss. You taste yourself, tongue darting out to lick your lips.

His hand takes over where his mouth was, sliding in between your folds with a practiced ease. Spencer looks down at you, eyes wide and flitting between yours, searching for a reaction.

You reach out and wrap your arms around him, holding him close. “Holy shit, I love you,” you murmur.

His fingers lightly graze your clit again before one slides into you. “Angel,” he breathes out, so quietly. “I love you too. This okay? Are you okay?”

You nod feverishly and lift your hips to meet his hand, always in a perpetual state of wanting more, to be closer. Your bodies are melded so close together, barely giving him room to push his hand into you. He doesn’t even bother to ask you to use your words or keep your hips down, like he might on a regular night.

He pulls his head back to watch as he pushes another finger into you, stretching you just a little. “There we go. You always feel like heaven around me.”

Your eyes flit up to his face as he says those words, now having a little more room to observe him. You focus on the slope of his nose and curve of his mouth. 

“You’re so perfect,” you say quietly, adoringly, before you even realize it was true.

You blink at that thought. Spencer Reid is perfect, despite whatever universal odds deeming that impossible.

Those graphs, those formulas, now laying discarded & crumpled on the ground. They click, a little bit. You understand why Albert Einstein wanted to spend his life developing theories of relativity.

This is how Spencer sees you? What he was talking about earlier?

This is how he sees you?

The thought is almost too much.

Spencer sees your face, and not knowing what's going on in your head, slides down his free hand from your cheek to your carotid, feeling your racing pulse. “Take a deep breath for me, okay? You're about to come, huh?”

You inhale and are met with peace. Then your orgasm hits you like a wave. You clench hard around his fingers, and he just watches it happen, fascinated. “Baby,” he coos softly at you.

It wasn’t just your sensitivity he’s currently maximizing on or the little kisses he dips down to leave on your neck that sealed the deal, but the very thought that you could be loved in a way that is so perfectly impossible.

You exhale breathily as Spencer pushes you through the last trails of your climax, fingers not caring one bit that you just had your world tilted on its axis. 

“Spencer. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod,” you say eventually, overstimulated.

“You’re okay. Did so good.” he murmurs, fingers slipping out of you. 

His thumb brushes your cheek, wiping away a tear you didn't even realize was dripping down.

“Don’t cry, you always cry. It’s my birthday. Don’t cry on my birthday,” he whispers soothingly, affection lacing his voice.

“I’m not.” 

Another one falls. 

You reach and press out that perpetual little slope between his eyebrows with your thumb, gentle, like you might break him. “I’m not crying.”

Spencer lets you lie.

[nicholasandriani]

Milan Kundera: The Maestro of Symbiotic Five – Remembering a Literary Alchemist and Master of Utmost Seriousness and Utmost Lightness Remembering a Literary Alchemist and Master of Utmost Seriousness and Utmost Lightness 📖 Favorite Quotes by Milan Kundera 🖋️ • “The only way to leave a trace of our passage on Earth is art.” • “The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against…

[tbrcresearchreport]

The Business Research Company offers self adhesive labels market research report 2023 with industry size, share, segments and market growth

[schizosupport]

I think there's a terrible catch 22 existing for mentally ill people, especially for those of us with psychosis, where diagnosis is necessary for many accommodations, treatment and resources - but diagnosis also puts you at serious risk of systemic oppression and loss of autonomy.

And while it should be considered a privilege not to have had a diagnosis forced on you, it's also pretty fucking wild to have to forego resources that could genuinely improve your life, because it puts you at risk of having your autonomy compromised.

People with diagnoses of the psychotic and schizo spec variety (especially schizophrenia and schizoaffective) are regularly denied things like transition-related healthcare and fertility related healthcare, not to mention we are at a much increased risk of having our children wrongfully removed. We regularly have our health-related concerns dismissed as delusional, which is thought to be a contributing factor to the lower life expectancy of schizophrenics. There's a number of jobs that you're not allowed to take if you have this type of a diagnosis, and in many places, you have to jump through extra hoops for things like keeping a driver's license.

I'm not intending to fear-monger: I think many people affected by these symptoms/disorders are already well aware of the risks in their specific area of the world. But I think that people who are so quick to judge self-identified psychotic individuals for not seeking out professional help and validation, need to consider the serious cost-benefit analysis that goes into this.

And I also think that bright-eyed individuals who seek out professional diagnosis mostly for the sake of validation need to stop and take some time to research whether this diagnosis is liable to come back to haunt them later in life, first. Because if it's just about the validation, I'm here to tell you that you do NOT need a psychiatrist's stamp of approval for your experiences to be real and worthy of support. You are welcome in this community, and I'm never going to judge anyone for choosing not to disclose their symptoms to a psychiatric authority.

[mariasont]

What if I put an insane little idea in your head and let it bounce around? Mid seasons (7/8 ish?) Spencer with a kinnda sorta fangirl? She just started at the BAU and it’s not that she’s weird about him but she does have like 3 of his papers memorized down to the letter and she “possibly quoted him on her college application essay” (it’s the literal conclusion).

Like she’s just this little ball of excitement and he has no clue what to do when the team is like “ask her out for the love of god and stop making heart eyes when she lets you nerd out”

Sorry if this makes no sense it’s 2:30 in the morning

FANGIRL - S.R

a/n: AHHHHH BECAUSE WHAT IF I JUST SMOOCHED YOU

loved, loved, LOVED this idea and writing it! you are amazing <3

masterlist

pairings: spencer reid x fem!reader

warnings: reader being a fangirl for reid because WHO WOULDNT BE UGH

wc: 1.2k

"Dr. Reid, hi, it's such an honor. I'm the new agent."

You give him your name, hand extended out to him, bouncing off the balls of your feet. There was a badge pinned to your shirt, the clip attached to it gleaming in the fluorescent light, which despite its usual severity, seemed to soften around you.

Spencer comes to a standstill, his coffee suspended mid-sip, documents wrinkled in his hands as he assesses you. You are pretty. exceedingly so, but he's having trouble processing it, his mind still shrouded in the remnants of sleep. 

He blinks away his surprise. "Nice to meet you. Hotch must've briefed you about the team, I assume?"

He adjusted the heap of papers to under his arm, freeing his hand to meet yours. The softness he encountered prompted a momentary pause, awakening a sudden urge to not let go. However, he promptly set aside the thought, releasing your hand with a concealed hesitation. 

You fiddled with your earlobe, you shot him a sheepish smile. "Yeah, Hotch did, but I already knew a bit about you. I've always been a fan of your work. I mean, not like a fan per se, because that would be weird, right? But I've read all your papers, and they're just... they're brilliant, honestly."

Spencer was clearly caught off guard, his brows leaping upwards as he surveyed you. You weren't lying--that much was clear to him. He could see it in the way you met his eyes with an enthusiasm so bright it was nearly blinding.

"My work? You're actually familiar with it?"

A soft giggle bubbled from you, a sweet sound that seemed to momentarily leave him winded. He placed his coffee on the desk, leaning back slightly. 

"Oh, definitely. Your research on chemical composition analysis in narcotics? I've read it so many times I could probably recite it in my sleep."

He considered the possibility of you exaggerating. He took great pride in his work and (without sounding too cocky) he was well aware of its significance and contribution to his field. However, there's a difference between knowing your work is recognized and encountering someone who has internalized it to such a degree--especially someone like you. He suddenly felt a touch of self-consciousness.

"I'm sorry, that was too much, right? I promised I'd play it cool, and then I saw you and... well, it's all just really surreal," you said before gesturing vaguely towards the bullpen. "Anyway, I'm going to go, uh, find my desk."

You hurried away before he could refute your words, head bowed. He felt like an ass.

The day threw him off balance. His contributions to the team lacked their usual insight, his mental gears turning more slowly. And for some inexplicable reason, he found himself preoccupied with thoughts of you. He attempted to rationalize it as a reaction to your interest in his work, a level of admiration that was a rare find. Unlike the formal niceties from others, your excitement about his work, about him, stood out.

He tried to latch onto Hotch's deductions about the unsub, willing his intellect to snap to attention and offer up a decent theory. However, a glance in your direction derailed his efforts. You were bent over the desk, your hands animatedly navigating through the papers. He was happy to see your enthusiasm was there despite his lack thereof earlier.

"Based on the geographic profiling and the choice of victims, it looks like the unsub has a background in urban planning."

Emily nods, "Good theory. What led you to that?"

He watches the anxious flicker in your eyes, glancing towards him, hands clasped together as you incline your head his way.

"Actually, I read about a similar case in Dr. Reid's paper on The Spatial Patterns of Serial Offenses." It strikes him then--he hasn't yet invited you to use his first name, adding another tick to the ever-growing list of ways he feels he's been inadvertently discourteous. "The clustering of crime scenes near arterial routes suggests the offender leverages the urban grid to facilitate escape and avoid detection. Embarrassingly enough, that was the topic of my college application essay."

Spencer was momentarily speechless (not something that happened often), his mind racing through the physiological response to shock--catecholamine release, vagal tone alterations, even transient arrhythmias--mirroring the way his heart seemed to skip a beat. You really did have his work memorized.

"That's, uh, right," he said, his voice gaining momentum. "By leveraging the urban grid, the offender not only evades capture but also creates a psychological terrain of control."

Hotch nodded in agreement, turning your attention to a series of photographs.

Before Spencer even looked her way, he could sense Garcia's stare, and as he turned, she prodded him with her elbow, smirking. "Seems like she's quite the match for you, doesn't she?"

"Huh? What? No, I mean--she's my coworker, and besides, she's much younger." Spencer was quite sure he sounded anything but convincing.

Garcia raises an eyebrow, shaking her head. "I meant in terms of smarts, but oookay, Spencer."

She walked out with a bounce in that definitely hadn't been there earlier, and Spencer was left with a red face.

He had every intention of pulling you aside, to apologize for earlier, to reassure that he didn't find you odd or weird, and to admit that he was genuinely flattered. But it appeared that every time he had a chance to make it to your desk, you had vanished, or were in deep conversation with JJ, or inside Hotch's office.

It was a relentless cycle that persisted until the end of the day, when everyone began to leave--except for you, who remained still firmly planted at your desk, fervently jotting notes into your notebook.

Absorbed in your work, you didn't notice his approach until he cleared his throat.

"Hey," he said softly.

Startled, you flinched, prompting him to immediately feel like shit. Strike three. You laughed off the shock when you realized it was him, moving your notebook aside, offering him your undivided attention.

"Sorry, Dr. Reid, hi! How's it going? Is there something I can do for you?"

"I thought I'd see if you needed help with anything, and you can call me Spencer, if you want." He glanced at his watch. "Are you still working?"

You pushed a piece of hair from your face and nodded towards the formidable pile of forms. 

"Spencer, okay," you said, like you were testing it out, "and just sorting through a mountain of onboarding paperwork."

He nodded, hesitating slightly before speaking. "Listen, I need to apologize for earlier."

You tilted your head. "What for?"

"I think I wasn't as welcoming as I intended to be."

"That's okay, I know I was a bit intense."

He shook his head. "No, you weren't. It's just... It's rare that my work gets much attention. I'm happy you appreciated it. If there's a specific topic that you're more interested in, maybe I could explain more about it sometime?"

You glanced down at your hands, trying to hide the smile that was blooming there. You weren't successful. When you looked back up, Spencer felt a little bit awestruck by your eyes, the flecks of color that he could now see clearly.

"I'd love that. Maybe over coffee?" you suggested.

"Yeah, sure." He could feel the heat rushing up his neck. 

He reluctantly parted ways, leaving you to your paperwork, and as he approached the elevator, Penelope was there.

"You know, sugar, maybe I did mean quite the match in a romantic way. So, are you going to ask her out, or shall I play Cupid?"

He blushed. "I think she might have just beat me to it."

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