#and the literacy rate is already so low

[duckiemimi]

scrubbing everything clean about *that country* because i don't know if this'll escalate with the new cabinet. i'll still be writing and posting on that platform whenever i can, but now more than ever, i won't be able to talk about important news from *that country.* anyway, fuck conservatism, fuck that government, and fuck religious superiority. everything is an allegory for everything.

[keelanrosa]

started reading the cass review because i'm apparently just Like That and i want everybody crowing about how this proves sooooo much about how terfs are right and trans people are wrong to like. take a scientific literacy class or something. or even just read the occasional study besides the one you're currently trying to prove a point with. not even necessarily pro-trans studies just learn how to know what studies actually found as opposed to what people trying to spoonfeed you an agenda claim they found.

to use just one infuriating example:

Several studies from that period (Green et al., 1987; Zucker, 1985) suggested that in a minority (approximately 15%) of pre-pubertal children presenting with gender incongruence, this persisted into adulthood. The majority of these children became same-sex attracted, cisgender adults. These early studies were criticised on the basis that not all the children had a formal diagnosis of gender incongruence or gender dysphoria, but a review of the literature (Ristori & Steensma, 2016) noted that later studies (Drummond et al., 2008; Steensma & Cohen-Kettenis, 2015; Wallien et al., 2008) also found persistence rates of 10-33% in cohorts who had met formal diagnostic criteria at initial assessment, and had longer follow-up periods.

if you recognize the names Zucker and Steensma you are probably already going feral but tldr:

There are… many problems with Zucker's studies, "not all children had a formal diagnosis" is so far down the list this is literally the first i've heard of it. The closest i usually hear is the old DSM criteria for gender identity disorder was totally different from the current DSM criteria for gender dysphoria and/or how most people currently define "transgender"; notably it did not require the patient to identify as a different gender and overall better fits what we currently call "gender-non-comforming". Whether the kids had a formal diagnosis of "maybe trans, maybe just has different hobbies than expected, but either way their parents want them back in their neat little societal boxes" is absolutely not the main issue. This would be a problem even if Zucker was pro-trans (spoiler: He Is Not, and people who are immediately suspicious of pro-trans studies because "they're probably funded by big pharma or someone else who profits from transitioning" should apply at least a little of that suspicion to the guy who made a living running a conversion clinic); sometimes "formal" criteria change as we learn more about what's common, what's uncommon, what's uncommon but irrelevant, etc, and when the criteria changes drastically enough it doesn't make sense to pretend the old studies perfectly apply to the new criteria. If you found a study defining "sex" specifically and exclusively as penetration with a dick which says gay men have as much sex as straight men but lesbians don't, it's not necessarily wrong as far as it goes but if THAT'S your prime citation for "gay men have more sex than lesbians", especially if you keep trying to apply it in contexts which obviously use a broader definition, there are gonna be a lot of people disagreeing with you and it won't be because they're stubbornly unscientific.

Also Zucker is pro conversion therapy. Yes, pro converting trans people to cis people, but also pro converting gay people to straight people. That doesn't necessarily affect his results, i just find it funny how many people enthusiastically support his findings as evidence transitioning is… basically anti-gay conversion therapy? (even though plenty of trans people transition to gay? including T4T people so even the "that's actually just how straight people try to get with gay people" rationale for gay trans people is incredibly weak? and also HRT has a relatively low but non-zero chance of changing sexual orientation so it wouldn't even be reliable as a means of "becoming straight"? but a guy who couldn't reliably tell the difference between a tomboy and a trans boy figured out the former is more common than the latter + in one whole country where being trans is legal but being gay is not, sometimes cis gay people transition, so OBVIOUSLY that means sexism and homophobia are the driving factors even in countries with significant transphobia. or something.) anyway i hope zucker knows and hates how many gay people and allies are using his own study to trash-talk any attempts to be Less Gay. ideally nobody would take his nonsense seriously at all but it doesn't seem we'll be spared from that any time soon so i will take my schadenfreude where i can.

Steensma's studies have the exact same problem re: irrelevant criteria so "well someone ELSE had the same results!" is not exactly convincing. This is not "oh trans people are refusing to pay attention to these studies because they disagree with them regardless of scientific rigor", it's "one biased guy using outdated criteria found exactly the numbers everyone would expect based on that criteria, i can't imagine why trans people are treating those numbers as relevant to the past criteria but not present definitions, let's find a SECOND guy using outdated criteria. Why do people keep saying the outdated criteria is not relevant to the current state of trans healthcare. Don't we all know it's quantity over quality with scientific studies. (Please don't ask what the quantity of studies disagreeing with me is.)"

Steensma also counted patients as 'not persisting as transgender' if they ghosted him on follow-up which counted for a third of his study's "detransitioners" and a fifth of the total subjects and. look. i'm not saying none of them detransitioned, or assuming they all didn't would be notably more accurate, but i think we can safely treat twenty percent of subjects as a bit high for making a default assumption, especially when some of them might have simply not been interested in a study on whether or not they still know who they are. Fuck knows i've seen pro-trans studies which didn't make assumptions about the people who didn't respond still get prodded by anti-trans people insisting "the number of people claiming they don't regret transitioning can't possibly be so high, some of the people who responded must have been lying. (Scientific rigor means thinking studies which disagree with me are wrong even if the only explanation is the subjects lying and studies which agree with me are right even if we need to make assumptions about a lot of subjects to get there.)"

and this is not new information. not the issues with zucker, not the issues with steensma, not any of the issues because this is not a new study, it's a review of older studies, which in itself doesn't mean "bad" or "useless" -- sometimes that allows connecting some previously-unconnected dots -- but the idea this is going to absolutely blow apart the Woke Media, vindicate Rowling and Lineham, and "save" ""gay"" children from """being forcibly transed""" is bullshit. At most it'll get dragged around and eagerly cited by all the people looking for anything vaguely scientific-sounding to justify their beliefs, and maybe even people who only read headlines and sound bites will buy it, but the people who really believe it will be people who already agreed with all its "findings" and have already been dragging around the existing studies and are just excited to have a shiny new citation for it.

the response from people who've been really reading research on transgender people all along is going to be more along the lines of "……yeah. yeah, i already knew about that. do you need a three-page essay on why i don't think it means what you think it means? because i don't have time for that homework right now but maybe i can pencil it in for next semester if you haven't learned how to check your own sources by then."

[bluejaysandblackbats]

You're Just Like Quicksand

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, Batman Beyond

Summary: Jason Todd is ready to go into semi-retirement after fifteen years working with troubled youth, but one case in particular forces him to confront the sins of his youth and painful memories from his past. (TW // Character Self Harm Mention in this chapter)

Chapters: 11/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Terry McGinnis, Warren McGinnis, Mary McGinnis, Matt McGinnis, Bruce Wayne, Original Character(s)

Relationship(s): TBA

Additional Tags: Protective Jason Todd, Good Sibling Jason Todd, Retired Jason Todd, Multiple POV, Hurt/Comfort, Parent-Child Relationships, Canon Divergent AU, Angst, Mourning Jason Todd

Chapter Eleven: Second Chances (Jason Todd's POV)

Terry’s a great kid, but I couldn’t relax without watching them from my phone during the meeting. The mayor was as stressed as most people would imagine the mayor of Gotham to be. He kept clearing his throat and asking me if I needed something. “So, you want at-risk teens partnering with politicians and top executives and—.” 

“What’s wrong with that? Most executives I know have the money and resources to make their criminal histories and academic failings disappear. These kids don’t bother trying because they understand it’s not what you know it’s who you know. The least we can do to clean up this city is to ensure these kids get to know people willing to be their bridge to a better life,” I interrupted. The mayor was a pushover, and he barely knew politics. He got stuck being mayor of Gotham because no one else wanted the headache. I knew if I made him look like a classist prick on camera, he’d fold. “I came from nothing. If it hadn’t been for my father adopting me, I don’t know where I’d be today.”

I glanced at my phone and smiled at Terry cradling Avery-Marie while she sucked her thumb. “I’ve already lined up individuals interested in letting kids shadow them… And it isn’t just top execs and politicians. There are blue-collar positions as well as white. I want them to cycle through all sorts of careers. Low-income and at-risk kids deserve to know they have options no matter where they come from. I’ve known people who came from nothing, went to community colleges, and worked their way up. I handpicked individuals that these kids could relate to. I’m meticulous and active in my business, so I’d drop in to supervise… It’s all in the plans I sent you. Did you have a chance to read through?” I knew he didn’t. He skimmed it at best. “My programs have a high success rate. Literacy and graduation rates are up. We’re funding therapy, tattoo removal, gas detoxing, and—.” 

“What about your more dangerous clients?” the mayor asked. I swallowed hard. I knew he wanted to allude to the incident... And it triggered me. It was my greatest shame. I had tunnel vision, and I couldn’t hear anything outside of my children screaming. My assistant touched my shoulder. 

“Right,” I replied, “I’ve since started screening which specific kids I want to be involved in the pilot program. I’ve met each child, looked at their files, and they volunteered to do a psychological screening. I believe in second chances. I believe in people. I’ve been hurt a lot in my life, but I refuse to allow that to be my excuse for turning my back on the children here. If a city shows love to its children, I guarantee that some of them will love us in return. We can’t put an end to the city’s problems, but we can minimize the causes.” I couldn’t buckle on the issue. We went back and forth until he had no choice but to greenlight my program. 

I left the meeting feeling sick to my stomach. I splashed my face in the sink, trying to drown out the sounds of my kids’ screams. My phone rang, pulling me out of the fog. I answered without looking. “Hello?” I answered. 

“Dad… Hey, um—. Hey, Dad,” his voice shook. 

“Andrew? Hi, Drewby,” I smiled. I hadn’t heard from Andrew since the incident. He’d gone off the grid and I lost him. I didn’t know if he was dead or alive. “What’s going on?” 

“Dad, I’m in the hospital,” Andrew replied. 

“Which one?” I questioned. 

“I’ll send you the location… We should probably talk more in person. Are you busy?” Andrew replied.

“Never too busy, Drewby. Send me the location, and I’ll be there,” I answered. 

“I gotta go, but I’ll be here… And uh, I don’t have anywhere to—. That’s not your problem—.” 

“It is my problem… I’m always gonna be your dad. I didn’t quit because you grew up,” I reassured him, “I’ll see you in a minute.” Andrew hung up and texted me. 

I drove straight there, stopping to call Terry. “Hey, Terry, I’ll be a little late. Something came up,” I explained, “Are you guys okay?”

“Yeah, Avie’s great. She fell asleep on my lap, so I’m stuck watching TV… How’d your thing go?” Terry asked.

“I got everything I wanted,” I replied, “And Terry, thanks so much for helping me out. I owe you extra for watching her longer than planned.”

“No problem,” Terry replied. We exchanged goodbyes, and I entered the building and let security check me. 

I put my phone, wallet, keys, and belt in the basket before signing in at the front desk. “Is Andrew Todd here?” I questioned. The man at the desk hesitated. 

“Can I see ID?” he asked. I gave him my ID and let him scan it. “He put your name on his medical release form.”

“Can you tell me what happened?” I asked. He pressed a button on the computer and I heard a gate click. 

“He had a psychotic episode in the Gotham City Mall,” the man answered. Vague. Andrew had no history of mental illness. He had his troubles, but he never struggled with anything like that.

Andrew came out, and my breath caught. I hadn’t seen him in five years. But, I would’ve known my son anywhere. I reached for him, hesitating before asking to hug him. Andrew wouldn’t look me in the eye, but I couldn’t stop smiling. He opened his arms, and I hugged him. “Where’ve you been?” I asked. I shook my head before he could answer and took his bag. “Are you hungry, Drewby?” 

Andrew nodded. “Can I come home for a little while?” Andrew asked. I smoothed his hair down.

“Of course. Of course, you can come home,” I answered. I went into autopilot with him. I let him in the car, and he buckled in while I dropped his bag in the back seat. “Can we talk about what happened? Or do you wanna eat first?” 

“I tried to drown myself in the fountain… I think I got pretty close,” Andrew answered. He seemed distant, but I didn’t push him for a reaction. “Do you remember when Mom died?” 

It would’ve been a random question had any of my other kids asked, but Andrew was with her when she died. He was home sick from school, and she took a nap with him and never woke up. Andrew called me in tears, and it was devastating. I remembered him begging them not to zip her up in a body bag. He insisted she wouldn’t be able to breathe. “I remember,” I whispered. 

“I never told you what her last words were. I thought it would hurt you,” Andrew mumbled. He stroked his hand with his ring and middle fingers. It was something his mother used to do when Avery dissociated. 

“Will you tell me now?” I asked. It’d been eighteen years since. If he wanted to hurt me, he would’ve done it five years ago during the incident. Andrew nodded.

“I was scared because I thought you and Mom were getting a divorce, so I asked her… And before she went to sleep, she said, she couldn’t live without you and that I didn’t need to worry because she loved us… Her exact words: Daddy drives me crazy, but I can’t live without him. You don’t have to worry about our family breaking up. We love you, Drewby ,” Andrew replied. I choked back tears. “I like that moment. It was the last time I felt like everything would be okay.”

I couldn’t speak. What would I tell him ? How could I explain to him what changed in five years? How could I tell him about his niece and Avery and—? How could I explain Terry? Even if he wasn’t the kid I mentored five years ago, I couldn’t explain him to Andrew. It felt like a betrayal… But how could I lie?

[yet-another-heathen]

Invasion, Pt. I

686 words. Original Work: Liliholm and Page.

Masterpost | >>

Garcia gets an unexpected visitor. Part one of a 'choose your own ending' mini-series, feat. one of Liliholm and Page's most notorious whumpers.

TW | alcohol mention, graphic depiction of a guard dog attack, burglary gone wrong, whump of a 19 yr. old, mild face whump

Tag List | @ink-and-salt @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @whumpvp @redwingedwhump @lave-whump @castlehillwhump @sideblogformindtrash @burtlederp @fanastywhump @whump-in-the-closet @sunshiline-writes @kixngiggles

Dakota lifted her head, eyes toward the sliding glass door that led to the back yard. Her ears were on high alert.

Garcia was already most of the way through two fingers of bourbon, watching that night's wrestling match in the safety and comfort of his living room. It had been a long day at work, an increasingly mushy ice pack draped across his bruised and swollen knuckles to try to tame the stiffness. He'd be working that same case tomorrow, but he knew he didn't have to be in until late. Tonight was his night to relax.

Just Dakota, he could have ignored. But when the other two dobermans both looked to the same place and let out a chorus of low growls, that he didn't.

He immediately hit mute on the remote, and turned back to follow their gazes. Beyond the shifting colors reflected across the glass, he saw the shadow of a figure dropping to this side of the fence.

The girls were all waiting, coiled muscle. They wouldn't move an inch from their beds until he gave them the word.

And he did.

"Barikh!"

The three of them shot forward like oiled gunmetal. Through the door and into the night, only a single cry of alarm escaping before the sound of an impact and snarling, gnashing teeth. Garcia was immediately on his feet and after them, the crowbar from beneath the coffee table in his hand.

The door opened to the cacophony of cicadas, snarling, and strangled cries of pain. Dakota and Ripley each were ripping at the figure's flailing sleeves, tearing apart fabric and flesh alike. And Queenie had her teeth around his jaw, digging into his cheeks and holding him so his screams were muffled by the inside of her mouth.

He had neighbors. And intrusion like this? Needed to be kept quiet.

Garcia stood over him, tilting his head as he watched the man writhe and kick in pain. He let it go on longer than he strictly needed to, then called a clipped, "Khülee."

The snarling immediately cut off into panting silence. They held his limbs between crushing teeth, not allowing him even an inch of movement between them. Growling in warning every time he tried to pull his arms away. Keeping him still. Queenie let out a single, lingering grumble that he would feel rattling against his teeth.

The ever-present light pollution was just enough to see the outline of his ski mask by. He whistled, and Queenie released the man's face and snapped down around his throat instead, cutting off his air with a strangled wheeze. Garcia used the hooked end of the crowbar to pull up the edge, cold metal sliding along his cheek as he pulled the fabric off his face.

A kid. Round-faced. Couldn't have been more than eighteen or nineteen. He didn't recognize him, but that didn't mean much. Nor did the horrified, wide-eyed fear he could see in the whites of his eyes.

Could be anyone. Could have been sent by anyone. Too many people had kids doing their dirty work these days. It was a fucking shame.

"Front door's the other way, kid. Shame you didn't use it, maybe the 'beware of dog' sign might've caught your eye."

He let out a garbled wheeze that may have been an attempt at words. Hard to say.

"I hear ya. Literacy rates ain't what they ought to be. But hey, some people learn better from experience than words." Queenie adjusted her grip, eliciting a high-pitched whine of pain. "Now you've got two choices. Either you come inside for a little chat where some very bad things are going to happen to you. Or I let these three rip you slowly to pieces while I call the cops for an attempted break-in, and let the piggies clean up what's left when they arrive. What will it be?"

His mouth opened and closed silently, tears pouring back into his hair. His lips were beginning to turn purple within the bruised afterimage of Queenie's maw, but he wheezed and mouthed a plea anyway.

"Good choice."

next | >>

[zalrb]

No it was about her being too afraid to be with Damon and they linked it back to her writing in her diary in season 1 that she told herself it was ok to give up yadda yadda

this is why literacy rates are at an all time low cause ppl would rather be spoonfed / repeatedly proven demonstrably false than open a few links or critically watch a show. like ur masterlist is RIGHT THERE! at this point its a self flagellatory thing idk anymore. i can't say i wouldn't want another meta but i can imagine it gets tiring when the ppl ur replying to are willfully ignorant or just like to instigate.

YEAH. If I reply to an anti's ask then it's usually because I'm bored or because I find it amusing and want to discuss it with shippers -- like it actually has nothing to do with arguing with them but most of the time I'm just like I've answered this already in years' worth of posts. This ask is just longer than the ask I responded to at the time but it's saying the same thing. And especially if I wake up and see an ask lie that? I am NOT a morning person. So I woke up and saw that ask and was like I'm not doing this today because it's extremely long and you're just going over the same points as your DE predecessors.

[androxys]

I was digging though some old papers that my predecessor had boxed up and put in a closet the other day, and I found a report someone had written on the smallest branch of our library system. This branch is in our smallest community, which unfortunately has the highest poverty rate of all places we have a library presence.

The document I found was a Return on Investment report, the cold and mathematical breakdown of just how much every part of this branch cost. The shelves, the books, the computers, the power bill. And then it was contrasted against the offsets. Revenue the library takes in (read: just about none) and patron attendance.

The thing is, our patron count is low. Really low. At the time of writing this, I’ve been at this branch all day and am averaging one patron every two hours. And in the eyes of the ROI writer, it simply isn’t enough to justify the cost.

But here’s the thing, and the thing that I want to say to everyone who wants to minimize public goods like libraries. Despite your best attempts, you can’t actually put a price on a child’s literacy, developed from having access to age-appropriate reading materials since birth! You can’t do an adequate subtraction that captures the lifetime of disability payments a person receives versus the cost of the hour of internet connection the patron used to get said benefits, and the associated rise in quality of life that comes with having a little more financial security. There is a soul to existence that pure numbers will not address.

Overall, I just find it frustrating that over and over we want to write off the “struggling” portions of our infrastructure because of a perceived inability for the community to support it, when actually the reasons the community cannot support the institution (such as high poverty) are good reasons for these institutions to be there in the first place! If you want better higher education rates, fund the thing that promotes the learning development that supports higher education. If you want higher employment, make it easier to have internet access so that people can apply for jobs! And don’t just fund the library to be “at” the community—we’ve already agreed that we want to get better—go ahead and fund the library to be the goalpost.

[kenyatta]

This is an old story: two decades ago, when Putnam published his book, theorists were already wondering whether the internet’s new global connectivity, conceived in the bosom of the American security state, could remake society. Today, the children of the internet retain little faith in Twitter or TikTok’s capacity for good, much like Putnam doubted that online engagement could replace older civic mores. This skepticism is mirrored by a confusion about the internet’s supposed political potential. If the Scylla of social media analysis was the naive utopianism of the early 2000s, its Charybdis is our current digital pessimism, which sees so much of the world’s problems — from political polarization to sexual impotence to declining literacy rates — as both the causes and consequences of being “too online.” Clearly, the internet only becomes comprehensible in the world of the lonely bowler. Online culture thrives on the atomization that the neoliberal offensive has inflicted on society — there is now ample research showing positive correlation between declining civic commitment and broadband access. At the same time, the internet accelerates and entrenches social atomization. The exit and entry costs of this new, simulated civil society are extremely low, and the stigma of leaving a Facebook group or a Twitter subculture is incomparable to being forced to move out of a neighborhood because a worker scabbed during a strike.

From Bowling Alone to Posting Alone

[emissaryofconspiracy]

“You, human subject are in for it now, just wait until the boss sees you!”

“Who- who are you people and what do you want with me? I’m just an average person, I have no connections to the underworld! I barley have connections in the human realm!”

.......

You don’t remember exactly how or why they found you but you remember every other detail after that. It was an average Friday evening after you had gotten off from your low-paying, tedious daycare job. You wanted nothing more than to sit down with a glass of wine and watch your mindless TV. When suddenly a woman appeared on the screen shouting about how America has some problem and it has something to do with the literacy rates. As an educator, you agreed, you watched it unfold in your first grade classroom for the last past 2 years. Kids coming in post-pandemic without a clue how to write their own name let alone how to read and write other things on grade level. You can’t count how many times you had heard the sentence; “Teacher, I don’t know how to spell my name” or “Teacher can you help me spell-“ and the word is their last name or a simple word that’s on level for a preschooler like ‘cat’ or ‘man’. People liked to blame it on the environment, you worked in an inner city school in an extremely poverty stricken neighborhood, which was part of the problem but you blamed it on the parents. They didn’t read with the children anymore. They’re so quick to hand them a tablet to keep the quiet. Some of them don’t even know how to play basic games like ‘rock-paper-scissors or tag’. The parents don’t even want to interact or read to the children. They just diagnose them with disorders when all they suffer from is lack of love. You had to say this advertising company really knew their stuff, the facts were accurate and the woman they had speaking was extremely attractive. But then the commercial was suddenly interrupted. The TV flashed with the scratch that reminded you of a corrupted old tape. Then a dark figure appeared on the screen with glowing red eyes. “Mindless human! Your days in this retched world have come to an end,” the figure spoke in a grim register. “Wha- what do you mean? Who the hell are you,” you stammered. You loved joking about your suicidal ideations and your job has left you not wanting to live anymore on more than one occasion. But none of that meant you wanted to be killed especially by this fool. But before you could pick up the remote to turn the TV off, you heard your front window swing wildly open. In rushed a barrage of dark figures similar to the first one who had now by the way made it out of the television and was now standing on your living room carpet. “ALRIGHT YOU FREAKS, YOU WANNA MESS UP MY EVENING AND TRY TO KILL ME, YOU’RE IN FOR THE FIGHT OF YOUR LIVES!” You threw everything you could see; chairs, tables, food, drinks you even threw a couple appliances, or were they thrown at you? You cant remember. Soon you had been pinned to the ground, and were looking at the figure from earlier. “Wow mortal, I didn’t expect your kind to have such fight. Anyway, we’ve got a schedule to keep boys, let’s take her to the other side.” The other side? Were you dead already? Where the hell were you going? Before you could question this you passed out

…..

“Boss we’ve returned with the mortal”

“Well my, my, my, what a fine specimen.”

“You, human subject are in for it now, just wait until the boss sees you!” You opened your eyes to see several more dark figures surrounding you.

“Who- who are you people and what do you want with me? I’m just an average person, I have no connections to the underworld! I barley have connections in the human realm!”

“On the contrary my dear mortal, you have connections that run deep in the underworld, biig connections.” Just before you can question the demon in front of you another demon appears, this one is a lot larger and has large pitch black wings. Their presence causes every one else to bow a knee indicating he is a king or deity of some sort. Just then the deity speaks up.

“Hey, its been forever, how you been?” The voice sounded familiar, like Kev, an old friend, no an ex-lover of yours.

“Kev?”

“You know it, what’s up girly?” You missed Kev so much, you remember attending his funeral and being angered to near tears about how people he called his friends talked so bad about him. Kev was such a great guy, he was your high school sweetheart, typical puppy love.You guys did everything together. He was such a loveable, talented and creative guy, he was also funny to boot, you could see why he had such a respectful and well-organized army under him. He was also the class clown so your parents didn’t think a book smart gal like you was good for him.

“Why would you of all people want me dead, did I do something wrong?”

“Nah, its not you, you’re golden. I just wanted to see you and get you away from all that damn misery. I couldn’t stand to see you like that.” Your currently life could make even the most stoic of people miserable. No one respected you, not even your own family. Not even your own students listened to you

“So why not call, or text or come back?”

“’Cuz y’know the line of communication between the human and demon world ain’t exactly wide open,” You expected that much.

“So what you gonna do now if you ain’t gonna kill me?”

“Nun much really, just wanted to chill down here for a while.” You could go for that.

And go for it you did, you stayed down there with Kev, you talked, you laughed and you became a integral figure in his underworld community.

You’re about to be sacrificed by a cult, but when the demon appears before you, it speaks with the voice of your high school friend and says “Hey man, haven’t seen you in forever!”

[warningsine]

The generation of Kenyans born between 1997 and 2012 – the Gen-Zs – have borne the brunt of the country’s slow economic growth. If a country has slow economic growth, it typically experiences higher unemployment rates, reduced income levels and decreased investments. It leads to an overall lower living standard.

Over the last 10 years, between 2013 and 2023, Kenya’s average growth rate has been 4.52%. This is less than half of the 10% growth rate that President Mwai Kibaki had envisaged in Vision 2030.

The national development plan’s goal was to transform Kenya into a middle income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens by the year 2030. But Kenya is still far from it.

I have studied several aspects of Kenya’s economy over the past decade and want to shed light on the economic roots of the protests.

The finance bill, which proposed several tax hikes, was the trigger for the protests, but the anger had been accumulating for years, since independence, when some of the pressing national problems were not adequately addressed. That includes population growth, land degradation, corruption and predominance of politics over economics.

The fact that 80% of the Kenyan population is below 35 years old demands that the government immediately take new and innovative approaches to creating economic opportunities.

Perfect storm

Several economic factors have come together, creating the perfect storm for these mass protests.

First, young Kenyans have endured hard economic times brought on by COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine.

Tensions were already evident in the run-up to Kenya’s 2022 presidential elections, with complaints over rising national debt and the cost of living.

At the time, President William Ruto’s alliance read the signs correctly and tapped into the discontent. As a presidential candidate, Ruto promised to lower the cost of living if he won the elections. He also promised the downtrodden, popularised as “hustlers”, better jobs. And they voted for him in droves.

But in two years the economy did not grow as fast as expected. And the hustlers’ patience ran out.

They have seen no transformation in their economic lives. This is despite the economy achieving a growth rate of 4.9% in 2022, edging up to 5.6% in 2023. This growth was not enough to deal with the economic backlogs. Hence, the popular question I have been asked as an economist is: if the economy is growing, where is the money?

The second factor is the high number of frustrated, educated young people in the country.

Kibaki offered free education and 100% transition from primary to high school. This raised not only the literacy levels, but also expectations.

But Kenya’s failure to create adequate opportunities for its educated young people has come back to bite political leaders. Those young people are at the forefront of the protests.

Gen-Z are more educated than their parents. They have degrees, diplomas and access to more information through the internet. They are also cosmopolitan, less tied to their tribes or political parties. That makes them easy to mobilise.

Despite being educated, many are jobless. Economic growth hasn’t kept pace with, or outpaced, population growth – resulting in limited job opportunities in the formal economy. The alternative has been the informal sector, which has more than 80% of the jobs. Such jobs offer low pay and low prestige, and no security.

Third, young people have been contrasting their miserable lives with those of political leaders who flaunt their wealth. Conspicuous displays of wealth, from cars to watches, has angered Kenyans, more so because many struggle to make ends meet.

Fourth, there is corruption, a perennial problem which has become a major source of anger. Gen-Zs feel corruption has stolen their future. They see it everywhere, from roadsides to offices. The word “tenderpreneur” is now a byword in Kenya. Tenderpreneurs make money by fraudulently getting government tenders and inflating the prices.

Fifth, they have more economically demanding needs – created by what their parents have provided for them and what they have seen others have.

Bad to worse

The last straw, and trigger for action, was the 2024 finance bill.

It sought to expand the tax base so that more Kenyans pay taxes. Gen-Zs saw the finance bill as adding to their economic woes and those of their parents, already burdened by the high cost of living as prices rise. Many are asking where the tax money goes. Many feel it’s either stolen or misused. The bill proposed a raft of taxes which the citizens felt would further raise the cost of living.

Reports of firms closing shop in Kenya, leading to job losses, ostensibly because of taxes, may have raised the anger. With great expectations based on their level of education, Gen-Z saw their employment opportunities narrowing.

In addition, the young and well-educated Kenyans who sought to make a living in the informal economy – which makes up 35% of the GDP – would have been caught in this widened tax net. The government requirement that taxpayers use technology to track their sales did not go down well with small business owners.

Add the proposal by the Kenya Revenue Authority to spy on financial transactions. Young Kenyans are the most prolific users of mobile money and digital services, even in the informal sector. Hence, they asked why taxes on digital services should be raised on “their home”.

Another source of anger is the widespread belief that the International Monetary Fund and World Bank are calling the shots in Kenya, making economic decisions for the country and eroding its sovereignty and independence.

Where do we go from here?

Withdrawal of the finance bill will not end the anger. Economic transformation takes time. The government has not convinced Kenyans on that.

The government should focus on low-hanging fruits like revising Vision 2030 with Gen-Z input. It could also get a higher goal akin to Vision 2030. What is the Kenyan dream? Can it be articulated?

The Gen-Zs are learning from others. Can Kenya learn from others, like the New Deal that helped the US confront the aftermath of the Great Depression?

Jobs are created mostly by the private sector. What incentives are there for this sector, which feels overtaxed? How attractive is the country to investors, both local and foreign?

Can the current government learn from Kibaki? How did he raise taxes without protests? Showing where the tax went?

There’s also a need to improve communication so that citizens fully understand the reality of the situation regarding taxes and the country’s debt situation.

The Gen-Zs have a cause to protest. But the solution is harder than protesting. It calls for patience, on their part and that of the government. Kenyans are awaiting implementation of Ruto’s economic proposals after the withdrawal of the finance bill. That will be a good start.

[thepridedeveloper]

Why are Commercial Property Prices at a New High in NCR?

Delhi-NCR has always been India's most influential and prominent real estate market. The region has large corporations, excellent connectivity, world-class infrastructure, and numerous job opportunities.

Despite pandemic shocks, this city's residential real estate market demonstrated incredible resilience and growth.

The region strengthened its position as the most rewarding investment destination by offering high returns on investments and future security. In addition, increased awareness among homebuyers and investors of real estate assets as stable and secure investment options in uncertain times fueled demand.

This blog aims to introduce you to the reasons behind the growth of Commercial Property in Delhi NCR. So let's get into the details:

Noida's Rise as the Premier Manufacturing and Investment Hub

When talking about the commercial real estate market in the Delhi-NCR, it is important to highlight Noida, which is located inside the Gautam Buddh Nagar district. It has developed into a highly sought-after investment destination and is currently ranked as the third-largest market for office spaces.

Because Noida has a literacy rate of 87% and contributes 10% to Uttar Pradesh's GDP, the commercial real estate business in the region is guaranteed to have a bright future. Noida has a high literacy rate.

In recent years, significant infrastructure improvements have been made in Noida, which has helped to make the city an appealing investment location.

The Prime Minister of India recently laid the cornerstone for Jewar Airport, which is planned to be India's largest airport.

The Noida metro train network, which has 21 stations, and the Noida-Greater Noida-Yamuna highway, which has six lanes, contribute significantly to the city's already impressively developed infrastructure.

In addition, the building of the Delhi-Varanasi High-Speed Rail Corridor is anticipated to have a revolutionary effect on the commercial real estate market in the Delhi-NCR.

Because of its well-developed infrastructure, Noida is an exceptionally alluring location for information technology (IT), information technology-enabled services (ITES), and electronic manufacturing enterprises.

Rise of Startups and Entrepreneurial Culture

Delhi-NCR has undergone massive commercial development recently. The establishment and demand of economic corridors, Special Economic Zone (SEZ), startups & the rise of the entrepreneurial culture has pushed the demand for real estate assets here. Moreover, many global companies are setting up their offices, which has enhanced the value of real estate offerings. 

Additionally, low-interest rates, government support in terms of tax concessions and affordability have also become the driving factors of growth here. It also has seamless connectivity that has always been one of the strongest pillars of real estate growth in the NCR region, and well-connected metro links are making Delhi NCR a preferred choice.

After COVID, Growing Demand for Retail Space

Alongside the demand for commercial spaces, the post-pandemic period in Delhi-NCR has seen an increase in the demand for retail spaces. According to CBRE's India market monitor 2021, the total absorption for Grade A malls and high streets in Delhi-NCR was 1.5 million square feet in 2021, but this number is expected to rise to 3.2 million square feet in 2022.

Because of this significant resurgence, developers are feeling optimistic about the prospects for better results in the years to come. The demand for retail/office spaces in the region has been driven by several factors, including consumer shifting preferences, rapid urbanization, & the participation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the retail industry.

The commercial real estate industry is showing signs of strength, and there is a significant demand for buying and renting new spaces, according to Vishesh Prakash, Head of R&R by Rise Infraventures. - grade office buildings and high-street retail are seeing investment and rental activity increases.

Now more than ever, retailers are looking for upscale locations to provide customers with an integrated experience combining shopping, dining, and entertainment. Because of these factors, investing in retail spaces in Delhi NCR can be a lucrative option.

The Bottom Line

With a steady performance & strong growth, the Delhi-NCR has become the most preferred real estate choice of buyers today. Backed by strong economic revival and emerging trends, it will gather acceleration, and more promising results will be witnessed to make 2023 more impactful for the real estate sector in Delhi NCR.

If you are considering investing in commercial properties or seeking a suitable space for your startup in Delhi-NCR, we are your reliable partner. We will help you find the ideal Commercial Property in Delhi NCR to meet your requirements and help you unlock the enormous potential offered by this dynamic market with our extensive knowledge and unwavering dedication.

[mmaurysiek]

a few supplementals (sorry, the infodump below grew long on me) :

- Chinese braille

Chinese braille is pinyin-based, which means essentially Latin alphabet with accent symbols, but no capital letter symbols, as far as i know; while it didn't exist in the time period the show is stylized as - that time period also had much lower literacy rates than the show suggests, so we've got some wiggle room here;

specifically about literacy: the characters used in the show are characters, not letters - so the literacy is more of a scale: learning to read means learning whole words, starting from the most common ones; a lot of people would know more common characters and be unfamiliar with the less common ones

more complicated characters have repeated elements, so one could technically try to guess the meaning, with varied (mostly wrong) results (what a woman carrying rice to a - is that a silo - has to do with maths? it's about that level of abstract)

so much like real Chinese people without access to formal education occasionally had done - some characters may invent a writing system to use between themselves; it might be even sound-based too, though probably not tied to a Latin alphabet like pinyin is, so the character length may be even more consistent there than in the pinyin-based braille; it may also be written vertically, top to bottom, like traditional Chinese writing and even modern poetry often would 🤔

braille as a tactile medium is limited to the maximum amount of detail that would be relatively easily decipherable in minimal time; it's a raised-dots sixpoint that fits under a fingertip for a damn good reason; that means a finite amount of characters - any extras, e.g. larger characters or new characters that would have a line instead of two dots - would take a little longer to read per character, but it's still plausible that people may come up with that; any indents (instead of raised bits) would take much longer time to check for, and are therefore impractical;

China and the cultural significance of paper aside, i was wondering why an earthbender country wouldn't use clay tablets (probably due to the low percentage of earthbenders in the general population). these are more suited to making indents than ridges tho, but would make sense as easily erasable (just press it blank) stuff that children could draw on, so if the characters are trying to metaphorically reinvent the wheel before finding a writing system that already exists - that could be a fun plot device

before the typing machines became the main writing method for braille, currently much cheaper braille writing tablets were a way to go - nowdays they're made of plastic; they're shaped like a book cover without any book, with one side full of rectangular holes the size of a standard braille sixpoint, the other with round indents that make sure that the resulting ridges are nice and even and pleasantly round to the touch; you put a thick paper sheet inside and write by pressing the stylus into the specific parts of the sixpoint holes, mirror-like so that the letters on the other side would be written in the right direction

these braille writing tablets can also be used to draw mazes and stuff, though the easier way of flat-drawing is to glue appropriately thick thread to a flat surface; that way of drawing allows not just for lines but also for using shapes and varied textures, too

btw, getting used to braille means training up one's touch sensitivity; new readers tend to sometimes press letters back into the paper

also, it's customary to cut or fold a specific corner of the paper sheets to quickly indicate which way the text is going; the gaang obviously didn't know that when hanging the lost Appa posters

do what you want with that information :)

- the Moses / skewer / sword-cut maneuvre

when it comes to using long cane (sorry if that's not an appropriate term in English; here the users tend to call it a long cane because it's a vibration-conducting lightweight long cane, calling it a white cane is a more of a sighted people thing - but it may be just a regional custom for all i know -- when it comes to using the long cane, there are a number of ways to do it, depending on what the user wants to achieve (e.g. prevent collisions with people? hold diagonally; check the terrain? a sweeping motion in front of oneself)

the Moses / skewer maneuver is a rare one, because it takes a really very specific kind of person to even consider it - and Toph is very much that kind of person:

we call it a Moses / skewer maneuver here because you do it to pass crowded areas by raising the cane in front of you like a sword - (which also means no tracking of the terrain for the duration of the maneuver) - and march forward at a steady pace, so that the crowd has no choice but to part aside to avoid getting skewered

Toph so would

(the question is - what would be a setting-appropriate name for this maneuver? i came up with a "sword-cut" but there may be something better.)

as for the long cane length, the standard length is a cane that reaches an armpit, shorter for the people who walk slowly and cautiously, and longer for the speedsters; i imagine that Toph may opt for one long enough to touch her face when held vertically 🤔

- the hoop and stuff

there are stand-ins for the cane in circumstances where it can't be or isn't efficient to use; the most basic ones are the back of one's outstretched hand or a stack of papers to maneuver between writing desks

since my country doesn't hand the stabby but fragile and expensive long canes to toddlers, we've got the hoops put to use - basically a hula hoop that a kid can either hold in front or around themself to avoid all collisions; there are no convenient hoop skirts in the setting, but i imagine that there must be some tools that Toph could have used in a similar manner? baskets, perhaps? 🤔

- searching trick

i think Toph discreetly does that in canon, i can't guarantee it tho - i tend to miss moments that weren't audiodescribed - the searching trick is simple - it's using a circular motion of one's hand (starting from a spot in the middle, going in increasingly larger circle) to locate a thing that should be there, or to check one's seat against pranks and leftover stuff

- pouring liquids

frankly, i don't know how how the tea was done before the battery-powered beepers that beep when the water (or touch) reaches the prongs and thus closes the electric circuit; the level of room-temperature and cold drinks can be checked with a thumb inside the cup, but hot drink may be too hot; and with how diligently China sterilised water for drinking by boiling it shortly before use -- i can't think of anything better than use an oddly lare cup and only pour in about half of it, to make the error margin bigger 🤔

- basic echoes and other supplementals

if one's hearing works fine, there are basic echoes one can use regardless of not having any advanced echolocation skills: open space makes sounds travel (like outdoors), flat surfaces make sounds bounce back (like a mostly empty tunnel / room with good acoustics), intensely patterned surfaces mute sounds (like sound barriers that cancel noise of the streets); echoes like that would give Toph information that she wouldn't be able to access through earthbending, like the long curtain separating the room in half ends roughly about here sort of stuff

along with smells, more generic noises, and warmth levels (btw, dark fabrics heat up much more in direct sunlight than bright fabrics do) -- it's going to significantly supplement Toph's navigation, both clarifying stuff she's already perceived through earthbending (like the wall that ends here is mostly bare here and prbably covered in some stuff over there) and alerting her of stuff she did not (like the soup smells ready)

- seismic sense navigation and how Toph sees people and stuff

the clarity of Toph's seismic perception depends on the quality of the ground: solid rock seems best, small highly mobile grains like sand and mud give her a lot of difficulty, and floors from non-rocky materials like wood block her seismic sense (i imagine Toph might have a love-hate-mostly-hate relationship with carpets)

Toph cannot seismic-sense flying objects, so she can't seismic sense through air; her area of earth-sight is fairly far through whatever solid rock she's standing on or touching with her hands, more "fuzzy" if she has to parse through that rock to another touching it, and her horizon ends where the rock ends and air / water / wood / etc. begins

that suggests that Toph perceives the pressures exerted on the rock and estimates the objects' qualities from that; it's very different from seeing; (that indirect perception style is more similar to echolocation than to touch)

immobile objects that aren't a stone conduct that could carry Toph's seismic perception further -- these exert a steady downwards pressure on the rock based on their weight; let's take a wooden chair as an example - Toph can see the pressure points where the chair's legs weight on the stone floor (a staple in the earthbender country); she can see how heavy is the weight on each leg based on that, but she can't directly see whether there is anything suspended between the chair's legs nor the chair's shape; but she can take an educated guess. it's light and small enough to be an empty chair rather than a wardrobe.

and if someone sits on that chair without directly touching the floor, their added weight and the uneven weight distribution (heavier on the leg they're leaning towards) -- is also something that Toph can see, and take an educated guess that either the chair is occupied or it's a coat rack with more coats on one side... nah, the coats don't just shift weight by themselves, must be an occupied chair

i don't know if she would be able to notice whether the thing touching the rock is stiff or soft just based on pressures, or is that another educated guess based on weight distribution - a softer thing creates more of a flat surface contact point with the floor, lighter pressure on the edges, compared to a stiff thing that doesn't change shape under the weight

as for the people (or animals), they move, so the pressure from their contact points with the ground isn't going steadily downwards as is the case with objects -- instead, it goes at an angle, as the living being pushes themself away from the ground / surface to a particular direction; similar as happens with objects that bounce off the ground / surface -- the trajectory of the movement is yet another educated guess

so specific people (and animals) have their own individual gaits, (and a person's gait shifts to reflect how they're feeling! or whether they're carrying bulky / heavy stuff around!), though there are some patterns -- e.g. i think Toph would be able to guess which stranger is an earthbender just based on how rooted their gait is; Aang is the opposite of that, so airbendingly light on his feet, hard to spot (which is a funny contrast with how easy he's to spot visually, with his yellow-orange clothing xD)

now, there are seismic signals that are more obvious and the subtle ones that require much more focus to notice: a person's gait is way more obvious than whether they're wearing shoes; i think it's most likely that Toph can recognise the gait of a person without much effort, but she has to actively look for more details like e.g. whether they're wearing shoes

- seismic sense truthtelling

speaking of minute details that require concentration, feeling someone's pulse through the skin which that person happens to press against the rock -- that sounds like a feat that requires a whole lot of focus! thus - probably only done on purpose; a person's gait may alert Toph that there's something to look for, though

- shape of rock

with rock being a thing that Toph perceives through rather than outside of, Toph would probably have a good grasp on volume, distances through, and maybe the mineral structure of rock she's using; quite a different perspective from the things that she perceives by either seismic proxy or by touch

i think that makes sculpting a fun challenge to Toph, that shift of perspective; i imagine it feels a bit similar to crawling into inside the empty space of a large sculpture to find these all-reversed bits that face away from you now (indents and outdents, all reversed) -- she gets this sense through solid rock, no crawl space required

- sense of time

btw, being completely can't-see-light blind, Toph's internal clock would be disconnected from the daylight cycle; there are still cues she gets from noise levels, meals (fats may make one more energetic and carbohydrates more restful), air temperature and how much of a workout she gets -- sill, Toph (given her general attitude towards society rules) might easily be not an early bird, not a night owl, but a secret third thing (sleeping when she feels like it, possibly operating on a different length of day than others do)

(for full disclosure and context, i'm sighted with visual processing issues, like, good vision with a somewhat noticeable delay in actually seeing things plus an occasional colour perception glitch; i have some training in non-visual navigation as we call the O&M here, and i had accidentally taught myself to echolocate as a kid prior to that, which totally makes sense for a kid who hears way faster than sees, lol)

Writing Toph Beifong, Advice from a Blind Writer

I’m Mimzy, an actual visually impaired writer and blogger who talks a lot about writing blind characters accurately and sensitively. A while back someone sent me an anon asking how to write Toph more accurately and sensitively.

Anonymous asked: Hi there! Your blog has been super-helpful already - I thought I knew a bit about writing with blind characters, but it turns out there was a lot to learn - but this is more specific. I’m writing a The Last Airbender fanfiction, and one of the characters is Toph. I think the fandom has done a fairly good job of respecting her blindness, but what are some things you’d like to see when people write her? I want to represent the character as best as possible; thanks in advance!

It’s taken a while for me to answer because I have a lot of thoughts about it as both a blind writer and someone who has read a lot of atla fanfiction. So here we go:

Keep reading

[hello-imasalesman]

(the preppies: on russell northrop, gen, ~550 words)

The ever-present threat of the Old Bullworth Vale families’ increasingly incestuous bonds had physically manifested into one Russell Northrop. The only child and heir apparent of the Northrop family, Russell lived in a home so sizable his divorced parents lived comfortably on each side without ever having to see or interact with the other.

He was technically two or three years older than the rest of them, Bif couldn’t bother to remember, having been held back at various times throughout his school career. He had entered the Academy at the same time as his own class had, though the school considers him a sophomore still with the amount of credits to his name. Russell spoke ploddingly, in third person; his literacy rate was abysmally low. Northrop money could only go so far.

Russell was not Preppie material. Russell had the breeding, sure– too much of it, in fact– without any of the snobbery required to keep ones nose up and stratified away from the have-nots. He associated with those attending because they couldn’t afford a better school, because they’ve already got themselves kicked out of all the other boarding schools on the east coast. They shared the same remedial classes and perchance for cruelty and childish pranks.

Students were fickle and fairweather, and had the attention spans to match. It took magnetism to run a clique at Bullworth. And that magnetism could be bolstered by things like money, like favors, like strength, the same way any sort of politicking worked.

The Bullies were a Northrop original. Derby had honestly been impressed when they formed; Northrop was dull, but they were a ragtag, if persuasive, group. As soon as they shirked off their dark green school sweaters, they started to fight back. They didn’t take eggings or noogies lying down.

But they also weren’t untowardly aggressive. The Bullies targeted most of their anger on the same boys they had shared dorm rooms with, the ones who refused to assimilate and pick a clique. They teased the Nerds, but only in the immediacy of the Academy’s halls, never seeking out the Library. They didn’t vie for territory beyond the dismal, gasoline covered parking lot, and even that they acquiesced to the Greasers if some of their projects spilled out from the Auto Shop garages.

Derby called somewhat of a detente; none of them were allowed on any of their turf, of course, but no need to hunt them down like Greasers. It wasn’t lost on Derby that they also had some unfortunate strength behind them, unlike the Nerds.

Bif had been the only one of them brave enough to ever go toe-to-toe with Russell himself, and some of the other Bullies had brute, intimidating strength. Some of the softer members of the Preppies had fallen victim to marbles strewn across the ground, or the occasional two on one scuffle. Better to nip calls for outright violence, and keep it to taunting and snobbery. Bif agreed; he couldn’t be everywhere at once to back them up. It didn’t hurt that Gord had apparently struck up a friendship of sorts with the blonde-haired, muscled thespian Trent Northwick.

Derby had heard through the grapevine that they were officially in the Yearbook as a “social group of friends”. Obviously Ms. Philips would not allow them to write Bullies in a school-sanctioned publication, but she always let them be creative in concept ideas beyond the prerequisite pages and pages of student photos. That cemented them in the clique hierarchy; at least, for the year.

[blindbeta]

How do you think infrastructure would be different in a culture where everyone is blind?

Hi anon! I like this question. I think it would obviously depend on the culture and time period, but I have a few ideas. I’ll just try to write ideas for a general Western culture, because I am aware of more of that, but obviously the culture itself would influence what changes occurred or did not occur.

Education.

Look to blind schools! I’m thinking about training for Braille as very small children, which mostly includes strengthening finger sensitivity. Braille would also be taught the way reading regular print is, either in schools or at home. Regular print would probably also be available and large print would be normalized, especially to minimize eye strain. Computer literacy would include screen-readers and Braille displays. Websites would be designed for accessibility for everyone and this would include large for those who like to read some print.

In classes, people would use a slate and stylus, Braille notetakers, etc, depending on time and what was easier to carry. Braillers would also be more high tech in general, even if it might be considered old school, or the high tech stuff would have come sooner for each device.

Braille, O&M, and life skills classes would be normal for everyone. O&M would probably be done mostly by people with some sight, although this might change if everyone is blind anyway.

Lifestyle.

Things like telescopes (monoculars, minifiers) would be normal for low vision people, maybe even something cool like ‘oh I got the latest telescope model for my birthday!” It would be something shared with friends for fun. Something like SunuBand would be like, I don’t know, a car of something. People would show status through how cool their cane was, if they had a Sonar cane, like WeWalk, etc.

In schools, and in life, I think people with some sight, like me, would not face any pressure to use it. In real life, people with residual sight are expected to use what sight they can, even if it is inconvenient or painful.

More emphasis would be places on other sense, such as touch, smell, and soatial awareness.

Safety.

The world would probably be safer, structurally. There would be high contrast stairs everywhere, if there are stairs at all. There would be more in place that makes it safer to walk around outside, such as, idk, less of a risk of hurt yourself by stepping off a curb? I’m not even sure if roads would be designed the way they are now. Would people drive if they have some vision? Would everyone have cars that don’t need vision? Anyway, more safety with blind people in mind.

Transportation.

Transportation would be better. Maybe public transportation would be more accessible, easier to navigate, and more readily available in rural areas. Maybe trains would be more popular in every country, because they run on a schedule and you can carry more people for longer periods of time. Trains can also allow people to travel long distances, which can be harder for blind people (who almost always can’t drive, as far as I know) who can’t drive cars and may not have money for flights, or want to avoid them for environmental reasons.

Accessibility.

Braille would be everywhere. Buttons would be tactile, especially on kitchen appliances. I imagine a lot of the tools blind people use in the kitchen, such as bump dots for microwave buttons, would already be standard. Talking or otherwise accessible things would be cheaper, more common, and considered staples for everyone. Because they would be made for the wider population of blind people, accessibility would not be a niche or extra thing. It would not be associated with kindness, but a standard fare.

Clothing would be different. Designs would be tactile and/or high contrast, where they are often flat. I think colors would still be important, for everyone, but the tags would probably have labels. Some brand designed for blind people have actual Braille fabric on the clothes, which is cool. While color scanners do exist and would probably be used, I think other methods would be utilized if clothing is designed with blind people in mind from the start. Wearing glasses would be cool, you guys.

In terms of entertainment, I think most of it would audio-based or interactive. The radio and live theatre would be more popular than they are now. If visual mediums still existed, they would all come with audio descriptions and they would be better than they sometimes are now. TV would be written with audio descriptions in mind, if they didn’t talk about more of what they were doing.

Art would be tactile, period. Maybe we would have something by now that allows you to feel digital art. There are already amazing forms of tactil art out there, so think more of that from all cultures. Rather than adapted or described with the blind in mind, art would be naturally tactile even if the artist could see what they were creating well enough.

Online.

Obviously image descriptions would be everywhere, although I feel people would naturally include less screen-shots and less pictures. Again, accessibility would be a more mainstream thing than it is now. I’m thinking there would be more self-care posts, such as about dealing with eye strain headaches. Although I think some of the issues we have would be lessened when the entirety of humanity was on the blind spectrum. I’m also thinking about fun quizzes like, Describe Your Dream Home and I’ll Guess What Type Blindness You Have. Debates about disability in general would happen in regular spaces. YouTube would have contained audio descriptions from the start, and perhaps highly visual content would be less common or naturally described in the video, such as person describing what they are holding before talking about it.

Work/Career.

Productivity would be measure differently. Accessibility would just be a thing. Like, at a meeting, “What tools do you like to use the most?” Working from home would be an option. Work would be open to and even designed for blind people. Blind people wouldn’t have the low employments rates they do now, or else no one would work. A lot of tools we use to make things accessible wouldn’t be necessary if things were designed for blind people in the first place. Subminimum wage would not be a thing.

There would probably be jobs and career opportunities that don’t exist now.

Blind people wouldn’t be more likely or even expected to live in poverty.

Money.

Money would be tactile, labeled, large print, and high contrast. If we still used cash at all.

Inovation.

I think we would have a lot of cool stuff. Countries might even compete to be the first to create things for the blind population which, again, would be everyone in this scenario.

Food/menus.

Restaurants would be easy for blind people to navigate. Menus would be offered in Braille and large print. Maybe plates would be made sectioned so people could know where their food was. I’m thinking about blind accessibility videos and restaurants run by totally blind people. Hmm. Glasses would not be as common at all, because they can be hard for people to see. I have broken too many glasses myself.

If people were to buy food, such as local produce, bags would probably come with homemade Braille or large print signs. Canned food and boxes for cooking would have Braille on them initially. Giving food to others, such as bringing food or snacks for the home when you visit, would come with either an explanation about what it was or a label.

I could go on. I don’t want this too be too long. Basically, what I want to get across is that a lot more than accessibility would changes if everyone is blind. I didn’t want to get into too many heavy topics because this is more of a fun question. However. feel free to add whatever you like. I believe history itself would be altered in many, many ways that have influence on life today, so I could have gone on about that. I could write books on the lifestyle and safety and work sections. And all cultures have their own ways of viewing, supporting, and limiting blind people, so this could change a little or a lot depending on what your culture or the culture you are writing about is like.

-BlindBeta

[zenotis]

What are the best IT skills to learn in 2023 to get an IT job in California [ Updated ]

It turned out that among the most frequently mentioned talents in job descriptions for IT jobs in California were IT abilities such as digital literacy, data analytics, and data visualization.

In today's fast-paced business landscape, digital transformation takes center stage. It encompasses a wide array of endeavors, including embracing the boundless potential of cloud technology, enhancing and modernizing IT infrastructure, and crafting sophisticated data and analytics strategies to steer informed decision-making.

Companies are actively seeking experienced professionals well-versed in the precise skills required to drive technological and business objectives forward.

The caliber of skills has improved over time, which is a consistent trend. It takes more than being proficient in a given field to compete in the talent market. On a CV, prospects might stand out from the competition if they have practical IT abilities. Find out which abilities are likely to be in demand through 2023 and beyond.

Basic programming

Even for non-tech jobs, the fundamentals of programming are frequently in demand. Even with a basic understanding of programming, you'll be able to read other people's code, create your simple programs and algorithms, and gain a deeper comprehension of the lifespan of an IT project.

Being able to program is similar to being able to bead, so you can learn new technologies using the languages you've already mastered. The ability to think abstractly and conceptually, which is necessary for many vocations, is another skill that may be developed through programming.

An index states that the top five programming languages in September 2021 will be as follows:

C- It is widely used in the creation of desktop applications for the Windows, UNIX, and Linux operating systems.

Python- Managers, analysts, and marketers often use this phrase in non-tech business settings. They use Python to work with data in databases, tables, and even Excel macros.

Java- A language used by everyone to create websites and mobile apps. Java is used to create the majority of Android applications.

C++- A widely used technique for games and graphically intensive software like photo and video editors.

C#- One of the best languages for creating desktop apps and video games.

The index is determined by how many results for programming language queries there are on search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo!, MSN, Wikipedia, etc. Thus, programming languages are rated higher as a result of the increased usage of the language and solution searching by programmers.

Low-code platforms

By 2024, it is expected that low code would account for 65% of all software development activities.

Modern software development tools are complex, therefore low-code application platforms (LCAP) like Mendix, Quixey, and Microsoft PowerApps are an alternative. Low-code platforms allow developers to create straightforward business applications with no coding expertise and a tech mindset.

Since creating software takes careful design and upkeep, low-code platforms can be a lifesaver for managers, marketers, and any other users that lack programming abilities and want to construct and update a codebase without running the risk of destroying something. Low-code development thereby enables cost savings from IT outsourcing and frees up IT departments.

UI/UX design

To design effective and user-friendly digital products, an in-depth research is required, as is a grasp of the target audience. Leave those responsibilities to the experts, but learn the fundamentals of UI/UX design at the very least to maintain the dialogue with them.

Consider this: most marketing campaigns are built on digital assets like landing pages, websites, mobile apps, and social media. It's crucial for those who aren't UI/UX designers to stay up to date on the most recent developments in this sector and be able to articulate their ideas to those who are.

Data Engineer

Data engineering, in its simplest form, combines the skills of various IT specialists, including software engineers, Big Data developers, data analysts, and cloud computing engineers. The fundamental activities of data engineering in a corporation that produces enormous amounts of data from various sources are as follows:

Gathering and arranging the data

Combining and evaluating various data formats that were gathered from various sources.

Enhancing the storage of data.

Lowering data storage expenses to maximize the budget for the company.

Python, SQL, Java, Scala, cloud computing services like Amazon Web Services (AWS), and big data processing tools like Hadoop, Spark, and Kafka are essential skills for a data analyst. The fundamentals of distributed systems, as well as knowledge of algorithms and data structures, are also requirements.

Data visualization

Numerous studies have proven that the human brain processes visual information more effectively and increases people's confidence in the material being presented.

The effectiveness of data visualization in a business setting cannot be disputed. For instance, research demonstrates that employees are 28% more likely to find timely information in firms that use visual data recovery solutions than in those that just use controlled reporting and dashboards.

Because of this, the demand for data visualization abilities is rising in the modern workforce. Data visualization is a crucial component of data analytics that enables companies to assess information critically and present it in a comprehensible fashion.

Some of the most popular data visualization tools for marketers, managers, business analysts, and other professions that require working with a significant amount of data are Tableau, Google Data Studio, PowerBI, Datawrapper, and Infogram.

Video editing 

The time when TV and media production had exclusive rights to create videos has long since passed. To promote their goods and services in 2021, 86% of firms turned to video marketing. Videos are used today throughout all sectors of society for a variety of objectives, including marketing, staff development, client onboarding, and presentations.

The widespread use of videos in virtually every part of the business has increased the demand for individuals with expertise in producing scripts and scenarios for films, as well as SEO optimization for higher rankings.

CRMs

An effective sales process is built on the use of customer management software (CRM). Businesses require a 360-degree picture of their target audience, touchpoints, purchase behavior, and customer experience since customers are growing more demanding.

Because of this, managerial and marketing job descriptions increasingly emphasize the importance of having a basic understanding of CRM software. According to the CRM Software Research by G2, 73% of sales managers use CRM software. CRM tools are used by marketing teams 46% of the time, and customer care teams 45% of the time.

Product management

Product managers are typically the front-line representatives of newly produced goods and services. From the concept stage, till the product is released on schedule, they guarantee product success. To do that, they need a variety of capabilities, including strong project management abilities, a deep understanding of the software development process and a business domain, as well as communication, business analysis, and marketing fundamentals.

The majority of product managers agree that a product manager is a jack of all trades. According to respondents in a recent poll, the two biggest issues they face as product managers are a shortage of time (50,8%) and a lack of clarity around their roles (35,0%).

But there is no denying the importance of a product manager. Given that 81% of businesses track the performance of their products, it is obvious that either hiring professionals with product management skill sets or dedicating a full-time position to a product manager is very necessary.

You won't find any ordinary competencies on this list of in-demand IT skills for 2023 and beyond. Businesses need professionals with a strong understanding of digital technologies as they adopt a more data-driven strategy for employee development, marketing, and other crucial operations. So that you can stay ahead of the competition tomorrow, embrace these changes today.

Zenotis technologies is the fastest-growing talent acquisition company in the US and India. It provides various IT jobs in California and various parts of the US. For more detailed information about IT positions and other positions check out their website.

[bonx2macaron]

Aaaaa don't apologize pls I liked your analysis!!

A lot of people have things to say about the individual factors of why it's bad, but I think (personally) that the biggest problem is pacing.

Pretty sure it stems from the fact that lots of players spend a little too much time online and have shorter attention spans, so they try to fit the most content into a time that is just NOT sufficient, so it all ends up feeling sloppy. Even with all its faults, I think I could've enjoyed the recent patches a lot more if I didn't constantly have to scramble all over the place and suddenly realize the story was over.

When the story was just starting out, they were still trying to figure out their target audience, so it makes more sense to me to feel like the updates have been declining, because of course they have to me, I'm not the target audience now!!! They're writing the story as if they're telling it to an understimulated baby, which they might as well be considering the rate at which media literacy is dropping. I remember too well just how badly everyone mischaracterized Ratio and Ruan Mei when 1.6 came out, I wanted to rip my hair out.

Penacony (2.0-2.2) was brimming with potential, but so many parts felt like they were: "So, THIS happened! Also did you know that ____? Sike, gocha didn't I? lol, also ____. Oh, and this guy was ____."

Please... I'm already dead, stop killing me...

My curse is that as soon as I see a character that feels badly portrayed or developed I vivisect them in my mind and tweak them (if it's really bad I change their personality completely) so that they'll make more sense to me and the surrounding story. Unfortunately it's something I've had to do with many characters from hoyoverse games (cough cough, Collei, cough, Lisa), not just hsr, so I'm afraid it IS a company problem, but I'm not surprised considering hoyo's record. I managed to drop genshin and honkai impact 3rd, don't make me hate star rail too pleeeeeeeease

Anyway yeah... Perhaps it was too good to stay true, coming from the company who made a character say out loud she bleached her skin bc she thought it was too dark. Forever proud I've never spent a single cent on any of their games. Low-key hyped for Anglea though, if she turns out to be another "waifu" with big tits and no personality or lore relevance I might actually drop it and just start writing complete patch rewrites to cope

About Honkai: Star Rail versions 2.4 to 2.7

I haven't sat down to write about the gameplay experience for the last several versions, so I'm going to stuff it all in here. Likely will make zero sense unless you actually played through all Trailblaze Missions. Events will be ignored because I have enough opinions about the story and this is already going to be very long.

Disclaimer: Don't you say a single thing about so-and-such lore being expanded on in such-and-so video because if they wanted us to know that lore so badly, they should put it in their fucking game. I don't care that they do lore in videos, and I don't watch them, because I play the game to learn that, and they shouldn't rely on extraneous materials to explain their lore.

Disclaimer 2: I have passionate thoughts about this but I also have the memory of an 80s computer. I forget a lot, but I'm willing to expand if you want my opinion on something if you remind me of it!

2.4 & 2.5: Finest Duel Under the Pristine Blue & Flying Aureus Shot to Lupine Rue (The Xianzhou 3)

The Wardance was a great idea. I enjoyed that there was a little government intrigue in the middle of all this. And then Yunli and March became a focus and I lost all care for the story, because I despise March 7th on a fundamental level and Yunli is the absolute worst type of character to introduce while pairing her off with March. Yunli's story and character is unbelievably uninteresting and bland for all that she could have been a very interesting person, having come from a different Xianzhou compared to everyone we know, already.

"But Yunli is still young!" and I do not care. She irritated me every single moment she tried to one-up Yanqing for????????? Reasons, apparently! Even the fact that she was there purely to be a rival for Yanqing felt unnecessary and forced. There was no reason for her to be there beyond selling jade packs. Her design is clearly bait for terrible people who are willing to whale for any female character with her toes out. In fact, I hate that her design doesn't wear shoes, because she's supposed to be a fucking warrior. What kind of warrior goes off to fight and step on swords and dance around completely fucking barefoot?

Anyway. Her and March were the greatest deterrents to my enjoyment. Other than that is the fact that Hoyo can't trust their audience to put hints together unless they state it outright six thousand times before the reveal. This does not make it better than the out-of-nowhere reveals. In fact, I think I hate this more. There is no fun in hearing everyone go "ohhhhh she's sick, she's ill, she needs a cure" like three times in five minutes. What's the point in avoiding Feixiao's name if she's just going to pop up and completely ruin the mystery as soon as it's been established?

Feixiao's story was fine, honestly. It was okay. I wasn't blown away by it, or the implications, the lore was just passing. Everyone already said a lot about the war between Foxians and borisin (I completely forgot what they were called and had to look it up). Hell, Jiaoqiu's story, as a healer in the middle of the fight, getting captured and being among the borisin during the escape, was more in-depth over what the borisin are like as a people and society! There just wasn't enough time spent properly building up the history between Foxians and borisin, and Feixiao and borisin, and Jiaoqiu and Feixiao, and Jiaoqiu and borisin, and whatever the hell is going on with Moze.

The largest problem with the overall story update was that they took so long to get to the point that they forgot they needed to spend that time building up to the point.

They completely skip the Player and Dan Heng getting out of the Shackling Prison. They give use two lines of dialogue about Dan Heng's time in the prison. Dan Heng says like two things about it. That's it? Really? This guy spent a significant amount of time in the Shackling Prison, enough to clearly have emotions over going back to it, and we skip all of that just to get to...?

If they spent more time on building up the story and characters, then I wouldn't have as much of a problem with this. Instead they wanted to shove as much as possible into one update while hoping the pacing worked well enough. It didn't. We missed out on so many character moments because they wanted to get things moving too quickly with too many different ideas and storylines stuffed together.

I liked Jiaoqiu's sections, actually. They were a good exploration of his character, demonstrated who he is as a person well, and he isn't fundamentally annoying as hell. Then they went "oh yeah he's blind now lol" and my expectations crumbled, because Hoyo is not known for doing representation well (throwback to the kid who's had autism since he was little). I have no expectations for him if he ever returns in the future.

Why the fuck Moze here??????? Why he look like that??????? That is all, thank you.

"You didn't say anything about the main antagonist of this arc" well that's because he's kind of flat and typical. The only real novelty he brings to the table is his abilities and being a new boss. The borisin are all incredibly tropey, including the one we see speaking the most often (I called him Greasy). In fact, Greasy looked so much like a bad guy I almost started laughing out loud as soon as I saw him. He sounded evil, looked evil, and, surprise! He was evil. That's it. The borisin are little more than tropey bad guys. I liked the designs of the borisin, I did! But honestly that was it. As I said earlier, I totally forgot what they were called.

At the end of the day, this third Xianzhou story arc was actually boring and disappointing for all the great possibilities they gave to us. They dropped the ball on making an important return to the Xianzhou, which is actually very significant because this is the third time we've been to the Xianzhou for a story update. You want to make a story good enough people forget they've been back to this particular location for the nth time.

2.6 & 2.7: Annals of Pinecany's Mappou Age & A New Venture on the Eighth Dawn

I would have liked Paperfold better if Rappa wasn't a thing, honestly. They shoved her in like a circle block in a square hole; she was a bridge across the story happening in Paperfold, but she wasn't the best fit for a bridge for this type of story. I think part of my problem with Rappa's whole "I'm so totally this ninja and everyone else is going to follow along because I won't listen if you don't want to" shtick didn't sit well coming immediately after Yunli's "I'm so much better than you and I'm going to make you think so, too, so shut up because I'm the best and I'll prove it easily" shtick.

If Hoyo so desperately wanted to introduce another Galaxy Ranger with a proper motive for being involved and dragging Boothill back into the story, they could have done this a million different ways without resorting to the exact same forceful personality type they seem to be leaning a little too hard on, these days.

As it is, Rappa's complete disregard for everything and everyone while being forced to go along with her at every turn and being forced into a friendly relationship with her felt awful. They need to stop forcing the players into being friends with literally everyone. It's okay for players to not like all the characters they can pull for. It's okay for players to not want to be friends with everyone. If a player picks a "no" type option, let the player pick no. Unbelievable how often we're railroaded into saying yes even when we say no.

"But Rappa's whole worldview was warped under the experiments she went through!" so a noble ninja is justified in ignoring others' wishes to continue on their mission of... *checks notepad* chasing a guy that isn't even there?

There are too many forceful characters being introduced on top of March, who also bulldozes everyone for the sake of what she (the writing team) wants to do, and who we get stuck with constantly.

I think having more Galaxy Ranger and Boothill lore was nice, and I liked seeing the potential of a prestigious university in the Dreamscape, but... the monkeys are people thing was a little much.

This story quest had me literally sitting back and sighing and rolling my eyes up to the ceiling in supplication more than any other, so far. Rappa, her rapping, her ninja thing, and the painfully obvious cultlike spread of Slumbernana Monkey were ridiculously overdone. Repetition can be successful, but it can also completely ruin the pacing or flow of a story, particularly if it's a video game and you have to sit through 10-15 minute cutscenes or consecutive dialogue cutscenes.

We get to be alone with Dan Heng for a little while, this time, at least! Dan Heng finally gets to info dump on us without March asking if she's missing something! He even tells us about new species and a new enemy and--

Anyway!

Mr. Reca is, like, fine. He has potential and he wasn't really present for much of the story, so I think he'll be back around later and I really hope they do him better the next time around. There's a lot of ways Mr. Reca could go, or they can destroy all of that. Also I saw the edits on TikTok but it did not prepare me for Mr. Reca just suddenly appearing on his knees unprompted???

Dreamflux Reef was... okay? It wasn't the worst part of this, just really boring, honestly. We barely got any information about anyone that wasn't Boothill, so it was lacking.

The antagonist was boring. I didn't care, honestly. Negative care! Soylent Green thoughts aside, there wasn't all that much interesting about the evil plan after it's revealed Doctor Primitive has an MO and isn't even the big bad of the current story, because Doctor Primitive isn't even doing anything.

The Slumbernana Monkeys. The song got stuck in my head, of course, and I could have done without having it playing in the background of a cutscene considering we're supposed to be paying attention to something while it's happening. Being turned into a monkey wasn't what I expected, but we are literally in a dream, and it's not that odd in the grand scheme of things. Seeing so many of them is... also fine. The designs for the monkeys aren't terrible, so I didn't mind it much. Hearing all the "bana bana" shit was awful, though. No need to for that. Please.

I also timed my second and final session playing the Paperfold story. I played about 2 hours to reach the end of the story missions, and I spent 1 hour 40 minutes of that sitting there listening to people talk.

Hate that. Hate that so much. I'm playing a game, not watching a movie. "But it's a story--" don't care. Spending 20 minutes of a 2 hour play session is an abysmal distribution of time. This isn't a visual novel! There should be some gameplay!

Paperfold is a nice environment, though, I enjoyed it. Hoyo has a tendency to have One Large School in their games, though....

Which brings me to the newest update, so there will be spoilers for v2.7.

Because we are hanging out with Sunday and Tingyun/Fugue in this section. And that's it. Literally. The "crisis" we deal with here, the climax of this all, is Sunday confronting himself. Tingyun/Fugue's confrontation is the damage done to her by the Destruction, which I think is fascinating, but wasn't elaborated on enough for me to be satisfied.

An interesting idea brought up is that a "try not to laugh" challenge which requires the ingesting of a substance can split a mind into fractured personalities. This idea is then instantly dismissed and made insignificant and will never be used again, just like Sunday's tuning vision or whatever.

The splitting of one's self could have been used in even better ways, I think, considering Tingyun/Fugue was split up into so many different versions of herself. They dropped the ball having Sunday dealing with only one of them, as they apparently didn't think about tuning a person until stumbling on the Express crew and Tingyun/Fugue.

Conflict in this very short update was underwhelming, and we literally just fight Sunday again for the final boss fight of this section. There was no change in the boss fight from the original, outside of the dialogue spoken at the start.

This was clearly supposed to be one of the more emotionally-charged story missions, what with Sunday's "saying goodbyes" or whatever, because he goes through all that trouble... fucking off-screen.

NOTHING HAPPENED!!!!!!

Out of all the story chunks we get in little bits and pieces this is the worst so far! Why? Sunday's all going off on a final circuit of the Dreamscape and we see basically none of it. They cut out so much story and information when previously they've been practically giddy to shove us into different character POVs to explain the empty lore bits to us instead of letting us experience it as the Player Character. I would have loved to see him going around and making his peace with leaving before he gets shoved on us no matter what we say about it at the end, at least, because then we could have more about him. Instead we get basically nothing and a whole lot of dancing around saying goodbye and sorry to his sister when everyone except him knows she knows who he is, because his disguise is literal trash considering someone almost sees through it as soon as we're introduced to his storyline.

And Tingyun/Fugue has so much NOTHING in her storyline that I completely abandoned paying attention and left it to autoplay all the dialogue and cutscenes while I did anything else. Sure, yeah, we see Yukong again, and we get to see a tiny child Tingyun, but that doesn't make up for the absolute nothing-burger we're given in the story. Oh, look, Ruan Mei! Aaaaand we get almost nothing, still. Cool. Fine. Sure.

The fucking room event was more interesting than the entirety of this Penacony finale, and that's pathetic.

I'm also going to say not having to spend six hours playing is fine! I didn't mind that! But it's also too short for what they wanted to do, considering they stuffed Sunday and Tingyun/Fugue together, because ????? They hardly barely matter to each other, and there's no real reason to have the two of them coincide at all, actually, beyond the fact that if it was just Sunday I don't doubt we'd end up with just an hour of content at most.

The missing voicelines (I play story missions with English voices in order to allow me to do literally anything else when I get bored of watching cutscenes) was jarring and annoying, but they made it worse by not even bothering to move the characters' mouths. It's just the details that make things worse. (Yes I know there's a reason, yes I know they're allowed to strike, good on them, but they could... I don't know... animate the fucking characters' mouths?)

Thoughts on the Future

The quality of the story and its characters has been decreasing more and more as time goes on. Not the character designs, though I'd like it if we could have less fucking 1-inch inseam shorts on characters. Considering the next designs released, though, I'm in despair. At this rate, I'll be dropping HSR entirely at some point next year, because I can only take so much.

Even with a new location, path, and character set to become available, I don't have high hopes for the story, character moments, or any new mechanics they might be implementing for the location.

I never really talk about the puzzles and extraneous modes available in HSR, but that's because you can get through the game perfectly fine without them, if you want to. I barely ever do things like Simulated Universe because I just don't want to play the game any longer than I absolutely have to, anymore, and that's part of the problem. At this point, people are more interested in updates to these extraneous modes and events instead of story missions and character moments within them. Obviously there's a problem when your players would rather do literally anything other than the story you've been crafting for *checks calendar* three months? Weeks? Days? Fuck if I know, it's just not nearly enough time.

I stopped playing Genshin Impact because there was too much to catch up with--so much they literally give you the option to skip two regions--and too much grinding needed to keep up. With HSR, I'm pretty much settled into being able to at least mostly keep up since I've been playing for a while, but I just can't bring myself to sit through the story missions long enough to care.

It's boring.

I would be unsurprised if HSR implemented a similar skipping option eventually, too, because if you're implementing a massive skip to your apparently story-heavy game, you've done something terribly wrong.

[marveltrumpshate]

As the saying goes, women’s rights are human rights. Despite growing threats to autonomy and agency, women are firmly and vocally declaring their place in the world and actively working to ensure equity for themselves and future generations. The following are organizations whose focus is on doing just that.

Girls Who Code

There is a massive gender gap in technology, and Girls Who Code is actively seeking to end that—and they're on track to close the gap in new entry-level tech jobs by 2030! Girls Who Code also focuses on historically underrepresented groups, not just gender diversity; half of the girls they serve are from those groups, including those who are Black, Latinx, or from low-income backgrounds. Through clubs, college programs, and summer immersions, GWC reaches girls of all ages (elementary school through college) and all knowledge levels (beginner to advanced) to teach them coding, expose them to tech jobs, and provide a community with other women in tech. We imagine this would be close to the hearts of several of our favorite characters, so choose this one if it's close to yours as well.

Global Fund for Women

Global Fund for Women is the largest global organization for gender justice. They support grassroots feminist movements and organizations around the world for maximum local impact and have provided more than $8.3 million in grants to 35 women's funds in 27 countries over the past 30 years. Their recent focus has been providing mobilization and networking resources for women and girls in their own communities and amplifying those voices so they're heard in the global community.

National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum

NAPAWF is the only organization focused on building a movement for social, political, and economic change for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and girls. Their work focuses on policy and structural change, organizing and civic engagement, and legal advocacy and judicial strategy. They also tackle reproductive health and rights, economic justice, and immigration and racial justice.

Planned Parenthood

The largest provider of reproductive health services in the U.S., Planned Parenthood has offered a wide array of services for over 100 years. In addition to confidential patient care, they provide sex education to all and advocate for the protection and expansion of reproductive rights and access to health care, especially for women. PP also promotes research in reproductive technology and works towards global women's and reproductive health with partner organizations around the world.

Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network

RAINN is the largest anti-sexual violence organization in the U.S. and operates a 24-hour national phone/online hotline as well as a DoD Safe Helpline for the Department of Defense that provide support for survivors. They partner with over 1,000 local organizations nationwide and coordinate with state and federal departments to ensure that sexual assault is prevented, perpetrators are held accountable, and survivors get justice. They also educate the public, media, and entertainment industry about sexual assault. While we put RAINN in this post because women and girls experience sexual violence at high rates, people of all genders can be victims and RAINN helps everyone regardless of gender.

Room to Read

Room to Read focuses specifically on the continents of Africa and Asia in their mission to ensure education for girls and literacy for all children. They collaborate with local governments and educational providers to ensure that their solutions are sustainable as they work to decrease the rate of illiteracy and increase gender equality in education worldwide.

Women in Film

We've lost an entire generation of women in the workforce due to the pandemic (women and POC tend to be laid off first and hired back last, often at salary levels lower than their previous earnings and lower than men), and women in film were already behind the 8 ball. WIF seeks to rectify that. WIF's wonderful programs include a film finishing fund, financing workshops and networking sessions, mentorship programs, resources to hire women-focused crews, residencies and master classes for promising non-professional TV/film writers, and more. WIF also works to create a more diverse and inclusive industry, tackling gender and racial bias in the creative decision-making and hiring process. To make sure that women are protected in other ways, they have created a help line for referrals to legal services, therapy, and support groups for entertainment professionals who have experienced sexual harassment/misconduct and a fundraiser to support women whose livelihoods have been adversely affected by COVID-19.

For more information on donation methods and currencies per organization, please refer to our list of organizations page.