#concurrent sentences

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"CONCURRENT SENTENCES," Niagara Falls Review. June 23, 1933. Page 7. --- WELLAND, Ont., June 23. - Ben Borkoski, Crowland, who was sentenced at Port Colborne this week to serve a sentence of one year definite and six months indeterminate in Ontario Reformatory, and Eziel Inski, Crowland, who was given two years in Kingston Penitentiary, appeared in Welland police court and were given the same sentences, the sentence in both cases to run concurrently.

[Inski does not appear to have been sentenced to the penitentary, or else appealed and was sentenced to a shorter term.]

[ausetkmt]

Mass killer who ‘hunted’ black people says police encouraged him - The Apartheid Killer

A convicted South African murderer who shot dead dozens of black men during apartheid has told the BBC the police sanctioned his violence. Louis van Schoor says others should share the blame for the killings he carried out as a security guard. But in talking to BBC Africa Eye over the past four years, he has also let slip horrifying details that raise serious questions about his early release from prison.

Standing in the bedroom of a killer, your eyes naturally hone in on the details.

The Apartheid Killer Watch on iPlayer (UK only) or on Monday 22 July at 23:05 on BBC Two (Northern Ireland 23:35). Outside the UK, watch on the BBC Africa YouTube channel.

Van Schoor’s bed is immaculately neat - the duvet so flat it looks like it has been ironed. The air is heavy with the smell of cigarettes, their stubs piled high in an ashtray. Strips of sticky paper are dangling from the ceiling, writhing with trapped and dying flies.

The so-called “Apartheid Killer” has lost his teeth. His health is waning. Following a heart attack, both his legs were recently amputated, leaving him in a wheelchair, with painful scars. When his surgeon carried out this procedure, Van Schoor requested an epidural instead of a general anaesthetic - so he could watch them remove his legs.

“I was curious,” he said, chuckling. “I saw them cutting… they sawed through the bone.”

In speaking to the BBC World Service, Van Schoor wanted to persuade us that he is “not the monster that people say I am”. His enthusiastic description of his legs being removed did little to soften his image.

Over a three-year period in the 1980s under the country’s racist apartheid system - which imposed a strict hierarchy that privileged white South Africans - Van Schoor shot and killed at least 39 people.

All of his victims were black. The youngest was just 12 years old. The killings occurred in East London, a city in South Africa’s windswept Eastern Cape.

Van Schoor was a security guard at the time, with a contract to protect as many as 70% of white-owned businesses: restaurants, shops, factories and schools. He has long claimed that everyone he killed was a “criminal” who he caught red-handed breaking into these buildings.

“He was a kind of vigilante killer. He was a Dirty Harry character,” says Isa Jacobson, a South African journalist and filmmaker, who has spent 20 years investigating Van Schoor’s case.

“These were intruders who were, in a lot of cases, pretty desperate. Digging through bins, maybe stealing some food… petty criminals.”

Van Schoor’s killings - sometimes several in a single night - struck terror into the black community of East London. Stories spread through the city of a bearded man - nicknamed “whiskers” in the Xhosa language - who made people disappear at night. But his shootings were not carried out in secret.

Every killing between 1986 and 1989 was reported to the police by Van Schoor himself. But the release from prison of anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela in 1990 signalled an end to this impunity. Ripples of change swept across South Africa and, following pressure from activists and journalists, the security guard was arrested in 1991.

Van Schoor’s trial was one of the largest murder trials in South Africa’s history, involving dozens of witnesses and thousands of pages of forensic evidence.

However, the case against him largely collapsed in court. At the time of his trial, much of the apparatus of the apartheid system was still in place within the judiciary. Despite killing at least 39 people, he was only convicted of seven murders. He would go on to serve just 12 years in prison.

His other 32 killings are still classified as “justifiable homicides” by the police. Apartheid-era laws gave people the right to use lethal force against intruders if they resisted arrest or fled once caught.

Van Schoor relied heavily on this defence to maintain his innocence, claiming that his victims were running away when he killed them.

Louis van Schoor pointed out the places where he would track down intruders

The BBC’s investigation into Van Schoor scrutinised the evidence underlying these so-called “justifiable” shootings, delving deep into long-forgotten police reports, autopsies and witness statements.

The investigation was led by Isa Jacobson, and involved years of archival research in multiple cities across the Eastern Cape. The most important files were scattered among hundreds of boxes, hidden away in vaults.

“The whole scale of it is just mesmerising,” she said. “It's astounding that any court of law could allow this to happen.”

Some of the most harrowing evidence Ms Jacobson found were witness statements from people who were injured by Van Schoor, but survived. These accounts contradict the security guard’s argument that they had been running away when he shot them.

Multiple people said Van Schoor shot them while their hands were up, after they had surrendered. Others describe him toying with them, asking if they would prefer to be arrested or shot - before shooting them in the chest. Another victim described being shot in the abdomen, begging for water, before being kicked in his wound by Van Schoor.

The security guard was armed with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, frequently loaded with hollow-point bullets, which cause severe internal ruptures when entering a victim. In one case, he fired eight shots into an unarmed man.

In a particularly brutal case on 11 July 1988, Van Schoor shot a 14-year-old boy who had broken into a restaurant searching for petty change.

The boy - who we have not named to protect his privacy - told the police he hid in the toilet when he saw Van Schoor with his gun. He says the security guard called him out, told him to stand next to the wall, and then shot him repeatedly.

“He told me to stand up, but I couldn’t,” said the boy, in his recorded testimony. “While I was lying there, he kicked me in the mouth. He picked me up and propped me up against a table and then he shot me again.”

The boy survived, but he was not believed. He was charged for breaking into the building. Many young black men and boys who gave first-hand accounts of being assaulted and shot by Van Schoor faced a similar fate.

Testimonies such as this were heard during Van Schoor’s trial, but the judge repeatedly dismissed the witnesses as “unsophisticated” and “unreliable”. There are no jury trials in South Africa. The opinion of the judge is final.

At the time of Van Schoor’s trial, many members of the white community in East London supported him. One entrepreneurial businessman printed bumper stickers with pictures of the security guard. They said “I Love Louis”, next to a heart full of bullet holes.

“There was evident racial bias in the legal system,” says Patrick Goodenough, a South African journalist who led the 1980s investigation into Van Schoor. He also attended his trial.

“The support for him was massive… He would not have been able to get away with a fraction of what he got away with without it.”

There is no statute of limitations for murder or attempted murder in South Africa. In theory, there is nothing stopping the police from reopening Van Schoor’s case and re-assessing these “justifiable” shootings.

“Louis van Schoor was basically going out and murdering people for sport,” says Dominic Jones, a journalist who helped raise awareness of the security guard’s killing spree in the 1980s.

Some of the most shocking findings from the BBC's investigation came from interviews with Van Schoor himself, which strongly suggested he got a thrill from his activities.

“Every night is a new adventure, if you want to put it that way,” he told the BBC.

Journalist Isa Jacobson has spent years going through public records to scrutinise Louis van Schoor's case

Many of the businesses he protected installed silent alarms. When someone broke in, Van Schoor would receive an alert which allowed him to surprise the intruder - and identify exactly where they were inside the building. And he always went alone.

“I was barefoot. It’s quiet. You don’t have your shoes squeaking on tiles and stuff,” he said.

He would never switch the light on. Instead, he relied on his sense of smell.

“If somebody breaks in, the adrenaline gives off an odour. And you can pick that up,” he said.

Van Schoor claims he never went out “with the intention of killing black people” and says he is not a racist. But he admits he found stalking them in the dark “exciting”.

Before becoming a security guard, Van Schoor was a member of the East London police force for 12 years. He used to handle what he calls “attacker dogs”, which he used to track down and catch protesters and criminals - almost all of whom were black.

He compared this to “hunting, but a different species”.

Tetinene “Joe” Jordan, a former anti-apartheid activist who was operating in East London at the time of Van Schoor’s killings, remembers this well.

“He was hunting, literally hunting people,” he says.

Van Schoor strongly denies he is a “serial killer” and believes everything he did was “within the law”. If people feel aggrieved over his killings, he says they should blame the South African police.

He says the police never criticised or warned him, but actively supported and encouraged him.

“Every officer in East London knew what was going on… all the police officers knew,” he said. “Not once did anybody say ‘Hey Louis, you’re on the borderline or you should cool it or whatever’… they all knew what was happening.”

In the police records held in public archives, Ms Jacobson found instances of killings where officers had been present at the time of the shootings. At no point did they appear to question Van Schoor as a suspect.

In many instances, the police failed to take photos of the deceased at the scenes of shooting and failed to collect key forensic evidence, such as bullet casings. Van Schoor was often the only witness to his shootings, so this evidence could have been crucial for determining what had actually happened in each case.

“These were cover-ups… He had the backing from police officers from junior rank and senior rank,” said Mr Goodenough.

“They wouldn’t investigate. They’d sit down with him and have a cigarette while chatting, with bodies lying nearby.”

In all cases Van Schoor pulled the trigger - but between the police and the businesses that hired him, an entire community played a role in the killings which took place in East London.

“Van Schoor was a serial killer because there was a society that allowed him to be one,” says Ms Jacobson.

For the relatives of Van Schoor’s victims, his freedom, and the failure of the state to thoroughly investigate his killings, is a constant source of pain. Some never recovered the bodies of their loved ones.

“It seems like we are stuck in this phase of being heartbroken, being angry,” says Marlene Mvumbi, whose brother, Edward, was murdered by Van Schoor in 1987. His remains were dumped in an unmarked grave by the authorities without the family’s consent.

“Lots of people are still missing and not even in the graveyard… there is no closure.”

Van Schoor’s case pre-dated South Africa’s 1995 Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which gave compensation to many victims of apartheid-era crimes.

Sharlene Crage, a former activist who played a key role in pressuring the South African authorities to prosecute Van Schoor, is outraged that he was ever allowed to walk free.

“It’s a shocking miscarriage of justice,” she said. “There is no reason his case shouldn’t be reopened.”

Louis van Schoor admitted he found tracking intruders down thrilling

Van Schoor was sentenced to more than 90 years in prison at the conclusion of his trial in 1992, but the judge allowed him to serve each term concurrently. He was freed on parole in 2004.

The early release of apartheid-era killers from prison has become a contentious issue in South Africa.

In 2022, there were protests in Johannesburg over the parole of Janusz Walus, who killed anti-apartheid politician Chris Hani. A few years previously, Eugene de Kock, in charge of a death squad responsible for the abduction, torture, and murder of dozens of black activists was also freed.

Nowadays, Van Schoor spends most of his time watching rugby, smoking and playing with his pet rottweiler, Brutus. He says he has no memory of many of his killings.

Some reports have stated, without verification, that he shot as many as 100 people. Van Schoor denies this, but concedes his number of shootings may exceed the documented number of 39.

“I honestly don’t know how many I shot. Some say over a 100, some say 40… Let’s say for argument’s sake I shot 50 people,” he told us.

He says he is proud of his past actions.

“I don’t feel any guilt,” he said. “I’ve got no remorse inside.”

The BBC contacted the South African police for comment, but they did not respond. The authorities have given no explanation for why Van Schoor’s killings have not been reassessed in the post-apartheid era.

“There is too much pain, and for now I don’t feel that there is enough that is done for us to heal,” says Marlene Mvumbi.

“It’s not only the ones that were killed by Van Schoor. The ones that have similar stories from the killings of the apartheid regime.”

[frankiebirds]

sorry i don't have anything to say about the "to hell and back" two-parter! it's a really good episode with some great guest characters and some real emotions. but it's based off robert pickton and that's all i can think about. may he rot.

[justletmeon12]

My mom used to be a public defender. She worked appellate, so everyone she defended had already been convicted, and she took violent felonies because she found them interesting.

I don't think in 20 years she ever defended an innocent person, but she sure as hell defended some people who'd been royally fucked by a system invested in dehumanizing, torturing, and abusing them.

The point of getting rid of the death penalty isn’t that there are some innocent people on it. The point of prison abolition isn’t that there are some innocent people in prison.

The point is that the state shouldn’t have the power to kill people. The point is that the prison system commits systemic abuses of human rights, doesn’t reduce crime, is deeply racist, and doesn’t take the desires of the victims into account. To argue about whether one individual on death row or with a life sentence is innocent or guilty is just a distraction from the central issues, which is that these institutions are unjust and should not exist

[perpetual-stories]

Eight Strategies for Improving Dialogue in Your Writing

Well, hi! Oh my… wow! It’s been a long time since I’ve posted! I’ve been very busy and I am genuinely sorry to all my followers, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about this account, but here is one final post for the year!

Hopefully next year I become consistent with it again!

Let’s begin!

One of the best ways to help a reader connect with your writing is by crafting excellent dialogue. Use these tips to learn how to write dialogue that showcases character development, defines your characters’ voices, and hooks readers.

Why Use Dialogue?

Good dialogue performs all sorts of functions in fiction writing. It defines your characters’ voices, establishes their speech patterns, exposes the inner emotions, and showcases their character development. Beyond mere characterization, effective dialogue can also establish the setting and time period of your story and reveal information in a way that doesn’t feel overly expository.

Authors use lines of dialogue to reveal a character’s personality and express their point of view. For instance, an archetypal football coach might speak in short, terse sentences peppered with exclamation points and quotations from famous war generals. By contrast, a nebbish lover with a broken heart might drone on endlessly to his therapist or best friend, speaking in run-on sentences that circle around his true motivations. When an author can reveal character traits through dialogue, it cuts down on exposition and makes a story flow briskly.

Eight Writing Tips for Improving Dialogue

The first time you write dialogue, you may find it quite difficult to replicate the patterns of normal speech. This can be compounded by the concurrent challenges of finding your own voice and telling a great story overall. Even bestselling authors can get stuck on how a particular character says a particular line of dialogue. With practice and hard work, however, lackluster dialogue can be elevated to great dialogue.

Here are some strategies for improving the dialogue in your own work:

Mimic the voices of people in your own life. Perhaps you’ve created a physician character with the same vocal inflections as your mother. Perhaps your hero soldier talks just like your old volleyball coach. If you want to ensure that your dialogue sounds the way real people speak, there’s no better resource than the real life people in your everyday world.

Mix dialogue with narration. Long runs of dialogue can dislodge a reader from the action of a scene. As your characters talk, interpolate some descriptions of their physical postures or other activity taking place in the room. This mimics the real-world experience of listening to someone speaking while simultaneously taking in visual and olfactory stimuli.

Give your main character a secret. Sometimes a line of dialogue is most notable for what it withholds. Even if your audience doesn’t realize it, you can build dynamic three-dimensionality by having your character withhold a key bit of information from their speech. For instance, you may draft a scene in which a museum curator speaks to an artist about how she wants her work displayed—but what the curator isn’t saying out loud is that she’s in love with the artist. You can use that secret to embed layers of tension into the character’s spoken phrases.

Use a layperson character to clarify technical language. When you need dialogue to convey technical information in approachable terms, split the conversation between two people. Have one character be an expert and one character be uninformed. The expert character can speak at a technical level, and the uninformed one can stop them, asking questions for clarification. Your readers will appreciate it.

Use authentic shorthand. Does your character call a gun a “piece” or a “Glock”? Whatever it is, be authentic and consistent in how your characters speak. If they all sound the same, your dialogue needs another pass.

Look to great examples of dialogue for inspiration. If you're looking for a dialogue example in the realm of novels or short stories, consider reading the great books written by Mark Twain, Judy Blume, or Toni Morrison. Within the world of screenwriting, Aaron Sorkin is renowned for his use of dialogue.

Ensure that you’re punctuating your dialogue properly. Remember that question marks and exclamation points go inside quotation marks. Enclose dialogue in double quotation marks and use single quotation marks when a character quotes another character within their dialogue. Knowing how to punctuate dialogue properly can ensure that your reader stays immersed in the story.

Use dialogue tags that are evocative. Repeating the word “said” over and over can make for dull writing and miss out on opportunities for added expressiveness. Consider replacing the word “said” with a more descriptive verb.

[artbyblastweave]

Now one thing I find really stylistically interesting about Batman Beyond, is that a lot of the mechanisms by which the supervillians do their thing come part-and-parcel with the cyberpunk setting, rather than being an aberration resulting purely from the superheroic genre elements. This is the future of a quote-unquote "present-day" DCU, meaning that they've superficially addressed the question of why all the cutting-edge supertech used in the cape scene never seems to see mass adoption by the civilian sector- forty years later, it has. This means that It's never hard to grok where any given villain is getting the resources necessary to execute their gimmick; these people are flashy by our standards, but they live in a world where everyone has access to flying cars and antigravity drones. Half these people are doing the cyberpunk equivalent of going killdozer with repurposed industrial equipment, or kludging together something with off-the-shelf stuff from radio shack, or mounting a machine gun on a technical truck, and literally in the middle of typing this sentence I started the episode where there's mass-market off-the-shelf animal gene-splicing that would have been a whole-ass individualized origin story in the time of Batman: The Animated Series. Even one-off mutants like Inque and Blight are well-understood within the context of the setting, to the extent of Inque being able to make a knockoff of herself on the go.

This is dystopic. Beyond the genre-typical surface-level megacorp domination of society it's dystopic. On the meta-level it's the same dynamic as Superman: The Animated Series, where the reason there's a sudden uptick in weird costumed crime concurrent with the protagonist's debut is purely Doylistic- the hero needs punching bags. But within the logic of the setting, there's nothing special about Willy Watt's decision to go full Carrie using a hijacked construction robot besides the fact that he had somewhat easier access to the thing than the average school-shooter. Spellbinder being able to put together functional illusion-and-mind-control tech on a high-school counselor's salary- when his entire complaint is that he isn't being paid enough- implies that the main barrier to anyone else pulling the same brainwashing stunt is that nobody else thought to. Shriek's sound suit might be more a more roundabout demolition tool than dynamite, but it's still powerful enough to bring down buildings and he created it as a fly-by-night contractor. The consumer tech base is evolved to the point that regardless of when Batman shows up, shit like this should literally never not be happening- they're past an inflection point. I remember Syndrome from The Incredibles having some kind of line about this

[mithrandirl]

i always get questions when i do a split gifset, and it's a deceptively simple process so i thought i'd try to show how i do it! i don't know if these types of gifsets have a more universally recognized name, but that's what i call them so that's what i'm going with.

i'm going to write this assuming you have a solid familiarity with photoshop and making gifs, but please feel free to send me an ask if anything is unclear. i use video timeline/smart objects so will be showing that (here's a great general tutorial on giffing with timeline). i will also be talking A LOT about gif dimensions, so first let's briefly go over the limits and theory a little bit.

a 1 column gifset can accommodate gifs 540 pixels wide

2 columns = 268 pixels each with a 4 pixel gutter between

3 columns = 177, 178, 177 pixels with 4 pixel gutters

i'm mostly going to talk about 2 column split gifs here (what i will refer to as 2x1 from now on - 2 across and 1 high), but the process is the same for 3 column (3x1) and so on (1x2, 2x2, etc).

so, why would you even want to make a gifset like this? i mean, let’s face it, generally, bigger is better for gifs on tumblr, and there are obvious incentives to 540 width gifs over 268 or 177/8 width, especially since the upload limit went to 10MB. but even 10MB isn’t much when you’re talking about high quality footage. gif making is a constant balance between quality (whatever that means to you: frame dimensions, sharpening, coloring, etc) and file size. split gifs are a cheat to that limitation >:)

i personally believe an untapped frontier of tumblr gifmaking is playing with dimensions and time. that sentence makes me sound like an old-timey sci-fi villain, but you get the idea: gifmaking is an art and there are many fun and interesting ways of exploring the medium. you can do a lot with 268 pixels! longer frame loops to gif longer scenes unbroken, bolder coloring on a wide shot you don’t want to pare down. and, a shorter x axis means the y axis’s bang goes a lot further on a buck. also just if you have a 2 column set but only 5 gifs so you need to make one take up 2 slots. there's a lot of reasons but the most important one is it's fun :) here are some examples of other split gifs i've made: x, x, x

this isn't so much a limitation, more of a shift in how you think about gifs, but it's important to remember that each gif should ideally be doing something still. when making split gifs, it’s easy to pick a wide scene without thinking about how it’ll be split down the middle, and then you’re left with a lot of something on one side and a lot of incongruous nothing on the other - or you're left with a person cut in half awkwardly in the middle. so while a split gif can still be a whole scene, you shouldn’t ignore the break and what it means to the bigger picture. now this is personal preference, but i like to play with the break and make it a part of the gifset. mirrored movement, subjects trapped on either side but still talking to each other, a bird flying from one side to the other. fun with frames! it can be another way of drawing attention to specific images/moments/feelings happening within the same shot.

SIMPLE SPLIT GIFS

to more narrowly define what i’m calling “simple split gifs,” it’s one set of frames split down the middle into two separate gifs that are meant to play concurrently, side by side.

first thing's first, crop your gif and uncheck delete cropped pixels if it is not already (very important). i'm cropping it to the 1x1 size, in this case 268x350. if you need to see how the full size will look, you can try it out with 536 first. but this one is pretty easy, this is the exact center of the frame (the left boundary of this crop is the center line) and both their heads fit within their respective 1x1 crop.

then color as you normally would. if your scene is very different one side to the other, it might be easier for you to color on a wider crop and then either crop again or copy paste your coloring to the smaller crop version. i do that with the 2x6s, but it's usually not that big a deal to color the 2x1s with just the small crop on your canvas at the time. this scene is very symmetrical, both in movement and colors, so i'm good.

now the fun part! once you've got one side how you want it, save/export as you normally would. at this point i also like to make a mental note of how many frames there are.

so i have 49 frames and it's still only ~3MB! this is just an example that i picked from my rotk fancy set, otherwise i probably would have made this gif longer.

then onto the other side, so i ctrl + z my way back to my smart object video timeline. to get to theoden i just drag and drop the smart object 268 pixels over. since this one is in the exact center of the image, it even helpfully guides me (this can get annoying if you are NOT giffing the center of the image fyi, but you can always manually go pixel by pixel too if you need to with your <- -> keyboard buttons. just always remember where you started and count accurately). i can never move around my smart object without hiding the adjustment layers on top of it, so you'll see me do that in this screen recording.

see how it corrected me when i dragged it a few pixels down by accident, and with all those pink guidelines? sometimes photoshop is good 😌

then make sure you still like the coloring, adjust whatever needs to be adjusted, but watch out! don't make any major changes because it still has to match the other side. and export again.

what we perceive as 1 series of frames chopped down the middle is just 2 separate gifs with the same frame rate. when tumblr loads the images, it will run concurrently in the post (even though it never does in the draft post 🙄). and that's it!

COMPLEX SPLIT GIFS

again i'm making up terms, but i call anything with more than 2 components a complex split gifset. i've tweaked some things in the process as i went along, but this is generally how i did the lotr series. these sets are basically just many split gifs with transitions. and here's where endurance becomes a factor :) there's a lot of prep done blind. but if set up well, it will be fairly easy to pull together by the end.

first i decide on my dimensions, using my upper bounds to determine how big i'm going to go. since lotr has very nice large file sizes, i can go pretty big without sacrificing much in quality. i decided on 3 rows of 350 pixel height gifs and it's worked well for me. that means my biggest gif will have a total height of 1050 pixels - fun! you could also do 8 rows, with two 2x2s or just a series of 2x1s that transition to 1x1s. there really is no limit to this except your imagination and source material.

i cap everything i'm going to use before i even open photoshop, then do all of them at once. uncheck delete cropped pixels, then i make my gifs! this is where i spend 90% of the time on this set. every gif should be the size of the smallest 1x1 gif (268x350 for me). i make all 10 into a fully colored, separate psd. (and then i usually go back through all of them a few times to get the colors to match better 😅) for the bigger ones (2x1: 536x350 and 2x6: 536x1050), i just crop them as if they were 1x1 but always thinking about how they will look when big. this gets tricky when i do the big one :) my lazy workaround for that is to basically make it twice: one cropped as it will be and one full size for me to color. then i copy and paste all the coloring layers onto the small one and voila, i know that the coloring in the upper right slice will also look good on the bottom left slice 1050 pixels away because i saw it on the full size version.

coloring is probably the biggest thing i'm thinking about with this kind of set. the whole idea is that these gifs are using the same colors, more or less, throughout each phase. even with the 1x1s, they're still part of a larger color concept, and they should (🤞) work with each other.

in a pinch, i like to eyedrop a color from one gif and add it as an accent to another. one of my 1x1s had a much more muted color palette originally, but i wanted it to have deeper blues and yellows to complement the 1x1 that would go next to it, so i added some gradients on lower opacity over it, color picked from other gifs i already colored.

i keep my coloring and the smart object in separate folders to help me in the final step of combining everything, and then i trim everything down to my lowest common denominator of frames. you might think you need to keep frames pretty minimal if you're doing 3 phases with transitions like this, but there's more room to work with on a small gif, in terms of file size. i usually do 30-50 frames for each phase, with the assumption that i'll be adding a transition on each side of each gif that will eat up some frames (i usually do 4-6 frame fade transitions). for the rotk set my final frame count was 129 and i never went over 8MB on a gif, so there's plenty of space play around with things :)

and then, combine! whatever order you start with, you are stuck with (unless you're getting even more complicated, but we won't go into that lol). for these sets i go small 1x1 -> medium 2x1 -> big 2x6. i like to think of it in phases from this point on. small is the first phase, then medium, then big. then i put in the fade transitions, chopping up the first phase gif so the last one will fade into it, restarting the whole cycle seamlessly. i'm just doing a quick and dirty fade here, but here's a tutorial if you want more explanation on transitions.

at this point i save this psd as its position, "top left" or whatever (usually it's a psb by this point too 🥲), just in case i need to go back to it. then i export this first gif and move on to the rest.

it's the same concept as a simple split gif: drag and drop the smart object to the new position, but now there are multiple phases to keep track of. folder organization has been key for me to keep everything straight. i move through the gifs in a backwards S, starting with the top left. but you could go any direction, just gotta stick with it and remember your counts. in my case, i'm always thinking of 268 pixels over and, for the 2x6, 350 up/down. it's a tedious process, but it goes quick (apart from waiting for photoshop to load each time you export).

i did this series as a color concept aesthetic kind of thing, so my theory was by using the same-ish colors throughout, that would save me in the end when it came time to export. there's only 256 colors max to work with on a gif, and that's usually what gets me over the 10MB limit. but as i said, i have never even gotten close to the size limit on this series. it's pretty hard to reach the limit on 268 pixels, but not impossible. (i did run into that on the emma set i did, and that was hell. but also not an impossible fix in the end.)

and that's it! if you try any of this and have trouble, i'm happy to help if i can but mostly this is a "click around and see what works for you" kind of process. and feel free to tag me on your split gifsets :) i love seeing them <3

[rapeculturerealities]

Jeremy Skibicki receives four life sentences | CTV News

Convicted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki has been handed four life sentences with no chance of parole for 25 years in the murders of four Indigenous women.

The 37-year-old man sat quiet and emotionless in the prisoner’s box of a Manitoba Court of King’s Bench courtroom Wednesday. He spoke only once when Chief Justice Glen Joyal asked if he had anything to say.

“No,” he said.

In July, Skibicki was found guilty of murdering four Indigenous women: Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois and an unidentified victim given the name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe or Buffalo Woman.

The conviction carries with it an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. That sentence was imposed on Skibicki for each of the four counts of first-degree murder. Joyal noted due to rulings by the Supreme Court of Canada these life sentences must be served concurrently rather than consecutively.

[offender42085]

Post 1311

Harley E. Stone, Oklahoma inmate 717413, born 1995, incarceration intake July 2015 at age 19, sentenced to 12 years, scheduled discharge date not published

Manslaughter

In June 2015, a teenager who pleaded guilty to killing two Tulsa city employees in a crash learned his fate. A judge sentenced 19 -year- old Harley Stone to 15 years for each first degree manslaughter count. The sentences will be served concurrently.

When sentencing Stone the judge took into consideration Stone's age and his background. The attorneys agreed Stone has the opportunity to turn his life around once out of prison.

Stone will serve 12 years in prison and three years supervised release.

3g

[covid-safer-hotties]

Key points you should know:

=Mainstream media coverage of mask bans has given space for politicians’ false claims that masks are associated with wrong-doing, like crime and antisemitism, while overlooking that bans are, in many ways, an effort to suppress the reality of COVID-19. =There are 21 states and numerous municipalities with laws against masks or disguises on the books. People who wear masks would benefit from knowing exactly how they are worded and any legal precedents, as police are often under-informed. =Both Republicans and Democrats are pushing more severe mask bans than ever before in history. Democrats are more likely to give lip service to health needs without offering meaningful protections. Masks can and will be criminalized by police regardless of the language of the law, as arrest trends follow social trends. Police are also permitted by the Supreme Court to make mistakes in enforcing laws.

On August 5, Nyss Fayrchyld traveled from New York City to Nassau County in Long Island with other organizers to testify against a local bill to ban masks. The next few hours were “traumatic” and “volatile,” they recalled, with supporters of the bill “yelling obscenities” at immunocompromised people who testified in masks, calling them ”pro-Hamas thugs and terrorists.”

Police also directed enforcement at people in masks. One masked attendee was arrested on several charges, including second-degree assault, a felony, facing up to nine years in prison. Fayrchyld insists that the person was de-escalating conflict, which seems corroborated by video evidence. Supporters of the ban were also given more time to speak.

Nassau County’s bill passed with a vote of twelve Republicans in favor and seven Democrats abstaining. The law includes a vague medical exemption but also gives police expansive powers to stop, unmask, and arrest people.

Fayrchyld witnessed the type of state-sanctioned hostility that has become increasingly common for people who wish to stay safe during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Nassau County is just the latest jurisdiction to pass a mask ban, after North Carolina and Washington, D.C. early this year.

New anti-mask bills were also recently introduced in Chicago, the New York State legislature, and the federal House of Representatives, which proposes a sentence of up to 15 years. Leaders in New York City and Los Angeles have discussed possible future bans, and other states are enforcing pre-existing anti-mask laws on the books. The University of Virginia has banned masks on campus, unless the person can show documentation of medical need.

While mainstream media stories about mask bans often mention that immunocompromised people might be harmed, these stories also give unskeptical space to politicians’ claims that increased mask-wearing has contributed to all kinds of wrong-doing, from crime to antisemitism. In reality, mask-wearing is increasingly rare compared to early in the pandemic. There are countries with far less violence than the U.S. where wearing a mask is normalized. One analysis found no correlation between mask bans and crime rates. Many pro-Palestine protestors are masking explicitly to prevent spreading COVID-19.

Most media coverage fails to connect the new wave of mask bans to the ongoing political efforts to minimize COVID-19. Overblown concerns about facial recognition and protestors are only possible with a concurrent effort to downplay the threat of COVID-19 and erase signs of it from public life — now a priority for most mainstream politicians.

While the conversation around mask bans has focused on new laws and bills, 21 states and many municipalities have laws banning masks and/or disguises in different settings, which is more than other organizations have reported. Even where these bans have apparent limitations or exemptions, the finer language of the laws leaves all COVID-conscious people vulnerable. And the historic practices of police endanger people even in states with no legal bans.

“We have come so far downhill when it comes to protecting one another that [supporting mask-wearing] is a controversial opinion to have these days,” said disability activist and author Imani Barbarin. The political climate, she said, “creates this perfect storm where it’s going to further criminalize Black and Brown people who need masks to survive.”

The politics and propaganda of mask bans Historically, mask bans tend to come in waves. This current wave has been led by Republicans, with Democrats following closely behind. While Democrats tend to pay slightly more lip service to health needs, their actions undermine their promises.

The Republican effort to ban masks started before the COVID-19 pandemic, with a series of bills aimed at antifascist protestors. In 2011, Occupy Wall Street protestors were arrested for wearing masks. Republican leaders reignited their efforts in early 2023, introducing bills that sought to end the COVID-19 era of masking altogether.

Republicans insist mask bans have been around for a long time. But their recent efforts go further in criminalizing masking than ever before. North Carolina’s new law requires members of the public to “remove the mask upon request by a law enforcement officer,” for any reason, for as long as police want. Previously, the state’s law limited this demand to traffic stops and when police believed someone was committing a crime.

The new provision “smacks of blatant authoritarianism,” said Corye Dunn, Director of Public Policy for Disability Rights North Carolina. North Carolina’s mask ban also adds a new provision requiring a person wearing a mask to “temporarily” remove it at the request of an “owner or occupant” of a “public or private property.”

“Occupant doesn’t mean anything” in state law, Dunn said. She’s concerned that this “dangerous” provision will “embolden bullies and set up people with disabilities to face hostility” from fellow citizens demanding mask removal.

Elaine Nell, who co-founded the group Advocates for Medically Fragile Kids NC, is “angry, sad, and scared” about how the law might be enforced when it takes effect in October, especially in public spaces: “You get jury duty [and you] may not be able to wear a mask.” Nell is also concerned about her medically vulnerable children, who already lead restricted lives. “This may just take away even more,” she said.

Meanwhile, the conservative Manhattan Institute for Policy Research recently proposed a mask ban template focused on protests that don’t include any health exemption. While the Institute doesn’t pretend that COVID-19 is over, the template outlines a grim scenario: “Someone who wears a mask for health reasons probably should not be congregating in large groups of people.”

This statement suggests that immunocompromised people shouldn’t have the right to protest, work, or exist in crowded spaces, harkening back to the “ugly laws” that once forbade disabled people from being in public.

Democrats in the New York legislature proposed a mask ban bill similar to the Manhattan Institute’s template, with a medical exemption that only applies during a “declared public health emergency.” On paper, the federal government ended the COVID-19 emergency in 2023.

Across the country, Democrats are proposing mask bans based on flimsy and inconsistent logic, often citing incidents in which the main aggressors weren’t even masked. New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former police officer, might be the one Democratic leader willing to make the subtext clear. He has expressed the desire to “go back to the way it was pre-COVID” by banning masks on subways, in stores, and in “other areas where it is not health-related” — as if there are any locations where health is not an issue.

Adams articulated out loud the Biden administration’s consistent priority: to erase the signs of COVID-19, or, as the podcast Death Panel calls it, the “sociological production of the end of the pandemic.” This started in the spring of 2021 when the CDC proposed that vaccinated people no longer need masks. The administration has also steadily chipped away at COVID-19 data collection efforts.

Mask bans are the latest step towards that goal, further disincentivizing the public from wearing them for protection. Biden administration leaders have explicitly associated mask-wearing with unnecessary, humiliating, and “fringe” behavior. And Biden recently insisted that he “ended the pandemic,” just before he reportedly caught COVID-19. His administration has been able to erase almost all signs of COVID-19 besides the viral illness itself.

How police criminalize masking On August 22, Disability Rights New York filed a lawsuit challenging the Nassau County mask ban by invoking the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). But mask ban enforcement won’t rely on the determination of the courts alone. Political propaganda against masking is likely to influence how police criminalize masking, as arrest trends follow social trends more than laws.

Before COVID-19, mask bans were among the obscure laws rarely enforced by themselves, though police have long used face coverings, particularly ski masks, as a pretext to stop and search people. Elijah McClain was stopped by police in 2019 in large part for wearing a ski mask, or “looking suspicious,” and was killed while in custody. Yet Colorado has never had any kind of mask ban, giving police no justification for the stop.

Supreme Court decision Helen v. North Carolina (2014) allows police to be “reasonably mistaken” in their understanding of the laws they are hired to enforce. Police commonly arrest people for legal knives and other weapons due to poor training and bias. People may lose days, weeks, or months of income while in jail — and exposure to a deadly and disabling virus — before prosecutors or judges catch up to police mistakes.

It doesn’t help that anti-mask laws have always been ambiguously written, contributing to “reasonable” misunderstandings and decades of legal testing in the courts. New York’s proposed law would ban masking during “lawful or unlawful assembly or riot.” But “New York, unhelpfully, does not define a local assembly in law,” said Allie Bohm, Senior Policy Counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union of New York.

Bohm is concerned that D.C.’s new law — which outlaws masking while committing a crime or “threats to do bodily harm” — is “just giving police freedom to stop anyone in a mask,” even without justification. Similar laws exist in Arizona, California, Michigan, and many other states.

Bohm’s fears were confirmed by the D.C. law’s sponsor, Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who said the law was intended to give officers “a basis for a stop, for articulable suspicion.” D.C. police officers were sent a memo summarizing the new law without additional formal training, according to emails from the Metropolitan Police Department.

Bohm identified a fundamental legal problem with most mask bans: “We will always be in the position of law enforcement deciding whether the person in front of them is masking for a ‘legitimate’ reason.” Most anti-mask laws assume that police can properly judge “intent” and behavior despite studies showing that such judgment is colored by racial and other biases.

Dunn recalled one North Carolina legislator saying in a hearing, “Nobody is looking to go after ‘meemaw’ at the Walmart,” referring to an older woman. The statement explicitly identified the kinds of “selective enforcement” likely to happen around masking, Dunn said. She has coached the family of one North Carolina Black teenager, whose immune system is suppressed from leukemia treatments, on how to balance his health needs with staying safe during a police interaction — what she calls a “horrifying choice.”

What should people who wear masks do now? (Nadica suggests reading up on illegalism. sorry for interrupting.) Unfortunately, marginalized people might not be able to rely on all of the organizations that have historically fought for their rights. Both the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in New York and the National Urban League support New York’s proposed anti-mask law.

People who wear masks should consider learning the finer details of the laws and precedents in their states and cities, given that police may not be well informed. Does your state require “intent to disguise” your identity for masking to be illegal, as in D.C.? Then you can cite the law and try to assure police that your intention is health-related.

Bohm advises people who wear masks in New York, if confronted by police, to state that they are worried about COVID-19 and ask if they can leave, as there is no current mask ban in effect. Dunn recommends North Carolinians invoke their desire to “prevent the spread of contagious disease,” citing the language of the new law’s very narrow medical exemption. Disclosing a medical condition might seem like a good strategy, but it’s worth keeping in mind police bias: half of people killed by police are disabled.

More broadly, activists need to build solidarity among all of the groups affected by mask bans, including disabled people, pro-Palestine protesters, religious minorities, people of color, and LGBTQ+ people. Some of the laws that ban disguises have been used against trans people.

Barbarin even thinks it would be smart to “hop on personal liberty” as a way to associate masking with American freedom, which she acknowledges is not “in vogue” on the left. The Klan has long been a plaintiff in lawsuits to end mask bans, and Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group, often cover their faces.

In order to further broaden support against mask bans, the public needs to understand that COVID-19 is still a serious risk. Beyond that, the media needs to communicate that stopping legal bans — or adding medical exemptions — won’t be enough to protect people from police. It will take changing the political discourse around masking altogether.

[freetheshit-outofyou]

I will say this until I die or until everyone who needs to hear it HEARS IT. Restraining orders, Orders of protection or whatever the legal equivalent is in your location is NEVER GOING TO SAVE YOU. They are not meant to save you, they never were they are charging and sentencing modifiers. No different than a prole or probation violation or an enhancement charge for hitting an old person or using a firearm in the commission of a crime. They are meant to be a deterrent, a paperwork Stop Sign if you will, to the person who has been put on notice by the court. But, much like a stop sign it only works of the subject follows it. If you have enough concern for your safety that you have petitioned the court for some level of feel good protection, you should also learn how to protect yourself. Because holding up a piece of paper and saying "You can't be here, you can't be with in 300 feet of me." has never stopped a bullet, a beating or a knife headed in the victims direction, EVER. If the subject of the legal stop sign survives the next assault on you the court will be happy to add their violation of the courts order to their sentencing, probably concurrently, so they can be out to do it again in a much shorter time. But your chalk outline will still be where you dropped. You are responsible for your own life and safety, act accordingly.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Fled Courthouse to Get Married, Accused Has Prison Term Cut," Montreal Gazette. October 21, 1943. Page 13. --- His successful evasion plans reportedly prompted by his desire to wed the girl with whom he had been keeping company and who was to become an unmarried mother, Emile Bodnet, 28, no listed address, had sentences of three and two years in the penitentiary registered as concurrent, instead of consecutive, yesterday. Circumstance of the case were explained to the court by representatives of a local benevolent organization and the original "consecutive" entry was changed to "concurrent," with the consent of police authorities.

Bodner and Jack Colligan, facing charges of burglary and possession of burglars' tools, escaped from the Court House last spring. Although manacled together, they made good their getaway. Colligan was picked up a short time after the daring break and is presently serving a five-year penitentiary term. Bodner, however, remained at liberty until two months ago when he was nabbed in a dramatic capture effected by Det.-Sgts. Gerry Lawton and Romuald Dubuc. Spotted at the corner of Charlevoix and Centre streets, Point St. Charles, he made for the nearest house, which happened to be the residence of a city traffic constable. Rushing out through a rear door, Bodner was trapped by Lawton and Dubuc.

Arraigned before Judge Edouard Tellier, Bodner elected for a trial by jury, but later chose a speedy trial and pleaded guilty before Judge Armand Cloutier. He had been convicted of the burglary and burglars' tools counts by Judge Omer Legrand.

MOTHER-IN-LAW IS FORGIVING Bodner's prospective mother-in-law, it was learned yesterday, had originally objected to her daughter's marriage with the accused. Since then, however, the court was informed, she has consented and it is believed that the marriage will be celebrated shortly in the penitentiary.

Appearing first before Judge Legrand, Bodner was given three years in the penitentiary. Later, before Judge Cloutier, an extra two years was added for the escape offence. Then, the entire situation was explained to Judge Cloutier and the two-year sentence will be served at the same time as the longer term.

At the same time, it was pointed out that prisoners in the penitentiary get credit for one day per week for good conduct. In the case of consecutive sentences, however, this privilege only begins at the conclusion of the first sentence pronounced.

[thefooloutboy]

all the things wrong with lestat de lioncourt according to the dsm-v and psychological theories

In this post, I, a psychologist, will psychoanalyze and diagnose Lestat de Lioncourt, a well-known vampire in gothic literature.

Part I: DSM-V Diagnosis

1.0 Neurodevelopmental Disorders

1.1 Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD):

ADHD is a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development.

Lestat displays 5 symptoms out of 9 for inattention: 

Often has difficulty sustaining attention in tasks: He can’t read.

Often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace: He does not ever follow instructions.

Often has difficulty organizing tasks and activities: He fails to keep his house and belongings organized.

Often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort.

Is often forgetful in daily activities: He’s bad with doing chores and running errands.

Lestat displays 5 symptoms out of 9 for hyperactivity and impulsivity:

Often unable to play or engage in leisure activities quietly: He’s always making noises.

Is often “on the go,” acting as if “driven by a motor”: He is usually unable to be still for extended time.

Often talks excessively: He is a yapper.

Often blurts out an answer before a question has been completed: He completes people’s sentences and he cannot wait for his turn in conversation.

Often interrupts or intrudes on others: He butts into conversations and he intrudes into or takes over what others are doing.

To be diagnosed with ADHD, one must display at least 10 symptoms out of 18. Therefore, Lestat can be diagnosed with ADHD.

2.0 Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders

2.1 Delusional Disorder:

Delusional Disorder is characterized by the presence of one (or more) delusions with a duration of 1 month or longer. Lestat’s disorder is the Mixed type, meaning that not one single type of delusion predominates, but there’s a mixture. His disorder includes:

Grandiose type: Belief that one is famous, omnipotent, wealthy, or otherwise very powerful: At the end of S2.E8, we see Lestat practicing piano with a block of wood and thinking he’s going on tour.

Jealous type: Belief that their spouse or lover is unfaithful: He constantly watches Louis to see if he will cheat on him or not.

Persecutory type: Belief that they are being conspired against: In S1.E7, we see Lestat thinking Louis and Claudia are conspiring something against him and he makes Antoinette spy on them. (In the persecutory type, it does not matter if the person is actually being conspired against, it’s the obsession that counts.)

2.2 Schizoaffective Disorder:

Schizoaffective Disorder is characterized by an uninterrupted period of illness during which there is a major mood episode (major depressive or manic) concurrent with at least 2 criteria out of 5 of schizophrenia.

Lestat displays 2 symptoms of schizophrenia (A):

Delusions (mentioned above)

Hallucinations: He is haunted by Claudia.

Lestat also displays the main symptom of a major mood episode, which is depressed mood. We can see his depression and the symptoms of his schizoaffective disorder (delusions, hallucinations, and depressed mood) portrayed in several episodes, but mainly S2.E8.

3.0 Bipolar and Related Disorders

3.1 Bipolar I Disorder:

For a diagnosis of bipolar I disorder, it is necessary to meet the following criteria for a manic episode. Lestat displays 5 symptoms out of 7 for a manic episode in S2.E7:

Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity.

More talkative than usual or pressure to keep talking.

Distractibility (attention too easily drawn to irrelevant external stimuli).

Increase in goal-directed activity.

Excessive involvement in activities that have a high potential for painful consequences.

The trial is followed with a depressive episode on his side, therefore, he displays the two distinct ends of Bipolar I: manic episode followed by a depressive episode. Lestat, according to this, can be diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder.

4.0 Depressive Disorders

4.1 Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder:

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder is characterized by severe recurrent temper outbursts manifested verbally (e.g., verbal rages) and/or behaviorally (e.g., physical aggression toward people or property) that are grossly out of proportion in intensity or duration to the situation or provocation. 

In many episodes, we can see Lestat being verbally and physically aggressive towards Claudia and Louis, let alone many others that he later kills. In the DSM-V, it is concluded that Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder and Bipolar I Disorder cannot coexist, so it is not safe to say Lestat 100% have this disorder, but I thought it was worth mentioning as he displays the symptoms for it.

4.2 Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia):

Dysthymia is characterized by a depressed mood for most of the day, for more days than not, as indicated by either subjective account or observation by others, for at least 2 years.

Lestat displays 4 symptoms out of 6 for Dysthymia in S2.E8 and later in the song Long Face:

Poor appetite or overeating: ‘I'll get fatter when we break up.’ In this lyric, he mentions how he overeats (or rather overdrains people).

Low self-esteem.

Poor concentration or difficulty making decisions.

Feelings of hopelessness.

In the DSM-V, it is stated that there has not been a manic or hypomanic episode during the period of Dysthymia, which we cannot be sure if that is the case with Lestat, as I diagnosed him with Bipolar I earlier. However, S2.E8 and the Vampire Lestat era happens well after S2.E7, so we can assume that he had not had a manic episode and his mood disorder turned into Dysthymia.

5.0 Anxiety Disorders

5.1 Separation Anxiety Disorder:

Separation Anxiety Disorder is characterized by developmentally inappropriate and excessive fear or anxiety concerning separation from those to whom the individual is attached.

Lestat displays at least 4 symptoms out of 8 for Separation Anxiety Disorder:

Recurrent excessive distress when anticipating or experiencing separation from home or from major attachment figures: He constantly tries to make Louis stay because he is scared of him leaving.

Persistent and excessive worry about losing major attachment figures or about possible harm to them, such as illness, injury, disasters, or death: ‘Did you hurt yourself?’

Persistent reluctance or refusal to sleep away from home or to go to sleep without being near a major attachment figure.

Persistent and excessive fear of or reluctance about being alone or without major attachment figures at home or in other settings: He tries to win Louis back because he is scared of being without him.

Therefore, it is possible to say Lestat can be diagnosed with Separation Anxiety Disorder, as he himself mentions how he does not like being left behind.

6.0 Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders

6.1 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD):

OCD is the presence of obsessions, compulsions, or both.

Lestat displays 2 symptoms out of 2 for obsessions:

Recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges, or images that are experienced, at some time during the disturbance, as intrusive and unwanted, and that in most individuals cause marked anxiety or distress: In S2.E8, he mentions his recurrent thoughts about Claudia and how he cannot get over it.

The individual attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts, urges, or images, or to neutralize them with some other thought or action.

Lestat also displays symptoms out of 2 for compulsions:

Repetitive behaviors that the individual feels driven to perform in response to an obsession or according to rules that must be applied rigidly: He plays the piano as he did with Claudia to get rid of the obsession.

The behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing anxiety or distress.

To be diagnosed with OCD, any of these 4 symptoms is necessary, and Lestat, arguably, displays all of them, so he is diagnosed with OCD by me.

7.0 Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders

7.1 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):

PTSD is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event. There are several criteria to be diagnosed with it.

Lestat displays 3 symptoms out of 4 for exposure to actual or threatened death, and serious injury:

Directly experiencing the traumatic event: Claudia and Louis attempted to kill him.

Witnessing, in person, the event as it occurred to others: He was there to watch the Trial and he witnessed Claudia dying.

Learning that the traumatic event occurred to a close family member or close friend: He learned that Louis tried to harm himself.

Lestat displays 4 symptoms out of 5 for presence of  intrusion symptoms associated with the traumatic event:

Recurrent, involuntary, and intrusive distressing memories of the traumatic event: He cannot get the death of Claudia out of his mind. He also still thinks about Louis harming himself.

Dissociative reactions (e.g., flashbacks) in which the individual feels or acts as if the traumatic event were recurring.

Intense or prolonged psychological distress at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event.

Marked physiological reactions to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event.

Lestat’s PTSD is multifaceted, as there have been several different traumatic events that had shocked him and endangered him (e.g., Magnus, the Trial, S1.E7, the death of Nicki). According to Sam Reid, Claudia will haunt Lestat in S3, so we will see more of his reactions to his PTSD.

8.0 Feeding and Eating Disorders

8.1 Pica:

Pica is characterized by persistent eating of nonnutritive, nonfood substances over a period of at least 1 month. Which is, pretty much, seen in every vampire. It does not take a psychologist to diagnose vampires with Pica. They are Pica.

8.2 Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder:

ARFID is characterized by an eating or feeding disturbance as manifested by the person avoiding certain foods. As can be seen in many episodes, Lestat constantly judges Louis for feeding only from animals instead of humans. Lestat prefers human blood only, making him a restrictive food intaker.

8.3 Binge Eating Disorder:

Binge Eating Disorder is characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating.

Lestat displays 2 out of 2 symptoms for an episode of binge eating:

Eating, in a discrete period of time, an amount of food that is definitely larger than what most people would eat in a similar period of time under similar circumstances.

A sense of lack of control over eating during the episode.

In the song ‘Long Face’, Lestat talks about binge feeding after a breakup in which he eventually gains weight from the amount of blood he consumes. Do vampires get overweight? I don’t know, but that’s what he says, so I diagnose him with Binge Eating Disorder.

9.0 Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders

9.1 Oppositional Defiant Disorder:

Oppositional Defiant Disorder is a  pattern of angry/irritable mood, argumentative/defiant behavior, or vindictiveness lasting at least 6 months.

Lestat displays 6 symptoms out of 8 for Oppositional Defiant Disorder:

Often loses temper: e.g. when playing chess with Claudia, when Claudia came back and he beat up Louis.

Is often touchy or easily annoyed.

Is often angry and resentful.

Often deliberately annoys others.

Often blames others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior.

Has been spiteful or vindictive at least twice within the past 6 months.

Therefore, it can be easily said that Lestat is not a bad person, he is just mentally ill.

9.2 Intermittent Explosive Disorder:

Intermittent Explosive Disorder is characterized by recurrent behavioral outbursts representing a failure to control aggressive impulses.

Lestat displays 2 symptoms out of 2 for failure to control aggressive impulses:

Verbal aggression or physical aggression toward property, animals, or other individuals: Going crazy after losing in chess, choking Claudia, beating up Louis.

Three behavioral outbursts involving damage or destruction of property and/or physical assault involving physical injury against animals or other individuals occurring within a 12-month period: It possibly happens more for Lestat.

10.0 Personality Disorders

10.1 Borderline Personality Disorder:

BPD is a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts.

Lestat displays 7 symptoms out of 9 for Borderline Personality Disorder:

Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment: He does everything in order to keep Louis.

A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation.

Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self.

Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging: Cheating on partners, money spending, substance abuse can be seen in Lestat.

Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood.

Chronic feelings of emptiness.

Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (as mentioned in Disruptive & Impulse-Control Disorders).

As guessed by many people, BPD is the disorder that Lestat relates to the most. He obviously displays a lot of symptoms of it and therefore easily can be diagnosed with it by any professional.

10.2 Histrionic Personality Disorder:

Histrionic Personality Disorder is characterized by a pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts.

Lestat displays 6 symptoms out of 8 for Histrionic Personality Disorder:

Is uncomfortable in situations in which he or she is not the center of attention.

Interaction with others is often characterized by inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behavior.

Displays rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotions.

Consistently uses physical appearance to draw attention to self.

Shows self-dramatization, theatricality, and exaggerated expression of emotion.

Considers relationships to be more intimate than they actually are.

Lestat can easily be seen as ‘the life of the party’ and if he is not the center of the attention, you best believe he will do something about it. He displays enough symptoms to be diagnosed with HPD.

11.0 Paraphilic Disorders

11.1 Voyeuristic Disorder:

Voyeuristic Disorder is characterized by recurrent and intense sexual arousal from observing an unsuspecting person who is naked, in the process of disrobing, or engaging in sexual activity, as manifested by fantasies, urges, or behaviors. 

In S1.E1 we see that Lestat likes watching Louis having sex with another woman. Louis asks Lestat, ‘That’s your thing? You like to watch?’.

11.2 Sexual Masochism Disorder:

Sexual Masochism is recurrent and intense sexual arousal from the act of being humiliated, beaten, bound, or otherwise made to suffer, as manifested by fantasies, urges, or behaviors.

When Dreamstat comes back to Louis, there is a scene in which Lestat provokes Louis by saying ‘Kill me again.’, and he laughs as Louis hits him, chokes him, and although that is Louis’ dream of Lestat, I think it’s safe to say Lestat had enjoyed that kind of behavior before. When Louis takes Lestat back, we also see how beaten up Lestat is, and it happens after they have sex.

Part II: Psychological Theories

1.0 Social Exchange Theory:

Social Exchange Theory is a concept based on the idea that social behavior is the result of an exchange process. According to this theory, people weigh the potential benefits and risks of their social relationships. When the risks outweigh the rewards, they will terminate or abandon the relationship. The purpose of this exchange is to maximize benefits and minimize costs.

Lestat lives his life by this theory. He is often driven by his desires and passions. He craves companionship and love but also seeks dominance and control over others. 

Costs:

Emotional Turmoil: Lestat's intense relationships often lead to emotional conflicts and suffering, both for him and his companions.

Risk of Rejection: His desire for deep connections makes him vulnerable to rejection and betrayal, as seen with Louis.

Loneliness: Despite seeking companionship, Lestat frequently finds himself isolated due to his nature and actions.

Rewards:

Companionship: Lestat values the presence of others, particularly those who can understand his nature and share his experiences.

Power and Control: He often derives satisfaction from having power over others, which boosts his sense of significance and dominance.

Excitement and Adventure: Lestat’s relationships often bring new experiences and adventures, which he craves as part of his rebellious spirit.

His interactions are driven by the pursuit of rewards such as companionship, power, and adventure, while also dealing with the costs of emotional turmoil, conflict, and isolation.

2.0 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

This psychological theory posits that human motivations are structured in a hierarchy, ranging from basic physiological needs to self-actualization. Lestat’s actions and motivations often reflect his quest to fulfill these needs, from the basic physiological requirement for blood to his pursuit of self-actualization through personal growth and creative expression.

Needs:

Physiological: 

Vampiric Thirst: As a vampire, Lestat's primary physiological need is the consumption of blood. This need drives many of his actions, ensuring his survival.

Immortality: Unlike humans, Lestat doesn't need food, water, or shelter in the traditional sense. His physiological need is centered around obtaining blood and ensuring his physical survival as an immortal being.

Safety: 

Physical Safety: Lestat seeks to protect himself from threats, both from humans and other vampires. This includes avoiding vampire hunters and rival vampires who may wish to harm him.

Existential Safety: Lestat grapples with the existential nature of his immortality and seeks to find stability in his long existence. This often involves creating and maintaining secure environments where he can exist without threat.

Love and Belongingness:

Companionship: Lestat's relationships with Louis, Claudia, and others highlight his deep need for companionship and belonging. Despite his often domineering nature, Lestat craves intimate connections.

Vampire Family: His creation of a vampire family with Louis and Claudia is an attempt to fulfill his need for love and belonging. He seeks to create a close-knit group that can understand and share his experiences.

Esteem:

Respect and Recognition: Lestat desires recognition and respect from both humans and vampires. His flamboyant and rebellious behavior often serves as a way to assert his presence and command attention.

Self-Esteem: Lestat struggles with his self-esteem, oscillating between grandiosity and self-doubt. He seeks validation through his actions and the admiration of others.

Self Actualization:

Personal Growth: Lestat's journey throughout the series is marked by his pursuit of knowledge, self-discovery, and personal growth. He constantly seeks to understand his place in the world and the meaning of his existence.

Art and Music: Lestat's involvement in the arts, particularly his passion for music, is an expression of his self-actualization. These creative pursuits allow him to explore and express his individuality and inner world.

Transcendence: At times, Lestat seeks experiences that go beyond his own existence, exploring the metaphysical and spiritual aspects of being a vampire. This includes his encounters with ancient vampires and other supernatural beings.

3.0 The Myers-Briggs Test (MBTI):

The MBTI categorizes personalities into 16 types based on four dichotomies:

Extraversion (E) vs. Introversion (I)

Extraversion (E): Lestat is highly extraverted. He thrives on interaction with others and seeks out social engagement, whether with humans or other vampires. He loves being the center of attention, often drawing others to him with his charm and charisma.

Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N)

Intuition (N): Lestat is intuitive, often looking beyond the surface to understand deeper meanings and possibilities. He is driven by his curiosity and desire for new experiences and knowledge.

Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F)

Feeling (F): Although Lestat can be calculating and strategic, his decisions are often influenced by his emotions and personal values. He experiences intense emotions and is deeply affected by his relationships and experiences.

Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P)

Perceiving (P): Lestat is spontaneous, adaptable, and often prefers to keep his options open. He is not one for strict plans or routines and enjoys the freedom to explore and act on impulse.

Lestat's personality aligns well with the ENFP type in the Myers-Briggs framework. His extraversion, intuition, emotional depth, and spontaneous nature define his character and drive his actions.

4.0 Freud’s Ego Psychology:

Freud's model of the psyche is composed of three main elements: the Id, the Ego, and the Superego. Each of these components plays a critical role in shaping an individual's actions and interactions. Through this psychology, Lestat can be understood as a dynamic interplay between his Id-driven desires, his Ego's attempts to navigate reality, and his Superego's moral contemplations.

The Id:

Desires and Instincts: Lestat's Id is strongly represented by his vampiric desires and instincts. His need for blood, thrill-seeking behavior, and hedonistic pursuits are driven by the Id's demand for immediate gratification. Lestat’s frequent indulgence in bloodlust, his desire for power, and his pursuit of pleasure without concern for consequences highlight his Id-driven actions. His transformation into a vampire amplifies these primal desires.

The Ego:

Reality Principle: Lestat’s Ego attempts to balance his powerful Id with the demands of reality. This is evident in his strategic thinking and ability to navigate the complexities of human and vampire societies. Lestat's efforts to create a successful career as a rock star and his ability to form and maintain complex relationships (despite their tumultuous nature) demonstrate his Ego at work. He often calculates his actions to achieve his desires while managing external realities.

The Superego:

Moral Conscience: Lestat’s Superego is less dominant than his Id, but it is still present. His reflections on morality, guilt, and his existential musings show the influence of his Superego. Lestat's internal conflicts and occasional guilt over his actions indicate the presence of his Superego. His moments of introspection, particularly when he questions the morality of his vampiric existence, highlight this aspect of his psyche.

Lestat experiences significant internal conflicts between his Id, Ego, and Superego. His hedonistic desires often clash with his moments of moral contemplation and the need to adapt to reality. He often projects his own desires and frustrations onto others, such as Louis and Claudia. His complex relationships involve elements of transference, where he relives past traumas and desires through his interactions with them.

5.0 Jung’s Archetypes:

Jung's theory of archetypes suggests that there are universal, archaic symbols and images that derive from the collective unconscious. These archetypes manifest in literature and myths, often embodying fundamental human experiences and traits.

The Self:

Integration and Wholeness: Throughout the series, Lestat's journey can be seen as a quest for integration and self-understanding. He seeks to reconcile his various aspects and achieve a sense of wholeness.

The Shadow:

Dark Aspects: Lestat's Shadow includes his violent tendencies, selfish desires, and the darker aspects of his vampiric nature. He often grapples with these parts of himself, leading to internal conflict and moral ambiguity.

The Anima:

Feminine Qualities: Lestat's Anima is reflected in his deep emotional connections and his capacity for empathy and love, despite his often ruthless behavior. His relationships with Louis and Claudia reveal his nurturing and protective sides.

The Persona:

Public Face: Lestat's Persona is highly cultivated, presenting himself as charismatic, charming, and flamboyant. He is a performer both literally (as a rock star) and metaphorically, often masking his deeper, more troubled self.

The Hero:

Quest and Challenges: Lestat embodies the Hero archetype through his constant quest for meaning, adventure, and self-discovery. He faces numerous challenges and often acts as a catalyst for change in the vampire world.

The Trickster:

Mischief and Chaos: Lestat often plays the role of the Trickster, causing disruption and challenging societal norms. His rebellious nature and tendency to create chaos reflect this archetype.

His public Persona, the dark Shadow, the nurturing Anima, the heroic quest, the Trickster's chaos, and the journey towards the Self all contribute to his multifaceted character.

6.0 Attachment Theory:

Attachment theory, developed by John Bowlby and later expanded by Mary Ainsworth, examines how early relationships with caregivers shape an individual's patterns of attachment and behavior in later relationships.

Lestat's early life as a human was marked by complex relationships with his family, particularly his mother, Gabrielle. His father was neglectful and abusive, while his mother was more supportive but distant due to her own struggles. These early experiences likely influenced Lestat's attachment style, contributing to his complex and often tumultuous relationships later in life.

Disorganized Attachment: Lestat exhibits traits of disorganized attachment, characterized by a mix of anxious and avoidant behaviors. His relationships are marked by intense emotions, fear of abandonment, and difficulty maintaining stable bonds. This theory highlights his struggles with intimacy, fear of abandonment, and need for control.

7.0 Social Identity Theory:

This theory explores how individuals derive a sense of identity and self-esteem from their membership in social groups, and how these group dynamics influence intergroup behavior.

Social Categorization:

Vampire Identity: Lestat categorizes himself primarily as a vampire, which becomes a core aspect of his identity. This categorization distinguishes him from humans and other supernatural beings. Lestat's transformation into a vampire and his subsequent embrace of vampiric traits and behaviors mark his entry into this distinct social category. He frequently identifies himself as part of the vampire world, even when challenging its norms.

Social Identification:

Group Membership: Lestat identifies strongly with the vampire community, despite often rebelling against its rules and leaders. His identity as a vampire shapes his actions, relationships, and self-perception. Lestat’s relationships with other vampires, such as Louis, Claudia, Armand, and even ancient vampires like Akasha, reflect his deep connection to the vampire identity. His desire to understand and sometimes reshape the vampire world shows his commitment to this group.

Social Comparison:

Ingroup vs. Outgroup: Lestat often compares himself and his vampire companions to humans and other supernatural entities. This comparison reinforces his sense of superiority and uniqueness. 

His categorization as a vampire, identification with the vampire community, and comparison with humans and other vampires shape his actions and self-perception. The intragroup dynamics, including power struggles, status seeking, and identity crises, further highlight the complexities of his social identity.

8.0 Five Factor Model of Personality:

The Five-Factor Model includes five broad dimensions of personality:

Openness to Experience:

High Openness: Lestat exhibits high levels of openness. He is curious about the world, adventurous, and willing to explore new experiences, both as a vampire and in his human endeavors.

Conscientiousness:

Low to Moderate Conscientiousness: Lestat demonstrates lower levels of conscientiousness. He often acts impulsively and disregards conventional norms or plans.

Extraversion: 

High Extraversion: Lestat is highly extraverted. He thrives on social interaction, enjoys being the center of attention, and is energized by engaging with others.

Agreeableness:

Low to Moderate Agreeableness: Lestat shows varying levels of agreeableness. While he can be charming and charismatic, his actions often reflect self-interest and a lack of empathy.

Neuroticism:

Moderate to High Neuroticism: Lestat exhibits moderate to high levels of neuroticism. He frequently experiences emotional turmoil, existential angst, and inner conflict.

Lestat’s personality, as analyzed through the Five-Factor Model, reveals a complex character with high openness and extraversion, but lower conscientiousness and agreeableness, alongside significant neuroticism. These traits contribute to his charismatic, adventurous, and often tumultuous nature.

In conclusion, I diagnosed Lestat with 18 mental disorders (according to DSM-V) and analyzed his personality through 8 different psychological theories. I don't necessarily say that I am right, but given the psychology degree I have, I am pretty much sure of what I have concluded here with this.

Much love,

Zenith

[celticcrossanon]

Hello Celta, Long time no see. I hope all is well.

I’m writing to bring you some juicy gossip from 1. Bookworm2 on YouTube, 2. a jailing of a sugar, and 3. lady C will be unmasking ugly after all and 4. Meghan regrets telling kids she’s the most bullied.

Bookworm does have some far reaching long term contacts at the palace and elsewhere in the US., truly people in the know. When you publish my ask I will attach her latest video. Allegedly Archwell, is rumoured to be under investigation by the Feds and IRS. There’s the matter of the missing millions from Archwell, and failure to declare it. BUT BUT BUT there’s also the matter of the Harkles, Meghan in particular uttering death threats across state lines, as part of an FBI cyber bullying investigation. This latter charge relates to the extreme bullying and harassment Catherine underwent during her cancer diagnosis and treatment. Catherine allegedly received some really nasty death threats while she was secluded from the public, at the height of the ‘Wheres Kate’ psychodrama online. Remember William went to visit M15 and it was publicized everywhere?? Two card readers, Mad World Tarot included, did a reading that showed the 3 of pentacles card, involvement through a third party. I wonder if they were able to trace the financial angle ie payment from Archwell. Or one of the third party, ie the death threat poster, probably squealed about his motivation and bosses. MWT saw William’s energy behind this. They truly thought online threats were untraceable. Consequences people consequences.

Avid Gardener and Trevor Coult on YouTube has the woman accused of trying to bomb Buckingham Palace brought up on charges against them. She made the threat on Twitter brazenly and openly. She’s also issued death threats to Avid and her husband and had bullied Trevor out of his charity job and home. She’s been named in the press as Diane Durham, 62, and she’s an immense sugar. Stupid woman pleaded not guilty after first admitting everything. It moves on to the high court for sentencing. I think the police are concurrently investigating the YouTube harassment claims. She stands to lose her house to Trevor in damages. I have no sympathy. Consequences people consequences.

On a related topic Lady C will most likely take go fund me to court because of the illegal reopening of her money raising drive for Mr thomas Markle Snr. She alleges that someone with connections had go fund me reopen the fundraiser after it was closed as per her contract with them, and called the newspaper to accuse her of fraud, all within the space of a few days. First she threatened the newspaper with a lawsuit if they ran the story, and then she threatened go fund me after they tried to brush her off, by telling her they couldn’t identify the member of staff of go fund me due to privacy reasons. She’s not having it AT ALL. And will see them in court. She strongly hints that she suspects Meghan and Harry are behind it, again through third parties. They want to damage her reputation and get her off YouTube. I think they mistakenly identified Lady C as a pushover. Don’t they anything about her life? lol. Consequences people consequences.

There’s also a threat by the UK bullied staff to be released from their NDAs to speak on camera about Meghan’s Bullying Report buried by the Queen. This, after she went to some girls charity last week. and claimed to be the most bullied person in the world. I bet she’s regretting that now. Consequences people consequences.

They both must be sweating bullets. No wonder Harry is nowhere to be seen. I hear a rumour he’s either in Australia to harass his father, or he’s in the UK hoping to be named counsellor of State while dear old pop is away. Harry is so dumb, all he cares about are the perks of the BRF and never about the consequences of his actions. He’s thicker than a brick.

There you go. It’s quite a lot, and I hope sooner rather than later they face justice in some form or another.

Hi AnonymousRetired,

All is very well with me, thank you for asking.

Thank you as well for sending in such a lot of lovely gossip. It looks like things are starting to move against the Harkles. Like you, I hope that all the perpetrators face justice, and sooner rather than later.

Videos referred to in the gossip (I hope these are the right ones): Note: I still need the ones from Lady C

Bookworm 2

Avid Gardener

Trevor Coult MC

Mad World Tarot

[truth-has-a-liberal-bias]

Two Illinois cousins who have spent most of their lives locked up for crimes they never committed walked free Thursday after 42 years behind bars – the latest in a series of exonerations this week involving innocent people wrongfully imprisoned for decades.

James Soto, 62, and David Ayala, 60, will now spend the holidays with their families for the first time since 1981 – when they were convicted for the deaths of two Chicago teenagers.

The cousins each received two life sentences without the possibility of parole for the killings, plus 30 years for attempted murder and seven years for conspiracy to commit murder, to be served concurrently.

The pair ultimately served the longest wrongful conviction sentence in state history, said Lauren Myerscough-Mueller, an attorney with the Exoneration Project, which provides legal representation to the wrongfully convicted. [...]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Christopher Wiggins at The Advocate:

The person who murdered and maimed people during a mass shooting at an LGBTQ+ bar in Colorado has been sentenced to multiple life sentences. Anderson Lee Aldrich, 24, has been sentenced to 55 concurrent life sentences plus an additional 190 years in prison for the horrific mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs. This sentencing follows Aldrich’s guilty plea to 74 federal hate crimes and firearms charges related to the November 19, 2022, attack on the nightclub.

A Justice Department’s press release revealed that Aldrich admitted to the premeditated, malicious killing of five people, injuring 19 others, and attempting to kill 26 more. Aldrich’s rampage was only stopped by the brave patrons of Club Q despite his being armed with a privately manufactured assault weapon. The plea agreement confirms that Aldrich’s actions were driven by hatred towards the sexual orientation and gender identity of the victims. Aldrich is currently serving five life sentences with an additional 2,208 years after pleading guilty to five counts of first-degree murder and other state charges last year. After his arrest, attorneys said Aldrich identified as nonbinary. However, prosecutors noted there was no prior indication of Aldrich identifying as nonbinary before the shooting, suggesting it was a tactic to avoid hate crime charges.

The Club Q shooter was sentenced to 55 life sentences plus a 190-years in prison for committing hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community by killing of 5 people and injuring 19 others.