#and now rich people won't allow more to be built

[seancosy]

Me, a casual urban planning hobbyist: what if we had dense, walkable neighborhoods with narrower roads, limited motor traffic, designated bike lanes, well-thought out public spaces based on the historic concept of the 'town square' or 'commons', public transport corridors with ideally light or heavy rail as well as buses, integration of urban and natural environments, thoughtful mixed use zoning and building design, wheelchair accessibility which will also help other disabled people/parents with strollers, incorporating current structures into the urban plan where possible to maintain character and prevent waste.

Seemingly every city designer and politician in my country whose job is to be an expert at this shit: bigger road!!!! more car!!! less tree means more road??? demolish historic building?? cars and roads!!!! toll roads!! wait why is the traffic so bad?

[deadsetobsessions]

Okay, so maybe Tim has no business being in Bludhaven. Tim maintains that since his parents fail at parenting, he can do whatever he wants.

Besides, it's for a good cause. Like, not letting Tarantula get her dirty hands on his big brother in another time line. Tarantula had popped up in the Bludhaven servers - by that, Tim means the endless amounts of threads and underground fronts for criminal activity that he stalks on a regular basis- by being seen with Nightwing. Tim had immediately booked a ride to Bludhaven and bought another burner. He'd try to take care of her himself, but if worse comes to worse, he'd call Deathstroke. He's totally aware of the weird tension Deathstroke has with Nightwing and Tim's kind of banking on that.

Dick's been back in Blud for two months now, Jason having assuaged his mother hen tendencies enough for Dick to get sick of the Manor. Tim hadn't meant to follow since he had plenty of projects to work on now that "SAVE JASON" wasn't blaring at the top of his head.

But then Tarantula appeared and Tim saw red, remembering the way Dick spoke about her and what she did to him.

He bids the driver goodbye. The driver doesn't question his being on his lonesome mainly because 1) Gothamites mind their own busines, 2) Tim gave him a $500 tip to make sure he remains a "good" Gothamite cabbie, and 3) Tim made sure he was dropped off in the swankiest, most ostentatious hotel Bludhaven had to offer.

"Rich people," the cab driver had muttered as Tim closed the door. Perfect.

Tim got his keycard, having checked in under Alvin Draper over the phone. Normally, they'd require an in person visit, but money talks. And people listened when Tim had a lot of things to say.

Tim even feels like he's trained enough to go out! Lady Shiva's training was ingrained into his memory, and Tim's built enough muscle to make use of some of it. He is still nine, after all. He's so much stealthier this time around. Plus, he's got almost his full tool set back. Sure, some of the tech is ancient, but he managed to finagle it to make grappling guns and smoke pellets more along the quality that he's used to.

Tim waits until nightfall, looping the surveillance around his window to mask his exit. Tim adjusts his domino, eyes scanning the city skyline as his handheld computer (god, he can't believe he has to invent wrist computers) tracked reports of Nightwing through Tweetings.

Ah. He's around Seventh. Tim grimaces as his untested joints adjusts to the grappling guns. His dark clothes make him hard to spot, to his advantage as he tracks down Nightwing.

Tim watches, perched on an adjacent roof as Nightwing takes down a crowd of goons with the flips Tim remembered watching from afar and up close in another timeline.

"Blockbuster'll kill everyone you love, Nightwing!"

Tim winces at the rather brutal crunch that followed, Nightwing having punched the guy and knocked him out in one move. He watches Dick sigh, tugging at his hair in stress.

Tim could... no, no. He shouldn't think of murder as a first option. Well, no, he shouldn't think of Deathstroke as a first option. But he'll need to take Blockbuster out before anything happens. And he needs to threaten the new Tarantula before anything happens. He won't allow her to even get close to Dick.

Maybe it's unfair to punish her for a crime she hasn't done, but unlike murder, rape can never be defended. Catalina Flores is a dead woman walking.

Tim stalks his big brother back home and then broke off to begin his short reign of terror over Bludhaven's underground. If he can't get Dick to take a break (and Tim's tried, a lot, over the years) then he'll make sure that the next month is as gentle as possible on his older brother.

Step 1. Murder Take care of Blockbuster

Step 2. Threaten Catalina Flores and her brother.

No. Wait. Tim has a better idea. He's got dirt on them, on top of the murder thing. He'll fabricate Catalina's tax returns, embezzle a shit ton of money from the IRS, and get her and her corrupt brother (because getting your sister out from murder charges is considered corrupt) arrested and locked away. And he'll make sure they stay locked away with some good old blackmail on Amanda Waller.

Tim grins, tranquilizing the building with an ungodly amount of knock out gas pellets, to riffle through the police precinct's files.

Step 2. Threaten Catalina Flores and her brother.

Step 2. Cripple Catalina Flores and her brother with blackmail and the IRS.

In three hours, Tim has everything he needs to begin a temporary hostile takeover. He's got the names of local mob bosses, the big players, and the names of practically every police officer that takes bribes and their... sponsors.

He'll have to cut off Blockbuster's lines of supplies first. Then, blacklist him from local suppliers, mobilize the police precinct against him (by imitating his M.O. perfectly- Tim's not a fucking amateur- and pretending to rob the precinct blind), and then break his knees.

Step 3. Profit

Tim takes out his shiny new burner phone, enjoying the loud sounds of the police squawking through his planted bugs. He lounges on the building next to it, keeping an eye out for Nightwing just in case the man decides to respond to the crisis.

[Unknown: It's RR.]

[Deathstroke: New phone?]

[RR: Who dis?]

[Deathstroke: What?]

[RR: Nevermind. I'll give you forty thousand to shoot someone's knees out.]

[Deathstroke:... That's it? Who?]

[RR: Blockbuster. Bludhaven. Extra twenty thousand if you tell him he's got the spine of a sea slug, kick him in the balls, and post it on Tweeting.]

[Deathstroke: What did he do to you? Deal.]

Tim ignored Deathstroke's question.

[RR: Half sent. Confirm?]

[Deathstroke: Confirmed. Timeline?]

[RR: Three weeks. 21 days.]

[Deathstroke: Confirmed.]

----

Tim grins ferally, all teeth as Catalina Flores looked on in horror at her computer screen.

"Get out of Bludhaven, and don't come back. If you even think of going near Nightwing, I will rip what's left of your pathetic, sniveling swine of a brother apart. You will not enjoy the consequences."

Tim clicks off, watching Catalina and her brother launch themselves into mad packing. He tapped out a short message to Amanda Waller for her and her team to intercept them at the state lines. They'll never get away from Tim's fury. Never.

[Waller: It's done.]

[Waller: I will find you.]

[RR: You can definitely try, Waller. Good doing business with you.]

Tim can see the blood vessel the woman popped after he sent that last message. He laughs.

He saves Deathstroke's video from Tweeting onto his actual, spoofed phone. He destroys the burner phone, less shiny now that he's dragged it through two and a half weeks of breaking heads and terrorizing the Bludhaven Underground. Nightwing hadn't even gotten a whiff of his activities, this Dick being far less experienced and known in this version of Blud.

One more week and Tim can continue his other projects.

----

Nightwing, going about his vigilante business: wow it sure is peaceful

Feral Tim Drake, Nightwing's scary dog privilege: try me, bitch

[topazy]

Teen spirit

Pairing: Carl Grimes × reader, Maggie Greene × sister reader

Warnings: Swearing

Chapter: 5.07

“Why can’t Maggie be in here?”

An older woman with auburn hair named Deanna smiles at you. She was in charge of Alexandria, and she would be deciding if your group would get to stay or not. You didn’t mind talking to her initially, but what made you uneasy was her videoing your conversation and not allowing your sister to sit in the room with you.

“I won't bite,” she smiles. “I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable; I just want to ask you a few questions.”

When your group first arrived in Alexandria, everyone was made to hand their weapons over, and now being asked personal questions... it felt intrusive. Deanna straightens out old-fashioned flora curtains before wiping her finger along her bookcase, which was fully stacked. She smudges the dust between her fingers, then turns to you and asks, “How long have you been out there?”

“Uh, I’m unsure. Two years maybe.”

She sits down in the chair across from you and asks, “How did you all find each other?”

“When someone got shot, they were brought to my family's farmhouse so my dad could help save them.”

She looks intrigued. “Is your father a doctor?”

“No, he was a veterinarian.”

“Smart man. I’m assuming because you’re referring to him in the past tense, he’s no longer with us.”

“I lost my daddy not long ago.”

“Have you lost anybody else?”

“I lost my big brother Shawn, mom, and cousin Arnold all on the same day. Walkers attacked them. My dad and sister were killed by people.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she says, sounding sincere. “How old are you?”

“Fifteen.”

Deanna shakes her head and says, “You are far too young to have lost so much. I truly am sorry. So, as far as I’m aware, Rick is the leader of your group.”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“How do you think he does?”

You thought you could handle a few more questions, but tears began to swell. You didn’t like being asked anything because it brought everything you'd been through back. “Rick is a good person; everyone in our group is. We’re a family.”

—

Your group was given two large houses to stay in for now, but so far everyone has just gathered into one and is taking turns cleaning up. Being in the walled-off community felt like being in a TV show where the rich housewives live in the suburbs. The only thing you felt was normal was Daryl cutting open a possum while sitting on the porch. Your eyes widen when Rick walks outside; he has showered and shaved off his beard, making him look like a completely different person.

But then again, you looked different. After showing Rosita how to braid your hair, a nice blonde woman named Jesse dropped off some clean clothes for you to wear, along with toys for Judith.

“Has anyone been there yet?” You point to the house next door.

“I don’t think so,” Carl says, looking up at his dad. “Can we go check it out?”

Hesitantly, Rick agrees. “You can go look; just be quick and stick together.”

—

The house next door was nearly identical, aside from a few decorations. Growing up on a farm, you’d never dreamed of living in a modern home built like this. Carol had come with you to check it out; she was now leaning out of the kitchen window, talking to the people who live in the house next door.

When you hear a thumping noise coming from upstairs, you jump and grab Carl’s wrists. “Shit, sorry.” Feeling heat rush to your cheeks, you let go. “I’m just on edge.”

“It’s fine.” Carl offers you his hand. “I get it; I’m scared all the time too.”

He loosely holds onto your hand as you walk up the stairs, and when you reach the room, the noise is coming from Carl. He pulls out his knife and waits for you to do the same before pushing the door open. The room looks like a typical teenage hangout spot; the floor was covered in magazines, comics, CDs, and weirdly designed pillows with posters of bands you’ve never heard of before pinned to the walls.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” Carl says, “These are probably things we would have been interested in if things were different.”

“Not me,” you sigh. “I would never have been allowed magazines with half-naked women on the cover. Shawn was grounded for two months when Maggie found a magazine with a woman wearing nothing but a bikini under his bed.”

Carl laughs while kicking a dusty blanket aside to see what’s underneath it. After a few moments of silence, he says, “You never talk about your brother much.”

A fleeting smile tugs at your lips. Being the youngest, Shawn completely doted on you, and as a child, you would follow him around like a shadow. He always had time for you. His death hit you so hard because you thought he would always be there to protect you, but he died trying to save your mom from walkers.

“Hey? You okay, you kind of zoned out there.”

Hearing Carl’s voice, you snap out of your thoughts and back to reality. “Yeah,” you say, smiling at him. “I was just thinking that my brother would have really liked you.”

—

You bite the insides of your cheeks to stop yourself from laughing. Judith looks so confused as an elderly couple. Natalie and Bob Miller fuss over her. It was clear there weren’t many kids around, and this was the first time anyone had seen a baby in years, so they were all excited to see Judith.

“Is that Jesse?” Carl asks quietly.

You look up and see his dad talking to her, “Yeah, she’s nice.”

“My dad seems to like her. He says we’re to go to her house later and meet her son, Ron.”

It was weird; the idea of being a normal teenager was starting to freak you out.

—

After showing you around his home, Ron led you and Carl up to his bedroom to introduce you to his friend Mikey and girlfriend Enid. You were still trying to wrap your head around the idea of returning to school in the afternoons, which was held in a garage, when Carl nudges you with his elbow to gain your attention.

“Sorry, what?”

Ron chuckles. “I said cool bracelet; where do you get it?”

“Em, Carl found them,” you mutter.

“Neat, kind of like a souvenir of the apocalypse.” He pushes his bedroom open. “Enid, Mikey, this is Carl and y/n.”

After an awkward introduction, Ron lists the different things that they do while hanging out, such as reading comics, playing video games, and playing pool. The fact they had electricity from solar panels was mind-blowing enough, but seeing all the stuff they had was leaving you speechless.

You smile at Enid as you sit on the edge of Ron's double bed, while Carol joins the other boys in playing video games. You thought it was a little bit in bad taste; they were playing a zombie video game, but don’t mind watching until a particular scene happens: one of the players finds a sword and begins decapitating the undead.

You and Carl exchange a look before you excuse yourself. “I gotta go; I need to help Maggie with something.”

—

Rick isn’t the slightest surprised when he enters Carl’s new bedroom and finds you in it as well. You were staring out the window in his room that overlooks the woods outside, watching as walkers gathered on the opposite side of the wall. While Carl lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Rick sits at the edge of the bed, asking, “How was Ron’s house?”

“What do you think of this place?” Carl asks him.

“Well, I think it seems nice.”

“Yeah, I like it here. I like the people, but they’re weak. And I don’t want us to get weak.”

The people here don’t have a clue what it’s like on the outside, and if the walkers broke through the wall, most of them would be dead in five minutes.

When Rick leaves, you go and sit on the floor with your back against the bed. You pick up one of the comics Carl found earlier, place it in your lap, and start to flip through. Feeling a tap on your shoulder, you look up and ask, “What?”

Carl looks as if he’s struggling to say something; after a moment, he swings his arm lower and links his fingers with yours.

[cherrypikkins]

Here is my contribution to the final prompt from @fe-oc-week! Oct 15 - Endings

With some fake game ending cgs for Kitt :3

No extra lore write-up today! Instead, I've included some sample battle dialogue below the cut. Do enjoy :3

Background generously provided by @damnilovefaerghus

vs transformed Miklan (Conand Tower, White Clouds):

Kitt: "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this… But that's why I'm here."

Kitt: "Listen, Professor. If you can crack its armor, I'll make quick work of it."

Kitt: "But if you want to give your students an impromptu lesson on how to fell a Demonic Beast… I won't object."

If ordered to attack transformed Miklan: Kitt: "Fine, then. Allow me to show you how it's done."

vs Edelgard:

(Battle of Garreg Mach, pre-time skip)

Edelgard: "You and I are not so different, Kitt. I know you wish to be free of the Church's machinations. We might have walked this path together, had you trusted me."

Kitt: "This is rich, coming from the Flame Emperor herself. Your entire reign is built on lies and secrets. I can't trust you any more than I can trust the Church."

Kitt: "And as they say, better the devil you know…"

(Battle at Enbarr, Silver Snow/Verdant Wind)

Kitt: "Edelgard. Let Rhea go. I don't know what you have planned for her, but she and I have a score to settle."

Edelgard: "I am not concerned with vendettas of the ancient past, nor will they have a place in Fodlan's new dawn."

Edelgard: "You of all people should understand what it's like to be powerless, to have all control over your own fate wrested away by the likes of Rhea and her ilk."

Edelgard: "Knowing that, how can you truly wish for her to walk free?"

Kitt: "Because no one deserves to be buried underground, sealed away from the rest of the world and forgotten, left to the mercy of their jailers."

Kitt: "Believe me, I do understand."

(Battle at Enbarr, Azure Moon)

Kitt: "That's quite the transformation, Edelgard. Well done. You've already mastered what I've had to practice in secret for years."

Kitt: "But surely you must know what happens to monsters like you and me. I'll cut you down, same as all the rest.

Hegemon Edelgard: "You are welcome to try."

vs Seteth:

(Battle at Garreg Mach, pre time-skip, Crimson Flower)

Seteth: "Of all people, I thought you would have learned not to repeat the mistakes of the past."

Seteth: "Stand down, lest I be forced to repeat some mistakes of my own."

Kitt: "Seteth. Didn't you promise long ago that the people of Annwen would suffer no harm under your protection?"

Kitt: "I've been meaning to talk to you about that. But for now, it looks like we'll have to fight each other instead."

(Battle at Garreg Mach, post time-skip, Crimson Flower)

Kitt: "Hello, Seteth. You've quite the nerve to show your face around here."

Seteth: "You took the words out of my mouth."

Seteth: "To think, after everything we've tried to do for you, you would once again betray our trust and bear teeth against your own family."

Kitt: "Ha. You're one to talk about trust or family. Even that kid you called 'sister' was getting tired of your never-ending charade."

Seteth: "You will not drag Flayn into this! No matter who you are, know that I will destroy you to safeguard her if I must!"

Kitt: "Then you should have thought about that before bringing her here."

(If Kitt defeats Seteth)

Kitt: "Take Flayn and leave Garreg Mach - now - before I end your life. This is the only chance I'm giving you. I suggest you take it."

Seteth: "I… I understand. We will not meet again."

Seteth: "Regardless of everything else… I am grateful for your mercy. It is certainly more than we have shown you, and more than either of us deserve."

Kitt: "Don't come back."

vs Flayn:

(Battle at Garreg Mach, pre time-skip, Crimson Flower)

Flayn: "Kitt, what are you doing? You cannot truly mean to fight us! We're your family!"

Kitt: "You and I seem to have wildly different ideas about how this 'family' is supposed to work."

Kitt: "For example, if you get to call Seteth 'brother'… where does that leave me?"

Flayn: "I… That's not…"

Kitt: "Not what? Not fair?"

Kitt: "I'll tell you what else isn't fair - being treated like some lost broken toy you can fix and heal until I'm good as new. Better than new. Until there's nothing left of the old me."

Kitt: "Why couldn't you just let me stay asleep forever?"

(Battle at Garreg Mach, post time-skip, Crimson Flower)

Flayn: "Why are you doing this, Kitt?"

Kitt: "Not one step closer, Flayn."

Flayn: "Tell me, I beg of you! I wish only to understand! In what way have I done you wrong? What must I do to make amends?"

Kitt: "Enough! I know you only have the best wishes at heart, but I won't serve as a vessel for your good intentions."

Kitt: "And unlike you, I refuse to spend the rest of my life hiding behind a web of lies and secrets."

Flayn: "Kitt… I know not what to say. To think that it should come to this…"

(If Kitt defeats Flayn)

Kitt: "Find your father and go. Leave this place and never come back."

Flayn: "I… Yes. I will do as you say."

Flayn: "I wish you nothing but happiness for the rest of your days. Good-bye, Kitt."

Kitt: "…Good-bye, Flayn."

vs Rhea:

(Final Battle, Silver Snow)

Kitt: "This is just like what happened at Annwen… and the day I was struck down."

Kitt: "Rhea. This disaster is of your own making. But to suffer like this is too much for anyone to bear - even you."

Kitt: "Like all the beasts I've felled before, I'll put an end to your pain."

(Battle at Garreg Mach, pre-time skip, Crimson Flower)

Rhea: "I see you are determined stand against me here once more, after all the mercy I've shown you, after every second chance I've given. You truly are the capricious one, aren't you?"

Kitt: "I discarded that name long ago. It's just Kitt now."

(Battle at Tailtean, Crimson Flower)

Seiros: "You. I know what you are. I've seen your true face, for it has haunted me since that day I struck you down."

Seiros: "I did everything in my power to make amends, to restore you to full glory, just like she bade me. And yet once more, I must destroy you where you stand."

Kitt: "You still haven't figured it out, have you? She set you up with an impossible task. It was never in your power to reverse the deeds of the past."

Kitt: "No matter how hard you try, some things can never be fixed, nor healed, nor restored to what they once were. She was trying to teach you a lesson."

Kitt: "But it's fine. I've moved on from that. And so can you."

Seiros: "You know I cannot. I was never as quick to change as you are. Nor will I stop trying to bring her back, even if you are determined to betray her memory time and time again."

(Battle of Fhirdiad, Crimson Flower)

The Immaculate One: "You! Miserable, conniving serpent who dares hide itself among the flock!"

The Immaculate One: "You are not worthy of her blessing! Not worthy of her blood! I should have sealed you in your own grave while I had the chance!"

Kitt: "Yes, you should have. But don't be sad. The moment you're gone from this world, I won't be far behind."

As enemy, if not recruited:

(Battle at Garreg Mach, post-time skip, Crimson Flower, if Kitt not recruited)

Kitt: "It's a shame we can't catch up, for old time's sake. Too bad I must ask you to move."

Kitt: "…Or by all means, keep on testing me. You're not going to like what happens next, and neither am I."

If defeated:

Kitt: "Into the dark, once more. Maybe this time…forever."

vs Byleth:

(Battle at Garreg Mach, post-time skip, Crimson Flower, if Kitt not recruited)

Kitt: "Professor. Did I ever tell you? How much you remind me of someone I once knew?"

Kitt: "Long ago, she told me that the moment I've decided who my people are, I must fight to protect them with everything I have. Even if it means defying the Goddess herself."

Kitt: "…I suppose you don't know or remember, do you? Yet here you are, following in her example, just as I am doing now."

TWISTD Members:

vs Solon

(Remire Village)

Kitt: "I should have known it was you. You're the one who started all this. First my village, and now…Remire."

Solon: "So now you know who I am, Ghost of Annwen. But if you think I'm but simple prey for you to hunt down, you are gravely mistaken!"

(Sealed Forest)

Solon: "Take not one step closer, Demon of Annwen! Lest your weakness for these beasts prove your undoing!"

Kitt: "What's the matter, Tomas? I thought you always dreamed of finding out how the story ends."

vs Kronya

Kronya: "You don't scare me. You're nothing but a stupid ghost story! I'll send you back to the filthy grave you crawled up from, you little freak!"

Kitt: "So you've heard of me from your darling bedtime stories. I guess I won't have to explain what happens to you next."

vs Cornelia

Cornelia: "Well now. This really won't do. I'll have to put an end to you quickly."

Kitt: "And I'll be sure to end you slowly."

vs Thales

Thales: "You insatiable wretch! That you would choose to menace me now, here, of all places!"

Kitt: "Don't look so shocked. I did promise I'd be back for the rest of you, didn't I?"

[meddwlyngymraeg]

Thing with Duolingo and stuff (TTS essentially) is there's no way you're going to pick up accents. It's often not about the way words themselves are pronounced: in Welsh for example, penultimate syllable is stressed. But the length of that stress can vary depending on where in the sentence the word is placed, I think.

E.g. just saying 'hoffi' usually places a short stress on the first syllable: /'ho-ffi/. But if it has followed a few other words with only minimal emphasis, some of which regularly occur before 'hoffi' in certain kinds of sentences, then I hear that change a bit.

'Pa un wyt ti'n hoffi?' 'Wyt' has a fairly short stress, and 'hoffi' is near the end of the sentence too, so in some accents, I've heard that manifest as a much longer 'ho' in 'hoffi', along with the raised pitch coming down to its lowest pitch before going back up on the final syllable. How long the stress is does feel like an accent-dependent variation, though a TTS like Duolingo's can't pick that up at all. I think their text-to-speech is AI that was trained somewhat on real people's speech, but I think there's definitely a larger volume of data available to it in more widely available languages like English, French, Spanish, German, etc. The data is also, likely, less rich in variety. So a TTS can't pick up all the nuances of an accent.

I know that the Duolingo moderator team used to make an effort to go behind the scenes and hardcode exceptions to the pronunciation, like when the TTS used to get stuck on words like eisiau, and they did their best, but now Duolingo has heavily cut back on what the volunteers that built those courses (for free) are allowed to change. Apparently they aren't allowed to improve the courses anymore, I imagine so that the company doesn't have to maintain a team to update the course. So other things, like the pronunciation of gyda, which has been wrong on the new TTS for ages, cannot be changed. It's a shame that despite the best efforts of volunteers who basically donated their time to a community resource, their final work must be enshittified like this, but that's a discussion for another time.

I just suppose this is why you can't just rely on an app like that to learn a language. You've got to hear real people speaking, you've got to turn on your radio, check out learner-oriented channels like Dysgu Cymraeg, watch telly, talk to people n all. You won't pick up nuances like that just by knowing the words.

[stillnaomi]

the race riots continue in the UK. everyone knows by now that the initial justification for it was based on a lie — those children weren't stabbed by an immigrant – so this is for the people who still might be reached

immigrants aren't here to take your jobs. capitalist governments allow immigration to bring skills into the economy and push wages down, by increasing competition for jobs. this isn't the fault of immigrants, it's the natural result of a system where businesses try to maximise private profit by manipulating government policy. they do this legally because political donations and giving plush jobs to former ministers is built into the system, as is the right of businesses to stop investing in the economy if they don't like government policy. a few riots won't stop that since it's profitable, and it won't stop desperate people from arriving. we need to change the underlying system

it was the underlying, capitalist, system that allowed industry to be off-shored because it was more profitable. it was the underlying, capitalist, system that required the unions to be broken and workers rights to be stripped. and it's the underlying, capitalist, system that insists some people live in poverty. The term Reserve Army of Labour describes the phenomena of capitalism requiring unemployment to push wages and working conditions down

likewise, it's the underlying system and its thirst for profits that saw us invade and sanction Iraq and Afghanistan, among many others, killing and maiming people we could have worked with peacefully, and creating many of the refugees we see arriving today

immigrants aren't our enemy, and especially not asylum seekers, who are escaping from the most dangerous conditions and aren't even allowed to work when they arrive. our enemies wear suits and have chauffeurs. they own the workplaces that deny us jobs or that exploit us with terrible conditions, and they own the ministers who set the policies which keep your family poor. you have more in common with the average migrant from any country than you do with any of the wealthy layabouts who get rich off other people's labour

if you want a secure future for you and your loved ones, with guaranteed work, good pay, and guaranteed housing and healthcare, you need to fight the political system, not other poor people

[yourlocalpickle]

Actually here's some Gabbika (she has a name now!!!) because I'm experimenting with lineart and 'simpler' style (for comics, mainly)

backstory dump below!!

Once a human lady, living a pretty chill life - Gabbika had many interests, which she happily enjoyed. Coming from a decently wealthy family herself, she was well educated and lucky enough to work as an appraiser at her family's little jewellery store. She was an expert at telling apart the fakes from the real, and giving things their true value. Yet her private life was full of cheap things, which whilst not as expensive carried much more emotional value to her. She loved color, she loved fun. She had a hefty collection of movies and vinyls, when she felt good enough, she'd dance, and overall really tried to enjoy a lot in life. During all that, The War was happening, but because of the location and 'luxury' her family's store offered, she only ever got second hand news.

Well, she was met with quite a surprise, after The Revolution happened. A mixed boy, half human and half monster took the leadership role. And quickly started enforcing new rules around.

Gabbika's family was accused of supporting hunting monsters (even tho they tried to stay away from both sides) and promptly arrested. All their belongings being redistributed to 2 sisters (guys they don't have a name yet, even tho they really old ocs of mine :( ). Turns out, they were one of the few humans with financial enterprises, which chose to support the Rebels. And now they were reaping the rewards - which in Gabbika's case meant taking over her entire store.

Gabbi was the only person 'left' from her family. As she was too young at the time to be 'recognised', she avoided imprisonment. The sisters took notice of that too, 'feeling pity' for her and offering her a job...at her own store. That was an offer she couldn't say no to!

Gabbika suffers from chronic pain (on most days she gets through, but the bad ones aren't uncommon either), and so she's got to take care of and make accomodations for herself. She's independent in most things, but majority of her budget is spent on painkillers and rehabilitation sessions. That means less money for tanning beds and makeup! Tragic! But no, seriously, she was on her way to build a colorful and fun life for herself, and then everything got taken away from her. She's forced to work for 2 heartless stuck-up sisters, putting on a 'serious' faćade, not allowed to really express herself, or indulge in things she'd like. And they're holding her hostage, as they exclusively own the entire 'gem' and jewellery industry in the City.

Gabbika wouldn't be able to run a place with her own name, and even if, the sisters would smush it out of existence.

She doesn't plan on 'keeping' things this way. She's constructing a plan. But until then, she decided to start ventilating her built-up frustration and hatred for 'the rich'. By putting on a new disguise (ironically, a look that she feels much more like herself, than in anything she can normally wear) and vandalizing properties and belongings of various wealthy individuals. Defacing them with paint and various junk. Things aren't perfect. And money won't make them any 'better' than all the people they try to separate themselves from!

Gabbika is fed up.

[libertineangel]

Stellaris: A Basic Tutorial, Section Two

Following on from section one, hopefully at this point you have a fledgling interstellar society with a Science Ship leaving its home star system for the first time, your Head of Research is leading valuable scientific work, and you know what most of the icons at the top of the screen are. Now we're going to get into some of the other crucial systems, so once again strap yourselves in and let's get to it!

Part 1 - Planetary Management

Unsurprisingly, there's nothing more important to a society than where its people live, so we're going to take a look at where yours live right now. Take a deep breath, prepare to see a fairly unintuitive and information-dense screen, and click on your home Planet, either from the System view or in the Outliner on the right hand side of your screen. It should look something like this:

So, let's start from the top - first you should see the Planet's name, which you chose when designing your society, and directly beneath that is the Flag you designed. To the right of the Flag is its planetary designation - there's a variety of these which provide different bonuses to different outputs (such as Mining Worlds, Tech-Worlds and Bureaucratic Centres); after that is what type of Planet it is and its Habitability, followed by its Size (I'll explain that momentarily); the person in front of the city is the Governor, who will be elaborated on later in this post, and in the bottom right of this section is a Planet Modifier.

Going down the screen, we see the Planet's Districts. These are important, as the Jobs they create provide your basic physical Resources, and you should recognise which is which from the descriptions in my previous post; the filled boxes show which ones are built, while the unfilled ones show which can be built - the maximum number is determined by the Planet's Size, and you can fill that entirely with City or Industrial Districts, but the ones providing base Resources have their own individual caps from Features (which will be in the next paragraph). Below these are Buildings: some of these provide the more advanced resources, while others enhance the effects of your Districts, and others have more special effects which I'll leave to you to discover; do note, of course, that you only get a maximum of twelve Building slots per planet, and one of them is always taken up by the Capital Building.

OK, now for the middle. The greyed-out Terraform button is something you can find out for yourselves; Features shows relevant bits of planetary geography, such as fertile plains for Agriculture Districts or ore-rich mountains for Mining Districts, as well as Tile Blockers which limit the District Cap until they're cleared. The number next to the box with hazard colouring shows how many Blockers there are, while the triangles to the right are for special rare Features and Deposits which I won't spoil. The diamond ring symbol below this is Trade Value, which is a whole other system beginners don't really need to understand that I'll try and explain in a few posts' time, and I hope the Planet Production box is self-explanatory.

Top right box now. The percentage is Stability, which gives various minor boosts to the Planet and honestly takes care of itself most of the time, then Pop count - Pops are an abstract representation of how many people are on the Planet, with one Pop working one Job. Planetary Decisions are a very minor feature I barely use and can be safely ignored; Resettlement allows you (if it's legal in your society) to manually send Pops between Planets, but as you most likely only have one Planet right now it's unavailable. The next five numbers are:

Crime, the percentage that's probably at zero right now and will honestly in all likelihood stay at zero for the whole game, because Crime is nearly always irrelevant.

The number next to the buildings is free Housing, how many more Pops the Planet can hold before it gets overcrowded.

The music note and mask represent Amenities, the stuff keeping your people happy. As long as it's not negative you're good.

The figure with the hard hat shows how many free Jobs there are, I generally try to keep 3-6 available in case I get busy managing some other aspect of galactic politics and Pops grow while I'm not looking, because in most societies it's not actually beneficial to maintain a reserve army of the unemployed.

The symbol that looks like it's banning briefcases is your number of unemployed Pops; if I had any here it would also have a partially-filled triangle showing me what Stratum they are, which I'll explain soon.

Below these, we have some other administrative details - which Sector the Planet belongs to (I'll explain that another time), its Designation setting, and its automation settings, which let you take a hands-off approach and let the game manage the Planet for you (don't though, it's shit at it); then at the bottom is the Build Queue, which I hope is self-explanatory.

Everything here has tooltips so I'd encourage you to look over it all and familiarise yourself, because you'll be seeing this screen a lot; for now though, let's take a look at the Jobs tooltip in particular, which shows us what Jobs exist on the Planet and what Strata they are. The game explains this mechanic poorly but it's important, so I'll try and do it better.

Society here is universally divided into three Strata, known in-game as Workers, Specialists and Rulers (and known in the real world as Proletariat, Petit-Bourgeoisie and Bourgeoisie). Rulers are rare, and only tend to work in the Capital Building, Specialists produce advanced Resources (Scientists, Artisans and suchlike) and Workers produce base Resources. When a Pop grows, they automatically fill the highest-available Job (unless you manually prioritise another on the next screen); if a higher one becomes available they'll automatically move up to take it (, but if theirs is removed (say, by demolishing an Administrative Centre) they'll take time to demote. Not all Pops will always be able to enter any Stratum - for example, your society might develop Robots that can function as Workers but lack the processing capability for Specialist tasks, or you might be running an empire with multiple species in different forms of Slavery, where some are permitted to work as Specialists, some kept only as Workers and some deliberately kept out of standard employment as conscripted Defense Armies.

If we go to the next tab of the Planet screen you can see a full breakdown of the information in the tooltip, and clicking on each Stratum heading allows you to see the details of each Job and adjust its Priority; you can also see the Pop Growth Rate, the planet's average Happiness and a pie chart of its demographics.

The next two tabs aren't important right now, so feel free to either close this screen or poke around at it some more until you're comfortable!

Part 2 - Leaders

We've just spent a whole lot of time looking at where your Pops live and work as a whole, now we're gonna focus on the individuals right at the top. Leaders are the movers & shakers of your society, the people who lead the charge into the great unknown or into battle. There are four Classes:

Governors, who govern your society's Sectors, enhancing productivity and making domestic work run smoothly

Scientists, who oversee your Research or explore the depths of space as commanders of Science Ships

Admirals, who lead your Fleets in interstellar conflict

Generals, who lead your Armies in planetary invasions

They're powerful individuals with a wide variety of skills and bonuses, and as such you can only support a limited amount, as represented on the top bar of your screen by the numbers below the gold figure with the star. If you click the matching icon on the left-hand side, you'll see the screen showing all the Leaders you currently have working for you (besides Envoys, who are a sort of pseudo-Leader with their own hard cap and no Traits or levels), along with their Traits, their level, their current assignment and their monthly Unity upkeep cost; below them is all the potential Leaders currently available for you to hire. You can also see their homeworld, their previous job (which is just flavour) and their Ethic, which has minor effects largely related to Factions which I'll explain some other time.

Your most important Leaders are those on the Council, which is viewed from the second icon on the left-hand bar. This consists of your Ruler, your Head of Research and your Minister of Defence (all titles customisable by clicking on them, and you can unlock a couple more positions later); the latter two can be swapped out at any time, but the Ruler is largely out of your hands and decided by your society's Authority type as chosen during setup. Some Leaders have Traits that only activate when they have a seat on the Council, and the Ruler cannot take a regular field job for their Class while ruling; furthermore, some Council positions are restricted to certain Classes, while others are open to any. As well as their general effects (viewed, as ever, through tooltips), the Council is responsible for implementing Agendas, long-term initiatives with subtle effects through their development that are amplified once they're ready to be implemented.

I think that covers Leaders decently enough and this is fairly long so I'll leave it there. In Section Three we'll examine Warfare, because sooner or later you'll probably find an angry neighbour.

As always, any questions or feedback are welcome!

[fates-calling]

I caved and made this silly side-blog! Mostly: because I want a place to scream about my Tavs and the game itself.

So! Meet my three guys!

The only player characters I have made. So far...

Romance: Gale | Playthrough Status: Complete! | Alignment: Chaotic Good

Romance: Astarion | Playthrough Status: Complete! | Alignment: Neutral Evil

Romance: Undecided | Playthrough Status: Act 1 | Alignment: Lawful Good

Some more detailed facts about them under the cut!

Soren

He was taken in by a thieves' guild (which I named the 'Silver Tongues') in Baldur's Gate when he was young after running away from home - who posed or were also bards as a cover-up

He is a raging kleptomaniac, and genuinely can't seem to help himself sometimes

In-game every single romanceable companion in the tadpole gang, tried to sleep with him: except for Karlach. Even the Emporer tried. He only slept with two of his party members, Gale (ofx) and Astarion in Act 2: twice.

His musical instrument of choice is the lute!

His choice of weapon is a longbow & longsword! He actually uses Phalar Aluve.

He and Astarion have a bit of a messy relationship. It's queer platonic, honestly at best. But also, they are kind of in love with each other. However, Soren chose Gale and also believed that the vampire needed a friend, more than a lover. As well as, as much as he adores Astarion - he respects Gale's desire to be monogamous.

He grew up never in one place, being dragged from one city or town to another by his ever-drinking & abusive mother. They were cast out of their eleven town because Soren, was the result of an affair: and with his father being a rich lord and his mother not his wife, well - they were tossed to the streets. He learned how to swindle and steal to survive.

Durge

At first, I named my Durge run well, "The Dark Urge" because I thought it would be funny. And I couldn't think of a fitting name but then it just stuck. Now, the lore reason, is that he really doesn't have a name. So - when meeting Lae'zel and realizing that calling himself the 'dark urge' might cause mistrust, or make him seem pretentious: he simply combined the two words. Durge.

He is a dual wielder! Currently using two shortswords (Knife of the Undermountian King & just a gith blade)

While I am doing a completely evil run with Durge - he is going to reject Bhaal. Because he wants to be free, and as an aasimar, all he has known is submission and orders. He isn't going to become a good person - no, he just wants freedom. To kill who he wants. When he wants, be in complete control of himself and his deeds. Kill in his name.

He had a one-night stand with Lae'zel unable to resist her demanding allure. He regretted it the day after, realizing that he should have thought about it more. But! It did help him discover that sex makes him feel the same way giving into his urges does. It's a stress relief! It also made him remember how many people he has slept with a lot. Almost as many as he has killed. Apparently - casual sex is a habit of his.

He is obsessive. About everyone who comes into his vicinity, and who allows themselves to be under his wings & gain his respect/trust. Whether they be a friend or lover. Durge holds the people he cares for too tight and leaves bruises upon their bodies because all he has known is darkness and blood. How does he deal with these other feelings? That he wasn't built for. So, instead of casting light like most aasimar - he drags people into his swirling shadows and bloodied wings. And he won't let them go. Not without a fight.

Ouroborus

Ouroboros was a part of the Blood War before escaping Avernus

Every time he uses divine magic, it essentially hurts him as well due to his fiendish blood (half-devil)

If it were mechanically available he would totally be an Oath of Redemption

While playing, I have him in his full cambion form, he hides his devil linage and presents himself as a teifling to the party until Act 2 ish (just take away the wings pft)

I plan for him not to use any of his illithid powers, or give into any of them! Something Durge & Soren both did.

Currently using the Everburn Blade!

He has the least developed personality & backstory of my three Tavs, obviously because I haven't played with him for long. I am very excited though.

[lunarsilkscreen]

Micropricing

I got pinged for implying phone services were overcharging for "caller ID and Visual Voicemail" on truth social. So I'm going into one of the ways businesses take advantage of users: Micropricing.

First, Caller ID is already built into the system. It has been for at least three decades. Back then it might've cost more to send you a name attached to the number it wouldn't show you either. But that's why we had phone books and answer machines.

Now, spam-robots can call you daily for much less than it costs you to keep your phone connected to the service you're paying for. And because of the Micropricing strategy, the phone companies "can't afford to use their decades old technology in new and innovative ways that protect customers."

Visual Voicemail, on the other hand, is an app that lets you look at who left a message and other details of the sound file attached to it, without having to call you voicemail and do it by touch tone like we're in mad men. And yes, it provides a transcription of the message left. Which is simply an accessibility feature for hard of hearing that they're allowed charge extra for, because they can.

And you wonder why we would rather you just send a text message.

Anyway, Micropricing is a strategy to charge more for services that don't actually cost the company more to provide. And sometimes, for things the user will never use. And sometimes, phone insurance which ultimately costs the user more to use than a phone repair service. (And they don't even help track down lost or stolen devices, EVEN THOUGH THEY CAN. AND YOU PAY A SERVICE FOR PROTECTION.)

A lot of these services are collapsing because the Internet allows more rich data to be sent more efficiently. But here's the thing: old services are tacked onto your bill automatically. we can't*not use them* but phone companies won't update either. So we pay to get the updated old tech that isn't as good as should be standard ten years ago.

A lot of the digital features today aren't like owning a car phone in the 70s. Cell Phones have been the defacto standard for 20 years now. The only thing different is data usage. Which may or may not be restricted thanks to cell tower bandwidth. But in a college town where the bandwidth is always maxed out and everybody needs to use wifi, you're just having people pay to not use the features that worked better ten years ago.

Infrastructure should include phone and internet service. Then *private* companies can just be the fastlane they claim to want to build. But instead they're focused on charging extra for standard features.

Look. Trains caused the word to have to keep pace with a 24 hour clock schedule.

The Internet means the world needs to get off its addiction of 5-year and 10-year plans hoping for people to die before anything can be done to change anything.

Even six months is too long for deliberation. Yeah, it used to be worse, but that's the whole f*ing reason we built technology in the first place, so it wouldn't have to be.

[julie09tarot]

hi! im k ♎️ and i re ask you once again. i would like to get som insight about a person with initial "d" and how is our dynamic. thank you!! 🤍

Hi K. Ohh! I was very confused by the bear emoji. 😅 OK. Here goes. Take what feels right and leave what doesn't. Also, I've been letting people know I'm shortening my free readings now, otherwise I won't be able to keep up with demand 😥 sorry.

There’s a push-and-pull between the past and the future in your connection. The Six of Cups suggests a deep emotional bond—one that feels familiar, like returning to something safe and nostalgic. This could mean you and "D" share history, or even if this is a newer connection, there’s an undeniable sense of comfort, like you've known each other before. But at the same time, the 10 of Pentacles reversed brings an undercurrent of instability—something about this dynamic doesn’t quite feel secure or built to last in its current form.

It’s like standing at the doorway of something meaningful, but there’s a gap—maybe between expectations and reality, or between what you both want long-term? One of you (or both) might be questioning whether this connection fits into the bigger picture of your lives. Are you aligned in values, in goals, in what stability and commitment mean to you?

The Abundance card from the Osho Zen deck speaks to a potential richness in this relationship—there’s something here that can be fulfilling, but it depends on how it’s approached. True abundance isn’t about control or certainty, but about trusting in the flow of things. The card encourages you to ask: Are you focusing on what this relationship already brings you, or on what it lacks? Is the desire for "more" coming from a place of genuine connection, or from a fear of uncertainty?

Themes to Reflect On:

Is this connection bringing you emotional security, or just familiarity?

Are you and "D" building something that can sustain itself long-term, or is it more about the comfort of the moment?

Does this relationship encourage growth, or does it keep you tied to past patterns?

Affirmations:

I trust that what is meant to grow in my life will do so with ease and clarity.

I allow relationships to unfold naturally, without forcing certainty where there is none.

Abundance exists in the present moment—I embrace what is, rather than longing for what isn’t.

This is a connection with deep emotional roots, but the real question is: Is it leading somewhere solid, or is it holding you in a familiar but uncertain place?

-----

Free tarot readings; ask away !

Check examples here to see if my style resonates with you. 😊

*

Apologies, but due to overwhelming demand, I will now only be performing free 3-card spreads without the usual questions and Zen advice. For the detailed 6-card spread, please go to https://ko-fi.com/julie_09zentarot. I'll be forever grateful and send super duper positive energies your way!

*

Remember: my goal is to offer tarot readings that empower you (not to predict the future, read the minds of others, or tell you what to do). If that sounds like what you're looking for, I'd love to work with you!

[satire420]

...Can we start blaming influencers & websites for ruining the dollar yet?

The click-culture bubble is bursting in too slow of motion for the corporate leeches to notice? Not talking about you, Tumblr. You've never created one internet celebrity. You're cool.

Every click is a fucking oyster's pearl, huh? Don't remember the story of the walrus?

Advertisers are going to save us from their own taxation? Ever wondered why the cultural meritocracy based on clicks is the most annoying invention since advertising?

Making endless money from uploading videos is not a Pandora's Box. You just have to implement profit-ceilings. Put a lid on it, you know?

Bill Gates has a lot of theoretical money. So does Google. But do you know how much they'd lose if they withdrew it all? Banks don't have enough to do that. Why we need to deduct from the wealthy, constantly.

It allows the building of equity.

You don't earn every dollar in any society. The closer we get to that, the closer we get to paying what Bill should be on items.

The banks are paying our money to businesses like Google through advertisers not being taxed.

Legally, which is more human? Why are corporations even classified as human? Because that's the only way they are allowed to avoid taxes on what we "buy" & "sell" from them for use of their programs. Doesn't make sense, does it?

Do more things for the love alone, Bill.

America said it was "cool" to get money for clicks? And you trusted them? When was the last time America was right about economics? Craig's List?

Did the world think we were not paying our teachers because we secretly hated them? We've been broke...

Because of terrible advice from banking establishments to politicians being taken as gospel.

We are so financially insecure that spending credit raises our credit score. As our accrued capital is otherwise insignificant to the wealthy who need cheaper grocery items to buy their otherwise overpriced dick-building technology.

If our money were good, we’d be spending more but the dollar would “stretch” further. That would not be the case for the major corporations. They'd make far less profits. Because they are getting their current excess on our hard work.

Why we need “Financial Level Scaling” so that items being purchased by the wealthy are adjusted for their family's income. Competition would thrive.

Why else would technology have evolved to create the possibility of mass-surveillance?

Recession solved & quick.

Yes, I said charge rich people more money than what we commoners pay on common goods.

I'm not saying there won't be an adjustment period where we will have to learn redistribute wealth.

We have never been wrong about forcing the wealthy to pay an increased share. And they're thieves if they do not find a way to help in times of such uncertainty. Even if they are following the law.

Thought you could get away with stealing from hungry babies? Well, scoobie doobie doo, bitch.

Do you now see how finances becoming a status to be flaunted could lead to misconceptions about how to manufacture capital?

I'm sure this will be a difficult lesson for Trump & Musk to learn. But how they wished they were only funded by the ultra-rich! If only life were built from dreams of the wealthy, right?

No. Of course not.

[cosmicroseflower]

Chosen Ones, Cursebreakers, Black Sheep disguised as the Golden Child of Source,

You exceeded Source/God's expectations of you when you decided to forgive everyone. My condolences for all the people you will lose in this next season of your life. The next season is here and harvest season is here. Christmas is not over yet but you may be surprised just how much Source loves you and is gifting you in this next chapter you are about to embark on.

Feel your fear and then let it go. Remove the negative judgement and replace it with excitement and celebrate yourself. You're completely capable of handling your blessings and this new version of you because you did the inner work. It is completely neutral that these past people did not give you the love that you deserved. We could define it as sad, or negative but it's a blessing in disguise. People were given chance after chance to help you with their resources and they failed each "test" Source sent them. It wasn't really a test, it was more like an opportunity for them to receive blessings and good luck for helping you when you were going through so much.

They enjoyed watching you struggle and they thought you weren't worthy of their help so they decided not to. Oh well. So what. Very interesting. Don't even bother caring or focusing on them anymore. They saw you alone and isolated and thought, "Yeah their down there and I'm up here." But it's actually the opposite and it's not because you're better. It's because you've been constantly putting in the inner work to remove limiting, negative beliefs and you've been constantly working on your health, fitness, self love, ignoring the ego, accepting yourself, accepting everyone, embodying the highest version of yourself, manifesting your desires, choosing evolution and raising your level of consciousness.

Let's not even compare, we already know what they're doing. They won't understand you. We already accept them and see them clearly because we're connected to our heart space because we did the work to remove the shame and guilt everyone projected onto us. Source/God gave them multiple chances to help you, to sit with you, to hear about your trauma, and they talked over you, ignored you, neglected you and laughed at you behind your back. But I promise you, many of them will feel so much remorse for the way they treated you. Because they're not allowed to come with you to the next level. They will feel the pain that they put you through. What you put out is what you get back. They're repeating the same cycles year after year. It's absolutely all neutral and it has no meaning. "This is so sad and depressing, this makes me angry." Ect.

It's actually neutral with no built in meaning. Circumstances don't matter. Only states of being matter. But we as humans feel so heartbroken watching everyone around us never pour into us the way we love. We love so purely because we never want anyone to feel the way we felt our entire lives. We've always been ostracized and rejected. But people were actually just intimidated and judged you based off the cover of your book. Never looking deep within themselves to be able to see you. Never judge a book by its cover. That is the lesson that they are learning right now from Source. We never want anyone to feel left out the way we were. We wanted to see everyone happy. But the truth is, chosen ones, they never wanted to see you do better than them.

And even if they did, it was only to serve their own ego to tell everyone they knew you. Now they won't have the gift of being in your energy anymore because they mishandled their own blessing. You were hidden in plain sight. They couldn't see you even if you wanted to because God was covering your light. They couldn't see you because they can't see themselves. It's all neutral.

Don't worry my love, everything is going to get better just follow the path of least resistance, slow down and allow Source to spoil you in love and in riches. That is your birthright and the reason you're still standing. You exist for a reason. This is what you always deserved and you know it. Can you sit with your emotions and let them go because you deserve to feel joy all the time? Just follow your highest excitement and be yourself. Let Source handle your enemies and the ones who didn't support you.

They're going to feel so much shame, regret, and embarrassment for how they treated you when they thought you were at rock bottom. Not knowing you were already on top of the mountain (state of consciousness) in disguise to protect you from jealousy and hate. Forgive them for yourself, use your discernment who belongs and who doesn't with you and focus on what you want to create. What you desire is already done. Period.

It's HERE NOW. Enjoy your glow up. You deserve to be celebrated. Let Source take care of you. Let go to let it all the abundance in. Breathe to receive. Honor yourself. Appreciate yourself. I love you. Enjoy your new life, I'm sorry the world didn't treat you better but it's about to reflect your beliefs.

[flavinbagel]

There is a troubling wind in the air of not just disregard for safety regulations as "stifling innovation" or whatever, but just generally dismissing any and all risks with this highly-ambitious venture. OceanGate demonstrates here that they as a company fallaciously believes that the regulations governing seafaring vessels serve no purpose but to slow development and increase costs, ignoring past lessons (read: the fucking Titanic maybe?) that show how overconfidence in the face of cautious redundancy can cost whole vessels and lives. But why would they be so short-sighted in this context?

In the aviation field, the amount of risk involved in suspending people miles in the sky means that aircraft, even small, single-engine piston planes with two seats, are designed with many degrees of redundant safety measures, stacked, overlapping, and allowing multiple points of failure to ensure that its occupants have the best chance possible of staying alive. This means that built into even this low-end craft are tools to account for any type of failure, and any overlapping combinations of failures.

If the fuel flow fails, there's another fuel tank to try. If gravity won't feed the fuel, there's a backup pump. If the magnetos (basically self-powered spark plugs) fail, there's a whole backup set of them in each piston. If the engine absolutely simply must stop working, a pilot will still have full control of the plane's surfaces and battery power to use the radios (there are two independant radio systems just for communication, a transponder that can be used to call for help, and at least two more just for navigation-just in case, not to mention GPS), so they have the best chance to use their momentum and altitude to fly the plane to safety. And if, despite all that, this little plane finds itself crashing in an unknown wilderness stranding its occupants, odds are the plane has things like an emergency radio, survival gear, paper maps and even a fire extinguisher.

In order for something truly catastrophic to go wrong in an aircraft, at least mechanically, a wildcat series of failures in these safeguards has to line up just right all at once (in aviation and many other high-risk fields this is often called the Swiss Cheese Problem).

Regulatory bodies such as the FAA with their strict safety regulations are generally taken very seriously, even among the more conservative mindsets of people working in the field, because those people understand how much risk is inherit in the very act of flying. Pilots, controllers, and mechanics alike adhere to and respect those rules, not because an authority says so, but because they all know and understand why doing so is so damned important. You would think that venturing into the deep sea would invite a similar degree of humbling gravitas.

To bring it back to OceanGate, it's clear that the Men™ behind this venture did not know or understand (or did not care to) the risks behind these seemingly commonsense standards and practices. Many people have speculated that by now the Titan sub has likely suffered a total hull loss, or lost power and drifted aimlessly like a tomb for these five souls, but the thought occurs that with only a smooth metal cylinder for an interior with no seats, holds, or restraints, for all we know a giant squid (or other unseen object) could have collided with it, sending the craft tumbling and causing its occupants to crash into one another, possibly fatally, like a jigsawesque horror tumble-dryer for the audaciously rich. It would take so, so little failure to end these people's lives.

In the face of whole industries trying to mitigate the permeation of failure through multiple layers of "swiss cheese" protection, OceanGate consciously decided to use a single layer of whiffle ball as a safeguard. Without wishing to sound too glib, this is what happens when you combine obscene wealth with the mantra "fuck it, we ball."

Well, ball they did.

alright. in my tepidly professional opinion* here are the actual major red flags with the titanic submersible

first, stuff that people are clowning on that isn't actually a red flag at all

using starlink satcoms for their overall [surface] communications

i know it's fun to clown on elon musk but starlinks are like. Fine. they work fine as satcoms. this is not the issue. none of these problems would have been solved if they'd been using KVH or somebody else instead

also these have fuck all to do with the tiny sub, since radio waves physically do not penetrate water enough to be useful for communications lol

the stupid game controller to steer

it's actually super common to use COTS (commercial off the shelf) parts like that instead of some bespoke steering system.

they're easily replaceable if they break, they're designed to be integrated into larger systems, and you don't have to do a huge amount of design work before you can even steer your thing

here's one example of this. but it's pretty common

that being said. here is the fucked up design stuff that i notice

Where The Fuck Are The Chairs

if you don't have seats inside your vessel, you don't actually have a way of securing passengers during rough movement. i suspect that this makes it very dangerous or difficult to ascend quickly in an emergency.

they have had known issues with communication

[source: the independent]

i will grant that underwater communications is not an easy problem to solve unless you're physically running telephone wires

but this is fucking unacceptable lol

[source: the independent]

ignore the video game controller thing

i presume that they mean "messages in the form of text, sent via an acoustic signal", not "they are literally using cell phones to text each other" because obvs cell phones (and most radio) would not work

it's actually extremely unclear to me what system the sub and the mothership are using to communicate. idk if this is a "technology reporting hard" issue or if these people are being deliberately cagey. anyway they're probably using some form of underwater acoustic communications, but what specific form it takes idk

regardless, the fact that they've had problems with this system in the past is a red flag

and the fact that their sub has apparently no internal navigation system is also a red flag. "not having GPS" isn't really, since GPS doesn't really work underwater (you need radio 😔), but they should have some kind of internal navigation-- at the very least "here is my speed and heading and based on that my expected position is here on a map"

in a power failure situation, they would have been SOL

[source: the independent]

"everything is done with computers" = "nothing works in the event of a power failure"

it seems like AT THE VERY LEAST in the event of a power failure, you need to be able to drop your ballast and ascend quickly.

it is not clear that they had the capability to do that

something weird going on with their pressure hull

[source: nbc]

while it is "normal" for structures that are exposed to regular massive changes in pressure to have fatigue (imagine bending a piece of metal in and out over and over, eventually it will break-- you want to catch and replace that before it happens), it's weird to me that

the vessel's depth rating was downgraded

without any public statement about what repairs were done, it nevertheless went back to the 4000ft depth less than a year later (in 2021)

they obviously have no "black box" system or any way to locate a missing vessel

most boats are required to have this! because most boats are required to be registered with and inspected by various authorities!

these guys deliberately skirted that rule by launching off a boat rather than from a port and therefore avoiding the need to get registered or inspected. lmao!

[source: nyt]

Company Culture Is The Killer

complete disregard for safety is really what killed these people

[source: the independent]

obviously if this is your CEO your company culture is totally fucked. beyond saving. you do not have a regard for human life.

for reasons unknown they didn't flag the authorities that the vessel was missing for hours and hours

[source: the independent]

not that it likely would have helped to save these people if they had been alerted earlier, but it shows a desire to cover up mistakes

and like. obviously. you should get your shit inspected. nobody taking paying passengers anywhere should be allowed to be their own safety inspection authority.

the original sinking of the titanic was what led to SOLAS (safety of life at sea) rules being instituted. they've been updated several times since then, but they don't yet cover submersibles like this, since they are relatively new. it's likely that this incident will cause a new interest in updating the rules. as they say: every regulation is written in blood

*i'm a mechanical engineer who works in the maritime industry, but not like, a particularly related section of the industry-- i do shit with cargo containers mainly. no further info on my credentials will be given since i have no desire to doxx myself on tumblr dot edu. i've tried not to say anything too wrong or out of my depth in this post but my opinion is "guy with an engineering degree who reads news articles" level of informed. so take your maximum grains of salt

[hewholivesinhisname]

Surviving On the Bottom

The first thing you have to know and to be mindful of, is that people want to press charges on you for loitering. People hate the poor and they will want to use the police to harass you. Security guards are often posted in the dumbest locations just to harass you. Other poor people, especially poor men, often have internalized self-hatred and might attack you to. There is often resources for women "in domestic violence" especially so the poor women end up getting taken care of more than the men.

The people they tend to hire to manage the shelters tend to be terrible and even if these people were saints, the services and facilities tend to suck.

They give you just enough to survive in a degraded condition.

The churches are lifesavers in that you can attend services for free and you can eat for free at the meals if and when they have them. Even if I was rich, quite honestly I would attend community meals. I think community meals are great.

One thing that happens which is important to note is that if you travel too much, your feet get all scraped up. Footcare can be a really big problem. Often people feel angry, scared and hurt so they lash out at others and they won't show kindness to this, people will attack you for it.

I was always too proud to beg. Once you start begging, you are one step from stealing and once you are stealing you are steps away from other things, being a real criminal. However, I've come to the conclusion that maybe criminals aren't "the bad guys" a lot of the time simply because there are so few jobs available, it's hard to imagine not committing crimes.

I ate out of trashcans a lot and it sucked. It's not great, but I didn't know what else to do. The food is trash anyway. Once I got out of that situation, well, i'm on an all vegetarian diet now.

Asking people for free stuff, especially public transportation is a real skill that takes courage. I jumped a lot of stalls too in order to get anywhere. I was never bothered by the red mbta guys although one yelled at me. There was only one train conductor who really sucked.

Sleeping is a real issue. A really big issue. In the library and common areas, they have guards around who will wake you up and if you get upset they will call the police to harass you.

Other men, of course in this situation. they really like to fight each other and the police do nothing about this. They don't give a shit it seems really. Maybe a few do but all the police chiefs are in the masons, so, you know.

At some churches, pastors have been jailed for allowing homeless people to sleep and the police like to station themselves outside. There is endless money to harass and attack the poor, let me tell you. Maybe it's just me, maybe they are after me, but if you are reading this, they will eventually come after you too.

If you leave stuff in an abandoned site, people will come and throw it away. That's the other thing.

O, and traintracks, you would think that sitting around or staying at the traintracks.

I have trouble with keeping stuff in good condition. Cell-phones, glasses and computers. I lose them, especially in this situation. So, that's no good at all. Other homeless people were a little better at maintaining that stuff.

weirdly enough, it built up my self-esteem being homeless. I'm a good person. I wasn't doing anything and here was everyone harassing me just because I was in a bad situation. There were some good people too of course, but a job and a place to live, they don't supply that. Really, I guess that that's something you kind

Tents are about 50$. way better than rent let me tell you. That's probably the best investment you can make that I know of. Spend the 50$ and get a tent. Then you can go off in the woods and survive on food stamps.

[mcbex]

**Fullness **

I'm packing away the last of our Christmas gear. Which basically means I'm putting away the remains of a year gone by. I can't help but reflect on all last year brought me and all the hopes I have for the new year. With a new season I am making plans! I'm mapping out roads to run on, chair lift dates, plays I want to see and so on. It seems so full already and it's only January. But there are faces I need to see, conversations that must be had, dates and dreams and life. The fullness I feel isn't the overwhelmingly busy kind. It's the kind that's built on the breathe of life itself. It's the fullness we feel of a life well lived.

While looking for a verse to fit this theme I came to a quote by Voltaire- "God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well."  I really like that because of its simple truth. Life is a gift. Sometimes I get frustrated that it took me so long to see that. Then I feel a little distressed for those that have yet to understand the gift. As long as we have life there is still time. So I won't get down hearted about it. I will pray.

As I continue packing I'm not only looking back at 2023, I'm considering the person I've been and the person I'm becoming. I am a work in progress. In fact I'm a mess at times. So much so that I wonder how anyone could love me.

I recognize the brokenness of people and of the world we live in. I acknowledge that I too feel splintered. Until recently I had merely been treading water, not recognizing that I had been the villain in my own story. Now as I submit to the hurt broken parts of me I allow them to be part of who I am but I no longer accept them as a representation of who I have to be. In fact the more I embrace her sheared and tattered frame the more I embrace the life that is mine to live. I am now able to listen in and lean on others only to find them equally as fragile as I am. Although I feel like there are days when I am on a mission to improve the spirit of those around me, most often it just feels comforting knowing we all have struggles or pain. I never saw that before. I hate that I didn't see it because I know now that we all need the pieces of each other to make this beautiful heap work.

I see it in the way we talk to others and how we feel about others and how we expect others to know how to relate with us, then how we get frustrated when we don't get what we need. I am guilty of it. I want to give the love others want or need of me to but I can't always muster the way to do it. Even the smallest gestures can be so difficult sometimes. Changing your heart is hard. It's also frustrating when I bank everything God wants from me on the change he's making in me then fail to achieve the goal.

I wrap each ornament, eventually carrying them to my attic where I will put them aside, and in time I will pull them back down and reminisce again as I decorate my tree with trinkets and bobbles. The loop is finite but for now it feels endless. Much like my struggle to try be the person my heart so badly wants to be. I yearn to love. I ache to know others better. I pray for the skill to be stronger for anyone who needs to lean on me too. Most of all I hope this year will find me more open, fragile, caring and familiar the process of a changing heart.

The Bible says draw near to God and he will change you. Let us all be changed for those we love.

Ephesians 3: 14-19 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

James 4: 7-10So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you. Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners! Purify your hearts, you hypocrites! Be sorrowful, cry, and weep; change your laughter into crying, your joy into gloom! Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Psalm 51:10 Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me.