#it'll be great for the economy

[reginrokkr]

With that IC content delivered, it is time to dip out for the evening. I'm quite content that slowly I'm able to catch up with things and be able to stay more in tune with my RP partners, which wasn't as possible in earlier moments due to the internship (speaking of which, if you'd like to discuss things with an interaction to lead eventually, feel free to boop this post and I'll drop by your IMs!).

Other than that, this week seems to be one of looking forward to a few things. Thursday will be my last day of internship. Tomorrow I have to make a call to a pharmacy with the potential of a job interview. During this week I should get a call from the pharmacist that interviewed me last week and receive news about the delivery of the provisional title of pharmacy technician (that's a whole can of worms that is best to not open lol). And lastly I will visit the place where I'll continue my studies from September onwards within the health line, going for dietetics! I hope you peeps enjoy the last of the weekend and that you have a good start of the week ♥︎

[nibwhipdragon]

Seeing that post I just reblogged reminded me. I had a dream the BW remakes released and they sucked so bad. Worse than the BDSP sucked. And considering that I've had that dream so close to Pokemon day I'm terrified it's a premonition

[sforzesco]

HELLO EVERYONE later this year, I'm going to be launching a patreon!

I'm going to be upfront, freelancing in america is kind of a nightmare. I've held off doing patreon just because the logistics of it made my brain hurt, but student loans and taxes wait for no one. (I'll also look into doing the same thing on ko-fi to give everyone interested a patreon alternative)

to be clear: I have no plans to suddenly paywall anything I was planning on posting, or to do an early access situation because it just really kills the vibe of what I like to do (comics, for me, lose something if some people can read before other people can because of a paywall. this isn't a condemnation of people who do choose to do an early access method! thinking about doing it with my own work puts a bad taste in my mouth because art takes on a social aspect for me I am loathe to lose.)

all tier rewards wold function as a "thank you for your patronage!" type of deal. nothing posted there would be anything I was planning to post publicly (so rough drafts, scrapped ideas I canned halfway through finishing, scans of my warm up sketch book, extremely early drafts of projects I am thinking about but will need to go through six more edits before it's close to postable, those kinds of works would be on patreon because those aren't things I post publicly and never had a particular interest in doing so beyond the occasional upload).

if it works out, this actually means I'll be able to post MORE work and even bring more of it to full colors (which is something I enjoy doing, but just don't have the time for) because I'll have an additional income source and won't need to spend a significant amount of time juggling freelancing gigs and crying about student loan debt. (I wish this was a joke but my god. the economy)

tldr; no art that I was already planning to post would be locked behind a paywall! patreon rewards are things I don't already post publicly and function as a kind of thank you card! ultimately this will allow me to post more work and begin longer form comic projects!

[imblocking-you]

Cinderella and the Four Knights kinda absurd but gives me so much nostalgia of the trope that was so well-loved when I was growing up

[clamorybus]

if there's one hgtv show i like, its that hometown one because their designs aren't fucking boring

[notspiders]

Liminal Spaces w/ COD:MW

Part 1

~~~~

Credits for some of the ideas goes to: @angelcqre , @roller-rink-haruno , and @sentientcave / @bluemoonrover. I love all of you so much, thank you for the support!!!

~~~~

It's more than just Task Force 141.

Don't like them? Consider these following options! :) Watch your back.

Phillip Graves - The Farm:

There's really nowhere to run off to. Good luck.

His Shadows are the farmhands and the scarecrows.

His animals are... weird.

His horses are a bit too smart, and you think you seen them peering through your bedroom window. Which is nice, until you remember you're on the second floor.

They're... always crunching on something. Why is the family of mice decreasing?

Why do the dogs look human-like? Is it the eyes?

But, you know, ignoring them... the BBQ and steak isn't so bad. You'll get the juiciest steak here. The best baked bread...

Oh, hun. You're cooking, by the way.

He's waiting on that blueberry pie too, you know.

Look at the closet. It's filled with his favorite clothes for you. :)

Why don't you bend over that counter and let him...

Oh? No? You're saying no?

That's adorable. You now have until three to lay on his lap. :)

Alex Keller - Highway

Well you do have to be in a car for this. Walking is a bit of a pain. :/

The endless highway... Sometimes you'll spot a car driving by. But they disappear when you try to speed up to them.

There's an occasional gas station smack in the middle.

And maybe the next hundreds of miles there's another...

Always stocked to the max. Anything you want, it's there.

It's cool inside too.

He's always there too.

You can keep driving but you need the gas. It'll be a pain to have your car broken down in the middle of nowhere. And the sun is scorching hot.

Oh!

Princess needs somewhere to stay, yeah?

That motel looks sus but a place is a place, and a bed would be nice than the hard car seats.

You know...

Alex can do more than just fill your car. :)

Laswell - Cruise Ship:

The cruise ship is always moving in the waters. You don't know where it goes, or when there will be land, you feel like the boat has moved for hours but...

All the clocks are not working. It's all frozen. The day is not changing either. No clouds either. Perfectly sunny.

You have everything in this empty cruise ship. The rooms are always open for you.

Beds are clean, no matter how many times you mess up the sheets, when you exit the room and enter it again- it's back to its pristine state.

The bathrooms are neat. The shampoo and conditioner go great on your hair. There's other products- makeup, medical, more toiletries- in the drawers, should you ever need them.

Theaters, arcades, casinos, restaurants- all free for you to use.

It feels great, if it didn't feel like you're being watched constantly.

You'd enjoy this place, if you didn't see things move in the corner of your eye. You sworn you saw and heard the splash of water in the pool. And that you heard the laughter of someone in a different room. And the chattering in the restaurant.

But every time you rush in, there's no one there.

No one is here in this cruise ship. No one but ghosts and echoes of families who've been here. They're harmless... Just ignore them, dear.

Good luck trying to avoid Laswell, too. She's always watching through the cameras. :)

Under any circumstances, do not jump out.

The ocean is not the ocean.

Nikolai - Airplane

Let's get this straight, yeah?

Good girls stay in first class. Bad girls go to economy.

And if you behave like an animal, well, depends on our pilot's mood. You either get called into the cockpit...

Or down into the cargo you go! :)

Don't worry! He's very nice. If you're acting up, he gives you a warning.

That being turbulence. If the plane is shaking you better stop what you're doing. Now.

It's a strange plane... You can keep on walking and it just doesn't seem to end. Place changes too, when you try to go back. It's always something new.

Plenty of movies and games in the airplane for you to watch. Don't bother taking your phone out, it won't work.

There are very nice flight attendants that'll prepare you the best food you've ever eaten. Airplane food isn't so bad after all. You can have any drink you want too.

Just don't talk with them more than just about the food. If you say anything else, they'll leave immediately.

If you flirt with them, it's their death sentence. You'll wonder why they pale and walk away so fast...

If you glance at the window, you might just catch a glimpse of them flying out into the sky.

Speaking of which... It's pitch black outside. You do see the airplane wing and the red flashing light at the end... But other than that, you can hardly differentiate the night from earth... or sea.

König - Pools

You stumbled into one of these rooms and found the naked Austrian in the pools.

Don't run! Please! You're the first human face he's seen in a while!

It's not all that bad. There's some food in the fridge- a microwave is nearby for you to reheat some foods- and the water is fresh.

The best baths are here. There's all of these shampoos, conditioners, lotions, bathbombs...

Poor König never used them because he doesn't know how to! Teach him please!

Seriously. Gaz gave him the 13 in 1 unlimited dish soap that has Johnny's face smack in the middle of it to shoo him out of his mall- and König's been using that to wash himself ever since. :(

Don't mind him cuddling you all the time.

You're the softest thing he's ever held in his hands. The towels and rubber duckies can't even compare.

Don't try to escape or leave his side now.

There are monsters here that'll be happy to drown you.

Alejandro Vargas - The Resort

A massive upgrade compared to Ghost's Bachelor Shack by the sea.

It's still... very empty.

It's just you and Alejandro.

Food and drink are limitless. Ask for anything, Alejandro will deliver.

Relax, love. You deserve this break. You deserve everything.

No annoying seagulls squawking at you. You do see them flying in the distance though... They never come, nor do they ever land.

The waters are crystal clear. It's the perfect temperature to slip inside and just float in it.

You're never cold. It's toasty warm, with an occasional breeze. Feels perfect. The hotel has perfect air conditioning, if you want to stay inside.

You get a camera, instead of your phone. Go take some pictures!

There's so many things to do here. Scuba-diving, sailing, swimming, surfing...

Exploring tide pools with Alejandro. :)

Rodolfo Parra - Aquarium

Enjoy yourself in the aquarium! Don't you worry, the animals here are all treated wonderfully.

Let him be your tour guide. He'll show you every marine animal in this domain.

And it seems he has everything here. You can take pictures! Just without the flash please. Seriously. No flash. In fact, how about just let him take the pictures for you? Pose with him and smile for the camera... :)

If you want, you can feed the animals here!

You can pet some of the animals in some spots. Rub the back of a patient orca. Allow a sea otter to sniff your hands. Pat the belly of a lazy seal.

Come over to the Ray Pool! The stingrays are eager to feel your touch.

The beluga swims beside you as you walk down the tunnel. A dolphin leaps out of the water to greet you. A manatee smushes its face against a window in an attempt to give you a >kith<.

Ah you're hungry? Not to worry. The cafeteria is down here. Anything you want to eat or drink, it's all here.

After lunch, how about you go diving with Rudy? Don't worry. It's safe. He'll take you to one of the biggest pools and you can dive in beside him.

The Humpback Whale nuzzles you affectionately.

Try not to stray away from Rudy. You can easily get lost in these halls... If you do, stay still and just let him come up to you.

There's no point in hiding. The fish are on his side. :/

Farah Karim:

I truly believe that Farah actually doesn't have a liminal space.

She guides you instead.

She helps you go through the domains.

Farah is someone you can trust in this liminal region.

She'll watch your back as you two camp in Soap's woods. She'll lead you out of Price's suburbia. She sneaks you away from Graves's farm.

She'll protect you.

Bonus w/ Ghost:

After you met with Alejandro and seen his beach, Ghost upgraded his domain.

Well, slightly.

There is a lighthouse now.

Do you remember playing in the beach with him? You two built sandcastles together.

He's awfully proud of himself when he tips the bucket and pulls it up. He's made his first sand tower, really.

"Tha's gonna be where you and me live, lovie."

...No wonder why that lighthouse looks awfully familiar.

It also explains why it looks like it's going to crumble any second.

Sure, there's blankets and lovely cushions, some food and drink in the corner-

It's... somehow colder here than the shack. :/

You can practically feel the tower shake as the waves crash against it.

Ghost assures you- as you curl up beside him on the small bed for his warmth- that it's perfectly safe. Trust him. Please.

Please don't leave him.

But if you really need to...

He'll light his tower to guide you through the dark.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

I would really like to know how and why some of my fellow Brits have absorbed the whole "if none of us were any different (language/culture/identity) we would all understand each other better and it would be great" like my bro has said before that he thinks it would be better if only one language exists (I don't think he cares which one) I'm just ?????????? But we can try to understand each other without being the same?????

It's a dominant culture thing. A well-meaning, left-leaning one, but a dominant culture thing. This is a view held by people who don't feel any particular connection to their own culture or language, because it's dominant - it's 'default' and therefore universal and unremarkable.

This means they can't relate to the idea of belonging to your own cultural unit/sub-group. BUT:

It also goes hand in hand with being well-meaning, and left-leaning. They come from a dominant culture - meaning, one that gets imposed on others a lot, which they don't like. So they reject the notion of borders and nationhood and that, because to them, that's a negative, right wing, oppressive concept. It's in the name of nationalism that all the oppression happens; so nations are bad, right? Drawing divisions is bad, right? Dividing ourselves rather than all getting along is bad, right?

(Most famous example of this, by the way, is the song "Imagine". John Lennon was, for all his many and varied flaws, a well-intentioned man, who fell in love with an Asian woman and got subsequently FLOODED with racist abuse for it (as did Yoko Ono). He wrote "Imagine" partly as a response to that. No religion, no borders, no nations... no divisions to hate each other over. Just harmony and love.)

Seems nice, doesn't it?

But it ignores what everyone in a non-dominant culture knows and understands - that there's a difference between division and diversity, and that a single centralised authority ruling over all is Bad, Actually. People's needs go unnoticed. If you belong to a marginalised outgroup of some form, nationalism can have a great many positive benefits, because it's defending your culture and right to exist and giving you a voice that is otherwise lost. Why should we have a single homogenous culture? It'll never happen, regardless - that's not how humans work. Culture is literally the shared set of norms and values in a group. That will always adapt and change wherever there's a mass of people. And that is a good thing, because different perspectives are a good thing.

In fact, with regards to language, I always think a three-tier structure is what we need. I'm actually not against the concept of a lingua Franca, be it Esperanto or anything else. It would indeed be highly useful to have a global language for communication. But specifically for global communication - within a nation/cultural group/etc, you have the one(s) that's native to you and helps define you as a people, and then at a local level you have your dialect that unites you as neighbours. To me, for a healthy society, you need all three of those. (I have similar thoughts about currencies and economies but that is irrelevant here.)

Anyway, those are my personal thoughts, obvs

[trashyrosie]

Leona, talking about the fountain as he gives a tour: So, he built it when his son was born-

Yuu: So, he built what is essentially a pretty thing to look at, but he couldn't have used that money towards better things? Like putting an effort into rebuilding the slums?

Grim: Henchhuman-

Vil: Could you be any blunter, potato?

Yuu, crosses arms: What? Oh and this whole "being one with nature" thing and allowing some of the natural resources to go untapped-

Kifaji: It's because we don't want to drain the land of what they have given us-

Yuu: No one said you were draining it. Just think of a more eco-friendly way of handling things. Leona said you guys have the greatest concentration of sunlight, right? Turn that into solar energy. Convert some of the heavy smog machines into ones that run on solar.

Lilia, hums: She might have a point...

Kalim: Wow, Yuu! You're so smart!

Yuu: Thanks. On top of that, it'll create jobs for people, especially those who work in high poverty areas. You guys can still be surrounded by nature without having to sacrifice nature for it. *Sighs* I'm done, sorry for ra-

Leona: Marry me.

Yuu: You get Grim in the process if I do.

Leona: Deal.

Kifaji: My Prince!

#twisted wonderland#twst yuu#yuu homura#lilia vanrouge#twst grim#vil schoenheit#twst kifaji#kalim al asim#leona kingscholar#cloudcalling on the savanna

No but like as an economics student AND a Leona stan hearing about the way they're handling their economy in the Sunset Savanna ... was sure..... Shocking to say the least

I hope I’m not being to forward but your comment has me thinking, as an economics student how do you think they could improve their situation, what policies can they implement, I would love to hear your ideas���please

...fam. I'm about to yammer. Also this is my favorite question ever

As an economics student and mind you I might come off as abit harsh or even cold but I want to keep things factual. I don't think the game itself even recognizes what a big of a deal it is to purposely not develop the infrastructure. Underdeveloped infrastructure is one of the things that we take in consideration wHEN MEASURING POVERTY. This is what threw me off, in a way it sounded like they were INSISTING on having poverty related issues. AND WE KNOW THE SUNSET SAVANNA HAS PEOPLE LIVING IN POVERTY. The slumps being the biggest proof.

Leona's ideas ARE actually great solutions, he's completely right in my opinion. I just I think a lot of people don't exactly understand what he means when he talks about industrialization.. And I don't blame them. I too thought industrialization is just big factories go brr pollution and that's what the game seems to be sitting up but... I'm about to "um actually 🤓☝"

So, why is industrialization the solution (that AND developing the infrastructure bECAUSE OH MY GOD people don't have basic needs like water in 2024 ..??? I don't even feel the NEED to explain why that's bad at this point oh also the renewable energy idea is just PERFECT chief kiss) .. Now industrialization doesn't mean 100% destroying the environment.. Does it have a bad effect on the environment.. Yes but it doesn't means absolute destruction of the environment especially in this case..

Think about it...if the products they should be producing depend on natural resources as their input..would they really go, is Leona really presenting that they should go and absolutely DESTROY the sources of their inputs.?, even looking at it from a greedy economical perspective it makes no sense. Also industrialization provides ✨job opportunities✨ and this is very important. Job opportunities and providing the people with income "moves" the economy and improves people's living conditions, people now can afford education and health (which we know the people of the slumps have next to no access to, Ruggie's mom died while giving birth to him and it was mentioned there's a lot of crying kids in the slumps that means women in the slumps don't have access to good healthcare for giving birth a common thing found in countries suffering from whaaat? Poverty.) Providing people with an income improves their living condition (no sh*t) and the best way to provide them with that is by providing them with jobes and yOU DO THAT THROUGH INDUSTRIALIZATION (also side not here, governments can GIVE their citizens "monthly allowances or icomes" these amounts are usually small but better than nothing .. My country is doing this as of now and it's for this exact same thing "moving the economy" aka the people selling, buying, getting married reproducing... Basically living)

Another solution I really like is tourism.. Which Leona mentioned.. twice. .. I think? Okay so they don't want to mass produce? Okie dokie. Then lean heavy into the cool epic greenery you got. A lot of countries irl do that actually and it would also provides the people with the needed jobs (I'll never stop shouting about the importance of income and job opportunities)

but this time in the tourism industry.. and the sunset Savanna really can make banks out of this that place is gorgeous and they should use their beliefs and pride in what they've got as a force to move forward not being all like "the circle of life😍"... As a justification for Underdevelopemt. I really adore the tourism solution like personally like it. I actually I'm an average environment enjoyer myself and I don't think we should destroy nature.... But mothers are dying in the slumps and children are getting no food... And we don't even NEED to destroy nature... We simply need to IMPROVE the way the economy is going NOT DESTROY IT AND CHANGE IT.. Just modernize it a bit.. A region in my country is actually doing this. Leaning heavily into the old castles and mud houses we got (we old as heck) modernizing things a bit to make it tourists friendly while also keeping our history (that I love) intact and BOOM tourists destination and more jobs for the people

in conclusion, I love this ask so much thank you so much so much so much for asking.. my field of study + my favorite lion boy. I'm on cloud nine.. Hands down made my night..i think I gave three solutions.. I'm very sorry if I didn't go in more depths or if this isn't what you wanted I'll clearly be more than happy to answer more stuff about this because I'm a giant nerd. Also I should rule the sunset Savanna. Thank you.

[etirabys]

quick queen's thief reread notes, starting with book 2

spoilery!

the queen of attolia: 5/5

oh it's just too crazy not to give a 5/5 to. the perfect romance. she cuts off his hand for espionage and national humiliation, he comes back after recovering to blackmail her into marrying him.

I also really enjoyed the stretch of the book that's just high level descriptions of war movements. it's really amazing it doesn't feel dry. the talent...

the king of attolia: 4.3/5

more self indulgent than I remember but who cares

a conspiracy of kings: 4/5

the most forgettable one, for me. I was politely indifferent to the romance. I liked the first third of the book more than I remember –Sophos's relief to not have a future is so deftly done. technically he's being cowardly but I was never ever mad at him.

interesting climax featuring no clever victory – merely making unpleasant choices over and over again.

did not buy the strained friendship arc when Sophos comes to Attolia – it felt manufactured, and so did the resolution.

thick as thieves: 4.7/5

better and more interesting than I remember! the relatively isolated story... the stylistic shift into Mesopotamian mythology... a most excellent roadtrip romance novel. structurally closest to 1 but really its own thing

also awesome to see the author dialing the pagetime given to warfare up and down between novels – high in 2, 4, 6, low in 1 (no war), 3 (internal politics), 5 (intense two person journey culminating in a briefly described but hugely consequential military engagement).

return of the thief: 3.5/5

whatever. no it was still good. I'm not sure if using Pheris as a narrator was a good idea but I certainly liked it a lot.

the interpersonal dynamics were noticeably weaker than in the previous novels, where they were excellent. I don't buy the tight knit quartet of monarchs.

I thought the light touch with divine intervention in books 1-5 were great and didn't like the 10xification. I prefer as high a ratio of narrative relevance to plot relevance as possible, for divine intervention in fiction, and the series had achieved this so well up until the last book

overall notes

my goodness, such incredible storytelling economy. I went to a book signing event where she said she wrote (or could write?) a lot of banter, but cut it because it was making the book less streamlined. groaned with disappointment at the time but she's right, these books are sleek little sharks

great prose too: unflashy, elegant, unstrained.

gen is a less pleasant person than I remember. I don't really want him to be high king actually. I'm not sure to what degree his tantrums and... truancy?... are meant to be externalized ambivalence about his duties vs being a good yelly strong minded ancient king who tries to kill someone who gravely insults his wife even though it'll piss off the greatest continental power who'd send you military aid. I'm politely assuming it's the latter because it helps me enjoy

great variety between books in what kind of story they're telling & who's telling them.

[hussyknee]

Fellas, is it an act of war against a Western European country to hold their citizens prisoner in the open air prison they're carpet bombing?

Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthis have been launching attacks on US military bases in Syria and Iraq and firing missiles at Israel in tandem with Hamas's attacks. All three are funded by Iran.

(I am HEAVING with laughter at Vox and every single one of these propagandist chucklefucks calling them "militias" and "terrorist organisations" and trying to frame this as justification for continuing to fund Israel like. MOTHERFUCKER WHOSE REGION ARE YOU IN EXACTLY?? WHO IS GENOCIDING PEOPLE ON THEIR OWN SOIL??)

"But they're fundie theocratic military states!!!"

*looks at Israel*

*looks at you*

*looks at current state of US*

Oh, ARE they?

US officials have met with the Lebanese caretaker government in an effort to try and prevent the conflict from spreading into Lebanon.

Um. Was this before or after Israel poured white phosphorus on Lebanon? Do y'all even have any control over your dog?

(Btw if you MCU brainrotted Western leftists don't stop trying to pick a Good Guy out of this mess instead of understanding basic geo-politics and the horrific ground realities of the countries the US and its allies have left in tatters, you're frankly just as much of an enemy to the people in those countries as your leaders are. Every one of these people are fascist cunts.)

For those of you who have been BLEATING about Ukraine non-stop, like it's NOT an expendable non-NATO country they're only interested in defending in case Putin gets any bright ideas about Poland, here's an opinion that makes sense to me:

Tell me it wouldn't be perfectly on brand if the US government announced, "Our great democracy bows to the will of the people. We hear you, we see you. We will divest...from Ukraine."

The West has never given one singular shit about protecting ANYONE from genocide. Vulnerability is liability. The only difference between them and Putin is that Putin is greedy megalomaniacal fascist surrounded by self-interested yes-men and the US is run by a committee of greedy egomaniacal fascists surrounded by self-interested yes-men whose end goal is keeping the death machine spinning money rather than even "winning" territories. All they have to do to turn this around is divest from Israel and focus on Ukraine. And no, Israel can't throw in with Putin because it'll be too busy trying to fight off three countries at once without the sugar from its Daddy.

Putin will not stop at Ukraine, for the same reason the US didn't stop at Afghanistan. Empires are built on their military power and militaries need to be fed and kept active and kept active to be fed. The minute you stop, it tries to eat itself. If Putin makes a move on Poland, NATO has to respond, and if the West is also embroiled in an all-out war with the Middle East, well. It looks kinda like a global conflict.

Oh and btw, if this does escalate into another regional war in the Middle East, we're going to be plunged into an oil crisis. Which might actually be the last straw for the UK economy, but it very DEFINITELY will be for the rest of the Global South.

(Also Biden's already auctioned off the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska for oil companies for such an intensive scale of fracking that it's projected to tip the world over the edge of climate collapse. In the event of a war in the ME, the US is going to need that oil soooooo. Good luck stopping it.)

[passingnotions]

Always good to see notions cooking 😊Did not expect Rosé

Also being trapped and getting paid sounds perfect for a homebody like me 🙈

frisky, you absolute slut.

Sounds good, doesn't it?

Sure, the whole arrangement might come with some pesky workarounds like flying solo (and though she'll cover that cost as well, it'll still be economy), booking your own ride to the hotel (she doesn't pay for that one), and infiltrating through a side door so that paparazzi don't catch wind of anything scandalous, Rosé will still leave you her card for the day and let you order room service or some nearby delivery.

It's a whole suite to yourself - counts as a proper apartment, really. That said, you'll have to settle for keeping the curtains drawn shut and following her day-to-day through twitter updates. Turns out it's some week-long fashion event - you hadn't bothered to ask. You have, however, checked your bank account a handful of times in the last thirty-or-so minutes. It looks nice at that amount (she pays in advance).

Oh and Rosé will text you like once, during that singular opportunity where she can use her phone. It'll say she's bored as fuck and can't wait to come back so, please, stay up to date so that she gets a timely, warm welcome (pleasant reception, or whichever euphemism) when she steps through the door.

-

For those wondering what that rambling is about, check out my prompt entry in Part 2 of Lifeform's Curated Companions project, as well as the other great submissions sent by other friends in the community!

[copperbadge]

EXCITING NEWS GUYS

I'm on the flight home, for a start, but also on the flight they have

Diet Coke My Beloved.

I don't feel good about how brand loyal I am but I can't drink regular soda of any kind, and Coke Zero or any brand of Pepsi at all just aren't the same.

It feels like it's been a century since I got on the plane to London. Lots of mixed emotions right now; I had a great time, but I'm glad to be going home, I missed my cats and my own bed and Diet Coke. But also I'm going home to, you know, my life -- responsibilities and duties, cleaning and chores, work documents that I'm two weeks behind on. I spent ten days basically only doing as I liked, and except for one or two hairy moments involving trains, I rarely had any stress of any kind. On the other hand, while I've gotten a lot of creative inspiration from the trip, I didn't do much writing -- no time or energy really -- so it'll be nice to be home with the space to process it all.

In other news, having flown basic economy to London and flying "Premium plus" (not quite first class, but close) home, premium is the way to go. Worth every penny for the footrest alone.

Also for just a touch of the absurd, this flight is pretty evenly split 50/50 between a large tour group of retirees and a downright gaggle of Catholic priests. And then me.

[himbeereule]

Hello! I just read the demo. I loved it!! I'm excited to read the remaining parts of this prologue. By the way, I'm surprised at the trouble you took with the reactions to MC's attractiveness. Depending on our appearance will there be an important impact on history?

Anyway, thanks for the demo! I loved everything ❤️❤️❤️

Ehmm I have quite a few questions: 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

1 - Why is MC so popular? What is the reputation of the siblings among the people?

2 -Is there any reason why the empress is so absent in the lives of her children?

3 - Who besides the emperor and brother knows about Lebedev's incident with f! MC?

4- Will there be a funeral for the royal family?

5- I just love Lavrentiy. It seems like he was jealous (?), although he equally loved MC

6 - What were the last thoughts of MC's family before being executed? Will we see more of them in the future?

7 -How did other monarchies react to this "revolution"?

8- How rich/relevant is Nevtskiya in the world? And it has great military power? Besides agriculture, is there any other important sector for the economy? Can we promote the development of the country?

9 - What is the standard of living of the general population?

10 -Will there be much difference in the story of a male or female MC?

11 - What religion does the country have?

12 - Were there many other popular protests in the past?

PS we are lucky that the rebels didn't leave MC's body hanging or decapitated in some public place haha

Hey~

About the attractiveness: there will be scenes like the ones with Sabilov where it'll play a role, but it won't have a really important impact on the story overall.

1- MC is popular because the newspapers pushed them as a celebrity. As for why they did that... you'll have to find out eventually. As for the siblings: Artemiy is revered as the Crown Prince, but he's a pretty distant figure, so it's more formal than personal popularity. Lavrentiy is very controversial due to his escapades (you'll learn more about that). Sasha/Tasha is very private and mostly unknown among the public.

2- This'll be expanded upon in the scenes with your siblings I'm planning to add to the Prologue - basically, she realized the person she married (arranged marriage, but initially she was very happy with it) was an absolute asshole. So she ended up getting the kind of depression where you isolate yourself from everyone and everything.

3- Nobody, though at least one person is guaranteed to find out. Towards the end of the story, though.

4- No. You'll see why later...

5- I said it before, but I'm super happy people liked Lavrentiy. I hope his additional scenes will cement his image of "would actually be lovely if he stopped being so mean"

6- Can't answer, spoilers ^^"

7- There won't be intervention armies, but they see it as a prime opportunity to expand their influence. Whether you'll let them sponsor you or your enemies at the cost of getting dependent and owing favours will be a major decision later on.

8- Nevetskiya is huge, and old, but that's pretty much it. It's a regional power, too far behind in economy, society and technology to really contend with any of the great powers - but it is still counted among them. Industrialization is already beginning to happen, hence the revolution, and its development will be a factor in the story and especially the gameplay.

9- For the nobility - extremely high. For the clergy and the emerging traders and industrialists - pretty high. For the accountants, bureaucrats and landowners - okay. For the peasants and workers (which is almost the entire population) - abysmal.

10- There will be some exclusive story arcs for all genders.

11- I haven't really touched on religion yet, as of now it's just a vague polytheistic copy of the Orthodox Church. I'll develop its lore more once it comes up in the story.

12- Yes, there were peasant revolts every one or two years, but they were quickly and brutally suppressed.

[hadesoftheladies]

i know this is the radblr idealism bad materialism good website, and that's cool, but one thing liberal feminists get right is the power of education, language and ideas because as much as we're social animals we are also thinking individuals. libfems got it wrong when they thought they could "educate" the violence out of men and they'd start changing the structure of things, when the structure of things keeps making people turn out a certain way (like how capitalism makes us all more immoral). HOWEVER, i think it's less of a "my leg is bigger than your leg" and more of a "we need both legs to walk" situation.

because while women need to become economically independent from men and gain real, physical, material power, tackling things like porn and rape culture is going to be won by fighting it out in the realm of human attitudes and that is absolutely going to take re-education on every level. if economy is a social agreement, after all, than social attitudes must be influenced and freed from male bias. it'll be great to have more female judges and lawmakers, but if the public in your democracy doesn't recognize those laws as good or necessary, how long can that society uphold them?

[batfleckgifs]

Host: Um I want to uh as we kind of wrap up here I do want to come back to AI. Jerry you mentioned it but you know Ben how did you know uh-earlier you guys weren't here we did a demonstration my colleague, Andrew Sorkin and I recreated ourselves and our voices how do you see it I mean - is it a benefit or is it a real threat? Is it possible that uh - Netflix could say you know we're going to do our own, excuse me James Bond thing out there with a bunch of actors that are completely recreated for this Market or that market I-?

Ben Affleck: A) that's not possible now. B) will it be possible the future? Highly unlikely. C) Uh-Uh Movies will be one of the last things if everything gets replaced to be replaced by ai. AI can write you excellent imit-imitative verse that sounds Elizabethan, it cannot write you Shakespeare. The function of having two actors or three or four actors in a room and the taste to discern and construct that is something that currently entirely eludes ai's capability and I think will for a meaningful period of time. What AI is going to do, is going to disintermediate the more laborious less creative uh and you know Co-more costly aspects of film making that will allow cost to be brought down, that will be lower the barrier to entry that will allow more voices to be heard, that will make it easier to for the people want to make Goodwill huntings to go out and make it. Look AI is a Craftsman at best Craftsman can learn to you know make stickly furniture by sitting down next to somebody and seeing what their technique is and imitating. That's how large video models large language model models basically work a library of vectors of meaning and Transformers that interpret context right but they're just cross-pollinating things that exist. Nothing new is created or-

Host: Not yet.

Ben Affleck: Not yet. Yeah, not yet. And-and really the - in order to do that - look Craftsman is knowing how to work (and) Art Is knowing when to stop. And I think knowing when to stop is going to be a very difficult thing for AI to learn because it's taste and also lack of consistency.lack of controls. lack of quality. AI for for this world of generative video is going to do key things more me-I wouldn't like to being in the visual effects business,they're in trouble, because what cost a lot of money is now going to cost a lot less. And it's going to hammer that space than it already is, um, and maybe it shouldn't take a thousand people to render something but it's not going to replace human beings making films. It may make your background more convincing, it can change the color of your shirt, it can fix mistakes that you've made, it can make it - you know you might be able to get two seasons of House of the Dragon in a year instead of one and if that happens according to macroeconomics in you know, uh ,cultures where there are basically Oligopolies competing what should happen is with the same demand and the same spend is they they should just make more shows which should you know you should have the same spend and now you can just watch more episodes. And eventually AI will allow you to,uh, ask for your own episode of succession where you can say I'll pay $30 and can you make me a 45 minute episode where like Kendall gets the company and runs off and has an affair with Stewie and it'll do it. And it'll be a little janky and a little bit weird but it'll know their Stats it'll know those actors and it will you know Mix-remix it in effect and it will do that. That's the value, in my view, long term of AI for consumers which is eventually - My Hope for AI is that it's an additional Revenue stream that can replace DVD which took 15 to 20% out of the economy of film making which is and-and there should be negotiated rights and-

Host: And that's the key part of it.

Ben Affleck: And the right to say if you want to - because what do people want to make 5 minute 30C Tik Tok videos where they look like The Avengers well great, you can , you know just like you used to be able to buy your Iron Man costume at the store you're going to buy your Iron Man pack and you and your buddies are going to look like Iron Man and Hawkeye like you know on Twitch that's that's what's going to really happen.

[eoieopda]

hello, jade! 👋 congratulations on 2k followers 👏 👏 you deserve it sm!!! I'm so proud of you! 🫶 if it's okay, I would like to request something for your 2k drabblepalooza event, please. it would be a JungKook x reader e2l drabble with the trope "cuddling for warmth", please. :) (it's been hard for me to find some great fluffy fics with jk and I love everything you write, so I know it'll be good if you decide to write it ♡) thank you in advance, take care! 💕

tysm, sweet bean! as i am wont to do, i went a bit left field. hope that’s okay 😵‍💫 tbh, this one was actually really difficult for me to attempt in drabble format because those things feel so opposite to me and would normally justify a lot more backstory, i think?? but i loved the challenge!! i went more with a “life decided we are enemies” kind of thing.

pairing: jeon jungkook x gn!reader type: drabble | wc: 811 | 18+ genre: hurt/comfort, angst au: enemies to lovers(ish), organized crime summary: you didn’t plan this far ahead. you should have. cw: implied gunshot wound & blood (after the fact, not described in detail) / implied criminal enterprise / reference to threats (a hit) / a plot twist? in this economy? / ambiguous ending

Jungkook hisses as he tightens the belt around his bicep. Not far below it, invisible with the deep black of his jacket, is proof that he isn’t invincible after all. In fact, he bleeds much more freely than anyone else you’d ever met — or, more specifically, anyone else you’d ever shot.

Clipped, rather. The bullet barely grazed him.

He sits two meters away, half-slumped and wholly displeased. Between you, there’s a spent shell casing — your last — that had previously been sitting pretty in a magazine, itself nestled in a pistol once strapped snugly against your right thigh. The gun was confiscated and that thigh strap is useless now, just like the black denim underneath it; the turtleneck sweater above it; and the radiator behind you that likely hasn’t worked at any point in your lifetime.

Cold concrete nips at your ass despite your jeans and you shiver. As it saps what’s left of your body heat, makes the back of your thighs tingle until they’re numb, you do your best to squeeze yourself tighter. You can’t reduce your surface area to zero, but if you shrink as much as is physically possible, you can try your best to keep warm.

For the same reason, you can’t lean your exhausted body against the stone wall behind you, but you can crumple forward and rest against the bent knees you clutch to your chest. You can’t stop glancing at him out of the corner of your eye, either, but you can use the fallout from your ponytail as cover and pretend that you aren’t.

Suffice to say, this was not how your night was supposed to go.

“Worst fucking shot I’ve ever seen in my life,” Jungkook mutters through gritted teeth for what you imagine to be the hundredth time. His scoff is visible when it hits the air; his rage doesn’t dissipate the way his breath does. “Kim was right there and you hit me instead? Unbelievable.”

You don’t respond.

If you unclench your jaw to do so, the chattering of your teeth might reduce them to dust in your mouth.

Without your cell phone, you can’t tell how much time passes while you sit in silence. You can’t confirm your suspicion that the temperature outside has, in fact, dipped far below zero. Similarly, you can’t tell if anyone stuck around after locking you in this basement to see how long it would take for the cold to take you out — or to finish the job themselves if you beat the odds.

Jungkook huffs as he shifts in place. Now, with his back resting uncomfortably against the wall, he glares headlong at you. Unfortunately for him, looks can’t kill.

If they could, you wouldn’t be in this mess.

Against your better judgment — again — you give in to the primal part of your brain that begs for self-preservation. Your muscles are stiff after so much time spent in knots, and they ache as you push yourself off the ground. Your joints protest too, clicking uncomfortably as they resettle. Wordlessly, you ignore the confusion knitting Jungkook’s brows together and cross over to him.

When you reach him, you drop into the space at his side — his good side — and lean against the arm that isn’t trying hard to clot. He doesn’t flinch or attempt to move away, either because he doesn’t have the energy or because he wants to live, too. So, you rest your head against his shoulder and your eyes drift shut as your combined warmth starts to soothe. Eventually, his cheek claims the top of your head. You have to glance up at him to confirm that this is a choice and not a sign.

Still breathing.

For now.

“Boss know how bad your aim is?”

He doesn’t because it isn’t.

You’re an expert marksman — the best of the best — and you don’t miss. Because he knows that, he now knows that your failure to take down the target wasn’t an accident; it was an illusion. Worse, it was a blatant refusal to carry out a direct order. One he gave to you because he’d wholeheartedly believed that you, more than anyone else, could be trusted.

Not like Jungkook, who isn’t the surreptitious infiltrator he thinks he is; and who still doesn’t grasp the rules or the stakes of the game he’s playing.

Who doesn’t know that the purpose of this errand wasn’t to kill a member of the Kim family; or that he was never meant to leave this warehouse with you.

Who will likely die regardless of your subtle attempt to dodge that outcome; and who — like you — didn’t plan more than two steps ahead.

Whose hatred for you and all you stood for was predetermined by circumstance; and who doesn’t know that you know.

It’s not a question when you reply.

“Boss knows you’re a badge, agent.”