#and these things keep talking and focusing on like. numbers and statistics for things i do not understand

[ff2-soda-pop]

trying to write this paper for english class is so hard because we're meant to have a draft of the Whole Thing (with all the sources!!!) due monday and i still haven't found my last source because unfortunately i picked a topic that involves having to look at sources with a bunch of words i just Do Not Understand

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

average United States contains 1000s of pet tigers in backyards" factoid actualy [sic] just statistical error. average person has 0 tigers on property. Activist Georg, who lives the U.S. Capitol & makes up over 10,000 each day, has purposefully been spreading disinformation adn [sic] should not have been counted

I have a big mad today, folks. It's a really frustrating one, because years worth of work has been validated... but the reason for that fucking sucks.

For almost a decade, I've been trying to fact-check the claim that there "are 10,000 to 20,000 pet tigers/big cats in backyards in the United States." I talked to zoo, sanctuary, and private cat people; I looked at legislation, regulation, attack/death/escape incident rates; I read everything I could get my hands on. None of it made sense. None of it lined up. I couldn't find data supporting anything like the population of pet cats being alleged to exist. Some of you might remember the series I published on those findings from 2018 or so under the hashtag #CrouchingTigerHiddenData. I've continued to work on it in the six years since, including publishing a peer reviewed study that counted all the non-pet big cats in the US (because even though they're regulated, apparently nobody bothered to keep track of those either).

I spent years of my life obsessing over that statistic because it was being used to push for new federal legislation that, while well intentioned, contained language that would, and has, created real problems for ethical facilities that have big cats. I wrote a comprehensive - 35 page! - analysis of the issues with the then-current version of the Big Cat Public Safety Act in 2020. When the bill was first introduced to Congress in 2013, a lot of groups promoted it by fear mongering: there's so many pet tigers! they could be hidden around every corner! they could escape and attack you! they could come out of nowhere and eat your children!! Tiger King exposed the masses to the idea of "thousands of abused backyard big cats": as a result the messaging around the bill shifted to being welfare-focused, and the law passed in 2022.

The Big Cat Public Safety Act created a registry, and anyone who owned a private cat and wanted to keep it had to join. If they did, they could keep the animal until it passed, as long as they followed certain strictures (no getting more, no public contact, etc). Don’t register and get caught? Cat is seized and major punishment for you. Registering is therefore highly incentivized. That registry closed in June of 2023, and you can now get that registration data via a Freedom of Information Act request.

Guess how many pet big cats were registered in the whole country?

97.

Not tens of thousands. Not thousands. Not even triple digits. 97.

And that isn't even the right number! Ten USDA licensed facilities registered erroneously. That accounts for 55 of 97 animals. Which leaves us with 42 pet big cats, of all species, in the entire country.

Now, I know that not everyone may have registered. There's probably someone living deep in the woods somewhere with their illegal pet cougar, and there's been at least one random person in Texas arrested for trying to sell a cub since the law passed. But - and here's the big thing - even if there are ten times as many hidden cats than people who registered them - that's nowhere near ten thousand animals. Obviously, I had some questions.

Guess what? Turns out, this is because it was never real. That huge number never had data behind it, wasn't likely to be accurate, and the advocacy groups using that statistic to fearmonger and drive their agenda knew it... and didn't see a problem with that.

Allow me to introduce you to an article published last week.

This article is good. (Full disclose, I'm quoted in it). It's comprehensive and fairly written, and they did their due diligence reporting and fact-checking the piece. They talked to a lot of people on all sides of the story.

But thing that really gets me?

Multiple representatives from major advocacy organizations who worked on the Big Cat Publix Safety Act told the reporter that they knew the statistics they were quoting weren't real. And that they don't care. The end justifies the means, the good guys won over the bad guys, that's just how lobbying works after all. They're so blase about it, it makes my stomach hurt. Let me pull some excerpts from the quotes.

"Whatever the true number, nearly everyone in the debate acknowledges a disparity between the actual census and the figures cited by lawmakers. “The 20,000 number is not real,” said Bill Nimmo, founder of Tigers in America. (...) For his part, Nimmo at Tigers in America sees the exaggerated figure as part of the political process. Prior to the passage of the bill, he said, businesses that exhibited and bred big cats juiced the numbers, too. (...) “I’m not justifying the hyperbolic 20,000,” Nimmo said. “In the world of comparing hyperbole, the good guys won this one.”

"Michelle Sinnott, director and counsel for captive animal law enforcement at the PETA Foundation, emphasized that the law accomplished what it was set out to do. (...) Specific numbers are not what really matter, she said: “Whether there’s one big cat in a private home or whether there’s 10,000 big cats in a private home, the underlying problem of industry is still there.”"

I have no problem with a law ending the private ownership of big cats, and with ending cub petting practices. What I do have a problem with is that these organizations purposefully spread disinformation for years in order to push for it. By their own admission, they repeatedly and intentionally promoted false statistics within Congress. For a decade.

No wonder it never made sense. No wonder no matter where I looked, I couldn't figure out how any of these groups got those numbers, why there was never any data to back any of the claims up, why everything I learned seemed to actively contradict it. It was never real. These people decided the truth didn't matter. They knew they had no proof, couldn't verify their shocking numbers... and they decided that was fine, if it achieved the end they wanted.

So members of the public - probably like you, reading this - and legislators who care about big cats and want to see legislation exist to protect them? They got played, got fed false information through a TV show designed to tug at heartstrings, and it got a law through Congress that's causing real problems for ethical captive big cat management. The 20,000 pet cat number was too sexy - too much of a crisis - for anyone to want to look past it and check that the language of the law wouldn't mess things up up for good zoos and sanctuaries. Whoops! At least the "bad guys" lost, right? (The problems are covered somewhat in the article linked, and I'll go into more details in a future post. You can also read my analysis from 2020, linked up top.)

Now, I know. Something something something facts don't matter this much in our post-truth era, stop caring so much, that's just how politics work, etc. I’m sorry, but no. Absolutely not.

Laws that will impact the welfare of living animals must be crafted carefully, thoughtfully, and precisely in order to ensure they achieve their goals without accidental negative impacts. We have a duty of care to ensure that. And in this case, the law also impacts reservoir populations for critically endangered species! We can't get those back if we mess them up. So maybe, just maybe, if legislators hadn't been so focused on all those alleged pet cats, the bill could have been written narrowly and precisely.

But the minutiae of regulatory impacts aren't sexy, and tiger abuse and TV shows about terrible people are. We all got misled, and now we're here, and the animals in good facilities are already paying for it.

I don't have a conclusion. I'm just mad. The public deserves to know the truth about animal legislation they're voting for, and I hope we all call on our legislators in the future to be far more critical of the data they get fed.

[allthingsfangirl101]

One Last Chance – John Glenn

Masterlist

I never understood the phrase "the butterflies in my stomach" until my husband was about to go up in a rocket to race the Russians. When he left town, we spent the entire night before he left in each other's arms. We didn't let go of each other's hands as we drove to the airport. When we got to the airport, I held onto him as long as I could. Despite the many, many cameras on us, John gave me a passionate kiss before he followed the NASA officials into a fancy building.

Every night during training, John called me. We'd talk for hours until at least one of us fell asleep. The night before his big mission, John called me like normal, but he didn't sound normal.

We talked way later than we should've. We talked about everything except for his mission. It didn't take me long to figure out that our conversation was a distraction. He ended the call with a deep sigh.

"I should get some sleep," he mumbled.

"I love you," I said before he could hang up.

"I love you, too," he chuckled.

"John?"

"Yes, darling?"

"I am so proud of you, baby."

He cleared his throat before whispering, "Thank you, gorgeous. I needed that."

"Be safe up there, Mr. Astronaut," I said, struggling to keep my voice from breaking. "I'll be watching from home."

* * * * *

I rushed home from the store, eager to get there. John's rocket was taking off today. I didn't bother putting away the groceries. I practically ran into the living room and turned on the TV. Every news channel was covering John's flight today.

The newswoman kept talking about statistics and facts about my husband, but I was more focused on the scene behind her. She was perfectly positioned in front of the rocket. Men were running around it, getting some last-minute things together.

My breath got stuck in my throat when the newscaster brought her hand up to her ear and stopped talking.

"We're getting word that the launch has been stalled," she said, lowering her hand. "We're not sure why. . ."

I stopped listening when the house phone started ringing. I glanced at the TV, my heart jumping into my throat when I figured out who was calling me.

For a second, I imagined NASA was the one calling me. They were calling to tell me the mission was off because my husband got hurt in a final training session. That thought made me jump up and run to the kitchen.

"Hello?" I answered it, instantly playing with the chord.

"Hey, darling."

"John?" I said, letting out a sigh of relief. "Is everything okay? What's wrong? Why are you calling me?"

"Can't I just call my wife and talk to her?" He asked instead of answering. My breathing slowed when I heard his fake laugh.

My heart started to return to its normal rate the longer I listened to my husband's voice.

"That's sweet," I said, "if I believed you."

"What do you mean?" He chuckled.

"There is something you're not telling me, so talk. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing's on my mind," he instantly brushed off.

"Honey," I sighed, "you should be getting into your rocket and racing up into the atmosphere. And yet, here you are, calling your wife instead."

"To be fair," he said, clearing his throat, "I call you more than my friends call their wives."

"John," I said, softening my voice. "Why did you call me instead of getting on your rocket and making history?"

"I guess," he sighed, "I'm a little worried."

"About the landing coordinates?" I asked, remembering our call the other night. "I thought that woman, Katherine, checked them."

During their last test run, John had a weird feeling about the landing coordinates. The men in the "big room", as John calls it, kept reassuring him that all the numbers were right. He ignored them and asked if the woman he met in a meeting weeks ago, who proved she was smarter than their computers, could look at them.

After she got the landing coordinates even more specific than their original calculations, John only trusted her. I still remember how excited he was about working with Katherine. He went on and on about how much he wishes I could meet her. After hearing him talk about her and how she'll most likely save his life, I wanted to meet her, too.

"She did," he agreed. "She is even double-checking them now."

"Okay," I said slowly. "So, what is it?"

"Nothing," he tried to lie again.

"John, I know you. Something's wrong. Talk to the woman you promised to always tell the truth to."

"Sweetie," he laughed awkwardly, "there is a room full of NASA officials listening in on this call."

"Come on, baby," I said with a soft giggle. I needed to sound normal because he didn't. "We have been married for three years, dated for two years before that. I know you, Johnny. Talk to me. What's the real reason you interrupted your big takeoff to call me?"

My heart jumped into my throat when I heard him sigh. "I needed to hear your voice," he said, his voice dropping. "I was walking toward the rocket and suddenly froze."

"What made you freeze?" I asked gently.

"You," he said, his voice breaking. "I realized that my mission may not end well and that I may never hear your voice again. And I needed to hear your voice again, baby. I needed to hear you tell me that you loved me. One last time."

I waited for my voice to return and for the frog in my throat to go away. When I finally found my voice, it was soft.

"I love you, John," I whispered. "I have been madly in love with you since we were in high school. When you finally looked at me, I thought the world had stopped. The first time you kissed me, I knew that you were the only guy for me. When we got married, I knew that my life was perfect. I am so proud of you, baby. You are changing the world. I love you."

I smiled when I heard him let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, gorgeous," he whispered. "I really needed to hear that. I love you so much, darling."

"Be safe up there, Rocket Man," I teased.

"I will," he chuckled, finally starting to sound like himself. "Besides, I can't leave my gorgeous wife alone in this world. She needs her Marine Corps pilot turned astronaut."

"I love my Marine Corps pilot turned astronaut," I giggled.

"And I love my wife," he instantly said. "I'll see you as soon as I get back into orbit."

[bridgetoesoteria]

😡#@! Who is scared of you and why?😰

Honestly, I'm pretty curious to see what the piles hold. Any energy could come through. Professional, romantic, friends/family, etc. 😬

Lets find out! Piles are left to right! (idk why it's so small sorry)

HOPE IT RESONATES. PAY ATTN TO YOUR INTUITION AND HOW THE MESSAGES RESONATE FOR YOU PERSONALLY!!

Pile 1

4 card spread: 6 of wands, 5 of cups, 10 of wands, 5 of swords. BOTD: 8 of swords

Damn Pile 1. Remind me not to mess with you... For some of you, this is a person that perceives you as playing dirty. So you could have "one against them in some "won," in some way. Some examples that are immediately coming to mind would beating a romantic rival or winning some kind of sports tournament.

For others, this could have to deal with the legal system. For the Urban Tarot Deck, the 10 of wands is represented as a man in jail. So this person could be in trouble with the legal system or some kind of institution or authority. For some reason, I do not think you are talking, but maybe its because you can't? Like if they are overseas and its hard to get reliable service, if they are in jail and have limited access to a device, or you have decided to stop speaking. Some of you could be testifying against this person or you could be breaking up/divorcing.

So I used my Bold Perceptions deck and asked how you perceive this person. These are the cards that came out, make of them what you will: "How would you describe or label your style?"// "If you could bring back one fashion from throughout history, which would it be?" (Pile 1, is their fashion sense kinda unique??) If you could see a statistic or number floating above people's heads like in a video game, what would you most want to see and why? (could be a gamer, or someone who you wish you could read better) "What do you think the opposite sex notices about you first?" // "What do you notice first about the opposite sex?" (there could be mutual attraction, one or both of you could be jealous about the attention the other receives)

Why??

Oop! Okay, I see now. I think this person is afraid of you spilling the beans. Interesting that I got a message about the legal system. This does not have to necessarily pertain to the law though. I am also seeing that if you are part of an affair, they could be scared you are going to move on, or that you could expose them.

For some of you this person is scared that you are pregnant. Or there could be something to do with hiding a pregnancy. Some of you it is not that dramatic. This person could be too intimidated to approach you and get communication going again. This will be especially true for situations where you cut this person off over cheating or something. They are trying to keep you from leaving.

There are also a lot of pentacles out. The only cup card is the knight of cups, which is on the bottom of the deck after I pulled clarifiers. So this person could be really focused on stability. Whatever they are scared about ties into their stability and keeping things "under wraps", is what I am specifically hear. But what if you don't want to hear them out?

TL;DR: This is someone that is known to you, but you probably aren't speaking often. There could be an issue with the legal system, a break up, divorce, or secret being exposed. This person could be attractive and have a unique sense of style. You could wish you were able to read their mind. They are scared of you because they do not want to lose their stability or you. They are scared to reach out and get rejected but they are trying to keep everything together.

Pile 2

4 card spread: 6 of swords, 8 of swords, King of Cups, Temperance. BOTD: 10 of swords

This could be family for some of you. A masculine or male figure in your family, so a brother, dad, husband, etc. Or possibly a woman who is more masculine, but I do think for most it is an actual man. I don't think you are in contact with this person. They could have experienced an ending recently or they are under an extreme amount of stress. For some of you, this person could be depressed or struggling with something else mental health related.

There is a sense of trying to find balance with the 6 of swords and temperance. They could also have relocated. I am getting some workaholic vibes. This is starting to remind me of Pile 1... They feel like they lost something and I am getting a lot of "she left and took the kids," type of vibe. Regardless, they certainly feel alone and regretful. For some of you this person has experienced an actual loss and they are trying to find balance again after that.

I used my Bold Perceptions deck and asked how you perceive this person. These are the cards that came out, make of them what you will: "What do you think your best physical feature is?" // "What you think my best physical feature is?" (you and this person may share certain features or look alike or have feature that the other likes) "If you had to rename me, what name would suit me best?" // "What is the worst nickname you can think of for me?" (do they have a cringe nickname? or maybe you call them something else behind their back, like captain poop face lol) "Who would you invite if you threw a party and could bring any three celebrities?" // "What three would least want to come?" (you could perceive this person as being cool, uncool, or well-connected)

Why??

Some of you could be really spicy. Maybe you cussed this person out. If you cut them off they are scared this is a permanent decision. For some of you, they could be scared that you will explore other options. Like maybe you will entire your selfish era and just go where ever your heart tells you. Maybe they pushed you too far this time.

This person could have tried to sell you a dream and you are realizing you can do bad all by yourself. You could be very content on your own, investing in yourself, going out, having a good time. If you aren't in that energy already, they are afraid that you are headed there. For whatever reason, this scares them.

TL;DR: This is a masculine energy, could be a family member for some of you. For example, a brother, husband, or father. They can be someone who is struggling mentally/emotionally right now. They could tend to overwork themselves. You may have left this person. I don't think you have much respect for them anymore. They are scared of you being happier single and realizing that you do not need them. They are scared they have lost you for good. If you haven't entered this energy yet, they are terrified that you will.

Pile 3

**this energy was by far, the most difficult to tap into today!! Some of you might resonate with Pile 2, because I keep mixing them up.

4 card spread: Death, The Tower, Queen of Cups, Ace of Pentacles. BOTD: 5 of wands

So this pile does not have any strong romantic energies like the last pile, but take it however it resonates. I feel more of a friendship that might have gone sour. This could be someone that you fight with or have fought with in the past. They could be a person that is argumentative. You could be the complete opposite of them; Softer, more feminine, gentle... This person could gossip a lot. They could get a lot of attention from suitors but none of the relationships are particularly meaningful or long-lasting. They could like to compete for attention.

Wow, I would not expect a person with this energy to be scared of anyone. But I guess the loudest people are sometimes overcompensating. This could be family or someone you are very close to. They could be used to having control over you or your life in some way. This could be someone that is sad to see you leaving. I think life has definitely started to guide you to different paths.

I don't think you like this person. They could be an asshole fr! The king of swords just came out and that is my "asshole" card. Someone that is pretty selfish. They could also be a liar and harsh with their words. They could be emotionless. You could really dislike them right now. You probably want your space and to learn how to be okay on your own.

Next, I'm pulling from my Bold Perceptions deck. We are asking how you perceive this person. These are the cards that came out, make of them what you will: "In what ways do you think social media has changed dating" // "If you could be in a one-sided open relationship would you?" (this person could be some who cheats, or flirts a lot online. You know, the type of person that stays in people's likes & DMs. You could have met online. They could have tried to play you in some way) "Which emojis remind you the most of me?" // "What are your pet peeves, and what do you think mine are?" (you could text a lot, maybe never went past the talking phase, you could have been roommates) "Ask a Bold question that you have always wanted to." (is there something you want to know about them, or is this someone who you are waiting on to ask you out?)

Why??

They could worry that you are going to find something on their phone. Maybe you already have found out they are flirting with people online or maybe following pages or consuming media you aren't okay with. You could be really defensive toward this person right now. They are scared of your words.

They don't want to lose you. They may have always pictured their future with you in it. They don't want you to make any rash decisions. This person is scared of what happens if you do not accept their apology or offer. They don't want to "start all over," that probably means something different for each situation. But with the 7 of cups being clarified by the 2 of wands and 6 of cups, I think they would rather smooth things over with you. But they are aware it is possible they may have to move on.

TL;DR: Very tough energy to read so maybe this person does not show much emotion. This could be someone you consider an asshole. They could be a big flirt and could use social media to meet people. That could even be how you met. Or this could be the traits of a female friend you fell out with. This person could also be a gossip. They are scared of losing you. They are scared of having to start over if you do not forgive them or accept an offer.

I am trying to stay consistent with posting at least once a week. Kept this one a little shorter cause I have hella assignments 😬🥴

The next reading will be any one of the polls that are left from the poll. What will it be? Mwahaha

👛Tips are muy appreciated.

Ttys 😎😘

~ K

[forged-in-paper]

The City of Struggles!

As the setting for Celestial Solstice has evolved it has become more and more focused around a single place: Zhenmora, the all-important panopolis, what I've taken to calling the city of struggles. This is going to be a very important piece of the setting, so I think it's important that I lay out the foundational ideas that have shaped it into its current form and what that current form looks like. And remember, this is all in a very rough draft state, so don't sweat the small stuff, eh?

This was discussed in passing when I spoke about the lore of the setting at-large, but we're gonna get more specific about one individual aspect today and its implications on the setting. If you'll recall, celestial bodies such as planets, moons, stars, comets, etc. are living things possessed of nearly-divine power and will. The primary geographical location in which gameplay occurs is on a continent called Rodonia, upon Gaea, the celestial of earth, but, well, the planet is dead and has been for more than a century. Its a corpse as much as it is a planet. This has, to say the least, had a lasting impact on the planet and its inhabitants, most directly through the process of Wildernization (name subject to change).

Wildernization is kind of like an echoing death-rattle that has been sounding ever since the world's soul died. Gaea was a wild thing and the wild streak in her heart ran counter to the human urge to settle and civilize. The rotting remnants of her magic continue to flow along the now-unpredictable magical leylines that spiderweb the world, and the echoes of her will still to the present day continue to exert their influence on the world. That will, now no longer tethered by restraint or reason, is anathema to the very idea of civilization; wherever people gather, so to does misfortune and the more people, the worse it gets. When these troubles began, cities and towns began to crumble and the leaders of Rodonia's six great civilizations formulated a plan by which they would bring their best and brightest together in one place to try to solve the problem, insurmountable though it seemed. Each built a small temporary town for its people at the designated site and the work of looking for answers to the crisis began.

That was nearly two centuries ago.

In the intervening time, society at large collapsed, unable to support itself under the onslaught of natural disasters, monster attacks, and magical anomalies that followed wherever it attempted to establish a foothold. Those temporary cities swelled in size as desperate people flocked to them seeking for safety and eventually they amalgamated into a single monstrous city which became known as Zhenmora, the city of struggles, a place always on the precipice of disaster and the world's last true bastion of human civilization.

With the lore out of the way, let's talk some numbers. Zhenmora is almost comically large, so much so that it's statistics are almost beyond reproach just because they're so obviously satirical. It's kind of like a 40k hive city, medieval-style; if you think about it too closely you're just going to keep finding questions that don't really have good answers lol.

The city has 30 districts and covers a total area of 4,650km^2. That's 2,899 miles^2 for those curious or 3-4 new yorks worth of land.

The population average 900k to 1m people per district making for a total population of 28,690,500ish and a population density similar to milwaukee.

That's a lot of people and those people have to be fed, meaning farmland. To feed the city, zhenmora is surrounded by an area known as the Breadlands. The breadlands are 121,405km^2 of farmland and small communities meant solely to support the city and keep it running. This means that the total human controlled area in the world is a little over 125,000km^2, or the size of mississippi.

The population density of the breadlands is ~200/km^2 totaling ~24m people, making the total human population of rodonia around 52 million. This gives it a similar but slightly lower average population density than south korea.

Here is a very rough layout of what the city looks like split into districts. I made it in MS paint for reference when writing material for the game so it's not meant to be fully representative as much as it is just a reference.

You can see here that the city is split into six primary sectors which represent the six civilizations that came together to create the city. These six cultures each play a part in ruling the city by sending members to serve within the seated senate, but each also are given largely free reign to govern their sectors as the city as they see fit. These are taken from my personal notes and indicate the effects of weak and strong governance because part of the integrated session-0 content involves determining how powerful each culture is within the city.

Andelucenia – This coastal nation mastered the arts, incorporating beauty and grace into everything they sought to perfect, from war to religion.

Andelucenia is controlled by a REPRESENTATIVE PARLIAMENT consisting of the heads of various guilds, members of the military, and particularly prominent citizens. This parliament is meant to represent all groups within the borough and represent all of their interest equally in matters of law and governance. A strong parliament is able to meet the demands of its electorate while a weak parliament will be ineffectual and face political backlash. A parliament with a high attitude will seek to fulfill the needs of the people they represent while a parliament with a low attitude will use it’s power to strength and enrich its individual members.

Brahms – The Brahms are known dedicants of Aubade, the solar celestial, and their state-sponsored sun cult is the largest such organization in Rodonia.

Brahms is controlled by a HEREDITARY MONARCHY that descends from the bloodline of the old world’s great kings and queens. Ancestor veneration, perhaps by design, is a practice of cultural significance to the Brahmen, who wholly place their faith in their rulers based solely on their lineage. A strong monarchy will remain wealthy and keep the peace while a weak monarchy will bleed wealth and be unable to enforce its rule. A monarchy with a high attitude will seek to use its power and wealth for the betterment of its subjects while a monarchy with a low attitude will squeeze its subject for all it can while keeping them firmly under heel, through force if necessary.

Mowahwei – In this culture’s native language, Mowahwei means “Community”. The country, though monetarily poor, is built on a sense of mutual obligation with one’s neighbor for the good of both.

Mowahwei is controlled by a CENTRALIZED AUTHORITARIANSHIP composed of a single political party, a system meant to expedite distribution of resources and the application of justice. A great deal of trust is placed in the borough’s leadership who hold nearly unchecked power. A strong central power will have more than enough to provide for the needs of its people while a weak central power will inevitably cause its people to face shortages of necessities. A central power with a high attitude will feel an obligation to use its power for the betterment of its people, while a central power with a low attitude will be able to use their unchecked power as they see fit while the common person has no recompense.

Riljian – The Riljiani are a reclusive society focused on the spiritual and obsessed with magic. Their necropolis, the honored Kabrahaveli, is one of Zhenmora's greatest architectural achievements.

Riljian is controlled by a SORCEROUS CABAL of undead immortals who remain unseen, locked away within the tombs of governance from which they can dedicate themselves fully to the application of law and study of universal mysteries. Total faith is placed in the cabal's hands by the Riljiani people as they are portrayed as ageless, all-knowing, and infallible. A strong cabal will react quickly and decisively thanks to accurate reporting from invested aids and competent rulership. A weak cabal will be unable to properly tend to issues within the city and quickly lose its grip on complex, quickly developing situations, to the detriment of its people's safety and prosperity.

Tsunzhou – Through small, Tsunzhou won wealth and status through its obsessive quest for knowledge. Applying mathematics and astronomy, Tsunzhou sages seem almost able to see the future.

Tsunzhou is controlled by a BUREAUCRATIC MERITOCRACY composed of civil servants who have, ostensibly, earned their positions through consistent effort and quality work. Though a political figurehead is installed at the pinnacle of Tsunzhou politics, an overwhelming majority of the decision making within the borough is handled by civil officers. A strong meritocracy will be staffed by competent civil servants and officers capable of efficiently handling the day-to-day processing of government work while a weak meritocracy will find itself understaffed, inexperienced, or otherwise unable to cope with the rigors of ruleship. A meritocracy with a high attitude will diligently do as required of them by their position to the utmost possible quality in the name of duty and advancement while a meritocract with a low attitude will use its knowledge of the system to cheat the paperwork and install servants and officers based on qualities such as wealth and relation rather than by merit.

Utsudzha Orthodoxy – The Utsudzha region was always a hotbed for political unrest as each of its constituent states was controlled by fanatical religious cults. The Orthodoxy long ago separated itself as the greatest of the confederation’s many moon cults.

Utsudzha is controlled by a PLUTOCRATIC THEOCRACY led by members of the Orthodoxy, a zealous celestial cult dedicated to the unpredictable lunar celestial, Dolore. While many are wary of their vast wealth, it is the secrecy with which the Orthodoxy conducts themselves that gives outsiders pause. A strong theocracy will be able to maintain the balance between governance and church so neither impedes the other while a weak theocracy will be unable to maintain this balance and one branch will inevitably suppress the other. A theocracy with a high attitude will use its power to bring together and strengthen the bonds of fellowship between its followers and enrich their organization and community, while a theocracy with a low attitude will use its power to create a common foe to unite its fellows in disdain and drain them of their coin for selfish, vain goals.

I have very detailed notes for each cultural district, but I'm not going to get into that here just to keep this from becoming too cumbersome. There is an entire procedural system for getting around the city but I also won't be getting into that here in favor of saving it for another time when it can get the focus it deserves. For now I'll drop part of the entry I have written for one of the Andelucenian districts and let that be a teaser for next time. Until then though, happy gaming! - Forge

[bytewire]

Your analysis-style posts make me sooooo happy!!! I'd love to hear if you have any opinions about a few of the voicelines at the beginning of the 'hope' conversation. Specifically when Robin talks about a hypothetical where the Architects have gone through a 'system update' which is why Al-An can't hear them.

Al-Ans responding voiceline just feels/sounds so hopeless? I know its probably because Robin threw out wildly differing numbers but it still gets me a little bit. Even the fact Al-An doesn't outright refute the idea, like he could actually have gotten left behind in his 1000 year isolation, that thats a real issue he might have to face..

Thank you! Analyzing media is something I very much enjoy, and I’m glad that others are getting something out of it! Here are my thoughts on the hope dialogue.

The Hope Poem dialogue between Robin and AL-AN is one of my favorite parts of Below Zero. Not only is it an absolutely classic poem, but it is also a clear show of Robin's empathy towards AL-AN. It’s part of her realizing that he isn't just an unthinking alien; it’s part of him realizing that she isn't a lesser being. It’s what ultimately drives them to emotionally connect. 

Robin, as she further explores and finds artifacts, comes to learn bits and pieces about AL-AN and Architects. Understandably frustrated with him at first, but as more details emerge, she sees that this isn't just a one-dimensional being of logic but instead a person who is isolated and in an unfamiliar situation. Someone dealing with the implications of potentially being the last of their kind. 

He is part of a race so technologically advanced that death is an unusual circumstance, and even in death their memories and contributions are uploaded to the network. Their ideas live on ad infinitum. It makes sense that he wouldn't understand how to deal with being disconnected from the collective.

Robin picks up on notes of AL-AN’s unsaid distress. His expressions are subtle, but humans thrive with subtlety. He has lost the life he knew and is thrust into this completely foreign situation. Understandably, he is pessimistic about this, so when he begins to voice these complicated feelings that come with being isolated from the network for so long, she comforts him. Trying to broaden his perspective and promote optimism even if it might be illogical. To encourage him to keep looking despite the dim situation. Her stubbornness is more so perseverance above all things. The drive to keep going even if it's hard—even if it hurts.

“Call it whatever you want if it keeps you from lying down and giving up!”

The whole conversation about hope sparked because AL-AN mentioned his feelings about being unable to discern remnants of the network. Not knowing if his species is alive or dead: Not knowing how to cope with a situation so alien to him. That feeling of emptiness he experiences when not being connected to his network. Of course, in a situation so improbable, he would be hyper-focused on everything that could go wrong. Preparing for the worst outcome.

AL-AN is used to seeing things as purely logical. Relying on statistics and probability to conduct his actions. It's drilled into him through his own experiences that it is inefficient to do anything else. After all, let’s think about what happened last time he did something impulsive.

AL-AN doesn’t have a definitive answer to the fate of the collective. He has no idea what happened and is searching for any traces. Paralleling Robin’s situation with Sam. They are so entirely different but they're both looking for answers and dealing with loss. Robin, despite everything she is already going through, chooses to console AL-AN. Goes out of her way to scan artifacts and build a new vessel he can inhabit.

Existence as an individual is complicated for him. It’s stressful having to fully rely on such an unfamiliar being, one so argumentative at times. A member of a species he does not understand due to their vast differences, but one who nonetheless is comforting in a moment of vulnerability. One that absolutely does not have to, yet because their circumstances are similar, expresses empathy.

I think this sticks with him.

Hope is human. Robin sharing the poem with AL-AN is sharing herself with AL-AN—her empathy—an integral part of who she is. It is her expressing herself in a very human way. She mentioned that Sam loved that poem. She is offering to share this raw part of herself. It’s her attempt at confiding in AL-AN’s loss with her own. To express and be vulnerable with her own grief to comfort him. A small reminder to AL-AN that he is not alone in this situation. It is an unfortunate aspect of life, but what pushes one to continue on.

He may not fully understand humanity, but ultimately he tries to connect and communicate with the only person he has left. Robin is the only other sapient being he has talked to in a millennium. AL-AN adding hope to the databank is a genuine attempt at understanding her for who she is instead of just a means to an end.

Hope may just be a survival instinct, but Al-AN realizes the impact it has on him. These emotions are real; they are important. Mimicking Robin finishing Sam's work, AL-AN seeks to get closure of his own by abiding by Robin's direction to not give up. Going to his homeworld despite all the improbabilities. To see for himself the fate of his people. Because now he has someone. Even if his species did not survive, he still has a reason to keep going.

AL-AN has found hope. Robin is a string no louder than his own. Her story is now intertwined with his. She doesn’t ask of him and provides reassurance even when things seem bleakest. Throughout everything that happens, Robin certainly never gave up on Sam, and she never gives up on him either, so he won't give up on himself. It'd be illogical. He managed to survive after so much. While the future is uncertain, AL-AN chooses to continue on that path forward with her. Robin is the personification of hope for AL-AN.

“With you, I am ready to face whatever awaits.”

[incorrect-green-lantern-quotes]

I don't generally allow anonymous asks, but I'll make an exception this time.

As a bit of context, the reason I keep anonymous asks turned off most of the time is because the very first one I got in my inbox was someone rambling about how they wanted to take a relatively popular GL-focused post I'd made and make it all about the Batfam, with some Guy Gardner hate thrown in. So believe me when I say I understand and empathize completely with OP's request to leave their name out so that they don't catch any strays from Batfans.

For all that I shout angrily at the clouds about the Batfandom, I don't actually believe that every single one of them is the kind of asshole who makes posts that disrespect the rest of DC to glaze the Batfam and gleefully mocks anyone who gets annoyed by the blatant mischaracterization. Every fandom has its toxic members (and I know for a fact that this is true for the Green Lanterns as well because they're why I quit Reddit)

But it is very much more apparent with the Batfandom because, well...

And that's just the main Batman tag. Just from a sheer numbers point of view, even if only 1% of those followers are the annoying kind, that's still around 18,000 people.

As for why there's so many of them? It's simple. Batman is DC's favorite child. The history of how that developed is not something I feel like unpacking today, but when the Dark Knight and his family are the characters who are being pushed most by the company, it naturally follows that they have the biggest following online.

Which is why my answer to the question about whether I think it's the Bats' wealth or the potential for self-insert that makes them especially appealing is that I don't believe it's either of those things. Batman isn't the only billionaire hero with no powers and a big family of allies (Green Arrow says hi), and if you look at any DC character's tag on Tumblr, you'll find all sorts of headcanons that are clearly based on the author inserting themselves into said character.

Rather, I think that the Batfamily's popularity makes them the natural entry point for the rest of DC Comics. OP themselves says they got into DC through Red Hood, and that is pretty typical for many people I've talked to. Their first introduction might be through the Wayne Family Adventures webtoon, or the Battinson movie. They look up their new blorbos on AO3/TikTok/Tumblr and find that a lot of people also are fans of these characters. Through this community, they learn that DC has even more characters beyond the Batfam, each with decades of rich history.

For some people, this is where they discover other DC fandoms like the Flash or Young Justice '98. Others delve deeper into the Batfandom by seeking out the original source material to learn more about their favorite characters.

But for some people, the entry point is where their exploration ends. They're content to enjoy themselves in the shallow end of the proverbial pool where the Batfamily are the only important characters and the fanon and memes have little to no connection with the comics, shows, or any other media.

And to be perfectly honest, I don't find anything inherently wrong with that. In some ways, it's not far off from my own approach to Green Lantern fandom- hence why I've kept the name "incorrect-green-lantern-quotes" even after branching out to other stuff like writing AUs and headcanons. The problem lies in refusing to acknowledge any other approach to fandom besides your own- in dismissing people who are offended by your jokes as "taking silly comics too seriously" or "gatekeeping" and making them into the bad guys for asking that you not shove the disrespect of their characters in their faces. But I digress.

Yeah, the Batfandom is big. Like, orders of magnitude larger than some of the other DC fandoms. So it's just simple statistics that you're more likely to run into their toxic stans than any other DC hero's.

[taffywabbit]

I touched on this during a stream last night but like. the thing that's probably really confusing about Mormonism is, if it's so wildly restrictive and puritanical and alienating, why do people actually want to JOIN the religion and claim to like it and feel that it improves their quality of life?

I've talked at length before about how, like any good cult organization, the church weaponizes rejection from outsiders and a deliberate sense of self-perpetuated othering to keep people trapped in the organization and feeling like they can't trust "the world" - they're only safe and understood and accepted within the confines of this very specific and unattractive in-group who have all been messed up in the same ways they are.

but like, as much as the statistics show that Mormons don't actually get many new converts for the amount of money and resources they spend on missionary efforts (and thus have to focus on long-term retention through the above methods, and also compelling their members to have a dozen kids who will grow up Mormon, in order to grow/maintain the church's numbers), some outsiders DO join, and some members who are more resistant to the feelings of isolation DO remain in the church out of a sincere belief that it makes them happier and more fulfilled. so like, what's up with THOSE people? how do they convince themselves this horrible restrictive lifestyle that cuts them off emotionally from the rest of society is what they actually want?

well, I'm sure there are a lot of deeper psychological factors that vary between individuals, but if you think about good old-fashioned Puritans and why THEY were so focused on the constant denial of basic earthly pleasures, you can get a little insight into this. from what I've figured out in the years since I left, a lot of this religion's supposed emotional benefits boil down to moral relativism.

most people want to feel like they're a good person, and some people have a really hard time feeling like they're a good person unless they have someone who is "worse" than them to compare themselves to. a lot of Christianity in general runs on this - the more evangelical or puritanical a sect is, the more you hear them speaking dismissively of outsiders and nonbelievers and heathens, and sometimes even talking about "purity" (ew). Granny Baker down the street could be the sweetest kindest old lady who volunteers at the food bank every Tuesday, but if she's not an avid churchgoer, especially in your particular chosen denomination, then she's still inferior to you in some meaningless intangible way and you get to feel like you're special for doing nothing. that's pretty much it! Christianity for a lot of people is just about getting to feel better about yourself without needing to improve in any actual substantial ways. you read your special book, say your prayers, sit in a church for an hour every week, never ever think any gay thoughts, and boom! you're "righteous" and god loves you, so who cares if Granny Baker thinks you're kind of a judgy asshole.

Mormons, though, take this to the next level. it's ALL about moral escalation, baby. it's not good enough to just do the basic Christian stuff - you need to prove you've joined GOD'S ONE TRUE RELIGION by being even more holy and special than any other Christians, too! they think drinking is frowned upon? well not only do Mormons NEVER drink or smoke or do drugs, they don't drink coffee or tea either! regular Christians go to church for an hour every Sunday? Mormons go for 2-3 hours, plus potentially some extra meetings if they have additional responsibilities in some kind of council or whatever, PLUS all kinds of other shit during the week to make sure they're in the church as often as possible. PLUS adult Mormons are supposed to attend several-hour ordinance sessions at a temple (those bigger fancier pointier churches that nonmembers can't enter, where all the REALLY cult-y looking stuff goes on) as frequently as they're able. regular Christians (if they're kinda old-fashioned) try not to work on Sundays? Mormons aren't supposed to do ANYTHING on Sundays besides church stuff. don't buy things, don't do schoolwork, don't go to the movies, don't listen to music that's "irreverent", etc etc... at EVERY level of this lifestyle your priority is to make sure you're extra special and holy and living a more devoted life than anyone else so you never have to question if they're more kind or benevolent or accepting or, y'know, actually Christlike than you. you follow all your little arbitrary extra rules and thus win a game that nobody else is playing.

something especially funny that non-Mormons may notice is that SOME Mormons take it EVEN FURTHER, too. not content to just do the bare minimum as set forth by the church's many councils of wrinkly businessmen in Utah, they make up ADDITIONAL personal rules for their family to live by, so they can be extra sure they never step anywhere CLOSE to being morally inferior to anyone. this is why you may have met Mormons who also say they don't drink cola or caffeinated soda or any soda at all, or who don't play video games on Sundays, or who not only don't swear but don't even say substitutes like "crap" and "dang it" and "freaking". (hey guess what! I was all of these at one point! my parents gave up on that last one after a while tho lol.)

they'll often tell you these extra house rules are part of their religion too, even though they're technically not in the books anywhere... and in a way they're not wrong, because that IS largely what Mormonism is about on a cultural level. you don't have to care about being homophobic or racist or uncharitable or various other things that come with essentially just being a Utah Republican But As A Religion, because every week you get to go to a place that praises and affirms you for being better and smarter than everyone else by following all the special little secret arbitrary rules that make you Morally Invincible and immune to anyone else's judgment.

so how does this tie into why people find the church interesting and want to join/stay? well of course, a desire to always win your internal comparisons against others goes hand-in-hand with a desire to be privy to secrets and tricks and obscure knowledge that others aren't. it's not just that Mormon beliefs can make you feel righteous - they ALSO make you feel smarter than all the other dumbasses out there who couldn't figure out that literally all you need to do to be happy is Stop Drinking Coffee and also Give 10% Of Your Income To An Organization With A $100 Billion Stock Portfolio. they entice you with the promise of teaching you stuff that everyone else is apparently just too dense to comprehend, and make you feel clever and special for recognizing the Truth. it's not just a social in-group you're being invited into, it's an EXCLUSIVE CLUB full of SECRET KNOWLEDGE with HIGH STANDARDS and only SMART COOL PEOPLE get to join! if you're going through some rough times or your self-esteem is low or you feel vaguely guilty about your life and don't know how to feel better, you are a lot more likely to be ensnared by what they promise you. (trust me! when I was a missionary they literally trained us to ask questions that would help us efficiently target those people!) and then before you know it, you're isolated inside that ecosystem, normal people find you intimidating and weird, it's hard to get back out, and the church won't leave you alone if you do. oops! aren't cults fun?

[sweetlikehoneystingslikeabee]

BTAS!Riddler,Dano!Riddler,Arkham!Riddler and ZY!Riddler with Fem!Reader Flower Shop AU (Btw Happy Valentine's Day!)

"Flower Shop" - BTAS!Riddler,Dano!Riddler,Arkham!Riddler and ZY!Riddler x Fem!Reader

A flower shop au? In 2024? And several MONTHS late?! Lets do it! I'm not going to lie to you, even though I've been around for flower shop aus, I don't ever remember getting into them when I was younger? So that being said, I really hope I've captured it right!

TW: None

BTAS

His flower shop is immaculate. Neat, plants organized by category and then sub-organized by color. Has a small greenhouse focused on more delicate or rare flowers that need special care. Due to his technological prowess, everything is automated to an exact science, down to moisture readers in the soil of the potted plants. Has an eye for arranging bouquets.

He has a criminal past and managed to elude law enforcement on his path to revenge. Instead of going right back to games and puzzles, he opted to lay low. He's successful, but how successful is a flower shop that it gains renown? It's perfect for his intentions.

You catch his eye when you come in and look around. You'd noticed the flowers from the outside and felt yourself being pulled in. After a lovely conversation that made his heart flutter, he just assumed he wouldn't see you again. Such a delightful woman never seems to accept all of him. And yet... you do. You ask questions. You appreciate him and what he is. When the time is right, he'll tell you the truth.

Flowers has been the thing to bring you together. What he plans to do to show his affections will take time- He works. He plots and designs and creates numerous genetic charts. And once the time he right he reveals the symbol of his love for you- A brand new rose variety. It's color and petals are soft. He names it after you.

2022

Hyperfixation career. In this au, there had to be a special moment in which plants became just as much of a comfort area as numbers. Perhaps something about raising them and nurturing them to bloom when he was in the orphanage? Creating something beautiful from nothing. Maybe if he keeps growing these plants, something can grow inside the void in his chest... It's not his shop, but the owner likes how dedicated he is- down to Edward's complex understanding of accounting and statistical numbers that's increased profit exponentially.

He really watches you from afar in the shop at first. The pretty woman who just moved into Gotham, looking to buy a bouquet for herself. He listens in on his boss talking to you, asking general chatty questions. His biggest takeaway is that you're alone... just like him. So when you keep coming in for new flowers, he's enamored.

Very much crushing from afar and if you asked him any questions, he'd make a bouquet that's basically a love confession in flower form- Aster, gardenias, white roses, red chrysanthemum... The actual presentation is a little messy. But it's made with such feeling it's difficult to not find it beautiful; Even if you're not sure of the meaning just yet.

In this au, he'd likely only make a move if someone else was moving in on you or if you expressed interest first. Otherwise, he'd keep a lot of his feelings to the flowers... and his totally not creepy online blog he runs where he talks about injustice and numbers and now you :)

Dumb side thought, if any of these guys was a Seymour from Little Shop, it'd be 2022. Except he was probably killing people already, this is just easier body disposal.

Arkham

He's so gruff but his flowers and plants are so lovely. Really, it's the only reason people keep going in to get them from him. His shop is dimly lit other than UV lamps and the scarce sunlight that filters through the front window for the flowers that need it. It's clean but... cluttered. There's never an instance where he doesn't have dirt and mud on his clothing. Overall, it's pretty unwelcoming for a store. Even the nursery outside is well taken care of but reminiscent of a garden to get lost in.

When you bring him a dying plant that you're desperately trying to keep alive, he looks... annoyed. Hand it over. Obviously you don't know what you're doing. Why even bother buying it if you're not going to learn to take care of it? When you tell him it was a sentimental gift, he pauses. Come back later, he'll have written instructions on how to take care of it.

If someone were to snoop, they'd find that this version of the Riddler was once something of a prodigy. Brilliant with technology and numbers. Yet he was obsessive. Couldn't stand to lose. So when he did, he couldn't accept it. Some... bad things happened and he left the game. He's vague about it. Says the other person cheated. Better to leave it alone.

When you come back in with photos showing you followed every instruction he gave you and the plant flourishing... That's when he starts getting feelings. Hey, young lady, do you- Do you perhaps need a job? He has an opening and you seem competent. He can pay you competitive rates for... whatever it is you're wasting your time on now. Then you'll be close.

Zero Year

Similar to BTAS, Zero Years shop is meticulous and filled with devices he created himself to take care of the plants automatically. He hardly needs staff- yet found himself hiring in case there are clients he doesn't want to deal with. A lot of this is a cover for the hacking and other illegal shit he pulls for giggles and his own ego. It's not nearly the same grandiose level of his crimes in the comics, but it's not nothing.

He can rattle off the taxonomy of anything inside or outside the shop. Tell you the historical and cultural significance if it has any. His flower language game is insane. This results in both flirty messages that no one seems to understand in this bouquets or scathing insults the morons will never figure out.

When you show up, he's shoving away the morons working for him to see to you himself. In his mind, it was very smooth and you probably didn't even notice. In reality, it was very obvious that he was barreling his employee over to talk to you. What were you looking for, sweetheart, hm? Tulips for your mother? Congratulatory bouquet for a coworker? ...He looks slightly annoyed- Roses for a lover? When he finds out it's just for your home. Yellow daffodils, summer savory, coral roses- He picks everything out himself, complimentary colors. He gives it to you for free with a wink.

When you come back another day insisting on actually buying something, he knows he has you. Did you know that giving someone an orchid is a sign of thoughtfulness and charm? He has a whole collection of them if you want to see. Private. If you really want to pay, that's fine. But at least take your pick of your favorite color. He insists ;)

[randomnumbers751650]

I finally have time to talk about Lone Trail. I will be focusing on its depiction of science, technology and its progress. Will get a bit political, but funnily enough less than I imagined.

The thing that called my attention most in Lone Trail were the discussions on the nature of scientific progress. This is a theme that’s dear to me and the stuff I research about. It’s easy to think of scientific progress like an inevitable march forward, like an escalator. After all, we are much richer than we were before, right? Go to OurWorldInData dot org to play around with economic statistics in time – make sure to check the World GDP chart, from year 0 to 2000 and see it taking off like a rocket from year 1700.

What kind of Uncle Ted fan or neoluddite would go against that? Haha…hah…

Truth is that, although its effects are there, it’s not a clear if this is the little, neat process techbros want us to believe. It’s new and produces more, therefore it’s good, right? I could be writing this as a new wave of AI-generated NFTs pollute my algorithm.

That’s what makes the storytelling in Arknights so effective: it mashes together fantasy and sci-fi to really tell stories on the role of beliefs, technology, science and religion. The Rhine Lab saga is definitely an exploration of technology, with focus on the equivalent of the United States. During the period before the First World War, 1870-1913 (which is the one that Arknights draws most from), the world underwent through the so-called Second Industrial Revolution and I’ve read economic historians considering it the most innovative period in human history. I mean, obviously, there is an absolute number of inventions in our current age, but in relative terms 1870-1913 experienced a much larger number relative to the previous one.

The escalator narrative constructs scientific achievements as work of daring people (mostly men, but there were women like Marie Cuire), that combined science and technology to help mankind, like Prometheus giving mankind fire from the gods (in fact, one of these books is even named “Prometheus Unbound”); more than often they have to fight against the establishment. Remember Ignaz von Semmelweis? He just wanted doctors to wash their hands. Even I learned this standard narrative in the university. But that’s not the entire story.

The positivistic paradigm – of a science free of value judgements, made with the power of math – has actually helped build this escalator narrative. In reality, some scientists and scholars are horrible people. Later, I learned that Semmelweis, as much as he campaigned for the right thing, was a very arrogant person, who abused everyone around him, to the point few people went to his funeral.

Narratives focusing on one single hero are easy to sell and the ones building them are always on the lookout. Remember how ten years ago, a lot of people tried to push the narrative Elon Musk was going to create a new industrial revolution? Nowadays he’s just an arrogant loser who keeps dragging on his midlife crisis. The 1880s also had similar people like that, such as Thomas Edison.

Kristen Wright is definitely better than them both, because she is actually an engineering genius. But she’s also just like them, in the sense of unethical experiments, collusion with the military-industrial complex and being an overall superficially charismatic, but rotten to the core person. And she’s surrounded by a lot of people like Parvis and Ferdinand.

Breaking this line of reason, I have to say how much I hate Nietzsche’s ubermensch and master-slave morality, I hate Great Men theory, I hate Ayn Rand; these people are sheep who think themselves wolves. And before you say that Nietzsche didn’t consider himself an ubermensch, well, neither did Parvis and his reasoning was the same. For every person fancying themselves ubermensch, there’s a lot of those whom he’d call untermensch to clean up their messes. You have no idea of how times I stumbled upon people (especially libertarians) that advocate lower barriers to regulations that were written in blood, so that progress can happen quicker. Creative destruction works, as long as some people get “creative” and others clean the “destruction”. Deaths and injuries? Acceptable, just give them a pension (but fight tooth and nail in the court to not do it beyond the barest of the bare minimum, because it’ll lower the shareholder profit in 0.01%). Increase in inequality? Nobody will care in a few years, it’ll make everything cheaper anyway (look up Baumol’s cost disease to see how wrong that statement is, without being incorrect). I’m not exaggerating, sometimes the people saying that don’t even bother lacing it in politically correct language.

Because Lone Trail showed it “worked” – Kristen Wright broke off the ceiling over Terra and that will have consequences (especially with Endfield coming closer). The data from her experiments will advance science, the sight of a broken ceiling will inspire artists and prompt politicians to act. Was it worth it? Well, it will depend on who you ask (like, Ifrit or Rosmontis would have strong feelings), but it’s just there now. Serious history isn’t kind on this question as well – many technologies have a lot of transgressions, both legal and ethical, in their supply chain (both the American and Soviet space program come to my mind – guess who helped them); the difference between an entrepreneur and a criminal are contextual, because both are finding new opportunities of profit and both interlock frequently.

In the end, anyone can put an equation that has its uses, not mattering if it’s a good person or not. But that is no excuse to find good ethical practices. Silence saw everything with her own eyes and I’m really glad she’s leading the initiative for a more ethical science in Columbia – especially because people who are willing to break moral rules tend also to be willing to break research rules (this is why the “research” made in concentration camps is actually useless, it didn’t respect experimental rules). So I’m really glad for the Arknights writers for understanding these nuances and communicating them to the audience through one of the best stories of the game.

[lotus-tower]

covid has really made me realize that most people don't have very good risk assessment or sense of scope, especially when it comes to statistics. part of it is definitely a knee-jerk aggressive response to the word even being said, but a lot of the arguments i hear seem predicated on some kind of belief that Low Percentage equals safe, because that's how people talk about things generally.

putting aside for one moment that the percentages are most likely a lot higher than they think, and that the risk of long-term complications after catching the virus is cumulative--i think people have sort of lost sight of how unprecedented covid actually is, because it's so easy to go back to normal life. covid is the first pandemic in the age of super fast and easy plane travel. covid is the first pandemic in the age of humanity's numbers being over 8 billion.

no one is claiming that your risk of catching covid after going out unmasked just once is high (with the exception of peak season during the holidays). in periods where transmission is low, that risk could in fact be negligible. but you aren't rolling that dice once. you're rolling it several times a day, every day. have you ever played a gacha game where the odds of pulling a SSR were 0.5%? did you ever pull one, or did you know anyone who did? how surprised would you be if you were able to pull one after pulling for 10 hours a day nonstop every day? would you really be particularly surprised?

despite all this, you may not catch covid more than once a year, or maybe even every two years. if you're looking at a time-frame of 5 years, that's pretty good, isn't it? the odds of developing severe, permanent complications from one or two covid infections isn't That high. except... why would we look at time-frames of 5 years? we're in the fifth year of the pandemic and this virus has evolved fast, so the research is obviously laser-focused on year to year changes and working with the timeline that it's got. but i don't know about you guys, i anticipate living about 60 more years. do you think, knowing what we know about cumulative damage, that catching covid 60 times will be completely fine for our bodies? hell, what do you think catching influenza 60 times would do? post-viral syndromes have existed long before covid.

vaccines will never be able to catch up to the rate of the virus' mutations if they keep being tailored to specific variants, and it complicates things for developing effective treatments too. this is because this is a virus that circulates every day among essentially 8 billion people. statistically, it's inevitable that a random mutation somewhere will be successful and then begin to circulate. the fact is that 0.5% (a completely arbitrary number) of the global population is a massive number of people. it's 40 million people, more than the population of many countries. but it can be that amount again and again, because there's nothing preventing continuous reinfection.

no other statistics deals with this kind of situation. you can't use that ordinary benchmark or logic to think about covid. because this is in fact an unprecedented situation. and when new situations arise, people have to adapt and change their behaviour. but that's something that humans really hate doing, unfortunately

[foggyfanfic]

Queer Madrigals

I'm about to post a couple future!fic for Encanto, so I figured I'd take a minute to talk about my headcanons when it comes to their genders/sexualities.

The Obvious: I've posted somewhat in depth about what I think Bruno and Isabela's individual deals are, so I'm not going to really talk about it here, but yeah. Using the labels I am familiar with, I assume Bruno is demi, bi, and nonbinary, and that Isabela is a lesbian who ends up marrying a trans woman.

The Married: I mean, we can sit here all day and speculate, but the only real headcanons I got are that Juli is demi and Pepa has made out with more women than Bruno.

Mirabel: I've mentioned this, but I didn't really talk about it. Due to heteronormativity I suspect it wouldn't occur to Mirabel to question her sexuality until later in life when the Pride movement starts up. I think she's bi, possibly also demi, but most definitely not very focused on her love life (another reason why she doesn't think too hard about her sexuality). She's got shit to do and if somebody wants to date her they better speak up about it because she's got too many projects going on right now to bother with mind games. Mirabel ends up with a man mostly by coincidence, I saw somebody do the numbers and its just statistically more likely that a bi person will end up with somebody of the opposite sex (the math didn't factor for gender). I try to keep all of my headcanons grounded to peoples lived experiences, and this felt historically accurate.

Luisa: I think that if Luisa were a tumblrina she would end up being CIS+, but would have to go through the journey of exploring her gender due to societal biases. In the context of 1950's Colombia, she spends her youth hearing abuelas and tias talking about how she needs to be more feminine if she wants a husband, and struggles with that for a while. Luisa sings "I glow because I know what my worth is" and that's the sort of thing somebody says when they're on the other side of some serious self doubt, so I do think she had to deal with a bit of misogyny and body image issues. The thing is, Luisa likes the way she looks, and she's proud of what a hard worker she is, but she also wears ribbons in her hair and skirts instead of pants to work in. Furthermore, I suspect every bi person in the village, male or female, has a huge fucking crush on her because if she was a modern tumblrina people would be responding to pictures of her with that "not to be a lesbian but oh my god" stuff. I headcanon her as being technically cishet, but culturally gay due to people being people about the whole Woman with Biceps thing, if that makes sense. Once she starts allowing herself some free time, she dates every bi man in the village.

Dolores: Morosexual. No offense Mariano.

Camilo: You know how gender is a product of your culture and different societies throughout history have had different ideas of how many genders there are and what it means to be a man or woman? I think being able to turn into a woman at will would have an effect on Camilo's relationship with his gender. Like, I don't know if he would be full nonbinary, because I have never met a shapeshifter and asked them how they feel about gender, but I can't imagine he sees gender as a rigid binary. Like I said, I try to stay grounded in my headcanons, and I have zero idea what the lived experience of a shapeshifter is, soooooo...?

Antonio: I have spent a long time weighing the options here, his association with animals makes me think he would be the least traditional Madrigal, so I would like to think he'd end up in the least conventional relationship. I posted a list of headcanons where I floated the idea of him being poly, but I like the idea of him being aroace better. I stand by the rest of it, though. He marries a lesbian, let's her girlfriend move in with them, and he's just kinda there. Like, the women consider themselves married to each other and he's just some guy who talks to birds. They're his best friends and thinks he's pretty great but the only time he has sex is when him and the wives want kids, and other than that he's just vibing. I arrived at this headcanon because I love the idea of him being sorta a reverse Bruno. Like, people think he has two wives so everybody assumes he's this total lady killer, they sing songs about how charming he is, rumors abound that he can make a girl swoon with a single smile, then you talk to him and he's just some guy. Occasionally, a woman will throw herself at him and he's like "No thanks" then starts having a conversation with her cat. Do you see my vision? Anyone? I don't care if nobody else thinks it's funny, because I'm giggling at my computer.

[awrkive]

As a fellow writer, how do you get over the sort of bitterness that comes from seeing other people get so many engagement when all they write is pwp? I try not to let it get to my head, but sometimes it's really tough

I was thinking if I should reply to this or not, because even though I know in my heart you don't mean anything malicious about this ask, it could come off as that for some people.

I'd like to preface this answer by saying I don't ever get "bitter" when other writers get high engagement, because I don't really take social media seriously for me to ever feel that way about anybody on here. This app is built by algorithm and every app feeds somebody what they like, so that's definitely the biggest factor. There are still questions about how the concept of algorithm exactly works but for me it's not really that your fic sucks that's why it's only got 10-23 notes, the time and day when you posted it also matters. The tags where you put it under matter. Timing matters.

In regards to the whole "pwp" thing, truthfully, sex sells. Especially for fanfictions. I'm not gonna lie and tell you that it doesn't, because sex does sell everywhere. A huge portion of fans (not just in the bts fandom) do not look for fanfics with elaborate storylines that have been professionally proofread or read like they were, sometimes/most of the times, they look for smut. And an elaborate storyline is just a BONUS. When you compare the notes to smut fics and fluff/angst fics of any writers, you will notice the difference in the numbers, with fluff/angst fics getting lesser engagement. It's not an opinion, it's statistics.

And here comes my next point: notes... really don't matter. To me, at least. Or, they shouldn't matter. Not that they don't hold any value at all, but in my personal experience, while my smut drabbles do get a lot of traction, they almost don't really get a lot of replies. And replies matter to me more; the comments, and the asks. If you have someone talking to you about your fic, even if it's just one anon or account, I think that's a bigger deal than someone just simply leaving a note (which, you do you. I'm not policing anyone on how they show their appreciation. Just putting this out there in case someone comes for me lol.)

Additionally, it's all about the branding. While, again, sex does sell, I KNOW a lot of writers who exclusively write fluff who still get a lot of notes on their fics. What I'm saying is that, you can get known for one thing, it can be fluff/angst/smut, then if people like it, they will like it for that and follow you and look forward to more of your works.

I think what it all boils down to is just focusing on your own writing and growth. This may sound cliche, but there's really no point in getting bitter when someone is doing "better" than you at a certain thing. Jealousy is the thief of joy. When you keep of thinking about the numbers, writing will never be fun. Like, sure! I personally absolutely love it when my stuff crosses over a thousand notes, bcs that's great, that's perfect! A thousand tumblr users are liked my stuff! But at the end of the day, it's just numbers on the internet. I just got lucky that my fic got pushed on the algorithm. There are fics with like, 100 notes that are significantly better than the ones with say, 1k. I mean, cnbl (one of my fics) has 4k notes but there's probably something better out there with 50 notes. It's just that algorithm has done its thing 🤷🏼‍♀️ I got lucky. Those authors with high engagement got lucky.

Notes do not define the quality of your work, and if you let it do that, you're just gonna end up being frustrated – which, if that's the case, then you need to step out a bit because writing fanfics is supposed to be fun, not stressful.

[thyrue131]

The Real Red Pill Ep. 1: Refuting The Manosphere

Hello, welcome to the series where I am going to give my personal advice on dating as an alternative to the red pill from a more progressive perspective (Not the progressivism that people like FD Signifier give)

My experience: Ive gotten laid more than once, went to a party school, and read some literature in my free time. About as trustworthy as the average Breadtuber.

(The FD Signifier progressivism is a topic that needs an in depth post; Im sorry :( Ill get to it)

And while I wanna spend the rest of this series actually focusing on practical advice and validating real concerns that people have about dating, I do think its worth devoting at least one article to explaining why the manosphere is bad. Because honestly, slipping into these thought patterns is really easy, and even a little bit and send you into a cycle of loathing and lashing out thats hard to escape. Why its really easy is probably a subject for another post, but for now I want to hammer down two things.

#1) It turns you into a predator

#2) It will not make you happy

#1: It turns you into a predator

Imma just keep it 100; a lot of the ‘cool dudes’ and gurus out there are legit just like predators (or liars using hired actresses).

Regardless, Im sure we all know the dude that hangs out outside of bars hes waay too old to be at (at my uni there was plenty of them), or the weird uncle at the family function, or just any number of dudes that are weird about women or boys.

People who have sex are like aliens to the manosphere; they treat them as like some other, some abstract composition of stereotypes. And overtime, this will lead to you treating them the same way, with the morbid fascination of a zoo animal. This is how you get shit like DJ Academics offering to send strippers to a teenagers house. If you can’t fuck, you may as well watch other people do it.

Furthermore, if you get too far into pickup, some of the advice they suggest (don’t stop at no, be assertive) will lead to very morally grey (probably lowkey criminal) situations. And because their ‘secret tricks’ set off alarm bells in most womens brains, the only people they will work on…can be questionable (or illegal) in themselves.

At best this leads to regrettable encounters that leave psychological damage and a warped projection of sex; at worst, it leads to a jail cell.

#2: It won’t make you happy

Consuming manosphere content (different from pickup) that calls all women stereotypes and awful, will lead to you assuming all women are stereotypes and awful. This is a pretty pathetic existence to have, as it will start to invade your every thought. Obviously the effect is amplified if you don’t talk to women irl, but if even if you do, those stereotypes will always be in the back of your mind. The rage persists at an unconscious level, and can impact what you do even if you don’t realize it.

This shit is why people murder-suicide their families.

Id recommend listening to Emeniem’s ‘Kim’ for more on this. The narrator in that song is not happy and is a reprehensible individual, and was a dark reflection of who I could be if I didn’t stop the dating rage. Yes, dating sucks and people suck, but dwelling on it like the manosphere does doesn’t just not solve your problems, it limits you from truly taking steps foward and living your life to the fullest.

Is that who you really want to be? A statistic or a headline on the news?

[jonathankatwhatever]

It’s now 8 Dec 2024, and it was weird seeing how Pearl Harbor was barely mentioned yesterday. Time marches on! Another dated, sorry historical, reference. That voice of self-criticism. About that in a moment, I hope.

But first, had a huge rush of mathematics. I mistyped it to mathematicas, and I like it because that would be the 2nd person as a verb, and that’s how I feel about you, when a feeling is a gsProcess that leads End to End from a relatively current state of a D3-4 existence to an End. To start with the last, that End is perhaps a vague sense, meaning to a category of uh-uh or oh-no and worse, so from say n of horror to n-1 so the idea becomes clear enough back in the moment in which you experience. That’s the first part, that your body, the tObject part of you, experiences some Things in the moment and some Things over time, like delayed onset muscle soreness or generalized fatigue or an energized state. You can see how manic ups and downs are the gsProcess in which the constancy rotates, meaning your mood rotates along the xK, the spin of life. That spin is iterative in both directions, and both directions are actually composed of iterations in both directions at local levels, as well as iterations in one direction, meaning abelian and non-abelian groups. What happens then is there’s a balance and that balance becomes the differential, and that differential can swing widely or tightly based on the structures Attached.

This suggests a response to mania, high or low, is to shift it sideways by treating it the same as fixing the tObject, statistically, meaning build other Pathways. Oh my word, this is what we worked out in college. When I was in a mania: extraordinarily productive in the long term, but destructive in the near. Unable to do for myself because I was bound up in this, making so much progress.

The way to avoid that appears to be to choose an external point of reference, meaning use n-1 to identify a reality anchor, one that provides the motivation to keep focus on caring for self. Like Debbie. Like the cat. But actual mania, which can be visionary, will do whatever is necessary to maintain itself, because it is being generated into you, and that energy is then reflecting off the Boundary of what is being generated. For me, it’s mathematicas, meaning the experience of you in Triangulars, meaning you into Storyline where you and I mix, and you into math, which embodies actual you, meaning a Triangular connection in which you are given a puzzle and I’m given a puzzle and we both figure it out, meaning it changes as each of us changes it, and that communication is a 1-0Segment.

Oh, I wanted to talk about cardinals, maybe because I miss the birds so much, and they seem to be dying off rapidly with the climate changed. I realized that infinite cardinality issues arise because they haven’t seen yet how the real number constructs and how infinite forms exist and change. It came as an intense Metaphoric Bundle, a series of strong statements. Not like carved into rock strong, but to make the point that I had to accept what I think about the issues to be able to articulate it, for the thoughts to specify. That is how easy it is becoming to find examples: every person, heck every cat and dog, has indistinct thoughts, and specific thoughts. The cat can’t make up its mind. The dog is fearful of new things or bounds at everything, meaning the foolish dog’s thoughts have to be focused to recognize yes and no for this behavior. The cat can stall in front of you, and yet react faster than almost anything, and at high power. The ability organize that much energy in that little time and to use it means there’s a structural Attachment which connects each part of the cat’s body to the same response mechanism, and that exists as a differential.

That explains a lot of their behaviors. The differential, which is CM100 because that’s 50:50 and CM28, expresses in the neurological pathways being efficient: they’re better developed to handle this arrangement where the physical response encodes and organizes across the tObject, and with variation. So they can be immovably asleep because the state they’re in, which places them perceptually in context which allows immovable sleep, organizes as as non-response to stimulus, to the stimulus expected, which is my feet trying to find room or maybe an arm stuck in place, depending on the cat. This differential structure allows animals which hunt extremely well to thrive indoors and without hunting. Working out Attachment Theory has been wonderful because it generally comes on me as a result of applying AT, meaning it Attaches and the Attachment explains itself.

So the cat is content because its differential structure enables it to be happy as a retired hunter because the gap between its sense of now and what now should be is small. You see that in the reactions: no gap at all, and they can easily become distrustful because they react without understanding. This is of course why we see cats so tolerant with babies, and how behaviors that are helpful can enact in them and how they bond to people and places. So to develop working models of cat behavior, consider how the differential structure of their physical reactions enacts their intangible structures. So that becomes a way to explain these ideas to people, especially to kids, because they closely observe animal behavior and thus can take in these ideas without needing to have them taught in book or video form, and so they can then take in these lessons in book or video or audio form. That’s fantastic.

Back to numbers. The reals generate out of D-structure. This entire Storyline process with all its details not only makes the real line but is an End, meaning it’s on the real line, since it inverts as all other reals do into the processes that make it. So if you define the Continuum not properly but from the other direction or perspective, then you see that the CH is true and further that it is true in such a way that it is also not true, because you can in fact construct any infinity form, and can arrange them by consistency as a counting method applied to the counting methods, and all of these are generated within D-structure. This includes the poorly defined forms.

That was a weird thought but let’s go: sending someone to hell occurs in your head, not theirs, since you don’t control their minds and their iObject. I’m trying to use iObject because iThing has other meanings, like the Thing of you exists in intangible forms which are iThings, and each of those iThings contains an iObject which Attaches to the tObject through the iObjects, and thus through those maintaining a sufficiently consistent chain, meaning a Pathway, to a label for the tObject which connects to actual tObjects, etc.

I realized a few minutes ago that differential expresses that connection. And the notable personal example is my relationship to you feels the same as it always has, which means you must be the same in the ways which generate you to me because that becomes more and more true, a use of n-1, as the mathematicas develops. Example before a break is that n-1 is the flailing arm, is the rotational, is the spin, which is the differential, which fills layers, and we can see that in orbitals.

Not ready to talk orbitals at this moment. Please skip. Need more energy. Only partially joking Jo-K’ing.

Identifying Ends. Need break. Obviously.

[bllsbailey]

When the Polling Is Worse Than 'Damn Lies'

The old saying, supposedly made by Mark Twain (perhaps quoting Benjamin Disraeli), goes – “There are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.”  

Well, statistics can certainly include polling.

And so, we have learned this maxim anew this election cycle. David Plouffe, a senior advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign and the former campaign manager for President Barack Obama, admitted that the Harris campaign’s internal polling never had her ahead substantially, and that some of the pro-Harris public polling was just atrocious.

“We didn’t get the breaks we needed on Election Day,” he said. “I think it surprised people, because there was these public polls that came out in late September, early October, showing us with leads that we never saw.”

I can’t say I was shocked by this statement. Not at all.

As all ten of my readers know, the public polling that showed Kamala Harris ahead by more than two points always seemed very suspicious to me very early on. I first talked about the “irrational exuberance” of the Democrats back in July 31, 2024, even before Harris took the RealClearPolitics (RCP) lead. I first mentioned the dubiousness of the public polling numbers showing her ahead in the RCP and the likely response bias problem on September 2. And I first wrote specifically about which public polls were suspect on September 21, when I introduced my normally depressed conservative buddy, Cameron. (He may be a doomer, but he eventually got it right.)

Now (pardon me for tooting my own horn), we all know that my assumptions were accurate. And once again, we see that the campaign polling is always going to be better than public polling because the campaign pollsters need to be accurate to keep their jobs, while the public polling can afford not to be so.    

This shows the problem of a political observer relying solely on public polling. Public polling should be just one tool that, along with other things, can be used to tell us where we are in the electoral contest. But there should always be other things that we consider for the big picture.

For me, the big thing that I focused on was the nation’s troubles. Contrary to the bloviating from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris about Bidenomics, I knew that the economy was poor and that voters were especially hurt by inflation. As any student of history knows, inflation is a killer when it comes to the popularity of governments. For example, since some lefties just love to discuss the Nazis, they should be aware that the National Socialists became popular because the Weimar Republic that existed before them had a hyperinflation problem.    

The border and the world chaos were the other two big problems in 2024 as well. Both had a direct impact on the voters, who experienced the rising crime rates (which were hidden by official crime statistics) and the criminal acts from those illegal aliens, and worried about the foreign conflicts and the resulting at-home effects of the world chaos, e.g., the pro-Hamas rioting. 

Therefore, the idea that a member of the Biden-Harris administration would ever be securely and consistently ahead in this kind of environment was always patently ridiculous. Especially after Biden had been behind Trump in the public polling consistently from September 2023 until he was removed as the candidate.

And it wasn’t like Joe Biden or Kamala Harris were impressive public figures. At his best, Joe Biden had always been somewhat of a doofus, who was liked-but-not-respected in D.C., and now was very obviously senile. (He was no Bill Clinton.) And Kamala Harris was known among even Democrats for her laziness and her poor campaign skills.  

The two also campaigned rather poorly, and they produced ineffective political ads. They talked up Bidenomics. Biden pretended he wasn’t senile. Harris ran solely on abortion and Trump being the devil. They never addressed what the swing voters were really concerned about, or did what they really needed to do, which was undermine Donald Trump’s presidential record from his first term.  

A person who understands U.S. presidential elections and knows our history well would have expected that, under these circumstances, when this vice president was substituted in for this senile president, there might be a short burst of popularity for the vice president, as party partisans rallied around her and celebrated the removal of the unpopular president, coupled with a second-look by swing voters open to the change  But this surge would not last indefinitely. To continue to build on that momentum, the vice president would be required by the swing voters to show that she was going to produce some change from the current poor situation. Harris never did.

Which meant that the idea that Kamala Harris was consistently ahead in the presidential race by two or more points made absolutely no sense.   

One further point – Atlas Intel, Gallup, Rasmussen, and some other public pollsters are currently basking in the glow of 2024 accuracy. They certainly deserve it — this time around. However, in my experience, public pollsters may get things right for a while...before they don’t, as they are supplanted by the next, new public polling wonder. I well remember when Joe Zogby was praised as such a wonder and then later, when he wasn’t.  

This is another reason to always keep in mind the political environment, and to not live and die by the public polls.