#ie; if you are a patient there you are probably just straight up trapped. no one’s gonna listen to you you have no autonomy and-

[designernishiki]

oh baby I knew it from the fuckin moment the addc was introduced that there’s just no damn way they DIDNT have some legally sketchy shit going on with the alzheimers/dementia patients and unethical clinical trials. I feel so vindicated right now

[yourrealitybeyondtime]

More OCs!

Thank you again @technoxslayer360 @dasjansel @corvid-moon @incoherentmoose @cake-and-roses and @teeny-weeny-ducklings for your lovely responses! Unfortunately, the characters I've shown are from THE story, so it will probably be years before I have it complete. I will, however, post excerpts, and I'll write scenarios that you request, like "tol and smol," "person A and person B," AUs, or general shenanigans. I encorage all pairings, minus sexual ones with Uri since they're asexual.

In the meantime, and to help me practice my writing, I started writing my first "fanfiction," if you will. I love yaoi, yuri, shoujo, and dating sims, and I wanted to make a story that pokes fun at the flaws of those tropes, and also have a much more realistic take of it. It was first just meant to be only for my eyes, but it's sort of become it's own thing. I've written 70k words in about 2 months, which is novel length. I realize now that it's a little too important to keep to myself. It's about discovering your sexuality, finding self worth, the lines of consent, enduring abusive relationships, battling severe trauma, learning to stand up for yourself, and learning to accept yourself. It's heavily based off of things that have happened to me irl and has been surprisingly cathartic to write.

I need beta readers, especially since I'm so inexperienced. I would like to ask you if you would consider becoming one. However, this is an incredibly graphic story. There is s*x, there is r*pe, there is a little blood, and there is a lot of psychological abuse. It is not a gentle story. It will have a happy ending, though. I totally get if you don't want to be a beta reader and respect if you say no and won't pry as to the reason why. If you could spread this around and help me find more beta readers, I would GREATLY appreciate it. Now, onto the OCs!

Devin Quinn (The Adventurer)

Age: 18

Height: 5'6"

Gender Identity: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Bisexual

Ethnicity: Chinese/Irish

Other: Depression, severe anxiety, PTSD, dyspraxia

Description: After being terribly picked on in high school, Devin is excited to start his social life in college. However, the glow up he had over the last summer gets him into far more than he had bargained for. Overwhelmed by the sudden attention from his peers, the sheltered boy who hasn't even had his first kiss is now scrambling to decipher the ins and outs of the dating world. Problem is, he realizes he's not so much the innocent school boy he's led himself and everyone else to believe. Devin has to come to terms with this crisis of character while trying to figure out how not to get taken advantage of. Devin is a sweet bean with way too many problems.

Jaxon Rutherford (The Evil Prince)

Age: 19

Height: 6'0"

Gender Identity: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Gay

Ethnicity: Spanish/Welsh

Other: High-functioning sociopath

Description: Devin's old middle school bully. Jaxon doesn't seem to remember Devin, but he's intent on bullying him again. This time, though, it's a very different type of bullying. Jaxon is not even remotely shy about claiming Devin as his own whether Devin likes it or not. Flopping between being being patient, understanding, and giving, and aggressive, possessive, and scary, Devin is completely confused by Jaxon's behavior. Does Jaxon actually care about him or does he just consider Devin his plaything? Either way, Jaxon seems to never get in trouble, no matter what he does.

Hannah Johnson (The Knight)

Age: 17 (Don't worry. Nothing sexual happens with her until after she turns 18.)

Height: 5'3"

Gender Identity: Demigirl

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Pansexual

Ethnicity: African American

Description: Devin's best friend since middle school. They kept in touch when Devin went to Ireland for high school, but Hannah has no idea how bad Devin's high school life actually was. She is almost the complete opposite of Devin in every way. Extroverted, outgoing, a social butterfly, cheerful, and always ready to have the time of her life, Hannah is a cherished light in Devin's life. She has had a crush on him since middle school, but, despite her frank nature, she seems to already have made up her mind not to date him. Instead, she spends her time standing up for Devin when he won't stand up for himself, and serves as the voice of reason when he gets too wrapped up in his anxiety.

Abigail Kingsley (The Good Queen)

Age: 21

Height: 5'5"

Gender Identity: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Straight?

Ethnicity: Danish/Finnish/Swedish

Description: The lead of the most popular sorority on campus. After breaking up with her ex, Jeremy, at the end of last school year, Abigail initially takes an interest in Devin as the safe rebound. Unexpectedly, she develops feelings for him as she gets to know him better. Devin initially assumes she's just some party girl, but finds out she's a level headed and down to earth person trapped in high societies expectations. Unfortunately, Jeremy is intent on getting Abigail back and will more than just push aside anyone who gets in his way.

William Hartsfield (The Good? Wizard)

Age: 54

Height: 5'10

Gender Identity: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Gay

Ethnicity: German/Scottish/Dutch

Description: Devin's English teacher. He seems very stern and old fashioned, but he shows a softer side when it counts. When Devin hears rumors about Mr. Hartsfield being caught in bed with a student, he's reluctant to see him after class. He's surprised to find that Mr. Hartsfield is another ally who provides Devin a safe space. Once just teacher and student, they become fast friends as Devin finds comfort in a protective older male. However, when Devin finally opens up about his situation with Jaxon, William offers himself as a safer alternative. Is William really trying to be protective, or is he just someone else attempting to take advantage of Devin?

Damon Godswin (The Ice King)

Age: 36

Height: 6'2"

Gender Identity: Male

Pronouns: He/him

Sexuality: Mostly Straight

Ethnicity: Welsh

Description: The dean of the college. A serious and controlling man. Devin is warned to not go to the dean if he can help it, but as Jaxon becomes more brazen, Devin doesn't know where else to go. Unfortunately for him, the dean takes an interest in him and is far more cruel than he expected. To both of their surprise, Jaxon comes to save Devin and promises to protect him, but at what cost?

Thank you for taking the time to read through all of this! Whereas my fantasy is completely plotted out, this story was started with no end in mind, so please suggest character ideas if you have any! (ie, for The Princess, The Joker/Fool, etc) I'd really like to include someone trans, someone who's non-binary, and PoC. Thank you again for reading! I'm looking forward to your feedback!

[rekkingcrew]

Devaronian Headcanons Actual

So, right, actual devaronian headcanons, ranging from charming to full on dystopic. ��

Biological:

Devaronians have two livers and a resistance to all sorts of poisons- that’s just WASTEFUL if the planet isn’t throwing poison at you all the fucking time. Devaron is a toxic death trap, where the life forms have been engaged for millions of years in a toxin-based arms race. And devaronians are the winners.

Silver’s got anti-bacterial properties in laboratory situations. I think Devaronians are more disease resistant than a lot of other species.

Devaronians are listed as carnivorous. They seem like they’re resistant to most everything, so I’m sure they could choke down anything they needed to, but probably derive negligible nutrition from most plant matter. You might eat it for taste or digestion or something, but if it’s all you’ve got, you’re gonna starve.

Which I think means devaronian society probably stayed mobile and small in larger percentages than human society for a long time (not trying to minimize, like, human migratory and hunter gatherer populations, but by analogy if you look at meat as a percentage of diet of any given population group before, like, modern America, more meat equals more mobile), and that the devaronian analogue of the Neolithic revolution was a sort of proto-chemistry that opened up new techniques for long-term meat preservation, with permanent settlements springing up around places where you could get things like salt or caustic alkaline chemicals- though you’d still need people to go ranging.

Because devaronians CAN eat most any awful toxic thing, and because there’d be such a necessity to keep meat from rotting if you wanted to support a fixed population, a lot of traditional devaronian foods tend toward jerkying, pickling, and like, curing with lye. Lots of stuff that looks like lutefisk and hakarl, or some sort of meat kimchi. Lots of bitter, umami, sour, salty. Punctuations of insanely hot peppers. I think devaronians generally consider sweet an oddity and acquired taste.  

While this preservation isn’t a necessity for modern devaronians, I do think they still season things with stuff that’s poisonous to other species, and if your host isn’t paying attention, they might forget to take their arsenic shaker off the table. Eat at your own risk. Because of this and the crazy flora and fauna, outside of the big cities, there aren’t a lot of aliens who stay on planet.

Devaronian babies are all white and fuzzy until they’re about 5-7, when they blow their coats and start being sexually dimorphic. No textual reason. I just like this.

Space-faring, better farming science, and the importation of some alien plants, have allowed post-hyperdrive devaronians a more stable and balanced diet with a wider range of stuff from which they can extract digestible protein.

 Social:

 Because of a relative inability to digest plant matter, devaronian society has always been very susceptible to famine. Different societies developed different strategies for dealing with this (because universal planetary culture is every bit as silly as single biomes), but one strain that gained a lot of dominance was an intense matrilinear/matrilocal strategy where men old enough to make their own way were “encouraged” to leave. There’s a rich intellectual history of justifying this behavior, from the cold calculus that it just takes fewer men than anyone else to maintain population levels, to pontification on how men are just naturally inclined toward wandering, to people making the argument that a low ratio of men to women makes for a happier and more harmonious society. There’s also a rich intellectual history of saying this is monstrous. No society always agrees with itself, and different voices have had more or less dominance at different times throughout devaronian history.

Devaron’s population is sometimes as much as 75% female.

This is the planet of nannies. Seriously. With loads of men gone and women in charge of most of domestic business and governance, childcare is a major industry. Job sharing is super common to provide time off with young children. Partnership and group ownership of businesses by several women is common.

In fact, I’m going to say there’s a mobile childcare corps, replacing a number of more traditional structures as increasingly technological devaronian society centralized; one that has some fun analogies to western conceptions of the military, ie. it’s seen by a lot of people as an important rite of passage for young people, a sign of a strong moral character, and full of exactly the sort of people who make good leaders. Compassionate. Patient. Capable of managing others. It’s hard to get elected office in some places without a service record. Men are, of course, discouraged, due to their natural tendencies. When devaron’s history takes its more authoritarian swings, the MCC is often a very visible propaganda arm, with more obvious uniforms and a chokehold on education and indoctrination. During those times, you will, of course, be expected to thank corps members for their service. Society would not run without them.

In the best of times, they run loads of public crèches and help out immensely in private homes as well. Devaronians of all walks of life often have fond memories of their MCC workers, the way you would with a favorite aunt. Or sometimes they commiserate over stories of their strict MCC workers, like you would with a least favorite aunt. Swings and roundabouts.

The most dangerous term generally applied to men is “expendable.” The second is probably “reckless.” There’s a widespread prejudice that men, as wanderers, lack the long-term vision and planning capacity necessary to manage things (the same way human idiots are prone to saying things like they don’t think gay men have a stake in the future because they don’t have children, both the premise and its conclusion are suspect.) Men who stay on devaron are often funneled into dangerous work, whether that’s the military, or construction/demolition, or less than safe factory work. Overseers and “logistics officers” will tend to be female. In more conservative media, stories about industrial accidents will often be spun as men not listening to their more level-headed female supervisor. 

Most of the sources I found mentioned men sending money home to devaron. Headcanon: this is a semi-ritualized exchange with it’s own fun alien name (but for now I’ll just call it the Tithe, because I’m bad with alien names), it’s one of the foremost ways men can get social prestige, and the devaronian economy really relies on it. And it makes Devaron RICH. (American history side track: Tulsa’s “black wallstreet” was a really good example of outside money flowing into a relatively closed system).

Devaron, with early space faring, has had a few interstellar “Age of Sail” periods, where a lot of the Tithe coming in for prominent families straight up came from piracy, or “Devaronian Privateers”. Harsh on crime at home, and nominally against piracy abroad, there have been times Devaron has really profited by it.  There’s an ugly vein of thought along the lines of “it doesn’t matter if it happens to aliens.” Obviously opinions differ. The dashing star pirate remains a popular romantic archetype in devaronian culture (though he often comes to a tragic end). The devaronian pirate is an archetype in a number of other species’ cultures as well, but notably less romantic.

One of the major ways the Empire controls Devaron is controlling the flow of Tithe, requiring all transfers go through imperial channels and making it much harder to send money back to anyone suspected of dissent.

A lot of men remaining on devaron are locked in a vicious cycle of having limited potential to advance because they’re traditionally seen as less invested in the future; and in turn being less invested in the future because they’re locked out of moving forward into it. Leaving all together is often an enticing proposition. This is often pointed to as evidence of both lack of ambition and a natural tendency toward wandering.

Exploration and travel for men are often deeply romanticized- a real source of meaning in their lives and a chance for something better. There is loads of poetry, literature, music, and other popular culture about it. This is encouraged. A number of female devaronian writers and thinkers have expressed the same. These are often considered scandalous and bad influences.

Obviously there have been, across the vast expanse of history, loads of counter cultures, different fashions, and changing ideas. But these’ll be the big ones, and what people talk about when they say “traditional” devaronian culture.

Anyway, that’s my attempt to reconcile canon! Hope some of it is useful!

[longsightmyth]

Myth reads Tower of Dawn part 2

I don’t even know how to prepare people for these status updates, but I can start by saying there’s a bunch of humiliation of a disabled character in the text that’s sort of handwaved with ‘oh, she means well’ and that Yrene is possibly as bad a person as Celaena in my estimation at this point. JESUS CHRIST.

September 7, 2017 – page 85  12.07% "Okay look you've admitted that Kadja (the servant, who at last has a name)could be in the pay of someone but you're still trusting the information she gives you with no qualms whatsoever?"

September 7, 2017 – page 90  12.78% ""It will totes be a weakness if I mention that I'm looking for THE ONLY OTHER MEMBER OF MY DIPLOMATIC GROUP who has gone missing because it will reveal that I care about her" I don't know what to do with these people I really don't"

September 7, 2017 – page 91  12.93% "I take back whatever points Chaol earned for bothering to learn Kadja's name. Stop yelling at Nesryn for unreasonable things. It's stupid, first of all, and weird, second"

September 16, 2017 – page 91  12.93% "I seem to have misplaced my copy but rest assured I will be back"

September 23, 2017 – page 30  4.26% "On the one hand I can understand a grieving sibling not thinking about every possibility, but on the other, "no one within our lands would be stupid enough to [murder a princess and make it look like a suicide]" First, if they have successfully fooled everyone into thinking it was suicide, that argues for cleverness, no matter what nationality."

September 23, 2017 – page 30  4.26% "Second, this is a nation where apparently siblings are supposed to duke it out for the throne and murder the offspring of their less skilled or less lucky siblings. Why wouldn't you murder your siblings at that point? Look at the princess who's married and pregnant - maybe she doesn't like her odds if things proceeded on the up and up. Maybe her spouse doesn't. Maybe they just don't want to risk it."

September 23, 2017 – page 30  4.26% "Even if it wasn't a sibling directly, any of their supporters could have done it, or even somebody who just had a grudge and was particularly clever."

September 23, 2017 – page 30  4.26% "Third, someone trying to destabilize the current royal family could be murdering folks. It's not like you guys seem to actually DO anything about possible traitors."

September 23, 2017 – page 30  4.26% "All of these things Chaol, as the former captain of the royal guard, should be considering. Instead he takes Kashin's word for it, because no one in these books has the sense of a turnip."

September 23, 2017 – page 30  4.26% "Also, in case you couldn't tell, I found my book."

September 23, 2017 – page 30  4.26% "But seriously why are the leading suspects not her siblings"

September 25, 2017 – page 37  5.26% "These fragments keep getting weirder. I'm starting to truly believe this book was just never proofread. Example: "There were two such vials on the desk now, clear orbs atop silver feet fashioned after ibis legs. Being purified by the endless sunshine within the tower." Does that not read like someone accidentally hit the space bar twice while typing on an iPhone?"

October 5, 2017 – page 106  15.06% "I can't quite put my finger on why the new and strange veneration of Dorian's father bothers me as much as it does. Maybe the utter lack of foreshadowing? It could be that the man made more evil decisions pre-possession, or at least early possession when he ostensibly had enough control to try to make an eight year old..."

October 5, 2017 – page 106  15.06% "...lose control and burn him up, thus causing major political unrest and war. The eight year old was an awful child, true, but that's no reason to trick or trap a child into murder and causing a war."

October 5, 2017 – page 106  15.06% "Honestly he was a much more effective villain before the series started if you count extreme selfishness as a villainous trait. Which I do."

October 5, 2017 – page 107  15.2% "Why is everyone STILL fawning of Celaena she isn't even supposed to be in this book GIVE IT A REST"

October 5, 2017 – page 107  15.2% "Do we have to have every single POV character independently explain to us who Silba is? Is this a requirement? Is this author being paid by the word?"

October 5, 2017 – page 108  15.34% ""In that court of vipers" [footage not found] you can't tell me CONSTANTLY that a court is pretty and valid and useless and only show us the court once (where they are dancing and Dorian is thinking about how his mother and her court are pretty and vapid and useless) and then try to tell me that they were all Evil Politicians working to drag Dorian down. You just can't."

October 5, 2017 – page 109  15.48% "More Celaena worship. Should I stop noting this? I probably won't."

October 5, 2017 – page 109  15.48% ""I told you what happened," he simply said. I will go to my grave saying that if you add dialogue tags to something you want to be plain and simple you are doing it wrong. MY GRAVE."

October 5, 2017 – page 110  15.63% "Are these glass bells magical this seems like a bad plan to me"

October 5, 2017 – page 111  15.77% "Are only women healers? Why? Is it a magic thing or a cultural thing? Would a man be allowed to be a healer or would he be laughed out, magical healing ability or no? Would he be allowed but looked down on? Do men even get healing magic? Is there a stigma? TELL ME."

October 5, 2017 – page 111  15.77% "How does no one in this book have an ex they can just kinda nod at in the street why is it all Tragically Dead or evil past loves"

October 5, 2017 – page 117  16.62% ""How many times had he laid into his men for slouching, for chattering amongst themselves, and reassigned them to lesser watches?" I mean going by the way you dealt with two guards who literally just peaced out and went to hang out at a party (ie, ah well, this happens, try not to do it again, come back tomorrow) not that many times."

October 5, 2017 – page 123  17.47% "Baast cats. Sure, why not, I guess."

October 5, 2017 – page 125  17.76% "I guess we do have printing presses in this world somehow"

October 5, 2017 – page 126  17.9% "Wait she named one of the Valg kings Orcus? I'm going to laugh my way to my dnd group this weekend"

October 5, 2017 – page 128  18.18% "This MADWOMAN is stuffing scrolls that are CENTURIES OLD into her CLOAK POCKETS. I feel faint."

October 5, 2017 – page 130  18.47% "Why do so few people get names in this series? Why does nobody think about the fact that they don't know people's names?!"

October 5, 2017 – page 132  18.75% "The bell alarm would be super clever if you discount the fact that anyone who watched the library for any length of time would know it never closed, and would therefore know that there was no bell toll to signal the library closing, and would THEREFORE know that the jig, she is up"

October 5, 2017 – page 135  19.18% "This isn't quite as bad as Dorian letting Sorscha take the blame for the damage caused by his magical temper tantrum, but come on, Yrene. You want a servant to leave so you can talk to Chaol in private so you straight up say that she HARMED him?"

October 5, 2017 – page 135  19.18% "That is quite frankly despicable, even if we ignore the possible consequences to Kadja. You just told the woman she hurt somebody! You put that on her shoulders! You have officially become awful."

October 5, 2017 – page 136  19.32% "Wait wait wait Yrene KNOWS that she has made Kadja worry about her position and wellbeing by literally saying that she hurt Chaol, and Yrene doesn't even care? What the everloving FUCK."

October 5, 2017 – page 138  19.6% "Why would bodiless shadow entities care about what bodies they inhabited? Is there a reason they only take dude bodies? Did they study humans for a while and decide they should be aesthetically pleasing men to be most effective? WHY" 

October 5, 2017 – page 145  20.6% ""Either your lack of consciousness during that initial healing kept you from feeling this sort of pain, or perhaps whatever this is had not... settled." Aka, I needed a wordy way to explain this particular asspull plot device. Sorry, true love device."

October 5, 2017 – page 148  21.02% "Are the ruks basically the eagles. Are they. (In fairness I was thinking of the seanchan flying lizard things whose name escapes me from Wheel of Time until this point)"

October 5, 2017 – page 150  21.31% "How are they having this conversation up in the air with the wind"

October 5, 2017 – page 151  21.45% ""[Celaena] and Dorian both possess considerable magic. But I would say it is their intelligence that is the stronger weapon." Celaena and Dorian's intelligence: [footage not found]"

October 5, 2017 – page 153  21.73% "Does nobody suspect Yrene? She found the body, she sounded the alarm for something nobody else found, she has all those weird books about death magic and stuff, she has access to the royal family..."

October 5, 2017 – page 159  22.59% "You just told Kadja to add lots of honey Yrene don't fucking complain like it's her fault the tea is too sweet now. What the hell. Why are we hating on Kadja so much. She's doing her job as stated by the book. It's because this is when the author decided that Yrene was going to be Chaol's new love interest isn't it"

October 5, 2017 – page 160  22.73% "Of course Chaol instinctively puts the right amount of honey into the tea. Because why not I guess."

October 5, 2017 – page 165  23.44% "WHY DOES THE GRAND EMPRESS NOT HAVE A NAME"

October 5, 2017 – page 175  24.86% "I'm not saying the idea with the horse is impossible or even ill-conceived, but did you train the horse to answer only to rein? Because it doesn't matter how patient the horse is, if Chaol doesn't have control over his legs they'll either swing a bit, giving the horse commands it has been trained to obey, or keep constant hard pressure, which would confuse the horse if it was trained traditionally."

October 5, 2017 – page 175  24.86% "In other words, this is actually a considerate idea. Unfortunately it lacks the knowledge of someone who knows about horses. And I'm not saying all horses are trained the same way, but that's another factor - is this horse trained to ignore legs, one of the main forms of signaling for riders - in favor of rein? Never mentioned."

October 5, 2017 – page 178  25.28% ""You have a good seat" he says, at which point Yrene promptly flails everywhere and slides back and forth in her saddle. That means she does not have a good seat. Do a teensy bit of research on horses and riding please"

October 5, 2017 – page 178  25.28% "Here's the thing. "No lady, beautiful or plain, young or old, deserved to be gawked at." It's a great sentiment. It's a sentiment I applaud. It's a sentiment that is completely undermine by this appearing to happen only to Yrene as a tool to tell us how desirable she is, and don't try to tell me it's not."

October 5, 2017 – page 179  25.43% ""You encounter that [harassment] here?" Chaol. Literally one page ago you were commenting on people ogling her creepily. Keep up."

October 5, 2017 – page 180  25.57% ""Dorian has long studied and admired the khaganate." Uh-huh. That's why it was never mentioned before the beginning of this book as anything other than the mysterious southern continent where Nesryn was from. Makes total sense."

October 5, 2017 – page 185  26.28% "Look I'm no fan of Chaol these days but it doesn't matter - you're shouting about the man's disability that he is clearly insecure about to a crowd while he sits there after having agreed to help you with something entirely different. You don't have his permission. He didn't ask you to talk to other healers. Why are you being a dick?"

October 5, 2017 – page 185  26.28% "Also, the medical professionals still refuse to say the word penis. I don't know why manhood is better, but apparently euphemisms rule the day in this world."

October 5, 2017 – page 186  26.42% "No nope nuh-uh this is actually nausea inducing my blind eye isn't even that big a deal but somebody shouting about it and giving my medical particulars to a giant crowd of people I wasn't even told about and pointing out (loudly) that it was rolling off to the side or something would be SO AWFUL. Jesus Christ, I didn't even know I could have this kind of reaction."

October 5, 2017 – page 186  26.42% "Fuck this book."

October 5, 2017 – page 186  26.42% "Fuck Yrene."

October 5, 2017 – page 186  26.42% "This is the WORST."

October 5, 2017 – page 186  26.42% "He's literally either strapped to a horse or being carried by these so called healers he can't even just LEAVE. Fuck."

October 5, 2017 – page 187  26.56% ""She means well, my Yrene." I. Don't. Care."

[rebeccaylee-blog]

Group Project: Destination and Journey

The Destination and Journey.

Review and select a problem to solve. Provide a rationale why you should be part of the team, outlining your interest, expertise and contributions. You will work with a team, throughout the remainder of the course, to collectively and collaboratively work through the stages of the creative problem solving process.

GROUP PROBLEM TO SOLVE:

Our group has taken an interest into fire disaster relief solutions, in light of the tragedies in Northern California. After a crises as debilitating as fire, a community may have to rebuild from the ground up. We are interested in experimenting and implementing new strategies of agriculture, infrastructure, civic and medical relief. One material we may invest our project is in the usage of hempcrete (derived of water, lime, hemp) as an alternative building solution for both temporary and permanent structures. We are also interested in incorporating the use of digital fabrication to create economically feasible printed homes, potentially utilizing hempcrete as the main filament.

--- INITIAL SHARED PROPOSALS AND INTERESTS  ---

CHI:        

I'm interested in promoting digital modeling & fabrication techniques (such as 3D modeling and 3D printing, laser cutting and Computer Numerical Control), and how to reduce manufacturing waste and fastening Creative/learning experience. In addition, how to use digital fabrication techniques to promote sustainable / recyclable resources such as plastics, paper and fabrics.

REBECCA:                              

I’m interested in the backlash against fast fashion, and how clothing companies analyze their monetary gains to ethical obligations. Also, what are the best methods of promoting recycled clothings (thrift/consignment, online markets ie. eBay and thredUp, repurposing fabric)

JORGE:  

I like the idea of getting paid to do nothing and get some positive benefits. I think everyone dreams of that a little bit. I’d like to explore the feasibility of community hemp co-ops where homeowners in urban, post-industrial communities can grow industrial (non-psychoactive) hemp and get paid per pound or kilogram. In the process, hemp crops clean soil, are carbon sequestering and clean the air. I’d hope to find the best intersection between sustainable agriculture and prosperity development at a community level.

VANESSA:

Anything that promotes sustainability, responds to a global issues and/or ongoing challenges, and is a product/service that is user-centric

-- LATTER RESEACH -- Jorge → Voluntary displacement seems out of the question, especially in this part of the US.  That seems to solve the problem straight away. According to my research on this last situation up north, a lot of these fires had to do with CA’s precipitation patterns over the last few years. The regularity of crises in CA also has to do with these regions being overpopulated, preventing forest and wildlife teams from conducting controlled burns, which help keep wildfires at bay in other arid parts of the country (https://smokeybear.com/en/about-wildland-fire/benefits-of-fire/prescribed-fires)

With the high price of many forested and fire vulnerable areas (especially in NorCal where property values increase exponentially...seemingly just because) fire resistant building materials could present a good long term solution and prevent forcible displacement. This question also has a lot of social justice layers to it but that’s probably a rabbit hole we shouldn’t dive into just yet.

Not to harp on hemp but here are some interesting things to explore with regard to construction and building materials: sustainable, carbon-sequestering building material or “hempcrete” is fire resistant without the public health concerns of asbestos or fiberglass. Here are a few videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDzlGBAc658

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xvoT5GZsB4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeW6kuZgPY4  

  -->Other considerations

- Hempcrete is light, easy to build with (water, lime, hemp shiv), carbon-sequestering and toxin trapping

- Doesn’t carry the same health concerns are traditional building materials

- Concrete presents a short term solution to the problem but isn’t really sustainable. Quickly developing countries use more and more concrete and the particle dust is linked to bad air quality, respiratory issues, etc. Rebuilding entire communities using concrete has negative effects on a larger scale.

 -Less of a concern → radiation exposure from

-Brick is expensive but also presents a solution. (https://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/construction/materials/5-fire-resistant-building-materials2.htm)

- Energy bills plummet for hempcrete homes → another bonus on the sustainability front

- Resilient, low maintenance crop, easy to process and can help address the air quality issues in the wake of wildfire. This could also help offset some losses for marijuana farms. Hemp is a regenerative (HEY! <--THIS WORD!!!!) crop. I don’t think a little charred earth will stop this bad boy from sprouting but I’d need to do some more digging to be absolutely sure

- http://www.hempcrete.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23&Itemid=24

http://www.core77.com/posts/59311/Wonder-Material-Hempcrete-is-Sustainable-CO2-Negative-Fast-Growing-Fire-Resistant-and-More

- Implementation → legislation or HOAs? Government tax rebates for sustainable homes in arid places?

Vanessa → General research, inspiration and ideation

1.       Potential Problem: California has a water crisis, which is limiting resources for providing fire relief

Potential Solutions: Developing a product that does not require water to extinguish fires

(i.e.: uses alternative methods like chemicals or sound)

Examples:

https://futurism.com/videos/this-fire-extinguishing-ball-will-put-out-a-small-fire-in-one-toss/

https://futurism.com/small-new-fire-extinguisher-uses-sound-fight-flames-video/

2.  Potential Problem: Firefighting is life-threatening - the number of personnel are limited and safe access to extinguish fires is difficult

Potential Solutions: (1) Develop a product or service that assists in reducing the life-threatening risks for firefighters, and/or aids in their efforts

(2) Develop a product that replaces the firefighters themselves (i.e.: robots, drones, etc.)

Examples:

https://futurism.com/dubai-commissions-jetpacks-used-emergency-fires-skyscrapers/

https://futurism.com/robots-soon-storming-burning-buildings-fight-fires/

http://www.thetower.org/israeli-startup-successfully-tests-ambulance-drone/                       https://futurism.com/videos/this-visor-could-help-firefighters-see-clearly-through-smoke/

3. Potential Problem: Fire disasters displace medical and nursing home patients, and damage local healthcare systems and medical access (with power outages, evacuations, or literally burning down the nursing homes, pharmacies, or hospital facilities)  http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-fires-medical-20171018-story.html

Potential Solutions: (1) Develop a product or service that assists in immediate medical relief

(2) Create an alternative medical emergency response service (i.e.: new proposed app or in-person network)

(3) Develop a service that streamlines a connection with emergency contact personnel and/or medical services with displaced patients

(4) Develop a mobile/UX service that streamlines medical resources to patients and manages universal medical records

(5) Develop a product that enables medical devices, like oxygen tanks or IVs, to be mobile or more accessible

4. Potential Problem: During ongoing fire disasters and in the aftermath of fire disasters, residents struggle with air quality and the hazards of smoke inhalation

 Examples:

https://www.epa.gov/air-research/wildland-fire-research-protect-health-and-environment

http://www.flaktwoods.com/fire-safety-solutions/people-protection/smoke-extract-system1/

Potential Solutions: (1) Develop a new device that can be distributed during evacuation or relief efforts that assists with breathing

(2) Redesign the current smoke masks, which are commonly distributed during relief efforts, to be more efficient than their current materials, yet affordable

**(3) Design a city-wide smoke extraction system that is eco-friendly, built with sustainable materials, and can exist seamlessly in the infrastructure (Think of an integrated product/system that is as simple and invisible as an antenna, city park bench, or trash can, but as powerful in transmission and reduction as planting a forest)

** This problem and suggested solution are my favorite - it can expand to the global problem of poor air quality and assist in rebuilding local ecosystems

 5.   General Inspiration for this prompt’s theme

SCAPE design studio for Biodiversity and Community Landscape Design

  http://www.scapestudio.com/

https://www.fastcodesign.com/90146388/3-designers-win-500k-macarthur-genius-grants

“Invisibles,” as opposed to wearable technology

https://www.fastcodesign.com/90136166/what-comes-after-wearables-try-invisibles

Student Design and campaigns:

 https://www.facebook.com/artcenteredu/videos/10155538394139326/

https://designmattersatartcenter.org/proj/usgs-wildfire-studio/

 Chi → General research, inspiration and ideation

1.Potential problem:  Cost, transportation, and time to recover natural disaster  

Potential Solutions: Providing flexible and cost-effective solutions to rebuild communities and infrastructure

Examples:

1.  3d printing  house within 24 hours and less than $10,000 USD

https://youtu.be/8z-iebHRxJk

2. 3d printing infrastructure by recycled materials.

https://youtu.be/gcMjOkR8LDA

3. I also think we also can use hempcrete as Jorge’s reference as printing filament, fire-resistance material

https://youtu.be/Lf--qYYG-Wo?t=2m43s

Potential Benefit: Promote global business opportunities, the United States imported industrial hemp more than 30 countries

 https://youtu.be/Lf--qYYG-Wo?t=5m50s

2. Potential problem:  3d printing technology being used in natural disaster relief. This solution more focus on sustainability and medicare

Potential Solutions: Providing a cost-effective and flexible way to relief supply chain issues. The technology is scalable and open source. Helpers can use recycled plastic or biodegradable filaments to reduce printing waste. Also, 3d printing can apply for medication

Examples:

1. Design and make items onsite

https://vimeo.com/119808811

2.3D part sharing app

 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.cadenas.partcloud

3.Recyclable filament - Creating opportunities with plastic waste

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-recycled-plastic-for-3d-printing-will-drive-sustainabilzty-and-raise-the-social-conscious-of-business/

 4. Filament made from Algae

 https://3dprint.com/106381/algae-fuel-filament/

 5. 3D printing human organs

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/03/tech/innovation/3-d-printing-human-organs/index.html

6.  Future medical supply  https://3dstartpoint.com/future-of-3d-printed-drugs/

Potential Benefit: Non-governmental organization. Field Ready aim to meet humanitarian need by transforming logistics through technology, innovative design and engaging people in new ways. If the organization and leverage the 3d printing community, they can also provide new opportunity of medicare for natural disaster relief

 https://www.fieldready.org/partners

 Rebecca Potential problem - Restoration project for wineries in Napa Analyzing what it takes to rebuild the wineries that burned down in Napa: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/16/a-closer-look-at-the-22-wineries-damaged-by-wine-country-fires/ -General protocol for California disaster recover: http://www.caloes.ca.gov/cal-oes-divisions/recovery -What byproducts/issues occurs in the afterman of forest fires (in areas of nature) https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/research/fire/fire-effects.shtml Volunteer efforts for reforestation: https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr_nrs1/ryan-2_1_87.pdf http://csfs.colostate.edu/forest-management/restoration-rehabilitation/ **Possible incorporation of Jorge’s interest in hemp products, and Chi’s interest in 3D printing to create possible future fireproof solutions

Potential Problem - domestic/industrial uses of wood ash In the aftermath of a fire, what can we do with the ashes: - at home/domestic use of ashes: http://www.mentalscoop.com/30-uses-for-wood-ashes/ https://www.thisoldhouse.com/ideas/10-uses-wood-ashes -industrial use of wood ash: http://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=B1142 (in agriculture) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090447914001610 (incorporation with cement) -process of regrowth in areas of fires: http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2014/05/forest-regrowth-after-a-fire.html https://blog.nature.org/conservancy/2013/07/24/how-fire-can-restore-a-forest-time-lapse-video/ https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/how-forest-fire-benefit-living-things-2.htm https://www.nbcnews.com/science/will-forests-flourish-after-fires-warming-world-not-always-6c10534178 (trees not may necessarily flourish following a fires)

Potential Problem - homeowner protocol after a fire Individual and business homeownership approach to fires Immediate protocol for homeowners: https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/fa_46.pdf?utm_source=website&utm_medium=pubsapp&utm_content=After%20the%20Fire!%20Returning%20to%20Normal&utm_campaign=R3D Red Cross Reccomendation: http://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/fire/home-fire-recovery What Happens Now guide:  http://www.whathappensnow.com/getHelp.cfm?cat=2&sub=2 http://afterwildfirenm.org/ (specific to New Mexico - but instructions are applicable nationwide) -General public’s involvement in communities after a disaster - https://adjustersinternational.com/help-your-community-after-disaster/ -Consider how the 2003 Cedar Fires of San Diego, California were handled: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5297020.pdf

Our interests, expertise and contributions

CHI:        

·Interests: Digital modeling and rendering, UX Design,  computer graphics design and data visualization

·Expertise: Architectural design, technical drawing, rendering, operation diagram development, 3d printing and prototyping

·Contributions: Research & data visualization, predictive analytics, wix, and prototyping

 REBECCA:                              

·Interests: Sustainability in clothing/fabric and food resources, renewable energy derived from fire waste/byproduct (ashes?)

· Expertise: Event/vendor outreach, data and administrative management, art and historical analysis

·Contributions: Proposal writing and editing, economic and statistical research, event management/coordinating

 JORGE                    

·Interests: Music production, sound design, politics/globalism, travel, international business, economics of sustainability, food

·Expertise: songwriting/production, business development, program management/consulting, global event planning

·Contributions: composition, market research, project management, content development, event planning/management, writing, proofreading

 VANESSA:              

· Interests: Innovative product design, user-centered design, developing empathetic, sustainable solutions with global application

·Expertise: Brand development, graphic design, illustration, community engagement, concept and service development

·Contributions:  Design and general research and development of solutions, specifically regarding the impacts and benefits on a community, and welfare responses to potential solution