#also very much team pirate and anti government thank you | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

lavenderboneswrites · 3 years ago

Note

Pirate Shizaya headcannons. I preferably love the idea of Izaya being a coordinator that Shizuo has practically kidnapped because Shizuo held the damn map upside down and is know lost(he is the captain) also I love everything u do

Aaah okay I had to think long and hard about this because really I have TOO many ideas. I’ll preface this with saying that the Golden Age of Piracy actually coincides with the Edo period of Japan where the country was ruled by the Shogunate and was generally closed to outside politics, influences, etc. So with these two periods overlapping there is so much room to play with. I for one am losing my mind about samurai pirates.

Orihara Izaya, Captain of the Dragon Zombie Pirates.

Alright alright. So I think Izaya was probably born in a noble and well respected samurai family of Japan. However this boy craved adventure and to the see the world and to meet all that it had to offer. Not a fan of Japan’s anti-foreign involvement (open the country, stop having it be closed), he led a group of revolutionaries out of Japan to the seas.

During this time I can definitely see Izaya finding his way onto a pirate ship and manipulating everyone in sight until there’s a mutiny and he becomes the new captain, because of course that’s what our boy would do.

However despite this, and after proving his worth, his intelligence, his skill, I think his crew would be fiercely loyal to him. I can see him keeping a few of his original Japanese crew around too. I think Mikado would be his right hand man, Mikage and Ran his enforcers, Shinra the ships doctor, and his childhood friend who followed him out to see in search of ‘true love’. Simon I can see maybe as the quartermaster, I think he’d be good at rallying the crew. Overall I think there would be a mismatch of people from all over the world, because Izaya loves picking up strays.

Izaya is a cunning and intelligent captain. He uses wit and no small degree of charm to achieve his goals. He's fascinated by the occult, especially myths and legends. I feel like he'd love to hunt for the fountain of youth and see the kraken with his own eyes. He dreams of bigger prizes than just the usual gold.

Izaya is showy af and definitely has all the flashy pirate coats, not mention a penchant for ridiculous hats (Captain Barbossa’s hat anyone? And all the tricorns). I think he’d be an adequate warrior, trained with a samurai sword, but his weapons of choice are two daggers and close range where he can use speed, agility, and intelligence to outwit his opponents. (I imagine he fights like Anne Bonney, who I love, from Black Sails). I also kind of think he’d be a pirate like Calico Jack Rackham (also from Black Sails, look I love BS there’s gonna be a lot of BS references). Also our boy is talented as parkour and can parkour around a ship like a motherfucker (thank you Black Flag).

Heiwajima Shizuo, Monster of Caribbean, Captain of the Beast Pirates*.

Shizuo is a powerhouse in the pirate world. Where Izaya is all brains and cunning, Shizuo is brute strength. I actually like to head canon that his violent ways got him cast into indentured servitude and he was sold off across the seas and ended up in the Caribbean. Due to his strength he made a good labourer for the British but also fuck the redcoats. I think Shizuo would have led a revolt against the slavers and started his own pirate crew after that. He would’ve given his fellow slaves the option to go where they want or join his crew and a few probably did.

Tom’s of course his right hand man, they are brother’s in arms and have fought many battles together. I think Vorona would be a good enforcer and I definitely want Kadota to be his quartermaster (with the rest of the van gang on the crew as well - those four are a fierce raiding party). Though Shizuo is 100% hopeless at navigating so he's gonna need a good one on board.

Shizuo is definitely a brawler with his insane strength, and the thought of his weapon of choice being this fuck off massive Warhammer is just too good to pass up. I want Shizuo bare chested with high-waisted pants, pirate boots, half shaved head, long blonde hair in braids basically just looking like an absolute barbarian beefcake. ALL THE TATTOOS. He is the definition of a rough, fierce pirate.

He likes hunting prizes and spending his gold on drinking, gambling, and fucking, really any pleasure he’s for, but his favourite thing is a good old fashioned fight. I think he'd do very well in slave fighting pits and probably even had some experience with them in the past. Though he is adamantly against slavery and has been known to hunt slavers and free slaves (any pirate who engages in trading slaves is not considered a pirate to him but a blight to be obliterated from the map). Because of his past he absolutely despises the British and really any kind of authority. While not on Izaya’s level of intelligence he’s got great instincts and can almost seemingly sniff out a good prize.

* don't sue me Oda

Rival Captains

Izaya and Shizuo both meet in Nassau in the Caribbean. They are the definition of brains VS brawns. These two crews are always running into each other and fighting. While Shizuo is ferocious and terrifying, when in the same room as these two pirates one would consider Izaya more menacing. Shizuo's and Izaya's rivalry is well known throughout the seas and seeing them fight in person is the stuff of legends.

They're constantly going after the same prizes and then fighting over them. Though there are a few times they do team up for an alliance when it's a very delectable prize. Also they will unanimously team up against the British, the Spaniards, the French, the Dutch, etc, because as much as the loathe each other they hate anyone who would try and encroach on their freedoms.

Basically they are both stubborn as hell and don't like being told what to do.

For their ships I can see Izaya having a Brigard, something swift, that at Izaya's hand can outmanoeuvre and outwit any foe. Of course his ship has a dragon as the figurehead! I haven't thought much in the way of a Jolly Rodger, but maybe a dragon skull and instead of crossbones it is crossed samurai swords??

Shizuo on the other hand has a British Man-O-War that he no doubt won after he and Izaya teamed up to launch an attack on British settlement when both their crew-mates were captured and sentenced to death for piracy. Izaya lead an assault on land while Shizuo and his crew snuck onto the Man-O-War in the port and captured it, then turned it's guns on the settlement. For his jolly rodger I think it would be the usual skull and crossbones with maybe his infamous Warhammer running through the center line.

The sexual tension between the two captains is a painful to watch for their crews and each crew even has a betting pool going on when they will eventually get it on. The crews actually get on relatively well during alliances, and the parties and feasts they throw together after a successful hunt is wild. Though they'll easily go back to trying to kill one another one the alliances end.

Also a lil Shinra add-on. In Izaya's quest for the occult they find Celty and Shinra falls in love with her. I haven't thought more past pirate dullahan asgdfhdhjsjf.

And yeah that’s all I have so far. I also had an idea of Izaya being like the son of an important person (governer, prince? Prince Izaya is good) and being captured by Shizuo’s crew. And while they are pursued by multiple pirates, nations, etc, because Izaya is priceless, he learns to love life on a pirate ship and bonds with Shizuo and his crew. So eventually when it does come time for Shizuo to hand over his bounty he doesn’t want to let Izaya go. (He’s gonna, and then he and Izaya will turn around and rob the fuckers blind and sail off into the sunset together). Also Izaya memorising a treasure map and destroying it so he becomes the map and Shizuo has to put up with him. TOO MANY IDEAS.

#pirate shizaya au #pirate au #pirates my beloved #shizaya #orihara izaya #heiwajima shizuo

27 notes · View notes

authenticparanoidghosts · 6 years ago

Text

here’s a very long d&d story about the time my party used volleyball skills to become a god. for @komodoclassic, because she asked

this is a story in three parts

part i - a brief introduction of major characters and setting

okay so this was our big sophomore year campaign that lasted from first semester on over into part of second semester

really good campaign, our DM put a lot of work into it and we love him, but we had so many players that we had to split into two groups who both played the same world on the same timeline which was a huge fantastic mess

it ended bc the group I was in got a total party kill fighting a lizard with a magic eyeball (a totally different story - I was playing a hot tree and I might have killed him on my own after the rest of the party died if he hadn’t had that fucking entourage) and the other group killed the interdimensional asshole/refugee guy my party was actually trying to help

anyways, important characters in this story:

our DM, who I will not refer to by name even though I do tag him by name sometimes. I love to be inconsistent

me, playing my first character for this campaign (who did survive! she had to be retired before the lizard TPK for other nonsense reasons), a dwarf paladin named Taxes

Taxes (real name: Ataxite Tellus) was from a family of swindlers and petty criminals and was forced to leave her life of burglary and scamming when her parents got paid off to have someone take the fall for murdering The Very Important Mayor Of The Big Island Of This Archipelago Country and decided to frame her for it

instead of going to jail like she was supposed to, she was like “fuck this” and fled to a different island where she dyed her hair and put on a bandana like an old west outlaw and spitefully decided to dedicate her life to Not Being A Huge Asshole

obviously the way to do this is by taking some (k)night classes and becoming a paladin

Taxes is not a very good paladin

her god is Deimos, who does fire and war and justice and out of all the gods we met during the campaign (which was honestly a shocking amount) he was the nicest to us

our DM said he (Deimos) got briefly famous on the d&d reddit - partially because of this story and partially because of the stunts we were pulling immediately before it

anyways it’s important that you know that Taxes is from a family of criminals and just genuinely not very good at her job

one of my roommates, playing an elven wizard/lich whose name was Faenor but went exclusively by Gregg

good things to know about Gregg: she and Taxes had a classic straight man/banana man dynamic where she would try to do terrible ridiculous criminal things and Taxes would loudly protest but do very little to stop her

a friend, playing a dwarf paladin/cleric named Yule Marbles

Yule also followed Deimos and she and Taxes had an elaborate prayer handshake that they’d made up that gave them DM-sanctioned bonuses to religion checks

our party prayed basically exclusively to Deimos and eventually gained new player characters who ALSO followed him so after a point we just kind of paraded around the world as Deimos’ Favorite Idiots

part ii - volleyball

alright those are the people you need to know, let’s set the scene

our party needs to flee Dinosaur Hell Island where we have just solved the mystery we were summoned to help investigate and also accidentally started a war

quick trivia: Taxes (me) got mocked CONSTANTLY through the campaign bc she kept ACCIDENTALLY STARTING WARS

BAD PALADIN BEHAVIOR

but I did get a joke proficiency in starting wars which I later convinced the DM to let me use to benefit the party, so who’s laughing now, motherfucker

(the final count was that at LEAST three (3) legitimate, real-ass wars could be traced directly back to my actions as Taxes, as well as a couple other events that I would prefer to call “skirmishes” or “battles” that happened more indirectly. I refuse to count Malcolm’s not-so-legal battle for the deed to hell because 1) I did NOT help that guy, I just said I would, and 2) that was his problem and he started it)

we are leaving without telling anyone what we’ve found out

because they’re going to kill us, probably

you know. because of the war. that we started. on their already incredibly politically fraught island

the point is that we solved the goddamn mystery despite being absolutely terrible detectives and we FINALLY get to leave

we’ve been playing this part of the campaign for weeks and we’re all very tired of it

also the player who was intended to take point on the investigation (her hot mentor/maybe boyfriend? was the one who had called us there) had died pretty early on doing a pretty risky stunt involving a shark and an underwater cave, so we were just muddling through it

and we kept “”accidentally”” insulting people by stealing things (dinosaurs) and getting caught trying to break into things (sacred temples) and just generally being rude (Yule REALLY didn’t like the fey and I was briefly cursed by a swamp hag)

and, again, we started that war

we really need to skip town

a very unfortunate ship had crashed on the island a couple days previously and some of the people on it are very powerful sorcerers who we (really just Xenon, the half-orc fighter and everyone’s very best friend) have convinced to teleport us off the island

we just need to hide out on their beach and kill some time until the teleportation circle is ready

“do you want to take a rest?” the DM asks

“we should play beach volleyball,” someone else says, at the exact same time

resting is for suckers who are afraid of the very angry lizard people who want to kill us

we vote unanimously to play beach volleyball

the DM graciously decides that, in the interest of comedy, we have all the materials we need and won’t have to, like, sit down and weave a net

we break into two teams of four. team names are quickly decided to be The Hotdogs vs. The Hamburglars

after the party split our group retained “hamburglars” as our group chat name because our threshold for what entertains us is embarrassingly low

there are eight of us, so we’re playing four-on-four

the makeup of the teams isn’t important (and I can’t remember them), but know that we’re a half-orc, a tiefling, a middle-school-age human girl, an adult human man, two dwarves, an undead elf, and a fishperson

we spend a decent amount of time coming up with rules necessary to let us play volleyball

it’s mostly dexterity checks and rolling a d4 to see what quadrant of the court the ball lands in

some of our group doesn’t know the rules to actual volleyball and they have to be explained

listen. this is possibly the nerdiest thing I’ve ever done. I’m willing to acknowledge that, you don’t need to tell me.

anyways, ultimately the outcome of the game doesn’t matter (the Hamburglars won) and neither does how good or bad anyone was at rolling for imaginary volleyball (we fucking crushed the Hotdogs)

the point is that we played it and were so charmed by it that we would not forget about our new skills. we would remember them in our hour of need.

part iii - now I am (accidentally) become (NOT ACTUALLY A) god, destroyer of pirates

imagine there’s a timeskip

like, uh, two weeks later in game time at MOST

the group has split in real life, so my group is now Taxes, Yule, Gregg, Roswell (delightful fishperson), and another guy who stopped coming regularly and then was later replaced by another guy who doesn’t really become important until later, when we try to help a dimension-hopping dicklick by killing a lizard and stealing his eyeball

his character’s name was Yashirou and he’s not in this at all but it’s important that you know that by the time he died he had been partially transformed into so many different things that he was achingly close to being classified as an abomination and also was probably going to be fired from his job as a space cop

anyways, it’s a new day and a new session

actually, it’s probably like 11 pm. this will be relevant later

Taxes, Gregg, and Yule are the only player characters present because Roswell was busy or something

we’re on a new continent, hanging out with Taxes’ younger sister, Olivine

Olivine has also split from their parents and now runs an all-female gang of pirates who steal from the two much BIGGER gangs of pirates and also the trading federation and then sells whatever they’ve captured to the anti-government faction of the civil war that’s currently happening on the continent

this civil war is the only war currently going on/about to start where the root causes are NOT my fault in any way because when the thing that caused the circumstances that are creating unrest happened, Taxes had her hands over her ears and was humming loudly bc she knew she’d be morally obligated to do something if someone told her what was going on

right now, both major gangs of pirates and the trading federation are also all currently at war with each other

this is my fault

nobody but Gregg and Yule know it’s my fault, though, so I’m only in danger of being mocked for it

anyways we’re hanging out with my sister

doing crime

well, Gregg is doing crime. Taxes and Yule are paladins so they’re just protecting their good friend Gregg from people who might try to do her harm. it’s an airtight excuse, thank you

we’re actually on the continent because we’re traveling to visit Yule’s wife and son

so my sister and her gang (and us) have recently stolen a bunch of supplies from a guy named Scipio who is, we’ve been told, a Huge Asshole

Olivine’s gang is going to pay some local sailors to run the supplies up to the northern part of the continent which is both where the rebels are based and where Yule’s family lives

so ofc we’re on one boat (chock full of magical items we have recently lit a perfectly nice wizard on fire to steal) and two of the girl gang members are on the other (full of, like, food I think) providing security and acting as Olivine’s representatives for the deal they’re trying to make with the rebel camp

things are going well

we’re just sailing, no big deal

except, you know, like the first rule of d&d is Never Get On A Boat

and we are definitely on a boat

undeniably on a boat

on a boat full of MANY stolen goods

so ofc a couple hours into our trip, a bigger, faster ship sails up behind us. a bigger, faster ship with very official looking flags

it’s a gang of pirate enforcers (from one of the big two gangs) and they are presumably here to rob the shit out of us

“oh shit” we say, and look over at the other boat where the only NPCs who can help us also appear to be mouthing oh shit

“well,” someone says (me), “I think we can talk our way out of this”

I like to think I’m optimistic (and sometimes I find combat boring)

I prefer to try to lie my ass off to get us out of bad situations

we let the pirates board

things to know:

previous to this adventure on this continent, Taxes had gained the ability to see the names of everyone she meets, Death Note style

also she has a new helmet

more on the helmet later

Yule, who had been wearing Custom Order Rose Gold Plate Armor with the symbol of Deimos (god of LAW and JUSTICE) inscribed in the front and a cake recipe on the back, had been persuaded to take it off and hide it below decks so she looks less like the paladin/cleric she is

Gregg and Taxes look sketchy as hell all the time so they’re not worried

“hey, uh, what’s the plan?” someone asks, moments before the pirates climb onto our ship

“we are also pirates now,” Taxes says

“what”

“we are specifically the same sort of pirates they are because they’re not going to rob one of their own boats,” Taxes says, because she has the actor feat and is willing to use it

“alright, sounds good,” Gregg says, because she loves deception and can just blast the shit out of anyone with her wizard powers if things go south

so we let the pirates board

guy #1 (the only important pirate in this story) is obviously in charge and probably wearing an outfit that makes him look like a douche

he’s a huge douche which we find out immediately and also again later

you’ll see

he starts in on us, threatening everyone, asking our business and clearly winding up to start demanding that we put our hands on our heads and show him where our gold is

“Harrison,” Taxes says

she can see that his name is Harrison with her magic eyes

“Harrison, please, you’ve got the wrong boat”

Harrison - and everyone with him - about swallows his tongue in surprise that she’s addressing him by name

later we find out from the DM that at work he goes by something incredibly silly like Inflammis or Incindior or Combustus or something

none of the other pirates know his name is really Harrison

“who the fuck are you” the pirates, rather reasonably, want to know

“representatives of Lady Blackwing herself,” Gregg says, because we have a hold full of treasure we’ve literally just stolen from this exact group of pirates the day before and nothing to lose

Gregg is basically impossible to kill and should not be allowed to make decisions for the party, but we never learned

we attempt to convince Harrison that we are, in fact, pirates and that we do, actually, work for his boss (Lady Blackwing)

our story is that we’re secret profiteers who are selling things on the black market to both armies in order to fill Lady Blackwing’s pockets with gold

I’m sure you remember there’s a civil war about to get started

“what the fuck is a secret profiteer?” Harrison wants to know

“well,” we say, “we’d tell you, but how do we know you’re high enough up in the organization to have clearance for that information?” heavily implying that he’s a chump for not recognizing us

oooo, burn

Harrison is, of course, not fooled by this

so we send Yule down to the hold to get something to prove that we have our own cargo (that we definitely didn’t steal from them)

Yule comes back, arms full of Custom Order Rose Gold Plate Armor with the symbol of Deimos (god of LAW and JUSTICE) inscribed in the front and a cake recipe on the back, and we roll JUST barely high enough to convince him that we have our own goods and we might, in fact, be pirates who are on his team and he probably should try not to rob us

so Harrison, a little dazed and definitely pissed off (we were not very polite to him), goes back to his ship

the pirates who have boarded the other vessel also go back to their ship

we start trying to sail the hell out of there as fast as possible

the other boat we’re traveling with sails up next to us and our NPC friends wave us over

“what the FUCK did you tell them?” hot girl gang member who can, like, literally smite things (she was clearly the muscle of the group) asks us

“we convinced them we were also pirates,” we say

“oh shit” she says

their boat has convinced the pirates that they’re just merchants

turns out the pirates really are looking for the people who robbed them yesterday

for revenge

that’s us. they want revenge on us.

we decide to sail faster

it’s too late, though, because the pirate ship is sailing after us again and we already know they’re capable of catching us

“should we fire the canons?” someone asks, unsure if our boats even HAVE canons

“you should roll initiative,” the DM says, not at all like it’s a suggestion

we’re in combat

on Harrison’s first turn, he hits us with a level 7 fireball

turns out he’s a wizard and he’s very mad at us

Infernus, his work name was probably Infernus

we’re understandably furious about being on fire

there is some shouting that he probably cannot hear

now we get turns

two of us are paladins who don’t really have ranged attacks, and the other one of us is Gregg

the NPCs can do some cool shit but this has dragged on long enough so I will not mention them

“hm,” Gregg says, and tries to light them on fire back (it doesn’t work)

“oh dear,” Yule says, and attempts to fire a canon at them (turns out we do have them)

“I’d like to use my magic hat,” Taxes says, because she REALLY doesn’t want anymore 7th level spells being thrown around and now seems like a good a time as any to figure out what the hat does

“oh my god,” says the DM

“oh my god, really?” he looks delighted

this is the first inkling we get that Taxes’ magic hat is maybe more powerful than any item we ever should have been given

ABOUT THE HAT

previous to this adventure (after Dinosaur Hell Island), Gregg went house shopping and we ended up stealing a fortress carved into a meteor (located in a plane I think our DM might have made up that was basically space) from a Beholder

after clearing the Beholder and most of its minions out from our future home, we went through it and found a whole bunch of loot. most notably a rock with a weird marking on it, a shield, and a helmet

the rock went to Gregg who owned the house and when she picked it up the markings moved to her arm and gave her sort of a sick sleeve tattoo that I think boosted all her necrotic spells or something

goth as FUCK

Xenon, the fighter and our very good friend, got the shield and I honestly don’t think we ever figured out what it did

Taxes got the Helmet of War

she’s a paladin of the god of war (and justice and fire), so why not

it’s just a normal-looking helmet and it gave +1 to armor class and our DM had me roll a d4 to see how many charges it had

the helmet had 4 charges, and we did an arcana check but all we learned was that it would summon “an avatar of war”

cool, I thought, like a spirit or something that can fight with me in battle

well

we didn’t bother to investigate any further

“I’d like to use my magic hat,” Taxes says, thinking that an avatar of war might be able to fly and go attack Harrison from a distance

“oh my god,” says the DM, and from the light in his eyes you’d think one of us had just gotten down on one knee for him

“are you sure,” he asks in the DM Voice, and Taxes just shrugs because even if it doesn’t work, at least they’ll know what the hat does, right?

“yeah,” Taxes says, “I activate my magic hat”

“oh my god,” the DM says, and starts furiously writing something down

we wait with interest because we’re starting to get the feeling that the hat does something cool

who’d have thought

“okay,” he says, after a minute

“Taxes starts to glow and she steps off the ship,” he says

“what,” I say, because I’m wearing plate armor and don’t trust myself to roll high enough not to drown because of it

“a giant, 50 foot tall, glowing Taxes forms around her”

“what,” I say

“you’re standing on top of the water, piloting this giant spectral form from the inside”

“what,” I say

“your strength and dex are both 30 and you have 100 additional health,” he says. “it’ll last for 10 minutes or until the 100 health are depleted”

“what,” we all say

“what would you like to do, avatar of war?” he asks

oh, I’M the avatar of war

THAT’S what the hat does

Taxes raises her arm and points at the pirate ship

HARRISON, she yells, in a voice that’s 50 feet tall and also glowing

the intimidation roll is a nat 20

Gregg does a perception check and the DM assures us that Harrison has peed himself

we all feel very smug

“I want that ship,” I say to the DM

“you- what?” he asks

“I want to have that ship. I’m going to pick up it up,” I say

“oh my god,” he says

“roll strength for it,” he says

Taxes rolls a nat 20 to pick up the ship

the second nat 20 in a row

all four of us are literally shaking with excitement

she scoops up the ship with one huge, glowing hand, and heaves it up to eye level

down on our boat, Gregg and Yule are going absolutely ape

Gregg is screaming encouragement, Yule is on the verge of ecstatic tears

this is also exactly how we feel in real life

“what do you want to do with the boat?” the DM says

“uhh,” I say, because I hadn’t thought that far ahead

we all contemplate the situation

“you could dropkick it,” someone says

“oh my god,” I say

we look at the DM

“roll something,” he says, because no one wants to see what’s about to happen more than he does

natural 20

the third one

in a row

this will probably never happen to me again, ever, in my life

all four of us are shouting at once, we’re on the verge of hysteria

I’m in tears

it’s nearly 1 am and we’re acting like we’ve won the superbowl

this is the best possible outcome the magic hat could have had

“how do you want to do this?” the DM asks, which is his special ‘I’m going to give you gays everything you want’ phrase that usually means we get to decide the finishing blow for an enemy

“actually,” I say, “can I jump serve it?”

“oh my god,” someone says

that’s right. beach volleyball, motherfuckers

“yes,” he says

50 foot Taxes tosses the boat into the air

takes a beautiful run-up

and spikes a boat full of pirates so hard that it soars over the coastline and crashes well inland

“wow,” the DM says. “I’m gonna need some time to figure out how much experience this get you”

later, once he’s got it figured out, it will be enough to give Taxes two levels instantaneously as well as giving Gregg and Yule one each

Taxes goes back to the boats she’s been traveling with

EVERYONE on board is losing their goddamn minds

Yule and Taxes decide to ride the high and take a moment to make an extra big prayer to their god to thank him for the magic hat because it’s so incredibly baller

the roll is not a nat 20, but a holy fire descends upon Mega Taxes and the symbol of Deimos appears over her huge, spectral breastplate

Attack of the Fifty Foot Taxes decides to just pick up the ships she’s traveling with and carry them as far as her remaining 9 minutes of avatar time will get her

“what day is it,” I ask the DM as we’re doing this, because we’re tracking exactly what day it is in-game and it’s fun to know

“june 21st,” he says, after flipping through his notes

“huh,” someone says, “that’s the summer solstice”

“oh my god,” he says

you’ll never guess which patron deity’s major holiday is celebrated on the summer solstice

that’s a lie, you get one guess

it’s Deimos, god of fire and justice and war and being AWESOME as HELL

a giant, glowing figure of a dwarf in battered armor with the symbol of Deimos blazing on their chest was seen walking across the ocean just offshore of a major continent that is currently on the cusp of all-out civil war on the morning of Demios’ holy day

it’s just Taxes, who really only does these things on accident or on impulse in the heat of the moment

but the people of the continent don’t know that

soon, after reaching our destination and starting off on foot towards the village where Yule’s wife lives, we start hearing rumors about the return of Deimos, the Real Ass God

this is what makes the third war my fault

the rumors are never disproven and people continue to believe that Deimos Really Did That until the day we called it quits

“oh my god,” Taxes, a very grudging paladin, says in horror, adjusting her bandana more firmly over her face

“oh my god,” says Gregg, who knows exactly how she’s going to be introducing her friend to the next person they meet

#this is the world's longest post #I'm so sorry #posts #also kinda #my writing #and I'd better tag this for #Taxes

16 notes · View notes

lamaliv40 · 3 years ago

Text

Yarloo

platform that generates its own currency

Yarloo is a global lottery ecosystem built on transparent and decentralized blockchain technology, in which the system will be distributed on a public network, making global lottery operations more efficient and transparent. By leveraging the Blockchain technology platform as well as the Binance Smart Chain Blockchain technology features, smart contracts enable various processes, such as collecting or distributing each lottery process, to be more efficient than the traditional centralized systems currently in use. Since a platform that ensures the safety of international lotteries is their top priority, their blockchain based lottery platform also offers daily lottery draws. which covers a wide geographical area and can be followed by anyone, wherever they are. The use of smart contracts, of course,

Crypto Lottery, whether it be UK National Lottery or US Big Millions – lottery games give you the chance to win big while keeping bet sizes to a minimum. With that said, it is only a matter of time before lottery games reach the crypto and blockchain technology arena.

Such games allow you to buy entry tickets via popular crypto coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and the process of drawing the ball itself is usually more transparent than you will find in the offline segment. Plus, winnings are distributed to successful ticket holders instantly, so there's no need to visit your local kiosk to collect prizes.

Yarloo is a new take on the lottery gambling system that is known to everyone around the world. We feel that the current state of the lottery is quite… lacking, to say the least. It's not fun, the risks are too high and your chances are dim. Very. Here's an excerpt from K5: “According to the US Lottery, the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302.6 million and the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. Combine the two and the odds of winning both jackpots for over a billion dollars go to 1 in 88 quadrillion. That's 88 followed by 15 zeros.

But with the current advancement of the crypto space, we at Yarloo feel that something can be done to revolutionize lottery systems around the world, and to make it much more fun, give people a much higher chance of winning, create a much more flexible jackpot pool, and introduce set the NFT card as the core function behind the ticket. Also the fun aspect of making the whole project theme revolve around pirates!

FEATURE

Yarloo will be full of cool features that will be very useful for everyone, and as we progress in the future, we will start to include more features, and discuss them with our community so we can see what else can be done in the future. . Yarloo.

RST: Yarloo is the first project in the world to implement a technology known as “Revenue Sharing Token”, which allows the community to receive 30% of Yarloo's profits to serve the ecosystem in which it is built.

NFT : We are also the first lottery project in crypto history to use NFT cards as your main entry ticket system in any pool! This means instead of buying a ticket, your ticket is represented by the card you used in your lottery pool.

DeFi : You will benefit financially from Yarloo thanks to its hybrid DeFi system, especially by allowing you to earn 2% of pool profits if you are the creator, and by leveraging our RST ecosystem if you have enough $YARL!

HOW DOES IT WORK?

At Yarloo, you will be able to participate in a number of financially rewarding activities, including, but not limited to:

Solo Lottery Jackpot

Team Lottery Jackpot

Fortune Spinner

NFT Trade Center

Yarloo Wallet (to snoop and exchange our tokens)

Game Arcade

DeFi Loan & Lending System

As you can see, Yarloo offers different ways to participate in our unique lottery system, and profit through different styles and approaches. Are you a risk taker? The solo lottery is most likely for you. Want to feel the security of a higher opportunity thanks to others supporting you as a team? The team lottery is definitely the way to go. Feeling lucky today? Use our lucky spinner to see if you can collect new special cards that increase your odds. Are you a collector who has collected a large number of valuable cards over time? The trading center is yours for the taking, and there is literally no risk as you only sell your cards. If you're not as lucky as the cards and don't want to take high risks, then of course, staking is your way.

Love to gamify your gambling experience? Our pirate themed arcade will meet your needs, and if you feel you are short on cash or want to use our DeFi system, please borrow our tokens with added collateral. With each different method, you gain the ability to experience what it feels like to be lucky, without feeling that there is too much risk. The different Yarloo jackpot pools vary significantly, with limited and unlimited pools available to allow users the ability to participate in all types of jackpots, no matter how big or small the main prize is.

What makes Yarloo unique, however, is how it uses the NFT system, making it the main engine behind entry tickets. If you wish to participate, you must enter by planning a particular set of cards that you have. Combining cards can usually give you special attributes, depending on the rarity and type of the card, and its compatibility features with other cards you may have. The card is your go-to ticket, and it's the only way you can try your hand at winning the jackpot. To enter using cards, there is an entry fee that needs to be deposited into the pool to add to the grand prize, but then you will be free to allocate 5 cards only from your set, combining them for the best possible outcome which will increase your odds. If your strategy works well, then you may have hit the jackpot,

The idea remains the same for team jackpots, except it requires more thought before entering, as the right plan and combination of cards can skyrocket a team's chances of winning the jackpot they are into. For example, as we said earlier, you are limited to 5 cards per pool, meaning you only have 5 cards to use for lottery, solo, or team-based jackpots. But if you are part of a team, consisting of 4 participants including yourself, that means you will each use 5 cards from their collection, up to 20 cards. The idea for team participation is because several individuals will have different unique cards in their collection, and not everyone is lucky enough to get all the card combinations that match unless they spend a lot of money collecting everything there is to get. This means having a team is the best strategy if you want to increase your odds, as you can pair your cards together for maximum effect. If you have a rare special card that is compatible with other cards from a team member's collection, then you will have special effects that generate more tickets, increasing your chances of winning by miles.

But remember: you are not the only team that participates in this lottery, and you must consider your partner properly and efficiently, taking into account the fact that there are other teams that plan their odds and prepare their cards. This way, the lottery will not really be based on pure luck. There's thinking to be done, and strategizing, and you'll have many different options available to you, allowing you to navigate through dozens of potential ways to profit through Yarloo.

RST ECOSYSTEM Revenue Sharing Token, or RST for short, is Yarloo's revolutionary backbone, the first implementation of its kind that will one day be recognized as NFT and DeFi technology, RST is how Yarloo can be armed as an anti-bear project, which can withstand any market sentiment . The way it works is pretty simple, and can be reconfigured based on individual company preferences, but we'll be using Yarloo as a core example of how RST will be used considering we were the original founders of this concept and its first integrator.

Investor Seed & IDO: 30% Holder: 25% Buyback: 20% LP Provider: 15% Wheel of Fortune/Rewards Pool: 10%

📷

CARD SYSTEM Our card system is not very complicated. There will be 5 types of cards, ranked from bottom to top as:

These 5 types of cards have very different functions and values. For example, a small card only gives 1 ticket per card, due to its low value, and a Bronze card gives 2 tickets per card, but both have no special attributes and cannot be paired with other cards.

On the other hand, from Silver to Sapphire, cards grant more tickets and all have special attributes. Silver cards give 5 tickets per card, Gold give 10, and Sapphire give 50 participation tickets.

Card sets will be released consistently at Yarloo, even after launch, as they will always be an important part of the way things work. There will be 3 types of card sets, so users can know what to expect from each:

Standar Premium Eksentrik

📷

ROAD MAP Q3 2021:

Conclusion of Funding Round 3-5 Set of Alpha Marketplace Alpha Q4 2021 Wallet Launch Cards :

Wheel of Fortune Release Lottery Platform Launches Bridging $YARL to new network First CEX List 5-8 New Card Set Fusion System Test Governance features for $YARL holders Updated Lightpaper Q1 2022:

Roam around the Seven Seas! We will continue to update our roadmap depending on new introductions, games we announce, and more. For now, only information about this year's Q3 and Q4 is available.

For more information:

Website : https://yarloo.vercel.app/

Telegram : https://t.me/yarloochat

Telegram Channel: https://t.me/yarlannouncements

Twitter : https://twitter.com/yarl oo_rst

Medium : https://medium.com/@yarloo

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/yarloo

by ; Banjarmashin

link: : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3198728

0 notes

bonex87 · 3 years ago

Text

Yarloo - The Future of the Blockchain Lottery Ecosystem

Crypto Lottery, whether it be UK National Lottery or US Big Millions - lottery games give you the chance to win big while keeping bet sizes to a minimum. With that being said, it is only a matter of time before lottery games reach the crypto and blockchain technology arena.

Such games allow you to buy entry tickets through popular crypto coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and the process of drawing the ball itself is usually more transparent than you will find in the offline segment. In addition, winnings are distributed to successful ticket holders instantly, so there is no need to visit your local kiosk to collect prizes.

Yarloo is a new take on the lottery gambling system that is known to everyone around the world. We feel that the current state of the lottery is quite… lacking, to say the least. It’s not fun, the risks are too high and your chances are dim. Very. Here’s an excerpt from K5: “According to the USA Lottery, the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302.6 million and the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. Combine the two and the odds of winning both jackpots for over a billion dollars go to 1 in 88 quadrillion. That’s 88 followed by 15 zeros.

But with the current advancement of the crypto space, we at Yarloo feel that something can be done to revolutionize lottery systems around the world, and to make it much more fun, give people a much higher chance of winning, create a much more flexible jackpot pool, and introduced the NFT card set as the core function behind the ticket. Also the fun aspect of making the whole project theme revolve around pirates!

YARLOO FEATURESYarloo will be full of cool features that will be very useful for everyone, and as we make more progress in the future, we will start to include more features, and discuss them with our community so we can see what else can be done in the future. Yarloo.

RST: Yarloo is the first project in the world to implement a technology known as “Revenue Sharing Token”, which allows the community to receive 30% of Yarloo’s profits to serve the ecosystem in which it is built.

HOW IT WORKSAt Yarloo, you will be able to participate in a number of financially rewarding activities, including, but not limited to:

Solo Lottery Jackpot

Team Lottery Jackpot

Fortune Spinner

NFT Trading Center

Yarloo Wallet (for snooping and exchanging our tokens)

Arcade Games

DeFi Loan & Lending System

As you can see, Yarloo offers different ways to participate in our unique lottery system, and profit through different styles and approaches. Are you a risk taker? The solo lottery is most likely for you. Want to feel the security of a higher opportunity thanks to others supporting you as a team? The team lottery is definitely the way to go. Feeling lucky today? Use our lucky spinner to see if you can collect new special cards that increase your odds. Are you a collector who has collected a large number of valuable cards over time? The trading center is yours for the taking, and there is literally no risk as you only sell your cards. If you’re not as lucky as the cards and don’t want to take high risks, then of course, staking is your way.

CARD SYSTEMOur card system is not very complicated. There will be 5 types of cards, ranked from bottom to top as:

On the other hand, from Silver to Sapphire, cards grant more tickets and all have special attributes. Silver cards give 5 tickets per card, Gold give 10, and Sapphire give 50 participation tickets.

Standard

Premium

eccentric

RST ECOSYSTEMProfit Sharing Token, or RST for short, is Yarloo’s revolutionary backbone, the first implementation of its kind that will someday be recognized as NFT and DeFi technology, RST is how Yarloo can be armed as an anti-bear project, which can withstand any market sentiment. The way it works is pretty simple, and can be reconfigured based on individual company preferences, but we’ll be using Yarloo as a core example of how RST will be used considering we were the original founders of this concept and its first integrator.

Seed Investors & IDOs: 30%

Holder: 25%

Buyback: 20%

LP Provider: 15%

Wheel of Fortune/Rewards Pool: 10%

ROADMAP

Q3 2021:

Funding Round Conclusion

3-5 Sets of Launch Cards

Alpha Wallet

Alpha Market

Q4 2021:

Wheel of Fortune Release

Lottery Platform Launch

Bridging $YARL to the new network

First CEX List

5-8 New Card Set

Fusion System Testing

Governance features for $YARL holders

Updated Lightpaper

Q1 2022:

Roam around the Seven Seas!

We will continue to update our roadmap depending on new introductions, games we announce, and more. For now, * only information about this year’s Q3 and Q4 is available.

Detailed Information:Website:

https://yarloo.vercel.app/

Telegram :

https://t.me/yarloochat

Telegram channel :

https://t.me/yarlannouncements

Twitter :

https://twitter.com/yarl

oo_rstMedium :

https://medium.com/@yarloo

Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/yarloo

Author:

Forum Username: Bonex87

Forum Profile Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2193622

Telegram Username: @Bonex87

BCS Wallet address: 0xfe3E1AD3B40cfb843181f6682a6eFf8F97f29A57

0 notes

chrisana988 · 3 years ago

Text

Yarloo

Yarloo is a global lottery ecosystem, built on transparent and decentralized blockchain technology,

Since the advent of decentralized finance (Defi), a number of peer-to-peer financial products have been built, allowing users to lend cryptocurrencies to other users and stake funds in liquidity pools to enable trading. But here's one that may not make sense on the surface.Crypto Lottery, whether it be UK National Lottery or US Big Millions – lottery games give you the chance to win big while keeping bet sizes to a minimum. With that said, it is only a matter of time before lottery games reach the crypto and blockchain technology arena.Such games allow you to buy entry tickets via popular crypto coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and the process of drawing the ball itself is usually more transparent than you will find in the offline segment. Plus, winnings are distributed to successful ticket holders instantly, so there's no need to visit your local kiosk to collect prizes.Yarloo is a new take on the lottery gambling system that is known to everyone around the world. We feel that the current state of the lottery is quite… lacking, to say the least. It's not fun, the risks are too high and your chances are dim. Very. Here's an excerpt from K5: “According to the US Lottery, the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302.6 million and the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. Combine the two and the odds of winning both jackpots for over a billion dollars go to 1 in 88 quadrillion. That's 88 followed by 15 zeros.But with the current advancement of the crypto space, we at Yarloo feel that something can be done to revolutionize lottery systems around the world, and to make it much more fun, give people a much higher chance of winning, create a much more flexible jackpot pool, and introduce set the NFT card as the core function behind the ticket. Also the fun aspect of making the whole project theme revolve around pirates!YARLOO FEATURES Yarloo will be full of cool features that will be very useful for everyone, and as we progress in the future, we will start to include more features, and discuss them with our community so we can see what else can be done in the future. future. Yarloo. -RST: Yarloo is the first project in the world to implement a technology known as “Revenue Sharing Token”, which allows the community to receive 30% of Yarloo's profits to serve the ecosystem in which it is built. -NFT : We are also the first lottery project in crypto history to use NFT cards as your main entry ticket system in any pool! This means instead of buying a ticket, your ticket is represented by the card you used in your lottery pool. -DeFi : You will benefit financially from Yarloo thanks to its hybrid DeFi system, especially by allowing you to earn 2% of pool profits if you are the creator, and by leveraging our RST ecosystem if you have enough $YARL! HOW IT WORKS At Yarloo, you will be able to participate in a number of financially rewarding activities, including, but not limited to:-Solo Lottery JackpotTeam Lottery Jackpot Fortune Spinner NFT Trade Center Yarloo Wallet (to spy and exchange our tokens) Game Arcade DeFi Loan & Lending System 📷As you can see, Yarloo offers various ways to participate in our unique lottery system, and profit through different styles and approaches. Are you a risk taker? The solo lottery is probably for you. Want to feel a higher opportunity security thanks to others supporting you as a team? The team lottery is definitely the way to go. Feeling lucky today? Use our lucky spinner to see if you can collect new special cards that increase your odds. Are you a collector who has collected a large number of valuable cards over time? The trading center is yours for the taking, and there is literally no risk as you only sell your cards. If you're not as lucky as the cards and don't want to take high risks, then of course, staking is your way.CARD SYSTEM Our card system is not very complicated. There will be 5 types of cards, ranked from bottom to top as:These 5 types of cards have very different functions and values. For example, small cards only give 1 ticket per card, due

to their low value, and Bronze cards give 2 tickets per card, but both have no special attributes and cannot be paired with other cards.📷 On the other hand, from Silver to Sapphire, cards provide more tickets and all have special attributes. The Silver Card gives 5 tickets per card, Gold gives 10, and Sapphire gives 50 participation tickets.Card sets will be released consistently at Yarloo, even after launch, as they will always be an important part of how things work. There will be 3 types of card sets, so users can know what to expect from each:Standard Premium The eccentric RST EKOSISTEM Profit Sharing Token, or RST for short, is Yarloo's revolutionary backbone, the first implementation of its kind that will someday be recognized as NFT and Defi technology, RST is how Yarloo can be armed as an anti-bear project, which can withstand any market sentiment. The way it works is pretty simple, and can be reconfigured based on individual company preferences, but we'll be using Yarloo as a core example of how RST will be used considering we were the original founders of the concept and its first integrator. Seed Investors & IDOs: 30% Holder: 25% Repurchase: 20% LP Provider: 15% Wheel of Fortune/Rewards Pool: 10%

ROADMAPQ3 2021:Conclusion of Funding Round 3-5 Alpha Market Q4 2021 Alpha Wallet Launch Card Sets :Wheel of Fortune Release Lottery Platform Launches Bridging $YARL to new network First CEX List 5-8 New Card Set Fusion System Test Governance features for $YARL holders Updated Lightpaper Q1 2022:Roam around the Seven Seas! We will continue to update our roadmap depending on new introductions, games we announce, and more. For now, *only information about this year's Q3 and Q4 is available. Detailed Information: Website: https://yarloo.vercel.app/ Telegram : https://t.me/yarloochat Telegram Channel : https://t.me/yarlannouncements Twitter : https://twitter.com/yarl oo_rst Medium : https://medium.com/@yarloo Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/yarloo Username chrisana Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2633297

0 notes

thegeekerynj · 4 years ago

Text

An Occasional Attempt to Read, Discuss and Review the Wonders of Comics

By: John Rafferty, cranky old man, and Fan of All Things Comics

Riding the IND

Designed with the intent to acknowledge the Immense Contribution of the Independent Comic Press, and highlight a more unique stable of products

==========================================

Short Hops on the IND

Quick looks at books from the Independent Press, when the reviewer has too much on his plate

———————————————————————————-

Seven Secrets #2 (Boom! Studios)

Writer: Tom Taylor Artist: Danielle DiNicuolo

‘You know, being a Leader, I really expected my decisions to be undermined less.

Really? That’s cute.

Why do I keep you around?

Mainly to hold this. I suspect you have unusually weak arms.’

——————————————————————————————————————————

So, Caspar has been born, and shipped off to be trained, becoming another Secret in the Order of Secrets…

And he comes back. At 9 years old, trained in the martial arts, Smarter, more inquisitive and much more driven than any Initiate before. Training with Keepers and Holders, to become one of them.

And more importantly, to discover his roots.

Taylor’s scripting is tight and fast. He packs a great deal of story into 24 pages. More importantly, he brings Caspar’s story fully around, to the point of Sigurd’s departure.

The artwork from Danielle DeNicuolo is simply beautiful. I know… I waffled on about how pretty her pencils were last time, but Jeebus, this issue is prettier. It’s almost as if last issue was a test balloon, to see if she had the hook she wanted, and now… well, she’s fishing the pond dry!

This issue ends on a terrific cliffhanger line, one I will not repeat.

More importantly, one which can mean many things, depending where the story goes.

Suffice to say, I am determined to follow this book. I would suggest you do so also.

Out of 5🌶 🌶🌶🌶🌶.5

======================================================================

Locke & Key ‘…In Pale Battalions Go…’ #1 (IDW)

Writer: Joe Hill Artist: Gabriel Rodriguez

‘Where did Father find you? Be honest, I shall have the truth soon enough. I best not learn he hauled you out of some sordid immoral hole.

No. Worse. Canada.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Locke & Key.

The story of Key House, on Lovecraft Island, has spanned years, for Key House, itself is older than the Americas.

The Lockes have forever been the guardians of the Keys to Key House, guarding them against the Evilthat wants to use them… for the Keys are Weapons. Not weapons like guns, and rifles and knives or spears. But Weapons.

Those which have the Power to Destroy. And the Keys DO want to be used.

Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez have taken it upon themselves to bring us another tale in the History of Key House. Thank Gods!

The year is 1918, and the Great War is raging in Europe. Jonathan Locke is 14 years old, and wants to fulfill his destiny, for the Lockes have been represented in every war. As the only son, this is his right, and with the Keys of Key House, there’s no telling what he can do…

Gabriel Rodriguez seems to have decided to leave everything on the battlefield with his artwork. His pages are so expressive, and capture the feel of the World War One era. If the closing splash is any indication, the actual war pieces will be fantastic.

As far as Mr. Hill, what can I say? There has not been a miss, even remotely, in his portfolio… and this latest edition of the Locke Family chronicle is no exception.

My only complaint, it relies on a conceit that the Reader knows the story already, and gives little information about the Keys in play… Now, this is a minor dig, for if the Gentle Reader perusing this truly wants to find the history of Key House, and its family of Guardians, they would merely have to purchase the prior volumes of Locke and Key, and read to their heart’s content.

Out of 5🌶 🌶🌶🌶🌶

======================================================================

A Man Among Ye #1 & 2 (Image / Top Cow)

Writer: Stephanie Phillips Artist: Craig Cermak

‘You might try using the eyes that head, Jack, unless you fancy a new breathing hole. Still I do love the smell of gunpowder in the morning…

——————————————————————————————————————————

Well, this is a pleasant surprise…

A comic about pirates. Not any pirate, not a ‘Jack Sparrow’ type of pirate.

No, this is a look at Captain John ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham, and more importantly, his first mate, Anne Bonny.

The stories of Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny and Mary Read are almost as extensive, and fantastic as those of Blackbeard, William Kidd and Bartholomew Roberts.

What makes Anne Bonny and Mary Read so special is their being successful Female Pirates in a male dominated world. Every bit as strong, independent, and batshit crazy as all the others of their time, Bonny and Read ran the British Navy ragged throughout the Caribbean, while doing so an all-male crew, an amazing feat for the 18th Century.

Stephanie Phillips has certainly done her research, taking this story from the sinking of a British frigate by Rackham and his crew, to the British Governor of the Bahamas, and his plan to capture all the pirates, and execute them.

Cermak’s art is nicely complementary to the story, however I find it a little trope-y… The Heroes / anti-heroes are pretty, the ‘Villain’ is an ugly brute, and things are a little to clean… This is a pirate story, on the High Seas, there is nothing clean and pretty about this…

But, I digress.

With two issues in, and the British on their tail, Rackham, Bonny and Read have their hands full. Knowing a little of the history here, I am looking forward to seeing how much legend Phillips mixes in with the facts of the raids on the Barbary Coast, the Tortugas, and the shipping lanes.

It’s really nice to see a non-Super, strong Female Led Book. Here’s hoping it gets legs, and readers!

Out of 5🌶 🌶🌶🌶🌶

======================================================================

Bomb Queen - Trump Card Part 1 (Image - Shadowline)

Creator - Jimmie Robinson

‘Why the FU*%ing rush? *cough - cough* He’ll be gone like every asshole politician. They’re all the same.

Not this time. Trump changed the Constitution by repealing the 22nd Amendment. He’ll make himself President for Life if he wins this election.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Sweet Jeebus. As if Jimmie Robinson hasn’t fed the zeitgeist enough with cut-off shirts and tiny, tight skirts, now he feeds the fears of America, outlining an America with a lunatic trying to rewrite Democracy… And the need for Bomb Queen to run against him!

This is my introduction to Bomb Queen, the ninth mini-series, each of the earlier ones a titillating wonder of humor and over-sexed action. At this point in her world, the anti-hero has had her own country for Super-Villains, and is now on the run, having beset upon by the World’s Heroes.

Captured by her Clone / Sire (these things are never clear), Bomb Queen is offered a choice, as it were. Run for office against the Orange Horror, or well, you know, because heroes aren’t really heroes…

His artwork is pretty, simple, and clean. There’s a certain elegance about the characters he draws. They’re not overmuscled, although the ladies do have exceptionally large ‘lungs’, which are emphasized by uniform cutouts (a’la Power Girl)…

This book is full of hoots, giggles, belly laughs, and unfortunately, the harsh reality of the 2016 Election. There’s a two page spread which harkens back to the CNN / MSNBC / National Television Network ‘Man on the Street’ interviews, with paraphrased quotes I heard about Trump over his opponents, and over Clinton. The idea that Robinson could make it fit so easily, and fluidly… well it both makes me ill, and gives me pause to want to read much more.

As I said, Jimmie Robinson has grabbed the National Zeitgeist by the shorthairs with this storyline, not because he’s rich, and just can, but because it’s just too soon, and no one will be able to deny the ugly nature of what they are reading.

This is worth a read to see where he takes it, to see if he has the stones to finish what he started, and to see HOW THE HELL Bomb Queen WALKS IN THOSE FRICKIN BOOTS!!!

Out of 5🌶 🌶🌶🌶🌶

======================================================================

Cyberpunk 2077 Trauma Team #1 (Dark Horse Comics)

Writer: Cullen Bunn Artist: Miguel Valderrama

‘Everyone’s resentful of how little money they make. Doesn’t change anything.

We get the call.

We do the job.

—————————————————————————————————————————

As I read this book, and watched the flashes of color race across my eyes, my first thoughts were ‘godsdamn, this guy makes Frank Miller look good!’

Gentle Readers, in my introduction to this book, inside the first 5 or six pages, I was making comparisons between the artist of this book, and the master of dark, splatter mayhem.

Miguel Valderrama has a very special touch to his pencils and inks, maybe he buys them from the same place, perhaps they are fashioned from the same tree and graphite quarry… whatever the reason, the cause, I want MORE!

The biggest difference is the lightness of touch, the fine lines, there are many more, much more elaborate detail than the broad strokes Master Miller uses, however, this is not a complaint. Rather , the observation is more of a wistful longing for a, well, a ‘What if Frank Miller Drew Everything The Way He Drew His Crowd Scenes?

The answer might be found in this book

Cullen Bunn’s story reads like a reality television story. This is a look into the psych eval of the lone surviving member from a Medical Evac Team. This Trauma Team has medics, and soldiers to act as guards, as the areas they are sent into aren’t exactly Beverly Hills, unless the 90210 has been overrun by the Crips and Bloods, and they are eating the shop owners.

As Nadia is running through her memories of the events, we are seeing it in real time, along with the interviewer’s requests for clarification. She appears to be a solid medic, her only concern being getting back in the field. She has a job to do…

Now, at first glance, this could be seen as pretty derivative… like Judge Dredd / Anderson as a Guard / Medic team… BUT… and this is a Big One, the comparison ends with the big helmets and firefights.

There’s none of the cynicism, or the poking fun at the Government / Branches / Cabinet Offices. Rather, there’s what feels like a genuine look at how being a survivor has effected this character, and how she is going to handle getting back out into the field.

I liked this. I have to say, I went in to this book with some preconceptions, and was happy to see them dashed. The interactions between the Team characters come across as real, there’s little stilted, unnatural dialogue… and that was a great thing to see.

The twist Bunn slams at the reader on the last page of the book, well, I want to see Issue 2, just to see how this plays out.

Out of 5🌶 🌶🌶🌶.5

======================================================================

HEAVY #1 (VAULT Comics)

Writer: Max Bemis Artist: Eryk Donovan

‘I’ve got fifteen Hitlers to do away with before the end of the night!

They’re throats aren’t gonna slit themselves!

——————————————————————————————————————————

Have you ever read ‘The Punisher’?

Seen R.I.P.D.?

Put the two together, you’ve pretty much read this book.

Hyperviolence, set to a redemption arc, while saving the Multiverse from the worst iterations of the Famous (both good and bad… Leonardo DaVinci as a bisexual foot fetishist who uses his genius to become Dictator of the World, and build weapons that are sexual torture devices???!!!???)

The redemption part?? To get to the Other Side, and redeem yourself, you have to partner with, and train the jerk who killed you and your girl, and make sure he doesn’t get killed when you are on the job!

Unless this is what you are into… HARD PASS!

Out of 5🌶 🌶🌶🌶

======================================================================

We Only Find Them When They’re Dead #1 (Boom! Studios)

Writer: Al Ewing Artist: Simone De Meo

Boss, tell me if I’m out of line here, I don’t mind not knowi—

— But what IS this between you and Richter? What happened?

Oh, it’s quite simple, Jason.

She killed my PARENTS.

—————————————————————————————————————————

I was hooked on this book before I got to these lines of dialogue.

I don’t know if it was the absolutely wonderful artwork, the beauty of the layouts, the detail, the ——Oh Hell, Simone De Meo’s artwork grabbed me and held me for the three readings I gave this book. I couldn’t get over the visuals, her place ts of panels, the character sketches… Hell, some of this was downright cinematic.

There are panels, and pages, that made me think of James Gunn’s vision of Knowhere… and that is high praise from me.

Al Ewing, what is there to say. After reading his work on Judge Dredd, i sought out his work wherever I could find it.. This is tough for me, not being a big Marvel Fan, since almost everything he has written has been for the House of the Iron Mouse…

The story, is simplicity. Explorers in Space find the corpses of the Gods. Well, that is as close as they can come to what they are.

There is a market for their meat, the materials which clothe them, certain parts of their organs, both a legal and a Black Market.

Once a Godcorpse has been identified, the Sutopsy Ships descend upon it, to stake claims. these are monitored by Escort Ships, in place to enforce Government Regulations concerning what can and cannot be stripped from the Godcorpse.

Violate protocols and die.

This is the story of the Vikaam Two, her captain, Georges Malik, his crew, and his plan to find a Living God.

I can’t wait!

Eight Bells… All is well…

Out of 5🌶 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

======================================================================

Grendel, Kentucky #1 (AWA /Upshot)

Writer: Jeff McComsey Artist: Tommy Lee Edwards

‘You believe what Pap said about Clyde?

How he died?

Do I believe a bear killed my Daddy?

No Fuckin’ Way.

——————————————————————————————————————————

1976. Junior Year of High School, my AP English class was assigned ‘Beowulf’ as an Advanced Placement Test read. In the Olde English translation.

It was an attempt by my teacher, a wonderful elf of a nun, to get her literary stunted students to stretch, comprehend, and recognize themes once they see them, in preparation for the exam and the expectations of college.

2020. As is my wont, I picked up all the First Issues of the Indy Comics at my local purveyor of Four Color Sequential Art, The Geekery.

While running up my near National Deficit weekly Comics tab, my eyes slid across the title, and the gritty cover… Hmmmmm, too much of a draw not to at least give a look, add it to the pile.

In the opening pages of this book, Clyde Wallace has dressed himself in catcher’s mask, chest protector and knee / shin guards (poor man’s body armor), and strapped on enough real and makeshift weaponry (baseball bat with spikes driven through the business end to an M-60 grenade launcher) to make Rambo, Negan and Max Rockatansky run screaming into the night.

Clyde marches into the mouth of a mine…

WHOA! By Hrothgar, King of the Danes… This is Beowulf… In Kentucky!!??!!

Set in 1971, the Beowulf character, Denny, is a veteran of the Viet Nam Police Action, his warriors, well they are an all female biker gang, led by Marnie, a woman his father raised from childhood. The King, Pap, is the Town Elder, and he knows something he isn’t talking about.

Yeah, this is already good, one issue in.

Jeff McComsey has written an offbeat take on the Beowulf epic, taking some very severe literary license with the story lines. The epic heroes and warriors, well, not so much. Relatively amoral, criminal for support, ahhhh lets face it, these guys are all anti-heroes, at best.

If this were today’s America, I’m not sure I wouldn’t be rooting for the monster.

But I digress.

The artwork by Tommy Lee Edwards is gritty, hard on the eyes, and, well appropriate to the story. His artwork HURTS at times, you can feel the violence, the intent, through the eyes. America in 1971, it was not a pretty place.

As a miniseries (1 of 4, so far), this is worth the read. Too much more, and it would feel like I was prepping for a test again… but I digress.

Out of 5🌶 🌶🌶🌶🌶

======================================================================

Inkblot #1 (Image Comics)

Creators: Emma Kubert and Rusty Gladd

‘Sweet Suckleberries!

——————————————————————————————————————————

Her Name is KUBERT. As in Joe, and Adam and Andy and Katie.

That alone earns her the right to a viewing.

The fact that this is a fun little book she co-created with Rusty Gladd, well, that’s a gallon of whipped Italian Sweet Cream on top of the cake!

Give this a shot! Buy it for your little ones, if you have any! Lie about having little ones, and buy it for yourself! You won’t be disappointed!

Out of 5🌶 🌶🌶🌶🌶.5

======================================================================

Spy Island #1 (Dark Horse Comics)

Writer: Chelsea Cain Cover / Designer / Supplemental Art: Lia Miternique Artist: Elise McCall

‘Some people are afraid of the ocean. There’s a word for it: ‘Thalassophobia’. A fear of the open ocean and what lies beneath its surface.

Not me.

I think the ocean’s great*.

*except for the Kraken.

——————————————————————————————————————————

SO. That happened.

There is an area of the Atlantic Ocean, delineated by vertices at Miami, Florida, San Juan Puerto Rico, and Bermuda, which has been the source of many stories concerning the disappearance of airplanes, ships, crews of ship, and unusual activities. This area, lovingly referred to as the Devil’s Triangle, or the Bermuda Triangle, is the source of this tale.

Spy Island is located somewhere inside the Triangle, and it plays host to spies, bad actors, scientists, etc from all nations, some other worlds, and all times.

It’s the story of Nora Freud, Agent for an unnamed country, possibly the USA, possibly not. She is a spy, and so much more. She is also a woman of action, who can perform any assignment given to her.

Including assassination.

Lia Miternique and Elise McCall have put together an artistically gorgeous offering in this book. Between the inserts for the fish, maps, the advertisements and covers, this a visually wondrous.The underwater scenes in and of themselves are masterful, offering a view of the ocean one might actually see off t a Caribbean island.

The story, well it is OK. Lots of self exposition, not much action (the best stuff is in the first 4 pages), this is setting up like a spy thriller, of sorts. DUH, bimbo!!! Look at the title!

It is a first issue, and seems to be tagged for a longer run, so, I’m willing to give Ms. Cain the benefit of the doubt here. She had to have given the artists the perspective to draw from, and I am cautiously optimistic, based on Mockingbird, and her NYT Best Seller Status…

It’s worth a shot, just for the eye candy…

Out of 5🌶 🌶🌶🌶.5

#indie comics #seven secrets #locke & key #a man among ye #bomb queen #cyberpunk 2077 #heavy #we only find them when they're dead #grendel ky #inkblot #spy island #image comics #dark horse comics #boom studios #comics #comic books

0 notes

mostlysignssomeportents · 7 years ago

Text

Boing Boing Charitable Giving Guide 2017 /Pls RT!

Here's a guide to the charities the Boingers support in our own annual giving. Please add the causes and charities you give to in the forums!

The Tor Project The Tor anonymity and privacy tools are vital to resistance struggles around the world, a cooperative network that provides a high degree of security from scrutiny for people who have reasons to fear the powers that be. From our early hominid ancestors until about ten years ago, humans didn't leave behind an exhaust-trail of personally identifying information as they navigated the world -- Tor restores that balance. —CD

Planned Parenthood Because we deserve health care, including reproductive, gender, and sexual health care. Because access to birth control and safe abortion is a human right. Because Trump's regime wants to destroy all of this. —XJ

Software Freedom Conservancy Software Freedom Conservancy does the important, boring, esoteric work of keeping the internet from tearing itself to pieces, playing host organization to free software projects like Git, Selenium and Samba (to name just three). The Conservancy keeps these projects legally sound and gives them a scaffold to hang their institutional structures on them. Without the Conservancy, the software you love and depend on would be in dire peril

Electronic Frontier Foundation I have been proudly associated with EFF for a decade an a half now and have watched, half-awed, as it grew from a scrappy, brilliant little organization to a powerhouse of enormous scale and power. Every cause, every fight enumerated on this page and in your life and mine will be lost or won on the internet. EFF is the best hope we have of keeping that internet free, fair and open. —CD, MF

Creative Commons Creative Commons is best known as a tool for sharing-friendly artists, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Since the beginning, and all over the world, CC has provided governments, agencies, research and scholarly institutions and NGOs with the tools to easily share across borders and the bewildering array of copyright laws. We can't beat trumpism without collaboration tools, and that includes legal tools. —CD

Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia) For 15 years, Wikipedia has been figuring out how to negotiate truth among diverse and even warring points of view. It's not always pretty and it's not always nice, but no one's yet found a better way to let ideas bash against each other until something everyone agrees upon emerges. It's not pretty, but compared to our democracy, it's a beauty queen. —CD

Human Rights Data Analysis Group For more than twenty-five years, the team at the [Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG)](https://hrdag.org/) has held perpetrators of mass violence accountable. They are a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that applies rigorous science to the analysis of human rights violations around the world. They provide unbiased, scientific results that contribute to accurate quantitative arguments. HRDAG's analysis brings clarity to the often confused narratives of human rights violence and support the movement for justice. One of their bigger projects for 2018 examines the growing use of machine-learning techniques in the US criminal justice system. At best, these methods reproduce existing biases in data. More often, machine learning amplifies the biases in the data and thereby exacerbates criminal justice strategies that disproportionately affect marginalized populations. Currently, they are working with partners at the San Francisco Public Defender's office and the New York Legal Aid Society to evaluate risk assessment tools being used in those cities. They are also analyzing how current bail practices may disproportionately disadvantage marginalized populations, in particular, lower-income defendants. Other ongoing HRDAG projects include research on mass violence in Syria, Colombia, Mexico, and more.

Institute for the Future There are no facts about the future, only fictions. As we've learned in this election, nothing is certain about tomorrow. But even as our attention is captured by the present, we can begin to write the story to come. A place to start is the Institute for the Future's Future for Good fellowship. Institute for the Future, where Mark and David are researchers, is a 50-year-old nonprofit that helps the public think about the future to make better decisions in the present. The Fellowship directly supports inspiring social innovators who are working to make tomorrow a better place. You can help too. Make a donation of $100 and you’ll receive IFTF Distinguished Fellow Bob Johansen's new book "The New Leadership Literacies: Thriving in a Future of Extreme Disruption and Distributed Everything." -DP & MF

The National Wildlife Federation National Wildlife Federation is a voice for wildlife, dedicated to protecting wildlife and habitat and inspiring the future generation of conservationists. Now's the time: the shortlist for our new Secretary of the Interior is reportedly Sarah Palin and Forrest Lucas, an "advocate of trophy hunting and puppy mills ... who never met a case of animal exploitation he wouldn’t defend." — RB

The Marine Mammal Center When seals, sea lion, or many other sea going pals need help, if they get lucky, they may be taken to The Marine Mammal Center, a veterinary hospital just for them. Thousands of heartbreakingly cute, but very wild, animals are rescued, rehabilitated and released on an annual basis. I'm a volunteer. In addition to the hundreds of highly trained volunteers that make the hospital run, the center always needs cash for fish and medicine. —JW

The Southern Poverty Law Center & the Anti-Defamation League The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defemation League fight hate, teach tolerance, and help secure justice, and fair treatment for all. "There is no 'them' and 'us.' There is only us." --Greg Boyle —JW

Facing History and Ourselves Facing History and Ourselves is an international educational group that helps young people study issues around racism, antisemitism, and prejudice in history, from the Holocaust to today's immigrant experiences to the killing fields of Cambodia. Their aim is to teach young people "to think critically, to empathize, to recognize moral choices, to make their voices heard, we put in their hands the possibility--and the responsibility--to do the serious work demanded of us all as citizens." —DP

Free Software Foundation/Defective By Design The Free Software Foundation's principled litigation, license creation and campaigning is fierce, uncompromising and has changed the world. You interact with code that they made possible a million times a day, and they never stop working to make sure that the code stays free. —CD

Free Software Foundation Europe Software has eaten the world, and software freedom is increasingly synonymous with human freedom. In Europe, far-right parties and authoritarians are inheriting a constellation of gadgets and devices that are "defective by design," built to allow corporations spy on and control their owners -- and those thugs are contemplating how they can use those companies' extraordinary powers to put whole populations under their thumbs. Free software in Europe, free software everywhere! —CD

The Internet Archive: In an era where the control of information has been weaponized, the Internet Archive's mission -- universal access to all human knowledge -- is a revolutionary manifesto. The Archive isn't screwing around: they're siting a copy of their data in Canada to resist trumpian grabs and spying and redecentralizing the internet to save us all from tyranny. —CD

Open Rights Group While we were all fighting about Brexit, Theresa May's Tory government passed the most intrusive surveillance bill in the history of modern democracies. It's a longstanding joke that the gnomes of Westminster Village think that Nineteen Eighty-Four was a manual for statecraft, but the joke is getting less funny by the second. ORG is a decade old: spunky, going though a timely growth spurt, and badly needed. —CD

Amnesty International I just looked up Amnesty's founding principles and found tears rolling down my cheeks: "Only when the last prisoner of conscience has been freed, when the last torture chamber has been closed, when the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a reality for the world’s people, will our work be done." These values need our support more than ever. —CD

ACLU On November 9, 2016 ACLU changed its homepage to a picture of Trump superimposed with the words SEE YOU IN COURT. ACLU's deep bench of kick-ass lawyers has been lately augmented by a much-needed group of freedom-fighting technologists, welded into the fighting force we'll need for the next four years and beyond: from voter suppression to free speech, the ACLU is key to the fight. —CD, MF

Liberty With the UK plunging into surveillance dystopia where human rights are an afterthought and racial profiling is becoming official doctrine, it needs Liberty, an organisation with 80+ years' track record fighting for human rights in many incarnations of the British project. The Tories ran on a platform of repealing the Human Rights Act: when the government is officially anti "human rights," you need someone like Liberty to take the "pro" side. —CD

826 National Born in San Francisco’s Mission District in the back room of a pirate supply store, 826 National teaches young people the art and magic of creative writing through classes, DIY publishing projects, in-school programs, and drop-in tutoring at seven centers around the US. And it’s all free for the kids. Help open more 826 locations around the country! —DP

Fight for the Future Some of the Internet's savviest, hard-working-est activists. Fight for the Future is in all the Internet fights, kicking ass on Net Neutrality -- a fight that's back on in 2017, thanks Trump -- mass surveillance and justice for Chelsea Manning. -CD

Demand Progress Aaron Swartz co-founded Demand Progress, and as you'd expect from that history, they're relentless in reinventing the activist playbook for the 21st century. -CD

MySociety Software in the public interest -- it's a damned good idea. MySociety produces software like Pledgebank ("I will risk arrest by refusing to register for a UK ID card if 100,000 other Britons will also do it") and TheyWorkForYou (every word and deed by every Member of Parliament). It's plumbing for activists and community organizers. —CD

https://boingboing.net/2017/12/10/charitable-giving-guide-2017.html

17 notes · View notes

warninggraphiccontent · 5 years ago

Text

15 May 2020

Losing the plot

When it comes to data visualisation, we all make mistakes. We all need to make mistakes. And the recent revolution in data visualisation is still new enough that it's wonderful to see people trying to use and visualise data. There's a balance to be struck between perfectionist pedantry (I'm still often guilty) and encouraging people to have a go. Therefore, I try not to criticise people for slightly substandard charts.

I made an exception this week. We should expect better from government. And poor visualisation is just one aspect of the government's muddled communication of the numbers.

Elsewhere:

The government's coronavirus recovery strategy had (only) a couple of interesting references to data: a vague reference to 'robust safety measures' when it came to contact tracing - we should expect more, quickly, especially since (as Peter points out) the reference to Asian countries raises more questions than it answers - and a vague reference to rewiring the state. Much more from the IfG on the coronavirus crisis and lifting lockdown restrictions here.

People are still updating our collaborative spreadsheet on data-related developments, transparency things and mortality stats (thank you!). Find it here - further additions always welcome.

My former colleague Nicole is now at the Royal College of Nursing, and she's recruiting - take a look at the ads for Digital Content Officer and Senior Media Officer.

On the subject of nursing... it was Florence Nightingale's birthday this week, the Lady with the Lamp also being a pioneer in the use and visualisation of data. Some bonus links below.

And another anniversary - it was International Dylan Thomas Day yesterday, marking the premiere of Under Milk Wood. Which is as good an excuse as any to revisit the West Glamorgan Youth Theatre Company's lockdown production of the opening scene, starring various people who can actually act, and me.

Have a lovely weekend

Gavin

Today's links:

Flo charts

Happy 200th birthday #FlorenceNightingale! (Royal Society)

Florence Nightingale is a Design Hero (Nightingale)

Florence Nightingale the Angel of the Crimea (British Library)

International Nurses Day: what would Florence do on the COVID-19 front line? (Nursing Standard)

Special issue: Florence Nightingale (Significance)

Tips, tech, etc

The new rules to living in lockdown (The Observer)

Presentations post-Covid? (Matt Jukes)

Free-Range Working (Convivio)

In cycling there’s a thing called a “false flat” (@Lesley_NOPE)

Easing physical and mental strain in the workplace (Open Access Government)

Keeping our employees and partners safe during #coronavirus (Twitter)

What we’ve learned about mental health during lockdown (Prospect)

Graphic content

Viral content: cases

Coronavirus tracked: the latest figures as countries fight to contain the pandemic (FT)

NHK conducted an experiment to see how germs spread at a cruise buffet (via Spoon & Tamago)

Where U.S. coronavirus cases are on the rise (Reuters)

Without A Vaccine, Herd Immunity Won’t Save Us (FiveThirtyEight)

Majority black counties see triple the Covid death rate* (Bloomberg)

Coronavirus Australia data update: Covid-19 active and new cases, numbers, map and statistics (The Guardian)

Coronavirus (COVID-19) related deaths by occupation, England and Wales: deaths registered up to and including 20 April 2020 (ONS)

Russia’s Covid death toll could be 70 per cent higher than official figure* (FT)

Nowcasting and Forecasting of COVID-19 (MRC Biostatistics Unit, University of Cambridge)

Viral content: the economy

How bad is unemployment? Literally off the charts* (New York Times)

Invidious choices await Sunak in tackling cost of virus crisis* (FT)

One month, 20.5 million jobs lost (Reuters)

Why 1.4 Million Health Jobs Have Been Lost During a Huge Health Crisis* (The Upshot)

Viral content: lifting lockdown

Disease modelers are wary of reopening the country. Here’s how they arrive at their verdict.* (Washington Post)

Americans’ Commitment to Social Distancing Is Eroding* (Bloomberg)

Lifting lockdown: what Britain can learn from the rest of the world* (The Times, via Cath)

London is most vulnerable to coronavirus outbreak in the UK* (FT)

Phone data identify travel hubs at risk of a second wave of infections* (The Economist)

Britain on the move even before Johnson eased lockdown, data show* (FT)

Getting Britain working (safely) again (Resolution Foundation)

What would happen if Londoners tried to go back to normal on a socially-distanced Underground? (The Guardian)

Viral content: everything else

This is live @CitizensAdvice web traffic from 7- 7:35 pm (i.e. #borisspeech) (Gemma)

A Study Said Covid Wasn’t That Deadly. The Right Seized It.* (New York Times)

COVID19 Grants Tracker (360Giving)

A Pandemic That Cleared Skies and Halted Cities Isn’t Slowing Global Warming* (Bloomberg)

Facemasks: would you wear one? (Behavioural Insights Team)

Anti-viral content

GDP first quarterly estimate, UK: January to March 2020 (ONS)

Freedom of information (Oliver for IfG)

The civil service after Brexit: lessons from the Article 50 period (Maddy, Haydon and Joe for IfG - charts here)

What Does Opportunity Look Like Where You Live?* (New York Times)

What's at stake in Britain's post-Brexit trade talks? (The Guardian)

#dataviz

Poor chart rating for the government’s coronavirus communications strategy (me for IfG)

The dataviz in the PM's statement... (Mark Edwards)

Someone who is good at equations please help me (Policy Sketchbook)

Counting the human cost of Covid-19: 'Numbers tell a story words can't' (The Guardian)

Visualising Odds Ratio (Henry Lau)

A plan for accessible charts (Benjy Stanton)

How data journalists became the rock stars of news (BBC Sounds)

EXPLORE EXPLAIN S1 E3: JOHN BURN-MURDOCH (Visualising Data)

Meta data

Viral content: contact details (UK)

The code behind the NHS Covid-19 App (NHSX)

Also FAQs, DPIA (via Jim Killock)

UK starts to build second contact tracing app* (FT)

UK could switch to a different contact tracing app, says minister* (FT)

NHS coronavirus advisory board split over ditching government app (The Guardian)

Just how anonymous is the NHS Covid-19 contact tracing app?* (Wired)

Secret NHS files reveal plans for coronavirus contact tracing app* (Wired)

To trust the contact tracing app, we need safeguards* (Harriet Harman for The Times)

Harman seeks to bring private member’s bill over contact tracing* (Computer Weekly)

Analysis of the NHSX Contact Tracing App ‘Isle of Wight’ Data Protection Impact Assessment (Michael Veale)

Who governs? Platform privilege, contact tracing and APIs. (Richard Pope)

The tech firms getting their hands on NHS patient data to fight coronavirus (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism)

Coronavirus: Send virus alerts within 24 hours or risk second wave, scientist warns (Sky News)

Coronavirus contact tracing at risk unless vital info shared with councils (Local Government Association)

Only 50% of Britons would download NHS tracing app – poll (The Observer)

Workplace testing – guidance for employers (ICO)

Viral content: contact details (international)

How Europe splintered over contact tracing apps* (FT)

A flood of coronavirus apps are tracking us. Now it’s time to keep track of them.* (MIT Technology Review, via Alice)

India made its contact tracing app mandatory. Now people are angry* (Wired)

Nearly 40% of Icelanders are using a covid app—and it hasn’t helped much* (MIT Technology Review)

How Google and Apple outflanked governments in the race to build coronavirus apps (Politico)

Viral content: lies, damn lies, and...

The government’s daily briefings on #Covid_19 are "not trustworthy communication of statistics" says Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter (Andrew Marr Show)

Boris Johnson’s Covid-19 threat alert system is a parody of mathematical precision* (New Statesman)

Sir David Norgrove letter to Matt Hancock regarding COVID-19 testing (UKSA)

There’s always a “but”: why Covid-19 statistics never tell the whole story* (Prospect)

The armchair epidemiologists (Office for Statistics Regulation)

Viral content: what's a pirate's favourite epidemiological number?

R: A thread on real-time estimation and false precision... (Adam Kucharski)

The R-number – and the danger of false certainty* (The Spectator)

We should be very wary of the R value (UnHerd)

Viral content: everything else

Understanding the impact of coronavirus on the workforce (ONS)

Coronavirus: record ethnicity on all death certificates to start building a clearer picture (The Conversation)

Want to know how relevant the new government guidance on walking and cycling is to your area? I've got census data and ranked local authorities by public transport to work mode share (Jack Maizels, via Lee)

UK Data for Assessing COVID-19 Activity (CEBM, University of Oxford)

Why we cannot afford to leave technology to the experts – the case for public engagement at times of crisis (Ada Lovelace Institute)

Exclusive: Test data from commercial labs going into ‘black hole’ (HSJ)

Goodhart’s law comes back to haunt the UK’s Covid strategy* (FT)

The pandemic has spawned a new way to study medical records* (The Economist)

Viral misinformation

This Woman Says Her Photos Were Stolen In A Viral Post About The COVID-19 Death Of Her Uncle David. She Doesn’t Have An Uncle David. (BuzzFeed)

‘Conspiracy bingo’: Trans-Atlantic extremists seize on the pandemic (Politico)

Platform announcements

How Government as a Platform is meeting challenges posed by coronavirus (GDS)

Scaling up GOV.UK Verify to help during coronavirus (GDS)

DWP takes centre stage in future of Gov.uk Verify (Computer Weekly)

HM Treasury tells GDS: No further online services can use Gov.uk Verify (Computer Weekly)

Anti-viral content

People, Power and Technology 2020 (Doteveryone)

Launch event video (Doteveryone)

Better Redress for the Digital Age (Doteveryone)

The Online Resolution Service: a prototype of a shared platform for online complaints (Doteveryone)

UK police adopting facial recognition, predictive policing without public consultation (Verdict)

Machine Intelligence Garage Ethics Framework (Digital Catapult)

Facebook is quietly helping to set up a new pro-tech advocacy group to battle Washington* (Washington Post)

Rest of World: Reporting Global Tech Stories

Smart Cities in a time of crisis - London calling with an open data focus (diginomica)

Alphabet Spinoff SIP Aims To ‘Future Proof’ Infrastructure With Tech & $400M Series A (Crunchbase)

Don’t Regulate Artificial Intelligence: Starve It (Scientific American)

Digital transformation in the NHS (NAO)

Using FOI to protect social housing and council property (mySociety)

Opportunities

JOB: Data Journalist (DfT, via Quantum of Sollazzo)

JOB: Beneficial Technology, Analyst (Omidyar Network)

JOB: Help us be bolder using technology for good (Citizens Advice)

JOB: Lead User Researcher (Parliamentary Digital Service)

Call for IRM Local and National Researchers (Open Government Partnership)

GRANT: Next Generation Internet (NGI) Policy-in-Practice Fund (Nesta)

EVENTS: REIMAGINING GOVERNMENT: AN ANZSOG AND CENTRE FOR PUBLIC IMPACT SERIES

EVENT: Public Health Interventions, Data, and Privacy: Countering COVID-19 with Technology and Trust. (The Alan Turing Institute)

And finally...

Viral content

School teacher hilariously marks government’s lockdown chart (The London Economic, via Pritesh)

Things to do while #StayingHome... (Microsoft 365)

DIY hairdressers under covid-19 lockdown tend it like Beckham* (The Economist)

Anti-viral content

Global population density (Alasdair Rae)

State topographic maps (via Randy Olson)

I was bored. (Stephen Bush, via Alice)

Enormouse data (Martin Lewis)

colors.lol

0 notes