#but so is being able to communicate effectively with other human beings

[reasonsforhope]

Pictured: Luis Cassiano is the founder of Teto Verde Favela, a nonprofit that teaches favela residents in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, how to build their own green roofs as a way to beat the heat. He's photographed at his house, which has a green roof.

Article

"Cassiano is the founder of Teto Verde Favela, a nonprofit that teaches favela residents how to build their own green roofs as a way to beat the heat without overloading electrical grids or spending money on fans and air conditioners. He came across the concept over a decade ago while researching how to make his own home bearable during a particularly scorching summer in Rio.

A method that's been around for thousands of years and that was perfected in Germany in the 1960s and 1970s, green roofs weren't uncommon in more affluent neighborhoods when Cassiano first heard about them. But in Rio's more than 1,000 low-income favelas, their high cost and heavy weight meant they weren't even considered a possibility.

That is, until Cassiano decided to team up with a civil engineer who was looking at green roofs as part of his doctoral thesis to figure out a way to make them both safe and affordable for favela residents. Over the next 10 years, his nonprofit was born and green roofs started popping up around the Parque Arará community, on everything from homes and day care centers, to bus stops and food trucks.

When Gomes da Silva heard the story of Teto Verde Favela, he decided then and there that he wanted his home to be the group's next project, not just to cool his own home, but to spread the word to his neighbors about how green roofs could benefit their community and others like it.

Pictured: Jessica Tapre repairs a green roof in a bus stop in Benfica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Relief for a heat island

Like many low-income urban communities, Parque Arará is considered a heat island, an area without greenery that is more likely to suffer from extreme heat. A 2015 study from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro showed a 36-degree difference in land surface temperatures between the city's warmest neighborhoods and nearby vegetated areas. It also found that land surface temperatures in Rio's heat islands had increased by 3 degrees over the previous decade.

That kind of extreme heat can weigh heavily on human health, causing increased rates of dehydration and heat stroke; exacerbating chronic health conditions, like respiratory disorders; impacting brain function; and, ultimately, leading to death.

But with green roofs, less heat is absorbed than with other low-cost roofing materials common in favelas, such as asbestos tiles and corrugated steel sheets, which conduct extreme heat. The sustainable infrastructure also allows for evapotranspiration, a process in which plant roots absorb water and release it as vapor through their leaves, cooling the air in a similar way as sweating does for humans.

The plant-covered roofs can also dampen noise pollution, improve building energy efficiency, prevent flooding by reducing storm water runoff and ease anxiety.

"Just being able to see the greenery is good for mental health," says Marcelo Kozmhinsky, an agronomic engineer in Recife who specializes in sustainable landscaping. "Green roofs have so many positive effects on overall well-being and can be built to so many different specifications. There really are endless possibilities.""

Pictured: Summer heat has been known to melt water tanks during the summer in Rio, which runs from December to March. Pictured is the water tank at Luis Cassiano's house. He covered the tank with bidim, a lightweight material conducive for plantings that will keep things cool.

A lightweight solution

But the several layers required for traditional green roofs — each with its own purpose, like insulation or drainage — can make them quite heavy.

For favelas like Parque Arará, that can be a problem.

"When the elite build, they plan," says Cassiano. "They already consider putting green roofs on new buildings, and old buildings are built to code. But not in the favela. Everything here is low-cost and goes up any way it can."

Without the oversight of engineers or architects, and made with everything from wood scraps and daub, to bricks and cinder blocks, construction in favelas can't necessarily bear the weight of all the layers of a conventional green roof.

That's where the bidim comes in. Lightweight and conducive to plant growth — the roofs are hydroponic, so no soil is needed — it was the perfect material to make green roofs possible in Parque Arará. (Cassiano reiterates that safety comes first with any green roof he helps build. An engineer or architect is always consulted before Teto Verde Favela starts a project.)

And it was cheap. Because of the bidim and the vinyl sheets used as waterproof screening (as opposed to the traditional asphalt blanket), Cassiano's green roofs cost just 5 Brazilian reais, or $1, per square foot. A conventional green roof can cost as much as 53 Brazilian reais, or $11, for the same amount of space.

"It's about making something that has such important health and social benefits possible for everyone," says Ananda Stroke, an environmental engineering student at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro who volunteers with Teto Verde Favela. "Everyone deserves to have access to green roofs, especially people who live in heat islands. They're the ones who need them the most." ...

It hasn't been long since Cassiano and the volunteers helped put the green roof on his house, but he can already feel the difference. It's similar, says Gomes da Silva, to the green roof-covered moto-taxi stand where he sometimes waits for a ride.

"It used to be unbearable when it was really hot out," he says. "But now it's cool enough that I can relax. Now I can breathe again."

-via NPR, January 25, 2025

[burntoutdaydreamer]

Worldbuilding and Magic Systems: Things to Consider

Have a magic system in mind for your fantasy world? Here's a list of things to consider to help you tie this system into the rest of your worldbuilding, so that it feels more believable and realistic.

Source

What is the source of magic? Is it natural or man-made? Can humans use magic or is it a force of nature that only animals or other races can use?

Does magic originate from inside a person or does it require external items to use? If it comes from items, can the items be made? How long does it take to make the items?

Does the magic cost anything- money, stamina, health, etc.?

Can a person be cut off from being able to use magic? If so, how?

Prevalence

How common is magic in your world? Is it so common that everyone has seen it or is it a subject of myths and rumors?

How long have the people in your world known about magic? Has it always been there or is it a new discovery?

How much does the average person know about magic? How much do experts know? What do people not understand about this magic? Are there any common misconceptions? Myths?

Is magic revered or feared? Or if it's common, is it taken for granted? Are there any taboos surrounding magic?

How many types of magic are there? Are some more common than others?

Are there dedicated schools of thought surrounding the study of magic? Is it taught about in schools? If so, is it taught to children or only at the college (or equivalent) level?

Accessibility

Who can use magic? Who can't? Is it something that only the rich and powerful can use? Why? Or do genetics determine who can use it? Wealth?

Are there any physical limitations that might restrict who can use magic? For instance, maybe old or sickly people can't use magic because it requires a lot of physical effort. Does your society provide accommodations for people who can't use magic? Is a lack of magic ability considered a disability?

Does education level determine capacity for magic?

How easy is it to gain access to magic? How easy is it to learn about magic?

Power/Usefulness

How powerful or useful is magic for different parts of society? Military? Medicine? Entertainment? Art? Childcare? Government? Communication? Business?

How does magic affect the politics of your world? How does it shape the economy? Are there feuds over the use of magic? Do powerful groups in your world have an incentive to limit the use and accessibility of magic? Why?

What happens when people no longer have access to magic? Does this cripple their ability to go through their daily lives? How?

Mix, match, and cross-reference these with other elements of your worldbuilding to form a believable magic system that lives and breaths just as the rest of your world does. For every answer you give to the questions above, consider and build upon the implications of what that might mean for your world. A worldbuilder's best skill is the ability to ask "How will this affect ___?" So make sure you're always considering the ripple effects of each element you add to your world.

Happy worldbuilding y'all!

[elftwink]

tbh if you worry about people secretly disliking or being annoyed by you despite reassurance to the contrary AND you are someone who says "no worries" or "its okay" when there are worries and it isn't okay, those two things are extremely correlated. idk enough about the human brain to claim a causal relationship but just from personal experience it is much easier to accept that other people aren't just placating you and mean what they say if you yourself stop responding to everything with platitudes you don't mean just to avoid conflict. btw the easiest way to stop doing this is not to have the awareness in the moment that's what you're doing (that will come with time and practice) but rather later when you're annoyed and justifying to yourself why they should Just Know it's not okay because of xyz subtle social cues, you have to stop yourself then. and you have to recognize that that's a deeply unfair way to treat someone. and if you aren't able, for whatever reason, to reach out to them and say "hey i know i said everything was fine but it really isn't and i would like something to change", then at the VERY LEAST you MUST be able to say "well I told them it's okay so until such time as I am ready to retract that and discuss this openly, it will have to be okay". this goes quadruple if someone's behaviour is annoying you and you're acting annoyed but when asked directly you go "haha no its fine!" like idc what cues you're using it will never be enough to counter that you directly told them that behaviour is fine with you. it is unfair and cruel to enforce boundaries you never communicated. you cannot tell people how much you love being a doormat and then get mad when they walk over you. and going back to the original point of this post, you will NEVERRR believe that others mean what they say if you never mean what you say. i know we're all just joking around but mentalities like "[throwing up blood angrier than ive ever been in my life] haha sounds good!!" are poisoning you they are ruining your relationships. conflict avoidance is so alluring but all it ever breeds is resentment. if you tell someone there's nothing to worry about, that is how they will act. and that's how they SHOULD act. if you say everything's fine when it isn't, YOU are the one in the wrong, YOU are the one who isn't communicating effectively enough, and the onus is on YOU to fix it or live with it. if you ever ever ever want to believe that people mean what they say, you have to start by meaning what YOU say.

[shotofstress]

Coming back after being almost a week without electricity, phone, and internet connection. Huge storms with lightning and rain, and winds. We have never have winds like that here and the roof of so many houses were ripped off, stuff flying, etc. All this bc global warming, and the deforestation and mining in our lands. At this rate, in 5 years we will have tornadoes, a thing we have never ever have here. Nor our lands, infrastructures, states, and culture are prepared for this. Areas of the country are devastated, ppl have died, many are without electricity nor Internet connection so they are isolated. The houses are flooding with water, and the ones that not, are leaking from the ceiling. Too many neighbours and compatriots don't have roofs and the streets are full of fallen trees and pieces of roof material, no electricity, no signal, food rotting, but suffering at the same time for the cold of this terrible winter, and trying to do something, patching even when its gonna go to hell when the storm comes again this next days. More than 33,200 people affected and 41,500 isolated due to 5 days of rain and windstorms. In just a couple of days there were 170,000 homes left without power due to wind and rainstorms and even more as time went by.

If u want to help me to fix the roof, walls, to buy food and being warm this winter please check my PayPal. If u can't donate, please reblog bc thats the only way to make this being seen by ppl thus receiving help. I'm really not being able to keep living like this, i can no longer cope, so please share.

Here are in my PayPal or MACH . I took the kofi link bc they were charging me a fee.

Please, educate about global warming and the effects on Global South, specially for working class, chronically ill, autistic, disable, and long covid survivor ppl like myself.

Edit: I added links and pics

Edit: the weather is better (is finally spring at this current date 24th nov), but I still need to fix were I live/sleep bc the walls are broken and one of the walls is not a wall, but like 1cm wide stuff and all was bad build so even the door is twisted and dont work correctly, there is black mold that i think is damaging my ears, the paint is falling, the lamp has fallen, everything is broken and ugly, etc. I still need to buy food, meds, and everything so please, please, share or donate if you could. I don't want to survive like this and here, no one mask even when they were the ones giving me covid and they have making me also catch flu the other day bc they cogh over everything and don't care if they kill me, they are abusive and really violent people and are working to put me and everyone in danger. I dont even want to be in my country bc we will have a dictatorship soon, but I have nowhere else to go nor money to migrate (i need like $10.537 dollars or € 9.760,95 euros to pay all the documents, the bank money I have to show to prove I am a human being deserver of rights, the tickets, rent money and stuff to migrate).

I currently (date 14 Jan 2025) have $100 dollars donated (coz i spent 40 in food and meds this past month)

I know i will die here, but at least help me to survive in a less dehumanising way.

Edit: tumblr has blocked me from recive or send messages from the chat and comment of posts, so if you are trying to reach throughout there I can't see it, sorry, I'm cut from any communication (cant even see past messages from chat or asks), except send asks. I'm waiting that tumblr do something, but still hasn't even answered the help file I sent to them.

[lanalace]

Gifts Given [Yandere Merman x FemReader]

Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Word count: 2,328

Summary: Nero Sol Nifan has waited for a mate for years while suffering from the madness that came as a side effect of the power he was bestowed. One day, he met you. His salvation. The only obstacle is that you were human. However, that was only an obstacle for you because he doesn’t plan to let you go.

Chapter 1 - Lost and Found

Life was a routine. Wake up, hunt, sleep and repeat. Occasionally the merman would share in song with the rest of his kind but that was it. He hated it. He was forever bored and life just felt mundane. Nero Sol Nifan was a 250 years old merman. He had reached maturity at 200 and had expected to find his mate within the first decade but no such luck. For a being so highly valued, it crushed his spirits. 

Most merfolk found their mates within the first decade of reaching reproductive age, so why hadn’t he? Every decade after that was just an insult to injury. It was an open wound that grew larger with each year that passed without finding his mate and he was becoming desperate, though he would never show it on the outside.

He was told by an elder that most unmated males felt this way at his age and that this was quite normal to feel anxious and desperate. But being unmated for years would start to dull the outlook on life and not a single female that has sought him out was his fated one. None so much as interests him. Every mermaid had a destined match, however that never stopped them from copulating until the day they found their mate.  He had both females and males fawn over him, within and outside of the mating cycles. But he rejected every single one of them. ‘If swimming to warmer waters was not ingrained in my biology, I would avoid it all together.’ Merfolk could enjoy each other's bodies whenever they pleased but only during mating cycles could offspring be produced and that's usually when most of his kind met their fated partner. 

He still held hope that he would be able to find his mate despite his age. So he made sure to always carry the betroval item in a white satchel around his hip, inside was a bracelet of brilliant large baroque pearls and shiny yellow gold spacers. It was of the highest quality and extremely rare/hard to acquire which is why he was the only merman to have such jewels grace his body and soon so would his person who he’d live out his days with. For now, having to watch the rest of his kind find their pair and their release in each other every year while he could not just enraged him. He was almost tempted to kill some of those pretentious merfolk. He could do so very easily but he decided against it. He could do it so very easily.

Nero Sol Nifan was the strongest, priding himself on becoming most desirable for when he found his future mate. Due to him not finding his mate for many cycles, he focused on honing his skill, reaching new heights that others previously could not. Now he was almost twice the size of a normal mermen, more muscular than the rest of his kind which would usually put him at a disadvantage for being so dense. It did mark him slower, however, that didn’t last long, he had trained his body night and day to be the fastest. Not only that, due to his intense training, he developed a power, a gift believed to be given from the great goddess of the sea. He had gained the ability to not only communicate telepathically with all sea life but he could also manipulate them freely to do his bidding. This made the fear, envy and love of him grow. He was like a God among his people.

Though his people viewed it as a gift, he couldn’t completely see it as such. Telepathy was a very useful skill to have but it was not within his control. It doesn’t turn off and more often than not, it was absolutely maddening. He was subjected to countless screams of pain, secrets he didn’t care to know, hatred, envy, unwanted depraved desires from unworthy mermaids. All of it was simply too much. As a result, he quickly began isolating himself, moving farther and further away from merfolk and into less populated waters. He was hoping distance might somehow help with the constant radio noise in his head. But he found it within an underwater cave, instead.

There cave was huge. It looked like an enclosed beach. There were bioluminescent fungi scattered along the ceiling and walls, giving the cave an almost magical feel. He looked at the beautiful glow of the cave, watching the pool leading to the ocean reflect off of the jagged walls. 

“Magnificent.” He said under his breath. He had never seen such a wondrous sight this deep under water. 

Nero Sol Nifan beached himself on the sandy floor of the cave, slipping his massive silver-white tail out of the water and curling it by his side. The moment he did that the noise in his head quieted down just a bit. It was still ever so present but it took the edge off. 

“Why is it that I was cursed by you, my goddess?” He spoke to the pool of water before him. He was expecting a response of some kind but was met with silence, the surface only reflecting his beautiful, milky face back at him. How he wished that he could go back to the time where he thought life was mundane. 

He sighed and laid himself down on a nearby rock that could pass as somewhat of a diving board. He was angry with the goddess, he cursed her name in his head and his hatred built for this deceitful deity who had taken his sanity. But he needed to rest. 

50 years later~

Nero Sol Nifan woke up to the sound of fish screaming in his head. He never got use to this day in and day out chaotic noise. He looked a little worse for wear since the days before his life became his own personal hell. His eyes looked dull, dark circles have taken up permanent residence under his eyes, tinged with red from the endless stress. His handsome face looked a bit haggard but that was not enough to take away much from his beauty. 

He dragged himself out of his cave and into the water. He hadn’t eaten in a few days, wishing to just parish within the walls of his cave. But today, something told him to go out. He didn’t understand the urgency amidst the buzzing chatter in his mind but he followed his instincts.

The white tailed merman swam out into the open ocean in search of his next meal. He felt uneasy today but brushed it off. It happened to be a rather dreary day, the waters were turbulent and a bit colder than normal while the world above was crying heavily. He knew that he could simply manipulate any fish to come to him and have an easy meal but he enjoyed hunting. It gave him a chance to release a small bit of the madness that he lives with daily on his prey. 

That’s when he spotted a school of red snapper fish. The bright color caught his sharp lilac eyes in an instant and he was off. Speeding quickly in their direction, with his large tail pistoling him forward. The smaller prey was easily more elusive than a larger catch but he made quick work of them. Keeping up with the fast changing paths of the snappers, he allowed the chase to go on a tad bit longer than necessary before slicing through the school with his massive claws, skewering 8 of them onto his claws. That was enough for a meal so he indulged right then and there as the rest of the school swam off. 

He was pleased, this meal would sustain him for the next two days. With a full stomach, the handsome merman lazily began his journey back to his cave. Had the water been steady today he would have basked in the rays of the sun instead. 

“Unfortunate.” He grimaced to himself.

He didn’t get more than a few feet away from his original position when he heard and unusual crash behind him. The white hair merman turned tin the direction of the sound and what he saw confused him

“A human?”

‘What was a human doing so far away from land?’ He thought to himself. There were no ships in the water, he would have seen it. Heck, he would have heard all the fish nearby chattering about it. His tired eyes landed on the sinking figure and his heart tightened. He felt something akin to panic start to take over him. It had been so long since he had felt anything outside of rage or pity for himself. He had the human in his arms before he even realized that he moved to catch her.And just like that, his world grew quiet. Nero Sol Nifan’s face grew into an incredulous look and his body trembled. 

“I can’t hear anything anymore.” His eye expanded in shock as he slowly looked down at the human in his arms and his grip tightened around the creature’s body. 

With a clear mind for the first time in ages, the merman blew a large bubble around the girl, encasing her within the translucent orb. He swam full speed to his cave, reaching there in record time. He pushed the bubble to the surface of the pool and burst it, catching the being and resting her on the crystal like sand. He brought his head to her face and listened carefully but no sound escaped those lips. 

“No!” He cried out. ‘I will not lose my salvation the moment I finally have it.’

 He gripped the creature's shoulder and shook hard a few times, noting how small and fragile you felt in his hands. Unfortunately, that did not work either. His panic rose because he thought that the human might have died so he placed his hand on its head.

“Still warm.” He whispered and that knowledge calmed him. Thinking quickly, he performed the maneuver that he had witnessed sailors use on their own kind on several occasions by pressing his palm on breast bone and applying pressure repeatedly. He was careful of his strength, knowing he could break such weak bones easily. It took about 30 seconds before the human's eyes flew open and it sat up, coughing up water.

‘It actually worked.  Thank goodness that I was able to preserve this human life.’ He sighed with relief. The merman eye the frail thing as it continued coughing and sucking in air, he could only see the back of its head from where he sat. ‘It looks so weak compared to the ship dwellers.’ His thoughts stopped there because that object of his quiet thoughts turned to face him and met his inquisitive gaze. 

The moment their eyes met, his cold heart froze. It was as if time stopped in that moment as he looked upon the tiny human. She was female, with thick, long h/c hair clinging to her face and back. Her dazzling e/c eyes sparkled like jewels with the tears she had yet to fully shed and a small coral pink lips that attracted he wished to touch. His heart started back up and it throbbed in his chest. He never thought his cold heart would beat for a human. His body felt so hot from the top of his cheeks to the base of his tail. 

‘What is this? My body feels so hot. Almost like it is mating season yet different. I feel drawn to this creature. Could this be my mate? Is this what all my suffering was for? To make sure that I was kept pure for this little human?’ It was uncomfortable but strangely pleasant. It was like nothing he had ever felt before but he decided he liked the feeling. It was exciting. ‘So this is my mate. I have cursed the goddess of the sea everyday for the past five decades because of this damned curse but she not only bestowed me with power, she also has gifted me this precious female. I am terribly sorry goddess I have wronged you and been ungrateful and undeserving. I will never look down on the blessing you have provided me again. I will never question you again.’ 

He was so caught up in his own inner thoughts that hadn’t even realized how terrified his tiny mate-to-be looked. She eyed him with fascination and great fear while she inched away from him. He didn’t like that one bit, narrowing his eyes, he yelled at her.

“Stay!” 

But the little female squealed in response, throwing her small hands out in front of her in defense. Her little scream sounded melodic to his ears. He found himself wanting to hear her talk to him so he spoke again, this time gentler. 

“Female, you are safe. I have saved your life. I will not harm you.” He reached a webbed hand out to her slowly, intending to wipe away the tears on her cheeks. But the girl flinched away and started speaking in a rushed manner. 

“Please don’t eat me. Please don’t eat me. I promise I don’t taste good. Even sharks don’t like people meat. So please just stay where you are.” 

He retracted his arm and gave a small smile endearingly. Due to all the excitement, he had completely forgotten the language barrier. He did not understand her at all but her voice was so pretty and soft that he instantly liked it. It suited her feminine appearance well. If she had had a tail, he wouldn’t even blink twice and acknowledge her as a beautiful mermaid just based on her appearance and voice. 

Fast as lightning, he snatched the human's outstretched wrist and pulled her to him. Before she could so much as scream, the merman pressed his lips to her. 

[Chapter 2 is out!]

[read-marx-and-lenin]

I'm asking this in good faith, but this is something I'm genuinely confused about. Regarding the Holodomor, or the Soviet famine of 1930 in general, why does it matter if it was a genocide or not? At best it seems to be a natural famine exacerbated by poor decision making, and while that is far different from a genocide, I don't understand why that specification matters, because it was still made worse by Soviet intervention, unless I'm getting the facts wrong which I probably am.

It matters to the Western propagandists who were insistent for decades despite zero evidence that the famine was used to commit atrocities against the people of Ukraine. The refrain the whole time was that once the Soviet archives were made public, they'd finally have the proof they needed. The archives are eventually opened, and surprise surprise, there's not only no evidence of the deliberate withholding of grain, there's evidence of significant amounts of food aid being sent to help alleviate the famine. The myth of a Ukrainian genocide began as Nazi propaganda and was adopted as part of the "double genocide" narrative by Western reactionaries after WW2 to downplay the crimes of the Nazis and to maintain a narrative about liberal opposition to "authoritarianism", painting Western capitalists as the "free world" fighting against both fascism and communism. (Don't ask them why they stopped fighting fascism after WW2 though.)

As for the human elements of the famine, it is also part of the typical Western narrative, even among those who admit the Holodomor was not a targeted anti-Ukrainian genocide and who admit that there were environmental factors, to try and put substantial amounts of blame on the Soviet collectivization of agriculture. I am not going to lie and say collectivization went smoothly with no issues, but you cannot ignore the factors of reactionary sabotage by kulaks (including the destruction of animals and grain and the outright murder of party officials) and the effects of Western sanctions and sabotage on the economic development of the USSR.

While some have argued that there was a complete "gold blockade" on the USSR during the famine and so the Soviet Union was forced to export grain to facilitate international trade, the blockade was never enforced by all Western nations at the same time and the Soviets were still able to export gold and silver at various times throughout the 1920s. It is true, however, that gold reserves were stretched thin at the time and the Soviets simply didn't have enough gold to cover their international debts. Soviet gold mines had never been extraordinarily productive and the rest of the Soviet economy was still developing at the time, so grain was one of the few things that they expected to have in surplus. In addition, there were various other sanctions in place by 1930 that did limit who they could trade with and what they could trade with, but the export of grain was almost never restricted. The famine caught them off guard at a very bad time.

While international grain exports were restricted during the famine as grain was diverted to famine-stricken regions of the country (and grain imports were increased as well), the problems with hoarding only worsened as in the panic of the famine, kulaks sought to exploit the people and create a profitable black market on grain. A struggle against the kulaks coincided with worsening environmental effects and the spread of disease among both crops and humans.

The famine was not man-made, it was not entirely natural, and it was not the inevitable outcome of collectivization. It was a perfect storm of a variety of factors. Stalin was not some heartless monster condemning millions of Ukrainians to death for daring to defy the glorious Soviet Union. He was not some idiot who had no idea what he was doing, plunging the nation into famine out of ineptitude. He was not a stubborn maniac who refused to abandon failing economic policies even at the cost of human lives. He was a human being, one of many in charge of the Soviet Union, dealing with concurrent disasters as best as they could.

[trans-axolotl]

"Much ink has already been spilled on Harris’s prosecutorial background. What is significant about the topic of sex work is how recently the vice president–elect’s actions contradicted her alleged views. During her tenure as AG, she led a campaign to shut down Backpage, a classified advertising website frequently used by sex workers, calling it “the world’s top online brothel” in 2016 and claiming that the site made “millions of dollars from trafficking.” While Backpage did make millions off of sex work ads, its “adult services” listings offered a safer and more transparent platform for sex workers and their clients to conduct consensual transactions than had historically been available. Harris’s grandiose mischaracterization led to a Senate investigation, and the shuttering of the site by the FBI in 2018.

“Backpage being gone has devastated our community,” said Andrews. The platform allowed sex workers to work more safely: They were able to vet clients and promote their services online. “It’s very heartbreaking to see the fallout,” said dominatrix Yevgeniya Ivanyutenko. “A lot of people lost their ability to safely make a living. A lot of people were forced to go on the street or do other things that they wouldn’t have otherwise considered.” M.F. Akynos, the founder and executive director of the Black Sex Worker Collective, thinks Harris should “apologize to the community. She needs to admit that she really fucked up with Backpage, and really ruined a lot of people’s lives.”

After Harris became a senator, she cosponsored the now-infamous Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA), which—along with the House’s Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA)—was signed into law by President Trump in 2018. FOSTA-SESTA created a loophole in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the so-called “safe harbor” provision that allows websites to be free from liability for user-generated content (e.g., Amazon reviews, Craigslist ads). The Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that Section 230 is the backbone of the Internet, calling it “the most important law protecting internet free speech.” Now, website publishers are liable if third parties post sex-work ads on their platforms.

That spelled the end of any number of platforms—mostly famously Craigslist’s “personal encounters” section—that sex workers used to vet prospective clients, leaving an already vulnerable workforce even more exposed. (The Woodhull Freedom Foundation has filed a lawsuit challenging FOSTA on First Amendment grounds; in January 2020, it won an appeal in D.C.’s district court).

“I sent a bunch of stats [to Harris and Senator Diane Feinstein] about decriminalization and how much SESTA-FOSTA would hurt American sex workers and open them up to violence,” said Cara (a pseudonym), who was working as a sex worker in the San Francisco and a member of SWOP when the bill passed. Both senators ignored her.

The bill both demonstrably harmed sex workers and failed to drop sex trafficking. “Within one month of FOSTA’s enactment, 13 sex workers were reported missing, and two were dead from suicide,” wrote Lura Chamberlain in her Fordham Law Review article “FOSTA: A Hostile Law with a Human Cost.” “Sex workers operating independently faced a tremendous and immediate uptick in unwanted solicitation from individuals offering or demanding to traffic them. Numerous others were raped, assaulted, and rendered homeless or unable to feed their children.” A 2020 survey of the effects of FOSTA-SESTA found that “99% of online respondents reported that this law does not make them feel safer” and 80.61 percent “say they are now facing difficulties advertising their services.” "

-What Sex Workers Want Kamala Harris to Know by Hallie Liberman

[lycanlure]

Indestructible

Viltrumite Karina ft. Hero Wonyoung x Human m!reader

°==================================°

The universe is mysterious, yet it is vast. Unique species are living light-years away from each other. Sometimes they're close, sometimes they're not. And one particular species is considered the strongest, Viltrumites. War-mongering brutes that conquered planets, for dominance. Smart, calculative, strong, violent beings that strive in strength.

Their nation consists of strong and intelligent life forms that value strength over everything, if you're strong, you're considered a Viltrumite, show any form of weakness consider yourself dead.

Though their appearance might look like a certain species of life form yet they're far from them. The Humans, weak yet intelligent. They strive in a commune force, where they rely on each other's strength. While Viltrumites work alone, they tend to always do their jobs with ease by themselves.

This once thriving empire consists of diverse people, turned on each other. The weak and fragile were killed due to their belief that their Emperor is a benevolent being conquering planets for good. Yet some argued the Emperor is a weak, and fearful ruler. Not fit for the status "Emperor". So one by one killing one of their own, almost their population diminished. What is left was the strong and brutish Viltrumites that then overthrown and killed the former Emperor.

What was left then procreate, yet they were short. And then most of the strong and brutish Viltrumites were killed due to a Virus that killed most of the population in the diminishing the Viltrum Empire. It was, The Scurge Virus. The virus would weaken a Viltrumite, any regular blooded would instantly have the effects if the virus. Weaken immune system, bleeding noses, eyes bleeding. And unfortunately a slow and painful death would occur, now only a small margin was left due to the Scurge Virus. Now, only 50 were left.

How could they even try to get the Viltrum Empire back in its feet again? The empire decided to gather all the fit and strong and assign them with different planets, each of them must find out if those inhabitants of the planet are able to procreate with. And prepare their assigned planet for the arrival of the Empire.

??? POV

"Now Terra is assigned to you, also known as Earth. Thats what the inhabitants call their planet" The General told me as he was looking at his tablet.

"Procreate, and see if we're compatible to." He coldly ordered me as he looked at me blank in the eyes.

"And ready them for our arrival. If you have completed the first step." He ordered, his voice turned cold and stern.

"Yes, General Kreeg." I stood straight.

"Go, do not waste time" General Kreeg finally ordered.

As I got out of the ship, I blasted through the cosmos. Reaching light speeds, ensuring that I do not waste time.

Seeing the planet, I'm almost 3 light years away.

Y/N POV

I sighed as the waves were crashing softly on my feet. Laying on the sand, I looked up in the sky. Seeing all these stars aligning, made me wonder.

"I hope I can have someone that I can align with..."

I desperately whispered, as my hand reached the sky...

The water started to rise, like something was rising, the sea went from a calm and subtle to a raging, crashing waves that shook the sand. The sand shook, as I felt it shake. I ran away from the bay, seeing something emerge. I immediately called out for help and a Hero arrived. Glamour, a female hero...

"Do not be afraid, Glamour's here" The hero's voice echoed, as her voice eased every bystander that witnessed this monster rising from the depths of the ocean. While she flew past me, I saw her looking back at me. "This girl..." I giggled as I could sense she was smirking underneath the mask.

Glamor fought the sea beast with her magical powers, her power. Millennial Aegis, this magic was passed down by each Glamor before reaching their old age or death. But those attacks were not enough to subdue the beast, she tried her hardest but she only got a tentacle cut off from it.

??? POV

'I can see the planet' I instantly sped up, reaching their moon. I only flew by it and now I'm in their atmosphere but I sensed a Foreign Lifeform that existed on a previous planet you explored. Sensing the creature, I divert my attention to it. Finally beginning my journey, for the Viltrum Empire.

'Killing this beast can be my catalyst to create a relationship with these... Creatures' I spoke to myself as I came, crashing down on the beast head. Instantly killing it, my hands and face are covered in blood, it's blue and greeny of some sort. I stood slowly, emerging from the beasts squashed head. "Do not be afraid, I come in peace." I softly spoke, "Who are you?!" someone shouted, I looked up. "I was sent by the Viltrum Empire." The dust had settled, "I'm Glamour" the masked girl spoke to me, her hand reached out and I moved back a little. "Stand down." I said, "W-Woah, easy, easy there. It's just a friendly gesture" she stepped back and waved her hands. "U-Uh hello" A voice spoke out behind the beasts defeated and killed body, 'A male?' I thought to myself, He slowly approached me with some kind of device in his eyes. "I'm from the PDA, the Planetary Defence Agency, and can you introduce yourself?" The man spoke with authority, "I'm Karina.

Y/N POV

I slowly walked by the deceased monster and approached this alien. "My name is Y/N, Yu Y/N. From the PDA, the Planetary Defense Administration. Please state your business" I spoke sternly. She looked at me, and fear started to churn in my stomach, I sensed no emotion in this being, but the vitals... I know this might cause me my life but I need information on this one. "Bold, I like it, I was sent here to protect this planet from any potential danger for the sake of your planet" She smirked at me, but the vitals went crazy, detecting a lie.

But, the vitals were designed for humans but this is a different lifeform. I shrugged as the vitals must've been false. "If you want to truly protect this planet, may I suggest you join the P.D.A, this in term means we can fully trust you and let you do your "job" and also help you if it is too much to only one can handle." I spoke to her with the fear of being crushed by the hands of her. "Why not, if it gives you the benefit of the doubt." She crossed her arms still in her calm state, I sighed in relief. "This is a Gorblon, a Hoarder variant. Gorblon's must've been growing on your planet. This one was searching for food and came across you, luckily I was in time to save you." Her voice is cold, stern, and calculative.

"I must take my leave, I can sense that there are more, see you, that's what you humans say when leaving, am I correct?" She added and looked at me, "Y-Yes, correct." I replied to her. "Well then, see you, Y/n. You make a good mate for me" she proceeded to fly straight up, pushing the sand beneath her feet. The sheer force of her propelling was enough to push me back too.

"W-What did she just say?!" The hero approached you and held your waist, I giggled as she was enraged by the aliens statement. "It's nothing, just forget about her, and I just got more information if this alien joins us." I held her face. "I thought I was about to lose you..." Her voice broke and buried herself on my chest, her hug tight as if she just lost me. "Chill out, I'm ok" I kissed her forehead. "See? But hey, thanks for stalling the monster, you sure are strong." She looked at me, "B-But I wasn't able to stop it..." Her head is down again... "Hey, stop being like that! Look, if it were not for you, those monsters could've reached the city. Stop letting yourself down" Holding her soft face, and looking at her eyes...

"You're the best, you hear me? Glamour, do you hear me?" She looked at me surprised, "Y-Yes... I do. I love you..." Her voice seemed to be at ease as she stopped hovering in the ear. She hugged me tight, "Now go change and we're going home" I smiled at her, "Alright~" she replied.

Somewhere underneath the ocean

Karina POV

The crushing force that the depth offered gave humans no chance to come in contact with the creatures... "No wonder there's a lot of Gorblon Eggs here... I just killed the other one so there must be another one" I was immediately attacked by a strong monster that creeped onto me. "I didn't sense you, pretty smart" I propelled myself towards the monster, punching it harder due to the weight of the pressure of the depth. "It's getting harder to move around here, let's try this one." I quickly swam underneath the monster and pushed it up towards the surface. "Now, let's talk" I let my fist do the talking as I pummelled the monster whilst mid-air.

Every punch sent shockwaves through the monster's body. Dismembering the body I saw a particular organ that was a device for transmuting info, whether it was verbal, tactile, gustatory, visual, I grabbed it. "Earth, is not yours to conquer." I spoke to the organ, fully knowing that my message was sent to the Gorblon Hive.

I threw the disfigured body on the ocean, letting it sink as its parts moved slightly away from the original position I threw it away. I looked around for awhile and decided to search for that human, Y/N. I blasted away, sending a thunderous sound that made a ripple on the ocean's surface.

At P.D.A H.Q Earlier...

"So any info, on the aliens whereabouts?" Y/N asked one of people in the IT department, "W-Well at first, she was at the pacific ring of fire and then immediately, well its just an assumption. She might've found the bug you've put and then destroyed it or she dove down in the deepest part of the ocean and the bug got crushed due to the pressure..." the IT personnel replied while also fixing his glasses. "Well, how bout that... There's a 50% chance I'll live and another 50% chance I'll die" You sighed as you imagine how she'd react after finding out you had put a bug on her...

"Sir! The alien. It's in the lobb-" One of the guards rushed in but you cut him off by walking past him, "I'll take care of it. Don't call "Last Resort" on this." You rushed to the lobby as your presence sent a chill to every employee that felt you in the room. "Karina, never thought you'd actually come... Directly" You smiled nervously as her face looks emotionless, almost void-y... 'God, help me. Don't let me die like this...' You spoke under your breath as the thought of dying in the hands of this... Powerful being, "I was searching for you and then I sensed you here." She replied calmly, "Wow, you can do that?" Shocked, "No, i smelled you." Her statement before a lie.

You looked at her... Disgusted. "I remembered how you smelled so, I'm not sorry for that" Her voice stern, she looked at you directly in your eyes. 'I can't even escape this one... Even in water she smelt a scent of those Gorblon's she was talking about.' I whispered to myself as I assessed everything she has done after arriving here on earth for the last 14 hours... "Well let's start since you're here... You can't go running around with this... On, you need something more humanly appealing." You pointed out, you guided her in the Garments Department.

A/N POV

You showed her some of the designs, this took hours as Wonyoung helped her with the Design she's going to wear. Oh Wonyoung? Both of you bumped into her while she was at Garments... She was repairing it, some minor scratches but then she saw you with Karina. Well she was in a good mood so no problem really occurred so she helped Karina out with her costume.

While browsing for the colors of her costume, Karina suddenly took a very long time looking at the red and white color palette... "Do you like that one?" One of the garments spoke to the towering alien. "It looks... Pleasing." I grabbed the palette and showed it to Y/N. "Is this color, humanly appealing, Y/N?" Karina spoke with curiosity and anticipation. "Oh nice pick, what's your reason that you picked that color?" Y/N asking like he has a checklist on his hands. "Well... It just feels like it, it suits me too. And well, you wanted something human right? Ok so, this color attracts anyone. Blue sky? You see me red. Night? You white". She gave it to the seamstress. "No cape." She added whilst the seamstress looked at Y/N.

"Sir?" The seamstress looked at Y/N with scared eyes, "No, give her a cape." You coldly replied, "What?" Karina dashed in front of you. "You're telling me what I have in my uniform now?" Karina spat her eyes glaring at you. "You want to be in my administration." You fought back, "Fine." Karina checked you up. "Reminder, I'll let this slide. But next time, I won't be too merciful." She coldly breathed out, she left the room with zero sounds.As both you and Wonyoung looked at each other in fear and dread. As Karina's voice held so much weight and danger that provoking her might be the end of something you dearly protect.

[coollizzylou]

Everyone’s correct in saying that now more than ever we need to be building our communities, but it can be difficult to know what that actually *means*, especially in our isolating society. So here’s some straightforward practical advice I’ve learned over the few years I’ve been organizing in my own life.

You do not have to reinvent the wheel.

There are people who have been fighting this fight for decades. You are not starting from scratch. You do not have to do it all by yourself. All you have to do is find your allies and engage.

On the ground resistance movements/aid organizations that have legs under them may not have much of a social media presence. You may have to do some legwork find your place.

Check the local papers if you have one for your area. Sign up for your city government newsletter. Go to the library and ask what events are being hosted. Check Churches! Schools! Small businesses! Ask your local old ladies!!!! They have time on their hands and know what’s going on in their communities.

It’s ok if you don’t know anything. Listen to the people around you, ask questions, be respectful and curious. Just show up!! As you do this, you will learn more about the place you’re in and the people that live there. Those people will guide you, and there’s a non-zero chance that you’ll find a mentor willing to take you under their wing.

The logistics make the movement.

Demonstrations are important and powerful, but they are NOT the be all end all. Not even close.

There are people who’s job it is to take notes, people who host meetings, and people who pick up snacks. Some folks are especially good at getting the word out through tabling and canvasing, others are better at making the pamphlets that get handed out. You could be in charge of carrying heavy boxes of donated food, or you might be better suited preparing a hot meal sitting at the table. Are you able to watch young children? Drive carpool?

All of these tasks and more are essential to maintaining a healthy community group. Don’t be afraid to try new things and experiment to figure out where you can do the most good.

Your stories are your power

One of the most effective tools in your arsenal are your testimonies. When shared with friends they remind us we are not alone in our struggles. When shared with adversaries, they are undeniable proof of our humanity. You can quote facts and statistics all day, but a personal experience will always punch above it’s weight.

Think over your life and explore questions of what your personal stake in the game is. What about your life makes you want to fight. Really dig in deep. This can be uncomfortable. I recommend doing this among friends and being gentle with yourself. You don’t have to have any particularly special reason. This isn’t supposed to be performative. You aren’t trying to get a good grade in leftism, your goal is to identify your self interest. For example, I first got involved with the tenet union because I wanted to go to college in the city but knew I couldn’t afford to live there. I first got involved with planned parenthood because I was scared when Roe v Wade overturned. These are selfish reasons, they have to be for this to work.

With that information, you are prepared to sit with other people and ask them the same thing. If you are open and willing to listen to people’s stories, a casual conversation can lead to strong bonds of friendship. And when you’re friends with someone, you fight for them. This is the core of relational organizing.

There is joy here

Organizing can be difficult. Many things are in life. But from personal experience I can tell you that not only is this work worth it, but it can be *fun*. You can sing and dance and play music and scream and laugh and you’ll do it all together. Hold onto your hope, find your joy where you can, and take the plunge. You’ll be better for it, I promise.

[ferg0s]

WRITE THE FREAKY BEASTARS FIC!!!!!!!

do I want my name and face attached to this? Employers looking at my info and seeing me, a potential employee, and wanting their brand attached to this?

Idgaf. (I lied I do I will delete this when I get my post fic clarity in the morning)

DISCLAIMER: DEAD DOVE: DO NOT EAT! I cannot stress that enough. Do not read if u can’t match my freak

Everyone at Cherrytone had their secrets. From minuscule, to down right life ending. It was engrained in the culture - and so was keeping your mouth shut. Some secrets kept you in on the people around you, showing their true form. Some explained the strange occurrences on campus…

But others were too precious to be spread. As per the law of supply and demand, more demand meant less supply. And no one was willing to waste even a drop of this. Literally.

Riz looked at the sheet of paper in his hands. The crumpled up page with barely legible chicken scratch of writing. He had to double check if he was at the right spot. The old sports club shed that hadn’t been used since the school built a new one. He didn’t even knew it existed until now, he guessed it served its purpose.

Hesitantly, he knocked on the door. The time did say 22:00, and it was exactly 22:00. He could feel the roll of cash in his pocket, creating an indent in his pocket he tired to cover by pulling down his shirt.

The door opened, just enough for the voice on the other side to come out. “This area is off limits-“ a female voice spoke up. He cleared this throat, finally being able to say the phrase he had been rehearsing since his walk to the old shed. “I just need to get my glove-“

He hopes he bad said it verbatim. There was a slight pause before the door opened. Revealing the person on the other side. He had seen her around campus, usually in a group of her own. There weren’t many humans on campus - only a few, and they seemed to be in a tight knit community. It was strange seeing her up close, the lack of fur or feathers - even scales - just bare skin. She sized him up, stepping out to look around before walking into the shed, and he followed suit.

He shut the door, noticing the lock on the door and immediately going to lock the door aswell. His heart was in his throat - he really was going this. It felt so wrong.

“Payment up front-“ the girl said sternly. He turned to her, realizing what she had said and fumbling to her the cash out of his pocket, holding the roll of money out towards her. She quickly grabbed the money and undid the rubber band around it, counting each note.

“Whatcha here for?”

He felt his throat dry up at the question. This was nerve wracking enough, and the sudden interrogation didn’t help.

“I heard it helps with the…” he trailed off, not sues how to word it.

“Side effects? Yeah I got a few who say it does-“ she replied as she finished up counting the money. “20 minutes.” She said as she turned around and walked further into the shed as she rolled the money back up, stopping infront of the bag to put the money in. He knew that. It was fucking expensive for the small slot of 20 minutes, but he had heard of others playing for 2 hours.

She turned around. “Lay down,” it came out like a demand. He nodded, slowly walking over and laying down on the dusty wooden floors of the shed. He knew that there would be no orientation, everything was already explained to him. She ran a tight ship from what he could tell.

He walked over him, standing on-top of him, feet on either aide of his torso, under his arms. “No-“ “biting or clawing.” He interrupted. He was too eager to wait for her to go over the rules. She scoffed. “Can’t be that bad that you’re in such a rush-“ she scoffed, her hands going to the waist band of her skirt as she pulled them up. “You have no idea-“ he muttered. Once hiked up, her hands went under her skirt, pulling down the panties she had on, tossing them to the side.

The scent hit him immediately. Blood therapy. A taboo practice used to elievate the symptoms of most carnivore medication, mostly muscle pain and headaches. Due to the low intensity of human blood, it was often the best source - but due ethics violations, the practice was banned a few decades ago. Publicly that is.

She towered herself down onto him, and by that time his senses had drowned out any rational thinking. She let out a gasp when she felt his tongue darting to her folds. The reaction was almost immediate. As soon as he got a taste, a single droplet, he was hooked. His tongue lapping like a man - bear - starved. He knew it was in his DNA to crave blood - his ancestral nature. He had dabbled in the occasional doping, but even then he could only get his hands on a quick sip if he was lucky. And rabbit blood didn’t hit quite the same. Too bland, he thought. His arms and locked around her thighs, as if pulling her closer would give him more.

He could hear the muffled moans, the gasps and pants coming from her. Her legs shaking as he moved around with no mercy. He felt her whole body tense up, her fingers locking onto the fur of his arm and squeezing it. He felt a few rip off, but he didn’t care. Her other hand went up to cover her mouth, trying to muffle the cries that managed to slip through the gaps of her fingers. Her body tensed up, and he felt her trying to get off but his arms locked her in place. He didn’t know if the ordeal was making her cry out from pain, but he didn’t care enough to stop. After all the safe word was “pineapple”. Or furious pounding on his arms, as he was told. The taste mixed with a salty, slimy substance, only for a minute when he felt her muscles wrap around his tongue.

It felt like it went on longer for 20 minutes. But then again, it wasn’t like he was counting. By the end of it, she stumbled on her feet, and he could see a thin layer of sweat over her face.

“Did I hurt you-“ he asked she he sat up, noticing that the headache had since that morning was no longer present. She shook her head, still heaving. “No.” She replied. She walked over to her bag again, opening and rummaging through it before haphazardly tossing him a packet of wet wipes. She wiped his face as he walked him to and sit on a chair near the bag, plopping down and panting. As if she had ran a marathon.

He felt better. No more aches, no more headaches. He felt more relaxed. “Thank you-“ he said shyly, not being able to look at her. “No - thank you, ” she chuckled.

He didn’t know what she meant by that. But he did notice when she started to charge him less, quarter less wasn’t a lot, but still a reduced price for those monthly visits.

( In dept nasty version if god doesn’t smite me down soon)

[the-glorious-evolution-fanart]

The text of behind-the-scenes writing has confirmed what I was suspecting was going to happen since watching season 1: the writers absolutely did not understand the Machine Herald.

Let’s skip the terrible implication of their words that disabled people who are missing parts of their body or use prosthetics somehow „lack humanity“; the writers show they were only viewing Viktor through the concept of transformation, no matter what that meant. They were convinced that all Viktor needed to do to become the „Herald“ he’s famous for, was to go through some as gruesome or eerie transformation as possible, stripping himself of emotions in the process.

Let me be clear that this is completely wrong.

Obsessively removing parts of one’s own body in order to upgrade more and more with tech is not a motivation on its own, it is a consequence of some deeper problem. It is a manifestation of something that is hidden in the mental level.

And while at first S1 might have gone the way of a disabled character getting „addicted“ to becoming more and more able-bodied and even transcending abilities of an average human body (which is still kind of an iffy take when framed as strictly negative), the subsequent degradation and complete digression of Viktor’s character arc with the transformation instead being forced on him in Season 2 by Jayce’s misguided attempt to save him, highlights that the writers did indeed hold the aforementioned idea of „eerie transformation“ as the top/core thing that makes Viktor the „Herald“, instead of his motivations for a transformation.

Even season 1’s possible idea was stopped in its tracks because at the end of s1, Viktor is written making a clear choice: hurting others for one’s own benefit is crossing the line, and he resigned to dying. He completed his arc.

This created a problem for season 2, as Viktor was written by s1 as effectively being too moral of a character to do a transformation. Enter the forced/brainwashing effect of magic on Viktor, a band-aid to force the plotline the writers wanted for him. Altering his mind and convincing him that the way to help others is to strip them of all agency and emotions.

No matter how many times the writers say they wanted Viktor to „make a mistake out of a genuine but misguided desire to help“, viewers continuously voice what they see, what the writing actually portrays – a lack of agency of the character. If text is badly written, it fails at conveying what it intended to.

~

Going back to the Machine Herald and what I said about self-augmentation (at least in his case as a fictional character) as just a symptom of a different problem, it’s even explicitly confirmed in Viktor’s accompanying release text:

„People deal with grief in many ways, and Viktor did it by replacing his body parts with robotic limbs.“

I’m honestly shocked that I have to copy-paste these things so often and that professional writers yet again missed the point.

The Machine Herald was a very layered character. The self-augmentation is just the top layer which makes him cool. The deeper levels are what makes him compelling.

He went into self-augmentation using his own technology as a way to propel himself again to the top of his profession, both in terms of cutting-edge achievements and in terms of recognition. He had an impression that nothing short of shocking and utterly bizzare would be able to beat his previous stolen achievement and cement him at the very top of Zaun’s scientific community. This is also supported by how theatrical his behaviour is as the Machine Herald, explains why he has vanity items like a cape and why his hair is still out. He felt betrayed by his own mind for cursing him in naivety, jealousy and depression for who knows how long. He also had issues with self-image, smashing his own face on a framed photo that showed him standing proudly next to Blitzcrank. He tried to distance himself from his previous identity of a vulnerable, very human and very empathetic student who wanted to better society by aiding in the waste reclamation process. Blitzcrank was made for cleaning Zaun – and who is idealist enough in such a self-serving city-state to attempt something like that. This he shares with Ekko, and Ekko is very clearly a hero.

Viktor’s moral ambiguity was not supposed to come from the narrative trying to obfuscate if „removing free will“ is a bad thing – because it is, it will always be an evil thing. This free will point didn’t exist in his release lore, it’s entirely the addition of 2016. Universe bio. I also believe the story gets downgraded and loses its potency if it picks a side and makes Viktor „slide into villainy“ by „completely losing his humanity.“ His ambiguity originally came precisely from how his actions towards his own body make the readers feel. It was entirely up to the readers themselves to decide whether they saw self-augmentation as cool and badass, or as unjustified self-mutilation. It’s a type of interplay between the story and its readers. A character within the story itself, Jayce, made up his mind and held the opinion that it was not a good thing.

Viktor is a „mad scientist“ and although this trope can be very reductive, it also carries some truths. Viktor went mad. His self-augmentation was never going to be justified by sensible, lucid motives, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have reasons. He was in so much pain and felt trapped, and yet despite that he found a way to build himself back up again piece by piece, and undergo such a tremendous transformation entirely relying on personal ingenuity and resilience. The key difference between his inside perspective and our (and other characters’) outer perspective, is that his reasons and pain are of mental nature which makes them way more hidden to us.

His story can develop in the direction „backwards“, him integrating back into society to an extent while maintaining this dislocated perspective of infinite self-upgrades, infinite scientific achievement – because he’s shown it already! He wants and has a need to interact with others! His acolytes, him trying to ally with other researchers, the need for recognition. Another thing awaiting the Machine Herald is reality’s cold shower that one genius still can’t solve systemic problems, and the question what he will do once his technology inevitably gets abused, but this time finally carrying his name.

And I believe all these layers are infinitely more interesting than an unfortunate story of a man who gets turned into a manipulated creature of limitless magical power who doesn’t even have control over his own decisions.

[daportalpractitioner]

the triple goddess in astrology

the triple goddess is represented by 3 archetypes in 1 to describe the multi-layered experience of the divine feminine. they are the maiden, the mother, and the crone.

the maiden: venus

the maiden is the archetype of the young woman who is grounded in her identity, her sexuality, her gifts, her desires, and her standards. she's confident in herself and what she wants, allowing her to cultivate meaningful connections that elevate her on this soul journey. she recognizes that this is her world and you are just living in it. the sign of your venus tells you how you are meant to embody this maiden innerG.

☾⋆｡ for example, a virgo venus is meant to embody her maiden energy through being of service to herself and others with integrity. this means that she doesn't let people take advantage of her and she doesn't do shit for people with manipulative intentions. she only allows what serves her highest good into her life, from what she eats to the environments that she takes space in, because when she focuses and allows only what serves her, she is also of service to The Most High.

the mother: moon

the mother is the archetype of the woman who gives birth to her creations + nurtures them so that they can grow to sustain life on their own. this is deeper than just having kids —this applies to all creations which once started off as a desire. she is an effective nurturer because she recognizes the importance of taking care of herself first. she uses her heart space to heal her wounds through compassion + forgiveness and in turn cultivates a loving community through the love that she fosters. her first home is herself and her life is a desired reflection of everything she already holds within her. the sign of your moon tells you how you are meant to embody your inner mother innerG.

☾⋆｡ for example, a capricorn moon is meant to embody their mother innerG by reconciling the energy connected to family trauma (especially their parental relationships) and not letting their childhood traumas + resentment bleed into the way that they care for themselves and others. she doesn't add unnecessary pressure to herself and shows grace to self + others. she leads by not being too hard on herself and those that look up to her and depend on her. she trusts herself to lean into her femininity + allows others to support her instead of always being the one that others are always relying on.

the crone: saturn

the crone archetype is the wise, older woman who is a pillar in the community, being able to provide support and insight for others due to the hardships + lessons that she experienced. people look up to her as an authority figure because she has the wisdom to guide others in the right direction. she isn't distracted by what's going on in the world + uses her time wisely because she's aware that she won't be here forever. she doesn't entertain bullshit and while others may call her mean, she stands firm on her boundaries. this is that grandmotherly innerG that is very supportive + protective of our highest good by holding us accountable. the sign of your saturn is meant to show you how to embody your inner crone.

☾⋆｡ for example, a cancer saturn is meant to embody their crone by holding herself emotionally accountable to cultivate healthy connections with others. she is aware of the "generational curses" that she has karmically acquired though the bloodline and doesn't play the blame game, recognizing that it is her duty to break those curses so that those same karmic patterns aren't played out in her connections and the family that she has/will create for herself one day. she is aware of the complexity of humans + their emotions and is able to teach + heal others through her own experiences with family + other loved ones that are or were once near and dear to the heart.

[fantastic-nonsense]

Tim "Power of Friendship" Drake. Is that why every Everytime I come across his “future” selves in comics (Teen Titans 2003, and lonely place of living) he is brooding angry loner who uses a gun for some reason? Why do they write him rejecting his friends?

Basically every Batman!Tim we’ve ever seen is evil, which I think is less indicative that Tim has inherent supervillain tendencies and more indicative of the fact that a Tim who is Batman is, traditionally, a Tim that is either alone or has lost people so fundamental to his sense of self that it sent him at least a bit over the edge. It’s a Tim without a support base, a Tim without the family and community he so deliberately and carefully cultivates, and a Tim without others to reign his darker impulses in and hold him accountable.

The thing about Tim is that he's a social person and a support character by nature. He gravitates towards talking to people and creating connections and identifying gaps and solving problems that keep people from working effectively together. As he's noted on multiple occasions, he has friends and treasures having them deeply. This is largely why when his social support structure breaks down, he goes off the deep end and starts getting angry and depressed.

Additionally, Tim has never wanted to be Batman. The concept of becoming Batman or being anything like Bruce canonically scares him. He rejects the idea outright on several different occasions, and he hates that he's finally being able to "understand" Bruce after suffering the immense personal losses he went through in the mid-2000s. Tim is stunningly realistic and critical of Bruce as a person for someone who is incredibly idealistic about the ideals of Batman; it's always been a very fascinating source of tension for his personal interactions with Bruce and to a lesser extent Dick and Cass.

Which is a larger point that people dance around but rarely actually talk about in these conversations: to get Canon!Tim to a place where he either wants to become Batman or actually becomes Batman, you have to remove at least 5-6 cornerstone people in his life that keep him happy, sane, and a nominally normal, functional human being. Wearing the cowl certainly doesn't help matters, but Tim's mentality and sanity would start sliding regardless of whether he was wearing the cowl or not in any situation where he loses that foundational sense of community and accountability. Thus, the proliferation of Evil Loner Batman!Tims that we see.

So imo it's less about Tim actively rejecting his friends and more "well what it proves is that Tim goes insane when he loses everyone he loves, which checks out."

[theiasthesis]

Shifting can be escapism, and that's OK.

Im going to give you a valuable lesson, so stick to the post, dont skip because every word is important. Don't let that small attention span get to you baby, remember that knowledge is power.

My name is Willow! I'm a non-dualist reality shifter, shifting coach and subliminal creator who's a freak for the multiverse and knowledge. Everything I say on here is based on my own personal experiences and research.

This post can help you with:

Escapism, guilt for shifting, realising you're worthy of shifting.

The self determination theory (SDT) is a psychological theory of motivation. It focuses on the degree to which specific human behaviour is for the self ; self motivated and self determined

Basically, what exactly is it that a human being can do, that isn't manipulated by outside influence, but rather their own human nature?

According to the theory these are 3 self motivated human behaviours:

Autonomy

Having the freedom to decide your actions without outside influence.

Example: Being able to go out with your friends, without your parents restricting you.

Competence

The ability to do something effectively and be useful.

Example: You're a very useful employee at your company, this means you are competent for your job.

Relatedness

Being connected or related to someone, or something.

Example: Having a connection with family or friends

OK, so how does any of this apply to shifting and escapism?

When you lack one of any of these 3 behaviours or feelings, this is a disruption your human nature. Naturally by birth, you are within your birth right to recieve all of this.

Each of these behaviours, have extreme importance in your cognitive behaviour

- Cognitive behaviors are thoughts, ideas, and representations of yourself to others.

If you don't have the will or ability to control your actions independently, you are most likely going to feel stuck, and like everything is out of your control. Doing things that make you happy and activities you find meaningful, will become an issue due to your lack of autonomy.

If you don't feel competent in areas of your life, or people aren't competent when it comes to you, this can create low self esteem and a bad self concept, you may think of yourself as "worthless" "useless" or "incompetent"

You may feel less motivated to taking on new challenges and activities, as you feel like you're just going to fail, and mess everything up anyways.

Connection is what makes us human, love and empathy towards overs and receiving it, is what makes human life so special. Relatedness, is what you need to experience caring relationships, to be part of a community, and overall to feel love. Humans need love, that is a fact.

When these basic needs aren't met, a human being can lack the motivation to commit to any one of these factors, which take up a huge part in life.

Lacking these can make you feel, stressed, anxious, self loath and nihilistic.

When you don't have these 3 factors, this causes a lack of motivation to commit to them, which means you don't have them.

So you turn to something else, escapism.

"Escapism is the tendency to distract oneself from real-life problems. It can also be conceived as shutting meanings out of one's mind and freeing oneself from self-awareness for a while . Escapism has been identified as one of the key drivers behind online behaviors, in both adaptive and maladaptive ways"

- PubMed Central®

Link to study

Think of escapism like touching a hot stove. Imagine you place your hand upon a stove. At first its cold, and you're fine.

Then the temperature starts to slowly rise, its currently warm, its still fine you can deal with it. Now, it's getting hotter, and hotter, and hotter...

And you remove your hand.

Not on purpose, but by instinct.

By reflex, your hand immediately moved away from the stove once it got too hot.

Your nervous system felt the pain, which sent a signal to the brain, that something with your hand is wrong.

Biology isn't my strong suit I fear.

Another example.

You're in immediate danger, there's a tsunami coming your way, it's too big for you to face, if you stay where you are, you're going to get crushed by the water, and die on impact. So what do you do?

You run.

Naturally you escape from the dangerous situation, because who in their right mind would test their luck and try to survive a tsunami?

Are you getting it?

When human beings are faced with a situation that is uncomfortable, causes mental, or physical harm, or even death, their first response is to escape.

It is human nature to run, to escape, to not face the dangerous situation. Sometimes it can be a bad move, like ditching a daye you were nervous for, other times it could be skipping school because you constantly run into a group of serious bullies.

Repeat after me.

If you are in a situation where you do not feel loved, worthy, or free, you are allowed to escape.

You are allowed to escape.

Empathise on that baby, nobody is going to tell you off for it.

However, you must be weary of using shifting as escapism.

Shifting is a wonderful phenomenon, it is not something that determines whether you live or not. It doesn't determine your worth either, nor is it something that causes you psychological stress.

If you find yourself having suicidal or self harming thoughts, with shifting as a way to mend these thoughts, I beg of you to take a step back and evaluate these thoughts of yours.

Shifting is a journey, I preach that it's something that can be done on the first go, but that isn't the case for everybody.

It can be as short or as long as you make it, failure in shifting when using it as an escape from serious issues, is a one way road to psychological distress.

With that, I ask that you first deal with your mental health, before anything else.

Find something that makes you feel good and grounded, something you enjoy.

Please remember, that not everything is something you must be good at, if it came from you it's already perfect.

Meditation, painting, dancing, listening to music, writing, exercise. Anything and everything that makes you feel good, nothing is too silly, nobody is going to think you're weird or bad at doing something you love to do.

I found that talking out loud, writing in my journal, mediation and watching anime helped me a lot when I had "life impacting plans" connected to shifting.

LESSON SUMMARY

1. It is natural for human beings to run away when they are faced in a dangerous or uncomfortable situation

2. Shifting being used to run away from a bad situation, isn't negative. It only becomes negative once you prioritise it over your own health

3. Your mental and physical health always comes first before shifting

4. You deserve to be loved, to feel worthy, to not be let down, and to be free, whether that's through shifting or not!

[theresattrpgforthat]

Hello!! Do you know any TTRPGs surrounding translation or languages? 😊 (thanks for all your work btw!!!)

THEME: Language / Translation Games

Hello friend! As someone who studied linguistics in university, I absolutely love talking about all of the funky things languages do! I hope these recommendations tickle your fancy!

Dialect, by Thorny Games.

Dialect is a game about an isolated community, their language, and what it means for that language to be lost. In this game, you’ll tell the story of the Isolation by building their language. New words will come from the fundamental aspects of the community: who they are, what they believe in, and how they respond to a changing world.

Dialect uses a deck of cards to help minimize the amount of choices you have to make in character creation, by dealing three cards to each player and having the players choose one from just those three. You track the change of your language over a series of turns, using prompts to help you navigate the conversations that arise in your community as the world around them changes.

Dialect has been very highly regarded as a game that really delivers on the experience that it promises. The grief that accompanies language death really shines through this game, so if you want to combine the wonder of creation with the pain of losing something so integral to your sense of being, this is the game for you.

Tiny Frog Wizards, by @prokopetz

You have mastered the secret arts of sorcery

The very primordial energies of creation and destruction are yours to wield as you will.

You are two inches tall.

Tiny Frog Wizards is a game about tiny frogs, wielding magic using the power of words. When you want to do something magical, you will roll somewhere between 1-3 dice, and use the values of your rolled dice to determine how the range, magnitude, and control of your magic.

What’s important in terms of this game recommendation is the Control aspect, because how well you are able to wield your magic depends on how many words you are able to use to make things happen! It’s a lot easier to use a spell with precision if you have enough words to detail where you want a magical pen to write, or what you want to throw a tiny magic missile at. Not enough words? Then the GM has license to cause some humorous side effects, or, if you roll poorly enough, cause your spells to really go off the rails.

If you like games where you need to choose your words carefully, Tiny Frog Wizards is worth checking out - especially since it’s in free playtest!

Xenolanguage, by Thorny Games.

Xenolanguage is a tabletop role-playing game about first contact with alien life, messy human relationships and what happens when they mix together.  At its core, you explore your pivotal relationships with others on the mission as you uncover meaning in an alien language. The game gives a nod to soulful sci-fi media like Arrival, Story of Your Life and Contact, but tells its own story. It’s a game for 2-4 players in 3-4 hours.

In Xenolangauge, you play as a group of people bound together through a shared past with unsettled questions. Your task is to understand why the aliens have come and what they are trying to tell us. You will soon discover the key to understanding lies in your memories together.

This is definitely an in-person game, as it is meant to come with a modular channeling board that will provide you with alien symbols that you will use to help you interpret messages. This is more than a game about language, it’s about relationship, shared memories, and connection.

Xenolanguage was kickstarted at the beginning of this year, but you can check out the above link to pre-order the game if this sounds interesting to you!

Star-Spawned, by Penguin King Games.

One unearthly night, a ray of colourless light descended from the stars, and under its warping radiance, creatures unlike any the world has ever seen were born. They do not know the world, and they do not know themselves. Unfortunately for the world, they're quick learners!

Star-Spawned is a GMless, oneshot-oriented tabletop RPG in which you don't know what your own traits do when play begins. The names of each group's stats are randomly generated using morpheme chaining, and characters are created while having absolutely no idea what they mean; figuring that out forms the greater part of play.

Star-Spawned is more about self discovery than it is about language, but the use of morpheme-chaining in character creation is intriguing to me. You will randomly roll three pieces of a word, and then chain them together to create a unique Facet, available to the players as stats. These Facets don’t have a meaning when the game begins - you need to play to find out what they mean. If you like playing around with semantics - the meaning of words - this might be a game for you.

Degenerate Semantics, by Mikael Andersson.

Degenerate Semantics is a role-playing game for 1-5 players and one Game Master (GM). The players will each portray a character who live in Emmaloopen's poverty-stricken lower city. They are young, wild, ambitious, and independent. This way of life is threatened by other factions, and the players will need to have their characters work together to survive and thrive.

In the process of playing the game, the players and GM will define and flesh out a language called Bandethal. A collection of street terms and slang, Bandethal is used both as a way to talk openly about illicit activities without alerting authorities and to establish street cred. The terms are liberally mixed in with plain English, or when the language is mature enough, can be used entirely on its own. The characters' success is in large part based on how proficiently the players wield the language.

A friend of mine ran this game for me three or four years ago, and it’s been sitting in the back of my head ever since. Degenerate Semantics was created for a Game Chef competition in 2014, and has remained in the same state since then. I don’t think there’s any more work being done on it, but the game is there for anyone who wants to give it a go - and while there’s a setting that comes with the game, that setting is highly flexible, depending on what your group is interested in. Our group decided to use a lot of gardening metaphors, and undertook a plant-based heist as our act of rebellion! If you want a game about the power that language can give a tightly-knit group, this is the game for you.

I've Also Recommended...

DROWWORD, by Ursidice.

[whereserpentswalk]

Choose a transformation to permanently alter your body and remove your humanity.

1: get infected with lycanthrope (being bitten is the easiest way, but the curse can also be passed on through blood transfusions, or other bodily fluids). You'll be able to turn into a wolf any night when the moon shines, and you'll be compelled to when the moon is full. The other werewolves are likely to accept you into their community under most circumstances.

2: enter a local ufo to be turned into a cyborg. The visitors are dying to find a human who'll let you do this to them, and you might just be the one. Parts of your body will be replaced with strange and unknowable technology, thousands of years more advanced than what your backwater planet has. Who knows what you'll become, but it certainly won't be human.

3: allow a demon to possess you. While this sounds bad at first, most demons aren't actually sentient beings, but just semi sentient balls emotions. When they possess you it'll still be your mind and personality, just enhanced with the demon's emotions and desires, given its abilities. You'll also probably start looking more like what people consider a demon to look like after awhile, weather that be a body with horns and scales like the classic devil look, or something more animalistic, or even something more eldrich.

4: let the faeries play with you. This is a risky one but they're looking to be entertained by a cute little human to do things to. Who knows what they'll do to you, but we can be quite certain it'll be something very very interesting.

5: permanently psychically bond to a wyvern through the dreaming. For generations humans have done this to become wyvern riders, though rider is an odd term as your minds will be linked, you'll be able to know what it's feeling as well as it's sensations, and possibly even be able to control it directly with enough time, as easily as you'd control your own body. Though the wyvern and dreaming may effect you to, you'll likely become more creative and have more vivid dreams, at the cost of your ability to fit in with much of human society. Your body will also likely become more youthful, slender and androgynous, and may even take on wyvern like traits like slit pupils or sharp teeth.

6: permanently hybridize yourself with an animal of your choice. It's useally done with mammals for compatibility reasons, but it might work with anything. This is a slow process, involving weekly injections of Phlebotinum, and you'll get more and more like the animal you choose over the course of many months. There's no actual end limit to how long you can inject the Phlebotinum for, only a few weeks for some animal features, about a year for a 50/50 split, and if you never stop taking it ever you'll end up just becoming an animal of your choice. Be warned, it's a one way trip, so while you can always become less human, you can never reverse the changes.

7: be melted into a slime. Not much more to say about it. It'll probably be the most alien your physical form can become, as you'll have no solid body parts anymore, just an amorphous mass to move around. Natrual born slimes may be suspicious of you.

8: get bitten by a vampire and become a vampire yourself. You'll get most of the powers, from strength, to healing, to not needing sleep or food, along with the requirements to drink blood, and the weakness to silver and sunlight (you still can go out in the sun, but it won't be a pleasant experience). Your body will also change a lot, losing any sex characteristics, gaining red eyes and completely desaturated skin, and becoming extremely emaciated looking. Your mouth will also be able to shift at will between a humanoid shape, and a massive horrifying maw with huge fangs and strange mouth parts for drinking blood. There's likely a vampiric community around who'll accept you.

9: become a digital only being. You won't just be transforming your body, you'll be getting rid of it. Your entire vision will display what you'd usually see on a computer monitor, and you'll be able to type and move the mouse as easily as you can move your body now. You'll be entirely online without anything human to worry about.

10: become a spiritual being. Like a less online version of the last option. You'll become a spirit, without a body to worry about. You can't touch things, but you can move them psychically. You can also choose who can or can't see you, and how you appear to people.

11: have your entire body replaced by the cloth witches. They're always looking for humans to do this to. Every part of you will be replaced with artificial materials, usually you'll get a metal skeleton, stuffing for filling, and either cloth or plastic for your skin, like a doll of some sort but big and alive. You won't have to worry about a lot of the body things like dying or being tired or in pain, but be warned, you'll have to repair yourself with new material if damaged.

(Hey, I had to delete the first version of this poll and reupload it because of something on the old post setting off my silly little trauma. I feel like such an awful person for this, I'm sorry. But yeah, please reblog and interact with this version instead.)