#cat 2023 application

[freejobalertpop]

CAT 2023 extended registration window closes tomorrow on iimcat.ac.in | Competitive Exams

The extended window to apply for the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2023 will be closed tomorrow, September 20. Candidates who are yet to apply for the B-School admission test can submit their forms on iimcat.ac.in. CAT 2023 registration ends tomorrow on iimcat.ac.in (Representational image)(Unsplash) Applications can be filled up to 5 pm tomorrow. No further opportunity will be provided once the…

[felidthing]

oughhgh.. logically it makes sense that all my brown tabby sona art started this year but it is wild to look at my january art and see the first drawings i did of it and my brief dogboy era. the timeline....

[lovesnapcats]

RUFUS JOINS THE 60% CLUB!!!

Rufus is 1 year 5-months-old and sponsored by Will & Stephanie McIntosh. SNAP Cats rescued Rufus from Whittier, CA.

Rufus came to us as a 3 month-old FeLV+ kitten in August, 2023. Since Rufus made it to adulthood (which is rare for FeLV+ kittens) and has been doing so well (showing no signs of slowing down), we retested him for FeLV yesterday (October 8, 2024). He tested negative! We retest FeLV+ kittens who make it to adulthood because they have a 60% chance of shedding the virus naturally. Rufus is now in the 60% Club!

Rufus is the sweetest, most loving and vocal (when it comes to wet food) kitten ever! Rufus gets along great with the other kittens and cats, is extremely playful, and the cutest cat in our facility (don’t tell the other kittens!).

Since Rufus is now FeLV- he’ll fit into any household who wants a very playful, loving kitty!

If you’re interested in Rufus please fill out an adoption application at https://www.snapcats.org/category/adoption/catsforadoption/. Thanks!

SNAP Cats uses Smart Cat, all natural cat litter.

[zhongrin]

┋ The Steambird Issue No.517

article commissioned by the fontaine steambird magazine and written by ✾ mei/rin ✾

[Breaking News!] Our Fontaine gadget makers did it again, folks!

A collaboration project between Fontaine's best gadget makers and the scholars at Sumeru Akademiya has resulted in a prototype device inspired by the now-obsolete AKASHA system.

Not many details have been revealed, but as the scholars described it, they are aiming to use the concept of AKASHA to create a virtual space, called TeyvaTweets, where people can communicate with one another without seeing each other's faces! Yes - much quite like a communication device, but one that utilizes text instead of the usual verbal methods of communication.

A few selected testers have been invited to try it out, and if you're one of the lucky ones - congratulations! We look forward to seeing how this new technology will help connect people across Teyvat.

——————————⟡⟡⟡ ✉️ ⟡⟡⟡——————————

Dear <USER>,

𝒞ongratulations! You have been selected to help with testing out the fruits of our labor, here at the Sumeru-Fontaine collaboration project. Enclosed is the device containing the application: TeyvaTweets. Have fun perusing it, and we look forward to your feedback.

⧽ [ Turn on the device ]         [ Leave it off ]

ps. user manual and warnings attached on a separate page.

𝚄𝚜𝚎𝚛 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚟𝟷.𝟶.

you should be able to open it using both phone and pc (it's just a normal website).

clicking on pfp/name/username in a tweet (orange box) will open the profile of that person. clicking the 'x' icon on the popup box's top right side will close the user profile.

clicking the tweet on the main page will open the tweet's replies thread. clicking the back button will bring you back to the main page.

𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜.

there are suggestive contents inside, but nothing explicit.

some of you make cameos under other people's tweets too! see if you can spot yourself ;)

there's a lot of images for this one so the page might load slowly for you, especially if your internet isn't fast. i'm also using a free hosting service from GitHub, so yeah.

in order to indulge everyone, please pretend the tweet reply threads that 'overlap' with one another is a separate world on their own (e.g. if multiple people are flirting with a character and they flirt back in the reply thread don't point fingers and say that they're unfaithful / is cheating / ruin someone else's fun in general ;;;)

tested on chrome & safari web browsers on a mac and iphone + google pixel. crossing my fingers that it works on other devices too...

created for 𝓏𝒽𝑜𝓃𝑔𝓇𝒾𝓃'𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 (submissions are closed)

might make a y/n-ify version of this in the future bc my brain accidentally fleshed out a whole concept of how it would work, but don't count me on that bc it's gonna take a lot more effort than this and honestly idk if it's even worth it-

——————————⟡⟡⟡ ✉️ ⟡⟡⟡——————————

© zhongrin | 2023 ◆ no repost. reblogs much appreciated. feel free to reach out to submit suggestions, feedback, comments, or if you just want to talk!

◇ taglist ◇ @thestarsofenkanomiya | @genshinparty | @abyssmal-skies | @hamdehlesmis | @depressivecomforts | @sophiethewitch1 | @why-am-i-here-someone-save-me | @sunnshineflxwer | @heartonthemoon | @yuutasbabe | @percyval-archives | @carbs-need-more-love | @rebeccka | @queen-belial | @stygianoir | @silentmoths | @niktwazny303 | @dustofthedailylife | @herdrops | @diebischesther | @marina-and-the-memes | @angryhope | @mixed-kester | @shuangxo | @fiannee | @lordbugs | @anonymousficreader | @shizunxie | @ladylofspades | @sup-zfam | @ansy-tea | @irethepotato | @nachotrash | @algrimmammon | @sassy-cat-in-town

[mariacallous]

At 8:22 am on December 4 last year, a car traveling down a small residential road in Alabama used its license-plate-reading cameras to take photos of vehicles it passed. One image, which does not contain a vehicle or a license plate, shows a bright red “Trump” campaign sign placed in front of someone’s garage. In the background is a banner referencing Israel, a holly wreath, and a festive inflatable snowman.

Another image taken on a different day by a different vehicle shows a “Steelworkers for Harris-Walz” sign stuck in the lawn in front of someone’s home. A construction worker, with his face unblurred, is pictured near another Harris sign. Other photos show Trump and Biden (including “Fuck Biden”) bumper stickers on the back of trucks and cars across America. One photo, taken in November 2023, shows a partially torn bumper sticker supporting the Obama-Biden lineup.

These images were generated by AI-powered cameras mounted on cars and trucks, initially designed to capture license plates, but which are now photographing political lawn signs outside private homes, individuals wearing T-shirts with text, and vehicles displaying pro-abortion bumper stickers—all while recording the precise locations of these observations. Newly obtained data reviewed by WIRED shows how a tool originally intended for traffic enforcement has evolved into a system capable of monitoring speech protected by the US Constitution.

The detailed photographs all surfaced in search results produced by the systems of DRN Data, a license-plate-recognition (LPR) company owned by Motorola Solutions. The LPR system can be used by private investigators, repossession agents, and insurance companies; a related Motorola business, called Vigilant, gives cops access to the same LPR data.

However, files shared with WIRED by artist Julia Weist, who is documenting restricted datasets as part of her work, show how those with access to the LPR system can search for common phrases or names, such as those of politicians, and be served with photographs where the search term is present, even if it is not displayed on license plates.

A search result for the license plates from Delaware vehicles with the text “Trump” returned more than 150 images showing people’s homes and bumper stickers. Each search result includes the date, time, and exact location of where a photograph was taken.

“I searched for the word ‘believe,’ and that is all lawn signs. There’s things just painted on planters on the side of the road, and then someone wearing a sweatshirt that says ‘Believe.’” Weist says. “I did a search for the word ‘lost,’ and it found the flyers that people put up for lost dogs and cats.”

Beyond highlighting the far-reaching nature of LPR technology, which has collected billions of images of license plates, the research also shows how people’s personal political views and their homes can be recorded into vast databases that can be queried.

“It really reveals the extent to which surveillance is happening on a mass scale in the quiet streets of America,” says Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union. “That surveillance is not limited just to license plates, but also to a lot of other potentially very revealing information about people.”

DRN, in a statement issued to WIRED, said it complies with “all applicable laws and regulations.”

Billions of Photos

License-plate-recognition systems, broadly, work by first capturing an image of a vehicle; then they use optical character recognition (OCR) technology to identify and extract the text from the vehicle's license plate within the captured image. Motorola-owned DRN sells multiple license-plate-recognition cameras: a fixed camera that can be placed near roads, identify a vehicle’s make and model, and capture images of vehicles traveling up to 150 mph; a “quick deploy” camera that can be attached to buildings and monitor vehicles at properties; and mobile cameras that can be placed on dashboards or be mounted to vehicles and capture images when they are driven around.

Over more than a decade, DRN has amassed more than 15 billion “vehicle sightings” across the United States, and it claims in its marketing materials that it amasses more than 250 million sightings per month. Images in DRN’s commercial database are shared with police using its Vigilant system, but images captured by law enforcement are not shared back into the wider database.

The system is partly fueled by DRN “affiliates” who install cameras in their vehicles, such as repossession trucks, and capture license plates as they drive around. Each vehicle can have up to four cameras attached to it, capturing images in all angles. These affiliates earn monthly bonuses and can also receive free cameras and search credits.

In 2022, Weist became a certified private investigator in New York State. In doing so, she unlocked the ability to access the vast array of surveillance software accessible to PIs. Weist could access DRN’s analytics system, DRNsights, as part of a package through investigations company IRBsearch. (After Weist published an op-ed detailing her work, IRBsearch conducted an audit of her account and discontinued it. The company did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.)

“There is a difference between tools that are publicly accessible, like Google Street View, and things that are searchable,” Weist says. While conducting her work, Weist ran multiple searches for words and popular terms, which found results far beyond license plates. In data she shared with WIRED, a search for “Planned Parenthood,” for instance, returned stickers on cars, on bumpers, and in windows, both for and against the reproductive health services organization. Civil liberties groups have already raised concerns about how license-plate-reader data could be weaponized against those seeking abortion.

Weist says she is concerned with how the search tools could be misused when there is increasing political violence and divisiveness in society. While not linked to license plate data, one law enforcement official in Ohio recently said people should “write down” the addresses of people who display yard signs supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, exemplifying how a searchable database of citizens’ political affiliations could be abused.

A 2016 report by the Associated Press revealed widespread misuse of confidential law enforcement databases by police officers nationwide. In 2022, WIRED revealed that hundreds of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees and contractors were investigated for abusing similar databases, including LPR systems. The alleged misconduct in both reports ranged from stalking and harassment to sharing information with criminals.

While people place signs in their lawns or bumper stickers on their cars to inform people of their views and potentially to influence those around them, the ACLU’s Stanley says it is intended for “human-scale visibility,” not that of machines. “Perhaps they want to express themselves in their communities, to their neighbors, but they don't necessarily want to be logged into a nationwide database that’s accessible to police authorities,” Stanley says.

Weist says the system, at the very least, should be able to filter out images that do not contain license plate data and not make mistakes. “Any number of times is too many times, especially when it's finding stuff like what people are wearing or lawn signs,” Weist says.

“License plate recognition (LPR) technology supports public safety and community services, from helping to find abducted children and stolen vehicles to automating toll collection and lowering insurance premiums by mitigating insurance fraud,” Jeremiah Wheeler, the president of DRN, says in a statement.

Weist believes that, given the relatively small number of images showing bumper stickers compared to the large number of vehicles with them, Motorola Solutions may be attempting to filter out images containing bumper stickers or other text.

Wheeler did not respond to WIRED's questions about whether there are limits on what can be searched in license plate databases, why images of homes with lawn signs but no vehicles in sight appeared in search results, or if filters are used to reduce such images.

“DRNsights complies with all applicable laws and regulations,” Wheeler says. “The DRNsights tool allows authorized parties to access license plate information and associated vehicle information that is captured in public locations and visible to all. Access is restricted to customers with certain permissible purposes under the law, and those in breach have their access revoked.”

AI Everywhere

License-plate-recognition systems have flourished in recent years as cameras have become smaller and machine-learning algorithms have improved. These systems, such as DRN and rival Flock, mark part of a change in the way people are surveilled as they move around cities and neighborhoods.

Increasingly, CCTV cameras are being equipped with AI to monitor people’s movements and even detect their emotions. The systems have the potential to alert officials, who may not be able to constantly monitor CCTV footage, to real-world events. However, whether license plate recognition can reduce crime has been questioned.

“When government or private companies promote license plate readers, they make it sound like the technology is only looking for lawbreakers or people suspected of stealing a car or involved in an amber alert, but that’s just not how the technology works,” says Dave Maass, the director of investigations at civil liberties group the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “The technology collects everyone's data and stores that data often for immense periods of time.”

Over time, the technology may become more capable, too. Maass, who has long researched license-plate-recognition systems, says companies are now trying to do “vehicle fingerprinting,” where they determine the make, model, and year of the vehicle based on its shape and also determine if there’s damage to the vehicle. DRN’s product pages say one upcoming update will allow insurance companies to see if a car is being used for ride-sharing.

“The way that the country is set up was to protect citizens from government overreach, but there’s not a lot put in place to protect us from private actors who are engaged in business meant to make money,” Nicole McConlogue, an associate professor of law at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law, who has researched license-plate-surveillance systems and their potential for discrimination.

“The volume that they’re able to do this in is what makes it really troubling,” McConlogue says of vehicles moving around streets collecting images. “When you do that, you're carrying the incentives of the people that are collecting the data. But also, in the United States, you’re carrying with it the legacy of segregation and redlining, because that left a mark on the composition of neighborhoods.”

[thatdiabolicalfeminist]

Wanna help Maire get through July 2023?

Happy disability pride month!! Maire is trying to figure out her capabilities now that she's had the big excision surgery she's needed for a few years.

Her application for disability is still in appeals and she's testing the waters to see if she could manage work or grad school instead, now that her most impactful symptoms have been reduced.

In the meantime she's still relying on help from people like you and me to get her basic needs met.

She sent me this list of needs for the month of July:

Final storage: $122 (Due 7/5) going to get rid of it mid month!

Car Insurance: $103 (Due 6/3)

Gas: (monthly appointments): $40

Cat Expenses: $60

Spotify Subscription: $13

Instacart Membership: $5

Tylonel&naproxen&tolietries: $25

Gas to clear out storage: $200

Total is $578

Maire says:

"Hopefully we'll be all done after this, because either I'll have disability OR work OR grad loans come August.

And don't need to go up north for special meds now I'm not in constant, excruciating pain! Yay!

I am so deeply and eternally grateful for the overwhelming love and support I've received since I lost my job and had to find medical care and everything. So thank you very, very much.

Love, Maire"

I'd be really grateful if you'd help me at least one more time to take care of this lovely young person who has been through so much and is still determined to make the world a better place.

all Maire’s links: http://linktree.com/maireg

PayPaI: @MaireGrupp (or maire114 at gmail dot com)

Venm0: @Maire114

C@$h app: MaryBear23

Maire’s gfm: https://gofund.me/0799702d

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TuesdaysCottage (use code GOLDENTICKET for free shipping)

As always I'll update this post in a reblog if/when she gets some help so please check the notes for the latest info!!

[lupiine]

Pinned Post :)

Hi! Call me Lupine or Bailey (they/he/she). I'm a 21-year-old hobby artist based in the eastern U.S.

I’m a pre-med student with multiple jobs, so this blog is purely for fun. I don’t intend on offering commissions in the near future. Art trades are a possibility.

Important Statements on Warrior Cats (last updated 02/22/2023)

The goal of sharing these statements is to maintain these topics in conversation and practice in the community. While Warriors has been loved for being a base for personal creation and world building, it is deeply flawed and should be treated with proper care. This is not to say that you should flat out stop interacting with the community, but instead learn to be actively anti-racist instead of avoiding it, because avoidance is harmful. If you’re genuinely lost the second link is a good place to start as it lists answers to questions you may have.

A Great Statement on Lack of Commitment in the Community

Anti-Indigenous Writing

The Issue of Feathers in Warrior Cats Design

Why the Tribe is Racist

Commentary on Racist Stereotypes Displayed in the Siamese Cats from Firestar’s Quest

A Brief Article on Cyber Grooming, not only applicable to the WC fandom. This is being included for the sake of the young audience that Warriors has and due to a pattern of events within the community. My hope is to aid awareness with including this.

[violetshippingzine]

Inspired by many late, sleep-deprived nights at the office and cozy, weekend mornings when it’s hard to get out of bed,「 N E M U I 」is a domestic fanzine centered around the everyday lives of Kaiba and Jounouchi. This zine seeks to explore the things they may do together like going on dates, making breakfast, or even grocery shopping.

Applications are now open! Apply here!

We are looking to fill our team with beloved JouKai/KaiJou artists and authors. Applications will be open from May 15, 2023 - June 12, 2023 and close at 11:59 PM EST.

Here is the proposed game plan:

20-25 contributors | (Possible break-down of 12 page artists, 3 merch artists, and 10 writers)

There are 4 Invited Guests | 2 artists and 2 writers

Digital (PDF) + Physical (Portrait Style, perfect bound, glossy pages, matte cover) with added merchandise if possible

Nonprofit, befitting The Trevor Project; Once production costs are accounted for, leftovers will be donated

Social Media Links: Carrd | Curious Cat | Tumblr | Twitter

[fiercynn]

queer short film: "uporni duh | rebellious essence"

queer short cuts is a biweekly newsletter where i share queer & trans short film recommendations. i'm featuring some of my favorite films on tumblr because why not

this film was screened at the 2021 queer cinema for palestine film festival, where filmmakers pledged to boycott the israeli-government sponsored lgbt festival TLVfest. the next queer cinema for palestine, which is a global festival with screenings in many cities and some online, is from november 29-december 10, 2023, and you can sign up for updates here.

slovenia | 5 minutes | 2017 | narrative short film no dialogue but text is in english; no closed captions available

i’ve actually been wanting to recommend uporni duh | rebellious essence for a while, but i hadn’t found a theme to include it with until now. this animated short, which was written, directed, and animated by ana čigon, follows a beautifully multi-colored cat who goes to the office of ministry for cat affairs to apply for a passport. all goes well until the pink and blue cat clerks ask for the applicant’s sex. - deepa's full review, including content notes at the end

watch on youtube, and check out creator ana čigon’s website

[onefinalconquest]

one final conquest - a curse of strahd wcrp is looking for artists and helping hands!

[art credit - curse of strahd boxart]

hey there! one final conquest is looking to commission some people for some new additions to the curse of strahd campaign, as well as for design help porting 5e into warrior cats.

we are creating a small (~5 member) roleplay group with applications planning to open late 2023 or early 2024, and are looking for help redesigning curse of strahd characters (the durst family, ireena kolyana, madam eva and the ladies three, count strahd von zarovich, baron vargas vallakovich and izek strazni, etc) into warrior cats-esque designs.

please dm us if you know someone that might be interested, ideally with some horror-related references of theirs!

curse of strahd contains heavy themes of horror in its writing, but at this time we are not primarily looking to commission these pieces (e.g. gore)! our budget is still slightly limited, but we'd love to find someone to help us out and to help us create adverts for this campaign. we would also like to commission someone eventually for a character template!

we're also looking in general for some help reworking dungeons and dragons into something friendly to warrior cats! the server is also still looking for an admin or co-dm to help run this project!

please send us a dm if you have any questions, ideas, etc.! this is going to take a good bit of work and we could use all the help you can give us!

[echonk3]

999 Week 2023 - Ace

WITH LESS THAN AN HOUR ITS DONE. this year im doing outsider looks on the characters and ace's is social media in the aftermath

Cradle Pharmaceutical CEO in Police Custody! | JNS

Gentarou Hongou, CEO of the famous Cradle Pharmaceutical most known for the drug Soporil commonly used in hospitals, is in police custody after being handed in by a group of people with evidence of his crimes, including kidnapping, bribery and multiple counts of murder. And according to some sources, his murders are of the other three executives of his company!

_____________________________________

coffee @kianuovals

@passingbyinthetrees i am so sorry about what just happened

Stuck on her report @passingbyinthetrees

????

Stuck on her report @passingbyinthetrees

Oh fuck me i choose to do a report on him and his contributions to the community but noooooooo the universe just decides to do this to me lets see if i can get an extension

coffee @kianuovals

hey at least you can add something pretty interesting to it

fml @passingbyinthetrees

You mean: the murder accusations that are likely true, the death game he was accused of setting up that are likely true no matter how fucking fake it may sound, the kidnappings of multiple children, bribery, and the fact that he was handed in by a random group found in the desert in NEVADA. NEVADA. FUCKING NEVADA.

_____________________________________

Trying to keep my cat from getting to my gecko @petparent8398389

Ngl that hongou dude always gave me the creeps

New art piece up! @artcoslianna

Same here. Everybody I’ve met who’s talked about him saw him as this good dude but his smile always unnerved me for some reason. 

bend and snap! @sexymansplits

Opposite for me actually. I really looked up to him as somebody who helped the medicinal field, especially in a family full of doctors and nurses and anesthesiologists and just people who work with these types of medicines. Now I’m likely gonna be seeing this case analyzed for being something almost out of ace attorney :/

_____________________________________

:-) @elephantsandtrunks

Fffuck gentariiiiiiiiiiiii hongou iilllll probabbly not longer have a job after thisdd

:-) @elephantsandtrunks

Ii have cholod suporrttt to payyyyyy and because off this fuckkup ill wontt have a job

_____________________________________

Gentarou Hongou and Cradle Pharmaceutical - A History Up to Now

Posted by: Locomoco

997k likes

1:12:58: “In early November of the year of our Lord 2027, a group of people that while not identified currently, they have been overheard calling each other “Clover”, “Seven”, “Junpei”, “Lotus”, “Alice” and “Snake” a blurry photo of an oddly dressed group of people in front of a car and a gas station is shown with many references to an “Ace”, presumed to be Hongou though he wasn’t seen. The man had been put into custody soon after with some reports of the events that led to it, including multiple leaks. Cradle has recently come out with a statement defending Hongou, saying that they didn’t believe in these accusations. However, that was quickly recanted by them once the backlash started. Due to the fact that all the executives have been murdered, there’s been quick reports of people being promoted to these roles and calls for new applicants. Honestly, I’m getting reminded of Oceangate right now from a few years back.”

_____________________________________

Gentarou Hongou Trial Date to be Happening within the Next Few Months!

New Evidence Brought in Regards to the Cradle Pharmaceutical Death Game of 2018!

Potential Motives by Gentarou Hongou! Read Here!!!

_____________________________________

slumberingsage

THE MUGSHOT HAS BEEN RELEASED. I REPEAT. THE MUGSHOT HAS BEEN RELEASED.

#showed it to my grandma who doesnt know wtf is happening and she felt so much pity #her reaction to his crimes were priceless #cradle pharmaceutical #gentarou hongou

Whitehairedemo

The mugshot is pinned on my wall it’s amazing that bastard is gonna get all he deserves and more

_____________________________________

Gentarou Hongou Mugshot Shirt 

*a photo of the man’s mugshot on a black shirt is being modeled with a man and a woman, heads cutoff from the photo, though the woman’s dark brown hair is in frame*

Cost: $20

Sold by: Crashkeys

_____________________________________

sincerely me! @keyboardsmasher69

Okay but is he actually guilty? Like so much of this shit sounds so weird. Like a death game? Is this a video game?

Tech support @EightPetals

www.archives.com/18102018-missing-children

www.abcnew.com/gentarou-hongou

www.youtube.com/expo14/video/cradle-pharmaceuticals

Check the many sources cited in the video also. This man is guilty.

_____________________________________

Gentarou Hongou Trial - June 6th, 2028

www.youtube.com/cradlepharmaceutical/livestream/gentarou-hongou-trial

_____________________________________

changeyourmindchangeyourfate

#FUCK YEAH #it’s insane #like it starts out slightly normal but then more and more of the case got revealed and it just got weirder and weirder #destiel #supernatural

[tanoraquisloviebracket]

Having been adjured to it by a full 89.5% of you, I'm excited to announce...

Tanoraqui's Summer 2023 Lovie Bracket!

Details/rules/FAQ as follows:

This is a tournament of my stuffed animals, no submissions. Don't worry: there are 82* of them at last count, and I WILL provide names and eventually backstories where applicable.

*A few may compete as pairs or trios in the polls

In order to make it easy for people interested in the contest but not my busy multifandom hodgepodge of a blog, this will be run from here, tanoraquisloviebracket. I don't know if I'll reblog everything to my main blog, so follow now!

Q: "Lovies"? A: Though a need for communicative clarity and a mild sense of embarrassment has made me adjust to calling them "stuffies", I grew up calling stuffed animals "lovies." I think it was my mom's word for them. I've decided to re-embrace it, now - because they're literally full of stuffing, but they're really full of love!

Polls will start on the weekend (Saturday or Sunday tbd) and run for 1 week each.

Polls will start next week, June 3/4, with a 16 sets of 4-5 each. The top 2 of each set will be entered in the official Round 1 of 32 contestants (June 10/11). And we bracket on from there!

Q: Do you seriously sleep on that bed with 82 lovies? A: Yes, except the 5ft-long shark sleeps on the floor by the space heater.

Seeding will be random.

At the end of the bracket, the winner(s), the losers, and/or some random amount in the middle will be donated to a children's hospital or toy drive or something, because I really would like a little more room on my bed (mostly to better entice my cats onto it). (Probably in November, actually; that's when toy drives tend to happen.)

Emphatic arguments are encouraged, but anyone being mean to my lovies will be blocked :(

Q: Do they-- A: Yes of course they move when nobody's looking and throw wild dance parties at night while everyone's asleep.

Follow Tanoraqui's Lovie Bracket now!

Round 0 Polls & Results

Round 1 Polls & Results

Round 2 Polls & Results

Round 3 Polls & Results

Round 4 Polls & Results

Round 5 Polls & Results

FINAL ROUND POLLS & RESULTS

[thenasoneshots]

FandomMas 2023 Day 1 - James Potter

Fandom: Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts

Prompt: She hates Christmas Day with her parents as all they ever talk about is how she is single and childless. Except this year they’ve invited the neighbours. (I don’t remember where I got the prompt from)

Timing: Marauders’ Era (6th Year)

Reader's Relations: None

Reader’s House: Not Applicable

Other Notes: The reader is a pure-blood. You’ve also never interacted with James or his friends before.

---------------------------

“(Y/n), you need to find yourself a boyfriend! You’re 16, by that age I was already engaged to your father!”

I inwardly sighed, as I’d had to put up with this since I turned thirteen, whenever my mother got an opportunity, which was very often whilst I was at home, she would always chastise me about not having a boyfriend or anything, wanting me to get married the minute I finished school

“Mum, please! I don’t want to rush into a marriage! I don’t care what age you and Father got married at, I’ll get married at my own pace and when I do it will NOT be for status or whatever, it will be for love,” I replied, as she continued to tie my dress around my waist.

“(Y/n)! You do not speak to me like that. You need to carry on our family, you are our only daughter, so it is my responsibility to make sure you marry a nice, pure-blooded man so you carry on the (L/n) legacy!”

I sighed, knowing not to retort back and let her finish the final details of my outfit before she spoke again, “Now, I know the Potters have a boy about your age, I’ve invited them over for lunch, I expect you to get to know James and well, if all goes well, we should hear wedding bells once you’ve finished school!”

“Yes, Mother,” I spoke in defeat, knowing there was no way I would get out of it as I heard the doorbell ring. My mother jolted up and ran downstairs, leaving me to give my Norwegian Forest cat, who surprisingly, my mother had let me name Lucas (Let me know if you get the reference), a pat on the head before following her downstairs. When I got to the bottom, I spotted my mother talking to who I guessed were the Potters in the living room.

“(Y/n)! There you are. Come here now, I need to introduce you!”

I sighed and walked over, putting on a fake smile as my mother introduced me, however, that smile became real when I locked eyes with James. My mother hadn’t told me he was so handsome and I hadn’t realised I was staring until he was waving a hand in front of my face, “Hello? Miss (L/n)?”

I snapped from my daze, “Sorry, I was just thinking about something, it’s wonderful to meet you.”

“Same to you.”

“(Y/n), why don’t you show James around? It will give you two time to get to know each other.”

I nodded, “Yes, Mother,” before turning back to James, “Shall we?” he smiled at me and we walked out of the room. I showed him around where things were inside the hose before walking outside where we sat down on a bench in the garden.

“I hate this. My mother’s trying to marry me off. Not that you’re not a great guy or anything, it's just I want to marry for love, but my mother won’t see that. Like is it too much to ask?”

“I get what you mean, (Y/n). Honestly, I’m being forced into this too but my parents have told me I should marry for love.”

“What are you doing here then? Is my mother blackmailing your parents or something?”

“No! To be honest I wanted to get a chance to know you. I’ve heard your name floating around at Hogwarts, and I wanted to get to know you.”

“R-really?”

James nodded before responding, “Really, and now that I’ve seen you in person, well... I’m not sure how to say this..”

“Just be blunt, James. Like a plaster, just rip it off and tell me what you want to say.”

He nodded, muttering an ‘okay’ before returning to his normal speaking voice, “I think I might be in love with you.”

I gasped, not expecting him to say that and smiled, “Wow, that’s not what I was expecting you to say, but to be honest, I think I’ll need more time to sort out my feelings. I know my mother is going to force us to get married anyway, but I want to let my love life happen in its own time.”

“Fair enough.”

“But, can you do me one favour until I sort this out? Please don’t mention to anyone that my mother is going to force us to get married.”

---------------------------------

“James, can I talk to you please?” I asked, managing to find him and his friends in a hallway shortly after breakfast one day.

“Oh hello there gorgeous.”

I rolled my eyes at Sirius’ comment and looked James in the eye biting my lip. He soon nodded and I smiled, grabbing his arm and dragging him off away from his friends. Once we were alone, I stopped and caught my breath, “So, about what is inevitable for us in the future…” He nodded and I took a deep breath, “I’m not too fussed about it anymore,” I continued, leaning up and kissing him, “Merry Christmas, James.” I giggled seeing his bright red face and stood away before turning around and going to walk off, leaving him in a state of shock, but I felt a hand around my wrist and James pulled me back into him, “I take it that means you’ve ‘figured out your feelings’ then?” I nodded, “Yeah, I love you, James.”

“That makes me happy to hear.”

-----------------------------------END OF ONESHOT

Day 1 done!

[lazinesswrites]

✨Fic Writing Review 2023✨

I saw the lovely @whimsicalmeerkat do this recently, and they did the 'if you wanna do this you're tagged' thing, so! Here we go! On Jan 1st, because I haven't exactly had the time to sit down and do something like this in the last few days 😅

Words

56,557 words posted on AO3

27 works posted or updated on AO3

Fandoms & Ships Represented:

Shadowhunters (2x Malec)

Star Wars: The Bad Batch (19x Platonic Batch, 1x pre-relationship Crosshair x Captain Rex, 1x Crosshair & Commander Mayday)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (4x Obi-Wan Kenobi x Commander Cody, 1x gen)

The Shadowhunter Chronicles (1x gen)

Top Fics by Kudos

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" + Loth-Cat (SW:TCW, CodyWan, accidental Loth-Cat acquisition, Loth-Cat shenaningans)

Home In Your Arms (SW:TBB, Cross finds and rejoins the Batch, gets some much-needed sleep and hugs)

Won't you take me home ('cause lately I've been losing on my own) (SW:TBB, The Outpost canon divergence, Mayday lives, Crosshair - and Mayday - come home)

Labor of love is ours to endure (SW:TBB, Kamino Lost canon divergence, formerly known as 'The Power of Hugs', Cross rejoins the Batch)

Datawork and Drinks (SW:TCW, pre-CodyWan, Obi-Wan makes caf for Cody, lots of pining, based on this amazing comic by starwarjotta)

My Fandom Fic Events in 2023

I participated in a bunch of different -tober events in 2023, though there's still 'only' 15 works in the series I made on Ao3 for them. Links for the events here on tumblr, and their Ao3 collections when applicable:

Fictober (Ao3 collection Fictober23)

Angstober (A03 collection Angstober2023)

OC-tober

StarWarsTober

Malectober (Ao3 collection Malectober2023)

I technically also participated in Comfortember, though I haven't put the one fic I've posted for it in the Ao3 collection, so. I do have another fic mostly-written for one of these prompts, though it's not quite ready for posting yet.

Upcoming 2024 Events & Projects

I... haven't exactly planned anything yet. There's a few things I'm considering though, like this Cody-day bingo, or this Waxer*Boil Month. Various month-events, like fictober, comfortember etc. And of course I still plan on doing Kedreeva's WIP Wednesday Ask Game as many Wednesdays as I can, and maybe other weekly things like that.

Rules & Tags

Not sure there really are any rules to this, you can be as thorough or brief as you want. I'm also not gonna tag anyone specifically, but if you see this and want to do it too - you're tagged!

[scibot9000]

top discovered albums this year. as in, top albums from not-2023 but that I found in 2023. i dont have spotify so i gotta do this manually.

rankings approximate. links and thoughts under the cut

hizmi - Soak (2021)

sometimes it's the technicalities that blow my mind. this is…… unmodified X68000 music????

Yeah listening to this has expanded my mind on what's possible with old FM chips. None of this sounds like the artist found any restriction with any aspect of the system.

"Rivulet" blows my mind every time. It's just an ilkae song. Like cmon.

---

SDEM - ZNS (2020)

After AE_LIVE 2022, I went on a little bender, looking for anything else ae-esque.

I pretty much immediately struck gold. I had been digging through SDEM stuff anyway but man this is another level.

"dysp 0m" in particular is one of the tracks of all time. I keep coming back to it. it's HEAVY on headphones.

---

Ssaladd - Ssaladd (2020)

This is a funny selection to land on a TOP8 because it's so understated. It even kinda feels distant.

But damnit that's why it stuck with me.

The use of wow and flutter is crazy good here!

It feels like carefully applied vibrato, an application of the expression MIDI CC. But completely unlike any other vibrato I've heard.

It feels like a pioneering mix of techniques. And I can't stop thinking about it.

---

Cryptovolans - Passenger (2022)

Is it possible to have a wall of sound in MIDI?

No, not Black MIDI. Something prog.

I keep coming back to "Board Room" in particular because it's so... weird? Slightly beyond just SC, but not by much. Heavyweight album.

---

Kid606 - GQ on the EQ++ (2000)

The textures on this absolutely blew me away.

"My Kitten Went To London" sounds insanely fresh. I can't believe it's pushing 23 years old!

That and "Dandy" really stuck wth me. The latter sounds a bit more era-appropriate somehow (maybe because of oval?), but still vibes really good.

This was actually me revisiting the album. I initially listened to it about a decade ago and didn't like it. Crazy to think I turned away from such gold back then.

---

nagz - Good (2020)

nagz has been a longtime favorite and inspiration of mine. He's been making music from the future for years and years. Blowing my mind since 2006 or so.

One of his earlier releases, hringur, stuck with me for years. It had an atmosphere that I had never heard before or since.

…until now.

It's not actually a sequel, but it's got a flavor that I just. Don't know where else you can find.

If I were to highlight a single track: "I Like You But Not Too Much" hits astoundingly hard. It's what I imagine Earthbound music might be like if it were made today.

---

DJ Technorch & 九十九音夢 – Strong Anthropic Principle (2016)

An absolutely mind melting early (found in January) favorite. Hard, hardcore, and psychedelic. And a bit silly.

"猫の気持ち 〜Cat's Mind〜 (Masayoshi Iimori Remix)" and "解熱鎮痛一撃必殺 〜Critical Arts〜" in particular stuck with me as great experiences.

I really really like the preview video, too. (nsfw warning?) (flashing lights warning?). It truly captures the vibe.

---

AE_LIVE / elseq 6-10 / onesix

I had already listened to some of these, but around march, I found fanmade CUE sheets, and that brought a whole new level of love for this release.

And then I found fan edits with another set of fan titles. Two names for all of my favorite bits? Sure!

"ceramic / clipcon" i love that percussion! the ringmod in "(drunk) / probat emp2" is some of my fav ae work ever. having splits made me fall in love with the density of "sentinel / sinistrail casual"

and then I discovered the onesix sets and fan-cuts, giving a more ambient dive which I'll only mention briefly here. But man, "reflected / seven of twelve" is one I revisit OFTEN.

[funeralcryptid]

Spooky Readings

2023 OPEN

Hi, for the rest of the month of October I will be doing 1 free reading per day with an specific theme to whoever claims the slot for the current day in the countdown. As of writing this post, it’s October 3rd, so the slots for day 1, 2 and 3 are currently open. First come, first served. Bring an offering personal to you that is related to the theme of the day (if applicable). Also feel free to give any information that could be helpful.

This list will constantly be updated as slots are claimed so you can tell if you can still ask for a reading or not. 

Claim only what you need.

Day 1: Mischievous Pumpkin (general reading for the month of October)

Day 2: Crow (a message that needs to be delivered to you)

Day 3: Scarecrow (a reading that helps you battle your current fears)

Day 4: Bloody Bandages (could use a little healing? let’s bandage you up)

Day 5: Black Cat (where to find blessings in this trying time)

Day 6: Shadow (explore your shadow self for your advantage) 

Day 7: Butchered (what part of you needs a good ol’ butchering?)

Day 8: Beheaded (what part of you needs to die?)

Day 9: Bloody Feast (be selfish and gorge up at the expense of others!)

Day 10: The Sighting (what energies/spirits are manifesting themselves rn?)

Day 11: Broken Mirror (in which we tackle personal misconceptions and more) 

Day 12: Curse (what’s haunting you, and how to break it)

Day 13: Poison (in which we craft the antidote for your poisoning) 

Day 14: Gore (in which we celebrate violence and fuck you up a lil)

Day 15: Teeth (what do you need to let go off?) 

Day 16: Cannibalism (consume others and yourself in order to gain something for free)

Day 17: Acid (for those who could use a real good wake-up call) 

Day 18: Plague (in which we analyze what’s killing you and how to fight back)

Day 19: Hate (for the ones ready to benefit from harnessing hate and violence)

Day 20: The Black Dog (lost in the shadows? let the Black Dog fetch you)

Day 21: Vampiric Ball (in which we glam up loser you for the ball)

Day 22: Heretic Martyr (what lie needs to come undone before your eyes?)

Day 23: Bloody Heart (in which we clean it up and try to fix it with tape)

Day 24: The Harvester (what are you manifesting and how can you amp it up?)

Day 25: Executioner (in which we get to cut up that annoying side of you!)

Day 26: Punisher (where you went wrong, why, and how to fix it)

Day 27: Easter Egg (surprise me or I’ll surprise you)

🔒Day 28: Wolf Skin Mask (wear the mask of the lycanthrope for a day!)

🔒Day 29: Freezing Moon (how are you deceiving yourself + consequences)

🔒Day 30: Sacred Blood (your positive attributes and how to amplify them)

🔒Day 31: Open Casket Funeral (in which we attend your funeral, go over your elegies and guide you to rebirth)

Details on the daily reading will be posted on the respective day so I suggest you wait for the post before requesting a reading.