#drone catcher

[ghoultrifle]

it's mushy may time, bitches !! thank you @forlorn-crows for the prompt list and general organisation <33

prompt: cuteness aggression

relationship: sunny/swiss

word count: 750

summary: sunny sleep talks and swiss finds it unbearably sweet. it's very silly.

please be kind, i am not very practiced with writing anything that isn't porn. rbs are appreciated and will hopefully mean i do more than one single prompt in the whole month sdjhfskjfhk (feel free to play the game of 'what funky word did i learn today ?' eheheh)

read on ao3 or below the cut :))

“No you can’t delete the watermelon, it’s in the desk!” Sunny mumbles, her mouth partially blocked by the pillow she’s unceremoniously shoved under her.

Swiss awakes, ready to whack his love with said pillow. “Shine, it’s early, go annoy Mountain please?”

“The shoes can’t go in the wall, they’re too hot!”

A smile creeps onto Swiss’ face. It’s a uniquely vulnerable experience, being on the receiving end of a sleep talker. Sunny has no idea what her unconscious brain is feeding her- or perhaps vaguely catapulting towards her in the hopes that something will stick. Yet Swiss has the honour of being there for the barely-formed, mismatched set of words that leave her mouth. He knows they’ll giggle about it in the morning as they always do; Sunny attempting, to no avail, to connect Swiss’ feedback to her hazy memory of the dreams her brain concocted for her viewing pleasure. It never works; the nonsense she spouts seemingly untethered from reality altogether, plucked from a different plane of existence, perhaps one where footwear temperature is a real concern for its occupants.

Sunny continues to lie fast asleep, the tendrils of sleep latched onto the depths of her mind, keeping her peaceful while her brain whirs, stirring her thoughts but not her vessel. She’s sprawled out on the bed. Head to the side and mouth wide open, in what looks like an effort to chew the pillow. In reality it’s acting as less of a neck support and more of a drool-catcher as spit tumbles its way out and onto the floral design.

Swiss only looks on in admiration, the moonlight creating a shimmer in the puddle as it soaks into the fabric. His smile grows wider, fangs catching on his bottom lip. He likes to think Sunny’s body wouldn’t let her talk in her sleep if she didn’t on some subconscious level feel safe with him. It’s a testament to the bond they’ve created topside, inseparable since the day Sunshine was summoned; partners in crime, wizards of whimsy, goofy guys. All silly ways of saying ‘I love you’, which is exactly what Swiss wants to shout from the rooftops.

“It’s not my fault you flew into the glove,” she snarls.

“Is too! You had the map, sunflower,” Swiss tuts under his breath playfully. He’s careful not to wake her when she’s like this but he can’t help joining in on the shenanigans once in a while. He’s imagining a tunnel, for fighter jets- or perhaps drones would be more suited to his skillset- it’s got one entrance and five exits, each one representing a finger on a glove. In his on-behalf-of-Sunny-dream, he’s in control while Sunny’s frantically trying to unfold a comically large map that supposedly holds the secrets to navigating The Glove. He’s asking her where to go but the map is unfolding ad infinitum and before they know it he’s flying through a finger hole (the middle one of course) lest they crash into the purlicue (The webbing between your thumb and forefinger, Swiss, how do you not know that? He thinks back to Aether and his endless list of things you didn’t know had names).

Jolting out of his trance, Swiss realises he may not have been as awake as he thought during his own dream-like sequence. He leans into his weary state, the dumb smile on his face returning. As he shifts on bed, carefully trying to manoeuvre his mate’s hand, Sunny decides she has other plans. A small hand with not-so-small claws abruptly finds itself on Swiss’ face, nipping him ever so slightly.

“I really love him, Lus, he’s always there for me,” she whispers, and Swiss can’t take it anymore. His internal jar of love is spilling over and his nervous system is screaming at him to let some out. So he does what any normal person does and bites Sunny, in the little nook that’s just the right size for him to gently sink his teeth in. 

“It’s a purlicue!” He mocks in a hushed tone, as best he can with Sunny between his teeth, hoping his wave of quintessence is strong enough to puncture Aether’s sweet dreams with a million images of weird hand parts.

In the morning Sunny will admit to Swiss that she did remember the dream where she was talking to Cumulus. She’ll leave it there though because she doesn’t have the heart to tell him it was actually about a sentient grocery bag that followed her around to carry her shopping.

[librarycards]

Hello! Your posts are very enlightening and I'm inspired by how much you read. Might be a weird question and I'm sorry if it is but do you have any good book recommendations for a USAmerican trying to expand their worldview? I.e., histories of other countries/global regions, imperialism, etc.

i have some, but also recommend looking through @metamatar / @fatehbaz / @lafemmemacabre / @killy / @sawasawako / @handweavers (these are the mutuals that stand out to me but just the tip of the iceberg) &other blogs that have a more robust collection of resources –– i have learned a lot from them over the years!

that said, here are some books and authors whose oeuvres/at least multiple books i strongly recommend. different genres, and i'm not delineating between them as i am ideologically opposed to Doing That/creating epistemic hierarchies. obviously, that is particularly true given the nature of this ask. but it should be pretty clear what is considered a standard 'political/historical nonfiction' book and what...isn't!

authors:

Lisa Lowe

Jasbir Puar

Laila Lalami

Sara Ahmed

Trinh T. Minh-ha

Jamaica Kincaid

b. binaohan

Larissa Lai

Edwidge Danticat

Harsha Walia

Bhanu Kapil

books:

Atef Abu Saif, The Drone Eats With Me: A Gaza Diary

Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions

Pankaj Mishra, Bland Fanatics: Liberals, the West, and the Afterlives of Empire

Leila Khaled, My People Shall Live

Susan Williams, White Malice: The CIA and the Covert Recolonization of Africa

Minae Mizumura, The Fall of Language in the Age of English

Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Feminism Without Borders

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Not a Nation of Immigrants

Saidiya Hartman, Lose Your Mother

Mimi Sheller, Mobility Justice: The Politics of Movement in an Age of Extremes

Marwa Helal, Ante Body

Aviva Chomsky, Central America's Forgotten History (NB: forgotten by usamericans, that is)

Raja Shehadeh, Palestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape

Moraga, Anzaldúa, and Bambara, eds., This Bridge Called My Back

Poupeh Missaghi, trans(re)lating house one

Marisol de la Cadena, Earth Beings

Kathryn Joyce, The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking, and the New Gospel of Adoption

Bonaventure Soh Beje Ndikung, Pidginization as Curatorial Method: Messing with Languages and Praxes of Curating

Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples

again, this appears as a long list, but is truly just a taste of what's out there. i hope it helps!

[alchemistc]

Yep here it comes, the baseball aus I'll never write:

Okay so HEAR ME OUT - Pitch (Fox) Redux - aging catcher (omg he's 35 in Sport he might as well be in the GRAVE) Tommy Kinard mentoring the first Openly Out pitcher in The MLB, and Tommy just cannot get this dumb cocky kid Buckley, with the weight of the WORLD on his shoulders, outta his head. They have Late Night phone calls about it (fic ends abruptly b4 they kiss, Tommy goes in for surgery and has to deal with Schrodinger's Retirement, Buck pitches a no-no their last (???) game together B4 Tommy goes in). Five years later author comes out abruptly to announce that Tommy might coach Buck now and then NEVER WRITES IT

Buck and Tommy are both on dates at the Game (pls, don't make me say which game I pretend the blue team does not exist), sitting in consecutive rows. Neither of their dates are into baseball. Like. It's incredibly obvious they are Not Having A Good Time. But Buck spent the first twenty minutes info dumping and when Tommy realized his date was a bust he just turned in his seat and has been eagerly engaging Buck in stat dumps and Cool Facts about the stadium and The Team (Tommy brings out the - hey, did you know this was Captain America's team and Buck just LIGHTS UP) - their dates ditch them before the bottom of the third and they don't noticed until the top of the 7th

Kiss Cam shenanigans - Tommy and his date end up on screen and neither one of them is in the closet but his date isn't interested and Tommy is quickly losing interest in him. The camera pans away. Two innings later they bring the kiss cam back just to show Tommy and Buck (who was a stranger until he noticed Tommy's date being kind of a dick) furiously making out. They are cheered on until security asks them to leave

Buck takes Christopher to a game, and Tommy is enamored with the guy in the accessible row who keeps shouting at both third basemen to throw his kid a ball for fucks sake. Tommy catches a foul ball one handed while perfectly balancing his beer and nachos, tosses it to Buck and Christopher with a wink, chugs the rest of his beer when Buck's face flushes

AU where clipboard!Buck is trying to Moneyball Tommy's struggling team. Tommy is incensed with the idea he could play a better shortstop than a left fielder. That's it that's the fic.

Rival catchers au - Kinard and Buckley have played on three separate teams a piece where the first game of a series they play ends up with at least one bench clearing brawl when one of their star hitters gets beaned. Imagine lots of shoving and yelling and "I know you called for that, Buckley!", Buck mockingly approximating a strike zone with his hands over home plate "Hey does Insert Pitchers Name Here need fuckin' GLASSES Kinard??" - meanwhile every time they're in the same town they're at one of their places fucking each other's brains out

Alt first meeting - Buck has to climb a series of scaffolding to get to a potential jumper at the stadium, Tommy flying air support to be his eyes and ears ("I fuckin' hate drones, Evan, but you actually made this a pretty enjoyable evening," he says when everyone is safely and securely on the ground. "Thanks for being my eye in the sky man. Can I buy you a beer later?")

[indie-cartoon-network]

Indie Cartoon Series!!

--------All Series are found on YT!--------

On-Going Series:

Hellva Boss(@Vivziepop)

Monkey Wrench(@monkeywretchseries)

Oille & Scoops(@Nico Animation)

Bravest Warriors(@CartoonHangover)

Bridge Kids (@Mike Carf)

Sublo and Tangy Mustard (@Aaron Long)

God School (@GODs' School: The Olympian)

Bob's World (@wizzymmd70)

The Earth Guy (@Aninamated)

Big Top Burger(@Worthikids)

Necro-Nancy 64 (@Macabre_1031)

House on the Outlands (@makeoriginals)

The Amazing Digital Circus(@Glitch)

Punch Punch Forever (@Speedoru)

Day Job (@Georghiou2D)

Completed Series:

Murder Drones(@Glitch)

Pilots:

Lackadaisy (@LackadaisyComic)

Hugo's Mind Palace (@Alistcrat)

Port by the Sea (@Georden Whitman)

Godspeed (@Olanrogers)

Mech West Show (@Mechwest Show)

Hullabaloo (@james lopez animation)

Load Aim Burn (@Asha Phaedra)

Revamped(@revampedroses)

Tales from Scorchwater Valley(@Alex Henderson Animation)

Strawberry Hill (@Green Tea3)

In Limbo (@5wordsman)

The Dead Shift (@Zattdott)

Long Gone Gulch (@Lopside Animation)

Ramshackle (@Zeddyzi)

Dream Catchers (@TheDreamCatcherShow)

Dungeon Flippers (@dungeonflippers2970)

Catching Up (@LSMark)

Shorts:

Hell To Pay (Pilot) (@misseligon)

Ena (@JoelG)

Puzzle & Sling: Boredom Killers (@toastcrumch)

Midnight Vampire (@takena)

Hellva Boss(@Vivziepop)

In The Works:

Far-Fetched (@farfetchedshow)

In Limbo (@5wordsman)

HETHENS (@Nezhahah)

Trailers:

Hearts of Titan (@kappaponstudios)

Flims:

PxAY OFF! (@marcocardenas2D)

[zmijowka]

My Valentine's Day radio show is available to listen to [here]

It's fully dedicated to my partner who wrote me "hey, I've followed your music fanpage for years!" on a dating app and a year later married me in the garden.

ambient folk / ethereal / drone / folk / neofolk

Tracklist:

Vashti Bunyan - Train Song

Anita Lane - Bella Ciao

Ache - Brother Sister

Solace - I Feel It Too (NSYNC cover)

Lexi Lang - Pretty Boy

Peter Bixby Ryan - Texas Sun

Nighttime - Hall of Clouds

yarrow - Lover

avrora - my catcher in the rye

Foie Gras - Hide the T.R.E.A.T.S.

Swans - I Want To Be Your Dog

sleepy conscience - Cinnamon and sage

Vashti Bunyan - I'd Like To Walk Around In Your Mind

:Of The Wand & The Moon: - I Crave For You

yarrow - Pagan Wedding

angelic milk - Dead Radio

cecelia olszewski - do us part

Chelsea Wolfe - You are my Sunshine

[chronicmusicnerd]

On billionaires and why they shouldn’t exist

I don’t think anyone that earns a normal wage who supports the ability to earn 1,000,000,000 dollars (yes, there’s 9 zeros) truly gets how much one billion of anything is. One million, sure. Ten million, yep! One hundred million, maaaybe… but one billion???

To put it into perspective, if we traveled back in time by one million seconds, we’d travel about 11 or 12 days into the past, so about a week and a half ago. If we traveled back in time by one billion seconds, it would be 1993.

So now we know, one billion is a lot. But one still asks, “Why shouldn’t you have a billion dollars? Why is that level of wealth inherently bad or wrong?” First, I’m so glad you asked! Second, when there are people living paycheque to paycheque, when there are people living in tents who can’t afford to feed only themselves, let alone any kids or pets, why should someone who could afford 76, 923, 077 copies of The Catcher in the Rye have that kind of wealth?

Is life fair? No. But could it be fair enough that there aren’t people who could drop 100k on a Rolex and not see a dent in their bank account and people who can barely afford a new shirt living side by side when one could easily help the other? YES!! It could be!! There is no truly ethical way to earn a billion dollars.

From musicians selling dozens of variants of the same album or CD to keep their charts up and fill their pockets, to entrepreneurs cutting costs on literal vehicles, to apps charging for verification, to business owners underpaying their workers, one cannot earn such a sum of wealth and be able to truthfully say, “I really earned this in my own right, and no one has been hurt by my rise to luxury.”

Yes, the world of business is competitive. Yes, it’s eat or be eaten. But it doesn’t have to be. Capitalism will kill us all, with the rich being cryogenically frozen to be awoken in the far future, and the rest of us dying as either drones or deviants in the system.

When you can pay your way out of accountability or shame, the rules just cease to apply. When you can’t, the rich crack down on you like the gum stuck to their shoe, no matter if you committed arson or if you just looked “too mangy” too near to them.

News flash to the rich, charitably is an option and basic kindness is free… but when you have a Rolls Royce you can afford to give something to the less fortunate.

[bxxth1ll]

A little flying drone with what seems to be a glitching screen for a face comes and keeps poking at Boothil’s facel. It seems to be malfunctioning..suddenly the sound of a girl coming towards him is heard. “HEYYYYYYYY! Oof-” she then almost falls face first onto the ground but she managed to catcher herself by slowing down.

“Hehe..sorry about that..he’s uh..he’s a prototype.” She says, switching off the little drone which then falls the ground. She has two long blonde pigtails tied with ribbons that are a bit burnt on the ends, red goggles pushed up onto the top of her head. Her eyes are two different colors..one a dark brown and the other a light pink, the light pink one looks fakes. “I’m Annalise! A Galaxy Ranger and robot engineer!” She says, holding her hand for a shake.

Boothill observed her, before looking back at the little drone that was now on the ground.

"That's a bit dangerous, ain't it?" He asks, putting a hand on his hips. He raises an eyebrow at the title. "A Galaxy Ranger 's well? Ain't common runnin' into one of my own!"

[dead--pegasus]

Steddie Fic Recs: Recently Read Edition

I've been reading a metric ton of Steddie fics for the last year, and I have this habit of keeping track of every single fic I've read and am going to try and turn those recs out into the universe starting with some recently read fics in no particular order:

oh, happy dagger on sunshine bones by Inallthingsgoodorbad (Mature, Complete, 115k)

"He washes his wounds off, sparingly, with water this time. He figures it’s probably time to do so. Maybe he’ll be okay.

He falls asleep in the bathtub with a chair wedged against the bathroom door to keep it from opening.

He dreams he’s hanging on in the back of the RV they stole, and Steve Harrington is yelling at him.

“Hang on!” he’s saying, “Hang on!”" —————————— Eddie Munson is stuck in the Upside Down. Barely alive. Steve Harrington is trying to sleep and failing at it, miserably. What a strange thing it is, to save the world alongside friends and come away from it with nightmares and loneliness.

(As a note: I really really loved this one when I read it)

Swing and a Miss by deadonarrival (Explicit, Complete, 35k)

“Hey so … I have some mixed news,” Steve says. “Uh oh,” Eddie says, “are they changing your position, are you gonna be a — like a third base catcher man?” Steve laughs and shakes his head, “no, nothing that bad - I found out more about the whole like, bringing a person along thing.” “Oh cool,” Eddie says, sliding down on the couch next to him, “do I get like a fancy VIP pass?” “You do,” Steve says, “there’s just one catch.” “Okay?” Eddie asks, tilting his head and reaching for the tv remote. “Apparently they usually reserve the box for the wives and girlfriends … so either you’re gonna have to be my boyfriend or you’re going to have to sit in the stands with the fans.” Eddie makes a noise that must register to Steve as alarmed or upset because he rushes to finish. “It’s not that bad, you just need to like, pretend to be my boyfriend so you can sit with the other WAGs and like, then you can be in the box and have all you can drink alcohol and snacks.” “Did you agree to this!?” Eddie asks. “If I say yes, how mad are you going to be?” Steve asks.

(I loved seeing all the wags in this one and I'm a sucker for a fake dating premise)

rest below the cut for space saving

the chauffeur by brattyspice (Mature, Complete, 15k)

"He had intended on a normal drive, really, just cruising at the speed limit to clear his head. But upon passing the last house on the stretch for miles, the long, empty road looks suggestive. Maybe even a little seductive. A bad itch builds from the base of his spine. Swallowing nothing, he presses the gas pedal slowly, eyes continuously flicking down to the speedometer as it climbs exponentially. The drone of the engine changes with it, getting louder, pitch keening, synchronizing with the blood that churns and rushes in and out through his heart, veins, brain.

The needle hovers just over 100mph for approximately one minute and fourteen seconds." - Steve's attempts to return to normal aren't cutting it. When a casual drive turns into something more risky, he learns that a little rush of adrenaline can help. He learns that a little too well.

Around the same time, Eddie starts having car troubles.

The Beginning And End Of Everything by Kwills91 (Explicit, Complete, 80k)

Steve Harrington has lost everything. Head injuries forcing him to retire from the sport he loves. And he's not sure how to move on.

Until he meets disgraced figure skater, Eddie Munson - who is mounting a comeback.

Eddie and Steve learn that they have more in common than they first think and Steve thinks he's found a new best friend.

But things get confusing when he realises he might want more than friendship.

here i have found some peace of mind by GerryStAmour (Explicit, Complete, 60k)

Steve Harrington works at a hotel in Chicago, responsible for making and managing reservations for groups of all kinds: corporate, tours, entertainment, you name it. When some famous metal band signs a contract for rooms three months ahead of their concert date, Steve is swept into a flirtatious back-and-forth with someone he as been led to believe is the tour manager, Chris Cunningham, and quickly finds himself falling for the man...

Eddie Munson is a rockstar still riding the high of Corroded Coffin finally, finally making it big, but with the fame he finds himself almost lonelier than he was before. So when he answers his tour manager's phone and a nice guy with a cute voice starts calling him "Chris," Eddie plays along and maybe gets a bit carried away...

Read, enjoy, comment & kudo, yell at me about the fics if you want bc I always crave fandom friends ❤️

[alcestas-sloboda]

Good evening, warriors of light!

Energetic people who are always ready to fight! Its 246th day is coming to an end.

We continue our resistance. The aggressor continues his terror. We are again attacked from the sky by a flock of their crows.

More than 30 drones were launched in two days. The defenders of our sky prevented the enemy's vultures from breaking into the rear of the country and downed 23 Shaheds. In addition, the Kh-59 guided air missile, two Ka-52 attack helicopters and another Su-25 attack aircraft were turned into scrap metal. In total, during this period, Russia carried out 4,500 missile strikes and more than 8,000 air raids. But we are fighting, we will shoot down more.

I thank the guardians of our sky.

I am grateful to everyone who participated in the fundraising for the "catchers" of such "Shaheds". Only on the U24 platform those are 665,000 people from 70 countries. Together, we will certainly clip the wings of all metal monsters, no matter how many of them and from where they fly in the direction of Ukraine. Enemy planes will fall. Enemy helicopters will fall. "Shaheds" will fall. It is only the Ukrainian people who will not fall! A heroic people who will definitely go down in world history. Actually, like this day. It is already history.

It's already midnight on the clock. October 28 is already on the calendar. Every year on this day, we celebrate the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazi occupiers. We pay tribute to the Ukrainians who fought and defeated Nazism during World War II. Today we do it, holding not flowers in our hands, but weapons. Today, preserving the memory of the exploits of our ancestors means protecting their achievements. We remember the expulsion of the Nazis, approaching the expulsion of the Rashists.

Evil, which seemed to have been finally defeated and burned to the ground in 1945, is reborn from the ashes 80 years later. Gets on its feet. It becomes possible. How did it turn out? Imperceptibly. And very quickly. Just as one day changes another. Instantly. A new day and a new evil are coming instantly. At the very moment when the world does not notice. Some are sleepy, some are fast asleep. Some are not paying attention. Some do not care. And in general, everyone is silent and thinks the same: I will not be affected. The war is somewhere far away. Somewhere in Transnistria. This is the problem of Moldovans. Somewhere in Abkhazia and Ossetia. This is the problem of Georgians. Somewhere in Crimea and Donbas. This is the problem of Ukrainians. We will not be affected. It will not cause damage to us. They will not come for us. Unfortunately, as a result, it becomes everyone's problem.

Sooner or later, memories of a terrible war become a terrible reality. The neighbor becomes the aggressor. The aggressor becomes a terrorist. And Nazism becomes an example to follow. It may come in a new guise, with new slogans, but with the same goal. Unfortunately, it is not from books that we know about it. We know how evil can break into your house in the last century, eight years ago and eight months ago. Violate the western borders or come from the north, east and annexed Crimea. Attack peaceful cities with bombs or cruise missiles.

Mine the Dnipro HPP or seize the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Drop bombs despite the red cross or the "Children" inscription. Steal grain according to the "Hunger Plan" or threaten the entire planet with hunger.

Abduct and deport people. Abduct and deport children. The form of evil has changed, but the essence has remained unchanged.

Evil always begins in the same way. The invaders call themselves liberators. The invasion of one's army is called self-defense. As 80 years ago, the Ukrainian people stand up for the defense of their native land. And the enemy's blitzkrieg plan becomes a failure.

Evil always acts in the same way. Kills civilians, assuring that it hits military targets only. Arranges blockades and filtration camps. And Syrets becomes Olenivka. Destroys cities and villages. And Koryukivka becomes Bucha.

But sooner or later war crimes become known. The reaction of the world becomes painful. The policy of appeasement becomes a tough countermeasure.

The evil finds itself in a zugzwang.

So evil always ends the same way. The occupier becomes a capitulator. The invader becomes a fugitive. War criminals become defendants, aggression becomes a sentence. Destruction becomes reparations. Enemy equipment becomes museum exhibits. The feats of grandfathers become the victories of grandchildren.

The day of the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazis on the 247th day of our struggle becomes a symbol: the result of our struggle definitely becomes the liberation of our Ukraine. The captured territory becomes free. This has always been the case in the past, and will certainly be the case in the future. In the future of Kherson, Donbas, Luhansk, Crimea. Because our land always becomes free. Resistance becomes pride. Struggle becomes victory. And Ukraine becomes united!

Today, Russia's only tactic has become terror. Defeat is the only possible outcome of such tactics. Terror became a proof of their weakness and a test of our resilience.

We will not be broken by shelling. The enemy's rockets in our sky are less scarier than hearing the enemy's anthem on our land. We are not afraid of the dark.

The darkest times for us are not without light, but without freedom. Our warriors are strong, volunteers are tireless, partners are reliable, and people are indomitable.

The second army of the world will become smaller and smaller. The losses of the enemy will become bigger and bigger. I am confident that enemy propaganda does not work, provocations do not work, threats do not scare. Any hard winter will not scare us as well.

We know that the darkest night comes before dawn. We know that all invaders flee our land in the same way. Gauleiters and self-appointed "governors" end up the same.

Reichskommissariats and quasi-republics die equally. And all our cities will definitely have our flags. Both Junkers and kamikaze drones fall equally. And in our sky there will definitely be our birds, our blue sky, our "Mriya"!

Glory to all who fought against Nazism during World War II! Glory to all who are fighting for Ukraine today!

Glory to our people who will go down in history!

Glory to Ukraine!

- President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy

[satoshi-mochida]

‘Modern retro stealth action’ game Spy Drops announced for Switch, PC - Gematsu

Publisher Rainy Frog and developer Rainy Night Creations have announced “modern retro stealth action” game Spy Drops for Switch and PC (Steam).

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

Modern retro stealth action. Experience PlayStation generation, low-polygon, 3D stealth action updated with modern effects such as lighting and shadows, randomly generated levels, modern equipment, and head-to-head local multiplayer.

Story

An eco-terrorist organization is threatening to plunge the world into digital darkness, wiping out all digital records and sending the world back to the stone age. As a member of the counter terrorist Spy Drops team you are tasked with neutralizing the threat, but soon begin to question the mission objectives and uncover a deeper conspiracy.

Covert Black Ops

Dropped behind enemy lines, your covert ops are to infiltrate infrastructure and undertake secret ops that includes gathering intel, installing spy devices and rescuing prisoners.

Randomized Missions

Mission layouts are randomly generated producing a tense gameplay experience as you never know what is around the next corner. Everyone’s game will be different.

Tackle the Mission Your Way

Explore enemy bases room-by-room, choosing how to tackle each one. You can dodge, hack or shot cameras, knock out or kill guards, stick to the mission objective or explore further. Scout the area first with a drone, hide in lockers, or even use sponge boots to move around quieter. Stealth is always rewarded and you will earn more experience for not killing and remaining undetected. You select what equipment to take on each mission, choosing from a range of items and weapons such as drones, hacking devices, night vision googles, sniper rifles, taser guns, mine detectors and many more. New equipment is researched and added as the game progresses.

Dream Catcher

Accumulate Target Points by extracting intel from unconscious guards using the Dream Catcher. You cannot extract any intel from dead bodies so always avoid killing when possible.

Level Up

Gain experience to level up your stats including health, stamina, aiming accuracy and luck.

Spy Against Spy

Go up against a friend in local head-to-head multiplayer!

Key Features

Nostalgic, low-polygon, 3D stealth action.

Randomized mission layouts, enemies and items.

Modern effects including real time lighting and shadows, changing times of day and varying weather conditions.

Choose what equipment to take and how to tackle each mission.

Tense stealth action with enemies that can see your shadow and hear your footsteps.

Original character designs by acclaimed Japanese studio ArtePiazza.

An intriguing story of cyber terrorism set in modern-day, exploring the challenges of the world adapting to new resources and technologies including AI.

Go up against a friend in local head-to-head multiplayer with spy against spy!

Three distinctively different environments: Military base, jungle and desert, each with different areas, obstacles and challenges.

Elaborate boss fights!

Watch the announcement trailer below. Visit the official website here.

Announce Trailer

[sshbpodcast]

Won’t someone think of the children?! A Rok-Tahk Appreciation Post

By Ames

Last week, we covered just why your hosts here at A Star to Steer Her By largely dislike the children characters in classic Star Trek (tl;dr: it’s mostly because they’re written as props instead of people, or so I make my claim). There is one show in the franchise, however, that’s a huge outlier in how its children characters are written, acted, and treated overall as individuals who grow and develop. Obviously, it’s Star Trek: Prodigy. Since basically all of the main characters are children, the show would have failed if it couldn’t make them compelling and relatable to both a young audience and the preestablished fanbase. 

And against the odds, it succeeded like whoa. There’s a reason why the fanbase is in such an uproar right now about Paramount’s avaricious cancellation of the Emmy Award–winning animated underdog (go sign the petition if you haven’t yet!), and that’s that the show is just so surprisingly good. We’re the last group of people who would laud a kid’s show so much, and we absolutely adore it.

Read on below for what Prodigy gets so right when establishing its children characters. Rok-Tahk is the prime example here because a) she’s voiced by Rylee Alazraqui, a legit child voice actress, who NAILS IT, b) she ticks all the boxes for what makes a good child character, and c) she’s just the best. Period. But let me explain anyway…

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

Rok is more than you expect

I think all the kids who made our favorites list in last week’s blogpost have one thing in common: they had some kind of hidden depth to explore. A character having some kind of twist or secret or hidden identity is just a staple of science fiction. We see it in Barash and Taya, who turn out not to be the children they appear to be. We see it in Mezoti, whose dual nature as both a young innocent girl and a Borg drone with the collective experiences of a whole hivemind makes her endlessly fascinating. 

So when this massive rock creature whom we start off being intimidated by turns out to be the sweetest little girl, we’re immediately interested because it subverts our expectations. We’re forced to remind ourselves not to judge someone by how they look on the outside, something Star Trek has been doing since its very conception. And then when we learn even more about her and realize that her jailors put a child in a prison camp, we can’t help but root for her.

Rok is allowed to just be a kid

Sure, Rok is still smarter than your average kid, but she’s smart without being obnoxious like other naturally brainy kid characters I could name. *cough cough Wesley Crusher* As the obvious example, Wes is exhausting as a character because he’s a boy genius who is acutely aware of it and his supernatural smarts force him into situations another kid wouldn’t be in. He isn’t allowed to be a kid because he is first and foremost a child prodigy. 

Rok, on the other hand, is first and foremost a child in the show Prodigy! Her excitement about new encounters is because most encounters to her are just that: new! She plays “Delta Heart Magical Veterinarian” in the holodeck, she loves ice cream, she plays with the cute little creatures on “Dream Catcher” planet, she naturally cares for Murf as though he were her puppy. Rok’s youth informs how she reacts to circumstances in the show and she acts accordingly in ways that aren’t forced, better suited for other characters, or just downright unnecessary. And seeing the universe through the eyes of someone with such a clean slate allows the audience to make their own judgements about the Protostar crew’s circumstances episode by episode.

Rok is a freakin’ alien monster

Prodigy also introduces us to the Brikar, a new alien race of rock monsters. And everyone accepts her without a single word! Now that’s the Star Trek way! From the moment we meet Rok-Tahk, she’s not physically cutified or even feminized, which is frankly refreshing. She’s less humanoid than most creatures we meet, outside of say, the Horta or Murf. It’s also a great use of the CGI-animated medium because live-action shows can’t pull stuff like this off. 

I’m honestly impressed to see any female character, let alone a little girl, portrayed in a way that isn’t that cookie-cutter kind of attractive that we see everywhere. Rok is BIG. Rok is HARD. She’s not feminine or pretty or soft. Her cuteness comes from how she acts, talks, and treats people. And the crew of the Protostar and the Starfleet officers we meet later treat her like they treat everyone else: like a person. The people who run the slave show in “Preludes” pin her as a monster because they don’t/can’t know her. But our other main characters do get to know her and barely even bring up her size! And when they do, Rok subverts it by proclaiming that she doesn't want to be the muscle on the ship, and they go with it. I love that.

Rok has character flaws

Like any person, especially a well-written character in a television program, Rok isn’t perfect. Perfect people make for obscenely boring television (unless it’s a satire or something), and perfect children are just plain not believable and take you out of the story. But Prodigy writers went a few extra steps in developing someone like Rok to have credible flaws for her situation that also informs how she acts, changes, and grows. Rok overthinks and doubts herself constantly because she has anxiety. She’s suffered through traumas, like some of the orphaned boys mentioned in last week’s blog have, and that gives her something to overcome over the course of the season and [hopefully] beyond. 

And, as mentioned above, she’s also really young! She doesn’t have the experience and knowledge yet to save the day every week. She knows she has limitations and when she remembers this, she panics, freezes, and languishes in self doubt. I’m thinking specifically about the turmoil she goes through in the supremely excellent “Time Amok,” in which she is forced to be alone (already terrifying) and also with so much pressure put on her (downright immobilizing!). Audiences can relate to anxiety and stress like this. It doesn’t matter that she’s a kid: we all get what she’s going through and connect with her immediately.

Rok grows throughout the season

You’d think it would be easy to create story arcs that help child characters grow since they’re going to grow up just by virtue of natural development anyway, but it’s harder than you think. Both Jake Sisko and Wesley Crusher get things to do as they get older that build on the foundations for their characters, but they also had several seasons to work with. Rok, in just one season, has her entire world opened up for her because of the nature of the story, and she runs with it!

This is a science fiction show, so of course the characters are going to love science, and watching Rok learn, try new things, occasionally fail, and try again is an excellent entry point into STEM. Just like how a lot of today’s doctors credit watching Dr. McCoy and today’s engineers got their start because they wanted to be like Scotty, and just like how many women and people of color joined the space program specifically because of Nichelle Nichols, I really hope that kids today watching Rok-Tahk and crew are captivated by science in that same way. I would be.

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

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

There are only four more days left in my Kickstarter for the audiobook of The Bezzle, the sequel to Red Team Blues, narrated by @wilwheaton! You can pre-order the audiobook and ebook, DRM free, as well as the hardcover, signed or unsigned. There's also bundles with Red Team Blues in ebook, audio or paperback.

#20yrsago Your customers don’t want DRM, part MMMCCXI https://www.wired.com/2004/01/stores-nix-disposable-flicks/

#20yrsago Jason Schultz on American Blind versus Google https://lawgeek.typepad.com/lawgeek/

#20yrsago BugMeNot: circumvent annoying registration https://bugmenot.com

#20yrsago Hundreds of BBCers protest director’s resignation http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3442825.stm

#20yrsago Marxist fairy tales https://web.archive.org/web/20040420002251/http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~wright/Audiopage.html

#15yrsago Bruce Sterling on our global psychosis, ca. 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090201010959/http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2009/01/2009_will_be_a_year_of_panic.php

#15yrsago Digital Britain report proposes to save Britain’s future by destroying the Internet https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/digital-britain-leaving-consumers-out-of-the-picture/

#15yrsago UK fingerprints foreign six-year-old children at the border https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jan/29/eu-idcards

#10yrsago Not just Environment and Health: Canadian government attacks libraries from 12 ministries https://web.archive.org/web/20140303074337/www.desmog.ca/2014/01/27/loss-librarians-devastating-science-and-knowledge-canada

#10yrsago Republican Congressman threatens to kill reporter after State of the Union https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2014/01/29/1273288/-GOP-Congressman-Threatens-to-Kill-Report-After-SOTU

#10yrsago Network Solutions not sure if it will opt random customers into $1,850 “domain protection” plan https://www.techdirt.com/2014/01/28/network-solutions-tries-to-auto-enroll-users-into-its-1850year-domain-protection-plan/

#10yrsago Writers Guild of America tells US government that copyright shouldn’t trump free expression https://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-writers-warn-against-draconian-anti-piracy-measures-140127/

#10yrsago Top lawyer finds GCHQ spying is illegal & UK spies who help US drone strike may be accessories to murder https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/28/gchq-mass-surveillance-spying-law-lawyer

#10yrsago Extorted out of a one-character Twitter ID by a hacker who seized control of Godaddy domains https://medium.com/@N/how-i-lost-my-50-000-twitter-username-24eb09e026dd

#5yrsago Undercover who targeted Citizen Lab over Israeli cyber-arms dealer is an ex-Israeli spook linked to black ops firm used by Harvey Weinstein https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/28/world/black-cube-nso-citizen-lab-intelligence.html

#5yrsago Major vulnerability in 5G means that anyone with $500 worth of gear can spy on a wide area’s mobile activity https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/01/5g-protocol-may-still-be-vulnerable-imsi-catchers

#5yrsago Citing terms of service and “bad actors,” Facebook locks out tools that catalog ads and ad targeting https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-blocks-ad-transparency-tools

#5yrsago A 70% tax on income over $10m is designed to correct inequality, not raise revenue https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/28/alexandria-ocasio-cortezs-70-percent-tax-rich-isnt-about-revenue-its-about

#5yrsago Words, but not deeds: the Democrats as climate-deniers https://jacobin.com/2019/01/climate-change-2020-democrats-green-new-deal

#5yrsago The EU’s plan for algorithmic copyright filters is looking more and more unlikely https://memex.craphound.com/2019/01/29/the-eus-plan-for-algorithmic-copyright-filters-is-looking-more-and-more-unlikely/

#1yrago “Conversational” AI Is Really Bad At Conversations https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/29/conversational-ai-is-really-bad-at-conversations/

Berliners: Otherland has added a second date (Jan 28 - TOMORROW!) for my book-talk after the first one sold out - book now!

Back the Kickstarter for the audiobook of The Bezzle here!

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazilians and dolphins work together to catch fish. Maybe not for long.

In a scenic coastal town in southern Brazil, people have cooperated with wild dolphins for more than 140 years to catch mullets, the silvery fish that serve as a source of income for townspeople and as meals for the friendly marine mammals. These artisanal catchers have small-scale operations, involving families that have carried out the practice over generations.

The fishers wade through waist-deep seawater near the beaches of Laguna, Brazil, patiently watching for bottlenose dolphins to appear and send cues, which indicate where the mullets are. Those cues involve the dolphins making arch-shaped flips, quickly jumping out and back into the water. Upon the cues, the fishers cast their nets.

In return, dolphins earn an easy lunch, by gulping down some of the mullets that escape the nets. The dolphins that partake in this ritual have a 13 percent higher chance of survival than the dolphins that do not, according to a new study done by an international team of researchers and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday.

For the research, scientists used drones and underwater sound recordings to document how the practice is carried out.

But this tradition, a rare example of a mutually beneficial relationship between humans and nondomesticated animals, may soon go extinct due to declines in mullet populations triggered by climate change and excessive commercial fishing, according to the peer-reviewed study.

Continue reading.

[more-than-a-princess]

@crossxskulled asked: ❛ Whoa, Hey, hey, hey hey, Deep breaths, Lot of deep breaths. ❜

Scream sentence starters - No Longer Accepting!

Fucking hell. She knew she should've asked Chiaki to come with her, or at least done a better job of convincing her best friend to help. Instead, Sonia had shown her sympathy when the Ultimate Gamer had hesitated to accompany her to the busy arcade not far from Shibuya. While she was often the one gawked and pointed at, if not approached for an uncomfortable question or a photo, it was Chiaki's turn for such behavior should she step foot into an arcade of any sort. And while Sonia was more than capable of handling, and deflecting, such attention politely, her friend was less so.

What Sonia wasn't capable of was winning at the UFO Catcher games. Or at least, the one she'd been focused on for the past two hours. While other patrons flocked to the latest offerings from otome games, an action series featuring ninjas, wide-eyed maids and anime idols, she'd planted herself in front of a single cabinet. It was full of plush dolls styled after various horror icons from East to West: Sadako, Michael Myers, Freddy Kreuger, Jason Voorhees, the Jigsaw Puppet, Chucky...and her target, the two different versions of Ghostface. One of them featured the popular fictional horror icon with a plain, grimacing mask, but Sonia was laser-focused on the limited edition version, complete with red patches sewn to mimic blood splatters. They weren't available in any of the anime shops, only the arcade, and thus she'd come armed with an arcade card and sheer determination.

And the latter was quickly running out, considering that, without a care for the rest of the patrons of the arcade, she'd let loose a string of swear words. In a variety of European languages, thank goodness, but the tone was enough for several heads to turn and stare at the loudmouthed foreigner, with a glare in her eyes and cheeks turned deep pink in focus. In stress. And now, in shock as she heard a voice behind her.

"Whoa, Hey, hey, hey, hey, Deep breaths, Lot of deep breaths."

He'd distracted her just enough that, in her attempt to snag the small loop attached to the doll's black hood, her grip had shifted and the claw had let go, dropping the soft, squeezable bloody icon right back into the pile. It was one of only a couple in a pile of dozens, and she'd tried for what appeared to be the easiest one to retrieve. Not that she couldn't afford it, but she didn't want to consider the amount of euros she'd spent on the venture thus far.

"But there is no time for deep breaths!" She protested, panicked as she gestured wildly towards the machine. That too earned her some suspicious looks: girls, especially foreign girls in private school uniforms, hardly ever spent that much time in an arcade. Much less making a scene over something as morbid as plush dolls of fictional serial killers. The crowd seemed puzzled, not just due to the fact a pretty blonde girl was choosing to spend her time in the arcade, but she didn't care for either the otome love interests or trinkets featuring the popular anime about groups of delinquent boys.

No, Sonia had far more important things to worry about. "The Ghostface doll with the blood on the mask is limited edition for the arcades only! You can't buy it online or at anime shops yet, and I must ensure one is in my collection to complete the set!" She nodded her head to the display poster, which showed every toy in the horror icon set. With appropriately-unsettling font and still images from all of the film series represented.

"I've got all the others, but I must have Bloody Ghostface too," She explained pointedly, before realizing she was, in fact, not droning on and on about her odd hobbies with a stranger and instead, it was someone she actually knew. That made it less embarrassing at least. "In any case, what are you doing here? I would've thought you'd been busy with sports today."

[helaelaemond]

Who do you think will avenge B&C?

In the book it is Aegon who orders the rat catchers to be killed, the one who wants to go to Dragonstone and the one who orders the Cargyll brothers to kill Rhaenyra but I hope that in the show it is Aemond

Also if the theory that the twins are Aemond's, is 100% probable that the one who avenges Jaehaerys is Aemond

Hi, thank you so much for asking!

Some of the leaks from set (the overhead drones) suggested that Aemond might be questioning B+C in the courtyard, but as one of them dies before being brought back to the Keep in the book, it could be anyone he's talking to.

I think it'll be a combo of the Green Council members who decide Rhaenyra should die - maybe it's a turning point for Alicent to genuinely be invested in Rhaenyra's death, and a moment for Aemond and Daemon parallels (again).

Even if the twins ARE Aemond's in the show (I'm 50/50, but with the potential ageing down of them to around 2 yrs old by the looks of it, while Aemond is late teens - 18/19 - I don't mind too much) he'd still have to keep some kind of discretion about it, so wouldn't be able to take the lead.

It's before Rook's Rest, too, so he's not gonna be Prince Regent and calling the shots yet. I wish wish wish that what you say will happen (from a self-indulgent Helaemond pov) but I think it's pretty unlikely. I reckon the order will come from Otto and Aegon, with Alicent agreeing, and Aemond sat there looking grumpy as per.

Prayer circle for some kind of Helaemond moments though, and decent screentime for sweet Helaena!!!!!

[juggernauteditz]

All my current edit ideas

Scarecrow (DC) vs Baku Madarame (Usogui) [IQ]

Springtrap (Five Nights at Freddy's) vs Cyn (Murder Drones)

Omni-Man (Invincible) vs Homelander (The Boys) [Character]

The Batman vs Godzilla Minus One [Fiction]

Ninjas (Mortal Kombat) vs Hashira (Demon Slayer)

Mr. Freeze (DC) vs The Chinese Branch (SCP Foundation) [Character]

Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th 09) vs Jeff the Killer (Creepypasta)

Alec Benjamin vs Billie Eilish [Music]

Doom Slayer (Doom) vs Fictional Demons

Holden Caulfield (The Catcher in the Rye) vs Victor Frankenstein (Frankenstein) [Character]

Glitchtrap (Five Nights at Freddy's) vs Comp. The Amazing Digital Circus

any other ideas for me?