#code breaker icons

[setsunaaaicons]

I have decided to share my pics of blushy sakura. Your welcome 🤑🤑🤑

[samratdidm]

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[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 1 - Side B

firestar art by @kudos-si-do

Propaganda below ⬇️

Kirei

He fucked up so many people's lives so badly in just one decade (not on purpose) that the universe put him in the summoning pool of all world influencing souls. He doesnt really have any special powers but he does serve as a vessel for rasputin at one point. He's the guy who says "people die when they are killed"

please please please there's literally a type moon character in the gif on the top of this form so it's typemoonphobic if none of them get in but it shouldn't be her it should be kirei bc he's 50x funnier & more iconic than jeanne. funny lil murder priest who's fucking THE gilgamesh (from the epic of) in the church basement and dies in a knife fight w a 17 year old whose dad he wanted to fuck back in '94 before realizing that he was actually kinda lame and he's been bitter abt it ever since. he has an orphan torture factory in his basement but he's also canonically good at being a priest. he's so funny you should def try his mapo tofu i swear it's totally safe for human consumption and not made with any california reapers. did i mention he's a deadbeat dad.

Priest claims to be Pro Life to make Sakura Matou the most miserable girl on the planet, but he dies anyway.

bro became a catholic because he loves suffering

He’s a priest. Kind of. Not a very good priest obviously. There is something seriously wrong and fucked up with that man. It’s so entertaining.

he's gotta be one of the most insane catholic men ever with a very in-depth and interesting relationship with his religion and his relationship with god also he's the sexiest man ever to be conceptualized in the known universe and all of time

Will never forget the 40+ minute monologue in heavens feel being a thinly veiled metaphor for abortion

he wants to torment churchgoers and make them face their failures and suffering but all he ends up doing is motivate them to improve themselves. cringefail moment for him

he's absolutely insane. the coldhearted mercenary that barely reacts to anything is terrified of kirei. he's super fucked up. his ult in stay night is literally him channeling divine power into something called kyrie eleison. he's the vessel of rasputin (on account of being a priest with a huge....no i shant say) the biblical beast in grand order among other things. he gets drunk with and tops gilgamesh from the epic of gilgamesh in the church basement after gilgamesh from the epic of gilgamesh bats his eyes a little too hard at kirei in some of the horniest shot scenes ive ever seen. he also used to be a heretical "fixer" for the church, cleaning up scenes that would expose shit to the public. uhh what else. he holds cool swords between his fingers like a kid pretending to be wolverine but in my favorite route he just squares the hell up with the protagonist and they fight to the death outside planned parenthood

Firestar

Kitty jesus, he believes in starclan which is the kitty version of heaven/god and yea. All the warrior cats characters except those outside the clans or those that are atheist believe in the kitty heaven and would irl be bri-ish and christian as hell so. The authors are all older british christian women and so the way starclan is written is like undoubtedly that.

The main religion in the series is extremely catholic coded. Most clan cats believe in Starclan and the Dark Forest(or heaven and hell). There is a set of rule they must uphold and follow, where following them leads to heaven and breaking them leads to hell. Their religious leaders are sworn to celibacy, and the punishments that "code breakers"(or cats who break the rules) face are extremely similar to situations people with religious trauma have gone through.

OP notes: apparently converted to avoid getting his balls cut?? Idk. The discord yet wild for firestar so I had to include him because it's hilarious hehehe

[camisoledadparis]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … January 19

1851 – The "State of Deseret," better known as Utah, enacts a criminal code that makes sodomy illegal only between males, and sets the penalty at a prison term and/or fine in the discretion of the court.

1863 – Ogden Codman, Jr. was an American architect and interior decorator in the Beaux-Arts styles, and co-author with Edith Wharton of The Decoration of Houses (1897).

Codman spent his youth from 1875 to 1884 at Dinard, an American resort colony in France, and on returning to America in 1884, studied at the MIT. Wharton became one of his first Newport clients for her home there, Land's End. Subsequently she introduced Codman to Cornelius Vanderbilt II, who hired him to design the second and third floor rooms of his Newport summer home, The Breakers.

In 1907, Codman built the Codman-Davis House in Washington, D.C. for his cousin Martha Codman, one of the few intact homes that he designed. This included a carriage house, now the Apex Night Club, ironically a gay club.

Although a noted homosexual, on 8 October, 1904, Codman married one of his commissioners, Leila Griswold Webb, widow of railroad magnate H. Walter Webb, who died unexpectedly in 1910.

In 1920, Codman left New York to return to France, where he spent the rest of his life at the Château de Grégy, wintering at Villa Leopolda in Villefranche-sur-Mer: it is his masterpiece, the fullest surviving expression of his esthetic.

1887 – Newspapers report an apparent blackmail ring in Greenville, Ohio that leads to seven indictments and one conviction for sodomy, but the Governor of Ohio pardons the one convicted.

1897 – The Missouri Supreme Court upholds a conviction for assault to commit sodomy of a St. Louis police officer who attempted sodomy with another male after threatening to arrest him unless he accompanied him to a lumber yard, where the attempt was made.

1921 – Acclaimed mystery writer Patricia Highsmith (d.1995) was the author of one explicitly lesbian novel, as well as the popular series featuring the amoral bisexual Tom Ripley.

Highsmith was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on January 19, 1921. Her father was of German and her mother of British descent. She was educated at Barnard College, New York, and became a freelance writer a year after she left college. She lived alternately in Europe and the United States, residing mostly in Switzerland.

Her first novel Strangers on a Train (1949), later a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, depicts that pattern of peculiar psychological imprisonment between two people that she was to continue as her personal motif. Instead of an absolutely moral Holmes/Watson type of reassurance at the center of the novel, there is the subversive, explicitly homoerotic and tortured obsession of two murderers for each other.

Carol, first published in 1952 as The Price of Salt, under the pseudonym Claire Morgan, is Highsmith's only explicitly lesbian novel. It sold nearly one million copies in the United States in 1953 alone. Lesbian readers' response was one of gratitude—finally they were offered a novel that did not end in death, despair, or debasement.

Of the Ripley series, critic Kathleen Gregory Klein argues that Highsmith has gone as far as creating a new fictional form, citing her introduction of the cult-figure serial killer Tom Ripley as a new type of criminal superhero, prefiguring similar cultural icons that appeared in the 1990s. (The Talented Mr. Ripley was awarded the Edgar Allan Poe Scroll by the Mystery Writers of America in 1955.)

The Ripley books are generically akin to a series. Characters reappear in subsequent titles and undergo development, and Ripley himself inspires readerly identification, at least because he is so amorally fascinating.

René Clément's subtly homoerotic Purple Noon (1960), starring Alain Delon as Tom Ripley, was the first adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Other adaptations of the Ripley novels include Wim Winders' The American Friend (1977), featuring Dennis Hopper as Tom Ripley in an existential take on the character; Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), starring Matt Damon; Liliani Cavani's Ripley's Game (2002), featuring John Malkovich; and Roger Spottiswoode's Ripley Under Ground (2005), with Barry Pepper in the title role.

According to her biography, Beautiful Shadow, Highsmith's personal life was a troubled one; she was an alcoholic who never had a relationship that lasted for more than a few years, and she was seen by some of her contemporaries and acquaintances as misanthropic and cruel.

Highsmith had relationships with women and men, but never married or had children. In 1943, she had an affair with the artist Allela Cornell (who committed suicide in 1946 by drinking nitric acid[9]) and in 1949, she became close to novelist Marc Brandel. Between 1959 and 1961 she had a relationship with Marijane Meaker, who wrote under the pseudonyms of Vin Packer and Ann Aldrich, but later wrote young adult fiction with the name M.E. Kerr.

Ray Stevens & Pat Paterson (R)

1941 – Born: Pierre Clermont, better known by his ring name Pat Patterson, was a Canadian former professional wrestler (d.2020). Pat was 17 when he started wrestling. He soon became one of the biggest names in the sixties and seventies. He worked for WWE as a creative consultant. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996.

Outside of the wrestling ring, Pat was really timid and shy. He was soft-spoken, with a cute French accent. Surprisingly, Pat was a former altar boy and candidate for the priesthood. He was a deeply religious man.

Pat Patterson debuted in Montreal, Quebec in 1958 as "Pretty Boy" Pat Patterson, an effeminate wrestler who wore red lipstick and pink trunks and was accompanied by his pet Poodle.

A Young Pat Patterson

Patterson wrestled frequently for affiliates of the National Wrestling Alliance throughout the 1960s, and was a ten time tag team champion in San Francisco with a variety of partners. His most famous pairing was with Ray Stevens, the two of them forming the heel tag team, the Blond Bombers.

Patterson was openly gay, although he had never stated so. It is rumored that Pat and Gerald Brisco, another of his wrestling partners, were lovers. In 1992, Patterson was accused of sexual harassment by former ring announcer Murray Hodgson and released from the company until the charges were dropped, when he was promptly rehired. After dropping the charges, Hodgson's attorney referred to Hodgson as "a lifelong con man."

In August 2006, Patterson underwent emergency heart surgery. In October, Patterson recovered from his operation and was released from the hospital.

On June 12, 2014, Patterson officially "came out" on TV. The video link is below:

(Click to view on YouTube)

Although Patterson was openly gay, having come out in the 1970s, his sexual orientation was never directly acknowledged on television until 2014 when he spoke about it on a WWE-produced reality TV show.

Louie Dondero, Patterson's longtime partner of 40 years, died of a heart attack in 1998. Patterson himself died in December 2020.

1943 – The name Janis Joplin (d.1970) is practically synonymous with the excesses epitomized by the counterculture of the 1960s: sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, all of which Joplin took to extreme levels. As troubled as she was talented, Joplin has been portrayed in numerous articles, full-length biographies, and documentaries as everything from a reckless, sex-crazed party animal to a victimized, lost little girl who never believed she was lovable.

Joplin was born in small, insular Port Arthur, Texas, where she grew up. She always stood out as a bright, creative misfit in her oil-refinery hometown. Joplin reportedly relished the attention that her bad-girl image brought, but her status as a social outcast hurt her deeply and would remain with her throughout her short life. She decided that school was not for her and began singing at the hootenannies of the day and at bars in Austin, San Francisco, and Venice, California. After some time spent traveling, Joplin moved to San Francisco and fully immersed herself in the counterculture there.

Before long, she joined the then-unknown group Big Brother and the Holding Company. Joplin scored a major hit at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival with her smoldering rendition of Big Mama Thornton's blues song "Ball and Chain." That major "Summer of Love" event heralded her big breakthrough; Big Brother signed a contract with Mainstream Records, and Joplin continued to perform with them for two more years. Joplin later formed the Kozmic Blues Band, and in 1969 released I Got Dem Kozmic Blues Again Mama! When the group fell apart, she spearheaded one last project, the Full Tilt Boogie Band, a more popular-style, professional-sounding group with whom she recorded her third album, Pearl. The widely acclaimed record was released posthumously and featured her unforgettable version of the Kris Kristofferson tune "Me and Bobby McGee."

As her fame grew, so did her alcoholism and drug use; she battled her heroin addiction but never relinquished her Southern Comfort habit. Joplin's sexuality was expansive and open, encompassing both men and women; but the "freak" circles in which Joplin circulated were generally heterosexual and not immune to sexism. Hippie women, after all, were not supposed to be crass and, as Janis was often described, "ballsy."

In addition, Joplin crossed the race line. Most people had never seen a white woman singing the blues and letting it all hang out the way she did, and perhaps not everyone was ready for her full-on explosion of voice and soul. Citing influences and inspirations such as Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, and Leadbelly, Janis interpreted the blues in a way that helped break down the old barrier of "black music" versus "white music."

Although Joplin took numerous female lovers, she never openly identified as lesbian or bisexual. Instead, she considered herself beyond categorization: she was simply sexual. Her friends mainly referred to her as bisexual, yet the press has long loved to heterosexualize her past, while lesbian culture often claims her as one of its own. The truth is that Janis maintained long-term relationships with several women, including Peggy Caserta, whose controversial 1973 memoir Going Down with Janis documented their affair and mutual drug addiction.

At the same time, Joplin was also on the lookout for "one good man" with whom to settle down. Twice engaged, she never did marry.

Although she had kicked heroin around the time she formed the Full Tilt Boogie Band, Joplin was tempted again one night when she ran into her former dealer in the lobby of the Landmark Motel in Los Angeles. She died of a heroin overdose, alone in her room at the motel, on October 4, 1970.

Joplin's music continues to flourish. Her Greatest Hits album still makes the Billboard charts. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

The Johns Committee in session

1959 – On this date investigators summoned the University of Florida Geography professor Sigmund Diettrich to the Manor Motel in Gainesville, Florida for "interviewing". Soon after, he was fired from his job and lost the life he loved as a beloved teacher and dean. He attempted suicide the same day he was let go from U.F. Hundreds of other professors and students across the state were also terminated or expelled because of their sexuality. Many people are familiar with the McCarthy hearings but do not realize that Florida had its own committee designed to weed out communism and homosexual activity. State Senator Charley Johns started the investigations to "protect Florida's children."

The Johns Committee pursued people in academic institutions, courthouse bathrooms and bus stations. The committee's investigators went so far as tapping phones in motels, interrogating children as young as 10, and breaking up a teenage girl's slumber party looking for evidence of moral misconduct. In 1993 more than 30,000 pages of secret documents became public, including a University of Florida administrator's statement that there was no way to prevent Gay men from lingering in university bathrooms "unless you pour sulfuric acid on the floor to make people go fast."

1982 – Pete Buttigieg is an American politician and candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 United States presidential election. He is the first openly gay person to seek the Democratic nomination, and has built his campaign around the idea of generational change. He launched his campaign on April 14, 2019, after forming an exploratory committee in January. Initially considered a long shot, he gained significant momentum in mid-2019 when he participated in several town halls, forums, and debates. As of December 2019, several media outlets consider him one of four "top-tier candidates".

Buttigieg served as the 32nd mayor of South Bend, Indiana from January 2012 to January 2020. Before running for office, he worked on the political campaigns of Democrats Jill Long Thompson, Joe Donnelly, and John Kerry. He was defeated in the 2010 election for Indiana State Treasurer before being elected mayor of South Bend, Indiana the following year, becoming the youngest mayor of a city with a population of over 100,000. In 2015, Buttigieg publicly came out as gay. Later that year, he was reelected with over 80% of the vote. In 2017, he ran for chair of the Democratic National Committee.

From 2009 to 2017, he served as a naval intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve, attaining the rank of lieutenant. In 2014, he was deployed to Afghanistan for seven months and was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal and the Joint Meritorious Unit Award. From 2007 to 2010, he worked as a consultant at management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Buttigieg is a graduate of Harvard College and Oxford University. He attended the latter on a Rhodes Scholarship.

In a June 2015 piece in the South Bend Tribune, Buttigieg came out as gay. By coming out, Buttigieg became Indiana's first openly gay elected executive. He was the first elected official in Indiana to come out while in office, and the highest elected official in Indiana to come out. Buttigieg is also the first openly gay Democratic presidential candidate, and the second overall, after Republican Fred Karger, who ran in 2012.

In December 2017, Buttigieg announced his engagement to Chasten Glezman, a junior high school teacher. They had been dating since August 2015 after meeting on the dating app Hinge. They were married on June 16, 2018, in a private ceremony at the Episcopalian Cathedral of St. James. As of April 2019 Chasten uses his husband's surname, Buttigieg.

Buttigieg announced that he and his husband had become parents on August 17, 2021. Buttigieg announced that they had adopted two newborn fraternal twins on September 4, 2021.

In June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a watershed moment in the LGBTQ rights movement, Queerty named him one of its "Pride50" people identified as "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards equality, acceptance and dignity for all queer people."

President-elect Biden named Buttigieg as his nominee for Secretary of Transportation in December 2020. His nomination was confirmed on February 2, 2021, by a vote of 86–13, making him the first openly gay Cabinet secretary in U.S. history. Nominated at age 38, he is also the youngest Cabinet member in the Biden administration and the youngest person ever to serve as Secretary of Transportation.

1996 – Jakub Jankto is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a midfielder��for Czech First League club Sparta Prague, on loan from La Liga club Getafe, and the Czech Republic national team.

Jankto announced in February of 2023 that he is gay. He becomes the second current openly gay soccer player in top-tier men's professional soccer, joining Australian Josh Cavallo, who announced he was gay back in 2021. The current Sparta Prague player, on loan from Getafe, has spent most of his soccer career in Italy playing for Udinese, Ascoli and Sampdoria before joining Getafe in the summer of 2021.

His current club, Sparta Prague, issued a statement after his video message: "Jakub spoke openly about his sexual orientation with the club some time ago. Everything else concerns his personal life. No further comments. No more questions. You have our support. Live your life, Jacob. Nothing else matters."

Jankto, 27, has 45 appearances for his national team. He played in all five of his team's matches at Euro 2020 as the Czechs made the quarterfinals.

2004 – Ian Iqbal Rashid releases his movie Touch of Pink. Multi-talented Rashid is a poet, screenwriter and filmmaker known in particular for his volumes of poetry, for the BBC TV series This Life and the feature films Touch of Pink and How She Move.

Of Indian ancestry and Ismaili Muslim religion, Rashid's family lived in colonial East Africa for generations. Ian was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Different years of birth are given for Rashid in different sources, but academic work gives the year as 1968. In 1970, his family was forced to leave Tanzania. After failing to secure asylum in the UK and US, they settled in Toronto.

Rashid began his career as an arts journalist and critic and events programmer, particularly focussed on South Asian diasporic, Muslim and LGBTQ cultural work.

In the early 1990s, Rashid returned to London, Britain, where he lives today with his partner, the writer, curator, and academic Peter Ride.

In the late 1980s, Rashid was a regular contributor to the Canadian LGBT magazine Rites. Rashid published his first poetry collection, Black Markets, White Boyfriends and Other Acts of Elision, in 1991. Two more followed: the chapbook Song of Sabu in 1993 and The Heat Yesterday in 1995.

His poems "Another Country", "Could Have Danced All Night", "Hot Property" and "Early Dinner, Weekend Away" appear in John Barton and Billeh Nickerson's 2007 anthology Seminal: The Anthology of Canada's Gay Male Poets, and others were included in the 2009 anthology Forbidden Sex, Forbidden Texts: New India's Gay Poets.

Self-taught as a film-maker, in 1991, Rashid made the short film Bolo Bolo! with Kaspar Saxena. The film, part of an HIV/AIDS cable access series called Toronto Living With AIDS, resulted in the series being pulled from Rogers Television after complaints about sexually suggestive content, though it had a long and healthy life at film festivals.

Rashid went on to write two award-winning short films, Surviving Sabu (1999), and Stag (2001).

Touch of Pink, Rashid's first feature film, spent 12 years in development. In 2003, he finally had the chance to direct the project as a Canada-UK co-production. It premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival to great acclaim, a bidding war, and eventually, a sale to Sony Picture Classics. The film has attracted extensive scholarly commentary.

How She Move received a similar reception at Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Rashid in 2007, the film is set in the world of step dancing. It was nominated for a Sundance World Cinema Grand Jury Prize and purchased by Paramount Vantage. The film opened to positive reviews and strong box office.

Rashid began working as a writer in UK television in the late 1990s. His credits include the soap London Bridge (Carlton Television for ITV) and the cult hit BBC2 series This Life, for which he received the Writer's Guild of England award.

[thenightling]

The most misogynistic / agist review of Agatha All Along I've come across

Okay, there's a lot to unpack here but I'll try to address what I can about this ...person's review of Agatha All Along episode 4.

He has it in his head that being a witch = evil by default. This seems rooted in casual sexism since he never saw Doctor Strange as evil. Even though he uses the title of "Sorcerer" he is still a witch. Witch actually is a unisex term despite what pop culture has taught us. And no, Warlock, doesn't mean "male witch." It actually comes from "Oath breaker." Yes, some of the witches are morally grey and need some growth and development but that makes them interesting. It doesn't make them "Evil" by default. 2. He mocks the "old woman on the triangle because she obviously has no musical talent." He... he is trolling, right?!? That's Broadway icon Patti Lupone. The whole reason they have her just playing a triangle is kind of a joke because she is the most musically incline cast member. 3. He keep referring to Rio as a demon. He's figured out who "Teen" is (Wiccan) but he think Rio is a demon. I'm about 90% sure she's death. 4. He keeps making digs at the character's ages and the lack of action and yet most Marvel fans are burnt out on sky beams and CGI action battles. Also no one took cheep shots at Tony Stark's age. HIs actor was older than Agatha Harkness's actress. This is sexism based agism. 5. He actually seems almost offended that there's lesbianism or queerness in this show. He sort of references that annoying South Park meme of "Put a chick in it and make it gay." Wiccan being gay is comic book canon. He was gay since his inception. Death is also not straight. And Agatha has been at least queer coded since the 70s. She was "in the broom closet" while working for the Fantastic Four as their nanny. (Get it? Broom Closet?) It was about her witchiness but you can see the metaphor. She was an old unmarried woman with no suggested interest in men. (at least when she started). I hold Trey Parker and Matt Stone personally accountable for the spread of the most annoying homophobic and sexist meme so that now any time a character is implied to be queer, or if there's a woman hero, it's treated like corporate pandering instead of... You know... being faithful to the source material. Frankly, I think of Agatha All Along is a breath of fresh air. Yes, the characters are all middle aged women and one queer boy but so what? That's pretty much the cast of the pilot of The Golden Girls. Speaking of which, ever since the line "Gothic Golden Girls" was uttered in Hocus Pocus 2 I have wanted a TV show of middle aged witches living together and their adventures and this is pretty damn close to that show I fantasized about.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNrRG7Cov_0)

[thatdesklamp]

Hi! I saw your post around here where you mentioned Ali Hazelwood, and I've been devouring her stories lately. Since I trust your judgment more than my own (that A level in literature really shows), I was wondering if you could recommend other stories you might have enjoyed? They don't have to be in a STEM setting, nor necessarily romances (although those are very welcome). Thank you so much <3

Hello! Yes of course!!

For books that remind me of ‘One Day’ (and therefore encapsulate the vibe I was going for in this fic). Heavy on themes of intimate relationships between two people, nostalgia, time and growing up.

‘This Time Tomorrow’ by Emma Straub: gorgeous insight into getting older and a push for change, explores the relationship between a father and daughter beautifully

‘Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow’ by Gabrielle Zevin: masterful characters and structure. Two friends work as video game designers. The publisher’s tagline is brilliant: ‘It’s not a romance, but it is about love.’

‘Amy & Isabelle’ by Elizabeth Strout: one of those books I know I’ll appreciate even more when I get older. Mother and daughter relationship: if you resonated by Greta Gerwig’s ‘Ladybird’, you’ll love this one.

‘The Time Traveller’s Wife’ by Audrey Niffenegger: It’s famous for a reason. The most original love story I’ve ever read and with such genius and tender plotting that demands rereading.

‘Normal People’ by Sally Rooney: melancholic and bittersweet (aka it was the ‘One Day’ that I didn’t like quite as much as ‘One Day’ but also guys it’s a good book c’mon let’s be fr here)

Romances I’ve enjoyed (these are probably very popular but there are so many shite ones that I’ll vouch for these):

Ali Hazelwood books. I am so adamant that this woman is an absolute legend and her books only get better. Loved her most recent (‘Love, Theoretically’), it’s too fun.

‘Book Lovers’ by Emily Henry. Emily Henry loml.

‘Love and Other Words’ by Christina Lauren: ICONIC friends-to-lovers

For STEM-y books I enjoyed, I liked:

‘Lessons in Chemistry’ by Bonnie Garmus: the main character is absolutely brilliant and I’m the world’s most devout feminist so of course I devoured this book. (Although constantly calling table salt NaCl did annoy me juuust a little. Yes salt is primarily composed of sodium chloride but it’s not purified so calling it NaCl is just a bit silly)

‘The Code Breaker’ by Walter Isaacson: non-fiction (gasp!) but I find CRISPR so interesting. Biography about Jennifer Doudna, the Nobel Prize winner who essentially transformed the world of genetic engineering.

Miscellaneous books I’ve enjoyed:

‘Tender is the Flesh’ by Agustina Bazterrica: chilling dystopia, excellent narration from perspective character, so disgusting and gory

‘Fingersmith’ by Sarah Waters: not usually a fan of historical fiction but Sarah Waters is the loml, brilliant plotting, crime fiction

‘Vladimir’ by Julia May Jones: devoured it in a day. Dark and sensual, with such a sharply-characterised perspective character.

‘The Charioteer’ by Mary Renault: one of the first books to write an unapologetically positive portrayal of homosexuality. Essential reading for any lgbt+ person who likes reading, imo: stands on the same level as ‘Giovanni’s Room’ or… literally any Sarah Waters novel. I read it for background research on a far-off WW2 fic I want to write but ended up loving it. Really sweet.

Huzzah I hope this is up to scratch <3

[uispeccoll]

Shaft and the Era of Blaxploitation

Last year, Special Collections and Archives at the University of Iowa Libraries acquired items to form a new collection: the Black Film and Television Collection. In honor of Black History Month, we’re shining a spotlight on a different item from this collection each week.

In last week’s post, we discussed the lobby card for Oscar Micheaux’s 1938 film Swing, starring Cora Green. Our next spotlight is on original materials from the 1971 film Shaft, which includes the script used in the production in the movie, which was a defining entry in the Blaxploitation genre.

What is “Blaxploitation?”

We’ll start with the obvious: the word itself blends “Black” and “exploitation” and was coined by Beverly Hills-Hollywood NAACP president Junius Griffin in 1972 and wasn’t in the context of praise.

Blaxploitation movies are made by black filmmakers with black actors for black audiences. They portray strong black characters who were the heroes and leads. During the mid- to early 1970s, more than 200 movies of the genre were made, in subgenres such as horror, westerns, comedy, drama, and action.

Rather than trying to dispel stereotypes, movies like Shaft reinforce them. And while the movies were popular with audiences, that approach did create some critics, like Junius Griffin and other NAACP members.

Exploiting a lurid loophole

The Hays Code ruled Hollywood from 1934 to 1968, enforcing a strict set of moral standards for films. But filmmakers tend to be creative people, and “exploitation films” were the loophole they chose. If they depicted these offensive (and entertaining) subjects under the guise of a cautionary tale, they could get away with including them.

Over the years, court cases and boundary-breakers chipped away at the Hays Code. In 1968—the same year most history textbooks mark as the end of the Civil Rights Movement because it coincides with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.—the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) scrapped the Code in favor of the film rating system. It was into these unique circumstances that a new genre—Blaxploitation—was born.

John Shaft’s world

Shaft is an adaptation of Ernest Tidyman’s 1970 detective novel, directed by Gordon Parks. Opening on an urban panorama overlaid with a funk soundtrack, the movie stars Richard Roundtree as John Shaft, a stylish and suave private detective in New York who is approached by the boss of a Harlem organized crime family (Moses Gunn) in search of his kidnapped daughter (Sherri Brewer). In the course of his mission, Shaft dispatches mafiosos, teams up with activists in the Black Power Movement, and delivers enough one-liners to cement his legacy as one of the iconic characters of 20th century film.

Even a brief glimpse at the original movie script’s pages (like the one shown above) showcase the swagger and bombast of the protagonist, who would go on to anchor multiple sequels. The movie’s iconic theme song, written and recorded by Isaac Hayes, has been sampled and reused dozens of times since the movie’s release, and the film itself has been preserved by the Library of Congress. It provides one of the early blueprints for the Blaxploitation genre, which continued to flourish throughout the 1970s.

It’s well worth noting that while Shaft’s director, stars, and core audience were Black, its writers were both white men. This information certainly complicates how many viewers receive the film’s representation of Black characters—and those complications became the focus of blaxploitation’s most vocal detractors.

Blaxploitation may have had its heyday in the 1970s, but it’s never truly ended. The genre was carried into the 21st century by the generation of filmmakers it inspired, including John Singleton, Spike Lee, and the Hughes Brothers.

Our next entry will be a look at Cheryl Dunye’s 1997 film The Watermelon Woman, and the growing influence of Black women in the film industry.

---Natalee Dawson, Communication Coordinator at UIowa Libraries with assistance from Anne Bassett, Liz Riordan, and Jerome Kirby

[suzakucastle]

Protagonist Poll (Round 4)

(Note: Filia is excluded because I refuse to acknowledge what Skullgirls has become.)

~R

[rockislandadultreads]

Women’s History Month: Nonfiction Recommendations

Sisters of Mokama by Jyoti Thottam

New York Times editor Jyoti Thottam’s mother was part of an extraordinary group of Indian women. Born in 1946, a time when few women dared to leave their house without the protection of a man, she left home by herself at just fifteen years old and traveled to Bihar - an impoverished and isolated state in northern India that had been one of the bloodiest regions of Partition - in order to train to be a nurse under the tutelage of the determined and resourceful Appalachian nuns who ran Nazareth Hospital. Like Thottam’s mother’s journey, the hospital was a radical undertaking: it was run almost entirely by women, who insisted on giving the highest possible standard of care to everyone who walked through its doors, regardless of caste or religion.

Fascinated by her mother’s story, Thottam set out to discover the full story of Nazareth Hospital, which had been established in 1947 by six nuns from Kentucky. With no knowledge of Hindi, and the awareness that they would likely never see their families again, the sisters had traveled to the small town of Mokama determined to live up to the pioneer spirit of their order, founded in the rough hills of the Kentucky frontier. A year later, they opened the doors of the hospital; soon they began taking in young Indian women as nursing students, offering them an opportunity that would change their lives. One of those women, of course, was Thottam’s mother.

In Sisters of Mokama, Thottam draws upon twenty years’ worth of research to tell this inspiring story for the first time. She brings to life the hopes, struggles, and accomplishments of these ordinary women - both American and Indian - who succeeded against the odds during the tumult and trauma of the years after World War II and Partition. Pain and loss were everywhere for the women of that time, but the collapse of the old orders provided the women of Nazareth Hospital with an opening - a chance to create for themselves lives that would never have been possible otherwise.

The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson

When Jennifer Doudna was in sixth grade, she came home one day to find that her dad had left a paperback titled The Double Helix on her bed. She put it aside, thinking it was one of those detective tales she loved. When she read it on a rainy Saturday, she discovered she was right, in a way. As she sped through the pages, she became enthralled by the intense drama behind the competition to discover the code of life. Even though her high school counselor told her girls didn’t become scientists, she decided she would.

Driven by a passion to understand how nature works and to turn discoveries into inventions, she would help to make what the book’s author, James Watson, told her was the most important biological advance since his codiscovery of the structure of DNA. She and her collaborators turned a curiosity of nature into an invention that will transform the human race: an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA. Known as CRISPR, it opened a brave new world of medical miracles and moral questions.

After helping to discover CRISPR, Doudna became a leader in wrestling with these moral issues and, with her collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier, won the Nobel Prize in 2020. Her story is an “enthralling detective story” (Oprah Daily) that involves the most profound wonders of nature, from the origins of life to the future of our species.

The Doctors Blackwell by Janice P. Nimura

Elizabeth Blackwell believed from an early age that she was destined for a mission beyond the scope of "ordinary" womanhood. Though the world at first recoiled at the notion of a woman studying medicine, her intelligence and intensity ultimately won her the acceptance of the male medical establishment. In 1849, she became the first woman in America to receive an M.D. She was soon joined in her iconic achievement by her younger sister, Emily, who was actually the more brilliant physician.

Exploring the sisters’ allies, enemies, and enduring partnership, Janice P. Nimura presents a story of trial and triumph. Together, the Blackwells founded the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children, the first hospital staffed entirely by women. Both sisters were tenacious and visionary, but their convictions did not always align with the emergence of women’s rights - or with each other. From Bristol, Paris, and Edinburgh to the rising cities of antebellum America, this richly researched new biography celebrates two complicated pioneers who exploded the limits of possibility for women in medicine. As Elizabeth herself predicted, "a hundred years hence, women will not be what they are now."

The Queens of Animation by Nathalia Holt

From Snow White to Moana, from Pinocchio to Frozen, the animated films of Walt Disney Studios have moved and entertained millions. But few fans know that behind these groundbreaking features was an incredibly influential group of women who fought for respect in an often ruthless male-dominated industry and who have slipped under the radar for decades.

In The Queens of Animation, bestselling author Nathalia Holt tells their dramatic stories for the first time, showing how these women infiltrated the boys' club of Disney's story and animation departments and used early technologies to create the rich artwork and unforgettable narratives that have become part of the American canon. As the influence of Walt Disney Studios grew - and while battling sexism, domestic abuse, and workplace intimidation - these women also fought to transform the way female characters are depicted to young audiences.

With gripping storytelling, and based on extensive interviews and exclusive access to archival and personal documents, The Queens of Animation reveals the vital contributions these women made to Disney's Golden Age and their continued impact on animated filmmaking, culminating in the record-shattering Frozen, Disney's first female-directed full-length feature film.

[hitechhotwater]

From Symbols to Solutions: Hot Water Heat Pump Display Indicators Explained

Hot water heat pumps are an integral part of our daily lives, ensuring comfort and convenience. However, troubleshooting hot water heat pump become a daunting task if you don't understand its display indicators.

Modern systems, especially heat pumps, come equipped with advanced digital screens, LED lights, and symbols designed to provide real-time feedback on performance and potential issues.

In this blog, we will explore the common heat pump display indicators, their meanings, and how to address common problems effectively.

Understanding Hot Water Heat Pump System Display Indicators

Display indicators on hot water heat pumps serve as the system's language, translating its operational status into understandable symbols or codes. From temperature adjustments to error notifications, these indicators are critical for maintaining optimal performance.

How Display Indicators Help Homeowners

Real-Time Feedback: Indicators provide instant updates about your system's status, such as water temperature, pressure, and operational modes. Efficiency Monitoring: Some heat pump systems display energy usage, helping homeowners track efficiency. Error Alerts: Display indicators notify users of issues like overheating, water pressure drops, or electrical faults, allowing timely intervention.

For heat pump systems, understanding these display symbols and codes can save time, prevent costly repairs, and ensure the system operates at its peak.

Common Symbols on Heat Pump Hot Water Systems

Temperature Symbols

A thermometer icon typically represents the current water temperature. Adjusting this setting can impact energy consumption:

Eco Mode: Often represented by a leaf or snowflake symbol, this mode maintains lower temperatures for energy efficiency. Boost Mode: Indicated by an upward arrow or flame symbol, this setting heats water quickly for high-demand periods.

Power Symbols

Power On/Off: Usually depicted as a circle with a line through it, this indicates whether the system is running or in standby mode. No Power: If this symbol flashes or doesn't light up, it may indicate a power supply issue or tripped circuit breaker.

Error or Warning Symbols

E1, E2 Codes: These are commonly displayed error codes in heat pump systems. For example: E1: Indicates water pressure issues. E2: Signals thermostat or sensor faults. Flashing Lights: A blinking light often represents minor faults or reminders for routine checks.

Maintenance Indicators

Symbols resembling tools or wrenches highlight the need for routine maintenance like descaling or filter replacement. Ignoring these indicators can lead to system inefficiencies or breakdowns, shortening the lifespan of the heat pump system.

Learn More About From Symbols to Solutions: Hot Water Heat Pump Display Indicators Explained Click Here

[leonproto]

Brick Breaker

Project Set-up

when setting up my project I chose a blank project.

while doing this all I had to do was create a new level for the actual game to take place, while in my new level I added the essentials using env light mixer, such as lighting and editing them to the iconic ping pong look (I soon deleted many of the lighting items as I did not need them) and making the materials for each asset.

creating the bat.

to create the bat I made a player pawn blue print and adding a scene component BatAnchor(we will attach all the moving parts to this) then we will add a collision capsule, a arrow and a static mesh attached to the anchor. after setting up the collision for the capsule and the static mesh along with the mesh used in the static mesh while repositioning it slightly.

after this I added a camera and a spline outside of the anchor and adjust the transform these.

Adding movement.

inside the event graph for the bat I used a timeline to control the location along the spline left to right.

then I set up the code like this.

Input setup.

after creating a folder for my inputs I made a new input action for the movement of the bat.

all you need to do is change the value type to axis1d (float)

then I make another for the launch of the ball. then I created a input mapping context for the binds and bind the launch to right mouse button and the movement to mouse X. and back on the event graph I set it up so it can receive input.

then I made some custom events to receive mouse input and connect them to a timeline.

I am using custom events because we are going to use some logic to adjust the sensitivity of the mouse and this will make that easier to achieve.

The easiest one you can code is the reset ball where all you have to make this chunk of code on the event begin play row.

for the actual movement of the bat all you need to do is make this piece of code.

near to the end of this I dropped down the event node and plugged stop moving into completed this fixes an issue with the drag that I had.

next I add 2 new float variables for the sensitivity and move rate then you get the mouse sense and multiply it by the move rate in-between the nodes we made earlier.

then after this you need to get a reference to the timeline and put it into a set play rate with mouse move rate as the new rate.

this only works with the move right, for the move left I need to get a negate node so it will go in the opposite direction.

The Ball.

before making the ball I made a simple arena with simple blocks with their own glowing materials.

[quickfixs1]

The Essential Job of Electricians: Ensuring Safety and Reliable Electrical Systems

Introduction

Electricians are a fundamental and necessary part of our ultramodern society. They play a pivotal part in ensuring the safe and dependable operation of electrical systems in our homes, businesses, and public spaces. From the moment we wake up and turn on the lights to the innumerous electronic devices we rely on throughout the day, electricians are the unsung icons behind the scenes, ensuring that electricity flows easily and safely.

Imagine a world without electricians. Our lives would be plunged into darkness, and everyday tasks we take for granted, such as cooking, heating, and communication, would become insolvable. Electricians bring light and power into our lives, creating the structure that allows us to thrive in our ultramodern world.

But their part goes far beyond just installing electrical systems. Electricians retain an expansive knowledge of electrical canons, safety regulations, and the rearmost industry practices. They constantly modernize their skills to stay abreast of new technologies and advancements in energy efficiency. They're problem solvers, troubleshooters, and guardians of our electrical well-being.

Whether it's a new construction design, a renovation, or addressing electrical issues in an existing structure, electricians are there every step of the way. They meticulously plan and execute installations, ensuring that every line is duly connected, every circuit breaker is rightly installed, and every electrical element meets safety norms.

Electricians also shoulder the responsibility of maintaining and repairing electrical systems. Through routine examinations, they descry implicit issues before they escalate into major problems, assuring the continued functionality of electrical systems. When extremities strike, such as power outages or electrical fires, electricians are the first responders, fleetly and expertly restoring power and ensuring the safety of occupants.

also, electricians are champions of energy effectiveness. They recommend and install energy-saving devices, similar to LED lighting and intelligent home automation systems, helping us reduce our environmental impact and lower energy costs. Their moxie in upgrading electrical systems for effectiveness contributes to a greener and further sustainable future.

In this comprehensive blog, we will claw deeper into the critical liabilities of electricians, the wide range of skills they retain, and the profound significance of their work in ensuring electrical safety and a consistent power force. Join us as we uncover the world of electricians and gain a newfound appreciation for the vital part they play in our lives.

Expertise in Electrical System Installation

Electricians retain expansive knowledge and skills needed for the installation of electrical systems. They're well-clued in on various aspects of electrical work, including domestic, marketable, and artificial wiring. Electricians precisely plan and execute the installation process, guaranteeing compliance with original electrical codes and regulations. They determine the applicable wire sizes, install circuit breakers, outlets, switches, and lighting fixtures, and connect electrical factors to produce safe and dependable systems. Electricians also handle more complex tasks like panel installations, motor connections, and generator setups, furnishing the necessary power structure for buildings and installations.

Conservation and Form of Electrical Systems

In addition to installation, electricians are responsible for the ongoing maintenance and repair of electrical systems. Regular examinations and conservation checks are conducted to identify potential issues and ensure the continued functionality of the electrical system. Electricians troubleshoot problems, replace defective components, form wiring, and conduct tests to verify proper operation. This visionary approach to conservation helps prevent electrical failures, malfunctions, and hazards, ensuring the safety and trustability of the electrical system. Electricians contribute to a more effective and secure terrain by keeping electrical systems in optimal condition.

Ensuring Electrical Safety

Safety is of paramount significance when it comes to electrical systems, and electricians prioritise adherence to strict safety protocols. They undergo expansive training to understand electrical codes and regulations, enabling them to apply proper safety measures. Electricians employ appropriate grounding ways, install defensive devices similar to ground fault circuit interrupters( GFCIs) and surge protectors, and conduct thorough examinations to identify implicit safety pitfalls. They ensure that electrical systems are installed and maintained to the loftiest safety norms, securing lives and properties from electrical mishaps. Electricians play a pivotal part in educating customers about electrical safety practices, similar to the proper use of electrical appliances, the significance of surge protection, and the avoidance of overloading circuits.

Upgrading Electrical Systems for Efficiency

With advancements in technology, electricians also help in upgrading electrical systems to enhance energy effectiveness. They stay streamlined with the latest energy-effective results and can recommend and install energy-saving devices and technologies. Electricians assess the energy consumption of existing systems, identify areas for enhancement, and provide results to enhance effectiveness. This can include upgrading lighting fixtures to energy-effective LED options, installing smart home automation systems for better control and energy operation, and recommending energy-efficient appliances. By upgrading electrical systems, electricians help reduce energy consumption, lower utility expenditures and minimize the environmental impact.

Responding to Emergencies

Electricians are frequently called upon to respond to electrical extremities, such as power outages, electrical fires, or equipment failures. They retain the knowledge and skills to fleetly assess the situation, identify the cause of the problem, and take applicable action to restore power safely. Electricians work efficiently to minimise downtime, help further damage, and ensure the safety of dwellers. Their capability to respond instantly during emergencies is invaluable in restoring electrical functionality and providing peace of mind to those affected. Electricians may work closely with other emergency responders, such as firefighters or utility companies, to resolve the situation effectively. They play a pivotal role in conducting thorough investigations to determine the root cause of emergencies and implementing preventative measures to avoid similar incidents.

Conclusion

Electricians are highly practised professionals who play a critical part in ensuring the safety and trustability of electrical systems. From installation and conservation to repairs, upgrades, and emergency response, their expertise is essential in furnishing effective and secure electrical results. By clinging to strict codes and regulations, electricians guard lives and properties from electrical dangers. Their capability to respond instantly during extremities, their donation to energy effectiveness, and their commitment to maintaining electrical systems make them invaluable members of society. Next time you enjoy an uninterrupted power force or experience a safe electrical environment, remember the significant part electricians play in making it all possible.

[rjhamster]

2023 MLB Team Packs are here!

2023 MLB Team Packs are HERE! Rep your fandom with a pack from any of the 30 MLB teams! Available for purchase @ 1 PM ET.   2023 MLB Team Packs feature 300 current MLB players. Packs are $5 and hold 3 Core ICONs each.   The fun doesn’t stop once your rip packs! You’ll be able to use your 2023 MLB Team Pack ICONs to compete in Candy Code Breakers challenges, where you can earn points and unlock…

[hyugasite]

🛹 H-hitomi lay0uts ☆ like or reblog if you save/use. (don't repost.)

[ym4ir]

Hitomi lockscreens please?

i hope you enjoy <3

➪ like or reblog if you save/use