#but 101 was a great foundation

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

Again, not an exhaustive list but for anyone else in the UK, these are where riots are expected today:

Aldershot - Immigration Advisors at 40 Victoria Road GU11 1TH, starting at 19:30.

Bedford - Immigration INN (Inn?) on Ford End Road MK40 4JT, at 20:00.

Birmingham - Refugee and Migrant Centre on Frederick Street B1 3HN, beginning at 20:00.

Bishop Auckland - outside the Town Hall on Market Place DL14 7NP.

Blackburn - Rafiq Immigration Services on Whalley Road BB5 1AA, at 20:00.

Blackpool - Immigration Solicitors at the Enterprise Centre on Lytham Road FY1 1EW, starting at 20:00.

Bolton - Deane & Bolton Immigration Lawyers on Chorley New Road BL1 4QR, at 20:00.

Brentford - UK Immigration Help in The Mile on 1000 Great West Road TW8 9DW, starting around 19:00.

Brighton - Raj Rayan Immigration in Queensberry House at 106 Queens Road BN1 3XF, starting either at 19:30 or 20:00.

Bristol - Gya Williams Immigration on West Street BS2 OBL, at 20:00.

Burnley - at Thompson Park on 111 Ormerod Rioad BB11 3QWat, starting at 13:00.

Canterbury - UK Immigration Clinic in the Canterbury Innovation Centre CT2 7FG, at 20:00.

Chatham - Immigration Status UK on Maidstone Road ME5 9FD, at 20:00.

Cheadle - Intime Immigration Services on Brooks Drive SK8 3TD, at 20:00.

Chelmsford - UK Immigration Information Centre on Violet Close CM1 6XG, at 20:00.

Derby - Immigration Advisory Service, Normanton Road DE23 6US, at 20:00.

Dover - Kent Immigration and Visa Advice at 5A Castle Hill Road CT16 1QG, reportedly around 20:00.

Durham - in Crook at Market Place, at 18:00. (Unsure as to whether this is the same one as in Bishop Auckland as I know Crook is near there?)

Finchley - Immigration and Nationality Services within Foundation House at 4 Percy Road N128BU, around 19:00.

Harrow - Yes UK Immigration and North Harrow Community Library within the Business Centre at 429-433 Pinner Road HA1 4HN, in North Harrow, at 19:00.

Hastings - Black Rock Immigration at 37 Cambridge Gardens TN34 1EN, at 20:00.

Hull - Conroy Baker Immigration Lawyer in Norwich House, 1 Savile Street HU1 3ES, at 20:00.

Lewisham - the Clock Tower, SE13 5JH, 19:00.

Lincoln - Immigration Lawyer Services on Carlton Mews LN2 4FJ, at 20:00.

Liverpool - Merseyside Refugee Centre in St Anne's Centre on 7 Overbury Street L7 3HJ, at 20:00.

Liverpool - Sandpiper Hotel (might be on Ormskirk Old Road? if any scousers can clarify where that is, that'd be great) at 13:00.

Middlesbrough - Immigration Advice Centre which is the Co-Operative Buildings at 251 Linthorpe Road TS1 4AT, at 20:00.

Newcastle - United Immigration Services in Artisan Unit 3, The Beacon on Westgate Road NE4 9PQ, at 20:00.

Northampton - Zenith Immigration Lawyers at 2 Talbot Road NN1 4JB, starting at 20:00.

Nottingham - East Midlands Immigration Services at 15 Stonesbury Vale NG2 7UR, at 20:00.

Oldham - somewhere on Ellen Street 0L9 6QR, at 20:00

Oxford - Asylum Welcome in Unit 7 in Newtec Place on Magdelen Road OX4 1RE, around 19:00. [Updated as of 15:53]

Peterborough - Smart Immigration Services in Laxton House at 191 Lincoln Road PE1 2PN, at 20:00.

Plymouth - in a Morrisons car park, I don't know which but I saw Victory Parade associated with it? If anyone from Plymouth can clarify, please do. Not sure on time.

Portsmouth - UK Border Agency at Kettering Terrace PO2 8QN, at 20:00

Preston - Adriana Immigration Services at 109 Church Street PR1 3BS, at 19:00 or 20:00.

Rotherham - Parker Rhodes Hickmotts, The Point S60 1BP, at 20:00.

Sheffield - City Hall on Barker's Pool S1 2JA, at 13:00.

Sheffield - White Rose Visas at 101 Wilkinson Street S10 2GJ, at 20:00.

Southampton - Y-Axis Immigration Consultants, Cumberland Place on Grosvenor Square SO15 2BG, at 20:00.

Southend - MNS Immigration Solicitors on Ditton Court Road SS0 7HG, at 20:00.

Stoke-On-Trent - ZR Visas on Metcalfe Road ST6 7AZ, in Tunstall, at 20:00.

Sunderland - North of England Refugee Service which is in Suite 12 in the Eagle Building at 201 High Street East SR1 2AX, at 20:00.

Swindon - I have no details for this, just seen that something might be kicking off there.

Tamworth - Lawrencia & Co Immigration Solicitors within the Amber Business Village on Amber Close B77 4RP, no details on time unfortunately.

Walthamstow - Waltham Forest Immigration Bureau at 187 Hoe Street E17 3AP, at 20:00.

Wigan - Support for Wigan Arrivals Project, Penson Street WN1 2LP, at 20:00.

York - only detail I've got it is York Stay City Hotel.

[communistkenobi]

thank you so much for the transmisogyny reading post! im definitely gonna be reading into those. in a similar vein, do you have a recommended reading list for decolonization/anti-imperialism?

Do you mean molsno's post? def cannot take credit for that but yes I have a couple!

high-level recommendation is discourse on colonialism by aime cesaire (this link goes to a pdf that is a collection of essays, you can skip to cesaire's essay). probably one of the most formative essays for me personally in terms of how i think about colonialism

decolonization is not a metaphor by Tuck & Yang is a famous article in decolonial scholarship and will likely come up pretty frequently if you're reading academic work. if you read that article, i recommend following it up with Slavery is a Metaphor by Garba & Sorentino - its a Black critical commentary by two marxist scholars i believe on Tuck & Yang's work, working through the anti-Black thinking that is present in the work, particularly the deeply problematic conceptual attention given by Tuck & Yang to slavery when historicising and analyzing settler colonialism in North America. These are both academic articles and they're both jargon-laden so your mileage will vary

I originally included decolonizing transgender 101 by b binaohan on here before realizing that it's already in the linked post above lol. in that post is a link to the full book that i'll repost here (usually you can only find the introduction online) so definitely make use of that. anyway great work, very accessible and insightful, makes direct linkages between white supremacy, settler colonialism, and transmisogyny in a way i found extremely helpful

i read beyond white privilege: geographies of white supremacy and settler colonialism during my master's about four years ago (jesus christ the passage of time!!!) and found it very insightful - the authors talk about white supremacy as a process rather than a historical event, as well as talk about some of the conceptual limitations of the popular focus on white privilege (as opposed to white supremacy) that i found very helpful for me personally. its another academic article

I've been recently introduced to Anibal Quijano's work, particularly the Coloniality of Power. this is an extremely theoretical work that focuses on the construction and universalization of race, the 'invention of Europe,' modernity as a colonial construction, and a bunch of other pretty dense topics. thats not to scare you off, but its probably the most theory heavy article i've linked here

this list skews towards academic work because that's what im most familiar with (all the links i provided are open-access links so you should not need institutional access to read them). For books, you can read Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon or Orientalism by Edward Said, they're both pretty foundational decolonial texts and are also pretty formative for me. Fanon's work is on decolonial struggle and the pathologization of colonized people, Said's work is on the construction of "the East" to justify and reproduce Western hegemony.

Hope this was helpful! I'm by no means an expert and this is only scratching the surface of scholarship on the subject. I'm still in the process of reading, but hopefully this is a good starting point for you!

[sgiandubh]

Although MPCs website clear about bring a business which contributes a portion of profits post admin costs, Sam regularly in videos and in print interviews misrepresents. He's says my charity abd he says 59% of signup fee goes to charity. If there is a problem l, it's on Sam, who according to original members, basically sold MPC control, in 2017. Your statement of knowing what he's doing with his MPC, is questionable, post corporate change of MPC. It's not just his alone. MPC has sketchy history, since Alex's involvement, and the rumors, look more as truths that a good portion of the administrative costs go to Alex pre-whisky, for a working, guaranteed salary before sales came in. It also begs the question, if Sam is interested in supporting charity with a portion of income sales, why hasn't 10% of whisky sales went to charity partners? The whisky is part of the GGC, Sam and Alex's business. Why wouldn't he plug a Newman Products design? Maybe he's not as interested in charity?

Dear MPC Anon,

It has always been 50%, which is logical. 59% sounds like a demented Asian astrologist suggestion - but you might be unfamiliar with Burmese recent history, so I shall give you a pass, on that one.

Who are the 'original members' who told you MPC was sold? To whom was it sold? When did that happen? I need paperwork to support this statement: the current corporate documents still list ONE officer - pay away from your wallet to find out it's very probably SRH: I am not doing it for you.

Like it or not, Norouzi's involvement in MPC is a reality since at least its creation. You will have to prove me the 'sketchy' part with much more than a stinking grenade thrown by Anon or fandom illiterate gossip.

I will have to see contracts between MPC, AN, SH proving that pre-whisky launching costs of The Sassenach were drawn from the MPC accounts. I will also have to see bank and accounting documents proving so. According to US law, I would also have to be a Court and have enough reasons to subpoena these people and entities to show me those. Stop spreading the shite written by Pufflander once upon a time and ask Puffy, in her retreat, what the fuck did she do with the crowdfunded money for the Harassment PI Report (you know, *urv and co). Now that would be a really interesting question, right? No answer? Bad day, baby. Bad day.

Whisky sales under the umbrella of Great Glen Company LLC, a different legal entity with no charitable mission, were never designed to represent a charitable endeavor. I think you know the difference between a charity and a company, right? Suggesting he should give 10% of all his earnings to charity is akin to a church tithe. This argument is, of course, ridiculous, in the business world, unless there is an explicit and public vow to do so, with a particular company's benefits.

Newman's Own and the Newman's Own Foundation represent Paul Newman's personal commitment to give away 100% of Newman's Own LLC profits to charity: the Foundation serves to direct the funds to the projects its trustees deem the most appropriate, according to the Foundation's values.

This is a different story and I also hope you know the difference between Great Glen Company, a business who wants to remain a business and a ground-breaking CSR commitment like Paul Newman's. Great Glen Company and MPC are separate projects - AN's loud involvement in both does not help, though, especially with an uneducated bigot, such as yourself, Anon.

Assuming he must give 100% of all his profits to charity is absolutely ridiculous, Anon. Why don't you give away all the profits of your lemonade stand to charity and set a blazing, luminous example in this fandom?

Unless you quickly substantiate what you wrote in anger on your phone, with links, facts and names, I am forced to tell you to kindly, slowly, but surely...

FUCK OFF MY PAGE!

[Later edit:] Should I start a US Tax Law 101 course for you, Anon? To me, this rather crude company/charity montage sounds legit. Also, MPC is not a charity, as shown in my previous post.

[acontrariis]

the prelude.

pairing. Aemond Targaryen x OC word count. 1.3k warnings. mention of miscarriage and death.

summary. Aemond Targaryen never intended to marry, much less fall in love. But fate has a way of flipping a coin, rewriting the stories we thought were set in stone. Bound by a union neither expected, Aemond and Vienna will navigate through the treacherous sea of love in hopes they might just be strong enough to defy fate. In a world where history is written by the victors, "Veiled in Fire" reveals the untold story of a love that could change everything.

History remembers names. 

Rather, whoever’s writing it does. Little does anyone say about the ones that got lost in time. Patches of ink on crumpled paper that have been turned to ashes. 

Pieces of a forgotten past. Buried under the retellings of a deceitful memory.

After all, only those who win get to tell the stories. 

Teach the lessons. 

Erase the failures. 

This is what this story is, a recollection of failures . The black sheeps of the family. The little branch that got cut from the tree. The letters that were burnt. The passages only some knew and even fewer remember. 

This is a journey through the cracks, the secret tunnels that threatened the perfect foundation we now stand on. The remnants of a life that grows in the fissures.

For all it takes is a single ray of sunlight to bring us back to life. 

⸺

Our story begins a few years in the near past. 

History books tell us that Viserys I Targaryen’s reign was decided at the Great Council of 101 A.C. Having yet to produce a male heir, Daemon Targaryen was the closest heir the King had. A young, wild and hot-headed man, unsuited for the throne. 

The two brothers served as two sides of a coin, night and day, the heirs of the Targaryen Household. 

However, what most ignore is the thin line of blood wiped from the records, a reckless child, the third brother, Daeron Targaryen. It is said that with his birth, he took what little life was left of Princess Alyssa. Hated by his father and resented by his brothers, the child grew prone to aversion and hostility. Those who knew him would whisper of the Prince’s indiscretions. 

A privileged child, who had everything but his family’s love. 

From a young age, the little Prince showed excellence in all areas. A lover of arts and a skilled swordsman. 

Perhaps the previous statement should be corrected, he was excellent in all areas that could be taught .  

A quick learner that despite his talents, was not blessed with the natural gifts a Targaryen should possess. 

Perhaps the only true gift his blood had given him, along with the white hair and amethyst eyes, was madness and, as he stared at the egg that never hatched, this one only worsened. 

As he grew, the main pleasures of his life came from sex and death. He controlled the powerless in a way he wished to control his own fate. 

Once he was old enough, he made it his goal to know the Seven Kingdoms. Never staying in one place for a long time, his days passed in a constant turmoil. 

A maid once heard him say if he stayed still for too long, the voices would surely eat him inside. So he kept moving, an enemy to silence and a lover of chaos. It is said he rivaled his brother Aemond in mischief. 

Daeron’s life was a constant loop, a whirlwind of emotions overflowing the body of an unstable young man. 

In a makeshift throne, at the heart of the harvest celebrations, the young Prince was said to meet his match. 

Time stops in the eye of the hurricane. 

Ebony hair reflected the red fire that engulfed her movements.  White pearly teeth shining under the veil of a golden mask, accompanied by deep black orbs that swallowed his soul. 

Elaena. 

Her name came like a prayer, a sip of water to a dying man. 

⸺

Five springs their love bloomed in a long forgotten castle, neighbors to House Arryn on the eastern lands.

Devoted and faithful, their eyes only saw each other and knew no one better than the other. 

Despite the insistent disapproval of the family, the lovers married soon after that first night. 

The Prince was said to happily adjust to married life. Leaving his wandering days in the past, he committed himself to the newfound happiness he had so desperately craved. 

Their days were filled with a peace that came from building a life together.

As their household bloomed with love, it was not to say it didn’t suffer its own hardships. 

Many losses were suffered through the years, the Princess agonizing cries ringing through the castle walls as yet another life was lost. 

Some thought it was a curse, “Perhaps the Princess is not meant to bear children”, the Maesters would say. 

Still, despite the Prince's protests and fears, the new Princess’ attempts didn’t waver. She wanted to give him a family, she would say. 

He deserved that . 

A dried up egg arrived from the Red Keep, as a final effort was attempted.

This time, a Priestess was called. An old friend from another life. 

Seeing the fragile state of the Princess, her first thought was to terminate the pregnancy as soon as possible. The only thing that refrained her from expressing it was the hopeful look on Elaena’s face. 

The once rosy cheeks now hollowed and pale served as proof of the pain she was desperately trying to hide inside. Her swollen belly was too big for her worn out body and yet she caressed it with such devotion, one might think her a saint.

It is said the Prince became a shell of what he once was, consumed with worry and fear for his wife, he would not leave her side if he could help it. It took a nudge and a sleeping remedy for the women to have some privacy. 

There are some things, in a marriage, one must keep from the other. 

Whether that is to protect them or to protect themselves, that is of little importance when dealing with the consequences, which is why the Priestess didn’t flinch when hearing the Princess’s confession. 

- “I won’t live much longer, and neither will my husband.”

A blood curse is not easily, if ever, truly broken, for there’s no curse more twisted than love. 

On the third night of a cold winter night, a black haired babe was born with wine colored eyes, shining full of life as her cries echoed through the castle. And as her father had done before, her birth sealed their parents fate, for the hex was impossible to crack.

The pale complexion of the Princess covered in sweat, showing something close to a smile.

The Priestess, Marmee, held Elaena’s hand in hers, as the latter silently cried, her strength long gone. 

- “I will take care of your child. Whatever the course, I swear to look after her.” 

A promise.

A vow. 

A sentence. 

The Princess’ cries, begging for forgiveness and regretting making their daughter an orphan, echoed through the castle.

Three nights the new Mother bled, the pain driving her to delusions. Her husband held her through it all, and by the time her last breath was exhaled, with it went his. 

For their lives have been joined as one, as only true lovers could be. 

At last, as the couple held each other, their final goodbye was lost in the cries of their newborn child.

⸺

The bards would sing of the Prince’s madness. 

Tired of his brothers’ mistreatments, he took out the rage on those weaker than him. His wife, an unfortunate victim. 

Stories tell they killed each other in a fit of rage, the witch, tired and resentful, made sure that was the last bruise he put on her face. With a dagger in hand, the desperate wife launched her attack, the precise aim of a killer striking the vital points of her lover. 

It is said the wench, covered in the warm blood of her husband, took the knife to her neck, bidding one last farewell to the crying infant in the crib. 

⸺

Rumors said an egg was stolen from a baby's crib. Blacker than the night sky, covered in amethyst jewels, the unclaimed dragon from the hatched egg was a vision in itself. 

Many tried to tame it, their flesh served as fuel for the creature to grow, forever without a rider.

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[umbrvx]

i like ur art. its great and interesting!! i really like your artstyle and i really like the way u draw hsy, yjh, and kdj. you captured them so well in terms of vibes/character. also i was wondering do u have any advice to improve on drawing anatomy/poses/faces?

wahh thank you so much...!! i feel like im still trying to figure them out in a lot of ways but i do really like ironing out my visual interpretations of them so im really happy to hear if people like what im coming up with

also anon you super activated the part of my brain that cant help but yap about art theory... i spent some time writing as many tips as i could think of. unfortunately i dont think i have the time currently to do a fully illustrated guide, but ill still try to include some visual examples:

[incoming wall of text lol]

ANATOMY:

to preface i think that like 100% of the time you should reference a real life photo for anatomy rather than other artwork or drawn references. the best way to learn the body is by… well, actually looking at the body! but also artwork is informed by a person's own artistic ability/stylization choices/sense of idealism, so while looking at art can help give you an idea on how to break down forms, i think you would be best served observing real life references. i labor on this point because i do think that having over relied on drawn reference material and avoiding photographic references on the basis of not being interested on realism hindered me as a largely self-taught artist as a kid, so i want to encourage live or photographic reference since anatomy is one of the foundations from which everything else is built on. that being the case, all of my doodles i'm doing for this are going to be for the sake of example rather than to strictly say how you should or should not be drawing something

-> when you are doing a study of a photo, just try copying it as best as you can. pay close attention to the natural lines and shapes of the body -- the S-curve shape of the leg, the triangular shape of the forearm, the trapezoid shape of hips/thighs when they sit, and so on. note where the body folds or squishes or pulls; how mass will shift to accommodate a certain position. if a form is hard to visualize, focus on the negative space and carve that out, rather than strictly drawing the positive space.

don't expect to get it perfect the first time. in fact, iterate on it multiple times to build understanding. try doing it to a timer of 15, then 10, then 5 minutes. doing this will force you to have to prioritize the most important shapes. you can help reinforce this by using a thicker brush or a brush with no pen pressure (no joke ms paint works great for this) to force you to be loose and not become preoccupied with details.

-> pinterest is a great resource for finding and compiling photo reference material

-> organic shapes are curved, so embracing/emphasizing that (particularly for the extremities) can help make your drawings look more natural or fluid

POSES: -> it all begins & ends with contrapposto… you've probably heard of the line of action, which is related. if you're offsetting the shoulders & hips, it: makes poses more natural, more dynamic, and helps the pose sort of "draw itself" -- the legs will follow the direction of the hips, and you can use the arms to reinforce the angles

-> context is key. don't ask: what pose should i draw? instead ask: what do i want this character to convey? what does happiness, anger, sadness, and so forth look on this particular character? how do they express that? consider these drawings: these are both ostensibly the same pose, but look at how changing just the shape of the spine recontextualizes it.

for more on pose design i recommend watching Tracer & Pose Design 101 - The Animation of Overwatch by New Frame Plus (i promise this is a genuinely super informative video).

to expand on this, in general, all of the components of a piece (background, composition, pose, etc.) are best considered in conjunction rather than separately. it is difficult to choose a pose and then choose a background because they are missing the context that would make a piece cohesive. when you are planning a drawing, try to begin with your general concept/idea/prompt and then do several thumbnails -- small and quick doodles that should take no longer than 5 minutes each -- developing it: you may find that the pose and bg will naturally fall into place.

-> silhouette: the degree to which you need to push this varies by style but generally speaking the pose needs to be readable; i.e. instantly recognizable. try to keep important elements of the gesture outside of the silhouette. for example, if the character is pointing, keep that arm out of the interior of the body. the same pose can be more or less readable or dynamic depending on where the character is pointed in relation to the viewer

-> exaggeration!! goes along with the previous point. push the pose as much as you can (and what makes sense for your style) to communicate your pose as clearly and as intensely as possible.

FACES: -> i highly recommend the app Handy Art Reference Tool by Belief Engine for all things related to drawing hands/heads/feet. its on both android and ios. it isn't free -- it costs around $3 -- but that is seriously such a small price to pay for the amount of utility you get out of it: the hands models are fully poseable (there's also pose presets), you can rotate the head models however you want, and there is 3-point customizable lighting. it is really helpful for getting those super tricky and hyperspecific head angles that you just can't find a real life reference for. that being said given that there's only a few different head model variants, bear in mind how differences in features can affect what exactly a face will look like in those angles.

-> i still recommend doing studies of real people. as with anything else, learning generalized proportions is important, even if you are going to later on bend or break this depending on style

-> as for my own approach... it kind of depends on the style i'm doing at that particular time. for my paintings (what id consider my main style) i approach a character with a few real-world features in mind and then apply them to the best of my ability. it usually will take a few iterations to land on an interpretation i really like as i try out different things. a lot of the face also gets developed during rendering rather than through my initial sketch too, as i adjust for lighting and correct proportions on the fly

(look how much this image changes between sketch and render lol)

if i were to recommend anything, i think it would be to nail down your most distinct features first -- the ones that will make your character's face recognizable, and could apply regardless of art style. in my case with kim dokja, i knew when i first started drawing him that i wanted to give him a longer face and down-turned eyes. when i decided to do the disco elysium inspired set, in which i was breaking out of my comfort zone by letting go of any idealizations focusing on conveying characterization/making them feel "real", i landed on some more specific traits (defined lower lids/perpetually tired eyes/eyebags(?) the crease there idk how to describe it) which i continue to try to evoke even if im drawing something much more cartoony

(pictured are my first kdj -> disco elysium style -> my post de-style kdj)

as a side note, this very same process changed yjh much more dramatically

(^ that first guy is mad someone else)

those handful of key features will be the thing that you can then take into a simpler style and simplify or exaggerate to whatever degree suits you. you can also play with shape theory (square = sturdy/solid, circle = natural/smooth/welcoming, triangle = energetic/dangerous). shape theory doesn't necessarily need to be so rigid -- you can combine shapes as you please to convey whatever vibe you're going for -- so please think of it as a tool that may help rather than a rigid law you must abide by.

-> expressions: exaggerate them. thats kind of it!! make it big!!! you wanna be able to really feel those emotions. the principles of squash & stretch help here: think of how the muscles move when you, say, open the eyes or mouth really big. as one side of the face stretches open, the other side squashes to accommodate it

even without changing the position of the jaw here, moving the nose and scrunching the eyes will sell the expression

you can also play with squash/stretch to break proportions to sell a feeling more

since expressions are just, well, poses for the face, everything else for poses applies here (and facial expressions & pose should also be considered in tandem). while the term contrapposto itself just refers to the offset of the shoulders & hips, the similar principle of asymmetry also carries here as that will help make the expression a bit more dynamic.

and i think... that's it!! all i can think of at least. i hope it helps anon!!!

[megumi-fm]

Hey Meg! I was just catching up on your posts and wow, congrats on publishing the paper! I'm so excited for you and how far you'll go (it's so cool that you're working with alpha fold!!)! 🥳 How did you learn bioinformatics? Are there any resources you'd recommend for a complete beginner? (I'm trying to learn how to do proteomics analyses rn, but I can't seem to find many resources I can easily understand 🙈)

hii!! thank you so much for the wishes! the paper was a part of my final project with my team + guide so it was really a group effort <3 my teammates and I are all first authors, they were just kind enough to put my name first xD and yes! my current alphafold work is a lot of fun ^=^ I'm really enjoying my internship hehe

okay so I learnt bioinformatics as a part of my uni curriculum, and we mainly relied on these two textbooks

Essential Bioinformatics by Jin Xiong

Bioinformatics: Sequence and Genome Analysis

In addition to this, I also recently found this textbook titled Bioinformatics: An Introductory Textbook by Thomas Dandekar, Meik Kunz which focuses both on basic bioinformatics concepts and how to use the available tools. I especially like this book because I found it super easy to understand

EMBL also offers courses! even for synchronous online/in person courses that have ended, they tend to upload course materials. There's one for proteomics analyses as well- I've checked out the mass spectrometry videos under this course and they start with the very basics

In addition to these, here are some playlists on youtube that've helped:

Foundations of Systems and Computational Biology, MIT OpenCourseWare // classroom videos, I'd suggest to check specific videos for a topic of your choice rather than actually going through all of them

Computational Systems Biology, IITM // videos on the basics of systems biology, networks and modelling

Bioinformatics 101 // videos on how to use a lot of tools, however this primarily focuses on gene expression and RNA seq data

lastly, I don't know if this would be particularly helpful given what you're looking for, but this textbook on Computational Genomics with R is a blessing for Omics related Data Analysis. So if you ever need to use R in a biological context, this would be a great place to start

yeah! so these are the majority of the resources that I've used, I hope they help! Just a heads up that the links to the textbooks I mentioned in the beginning are direct download links and won't take you to any website.

If there's anything else I can help with, feel free to reach out ^=^ best of luck!

[irrolyphant]

Timothy Olyphant, 55, is an actor who starred in Deadwood, Live Free or Die Hard, and Justified. He will star in the FX miniseries Justified: City Primeval this fall and currently co-stars in the Max miniseries Full Circle. He spoke with Marc Myers before the actors strike.

TIMOTHY:

You couldn’t get me out of the pool when I was a kid. We lived next door to a swim and racket club in Modesto, Calif.

I began regular swim practice at age 6. My older brother, Andy, took to tennis, which probably helped us get along. We were competitive. Our younger brother, Matt, did a little bit of everything and eventually became a water-polo player.

I was born in Hawaii, but we moved to Modesto when I was 3. My dad, Bevan, worked for Del Monte and left to work at E&J Gallo Winery soon after we relocated to California. He started in bottling and worked his way up to vice president of production.

My mom, Katherine, was a full-time mom. She was the nurturing type. Whether I won or lost, she’d always talk about how well I competed or how beautiful a swimmer I was, never about whether I won or not. She’s very sweet and encouraging.

Just as I was starting high school, my parents divorced. After they split up, we quickly figured out who was responsible for what. For example, our dad didn’t really know how to do laundry or cook. If we were going over to his place, we’d probably be eating out.

When you’re young, any time your foundation gets rocked, it sets you back a bit. I’d been a good student when my parents were together, but there definitely was a dip after the divorce. I kind of saw what I could get away with and wound up just an okay student.

I wasn’t in school plays. I’m not sure I saw that side of me yet. Instead, I was at swim practice and hanging with my buddies. I also liked to draw a lot, which I suppose is how I expressed myself.

I was a solid swimmer in the Central Valley. I set a CIF SAC-Joaquin Section Record and wound up with an All America Swimming Certificate. By my senior year, I realized swimming was my ticket out of town and certainly the only way I’d get into a great university.

I worked hard. After USC saw the times I was posting, they called to recruit me for the team. When I flew out to USC on my recruit trip, I met with the dean of the architecture school. He said there was no way I could manage both the swim team’s practice schedule and the rigors of the architectural program.

I asked him about the art gallery downstairs. He said it was part of the fine-arts department. I didn’t even know you could get a degree in that. I met with the fine-arts dean and asked if I could be on the swim team. He said we’d work it out.

Majoring in fine arts for me was like winning the lottery. In high school, I’d get in trouble for drawing when I was supposed to be doing schoolwork. Now, in college, drawing was my schoolwork.

After my senior year, I left USC several electives shy of a degree and didn’t finish until the pandemic. But before I left, I met some drama majors who got me thinking about acting.

By then, my college girlfriend, Alexis, and I had married. We moved to Seal Beach, south of Los Angeles, where I coached swimming. To fulfill some of my electives I took an acting 101 class at UC Irvine. I had a ball. It was a language I understood immediately.

I read Stanislavsky’s and Sandy Meisner’s books on acting. I realized that it wasn’t a frivolous pursuit but a craft on par with how artists I admired approached painting and sculpture. I told Alexis I was thinking about pursuing acting rather than a master’s in fine art. She said, “Tim, just do something. Just pick one thing and do that.”

The guy who taught the intro class was a graduate student who recommended I study with Bill Esper at the Esper Studio in New York. Fortunately, Alexis’s dad lived there and let us move into his place.

My career has been many little steps—a lot of one step forward, two steps back. I’m not sure if there was any one role that really changed things, but landing the lead in “Justified,” in 2010, certainly helped things along.

Today, Alexis and I live in Los Angeles and have three grown kids. We moved in 15 years ago and love the house and neighborhood. I still draw and swim.

Breakfast is my favorite meal. I make steel-cut oatmeal in my rice cooker, which has a porridge setting. When I come home from swimming and have my oatmeal, I feel like I’m 8 again. And you know what? That feels pretty good.

—————

Timothy’s Digs:

Full Circle? I play Derek in the miniseries about a kidnapping gone awry and the family secrets exposed.

Blissful space? Sitting in a blue chair in the kitchen having coffee with my wife.

Cool buy? A painting by an artist I’ve admired for at least a decade or so.

Tennis? I play with my brother and oldest daughter. The fact that they play with me means the world.

Youngest daughter? Vivian. She’s an actress in the coming season of Justified: City Primeval.

[basicsofislam]

ISLAM 101: AN INTRODUCTION TO HADITH: Part 12

Avoiding Innovation

It is related that Aisha, may Allah be well pleased with her, said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Anyone who introduces an innovation in this affair of ours which is not part of it, that will be rejected.”

One version in Muslim reads:

“He who does an act which we have not commanded will have it rejected [by Allah].” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Sulh, 5; Sahih Muslim, Aqdiyya, 17, 18. See also: Sunan ibn Majah, Muqaddima, 2).

NARRATOR

Aisha

Aisha was a very intelligent woman who learned how to read and write at a very young age. She never forgot anything that she had learned and memorized.

The most important point in relation to the Prophet’s marriage to Aisha was it's being contracted through the direct commandment of Allah.

The Messenger of Allah loved Aisha greatly. When he was asked, “Who do you love most?” he replied, “Aisha.” When he was then asked, “(What about) from among the men?” he said, “Her father.”

Aisha was born nine years before the Emigration, in the city of Mecca. She passed away on the seventeenth day of Ramadan (676 CE), on a Tuesday, in Medina.

EXPLANATION

Innovation in religion is referred to in Islam as bid’a.

1. Allah declares the following in relevant Qur’anic verses:

“…What is there, after the truth, but error?” (Yunus 10:32).

This verse demonstrates that there is no connection between truth and being on the wrong path. What behooves the human being is to be on the side of and in the way of truth. All kinds of innovation in religion and every fabricated thing that does not have its basis in Islam is deviation. Deviation of all kinds has been deemed unacceptable.

“…We have neglected nothing in the Book…” (al-An’am 6:38).

Some scholars have asserted that implied in “the Book” is the Qur’an. This is because none of the proofs and obligations necessary for human beings has been omitted therein.

“…And if you are to dispute among yourselves about anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger” (an-Nisa 4:59).

Solutions contravening the criteria espoused by Allah and His Messenger and which violate the truths of the Qur’an and the Sunnah lead the human being and society to an impasse. Individuals and even broader society come to believe, at times, that the most perfect solution lies in their self-discovered and tried paths, methods, and systems. They can even convince others of this also. Finding the resolutions to such great issues, however, is only possible through appeal to Allah and His Messenger, and through putting the Qur’an and the Sunnah into practice, without oversight, and free from any innovations.

This hadith constitutes one of the most important foundations of Islam. Anything that does not rest upon the Book and the Sunnah cannot be accepted. Such a thing cannot be considered to be part of religion. Those who disregard the worship and deeds befitting the Qur’an and the Sunnah, lessen or alter them and who thus manipulate (corrupt or distort) religion are also innovators in religion. Their deeds too are rejected and are on no account accepted.

Innovation (in religion) is that which does not have a basis in and which cannot be reconciled with the Qur’an or Sunnah and which has no application in the Muslim community. Here, however, it is used to mean the fabrications put forward in religion without an authoritative source. Rendering inactive the Qur’an and Sunnah or neglecting them breeds innovation and gives rise to their fostering and thriving. In that case, the sole way of preventing innovations in religion is to spread the culture of the Qur’an and Sunnah and to prepare the grounds for these to become a way of life. That being the case, how must innovations be understood?

According to Imam Shafi’i, innovation is of two kinds:

“Anything that contravenes the Qur’an, the Sunnah, the learned consensus, and the way of the Companions is a deviatory and evil innovation; those things and good practices that do not contradict these are good innovations.”

This is the reason behind the use of the terms bid’a hasana (good innovation) and bid’a sayyi’a (evil innovation). Shafi’i substantiates this with the words of Umar who responded to a group of Companions performing the Tarawih Prayer particular to Ramadan in the congregation, remarking, “What a good innovation this is!”

2. The Messenger of Allah said the following in relation to good and evil innovation:

“Whoever introduces a good practice that is followed after him, will have the reward for that and the equivalent of their reward, without that detracting from their reward in the slightest. Whoever introduces an evil practice that is followed after him, will bear the burden of sin for that and the equivalent of their burden of sin, without that detracting from their burden in the slightest.” Sahih Muslim, Zakah, 69. See also: Sunan an- Nasa’i, Zakah, 64.

The Companions undertook a great many things that were not in question during the time of the Prophet and reached a unanimous consensus regarding their acceptance and legitimacy. The Qur’an’s being compiled into book form during the caliphate of Abu Bakr and duplicated and distributed to various regions during the caliphate of Uthman are the most known examples in this regard. Efforts in later periods to record, in full, texts of Arabic grammar, the religiously obligatory, accounts, Qur’anic commentary, and hadith constitute further such examples. Even if these are to be termed innovations, they cannot be said to be wrong, as this is precisely how knowledge was preserved, spread and transferred to succeeding generations. This needs to be considered thus with respect to our time and mass media organs, modern printing and publication houses, the Internet, and military and social developments. Those who do not keep pace with such advancements would have no chance of survival in such a world.

The sources of Islamic jurisprudence are clearly defined

The Qur’an: The leading source in Islamic jurisprudence. The religion of Islam is learned first and foremost from the Qur’an. “The best among you are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it.”

The Sunnah: The words and actions of the Prophet. Constitutes the second primary source in Islamic jurisprudence. The Sunnah is applied in the absence of clear injunctions in the Qur’an. In the same way that the Prophet has instructed adherence to his Sunnah, he has also enjoined adherence to the practice of the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs as well as his Companions. Such innovations as the supererogatory Prayer during Ramadan performed in the congregation during the caliphate of Umar and the establishment of the Call to Prayer inside the mosque for the Friday Prayer during Uthman’s caliphate, constitute the practice of the Companions and must be followed.

Ijma al-Umma (Consensus of Scholars): Ijma is the term employed to refer to the consensus of Muslim jurists on a theological matter in a given era. The consensus of scholars on a matter is a source of legislation in Islam and is appealed to when a matter is not found in the Qur’an and the Sunnah. For instance, the Tarawih Prayer performed in congregation during Umar’s caliphate.

Qiyas al-Fuqaha (Analytical Reasoning of the Scholars): The term qiyas literally means measuring two things with each other and drawing comparisons between them. Umar is known to have advised Abu Musa al-Ash’ari to “Identify similar and analogous cases, carefully examine their causes, and then use qiyas (analytical deduction).”

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED

This hadith constitutes one of the cornerstones of Islam.

That which does not abrogate or contradict the Qur’an and Sunnah is accepted (The compilation of the Qur’an in book form, the commemoration of the Noble Birth, and the like).

Innovation (bid’a) is categorized into good (hasana) and evil (sayyi’a) innovation.

Muslim scholars have considered an innovation in five parts: necessary (wajib), recommended (mandub), permitted (mubah), unlawful (haram), and disliked (makruh). The discovery of weapons of warfare and the readying of forces suitable for the conditions of the time is necessary. Establishing universities and institutes and publishing scholarly works, spreading knowledge, teaching it to others, building schools and the like are recommended and accepted. Eating and drinking of the lawful are permissible, while the unlawful and disliked have been clearly defined and determined in Islam.

Both the one who sets an evil precedent (in evil innovation) and the one who follows in their path are equally wrongdoers.

[loycspotting]

4. Ewan McGregor Movie Review: Nothing but the Truth (1995)

TRIGGER WARNING: In this review, I mention sexual violence because that is what this movie is about. I don't go into great detail. Still, if the topic of sexual violence/assault is triggering for you then this is your warning to scroll past.

Ewan McGregor's first project of 1995 was the pilot episode of British television series Kavanagh Q.C. titled "Nothing but the Truth." You might be asking yourself, "television series? I thought those were going to be excluded?" You're right and the reason I included this episode in our movie review list is because it has a runtime of an HOUR AND FORTY-ONE MINUTES. Where I come from, we call that a movie. The episode is also a standalone project, meaning that you don't need to watch the whole series or even an additional episode to finish the plot or understand the narrative. Everything you need to know for the episode happens in the episode.

A couple fun facts before we get started!

In this project, Ewan works alongside Geraldine James again. You might remember her from our previous review as the ex-jazz singer in "Doggin' Around." I thought that was cool! Here, she plays Eleanor Harker Q.C. (Queen's Counsel) who is the prosecutor attorney.

If you've ever heard Ewan say that he met his wife while working on a project, THIS is that project! This is where he met his first wife, Eve Mavrakis, who is credited as the Assistant Art Director. The episode aired January 3, 1995 and six months later they were wed.

Let's dive in!

Movie Review: "Nothing but the Truth" stars the late John Thaw as the titular Kavanagh Q.C. James Kavanagh is a senior barrister and arguably the best. While he couldn't be more adept at his job as a barrister, the same cannot be said for his job as a husband and father. The demands of these roles pull him in different directions and cause friction between him and his wife. The main plot is about an affluent young man accused of sexually assaulting the woman for whom he works. Naturally, it's a he said/she said situation. He claims that it was a consensual fling while she claims the opposite. The evidence corroborates both of their stories to an extent which makes it even harder to know who is being honest. As one of the best lawyers in Britain, Kavanagh is tasked with defending the accused. Unfortunately, defending a man accused of rape only creates more cracks in the foundation of his familial relationships. Armed with his intellect and belief in the inherent goodness of man, Kavanagh is determined to find nothing but the truth.

Ewan Review: Ewan plays the character David Armstrong who is our young man accused of sexual assault. He has a posh English accent and is incredibly soft-spoken. He also has a stutter which sounds a bit forced at times. This role is my absolute favorite for his long, silky, hair era! We get a few shots of it in the half-up/half-down style but for the majority of the film it's all down. They must have given him a full on blow out because that hair was thick, long, and luscious! His hair needed it's own acting credit. Ewan also showcases his acting skills really well in this role. I've felt for a long time that Ewan performs best in roles that require subtlety and he does a great job in this one. On a more critical note, even though he often plays characters who are depicted in a negative light, those stories tend to require you to suspend your disbelief. That is not the case with this movie. This is a serious topic and the movie handles it with the seriousness it deserves. If Ewan brings you comfort and you only engage with his more wholesome roles, then this might not be for you. There are no graphic depictions of sex in the movie but there is sexual audio twice and in the court scenes the characters go into detail about the incident.

Screentime Percentage (All numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number): Ewan is on screen for a grand total of 21/101 minutes making his SP 21%.

To Ewan or not to Ewan: Is this movie worth watching for Ewan content alone? Yes, even with the low percentage! Again, his hair is *chef's kiss* 🤌. We get to see him sweaty and working in the dirt as well as dressed up in a three piece suit. There's also a brief makeout scene and shirtless scene. Is the movie worth watching in general? This is very difficult for me to say but my answer is no. My opinion is that the movie is /only/ worth watching for Ewan. If he wasn't in it or was in it even less then it'd be a skip for me. The premise is interesting but the movie can be slow in places. Also, maybe it's just because this was the pilot episode or the legal system being different in Britain, but there were significant issues not addressed in the court scenes that make the ending a little less satisfying. If you like crime shows, then you might like this regardless of the Ewan factor. But be warned, this is not a flashy, fast-paced drama like Law and Order SVU or Criminal Minds. It's an old, British, drama about an old lawyer.

Where to Watch: "Nothing but the Truth" is currently uploaded for free on YouTube through the channel "Ewan McGregor Vault". Just search "Kavanagh Q.C. Nothing But the Truth with Ewan McGregor". If you want to watch the full series, all episodes are also uploaded for free on a YouTube playlist through the channel "o p i u m 1". Just search "Kavanagh Qc".

Conclusion: "Nothing but the Truth" is a hidden gem in Ewan McGregor's career. Unlike other crime shows I've seen, this movie was unique in that there wasn't very much information the audience had that the characters didn't. You really have to pay attention, trust your gut, and hope the verdict is the right one. This also makes the movie great for rewatches because you'll start to notice things in the background that add to the story. I highly suggest watching this with another person because if you're like me, you're going to have a lot to talk about as the truth is revealed.

[racefortheironthrone]

Are capitalism and socialism opposites or ideologies which can compliment each other?

This is a bit of a tricky question to answer, because saying "both" sounds wishy-washy, but it's also true.

I think the first place to start with is Marx's famous formulation that the capitalist mode of production is a progressive force in history. In Marx's view, and therefore as baked into the foundations of orthodox Marxist theory:

capitalism acts to sweep aside the old, backward system of feudalism, it brings about the advent of bourgeois democracy, and ultimately a lot of the things we think of as part of liberal modernity;

it creates massive economies of scale and improvements in productivity through mechanization and rationalization and so forth, allowing for a potentially historic transformation in living standards if the wealth engendered by capitalism was redistributed;

and (and this is central to what he meant by "progressive") it brings together the proletariat in ever larger numbers in circumstances where their very environment helps to bring about their organization into an active force that can ultimately overthrow the capitalism system and bring about the communist revolution.

This is why Marx and Marxists use the language of dialectics so often, despite it being impenetrable to most people who haven't taken Philosophy 101. In dialectics, your thesis and antithesis are opposites, but they're also complementing halves of a greater whole that goes on to become the synthesis.

At the same time, there is also the way that social democracy has related to capitalism. Historically, Bernstein and other revisionists have tended to take the perspective that capitalism wasn't going anywhere on its own, but that through gradual, incremental reforms, social democracy could eventually erode capitalism until it would eventually be replaced by socialism without the need for a revolution - like a magician pulling off the tablecloth trick.

The Great Depression and the aftermath of WWII had a profound effect on social democracy. With the advent of the concept of the mixed economy, a lot of social democrats moved away from the Bernsteinite position that capitalism would eventualy be democratically replaced to a position that capitalism could be regulated and, ultimately, contained and reduced to a tame engine of prosperity. Now, this position was not without its socialist aspirations - indeed, using Esping-Anderson's logic of decommodification, social democratic parties throughout Europe constructed historically expansive and robust systems of social protection and provision that pulled vital aspects of life (housing, health care, education, child care, income) out of the realm of the market and into the realm of rights.

Nevertheless, within the grand bargain between labor, capital, and government that underwrote the Trente Glorieuse, there were underlying limitations that bumped up against even the Bernsteinite position. To give an example, when the Swedish SAP in the 1970s attempted to introduce "wage earner funds" that would gradually and peacefully transfer ownership of corporations into the hands of unions (co-opertization rather than nationalization), it caused an immediate freakout, whereby the Swedish employers essentially pulled out of the grand bargain, began funding anti-fund protests and right-wing propaganda, all eventually leading to the SAP losing control of government for the first time since the 1930s.

So I think there's a hard limit to how far even social democrats can see socialism and capitalism as complementary, because at a certain point, capitalism will fight back rather than be euthanized.

(See Kalecki on this point.)

[rollercoasterwords]

hey rae! what piece of medias would you recommend to someone who is interested in gender studies and have done some readings (woolf, davis, a bit of de beauvoir) but overall don't know how to start? have a lovely day!

i've answered a few similar questions, so i'll include links to those answers here: [link 1] [link 2] [link 3] [link 4] [link 5] [link 6]

will likely be repeating myself a bit here re: those other answers bc i tend to recommend the same texts repeatedly to people asking about where to start with gender studies lol but! i think leslie feinberg's writing is a really great place to start--it tends to be very easy to read and honestly i think trans perspectives are a crucial foundation for gender studies (i really enjoyed 'trans liberation: beyond pink and blue'). bell hooks is also a good starting point if you're looking for a sort of feminism 101 jumping-off point, because she specifically wrote to be accessible + easy to understand ('feminism is for everybody' might be a good starting point). audre lorde's essays are also a good starting point ('sister outsider,' 'the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house,' etc). i know u said you've already read some davis, but 'women, race & class' is another good intro text.

i also usually encourage people to check out judith butler's 'performative acts and gender constitution,' but that one is a bit tougher to tackle if gender studies is still a new/unfamiliar field to you (still worth reading, imo, but just keep in mind it might feel frustrating at first + require some re-reading or slower reading to absorb what butler's saying!).

+ there are of course the various other texts recommended in those linked posts above! hope this is helpful ik it can be intimidating to figure out where to start but honestly there's no correct order or progression for learning about this stuff; just read what catches your eye and sparks ur interest!

[sshbpodcast]

Won’t someone think of the children?! A Gwyndala Appreciation Post

By Ames

Okay, I meant to only do a Rok-Tahk appreciation post because a) she’s the best and b) who has the time to write all these blogposts? But I just can’t help myself. The community’s efforts to #SaveStarTrekProdigy have motivated me to keep the posts going, so here’s some more love for Star Trek: Prodigy. These installments probably won’t be as intense as the Rok post, but check out what makes Gwyndala such a great character.

[images © CBS/Paramount… I guess? For now? Yikes.]

Gwyn has parent baggage

As we mentioned back in our parents of Trek blogpost, a lot of characters get the backstory of having terrible or absent parents that forms the foundation of their personality. And The Diviner does just that for his progeny Gwydala. His shitty parenting forms so much of her character’s journey. She’s started off with so much pressure on her shoulders to complete his life’s work even though she doesn’t even know what that is yet. Like those put on Wesley by The Traveler in “Where No One Has Gone Before,” the expectations are really hard to live up to, especially when Gwyn learns they are at odds with being the kind of person she naturally wants to be. Writers out there take note: Now that’s some good inner conflict!

Gwyn is Vau N’Akat

I’m a sucker for some good time travel stories, and the whole backstory of Gwyn’s race the Vau N’Akat is sure to win someone like me over. I’ll be honest, this plotline is a little complicated for a kid’s show, but once you wrap your mind around it, it’s absolutely fascinating. The Federation somehow botched first contact on the planet Solum in the near future, and the Vau N’Akat nearly destroyed themselves in a civil war. It’s really a refreshing twist to see the Federation blow something this badly, and for a society to not prance willingly into joining up. Time passes, and Chakotay stumbles through a wormhole in the Protostar fifty years into a future in which this species has nearly destroyed itself, so they all go back in time to try to destroy the Federation. The season one finale of Prodigy sets it up for season two to put even more responsibility on Gwyn to try to save her people… Fingers crossed that we get to see it.

Gwyn starts off on the wrong side

For the first few episodes of the season, Gwyn is at odds with the rest of the Protostar crew. The conflict within her is between doing what she perceives to be right and what would make her father proud of her, and those two things are rarely the same. It takes until “Terror Firma” for Gwyn to see that her father has never had her interests in mind, and then she’s able to cross to the good side. Starting a character off with an entirely different goal than the other characters (they all want to leave Tars Lamora and she wants to return to The Diviner) is Storytelling 101. It gives the characters natural tension and an opportunity to either come together or split apart. Happily for us, Gwyn proves to be at her best when she is with her crewmates.

Gwyn makes up for her years of silence

There’s an excellent scene in “Starstruck” in which Rok tells off Gwyn for standing by for so long while the prisoners on Tars Lamora were treated horribly. And Gwyn really struggles with this! She’d been stuck under her father’s boot for so long, unable to act according to her own wishes. Even when she tries to stand up for the young pink cat thing in “Lost and Found,” you know it’s not going to go anywhere. I complained in my Children in Star Trek post that kid characters too often are props for the episode to make a point, and Gwyn fights against that plot device to become her own character. She finds her voice (a really appropriate character journey for a natural linguist like Gwyn) when she finally speaks up for the unwanted of the prison planet and ultimately helps to free them. Now that’s a person I want to be in catboots with!

We love you, Gwyndala! We love the other crew members of the Protostar too! We love Star Trek: Prodigy! Check out the other character appreciation posts for Rok-Tahk, Dal R’El, Jankom Pog, and Zero while you’re here. I know I can speak for not only the other hosts here at A Star to Steer Hey By but for myriad other fans when I seriously hope someone picks up this wonder of a show. We’re really looking forward to seeing more from these amazing child characters, and we’re seriously wishing we get that opportunity. #SaveStarTrekProdigy

[packernet]

New Post has been published on https://www.packernet.com/blog/2024/07/12/fantasy-football-101-how-to-build-your-dream-team-as-a-packers-fan/

Fantasy Football 101: How to Build Your Dream Team as a Packers Fan

Picture Credit

Fantasy football offers an exciting way to engage with the NFL, especially if you’re a devoted Packers fan. Building your dream team requires strategy, knowledge, and a bit of luck. This guide will help you assemble a competitive fantasy team with a Green Bay flavor.

Understanding Fantasy Football Basics

Before diving into the specifics of creating a Packers-themed fantasy team, it’s crucial to understand the basics of fantasy football.

How Fantasy Football Works

Fantasy football involves drafting real NFL players to form a team that scores points based on their real-life performances. Each week, your fantasy team’s players earn points for their on-field achievements, such as touchdowns, yards gained, and receptions. The goal is to outscore your opponents by assembling the best possible roster. Paying attention to the Packers NFL spread can provide insights into their expected performance, which is useful when drafting or setting your lineup.

The Draft: Your Team’s Foundation

The draft is the most important event in fantasy football. It’s where you select the players who will form your team for the season. There are different types of drafts, including standard, auction, and keeper leagues. Understanding these formats helps you prepare effectively.

Building Your Packers-Themed Fantasy Team

Now that you understand the basics, let’s focus on creating a fantasy team with a Green Bay Packers twist.

Prioritize Key Packers Players

When building a Packers-themed team, prioritize drafting top players from Green Bay. Here are a few key players to consider:

Josh Jacobs (RB): Acquired from the Raiders, Jacobs is likely to get the bulk of the carries over A.J. Dillon. Jacobs is great for PPR leagues, with the ability to not just rack up yards and touchdowns on the ground but also catches through the air. The last time Jacobs played a full season, he led the NFL with 1,653 rushing yards. 

Christian Watson (WR): He is a bit of a gamble because of his injury history, but if he can stay on the field, Watson provides big play potential. In 20 starts, Watson already has 12 touchdowns in his young career, several of those on long passes. If you’re nervous about Watson staying healthy, consider drafting Romeo Doubs or Jayden Reed who also have the ability to rack up yards and scores.

Jaire Alexander and Xavier McKinney (DB): If you’re in an IDP (Individual Defensive Player) Draft, consider drafting these two secondary stars who can contribute significantly to your team’s defense. In regular drafts, drafting the Packers Team Defense will also help your roster. The Packers forced 11 fumbles in 2023, ranking No. 8 in the league.

Balance Packers Players with Other NFL Stars

While it’s tempting to fill your roster with Packers players, balance is key. To create a competitive team, you need players from other teams who can fill gaps and provide consistent points.

Focus on Strong Offense and Defense

A successful fantasy team requires a mix of solid offensive and defensive players. In addition to drafting Packers stars, consider top performers in other positions from different teams. This strategy ensures you have a well-rounded team that can compete each week.

Drafting Strategy Tips

Your draft strategy can make or break your season. Here are some tips to help you draft effectively:

Do Your Research

Research is essential. Stay updated on player statistics, injury reports, and team dynamics. Knowing which players are poised for a breakout season or who might underperform can give you an edge.

Mock Drafts Are Your Friend

Participate in mock drafts to practice your drafting strategy. Mock drafts simulate the real thing and help you understand where players might be picked. This practice helps you refine your approach and build confidence.

Be Flexible

While it’s great to have a plan, flexibility is crucial. If a top Packers player is taken before your turn, have backup options. Adapt to the flow of the draft to ensure you’re making the best picks available.

Managing Your Team Throughout the Season

Drafting is just the beginning. Effective team management throughout the NFL season is vital to maintaining a competitive edge.

Monitor Player Performance

Regularly check player performances and make necessary adjustments to your lineup. If a player is underperforming or injured, be ready to make substitutions.

Stay Active on the Waiver Wire

The waiver wire is a pool of unclaimed players that you can add to your team. Stay active in this area to pick up emerging talent or replace injured players.

Trade Wisely

Trading can strengthen your team, but it requires careful consideration. Avoid impulsive decisions and evaluate how a trade will impact your overall team balance.

Conclusion

Building your dream fantasy football team as a Packers fan combines strategy, research, and a bit of loyalty. By prioritizing key Packers players, balancing your roster, and staying active throughout the season, you can create a competitive team that brings the excitement of the NFL right to your fingertips. 

[monsterfactoryfanfic]

Thanks for the tag @sohkrates! I fear my Work in Progress list is significantly shorter than yours, mostly because my tabletop work is limited to the occasional game/supplement and videos. The rest of the time I'm writing book(s)!

In Progress

Next video: ??? I spent a lot of energy on Spire and now I'm just searching for an angle. I think it might end up just being about my system-neutral supplement "Finley: A Midwest Fantasy" and how it's something of a goodbye to Indiana for me.

Next game: Not working on any tabletop writing right now!

Book: The pitch for working title Ravenous is "What if countries exploited during America's Cold War coups tried to assassinate Henry Kissinger, and also he was the pope, and also the Church created Kaiju for the US military?" Basically doing a full rewrite because the first draft was not working, but hope to have around 70k of that by November!

Trunked/Maybe Will Return To

Games: I was collaborating with Dani Belonia on a Resistance game last year, and we just never got around to finishing it, but I think a lot of the setting stuff from that was really neat. The hydraheron from Finley actually originated there. Hopefully I can continue to recycle some of those ideas in future work!

Books: I've written about a book and a half that very few people have seen. The first, The Chains Nothing Can Break was my first novel and still is the creative work I'm most proud of. Marathis colonize Britain with steampunk mechas, a satire of both steampunk and adventure stories set in the Raj. Maybe one day we'll find a publisher. The other book, which I never titled, was about paleontologist necromancers who used magic crystals to do archeological digs, selling the bones of dinosaurs to be used in a war against sexy moth aliens. It was GREAT concept with TERRIBLE execution, ended up in some not great narrative territory, so I canned it. Will try to pull some stuff from it in the future, but yeah, sometimes you gotta take the L.

Would Like to Be In Progress

Games: Would still like to work on something with the resistance system, just because I think that's such a fun way to manage damage and consequences in a narrative-first format. But yeah, unfortunately I'm just better at setting/fluff than mechanics! Been writing for 6 years at this point, and only designing games for 2 (not counting D&D homebrewing lol). Anyway, if you're looking for a setting/fluff writer, I love that shit.

Videos: I definitely want to do something with Heart, just because Howitt and Taylor do a great job of building evocative worlds, but it'll be a while yet before I'm ready for another long one. I thought I might tackle Gubat Banwa, but it seems like DragonKid11 has that covered. Plus tactical games are a bit harder for me to get into, but who knows, maybe someday! I also posited the idea of doing a Tabletop 101 series last year, where I took a look at games that were considered foundational to the indie scene as it currently stands and why they were important. I think that might be a cool project, but like, how many more dives into Apocalypse World do we need at this point?

Books/short stories: Just off the top of my head- prophesied chosen one who is Dual Eligible for Medicare and Medicaid comes to slay private health insurance; fantasy retelling of the 2nd Punic War; examination of Lord of the Rings from the Orc/Haradrim pov largely based off of Charles W. Mills The Wretched of Middle Earth

Anyway, I'd love to see what folks like @titanomachyrpg, @goblinmixtape, @cassimothwin /@chasetheghost, and @kidnickgames are working on! No pressure if you don't care for these tagging games!

[my2phetaliaheadcanons]

2p Ancient Greece

Name: Kallistrate Karpusi

Age: 43 Human, 1800 Nation

Height: 5’0

Weight: 101 lbs.

Appearance: Kallistrate had long, wavy locks of bronze hair that rivaled the lushness of a thick Greek forest. Though near the end of her life, it became dappled with slivery strands of grey. These complimented her aquamarine eyes and olive skin beautifully.

Despite her fierceness in battle, she remained relatively unscarred and softly shaped. Many people around her envied the softness of her skin and often gossiped about how she maintained it. Some said it was a gift of the Gods while others thought it was witchcraft.

During times of peace, she would wear light silk tonics as she enjoyed the summer sun. The bottoms of her togas were often dusted from the dirty hands of her sons, it was one of her favorite things. 

On the other hand, when she was forced to go to war. A bronze breastplate with linen fabric was what she chose to wear. The bronze would protect her vitals, but she would go a step further by adding linen to her arms, legs, and throat for additional protection.

Personality: Kallistrate was a woman of tradition. She would uphold these foundations of society like they were a lifeline. For her belief was, without them, she would fall to the wayside. This could best be seen in how she led her home. There was not any mercy given to servants for failing to meet her expectations of her sons’ rearing or maintenance of the home. It was why many kings feared her presence; for it meant that someone, somewhere had turned their back on what made Greece great.

Despite her disciplined lifestyle, she was heavily maternal. Many times, she was putting the happiness and well-being of her sons over her own. This resulted in many moments where one could see her face soften. A look of tender love as her sons convinced her of one thing or another. The most famous example being a young Greece getting to sleep with his puppies.

Dead: Yes, Turkey made the final blow.

Weapon: Doru, xiphos, and aspis

Family:  Greece, Cyprus

ETC: Just like her 1p, Kallistrate was a fierce fighter. Due to the harsh environment, she was raised in, Kallistrate often hid the fact she was a woman during times of war. It resulted in her becoming a master of vocal manipulation and incredible at creating disguises. They were so good that the current king would only know.

She was a woman who longed for a mortal life with her sons. To no longer go to war. To enjoy the simple farm life. Kallistrate could have had a husband who loved her. A life where she could have watched her sons grow up and start their own families, but sadly it wasn’t meant to be.

[ananke-xiii]

(TW- fictional incest) What do you think about the possibility of a romantic relationship between Sam & Mary? Like not in a 'I ship this' way, but rather in a 'that's something that would be interesting to see explored in thr story' way. I am aware that SPN, for all it’s blood and blasphemy, was not a grownup enough show to handle that dynamic in a sophisticated way. Thoughts?

Thank you for your question and wow, this is a really big one, I’m not sure I can answer in a satisfying way but I’ll do my best!

I’ve broken down your question in three parts, let’s start from the easiest :P

"The show was not grownup enough to handle that dynamic in a sophisticated way":

I think one of the reasons why SPN is so loved and has inspired so many people to write *things (fanfics, articles, metas, you name it)* about it is because it’s so rich in terms of myths it’s insane. I’m not simply referring to “the lore” but, from a storytelling pov, you can explore so many themes it’s difficult to choose from: two brothers’ rivalry, the spouse’s blind vengeance for their partner’s death, the mother dying to protect her son, offspring carrying the sins of their parents (just to name a few)… I mean, literally it’s crazy, this is the stuff ancient mythology is made of.

So, on one hand, I give credit where credit is due and, in this case, to SPN writers because they somehow managed to weave (not always successfully) all these difficult threads together. The show lasted for 15 seasons because the actors were hot, yes, but also because the storytelling foundations were solid. On the other hand, it was maybe “a little bit of everything all of the time” and this translated sometimes into superficiality, some other times into “let’s sacrifice the plot on the altar of X theme” and it didn’t always work out.

I’m saying all this because, after s5, the biggest event in terms of foundational themes is the return of Mary. Carver spent his tenure as showrunner to reach that apex and it was a pity that he wasn’t the one who completed that arc. I think he was an interesting writer and he was clearly heavily invested into exploring the theme of family and the taboos pertaining to it. To sum it up: the show could’ve handled Mary and Sam’s relationship, they had all the raw materials ready to use and indeed they used them. How? Let’s see…

 “that's something that would be interesting to see explored in the story”:

I think that they’ve explored their relationship in s12. One of the possible readings for Mary in that season is that they basically gave her the 101 of s1-5 Sam’s arc. Mary is similar to Sam, like a lot. At least she's so narratively speaking. She starts off being thrown back in a world she didn’t want to be part of anymore and ends up in a different dimension with Lucifer. Sounds familiar?

The relationship between Sam and Mary, however, is not so much portrayed in much needed screen-time between the two characters (to my distress) but it’s prevalently mirrored in their MOTW episodes. And, let me tell you, it’s not a good one. I’d like to explore each episode but I don’t want to kidnap your precious time on this planet so I’ll just use “American Nightmare” as an example (also because it’s a great episode).

Yes, Magda has psychic abilities so the parallel with Sam is blatant. She is also considered The Devil by her mother. Oh-oh. She’s also a prisoner who’s forced to torture herself and bleed for her sins. Oh shit. Sam is pissed at Gail, Magda’s mother (“God didn't kill your daughter. You did”). Later, Gail will try to murder her whole family, her husband’s the first to go, then her son steps in to protect Magda and, eventually, Sam manages to convince Magda not to kill her mother. Meanwhile, Sam is tied up to a chair, unable to do anything but screaming. I thinks he feels a bit castrated. Interesting. From what I can infer, Sam is subconsciously livid at this mother. He hasn’t healed his separation wound. This is why he’s the first to smell something’s off with Mary even though she’s basically a stranger to him. This is also why he doesn’t even make an attempt at reaching her, the ties between them are very much severed. Of course, consciously he wants to know his mother and play the good-kid role for her. But scratch that surface and Sam’s totally not okay with Mary. And what about her? She feels guilty. Guilty for her past actions and guilty because she understandably doesn’t feel a real connection with the two adults in front of her. So she does the Sammest thing ever (but levelled-up) and asks for space to breathe. You see, it’s very very complicated.

The show has explored their relationship but only in the foreground and only via the MOTW episodes. Dean’s got his moment with Mary because, of course, this is also about him and he had to have it but, from the story pov, he was also the reason why she was back on earth so, you know, they had to complete that arc for him. That was okay with me as I was hoping that s13 had something more in store but it was a total disappointment as far as Mary and Sam’s relationship is concerned (well, tbh, it was a disappointment as far as everything is concerned but okay). So, again, to sum it up: I think the show explored Sam and Mary’s relationship specifically in s12 but what we’re offered is nothing exceptionally encouraging because there is a rift between them (seriously, s12 ends with a literal rift: symbolically it represents birth as both coming into the world and being separated from the world: the ties between The Mother and The Son are forever severed).

"a romantic relationship between Sam & Mary":

It’s time for the difficult part. Surprisingly, it’s also something I think about a lot.

Short premise: I adhere to a school of thought according to which stories are ways to explore our conscious and unconscious mind (mostly the second). Characters in a story play the role of some of the parts of our mind we cannot reach. For instance, I believe that it’s possible to interpret siblings in a story as the different side of the same coin representing a single part of our mind. Basically, siblings in story symbolize opposite things that must be integrated in order to move on. In a word, everything I’ll say from now on must be interpreted as symbolical.

As I said, I think that Sam and Mary’s relationship’s main feature is separation. Interestingly, there’s an ancient myth that combines the themes of motherhood, separation, romantic union and… castration. I’m talking about the myth of Attis which, I believe, could’ve been a way to explore Sam and Mary’s relationship.

Like all ancient myths revolving around the archetype of the Great Mother there are many different versions of this story. This is one of them (I apologize in advance for the deplorable retelling of such an ancient and fascinating myth): Agdistis was an ancient hermaphrodite deity closely related to the cult of The Great Mother of whom other deities were afraid of. They decided to tie them to a tree and evirate them. From their male genitalia an almond tree was born. Nana, the daughter of a river-god, picked one almond and became pregnant with Attis. He was later abandoned and raised by goats. Agdistis met him and fell in love with him. Attis was supposed to marry the king’s daughter and Agdistis, in the grip of jealousy, made Attis go insane and he ended up evirating himself by a tree.

Why am I talking about castration and mothers? Well, because this is a story about the separation wound, specifically pertaining to virility. It’s also a story that ends where it begins and this is exactly there s12 starts and ends too. Imo, it can be applied to Sam and Mary, too. Agdistis (Mary) being The Great Mother, the Alpha and the Omega, is separated from something that’s theirs in a brutal and coercive way. They are tied up and dismembered. Attis is born because of a violent act of separation that he’s forced to repeat. Sam as Attis also ends up tied up and dismembered in a brutal and coercive way. He has no voice at all. The two are basically the same person because they were the same person before separation happened. I know this all sounds sad but in ancient Rome they used to have a festival in Attis honor where people whipped themselves (just like Magda, come to think of it) to symbolize Attis’ castration and consequent death and, the next day, they would celebrate his resurrection (it’s a festival closely associated with Easter and it was celebrated around the same period, i.e. spring equinox).

To sum up: romantic relationship can’t even begin to cover how messed up Sam and Mary’s relationship is. We’re talking about The Love Above All, the unconditional love, something that, unfortunately, Sam has never discovered in the series. Mary was an opportunity for him to integrate this part and be able to move on a little with his life. Mary’s a bit different because in s13 we see that her guilt eases up a bit as she sees the world where she didn’t make the choices she made. Still, in terms of her relationship with Sam, working together, getting to know him would have maybe worked wonders in accepting that a part of her life was taken from her forever but that didn’t mean that all is lost. Reconnection and reunion are always possibilities.

Okay, wow, that was a lot. I still don’t know if I was up to the task, I did my best! Thanks again for your question, again, it’s a big one but I loved writing about it! I hope you enjoyed reading it (fingers crossed)!