#info systems winter 2018

[two-bit-socrates]

So I quite literally ran out of shit to do in Deadfire that wasn't the main quest so I advanced the main quest to The Coming Storm and I can say right now that despite mental health issues potatoing my brain in 2018 I still ~so far, kinda, very loosely~ side with Eothas in that the truth should be known.

Also I'm going with my crew and companions only cause everyone needs to calm down.

No one spoil me but below the cut is corkboard time

Fyi I'm bringing up covid

Lowkey the way all the Deadfire kith "leaders" are handling this reminds me of when the pandemic first started. Like I want to say that the gods are deliberately fucking with these people to keep them distracted but I know that's not true - I mean other than how they've fucked with kith before like more directly than they claim.

I so badly want to kill all the gods, I _need_ that option.

I don't think I've killed a single full grown dragon yet which is fun and odd because I spoiled myself when I learned where the souls go when I did as Wael asked.

I'm glad Edér got to yell at Eothas for a bit.

Extremely irritated that I can't bring up the pieces of lost history I learned from The Beast of Winter dlc.

I hate combat but I need to do Seeker, Slayer, third S word for more info.

Also I want to help the Vailian animancers if it means we can build a new reincarnation system and just side step these 'gods' all together.

I wish I was capable of drawing digitally so I can draw little comics of my Watcher being a little shit.

[kiyonoa1blog]

Olympic Games legacy

For the Olympic legacy to be achieved, a vision must be developed. For people, cities and territories, and the Olympic Movement, it encompasses all intangible and tangible long-term benefits associated with hosting the Olympic Games or sports events (IOC, 2017). Legacy is very important to make strategic plans in order to host any sports events. Especially, Olympic games are the biggest sports event in the world. Thus, the process of developing the legacy is significantly important and interesting things. It has become increasingly important for bid committees, event governing bodies, and host governments to focus on the long-term legacy of hosting large-scale sports events (Thomson et al., 2019 as cited in Leopkey & Parent, 2016, Veal, Toohey, & Frawley, 2012, Preuss, 2007, Ritchie, 2000). It may be possible to benefit future generations from positive social legacies like skill building and volunteering in the host community (Dickson & Darcy, 2022 as cited in Dickson et al., 2020).

IOC

Hosting Olympic Games could give a big impact and opportunities for the host country. For example, new job opportunities, meeting new people, economic effects and new buildings and transport systems. Events venues, transportation services, road upgrades, sports facilities, and accommodations are among the new infrastructure communities benefit from, as well as potential new business and tourism opportunities (Griffith University, n.d.).

Globalization, digitalization, and mediatization have caused the Olympic Games to grow into a massive event that incurs significant operating costs (Seung-Jin, 2022). There would be a huge cost in preparation for the Olympic Games but worth it. Also, as Kim stated that Mega-events have motivated countries and cities to host them because they are expected to bring positive changes, and their legacies are actively investigated (2019).

The Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held in 2032. Queensland Government starts preparation for the Olympic Games. It is based on the results of the national Hopes and Dreams survey and the discussion at the Legacy Forum with 500 of Australia's smartest, brightest and bold minds. It will provide a framework for public and private sector cooperation to plan and make decisions in the years ahead under the Brisbane 2032 Legacy Plan (Queensland Government, 2023). According to the Games Master Plan, 84 per cent of venues are existing or temporary. By using this model, Brisbane 2032 will be delivered with significant cost savings and will provide a precedent for future Olympic and Paralympic Games in mid-sized cities (Queensland Government, 2022).

References

Dickson, T. J., & Darcy, S. (2022). Next Steps in Mega-Sport Event Legacy Research: Insights from a Four Country Volunteer Management Study. Event Management, 26(8), 1849-1854.

Griffith University. (n.d.). Legacy: Before, during and after. Future learn. https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/sport-inclusion/0/steps/41656#:~:text=Legacy%20is%20the%20term%20we,a%20major%20sports%20event1.

International Olympic Committee. (2017, December). Legacy strategic approach moving forward. https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/Documents/Olympic-Legacy/IOC_Legacy_Strategy_Full_version.pdf?_ga=2.203412370.2032941517.1683451763-1122605148.1683451763

Kim, H., Choe, Y., Kim, D., & Kim, J. (2019). For Sustainable Benefits and Legacies of Mega-Events: A Case Study of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics from the Perspective of the Volunteer Co-Creators. Sustainability, 11(9)

Queensland Government. (2023, 3 May). Legacy. https://www.qld.gov.au/about/Brisbane2032/legacy-program

Queensland Government. (2022, 5 October). Brisbane 2032 Master Plan. https://www.qld.gov.au/about/Brisbane2032/brisbane-2032-master-plan

Seung-Jin, H., Lee, W., So-Hee, K., Yoon Sang-Hoon, & Hyunwoong, P. (2022). Assessing Expected Long-term Benefits for the Olympic Games: Delphi-AHP Approach from Korean Olympic Experts. Sage Open, 12(4)

Thomson, A., Cuskelly, G., Toohey, K., Kennelly, M., Burton, P., & Fredline, L. (2019). Sport event legacy: A systematic quantitative review of literature. Sport Management Review, 22(3), 295–321.

[smart-allec]

All A’s in my classes :D

[zoe-dinh]

Digital Stakeholder Engagement for Environmental Sustainability and Economic Growth

The power of digital technologies for human advancement and development is limitless. This may excite a lot of people, while turning others off completely.

The question is: how can we make use of communication technologies in collaboration to achieve a common vision? How to ensure these devices will work with rather than against us? Is that even possible?

Beyond that, what is the potential of digital stakeholder engagement (DSE) for economic and financial sustainability - the long term growth and development of business & organisations?

Coming up next:

A common future

Coming together

A transformative approach

Stakeholders of sustainability

Implications: Power dynamics

Towards sustainability: potential ideas for DSE

Beyond environmental: sustainable growth & development?

Where we are heading: the future of DSE.

A common future

What is the one thing that every single one of us has a stake in? The answer, you know it, is environmental sustainability.

Whether you are an environmental activist or climate change denier, you cannot help but see its disastrous effects being increasingly more common in many parts of the world.

The Great Barrier Reef (Courtesy: independentaustralia.net)

Look in your own ‘backyard’ for a second. Did you notice any difference in seasonal changes? Has spring vanished and given way to summer much earlier than usual? What about this year’s winter? Was it much colder for longer than previous years, or not even cold at all?

Coming together

The fact is that these changes affect us all, today, tomorrow or 5-10 years from now. Can communication technologies help with this? In what ways?

You have probably heard this before. Climate change and sustainability is no single country’s problem. The first step: to admit we need to work with one another.

(Courtesy: giphy.com)

A transformative approach

How can we expand the concept of stakeholder engagement as we know it, to include higher stakes and a wide range of stakeholders?

Rather than a management-driven approach centring on the organisation, in the digital age, we need a new perspective that will be transformative for sustainability.

According to Lock & Seele (2016), the new lens puts sustainability at the core of stakeholder engagement, in which everyone has a stake in a ‘common future’.

DSE therefore requires new parameters: big data, algorithms, machine learning, analytics, and issues surrounding transparency and privacy.

Stakeholders of sustainability

Implications: Power dynamics

Stakeholders do not all have equal power. In some cases, the government does not have as much power as other actors, such as private companies - powerful corporations.

Many even compete with each other in the digital world. One example is Google, who is at times more powerful than the national government itself.

(Courtesy: Electronic Frontier Foundation at eff.org)

Google Crisis Response is an environmentally driven technology that is used to gather and distribute information to affected people during natural disasters, sometimes even more efficiently than the government.

Despite the advantage, this power dynamic is not a constant one. To reclaim some power, governments can sometimes use their regulatory and administrative power: take matters into their own hands, taking advantage of the private infrastructures and info systems.

For instance, in 2018, the Indian government began teaming up with Google to improve flooding response, making use of their AI, machine learning and technical expertise.

Google’s flooding updates in South India’s Kerala (Courtesy: localguidesconnect.com)

Towards sustainability: ideas for DSE

A global participatory platform

One way we can make use of digital media for sustainability is to have a global participatory platform. This is based on the logic that dialogue = means of deliberation and openness. When we have effective dialogue, we can work better together.

Having open discussions about sustainability and the real issues and consequences it has on human lives, more people around the world can contribute to advancing, promoting and achieving sustainability.

Digital sustainability panopticon

Coinciding with the prediction that ‘tracking’ (aka surveillance technologies) will come to increasingly shape our future, this idea is based on the thinking that surveillance carries an incredible habit-changing power.

A prominent example is China’s ‘social credit’ system, which takes place on the national social media platform WeChat. It works by having citizens monitoring and (literally) rating one another, rather than state agents conducting surveillance themselves.

Utilised correctly, this can bring about a series of concrete behaviour changes that will contribute to sustainability. However, this kind of idea is also at great risk of being used to control people.

(Courtesy: visualcapitalist.com)

Beyond environmental: sustainable growth and development

Collaboration and co-creation is at the heart of stakeholder engagement. What does this mean for businesses and organisations who are aiming for sustainable growth?

Organisations can create a digital network of value co-creation (DVN) to engage end customers and third-party actors in co-creation activities. Providing co-designing opportunities for these stakeholders, they can gain a competitive advantage in the market.

“Based on collaboration and competition, dynamic and co-evolving communities allow the various actors to work together and to create and capture new value” (Blaschke et al. 2017, p. 455).

In reality, this does not have to be literal. The DVN can take many forms: digital platform, online marketplace, and engagement program etc. What does this look like in real life?

McDonald’s MyBurger

The MyBurger initiative was a hugely successful project aimed at consumer - public participation. The idea: consumers come up with their own recipe for a burger, enter the competition and get votes from the public. Winning creation gets featured on McDonald’s limited edition menu.

This was a smash in countries such as Germany, the UK and Sweden. Not only does McDonald’s benefit from the publicity, participants including chefs, restaurant owners and everyday people get to promote themselves and gain popularity from the competition.

(Courtesy: thisisnotadvertising.wordpress.com)

YouTube’s Creator partnership program

YouTube launched this program in 2014 which now has 2+ million members. Video creators (or YouTubers) who sign up for this program can make money from their videos via sponsorships and ad placements.

How much money you make depends on various factors: CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions), how often you upload, how much engagement you have (ad click-through rates), and the quality of engagement (watch hours).

The YouTube algorithms favour those who upload regularly by recommending their videos more widely, which in turn boost their CPM, engagement rates and ultimately, income.

YouTubers are the reason why many stay on the platform, consuming hours of content. It makes money from ad revenues and/or users paying for premium subscriptions. A genius business model and a great example of corporations maximising value through co-creation.

(Courtesy: Natalie Barbu on youtube.com)

See more: How Much YouTube Pays You For 1,000 Views In 2021

LEGO’S Ambassador program

Similarly, LEGO has a large-scale global ambassador program of 360 user groups, 5000+ topics and nearly 300 events taking place around the world, including festivals, library displays and escape rooms.

Members are adults who use LEGO bricks as a creative medium. Some build at home with family and friends, others meet up with people and share their passion outside. This ‘adults’ club’ has been active for over 30 years.

So, where are we heading? The future of DSE

From our discussion thus far, the future of DSE will most likely be shaped by:

Big data: metrics and indicators as new ways of controlling, reporting and monitoring performance

Stakeholder engagement beyond the corporational level: government-centred or centre-less systems

Unequal power relations between stakeholders -> increased consumer power and competitive advantage, while simultaneously leveling out the playing field (lower barriers to entry thanks to technology and diminished operating cost)

New stakeholder experience: blurred lines between virtual/physical reality -> new power dynamics

Digital co-creation maximising value for networks beyond temporal, organisational and spatial boundaries.

-END-

Bibliography

Burke, M. E., O’Callaghan, S. & Quigley, M. 2013, ‘The business of digital storytelling’, Journal of Systems and Information Technology, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 347-367, DOI 10.1108/JSIT-04-2013-0009

Blaschkle, M., Riss, U., Haki, K. & Aier, S. 2017, ‘Design principles for digital value co-creation networks: a service-dominant logic perspective’, Electronic Markets, vol. 29, pp. 443-472, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-019-00356-9

Dahan, N. M., Doh, J. P. & Raelin, J. D. 2015, ‘Pivoting the role of government in the business and society interface: a stakeholder perspective’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 131, no. 3, pp. 665–680.

Helbin,g D. 2012, ‘The future ICT knowledge accelerator towards a more resilient and sustainable future’, In P. Ball (ed.), Why society is a complex matter, Springer, Heidelberg, pp. 55–60.

Lock, I. & Seele, P. 2017, ‘Theorising stakeholders of sustainability in the digital age’, Sustain Sci, vol. 12, pp. 235-245, DOI 10.1007/s11625-016-0404-2

Matchar, E. 2016, ‘Wired Founder Kevin Kelly On The Technologies That Will Dominate Our Future’, Smithsonian Magazine, Viewed 18 October 2021, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/wired-founder-kevin-kelly-on-technologies-that-will-dominate-our-future-180959708/

Sachs, S. & Maurer, S. 2009, ‘Toward dynamic corporate stakeholder responsibility’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 85, no. 3, pp. 535–544.

https://reliefweb.int/report/india/india-s-government-teams-google-improve-flood-management

https://www.wired.com/wiredinsider/2014/06/youtubes-elite-creator-partner-program/

[bookclub4m]

Episode 140 - Favourite Reads of 2021

This episode we’re talking about our Favourite Reads of 2021! We discuss our favourite fiction and non-fiction reads for the podcast (and not for the podcast) as well as other things that helped us get through the year!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | RJ Edwards

Bookshop.org list of (most) our our top titles

https://bookshop.org/lists/favourite-reads-of-2021 

Favourite Fiction

For the podcast

Matthew

Dreamships by Melissa Scott (1992)

Episode 131 - Cyberpunk

Anna

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado (2017) 

Episode 123 Psychological Horror

Tied with Episode 134 - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Meghan

Trouble and Her Friends by Melissa Scott (1995)

Episode 131 - Cyberpunk

RJ

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino, translated by Alexander O. Smith (Japanese 2005, translated 2011)

Episode 127 - Crime Fiction

(But it’s really Piranesi by Susanna Clarke)

Not for the podcast

Anna

Minimum Wage Magic by Rachel Aaron (2018)

Meghan

Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys  (2017)

RJ

To Be Taught if Fortunate by Becky Chambers (2019)

Episode 124 - Media (and Noodles) We’ve Recently Enjoyed

Matthew

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (2019)

Favourite Non-Fiction

For the podcast

Meghan

The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket by Benjamin Lorr (2020)

Episode 117 - Sociology Non-Fiction

RJ

The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin (1992; originally 1979)

Episode 125 - Literary Theory & Literary Criticism

Matthew

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond (2016)

Episode 117 - Sociology Non-Fiction

Anna

All the Rage: Mothers, Fathers and the Myth of Equal Partnership by Darcy Lockman (2019)

Episode 117 - Sociology Non-Fiction

Not for the podcast

RJ

Napkin by Carta Monir (2019)

Episode 132 - Recent Media We’ve Enjoyed

Matthew

19 Ways of Looking at Wang Wei by Eliot Weinberger (2016; originally 1987)

Episode 132 - Recent Media We've Enjoyed

Anna

Having and Being Had by Eula Biss (2020)

(except I feel guilty that this is the same author as last year’s non-fic fav so I could also do Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy by Tressie McMillan Cottom)

Meghan

Three Squares: The Invention of the American Meal by Abigail Carroll (2013)

Other Favourites Things of 2021

Anna

Maintenance Phase & You’re Wrong About (podcasts)

RJ

Unpacking (game)

Matthew

Barge Chilling Beach

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen (2020)

Meghan

wandrer.earth

Sacré dépanneur! by Judith Lussier (2010)

Runner-Ups

Matthew

Books

Typeset in the Future: Typography and Design in Science Fiction Movies by Dave Addey

Episode 129 - Non-Fiction Film & TV Books

The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power by Desmond Cole

Comics (Twitter thread with more info on each title)

Nicola Traveling Around the Demons' World by Asaya Miyanaga (4 volumes, complete)

Episode 124 - Media (and Noodles) We’ve Recently Enjoyed

The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, A Rún by Nagabe, translated by Adrienne Beck (11 volumes, complete)

Witch  Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama, translated by Stephen Kohler (8 volumes, ongoing)

Episode 132 - Recent Media We've Enjoyed

Spy x Family by Tatsuya Endo, translated by Casey Loe (6 volumes, ongoing)

Episode 132 - Recent Media We've Enjoyed

What Is Obscenity? The Story of A Good For Nothing Girl and Her Pussy by Rokudenashiko

The Nib edited by Matt Bors

Website

Pulp and Reckless by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, and Jacob Phillips 

Super Fun Sexy Times by Meredith McClaren

This is How I Disappear by Mirion Malle

Scary manga:

Kasane by Daruma Matsuura (14 volumes, complete)

Sensor by Junji Ito (1 volume, complete)

PTSD Radio by  Masaaki Nakayama (6 volumes, complete)

Blood on the Tracks by Shūzō Oshimi (7 volumes, ongoing)

Anna

The Art of Cruelty by Maggie Nelson

What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon

Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest by Hanif Abdurraqib

Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen

How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell

Meghan

Fiction

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones (horror)

The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli (literary fiction)

No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood (literary fiction)

Rabbits by Terry Miles (techno thriller)

Non-fiction

Bikes and Bloomers: Victorian Women Inventors and their Extraordinary Cycle Wear by Kat Jungnickel

The Cold Vanish: Seeking the Missing in North America's Wildlands by Jon Billman

Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction by Grady Hendrix

RJ

Picture books!!!

Ping by Ani Castillo

Poojo's Got Wheels by Charrow

Two Many Birds by Cindy Derby

This Is Ruby by Sara O'Leary & Alea Marley

Animals Brag About Their Bottoms by Maki Saito, translated by Brian Bergstrom

Your Name Is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow & Luisa Uribe

Someone Builds the Dream by Lisa Wheeler & Loren Long

Comics

Beetle and the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

Stargazing by Jen Wang

Grease Bats by Archie Bongiovanni

TV/Video

Taskmaster

Only Connect

Puzzgrid: Only Connect wall-style puzzles

Dimension 20

Mice & Murder

Misfits & Magic

Games

Voyagers: A LARP Duet (PDF link)

Other Media We Mentioned

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

Neuromancer by William Gibson

On Immunity: An Inoculation by Eula Biss

Red Spider White Web by Misha Nogha

You Are Good (podcast)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Wikipedia)

Links, Articles, and Things

Hark! Episode 300: Good to Better, Bad to Worse

Secret Stacks Episode 65

Episode 116 - Best Books We Read in 2020

Episode 113 - Seeking Book Recommendations

Episode 114 - Hot Cocoa & Book Recommendations

Dude Chilling Park (Wikipedia)

20 Philosophy books by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors to help our listeners diversify their readers’ advisory. All of the lists can be found here.

The Promise of Happiness by Sarah Ahmed

Tsawalk: A Nuu-chah-nulth Worldview by Umeek / E Richard Atleo

The Location of Culture by Homi K. Bhabha

Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by Adrienne Maree Brown

Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis

The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire

Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center by bell hooks

The God Equation: The Quest for a Theory of Everything by Michio Kaku

Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde

Memory Serves: Oratories by Lee Maracle

Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity by José Esteban Muñoz

Everyday Ubuntu: Living Better Together, the African Way by Mungi Ngomane

Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Mexican Philosophy in the 20th Century: Essential Readings edited by Carlos Alberto Sánchez & Robert Eli Sanchez Jr.

As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom through Radical Resistance by  Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton

Mathematics for Human Flourishing by Francis Su

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice by Shunryu Suzuki

Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World by Tyson Yunkaporta

Give us feedback!

Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Twitter or Instagram, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday,  January 4th we’ll be discussing the genre of Architecture!

Then on Tuesday,  January 18th we’ll be talking about how (and why) 2022 is the Year of Book 2!

[trinketprince]

Ok so I was reaserching some stuff for my Denki Mystery Blog, and I happened to find an interesting piece of merch! Acrylic Stands!

It’s precursor was the Acrylic charms first released in 2017:

A hefty lineup of 8 sets, Osomatsu in Neetland, Steampunk, Musical, Kigurumi, Magical Girl, Akuma Rider, Band and Youkai sets. It was done gacha style, like the game. You didn’t know who you bought until you opened it. (Hence the trading aspect.)

Come winter 2018, to coincide with FesMatsu ‘18, Acrylic figures came back but as stands!

The 6 sets are 

Band Teachers (since the original band set was used in the acrylic charm set)

Princess

Color Gang

Vampire

Denki Mystery

Chinese Food

All of them are in their walking sprites except for the Chinese Food. The bases were generic coming in 6 random colors (both stands and bases were random so ex. Vampire Ichimatsu may come with a purple base or turquoise base and not necessarily a green base.)

They also released a Diorama set with 6 enemy acrylic stands and 12 slots, perfect to add one of each of your own matsu. The stage background is the anime opening background.

A Vol. 2 was released at the same time:

Adding 3 more sets to the original release

Sweets

Prince

Musical Dark Past 1 (since the regular musical set was already used as a charm)

bringing a total of 9 sets. This time, the base is properly color coded, but still plain with white polka dots.

I can’t find any info on any 2019 merch (aside from the Almost all illustrations book and Original OST release). But for the 4th anniversary Hesokuri Wars released these dioramas in Fall:

The Dioramas are based on the attractions and objects you can get at the ingame 4th anniversary campaign for Trashney Land, the acrylic stands you could get are the 3rd Anniversary units (not the 4th surprisingly), that carries 5 dolls of the most popular sets in Hesokuri (Noir, Yakuza, Vampire, Denki Mystery and Musical). Alongside regular parka units. If I’m right you could also swap out the stands with stands from the past two volumes! Allowing you to make your very own Matsu shrine (Oh how I want Juicy and Toshio,,,, hngg)

Also available for Fall 2020 are two more volumes of the acrylic stands!

10 sets available! 

Stage Papa (or Father Magazine Model)

Christmas Vampire

Band (ft. Matsuzo, but without matsuzo himself)

Jobs both sets 1 and set 2

Hesokuri Wars ReMIX (The 4th anniversary units)

Yakuza Wolf 

“Werewolf” (smh)

Denki Mystery (Zero)

and last but not the least Matsu Noir!

The bases this time are much more personalized, referencing the aesthetics of the original set (ex. Denki Mystery Zero and Christmas Vampire’s bases are a reference to their promo images posted on the Hesokuri Wars twitter, and Matsu Noir and Yakuza referencing their event campaign images)

Since the only way to get this is through a gacha-styled system, these figurines (esp the much more popular sets) can go for a hefty price. (Denki Mystery,,,, please come home,,,,)

Bonus:

Turns out the Charms DID comeback but in the form of various items. It seems like there’s only one release although I couldn’t exactly date it, it was most likely released with the 2020 merchandise. The items featured are

Instruments from Band (Jade’s guitar is specifically the one introduced in the Casual Clothes set, Feb 2017)

Umbrellas from Gothic Lolita Princess (May 2018)

Surfboards from Akuma Surfer (Aug 2018)

Firearms from Angel (Nov 2017)

Personal Artifacts from Denki Mystery (Hajime’s Leather Bag isn’t actually seen until Karatsugu’s Episode unit, Feb 2020)

Seems like these sprites are created originally for this merch as most of these specific sprites don’t actually show cleanly in the sets, like the Angel’s Guns or Denki Mystery’s items.

Extra: I’ve seen some people customize their own stands by using the acrylic charmss, not all of them fit the bases though, Musical, Kigurumi, Magical Girl and Band kinda fit if you insert their foot into the hole.

I’ll probably make another post detailing on the other merch (like buttons holy shit a ton of buttons, clear folders, washi tape, notepads etc.)

[gamutgaming577]

To my gaming friend who saved my life

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[mysticalmusicwhispers]

Do have any Hetalia fanfiction recommendations mainly involving the asian countries? I'm sorry that is kind of out of the blue but I really like your writing and hope that you could give me some recommendations.

Hey anon! First of all, thank you so much for sending in this ask and I’m glad you enjoy my writing! I love talking about the Asians and ughhhh the precious few platonic Asia-fam centric fics are top notch quality. Onto the recs! Note: Sorry if you wanted India included! I don’t know if there are any fics with him + all other Asians! Please take my apologies! Also, looking back, there are precious few fics with Thailand and Vietnam included, so I’m so sorry if you wanted them as well! I only found 1 with all of them...

All of these are from either ff.net or AO3 because tumblr’s tagging system isn’t the best sometimes so I didn’t look here (oop).

NON-SHIPPY PLATONIC ASIA FAMILY FIC RECOMMENDATIONS

The Asia Family: This. This is gold. It’s a series of 14 one-shots; most of them include SK, CHN, JPN, TWN (Taiwan), HK, and I think at least 2 have Thailand and Vietnam (hhh). They’re mostly casual things the Asians do together in modern day, although a handful are set when everyone except China is a child (there’s also a Human AU with China as a single parent), and the last one is a historical fic. I think the plot and fluff are very well written; looking back though, the only thing that kinda bugs me is that the author put in their accents (so Korea says da-ze, China says -aru, etc.) which is rather annoying... but if you can look over that, overall it’s pretty good.

Onii-chan means Older Brother: [On one cold late snowy evening on the way home from a late meeting, Japan finds a young boy waiting for his older brother. While accompanying young boy until his brother arrive, they talk and Japan recounts his memories spent with China. Only after seeing the brothers reunite did Japan realize what he had to do after all this time...] One-shot. CHARACTERS: CHINA AND JAPAN It’s rated as brotherly Nichu, so if that’s not your cup of tea, skip this. I’m kind of conflicted; if you ignore all modern day and historical realities, then this is a good fluffy story, and children are my weakness so it’d be pretty good. However, I just don’t really see it as a realistic scenario sometimes, so if you’re a stickler for history and portraying relationships as they are in the real world, maybe it isn’t that good? Idk. However the writing is excellent, top notch.

The Truth is a Nuisance: Detailing the ensuing uproar and controversy after the nation personifications have been revealed. 6 chapters. Ok so,,, the summary on AO3 says it’s East-Asia centric, but in my opinion it’s more of an exploration of what would happen when the nations are revealed that doesn’t focus that much on anyone in particular. However, China is the narrator and the other Asians (SK, JPN, TWN, HK, IND, and an OC Singapore) appear. This is set in modern day, so THERE ARE SLIGHTLY CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS (the nations are asked their opinions on present leaders, imperialism, WWII, etc.) I think the author does a good job of staying neutral and not polarizing anyone, but a fair warning it covers some politics, as well as the situations of nations that are not... rated favorably by modern US standards (Syria, Somalia, etc). It’s an interesting (and entertaining) read though, if you aren’t focused that much on the Asians. (Has pseudo-twitter and tumblr reaction posts by both nations and humans to this revelation, which is fun to read)

Family of Five: Summary: [Taiwan eyed the extra plate. “You know he's not coming, right?” It was always the four of them: China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Korea. Always four, when it should have been five.] One-shot. Characters: CHINA, TAIWAN, HONG KONG, KOREA, JAPAN This is a really quick read, but it’s fluffy, a little bit bitter, and the writing is high quality. I think it portrays relationships more or less accurately; the tensions between countries are less prevalent here for fluff.

Wan’an: A one-shot about small Asians at bedtime. Summary given by author: ["Li Xiao Chun, get down right now!" "Kung Fu!" "No, don't!" Bedtime is a familiar chaos at China's place. He loves the little nations, but they're even sweeter when they're actually asleep.] Characters: CHINA, TAIWAN, HONG KONG, KOREA, JAPAN Basically, another fluffy, cute story. I guess there’s some brotherly Nichu at the end? But you can also just read it as siblings being sweet. There’s a minor cultural context thing with the bed (called a kang/炕) and stoking the fire (info here) but it doesn’t affect the story a lot, just a small detail.

Note: the last two stories (Family of Five and Wan’an) are in a series: Asia Family Shenanigans. There are two more stories, but both only have China and Japan in them I believe. One of them also has historical context that’s a bit sensitive (Nanjing WWII) so... However, I think they’re both worth reading.

This isn’t really a true fic, but it’s really good! A short anon ask from @/alfredtalia about an Asia family dinner to give Yong Soo a break from running the 2018 Winter Olympics. Also has cute art!

China: this is totally not Asia-fam centric, and it’s unfinished with only two chapters, but it’s too good not to mention. It’s an interpretation of what China’s beginnings were like, however it only goes till the end of the Shang Dynasty... so read at your own risk I guess? The writing is just superb though.

I pulled the AO3 fics from here, using their tag filter system, a guide to which is here.

And that’s it! I hope I gave you enough? There aren’t a lot of family bonding fic type things for these guys, but I hope this is good so far! Tell me what you think about them, and definitely ask for more if you want! (I’m working on a fic that’s mostly HK but has Asia-fam elements to the first part, and hopefully I’ll finish it soon!)

[smart-allec]

So... Gonna talk to my Info Teacher about my attendence... Wish me luck?

[oddcoupler222]

Akskdkdk I’m not crying I just got some tww feelings in my eyes and to the rest of tww fans you’re welcome (I’m the biggest one of them all) let it be multi chapter 🤲🏻

did i take one person asking for something and turn it into a spinoff semi romance novel? i… may have.

Eliza -

Colleen -

(for funsies)

 Fall 2018

Eliza wouldn’t say she loved her work study job in the registrar’s office. But she had friends with various other jobs throughout campus, and she knew because of their tales that her job wasn’t the worst.

Would she love to trade with her new friend, Sara, and have the job in the printing lab in the library, where she would just have to un-jam the printer and restock it with paper, then sit on her laptop? Of course. But she was also nosy as fuck and she got a lot of insider info from her supervisor here. Plus, she got all of the registration codes early. So who was the real winner?

Still Sara.

“Hello? Hi. I’m sorry, are you busy? I’m - I’m not trying to be obnoxious, but I really really have to get into a class, and I have nowhere else to go to ask. I’ve tried the professor, I’ve tried her TA. I’ve asked all of the upperclassmen I know. And this is the final stop before I may very well have a breakdown.”

A frantic, pleading voice interrupted her IG scrolling. It was technically one of her two fifteen minute breaks that she got during her five hour shift. She intended to tell the interloper that she would have to wait until the other side of the office didn’t have a line, because where her desk was, was technically closed.

But Eliza had never seen an angel in real life before. And she was such a simple, simple lesbian.

Never in her life had she ever been struck like this, though. The tousled blonde hair that she could see was usually nice and orderly. The clothes that screamed an upper-middle class (at the very least) background, though trendy.

Blue eyes crystal clear but starting to brim with tears.

“I’m not busy. What can I do for you?”

“Thank the gods! In order to graduate on time with my major and both of my minors, I need to double up on some courses. Which means I have to take some courses before I’m technically supposed to. So, I got permission to take Ethnicity and Identity with Dr. Oakhart next semester, even though it’s a semester early. Because I need to take Cultures of Essos the semester after, and it’s a prereq. But it took forever to get permission to take Oakhart’s class early; I had to basically camp out in her office,” a little laugh fluttered out, anxiously. “And now? She gave me permission but told me she wouldn’t let me jump the waitlist. I just. I really need to get into that class. Can you even just tell me how long the waitlist is, maybe? Please?”

Someone was wound extremely tightly. It wasn’t usually something Eliza, as a laidback person, enjoyed. But she was already charmed.

“Let me check.”

She typed in her credentials into the system as she surreptitiously glanced up at the girl. Her cheeks were flushed and seven hells. She was cute.

“You really camped out in her office?”

“Huh?” A fleeting smile flashed over her face, and it warmed everything inside of her. “Oh. Well, I know it sounds crazy in retrospect. I can just sometimes get very focused.”

“I gotcha.” Eliza did not, in fact, relate. But her pretending to put this girl at ease.

She pulled up Oakhart’s Gender and Identity class for the spring – and yikes, there was a waitlist a mile long.

“That’s not a good face.”

“Ouch.” She kidded.

“Gods! No, your face isn’t -”

She stopped her before she could ramble anymore. Especially because she wasn’t sure she could handle some sort of mangled compliment from this gorgeous creature without stumbling over herself. “It’s cool. Uh, yeah, no the waitlist isn’t bad.” She lied through her teeth.

“It’s not?” The could-be model’s voice was as incredulous as it should be, as she tried to lean over the counter to see the computer. Like she had to see to believe.

And Eliza quickly turned the computer more toward herself, “Uh, you can’t - against policy-” once again, the lies.

“Sorry. That was probably crossing a line.” She blew out a deep breath and her shoulders deflated. “I guess, can you just put me on the bottom of the list?”

“Yeah,” she lied, fully intending on breaking the rules, as she clicked the top of the waitlist to flag her into the class. “I just need… your name.”

She very much wanted to learn her name.

“Colleen Durand. D-U-R-A-N-D,” she spelled it, and Eliza could very easily see that she’d spelled her name or heard it spelled just so in order to get places in life many times.

She typed her name into the first place on the wait list. “I imagine you will probably hear about this class sometime soon. Don’t fill this block on your class schedule.”

An all too brief, but brightly blazing smile stole her breath. “Thanks so much.” Colleen checked her wrist, a nice looking silver watch glinting in the light coming in from the window. “Gods, I have to go. All right. Thanks again.”

“You’re welcome!” She called after her.

Colleen Durand. She loved the registrar’s office.

Spring 2019

Approaches to Comparative Literature… was a joke.

Colleen rarely thought of classes like that, because all she had in her head was her mother’s voice, saying, “If I’m paying for you to go to a public institution“ - even though it wasn’t in the top 5 universities in the nation (god forbid she go to a public university, even if it was ranked as one of the top ten colleges in the country) - “You’d better be bringing back nothing short of straight A’s.”

She was a junior in college, was on track to graduate at the top of her class even with having two minors - she took 6 classes a semester, not counting the summer and winter semester courses she took. And she took all of them seriously - took color coded notes by hand, sat in the front of the class.

But this course… she just couldn’t. She tried for the first two weeks, learned that the professor left much of his job up to the TA, and then said TA had hit on her in an extremely slimy way and she - well, after that she started slipping into the back row. Just this one class wouldn’t hurt.

She was the only one in her row and sitting in the back gave her a whole new perspective.

It especially gave her a perspective on the girl she’d only known as Nice Girl at the registrar office who doesn’t think I’m crazy before now, and now she knew her name - Eliza.

Eliza, she’d learned from sitting in the front, types vigorously during every class on her laptop and occasionally makes very funny commentary.

It was only in switching her seat to sit behind Eliza that she realized she isn’t taking notes on her laptop, but was instead just being very active on various social medias. Mostly twitter.

@elizathesapphicSCREAMING my TA just announced that some of our earliest lgbt writers were great friends and roommates. i could teach this course better lmao

She wasn’t wrong.

@elizathesapphica limerick -there once was a TA from hellwhose hair is rock solid from gelhis voice is nasally and gratinghis ignorance is so fucking frustratinglet’s not forget he’s smarmy as well

Colleen had genuinely had to smother a laugh from that one. And, it turned out, from many others. The semester passed in a blur of moments - her twentieth birthday, an intense and stressful visit from her mom, juggling 6 courses and her first practicum - but Eliza stands out.

They don’t talk, because… well, what would they even talk about? They seem like really different people and Eliza is super lively, but she learns a lot about her.

If it wasn’t obvious from her twitter handle (obviously), she’s a lesbian. Who very much loves Margaery Tyrell - someone Colleen vaguely knows is a recently out politician - and Sansa Stark - who Colleen is very familiar with, because of the writings she’d done and the classes she’d taken that Sansa had TA’d for before she’d finished her master’s - and their very public relationship.

As well as many, many other lesbian celebrities and television shows that Colleen does not watch or follow, but is still entertained by because Eliza is entertaining.

At the end of the semester, she follows Eliza’s twitter on the account she never uses that is basically untraceable to her. It has her name on it, sure, but nothing else. No pictures. No retweets.

But Eliza’s twitter is good for a laugh and sometimes she needs that.

Fall 2019

“Ohhhh my godddd, Sara. Can you believe it’s her?” Eliza wrapped her arm around her best friend’s shoulders, pulling her close - as if they could shrink back against the wall behind them.

They were going home the following day for winter break and so it seemed like everyone who had an off campus apartment was throwing a party. Which was great because Eliza hadn’t gone out this semester much at all. There had been too much work and too much - uhhh well, being lazy and not wanting to leave her dorm when she could binge watch shows with Sara.

Sara elbowed her in the side accidentally as they fell back against the wall. “It’s who?”

She pointed across the large living area full of tipsy-to-drunk college students, to the front door. “Colleen! She - I don’t think she ever comes out? Why do you think she is right now?”

Sara’s eyes rolled before she jostled their shoulders. “Oh you mean your cruuuush. I don’t know, it’s the end of the semester. Everyone’s out. It’s not a big deal.”

Eliza ignored her and stared at Colleen as she and a friend Eliza recognized didn’t know the name of - she was a master social media creep but that didn’t help when someone didn’t have social medias - chatted and made their way across the room.

And her heart started racing. “Oh my gods. Oh. She’s coming over here. Do you think she -”

“We’re right next to the drinks, why do you think she’s coming over?” Sara’s retort quickly popped her rapidly inflating hopes, and she trained a critical eye on Colleen-Gorgeous-Durand. “That is dream crush girl?”

Eliza spun so quickly to face Sara that she nearly sloshed her vodka cranberry over the rim of her cup. “How can you say it like - like that? Look at her!”

“I mean. She is pretty. In a buttoned up way.” Sara turned to face her, having to tilt her head up just enough to quirk an eyebrow. “Is that your type? You haven’t dated much in our eight month friendship tenure.”

Eliza scoffed. “No! No. I don’t have a… type.” She started slapping Sara’s arm, “Ohhhh gods, she’s coming, she’s coming, she’s -”

Sara caught her hand and held it tight, hissing, “Calm down, you look insane.”

Colleen approached them with a nervous looking smile. “Hey. Can I ask where you got your drink?” She surveyed the table in front of her, dubiously, “I just don’t really see the mixer I want -”

It was like an automatic reaction. Eliza’s hand shot out and offered her cup, “Take it! Still full. Just made it. Made tons of them. See?” She held it up so the rim reflected the dim light. “I didn’t take a sip yet or anything. I can go make another cup.”

Those sky blue eyes were so brilliantly light and she gave the slightest twitch of an eyebrow as she accepted Eliza’s drink. “Um… thanks?”

“Yeah. No prob. Enjoy.” She grinned, knowing it was too bright for the moment, but whatever.

She felt triumphant, even when Sara collapsed against her in a fit of giggles as Colleen walked away. “Holy shit. I see now why you haven’t dated.”

“Um, what is that supposed to mean? She sought me out.” Now that she replayed the interaction, though, she could… sort of… see where she’d gone wrong.

Oh, fuck.

Sara only laughed harder, letting Eliza’s hand go and wrapping it around her waist in a hug. “Listen.” She tried to calm her laughter. “Listen. What I just witnessed means one of two things: your crush is an absolute idiot who took a drink from you, a weird ass stranger at a party. Or she actually somewhat recognizes you, too, and doesn’t think you’re a creepy stranger.”

“Oh, fuck. Now I need to find more cranberry juice.”

Spring 2020

“Who’s that girl over there? She keeps looking at us.” Colleen’s friend and flatmate, Natalia, commented. They were in the dining hall, which is a rarity since they hadn’t lived on campus since they were freshmen.

“What girl?”

“Pretty, dark hair, dark eyes. She has like 4 piercings up her ear. She has a rainbow pin on her backpack. Seems gay.”

Pretty with dark hair and eyes, the earrings, and the dead giveaway rainbow pin already tells her it’s most likely Eliza Harlow, even before she turns and looks. Colleen rolls her eyes. “How does she seem gay? Besides the rainbow pin,” she adds on, even though she knows - of course Eliza Harlow is gay.

Her still very active twitter is still hilarious and very, very full of lesbian pop culture. It’s gotten almost kind of frustrating, the fact that Eliza never really posts anything about herself on her twitter. Colleen definitely knows she is a lesbian more than anything - she posted something just last night about a pro soccer player and proclaimed that her lesbian heart wasn’t going to survive her coming out.

But she never posts anything about her own life. It’s not like Colleen cares? But she can’t help but be intrigued. It’s weird. But maybe that’s just the culture they live in these days.

She still turns and looks where Natalia is pointing, anyway. Sure enough, Eliza is sitting - backpack perched on the table next to her bagel, rainbow pin on display - with her ever present friend whose name Colleen knows is Sara (thanks, twitter). Pretty with her dark hair curling, as usual, over her shoulders.

And, Natalia was right. She’s throwing looks over at them.

Eliza had spoken to her for the first time, without having to do so for a class project, last week. She’d tossed her backpack over her shoulder super casually - Colleen had noticed out of the corner of her eye, as she’d packed up her own bag - and approached her.

“Can I borrow your notes?”

Colleen was always loathe to part with her notes. She took pride in them - even color coded them - and she doubted that strangers would take as much care with them as they deserved.

But Eliza… well, she didn’t really know her. But she didn’t feel like a stranger either. Especially with her eyes looking all hopeful and nervous. She wondered if Eliza had fallen behind in class with all of the work she was doing on her social medias. Or on her work for the internship she had at the Red Keep (thanks, twitter).

She’d handed over her notebook with a smile that was genuine.

“Whatever. The rainbow pin is why she seems gay, fine. But she’s coming over here.” Natalia brings her back to the moment, making a face at the meatloaf she’s eating before she pushes the tray away. 

Colleen sat up straighter, dropping her own fork. “That’s Eliza. We’re in Valyrian Lit class together.”

Eliza walked even closer, looking… apprehensive. Her big, expressive eyes were downcast, as she worried at her generous bottom lip. Which was weird because no, she didn’t know Eliza personally. But she kind of did know her personality. And she was not apprehensive.

It took a moment for Colleen to notice the notebook in her hands. And that it wasn’t the same green one - always green notebooks for lit classes - she’d given Eliza three days ago.

“Hey! Colleen! Hey. Uhhh. I have… your notebook.” Eliza held out the notebook toward her, shifting back and forth on her feet. “Your notes were - great. Such a help.”

“No problem, but…” Colleen eyed the notebook - a mint green as opposed to her hunter green. “That’s not mine.”

“No, it is! I - it is.” Eliza cleared her throat and slid it down onto the table. “It’s definitely yours, now. Um. The thing is. My obnoxious roommate  - I didn’t choose her? I was supposed to live with my friend, but then housing got all messed up and. It’s a whole thing,” she waved her hand, and Colleen, despite being so anal about what the fuck happened to her notebook, couldn’t help but be entertained. “The point is, she spilled her coffee all over your notebook.”

“What?!” All the gods, her notes. All her time and color coordination. And that had all of her handouts and - fuck. Dr. Lannister was not an easy professor to pass, his exams were notoriously difficult -

“Ohhhh, shit,” Natalia whispered.

Eliza quickly flipped the notebook open, frantically pointing at the pages. “No! Wait. I, I dried out your notebook and spent all last night re-writing your notes. I tried finding a matching notebook, but this was the only green one they had at the store. And I bought colored pens, because I figured out the color system, too. It’s all there. I swear. And I made copies of all of the handouts and put them in the back. Thanks. For the notes. I’ll never ask again, I swear.”

She hitched her backpack over her shoulder without another word and spun on her heel.

Colleen leaned over the table to peek at her notes and… wow. Eliza really did figure out her color coding system, even down to the obsessive tonal color changes for different types of literature. And. She skimmed her eyes quickly over the page - Eliza definitely left some insightful notes in here that Colleen herself had missed.

She turned her head to see if she could even call out her thanks to Eliza, but she was too far away. All she could see was the other girl slapping her palm against her forehead as she turned to leave the hall.

It made her smile.

Fall 2020

Professor Stark tapped her hands on her desk, “And as much as I know group projects aren’t everyone’s favorite thing, the sad reality is that we have to work with people in real life that we don’t get to choose. So, you will all individually document what you do in this project and then evaluate each other’s contributions at the end. You have your groups, the rubrik, and some examples to start with. Even though the project isn’t due for over a month, I would highly recommend starting it early.”

Eliza wouldn’t say she loved group work by any means, especially when the groups were assigned.

Colleen caught her eye and asked, “You want to come to my place this weekend to get started? I really don’t like to wait until the last minute for these kinds of things.”

Eliza was pretty sure she was going to write Sansa Stark a thank you letter.

[televisedbirdwatching]

Trash, Sweeps, and Life Unsheltered in Portland

“I understand that homeless people have it rough, but I don’t understand why they can’t just pick up after themselves better.”

It was a grey and depressing Portland morning in March of 2018, the time of year when people start getting excited about the end of winter, but before the time of year when everyone’s resolve is collectively crushed and we learn to accept to our sunless future. Some coworkers and I had the opportunity to earn some bonus money from our job by spending a few hours picking up trash in the neighborhood around our store. 

“I don’t understand why they can’t just pick up after themselves,” said my coworker, as he tried to lift up a wet sock using a trash-grabber. 

At the time, I didn’t really have anything to say to him. It was something that puzzled me, too. Walking around that part of town, it wasn’t uncommon to have to cross the street because a camp had completely blocked the sidewalk. Often times, although the tents themselves weren’t in the way, the outward sprawl of car parts, old tarps, abandoned box springs, and bicycles made passage difficult.

As with most of the things that I’ve learned since I first started working with unsheltered folks in Portland, the answer to my coworkers question was simpler and more direct than I imagined. I should have asked, Where are they going to put their trash? And then, who would come pick it up?

This photo is from a 2017 pilot project in Oakland that helped provide large-scale camps with trash service.

For the last few months, I’ve been working closely with a group called The People’s Store. We’re a mobile, pop-up, free “store” that helps unsheltered people get access to the daily care items they need. The things we carry in the store and the services we try to provide are informed by the unsheltered people we serve. One of the things that came up a few times was the need for a way to dispose of trash.

One of our volunteers pointed me in the direction of Metro’s Bag Program, a service our regional government has been providing since 2018. From their website: “Metro's bag program provides people who are experiencing homelessness with a way to dispose of their trash. The program started as a pilot in the fall of 2018 after Metro engaged local government representatives, law enforcement officers, community health workers and people experiencing homelessness to better understand disposal challenges for people living in camps, cars and RVs around greater Portland. In addition to providing disposal options, the program also aims to reduce litter and keep our communities clean and healthy.”

Metro distributes rolls of trash bags to camps around the Portland area, and there’s a phone number printed on the side of the bag that anyone can call to have the bag picked up by the RID Patrol, a task force on illegal dumping. RID Patrol employee Juan Garcia said in this article that “people living outside often offer to help him clean up. He recalls one site where a man was sweeping with a broom he'd made himself out of branches from a bush. ‘And he was literally making piles of rigid plastic and metal to recycle,’ he adds.

For more info on the Bag program, check out this video, created in partnership with Metro and Outside the Frame, a group that provides youth experiencing homelessness a way to tell their stories through the medium of documentary film.

The same article quoted Richard Catlett, an unsheltered person helping Garcia clean up a camp on 82nd avenue. “‘Homeless people aren't trash. We aren't worthless,’ he said as he pointed to some garbage on the ground. ‘This is a by-product of how we're forced to live.’

Beyond barriers to trash disposal faced by unsheltered folks, Catlett is right to highlight the fact that life on the streets often involves many single-use, individually packaged, and non-durable or repairable items. When I first started volunteering at Street Roots, I noticed the popularity of the styrofoam and plastic Cup Noodles ramen soups. I studied sustainability in college, and there was something deep in my brain that felt bad about handing out single-use styrofoam containers, along with single-use plastic utensils, knowing they would end up in a landfill in short order. However, who am I to begrudge someone their only calories for the day because the packaging isn’t a suitably sustainable item?

In an attempt to distribute the most goods to the greatest number of people, many of the items that folks donate or distribute to unsheltered folks are cheap, bulk buys. It’s an honorable goal to be able to distribute 50 backpacks instead of 10. However, when these items can’t stand up to the rigors of life outside, they inevitably end up as trash. Even if repair of these items is possible, it’s often not worth the time nor the money to purchase the required supplies. Coupled with the fact that there aren’t many opportunities to dispose of trash items, these things pile up.

This flyer from Portland advocacy group Stop The Sweeps provides critical information about the city of Portland’s campsite sweeping policies. One of the criteria used by the city to determine which camps to sweep first is “Has significant garbage or debris.” Without providing a robust system for trash disposal, it’s not clear how this is a fair qualification for determining which camps to sweep. 

However, there’s a parallel kind of logic present in the nature of sweeps themselves as a response to homelessness. The city provides few opportunities for unsheltered people to dispose of their trash, and then judges them based on their ability to keep their camps clean: The city provides few opportunities for people to access the supportive housing, and then disperses camps of people who already had nowhere else to go.

In an article on the Metro website, Solid Waste Planner Rob Nathan was quoted as follows: “We keep hearing from our partners that the more people are moved, the harder it is to provide them with transitional services, healthcare and housing—all those things we need to get people off the street. Our partners are really excited about this (the bag program) because they see this as a tool to help keep people stable, in one spot, and complained about less.”

In Portland, we’re incredibly lucky to have groups like Metro providing creative solutions to these problems with programs like the Bag program, and to have groups simultaneously creating low-barrier jobs and provide trash services through Central City Concern and Clean Start PDX. Programs like the bag program are a critical step in making sure that people can avoid getting swept and can experience the stability required to rebuild their lives. It’s clear that unsheltered folks want to help keep their camps clean- they just need the trash bags and trash service to do it. Programs like the bag program provide this support and help close the gap between the services housed people take for granted and the services unhoused people really need.

This photo is from a Street Roots article in the winter of 2019, when ODOT announced it was ramping up sweeps on ODOT property.

A few weeks ago, I was driving through a large camp in Laurelhurst Park, after making a supply drop for The People’s Store. As I drove by, I saw a woman using a broom to sweep off the sidewalk in front of her tent. 

A few days ago I learned that the Laurelhurst Camp would be subject to a sweep. Notices were to be posted shortly, and folks would have 24-48 hours notice to bring their camp into compliance with city policy on trash, social distancing, and other criteria. 

During the coronavirus pandemic, the CDC recommends that cities not clear encampments, as this can cause people to disperse throughout the community, making any kind of Covid-related contact tracing even more difficult. The CDC also recommends that cities ensure that nearby restroom facilities are available to unsheltered folks 24/7, and are “stocked with hand hygiene materials and bath tissue.” 

What would Portland look like if we followed this recommendation, providing all of our community members with basic necessities like access to running water and trash disposal?

Sources, Inspiration, Further Reading:

https://www.oregonmetro.gov/news/bags-provide-garbage-service-those-without

https://www.oregonmetro.gov/news/garbage-pick-shines-light-stories-we-can-t-see

https://www.oregonmetro.gov/tools-living/garbage-and-recycling/report-dumped-garbage/bag-program

https://www.streetroots.org/news/2019/01/11/camp-sweep-comes-city-takes-over-odot-land

[feedmeteaandoranges]

google photos is making me depressed. winter 2018 was the only time i felt positive in my program because i was busy, had a support system and i was able to work on a lot of things at once. drawing, painting, sculpting and working on a big dossier on a forgotten artist that had little info abt them. it was a very rewarding moment in my life and i took it for granted

[shreddedparchment]

Parallel Pt.02

Heartbroken

11/18/2018

Pairing: Steve x Reader          Word Count: 2,674

Masterpost          Warnings: Angst, language

A/N: I’m in that head space when these new stories are kinda writing themselves. Anyway, I hope you like this little chapter. I mean, I cried? So...yeah...As always, if you happen to reblog, thanks so much for helping me spread my work! xoxo

Nervous is how you feel the entire flight from Australia to Norway.

When you land, it's dusk and the horizon burns red orange as the sky above slowly shifts from deep purple to an inky black.

The color of the coming night reminds you of your face. Your black eye is pretty terrible to look at and you keep getting stares as you exit the small airport.

The next stop is a boat.

You miss being able to fly places yourself. This time of year, when fall is turning to winter, Norway’s biting cold shocks your system. You miss the warm Australian atmosphere, but you keep Thor in mind. Getting back to him is all that matters.

So, you steel yourself against the inconveniences of having to take a cab to your boat and then ride a boat for an hour in cold waters to get to the Lofoten Islands.

A sharp knock on the glass of the front viewport startles you. The kind and excited Norwegian boat Captain points to the left.

“Se! Sølvbyen!” He smiles a toothy grin.

You follow the indicated direction and your jaw drops. Slowly you rise and move to stand in the doorway that leads out to the deck.

New Asgard, this New Asgard, even in the fading twilight shines like a beautiful polished silver jewel nestled on tall green and white cliffs.

This New Asgard is at least ten times larger than the New Asgard you spent time in with Thor. His palace rises high into the sky, reflecting the stars and moonlight making the whole city look like an enchanted fairyland.

So different. It's all so different. How can it all be so much better for everyone else and not you?

The city falls from view as the boat approaches the base of the cliff and docks at a large station. There are tons of people disembarking off of small boats like your own, but a larger ship brings streams of excited Norwegians and tourists, all of them following the dock up towards a beautiful wood and steel staircase that leads up to a smaller station with what looks like elevators.

You look at the captain with a quizzical brow, “Why are there so many people?”

“De er her for feiringen.” He says with a small laugh, thinking you stupid for not knowing.

You quickly sift through the Norwegian you know, trying to translate in your head as fast as possible. “Feiring? Celebration? What celebration?”

The captain laughs at you, thinking you’re joking and waves you off.

You slowly limp off of the boat, drawing your jacket up higher around your white tee. Jeans and a tee were a terrible choice for Norway.

“Lykke til.” The captain calls out to you and you watch him pull out and sail back into the night.

With no other choice than to move with the crowd, you slowly follow the flow of the bodies that laugh and joke. It’s such a babble of languages that you can’t pick out one from another.

The queue at the elevators is long but moves quickly. You wait only ten minutes before you shove your way onto one of the large glass boxes, reinforced with steel and wood. This New Asgard is definitely much more well off than the small humble one you'd enjoyed with Thor.

You move straight to the back of the box and turn, carefully using your arms to block people from jostling you. Your ribs, as you had suspected are indeed broken, fractured actually which is not as bad but they still fucking hurt.

Funnily enough, it feels reminiscent of your first injuries at Avengers compound when the Shadow had attacked looking for the serum and you’d spent the following week limping around with a cane for an injured leg, broken ribs, and small cuts.

It feels strange that you seem to have almost the exact same injuries even though this is a much different reality.

“I hope they have lots of food. I’m starving.”

“Are you kidding? A celebration of this size? I doubt they’ll run out of anything. These Asgardians are really generous.”

You peek over the shoulder of an older lady on your left and spot two girls, no older than sixteen or so, giggling excitedly.

“Do you think we'll get to see him?” The blonde girl asks.

“Thor?” Asks the brunette. “Duh, it's his celebration.”

Your heart begins to pound at the mention of your husband and you quickly push your way closer to the two girls. The offended older woman in front of you gasps and pushes back slightly making your ribs burn.

“Personally, I hope I get a look at Loki…he’s so hot.” The brunette confesses.

The blonde glares at her friend. “Ew, Lisa, after what he did to New York how can you even stand to look at that creep?”

“Hey, people change.”

“Excuse me.” You swallow hard, eager to get some info on Thor.

The two girls turn to look at you, slightly surprised, the blonde still frowning about her friend's love for Loki.

“You said this celebration is for Thor? What exactly are they celebrating?” You ask, a small uncertain smile plastered on your beaten face.

The two girls exchange a long look as if they cannot believe that anyone who is here would not know what the Asgardians are celebrating.

As the elevator doors open and people begin to file out the blonde turns her gaze back to you looking slightly crestfallen.

“Its for Thor's engagement. He’s going to marry the Lady Sif.” The blonde sighs sadly.

Her words freeze you, you’re not here, where are you? Numbness fills your chest and once again you have no beating heart. This can’t be happening.

As the girls leave you to your numbness you watch as the brunette rubs the blonde's shoulder comforting her friend at the tragic loss of her crush.

Almost as if you’re floating, you drift out of the elevator and trudge painfully through the crowd.

Asgardians are lined up along the road from the elevators to welcome the tourists, but you don’t give them a glance. You're too busy trying to keep your shit together. You force yourself to move faster along the beautiful cobble road. Trying to ignore the pain as you pass street vendors in old wooden and stone type stalls to fit the Asgardian aesthetic. Lanterns light up the streets and music plays from almost every building giving the city a laid back, party vibe.

Laughter floats around you in harsh contrast to the agony you slowly feel is beginning to consume you.

You continue to follow the flow of the crowd. Asgard is massive and there are so many people everywhere. Is this the glory that Thor had spoken of? Was this the might of Asgard?

Slowly you begin to recognize the twists of the streets as the ones you walked so long ago with Thor and the people of Asgard. You turn right and pass the smithy you'd first seen on your visit with Thor. Then the school and then the Tavern. The door swings open and raucous laughter floats out intermixed with music and the clinking of steins.

You turn your eyes to Thor's palace as it grows closer and the crowd begins to get thicker until finally, about a hundred yards from the front stairs that Thor had once presented you to his people on, you find yourself unable to get closer.

You strain against the mixture of Asgardians and tourists trying to get a little higher to see but you're saved the trouble as Thor moves up a few steps before he stops and offers his hand to someone below and out of sight.

The sight of him hits you like the sharp bite of a snake. Its piercing and sudden and painful. But he’s still so beautiful. His hair is still short, and his beard is thick. His blue eyes sparkle as he waits for the person he beckons.

That should be you. He should be reaching for you.

A milky white hand moves up from the base of the stairs, reaching for Thor. The hand is followed by the regal form of an Asgardian woman with dark brown hair that falls in cascading waves along her back. Her dress is silver, floor-length, and matches the silver embellishments of Thor's new armor. Hair her is pinned back with beautiful shining opal berets to keep it from falling in her face.

She definitely looks the part of Thor's betrothed, much more than you ever did. It hurts, and you reach up to clutch at the base of your chest.

For a moment you can’t breathe. “No.”

Your whisper draws the attention of an Asgardian woman who turns to glare at you.

Stupid Midgardian woman objecting to Thor's marriage to a true Asgardian? How dare you?

But that’s where you belong. She's in your spot!

Thor takes her hand and wraps it around his left elbow and leads her up to stand at the top of the stairs so that everyone can look on his future bride.

He raises a hand, and everyone goes silent. Although music and laughter continues to flow in from the city behind you, here by the palace, the silence is heavy.

“Thank you all for coming to help me celebrate the choosing of my bride.” He looks at Sif, staring at her with an affection that makes your heart clench. “I am not exaggerating when I say that I have been quite blind for hundreds of years to the clarity that my own mother often expressed. Perfection was before me and I did not see it.”

“Better late than never.” Sif jokes, squeezing his arm.

Thor beams at her and it kills you. This can’t be happening.

“I have often wondered if I would ever find a woman strong enough to rule Asgard at my side and I am glad to say that I have finally found her. Sif, my friend and counsel…my Blossom, I am very happy to present you tonight as the future Queen of Asgard.”

Blossom? Blossom? Did he just call her…you let your gaze fall away from them as your heart shatters to pieces. Grief begins to consume you as you succumb to the agony that you not only lost Thor, but this seals any hope of ever getting your baby girl back.

You shut your eyes and don’t even feel the tears as they fall. As the crowd cheers around you, you turn your gaze back onto Thor’s smiling face and watch him lean down towards Sif's cheek to press a soft kiss. She shuts her eyes, the utter happiness she exudes chokes you. That should be you.

As you watch him happily love his new betrothed, your mind is suddenly filled with his words, spoken on a rooftop in Wakanda what feels ages ago.

“My love, I’m sure that even if we use the watch there must be a way to hold on to what we have. This love between us does not just disappear. And we can make this baby again.”

You'd known then that it would be impossible. It was a fool’s hope. You’d wanted to believe that you and Thor could weather any storm. That even if the universe separated you that somehow, you and he would find your way back to each other. You'd feared this outcome. You’d dreaded it. You'd had nightmares about it and here it is in shocking reality. Thor doesn’t care for you anymore. He’s moved on. Your baby girl is nothing but a blip in your own memory and as you think about her, tiny and perfect, kicking you from within, your face crumbles.

Thor suddenly turns to look over the crowd and for a terrifying moment, you feel like his eyes find you. For two seconds he stares in your direction. Embarrassment and pain drive your gaze down.

You wait a moment then chance a glance back up at him and Sif but they’re no longer standing by the stairs. They’re moving into the palace as the crowd begins to disperse around you to join the many small celebrations going on throughout the city.

You’re left standing in the middle of the road, alone and without hope, crying because what else can you do? You pass your hands over your stomach and your pain is renewed stronger.

With a quivering lip you look back up towards the palace doors and consider going up there and knocking on the damn door.

But doing that would require you have some hope and you don't.

If Thor really did spot you in the crowd and if he did recognize you, then he either doesn’t remember your life together or he doesn’t care.

Six months. Six blissful months before he left, that was all this version of you had. Without the Snap he has no reason to seek you out, just as you feared.

Suddenly a stout Asian man wearing dark red robes steps into your view.

You look up at the body's face and find Wong's furrowed brow staring down at you from the top of the stairs.

There's something off about his gaze however and you see the spark of recognition in his eyes.

Already embarrassed, you have no desire to be seen at the moment and you have the terrible idea that Wong might take you up to meet with Thor and at this particular moment when you’re just beginning the mourning of the husband and daughter you’ve lost, it's tantamount to torture to see him.

You turn quickly and move to head back towards the elevators so that you can get the hell off of this island.

You only get a few feet, thanks to your stupid leg and ribs, when orange sparks startle you into stopping. The orange sparks grow out and wide until they’re a clearly defined circle.

Through this circle you can see a large room with a large staircase and a large glass wall with rooms beyond. The room is mostly made of dark woods and the occasional brass embellishments, but you can also see comfortable red chairs, tables, and decorations like vases and statues.

None of the Asgardians seem to be paying the portal any mind. A few of the tourists look over with curiosity but go back to their celebrating after staring for a bit.

“Vex? You should not be here.” The accented voice comes from behind you.

You turn to look at Wong as he moves towards you, his eyes kinder bit still narrowed in confusion.

You quickly reach up to wipe at your tears as he closes the distance between you and stops with his hands on his hips.

“What did you just call me? How do you know that name?” You demand, hating the way hearing your old pseudonym fills you with what you’d just abandoned, hope.

“I am a Master of the Mystic Arts. I would not forget you easily. I’m sorry to say that others were not so lucky.” He’s talking about Thor.

Your eyes water again as you struggle with your aching heart.

“Why did you come here?” He opens his arms as he shrugs, struggling to understand your motives.

“I-I didn’t know that he was engaged.” You admit and feel your sorrow double as you finally say it aloud.

Wong sighs. “Come on, this is not a place for you anymore.”

His words cut you and you sob as you look over his shoulder at the palace doors. Betrayal courses through your body even though you know that Thor isn’t deliberately abandoning you. He just doesn’t remember ever loving you as much as he did.

“Come.” Wong places his hand on your shoulder and helps turn you back towards the portal.

As you limp through it and the portal begins to close, you watch as the palace doors open and with curiosity twisting his expression, Thor moves back out, watching as you and Wong disappear.

@until-theend-oftheline @jessieray98 @dsakita @coldfacedwarf @just-trying-to-survive-marvel @myfandomlife-blog @wishingforahome @theonelittleone @aireka-frnc @oursameoldlove @wintersoldierswhore @keithseabrook27 @jewelofwinter @markusstraya @sincerelytlh @rumoured-whispers @thehatredofshipprick @the-surviving-revolutionist @fairislesheets @mannls @moonlessnight14 @pandazlazykid @donner5822

[yinzhengs]

timeline of zhai tianlin drama

—aka, why OS s2 is in peril: the tl;dr is that people are casting suspicion on zhai tianlin’s phd thesis’ validity + it’s blown up. this is taken from this weibo post here that tried to give a summary / timeline of events (note that as far as i can tell, OP is biased against ztl...) 

note that a lot of (if not all) of these claims are unsubstantiated / based on questionable “evidence.” my heart goes out to ztl for having to deal with the massive influx of hate — tags abt this have been trending all week, and this drama’s even made the news. (link to english article, south china morning post)

avenuex also made a video about it here (which i haven’t watched yet bc frankly i don’t have the emotional energy, but i’ve heard it’s good)

throughout the post they refer to ztl as “翟博士” which is lit. doctor/phd zhai. whether or not it’s snarky... well... i’ll leave it to you to decide. all my additions in the form of links or supplementary info are in square brackets.

一个翟博士引发的惨案 / lit. a massacre that dr. zhai started

背景：翟博士微博晒出北大光华学院博士后站录取通知书，自勉“加油，小翟”。

background: dr. zhai shared on weibo his acceptance letter to the brilliant beijing university, encouraging himself with the caption “加油 [jiayou], xiao zhai” (approx. keep up the good work, little zhai) 第一波：翟博士不知知网。网友问他能否在知网看见他的博士论文，他一头雾水问“知网是什么” 翟博士：自我挽尊“我说不知道1+1=2都有人信”。 the first wave: dr. zhai didn’t know about 知网 [zhiwang] / China National Knowledge Infrastructure (wiki link provided, but it’s a research database similar to jstor in the west). netizens asked if they would be able to read his phd thesis on CNKI. completely confused, he asked: “what’s CNKI?”

dr zhai [later], trying to save his own dignity: “people would believe me even if i said i didn’t know 1+1=2.” 

[ie. he commented this to note that he meant it sarcastically. ppl on the net didn’t believe him, sparking the next events...]  第二波：翟博士无c刊论文。网友通过知网查询，发现翟博士没有c刊论文，正规大学毕业一般都需要发论文。 翟博士轧戏无时间上学。网友分析翟博士博士期间的工作量，基本都在拍戏和活动，完全不符合全日制学生的在校时间。 翟博士工作室挽尊：“博士论文将由学校统一上传”，“通过函授、导师进组指导学习”。

the second wave: dr. zhai doesn’t have a paper in the CSSCI (a rather unhelpful wiki link provided, essentially the largest social science publication citation index in china + a measure by which a publication’s authenticity/accredibility is measured). netizens searched across CNKI and found that dr. zhai didn’t have any papers [cited] in the CSSCI, though according to usual university graduation standards, theses must be published [into the system].

dr. zhai had no time to attend class while filming. netizens analyzed dr. zhai’s workload during his phd program [2014-2018] and found that he was always either filming or doing promotional activities — there was no way he could have had time to attend full-time schooling during the semester.

his studio’s damage control: “[ztl’s] doctoral thesis will be organized and uploaded by his university,” “through correspondence [long-distance teaching], his advisor oversaw his studies”

第三波： 网友继续质疑没有c刊论文如何答辩。 粉丝拿翟博士唯一发表在《广电时评》文章挽尊，但被嘲笑不是c刊，又挽尊北电不一定用c刊。

the third wave: netizens continue to question — without a published thesis, how could he defend his dissertation?

fans tried to defend him with an essay he published in “广电时评” [a film-related magazine], but were mocked because that wasn’t a CSSCI publication. fans also tried to defend him saying that beijing film academy [where ztl got his phd] didn’t necessarily use CSSCI. 第四波：于妈下场。于妈发出对话截图，证明翟博士有十万字论文，且高达645k，赞他写的好。 网友质疑十万字论文怎么只有600多k，引用文献和开头学校图标都��有吗。 the fourth wave: mama yu [nickname for director yu zheng, notable for shows like story of yanxi palace + yin zheng’s upcoming winter begonia] appears. yu posts a screenshot of their chat history [with picture of attachments sent], proving that dr. zhai had a thesis w/ over 100,000 words, and a file size of over 645 kilobytes, praising that he wrote it well.

netizens call into question why a 100,000 word thesis is only ~600 kilobytes — was there no bibliography, or even a icon [ie. picture file which would increase file size dramatically] of his school[’s logo]?

[unfortunately... this didn’t really help his case, considering yu zheng has also been involved in controversy regarding plagiarism allegations many times]

第五波：同学被拖下水扒皮。与翟博士一起毕业的其他学生名单被翻出，网友挨个知网查询，均有3-5篇论文，有人非c刊。  电博士不用发c刊论文，含金量受质疑。

the fifth wave: classmates are pulled into the controversy + not spared. the list of the other classmates that graduated w/ dr. zhai was dug up. netizens searched each of them one by one on CNKI: they all had 3-5 papers, some didn’t have CSSCI publications.

beijing film academy’s phd students don’t need to publish CSSCI-level papers — beijing film academy’s academic standards are called into question.  第六波：翟博士抄袭。翟博士发表在《广电时评》的普通文章知网查重高达40%，抄袭十几年前的文章。 文章被抄袭的黄教授朋友圈回应“春晚饰演打假警察的人要我来打假”。 打脸工作室声明没有学术不端行为。

the sixth wave: dr. zhai’s plagiarism. the essay [mentioned earlier], published in 广电时评 was ran through CNKI and [supposedly] had a similarity rating of over 40%, with passages plagiarized from papers over ten years old.

professor huang li hua posted on his wechat: “the one who acted on 春晚 [lunar new year broadcast show] as someone exposing cops as fake has to be exposed by me as a fake.”

[ztl’s] studio officially announced that no academic dishonesty had taken place.

[huang later continued, translation from the south china morning post: “The celebrity’s management company claimed Zhai had no academic misconduct issues, but my essays a decade ago were copied paragraph by paragraph. The truth trumps his argument,” Huang wrote on the Chinese social media app WeChat.] 第七波：学术不端列撤。四川大学将翟博士事件列为学术不端案例，几日后又删除。

the seventh wave: removal from “academic dishonesty” list. sichuan university listed dr. zhai’s case as an example of academic dishonesty, but deleted it after a few days. [link to the world’s worst screenshot] 第八波：导师被拖下水扒皮。翟博士导师被扒出，身为博导却是本科毕业！导师另一位弟子也无c刊论文。

the eighth case: [ztl’s] academic advisor is dragged into the controversy. dr. zhai’s advisor was dug up — he was appointed phd advisor, but had only an undergraduate degree! another one of this advisor’s students also didn’t have a CSSCI-level publication. 第九波：官媒发声。人民日报、共青团微博、紫光阁等官媒发表对翟博士的质疑。 北电回应：自查自纠小组成立。 北大回应：看北电查的怎么样根据规则处理。

the ninth wave: official state media starts reporting: people’s daily [newspaper], the communist youth league’s weibo, tower of purple light [magazine], etc. publish articles regarding the suspicion surrounding dr. zhai

beijing film academy’s response: an internal investigation committee has been established.

beijing university’s response: we will wait on beijing film academy’s investigation results, and then follow standard regulations to deal with this matter.

[ according to smcp: around this time, essay is also reported to have been taken down from CKNI ] 第十波：院长被拖下水扒皮。翟博士毕业答辩导师、北电表演系张院长被网友扒出五十多岁娶了自己的九零后学生刘某，也是杨紫同学，北电下制片厂投资两人演男女主角，找杨紫张一山关晓彤当配角，只获得75万票房。 the tenth wave: a university dean is pulled into the controversy. [one of the] advisors dr. zhai had to defend his dissertation against to graduate, dean zhang of beijing film academy’s acting school, is revealed to have married a student (surname liu) of his born in the 90′s(?), despite being over fifty himself. she was also a classmate of yang zi [this is very irrelevant but she’s a very famous post-90′s actress who graduated from beijing film academy. you might know her for being in ashes of love.] 

a movie production studio under beijing film academy invested in producing a movie where dean zhang + his wife liu were the male/female leads, getting yang zi, zhang yishan, and guan xiaotong [all v v v v famous] to play supporting roles, though it only made 750,000 at the box office.

[so i did some digging and it appears that this is the movie they’re talking about. again it’s mostly irrelevant if you ask me, but maybe you wanted to know. mostly the controversy is for like, taking a really young wife and then making beijing film academy pay for his romantic fantasy movie lol. 

what does this have to do with zhai tianlin? pretty much nothing tbh] 第十一波：北电侯亮平、阿廖沙再次被提起……北电的水有多深? 豆瓣赐翟博士新绰号：靖北侯。

the eleventh wave: previous allegations of professors’ sexual assault cases / misconduct brought back into question ... how much is beijing film academy hiding?

[ the specific cases they reference are 阿廖沙 and 侯亮平, both web names that anonymous posters used on weibo to report/investigate sexual assault allegations at beijing film academy. (the second name is a reference to a character in a tv show who’s a anti-corruption prosecutor); i can talk about those cases but it’d take a whole separate post — tl;dr anonymous poster shares account of sexual assault and ensuing ostracization from faculty/classmates when they tried to bring it to light and ultimately turned to weibo. it was a rly big trending topic for a while back in 2017. ]

douban confers on dr. zhai a new nickname: 靖北侯 

[the meaning, v. approx “peaceful north marquis” is a reference back to “平西王,” “peaceful west king/prince,” the nickname for 薄熙来 (bo xilai), a PRC politician sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption — obviously, the 北/bei also refers to beijing film/uni + 候 is a convenient callback to the previous anon investigator into beijing film sexual assault cases]

that was very very long. i hope this was somewhat helpful ;-; chinese social media has been blowing up about this, this is an attempt to capture some of the context. (this has been stressing me and my friends out as well — fingers crossed for ztl to get out of this unscathed.)

[solarpunk-gnome]

[Shameless self-promotion]

As we observe the winter solstice, my thoughts have turned to how solarpunks approach winter. As the days turn dark and cold, how does a society dependent on the sun continue to prosper?

Finland

If anyone knows about how to approach long nights, it’s the people who live at the poles. Finland, which was recently rated the world’s happiest country, has no shortage of darkness given it’s proximity to the Earth’s North Pole. In the northernmost parts of the country, the sun doesn’t rise for 51 days in the winter. Why are they so happy then? A stable government with minimal corruption is probably a contributing factor, along with free healthcare and college programs. In the Nature Fix, author Florence Williams suggests it’s the access to nature. Provided you don’t cut down anyone’s trees or damage their property, there’s no such thing as trespassing in Finland. Unlike in the United States where fences and no trespassing signs prohibit free passage, you can hike from one end of Finland to another without running afoul of the law. Also, the combination of low population density and relatively late urbanization, most of Finland’s population is only minutes away from a Nordic walk in the woods or one of the many wintertime diversions available to residents such as ice skating or cross country skiing. For more, check out this Buzzfeed article that is a nice summary of how Fins stay happy, no matter the weather.

Photo by kailash kumar on Pexels.com

Wool

While the vegans in the audience will groan, I feel wool is one of the best resources we have when it comes to staying warm in the wintertime. Since wool is a material that can be harvested without harming the sheep, it seems like a win-win to me. It’s important to look at how you’re sourcing the wool when you get it, but wool from a well-treated sheep will keep you warm at the expense of them getting a haircut. Is wool cheap? No. But, it mother nature has taken millions of years plus a few hundred of human intervention to develop a fabric that breathes well, is the bomb at temperature regulation, and like all natural fibers, is biodegradable. That last part is important since so much of the microplastics in the ocean are coming from washing our synthetic fabrics. REI has a great article about sustainable clothing and textile choices for more info on wool and other options to stay warm in the winter/

DX system in a house by WGisol under a CC BY-SA 4.0

Geothermal heat pumps

One way to make sure things stay toasty is with geothermal, or ground source, heat pumps. Often overlooked as a source of clean power, geothermal electricity generation isn’t something that works in all areas. Geothermal heat pumps work just about anywhere though to help keep things nice and warm inside with a minimal investiture of electrical power. In short, geothermal heat pumps replace the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system of a building and use the Earth as a heat sink. Since the ground is roughly 18 Celsius in most places, you can cool in the summer and heat in the winter with little energy expenditure. According to Wikipedia, these systems offer a 44-75% increase in efficiency over more traditional heating systems. The US Department of Energy has a good overview of the technology.

Solar fluid

In an interesting development announced last month, scientists at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed a fluid that can store solar energy for up to  18 years. So, excess capacity in the summer could be stored into the winter from your solar array and retrieved when needed. Since the system is heat storage, it can be converted to electricity, or could be used as a means of storing summer’s warmth to heat your home in the winter. The original paper can be found here in Energy and Environmental Science.

Moth Wings Cape by CostureoReal on Etsy

Lunarpunks

I would be remiss to not mention our lunarpunk cousins here when talking about the darkest time of the year. Lunarpunks are the night dwellers of solarpunk society. They are a subculture within our subculture, favoring the night. Biomimmicry of bioluminescent creatures, moth-themed cloaks, and gossamer fabrics fluttering in the night breeze are some of the aesthetic influences here. Winter would be the lunarpunk’s time to be more active, hosting all kinds of events in the cooler nights from art displays to street festivals.

Do you have any thoughts on what solarpunk winters might be like? Let us know below, or consider submitting a story to World Weaver Press’s call for stories for their Solarpunk Winters anthology which opens in January!

[If you stop by my blog, don’t forget to visit the Solarpunk Resources page!]