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[er-cryptid]

Linkage

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[lndslorepuzzler]

Long-Awaited Revelry: Breakthrough, pt 1-12

01: Alone: The little girl leads FMC to an 'establishment' called Elysium; she asks the woman at the bar for information on who is going to be at the protocore auction and a map of the venue. FMC balks at the hefty cost of 50k per word of information. The woman offers a 5% discount because FMC is "new and pretty," but ultimately opens a door to what sounds like a casino, where people are talking about the auction: that it's happening at Solon Hotel, that if one wants to get in then they should ask/barter with Qin Che, though he's been gone for a while, and leadership in Onychinus seems to have changed in that time.

When the door closes, FMC asks the shopkeeper for information on Onychinus specifically (presumably to get more information on Qin Che and the organizations structure,) she is told to not "pry into things (she) shouldn't know."

In the casino, FMC eavesdrops on conversations: Qin Che hasn't been around in a long time, and he's been presumed missing or dead. Someone named Sherman is making moves in his absence, with his people becoming arrogant and audacious in the meantime. She determines that Onychinus's problems extend beyond any protocore dealing, and that if Qin Che was really going to die he would probably drag the entire N109 Zone with him: "That's just how he is."

The little girl brings FMC a black flower, and when prompted, tells FMC that Qin Che is a monster with huge wings and horns that never dies, and that if she misbehaves, Qin Che will "find (her) and feed (her) to his man-eating birdie." FMC considers this information/perspective: that everyone is afraid of Qin Che, but willing to make deals with him*1 and given that he'd extended the offer of a deal to her instead of vise versa, her Evol can probably be used against him.

Her thoughts are interrupted by a group of armed men breaking the door down in search of "Onychinus's important guest (who) got lost." One of them asks "everyone to cooperate with (their) search... Shut the door and search the room. Everyone's about to be entertained."*2

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02: Night Raid: FMC and the little girl are inside a hidden utility room; there is a 'secret window' facing the lobby. The leader of the Sherman's men--who has a "broken, wire-bound jaw"--demands the shopkeeper tell him where FMC is; he tells his goons to start forcing people to talk. The shopkeeper tells FMC to stay put, and that she has no intention of handing her over under these circumstances. FMC wonders who Sherman is ("Isn't Qin Che the leader of Onychinus? Who's Mr. Sherman...") and remains in place.

Mephisto makes himself known, giving FMC the chance to make a break for it, but she gets pulled back. She points her gun at Qin Che, who is less than impressed; she watches as "several bullets graze him only to dissipate into dust. The people who fired the shots are strangled by something. They slump to the ground, dead." She tells him his underlings are disobedient; when the leader hears Qin Che's voice, he calls for backup.*3

Qin Che holds FMC back-to-chest before aiming and firing her gun.

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03: COMBAT

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04: The First Deal: FMC and Qin Che disagree on methods of ending the conflict; she thinks they should retreat, as Wanderers keep spawning, and 'retreat' isn't a word in Qin Che's vocabulary. There's an interesting exchange: "Oh, so you like being a freeloader, Qin Che? Didn't you see me fighting for my life earlier?" to which he responds, "Since when was I required to investigate the files the Hunter's Association had on you?" thus implying that he could have done it without much effort, had he chosen to do so.

Qin Che tells FMC to consider this entire situation a training practice, and warns her she won't get any help, before he uses her gun to blow out an electrical box. They have another interesting exchange in the dark while he puts a communicator in her ear.

"Let's make a deal." "Aren't you going to leave? I can't resonate with you." "If you'd like to attend the auction tomorrow, stand your ground for five minutes. And should you have the audacity to die on me, you will actually meet your end."*4

While FMC is pondering her next move, Qin Che informs her that "(he) didn't turn off the lights to force (her) into combat. (They're) stalling for time." Mephisto makes himself useful by becoming target in the dark, but no matter how many Wanderers FMC kills, the number of opponents doesn't go down at all. Once she realizes her contact with Qin Che has been cut off, she uses a few barrels of alcohol, and starts a huge fire.

The figures don't stop moving, and they don't make any sounds. "Amidst the blue firelight, (she) sees their faces-- Under the corroded, crystallized skin, they seem to have human faces... They resemble humans more than Wanderers."*5

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05: Nightmare Finale: Outside Elysium, a man runs to a heavy iron door and shoves it open. Inside, a dark stone platform lights up, then dims. The Flux Nexus is still there, but while he's having a maniacal laugh about it, "deadly black-red mist rolls in from all directions. The nightmarish shadow slowly approaches from behind." He gets out half a plea ("S-spare me... Qin--") immediately followed by "crimson particles (landing) in the waste water."

The Flux Nexus glows even brighter, but Qin Che lets his Evol flow into it, and blows it apart from the inside.

Inside Elysium, the monsters all drop. FMC inspects one near her, "with a tattoo-like mark on its chest," and realizes that the crystals all over it look like protocores. As the lights come back on, she takes a small sample of the crystal and hides it on her person. Qin Che comes back, and FMC is not surprised that he's not saying anything about where he went or what he did while she 'stalled for time.'

As they move to leave, the shopkeeper slips a storage device into FMC's pocket, and tells her to be careful out there.

As soon as they get back to Qin Che's base, he leaves FMC on her own to converse with Mephisto, who is apparently agitated that she shot him. Qin Che reappears with a glass of wine, and asks if FMC has learned to speak bird in the last few hours. She does feel bad about injuring Mephisto; Qin Che redirects the conversation by asking if "anything strange (happened) before they attacked." FMC tells him he should ask Mephisto, seeing as he was following her on his order, and Qin Che is very casual about it ("True," he says, like that's not weird at all.)

He points out that as long as she's in the N109 Zone, there's no way she could be outside of his influence, even if she's not directly with him. She accuses him of trying to get her to dislike him less so they can resonate, and he shows no signs of being angry about being provoked.

The two of them head up in an elevator after a short and sassy exchange about why he's treating her like a bar (telling her to get him another drink) while he says a bar is more obedient than she is.

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06: Agreement: In a separate room, FMC looks at the data from the storage device: a hologram map of the Solon Hotel, and a list of attendees, including the false identity prepared by Jeremiah. She tries to draw Qin Che into conversation by asking about Sherman; he wants to know "why (she's) interested in a dead person." FMC recalls that the first shop owner said something about two explosions, and shameless people making Qin Che their scapegoat. She wonders if the explosions could have had something to do with Sherman, and not Qin Che, even though either way, the conflict involves her due to the Aether Core.

FMC surmises that Qin Che left her at the shop as bait, while Mephisto "lets out a defiant wail." FMC informs Mephisto that she didn't mean to shoot him and even if she had, he would have deserved it for stalking her earlier. Qin Che, audibly amused, tells FMC that "(she) can scold him directly, if (she wants.)"

"Under the hazy light, Qin Che reveals a gentle look completely uncharacteristic of him. I compose myself, realizing I've been unreasonably angry with him. Regardless of whether he wanted to clean up or not, those people were after me, I had to face them sooner or later."

FMC changes the topic, deciding to focus on what Qin Che said about them being the same, and supposes that he also has an Aether Core in his body: that hers is in her heart, and his is in his right eye. He tells her she can think of it like that. FMC notes that her Aether Core seems fairly 'normal' by protocore standards, while his is definitely not. He tells her "it helps (him) see what people want the most. It exposes the desires that they refuse to admit."*6 She wonders if those whispers and visions at the dining table were the work of his Aether Core.

There's another vision of a small red 'energy pulse,' and the words "Devour... It's your..." When FMC comes back to herself, Qin Che is very close, and she "(presses) down on the area around his eye."*7 He doesn't break eye contact with her, and both eyes remain open. He asks if she's "gone mad," and she either:

---tells him that he can push her away, though he makes a (exasperated? frustrated?) sigh, and doesn't.

or

---apologizes, telling him that she wanted to get a closer look at the Aether Core. He doesn't move away from her.

Regardless of the option chosen, FMC asks if he likes it when people do that (look into his eyes;) she continues to stare and asks if he wants to try to resonate again, grabbing his hand without waiting for an answer. The background music gets very gentle, and she offers to "use both hands this time," (which is a cute image.) He sighs, but she keeps thinking that he's good at fighting, and that he looks good; Qin Che informs her that he can hear her talking to which she replies, "Enjoy it. This is one of the two good things (she) can think about (him.)" They still don't manage to resonate, but FMC decides that even if they can't rush it, she's not going to stop trying.

FMC decides to try a different tack and communicate properly with Qin Che; she says she has an idea she doesn't know if the should say, and he tells her not to. She boldly continues and tells him if they can't resonate because she's rejecting him on a subconscious level, then they should work on changing her feelings. It will be difficult, but not impossible, and the easy solution is for him to agree to help her get the Aether Core and get her out of the N109 Zone safely and in exchange, she'll be his bait to clean up the traitors and general mess in his organization. Qin Che is amused that FMC seems to think she'd be doing him a huge favor, but she's telling the truth rather than bluffing because she wouldn't be able to fool him, anyway.

Qin Che tells FMC that her deal isn't good enough, and offers a compromise: if she can take a jeweled brooch from his possession within 24 hours, he'll agree to her terms, since "only when you have a bargaining chip can you make a deal." He tells her she can use her own methods, and that she should be grateful the goal is clear 'this time.' *8

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07: Roleplay: FMC gets ready to go to the auction with Qin Che, wearing "an expensive dress and dazzling jewelry;" he tells her it suits her, and that no one can keep their guard up with a pretty girl walking around. They head out.

There is a brief interlude, with text reading: "In the sky, the stars are devoured by an endless darkness./ The Deepspace Tunnel is silent, seemingly frozen in time. Suddenly, there's a thud, a pulse resembling a heartbeat./ Cosmic dust fills the air. Something penetrates the invisible barrier.../ And slowly opens its eyes."

Qin Che and FMC are quasi-antagonistic toward one another even as they walk into the auction; Qin Che is greeted by a member of staff and, upon leaving FMC on her own, gives her a black credit card and tells her that "(he assumes she already knows) how to act as good bait." FMC proceeds to be an exemplary brat, drawing attention to herself in the way she's meant to: spending Qin Che's money.

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08: Undercurrents: In a separate room, Qin Che has a confrontation with Sherman; he wastes no time, strangling Sherman until the man tells him what he wants to know, claiming that "the people who said they'd help (him) replace (Qin Che) must have made an offer only an idiot would refuse," but after giving Sherman a look with his right eye, Qin Che is disappointed that the method to buy Sherman was "as old-school and uncreative as ever." Sherman says that Qin Che "won't be cocky for long (with them around,)" and Qin Che shrugs him off, saying, "Since you chose betrayal... My only option is to make you pay in advance."

Back in the main hall, FMC is approached by a man asking to buy her brooch; she tells him no but he is persistent, offering ten Hightowers in exchange before asking her to dance.

Qin Che reappears, tells FMC that a Hightower is a weapon made with a high-grade protocore, and that "a single Hightower (could) obliterate (the) entire hotel." He tells the stranger that the brooch was a gift, and asks FMC is she was going to sell it; she plays coy, claiming she had no idea if he was coming back or not, but the stranger was going to spend a fortune to dance with her, so, shouldn't Qin Che do the same?

Qin Che offers her the Aether Core's location in exchange for a dance. When FMC asks why Qin Che thinks she will listen to him, he says she can "refuse (him) all (she) wants." They do start their dance, however.

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09: Rising Curtains: Qin Che and FMC dance while speaking about their plans; she doubts such vital information would be leaked unless it was a trap, which Qin Che agrees to. She asks if he is going to throw himself into the trap, and he tells her to "be content with (her) role" and to not "scare away the fish that already bit the hook." FMC notes that there are eight Evol bombs and fifteen high-frequency guns in the room, and tells Qin Che he's made a lot of enemies. Qin Che is nonplussed, and tells her "this isn't the first time it's happened."

FMC asks if Qin Che has a plan, because "even if (he) has a death wish, (she doesn't) intend to die here with (him,)" and he tells her not to worry, because she "won't die that easily." There is then, of course, an explosion...

That Qin Che set off, because "the vermin were taking their sweet time (and he) was getting impatient." Due to the sudden Metaflux increase, Wanderers appear, and Qin Che gives FMC a replacement, gun, telling her to not to waste her effort with an outdated weapon.

After the Wanderers are defeated, FMC is in the middle of interrogating a henchman with the muzzle of her gun pressed into the back of his head. He tells her that they haven't won, because their backup plan is terrifying, and not even Qin Che--- (he chokes out as Qin Che kills him. He tells FMC that "violence should be used strategically."

The Metaflux fluctuations are still manifesting, though, and Qin Che grabs FMC and pulls her along with him, "to the place that has what (she) wants."

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10: Abandoned Memory: They take an elevator up so high that the ground is hidden by clouds. They end up on the roof, which is covered in debris that seems like it came from a laboratory. Qin Che tells her that's exactly what it is, and that it was abandoned by EVER "a while back."

EVER is "the most prestigious international business group," and "it basically supports the whole Linkon City." FMC has no idea how it could be involved with the N109 Zone; though she "heard that before the Chronorift Catastrophe, the N109 Zone was the most prosperous tech hub. So... It makes sense that EVER used it as a research base."

Qin Che tells her that she "really (is) a naive Linkon citizen," and that "many locations were affected by that catastrophe, yet only the N109 Zone turned into a wasteland," so "why does (she) think that is?" FMC knows she's heard rumors, but can't put anything together at the moment.

The two of them arrive just beneath the Deepspace Tunnel, where "slow vibrations resembling heartbeats pulsate in the sky." She moves to the Flux Nexus on the rooftop, exactly like the one she saw with Shen Xinghui in the no-hunt zone; Qin Che says she should know what's inside it, then.

He tells her to "think about it first. Once (she takes) it out, there's no going back." FMC wonders why she should give up since she's already there, and resonates with the Flux Nexus. The Aether Core appears, and a huge Wanderer appears from out of the Deepspace Tunnel. Qin Che says, "(they) finally got something presentable."

11: COMBAT

12: Resonance's Power: FMC has what appears to be a flash back. There is blood everywhere, and Qin Che's voice telling her "(she) must press on because if (she doesn't) there's no going back." During this, there is an extremely blurry video of what appears to be FMC's hand being given, then wrapped around, a weapon before being guided by another hand to stab an organic life form while she calls out for Qin Che.*9

Coming back to the present, Qin Che tells her "(she) must press on," and "that life (she) owes (him)--now is not the time to repay it." He offers out his hand. There seems to be a shadow above him. FMC takes his hand; "unprecedented power swells between (their) intertwined fingers," and FMC feels a change in her heart and veins. The Aether Core lets out "countless rays of golden light that seep into (her) heart. The warm, familiar power continues to surge."

She comes back to herself with no idea of how much time has passed. The Aether Core cracks in her grip, and Qin Che tells her that "its power belongs to (her) now. Naturally, the vessel will break as a result." He tries to walk away, but FMC is dragged along behind him: a pair of Evol cuffs has linked them together.

There is a long section reading as follows:

"Qin Che doesn't respond, and the powerful tremor that shook the Deepspace Tunnel ignites a chain reaction within the N109 Zone. Those shadows who believed they controlled Onychinus are eliminated from fate's tapestry. Unable to see the undercurrents beneath the water's surface, I can only smell the scent of smoke becoming more poignant as it's carried by the wind. Structures crumble and collapse, and Mephisto's wings pierce through the boundless darkness. He's accompanied by the distant tolling of a bell. It's almost like an announcement, as if the world is saying... The true leader of Onychinus has returned. However, Qin Che, amidst the raging storm, remains nonchalant as he sits next to me. Our racing vehicle leaves our enemies behind while the intermittent light seeps through the window to obscure his silhouette and goals. I never held onto the naive notion that Qin Che assisted me in acquiring the Aether Core just so he could clean house. This kind of deal would result in him suffering a major loss, and it's clear he's anything but an ignorant businessman. What are his true motives? For a moment, his expression as he gazed at the Deepspace Tunnel resurfaces in my mind. Then, I feel a sensation in my palm. I'm still clutching the fragmented protocore. It's as if I'm subconsciously grasping onto an answer that has yet to be revealed. The linkage between my hand and Qin Che's suddenly flickers, seemingly sensing the swirling thoughts in my head."

The next scene opens again with FMC on the phone with Luke, who says they heard about what happened, and Kieran congratulates them on destroying the Aether Core "together." Luke tells her they're calling to let her know there shouldn't be any more issues at The Nest, and that Qin Che told them to do it, because "while he looks mean, he's actually--" at which point Qin Che informs the twins that they will see him later, and the call ends.

FMC asks Qin Che what his plan is to get rid of the Evol linkage, and Qin Che tells her he's obviously going to cut her hand off; or that she can chill in the N109 Zone, since they have "more than enough time to solve this problem (together.)" FMC declines the offer, and Qin Che offers to destroy her Aether Core, to which she asks why they don't destroy his, instead. Audibly exhausted, he tells her that the linkage won't last long with her current level of resonance anyway.

FMC tells Qin Che she had a strange vision when they started to resonate; he tells her "it's not a big deal. From now on, (she'll) be seeing more things like that." She asks if it was real and he counters that "if (he) says yes, will (she) give (him) a sincere apology?" He tells her the world is very different from her perceptions, and that he's not in the mood to tell stories.

He gives her the brooch, and tells her she should think about the next steps, since the world outside the N109 Zone is a lot more dangerous than it was before she came; and that until their resonance issue is fixed, they'll be seeing one another more often. And, he tells her not to forget their deal.

The end card for the section reads as follows:

"So I left the N109 Zone. The dust settled. But the deal with Qin Che lingered, like a silent yet turbulent mist. I found myself falling into an abyss in the blink of an eye. The doors of memory swung open. And something began to stir. It is... another world I had once glimpsed. At the confluence of the entwined timelines, I heard it. A faint yet distinct heartbeat, echoing through the stillness of eternity."

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*1, Aah yes, we're making deals with the devil. *2, Not sure how he intends to shut the door seeing as he just kicked it off its hinges but alright, whatever. *3, Apparently we're not talking about the whys or hows of this guy summoning Wanderers just yet. *4, The choice of words is really interesting, 'the audacity to die' versus 'actually meet your end.' Since Qin Che is functionally immortal (as far as we know at this time,) there's a weird implication that he might have the ability to use the differences between those two 'states of being.' *5, Remember that project the guy was talking to Qin Che about in Ambiguous Chaos, the Fountain of Atei? Probably a connection here. *6, This is fundamentally different than Qi Yu's paintings; he was talking about how his paintings could show people what they wanted/their dreams at one point. Find that reference and link back. *7, I'm not sure if this means she's covering his eye, or just touching his eye, but if he's in front of her and she's using her right hand, it means she's reaching across their bodies to do so. So I'm really not sure of what's physically happening. *8, Immediately following this section is Qin Che: Bond: Midnight Stealth, link back when complete. *9, There is a lot of speculation (and incredible fanart) revolving around this, but seeing as I don't have access to the video in such a manner that I can enhance it/play it in slow motion, this is what I've decided to write until such time as I can clarify it further.

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Holy Carp that was a lot of directly transcribed text! I hope it was readable. I'll be moving into myths/anecdotes/bonds/memoria/etc now! There will be a lot of 'link back when complete' notes for a while, please bear with me!

[reportwire]

India, Singapore link systems for real-time money transfers

India and Singapore linked their systems that enable real-time money transfers between the two nations, as countries in the region seek to bring down barriers to the quick movement of funds.   Reserve Bank of India’s Governor Shaktikanta Das initiated the first transaction with his counterpart Managing Director Ravi Menon, according to a statement Tuesday by the Monetary Authority of…

[probablyasocialecologist]

The idea of transgender “social contagion” was first proposed in a 2018 paper by Dr. Lisa Littman, a researcher who has pushed the theory heavily. The article, entitled “Rapid-onset gender dysphoria in adolescents and young adults: A study of parental reports,” proposed that social contagion was leading to an increase in trans identification. To support her claim, Littman solicited interviews from anti-trans websites such as Transgender Trend and 4thWaveNow. She used data from those interviews to claim that transgender youth “suddenly” develop gender dysphoria through a process known as “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria.” Her paper was immediately withdrawn with an apology by the journal for correction after the data collection methods were revealed, with the republication stating that the research “does not validate the phenomenon” of transgender social contagion. "Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria" is derived from interviews with parents who report their children "abruptly came out as trans" without any forewarning. For numerous parents on these websites opposed to transgender rights, they claimed their children’s coming out was too sudden to be genuine. Coupled with conservative media exposure asserting that being transgender results from factors ranging from TikTok to alleged "grooming" in schools, parents frequently sought alternative explanations for their children's trans identification, instead of acknowledging the possibility that their children were authentically transgender. A pivotal study published in The Journal of Pediatrics in 2021 entirely debunked this concept. Professionals who work closely with transgender populations frequently observe that individuals harbor dysphoria for an extended period before revealing their feelings to loved ones. Upon coming out, these individuals often swiftly embrace their transgender identity, motivated by the liberation that comes with acknowledging one's true self. To determine whether transgender identification is genuinely "rapid," researchers sought to pose a direct question to transgender teenagers: How long have you known you were transgender? The results were stunning. Transgender teens knew they were trans for an average of 4 years before coming out as trans and getting their first clinical visit. The study did not stop there, however. It also analyzed the few transgender teens who indicated their gender dysphoria realization was more recent. It found no linkages among those groups with depression, online support, having transgender friends, or any other proposed mechanisms for “rapid-onset gender dysphoria.” To put it simply: transgender people often know they are trans for a long time before coming out, and having transgender friends does not influence you to “become transgender.”

[geometrymatters]

The geometry of the Borromean Rings

Borromean rings are a captivating geometric structure composed of three interlinked rings. What makes them unique is their interdependency; if any one ring is removed, the entire structure collapses. This fascinating property, known as "Brunnian" linkage, means that no two rings are directly linked, yet all three are inseparable as a group. This intricate dance of unity and fragility offers a profound insight into the nature of interconnected systems, both in mathematics and beyond.

Borromean Rings and Mathematical Knots

Borromean rings also find a significant place in the study of mathematical knots, a field dedicated to understanding how loops and tangles can be organized and categorized. The intricate relationship among the rings provides a rich visual and conceptual tool for mathematicians. Knot theorists use these rings to explore properties of space, topology, and the ways in which complex systems can be both resilient and fragile. The visual representation of Borromean rings in knot theory not only aids in mathematical comprehension but also enhances our appreciation of their symmetrical beauty and profound interconnectedness.

Symbolism and Divinity in Borromean Rings

Throughout history, Borromean rings have been imbued with symbolic significance, often associated with divinity and the concept of the trinity. In Christianity, they serve as a powerful visual metaphor for the Holy Trinity – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – illustrating how three distinct entities can form a single, inseparable divine essence. This symbol is not confined to Christianity alone; many other cultures and religions see the interconnected rings as representations of unity, interdependence, and the intricate balance of the cosmos.

Borromean Rings as a Metaphor for Illusory Reality

Beyond their mathematical and symbolic significance, Borromean rings offer a profound metaphor for the nature of reality itself. They illustrate how interconnectedness can create the illusion of a solid, stable structure. This resonates with philosophical and spiritual notions that reality, as perceived, is a complex web of interdependent elements, each contributing to an overarching illusion of solidity and permanence. In this way, the Borromean rings challenge us to reconsider the nature of existence and the interconnectedness of all things.

[nitrowyverine]

Finally played the TOUCHSTARVED Demo! Still thinking about it over a week later.

(Above: Steam banner image for TOUCHSTARVED from Red Spring Studios)

I love it SO MUCH. and i have QUESTIONS. my extended thoughts below the cut [Demo spoilers included]

General thoughts:

this game is SO up my alley that it's insane. local goth gaming nerd is kicking their feet and giggling

the music? and sound design? It's honestly incredible, even beyond the infamous Every Time We Touch cover (Which is how I found this game). We all have to be giving more props to the music/sound work, it absolutely punches the experience up so many notches. When a soundtrack is released I'm immediately keeping it on hand for all my tabletop needs

absolutely enamored with the backstory mechanic. It adds so much individual depth to the character. you can feel attached to your MC without them being a complete blank slate. I absolutely love that different MC backstories have you pick up different details about the characters. (My favorite is The Hound immediately picking out who the leaders are amongst the group, in contrast to the other MC backgrounds)

I wanna eat the backgrounds. I wanna eat them whole. They're so detailed and colorful and have a great sense of depth. 100000/10

Specific character thoughts/theories:

(Images courtesy of the Touchstarved character Lore posts from the Red Spring Studio socials. I'll be linking them in each of the character's names)

Ais:

Thank you, Red Spring studios, for blessing the players with the ability to bite him if you're an ass to him the entire demo. You truly know what we want

Lore seems to indicate that Ais came over from the demon realm for some unknown reason, and was possibly some kind of demon king or leader? Fascinated to learn what happens there

Ngl the Seaspring looks like it would taste good. My favorite raspberry/rhubarb tea looks just like the Seaspring water. Gimme the group juice.

Question: If Ais gets infected with MC's madness....does that mean. the WHOLE groupmind gets infected? Humans and soulless alike? That's a city-destroying disaster waiting to happen

CONCLUSION: Most likely to adopt 6 dogs instead of picking up the groceries. Least likely to let you have the car aux cable.

Kuras:

I do believe Kuras is the actual best shot at a cure/treatment of all candidates. Assuming the curse is some level of demonic, an angel's touch is probably the best bet.

Let me be clear here though, I do think he might just go "Well you can just like. not have arms" and take them. That is a possibility

Most of the other characters I can get a rough idea of what they want and why. Kuras? I have NO idea what his goal is, which is very frightening.

Twitter bio image does say "Repentant Angel", and that his fatal flaw is "his sins can only be repaid through suffering". Possible linkage to Lovent's fall? Or another major disaster?

its okay sweaty we all get The Guilt (tm)

If Kuras somehow gets MC's maddness (I have a feeling it may not effect him? but if it did) that would just. end the world right there.

CONCLUSION: Most likely to be the one guy you might be able to bring home to your parents. Least likely to put on oven mitts to take a frozen pizza out of the oven.

Vere:

I love Vere for being the character I thought I could trust the least, turning into a character I actually trust allot. I trust him to be extremely dangerous. He probably wasn't lying when he said his heart is on his sleeve.

Also, big props for having him just kill you in one of the demo endings. What a guy, I love him, no notes

Wait what he's over 100 according to his birthday post. thats, allot? older? than I thought?. okay yeah the lore posts mention he's a possible deity figure. not comforting

Vere is very fae-logic coded. Like, the words he says can be true and false at the same time. Don't tell him your name, he will cannibalize you for fun, etc etc ya know fae stuff.

i will protect him always

CONCLUSION: Most likely to fuck your dad. Least likely to be your new stepdad.

Mihn:

Mihn is much dodgier than the rest, but I think that makes them more trustworthy. They're not as interested as playing games.

I nominate Mihn as a secondary protagonist, since Leander, Ais, and Kuras seem to be interested in them quite a bit. Even Vere has a rivalmance kinda thing going for Mihn. If MC didn't show up, that would be the dating sim right there

I'm excited by the lore post and the implications that Mihn is from Lovent (or has traveled there? and survived?) and potentially getting greater lore expansion about the world surrounding Eridia

I think it's interesting that their strength stat is relatively low compared to the others, yet they're one of the characters that actually uses their strength in the demo.

Also, I think we see the least of their "monstrous form" of everyone in the demo (minus their ability to dodge in and out of shadows). I'm thrilled to see what their monstrous form actually entails.

Mihn would survive bloodborne. That's it thats the entire thought

CONCLUSION: Most likely to do all the work in a group project. Least likely to be chill during Mario Party.

Leander:

OKAY ALL OF MY QUESTIONS ARE HERE. I AM DEEPLY AFRAID. Something is absolutely wrong but we have no current ability to pinpoint what it is.

I've seen theories Leander is dead. However, in Vere's route, he mentions that Leander smells like aftershave. While this could be part of an extra-elaborate ruse, hair doesn't grow after death (Minus the appearance of it happening due to natural decay processes) so he wouldn't need to shave. However, I am betting on him being involved in some sort of un-death cycle.

actually I can guarantee his story is all about cycles. Has anyone else mentioned how his belt is the triple goddess symbol.

you know. the symbol of maiden/mother/crone. birth/life/death. beginning/middle/end. like

Moving on, the vast majority of his smiles are forced (Mouth is smiling, but there's no eye movement/crinkle that would indicate it's genuine). That is enough of a red flag but honey I am so much more worried about my next point:

WHERE DOES HE GET HIS MONEY. He's constantly buying rounds of drinks for a packed bar. It's briefly mentioned his clothes are nice. He pays for anything MC needs. However, says Bloodhound rates are "Free". Where does he GET HIS MONEY for all of this. Twitter posts from Red Spring point out he doesn't accept bribes (at least overtly).

WAIT I'M REREADING THIS POST WHAT THE FUCK ARE THE SILENT CRYPTS.

Looking again at Leander's stat post. The Ouroboros in the background is. Not comforting. Also, "Forbidden Magic"? yeah I have a feeling we know why he's not in the Senobium

Theory, potentially Leander is currently being paid by the Senobium to maintain lowtown/Silent Crypts order? I think there's still a connection between them. Like the Senobuim can remain detached while having ties to whatever horrible things Leander is doing.

Okay, in the twitter relationship charts it says that Kuras has looked out for Leander "Since he was young". Kuras probably knows. SO much we don't.

When Mihn scolds Leander for not telling MC to be off the streets past dark. I think Leander intentionally "Forgot" to mention that. I think he wanted the MC to see how dangerous Eridia was so MC would stay closer to Leander for safety. I think it was a very intentional manipulation tactic.

(Furthermore, did he actually cast a spell of luck on MC when he gave them the lilies from his introduction magic trick? Then bet on the MC living through the day?)

I do think Leander's surprise at MC going out to the Seaspring was genuine, since his spit-take clashes so starkly with his cool-guy demeanor.

I also have a feeling that Leander has been past the veil/shroud. he's doing something fucky and the veil is prime fuckery territory.

(Are we...going to get a timeloop story????)

CONCLUSION: Most likely to dramatically use himself as a human bridge over a small puddle (as an excuse to get walked on). Least likely to remember to go to bed after playing Stardew Valley for 13 hours straight.

Touchstarved game things I'm concerned about:

(I feel like I wouldn't be doing my game designer duties if I didn't point out my concerns as well. To be fair, there aren't many.)

I hope the bad endings get fucked up, story-wise. Since it's a horror game, I know it might turn some people off to have things go super wrong, but I really hope they do. I want to see some endless pain vortexes, some real Juniji Ito-style suffering. But I would also understand if the devs want to softball some of the worst outcomes for the sake of widespread appeal.

We all have countless examples of kickstarter games looking strong out the gate, but then falling flat upon release. While I have high hopes for Touchstarved, I do know the reality and intense difficulty of kickstarter games. I'm really hoping the demo isn't the best the studio will have to offer.

OVERALL: I am rooting for the Touchstarved team/Red Spring Studio all the way! I'm thrilled to see where this game goes. I am poised on this purchase button and ready to buy when it releases.

[astroloverblog]

Your Planets in your partner’s 12th House

Your Ascendant in your partner’s 12th house - this indicates a strong karmic link between the two of you based on past life associations. It can also indicate a psychic-telepathic or intuitive-empathic link.

Your Sun in partner’s your 12th house - You can help your partner to be more outgoing and realize their true potential. You may sir up negative emotions from their past. Your partner’s intuitive perception can give you insights to a more effective means of self-expression. There can be mutual interest in the occult. There is a strong possibility that the two of you have a karmic relationship to work out with each other.

Your Moon in your partner’s 12th house - this combination makes for a very strong emotional and intuitive link. You both will be intensely aware of the subconscious needs and emotional state of the other. This makes for sympathetic understanding between you two, and empathy & compassion. You two may even share a psychic linkage that influences each others thoughts and ideas. This usually indicates a karmic connection between the two people. That means that most likely, you have been together before, and in some way been tested and failed. You are having another chance now to correct this mistakes from your memories to help them understand the situation today, and they in turn can awaken you to deeper levels of your intuitive awareness.

Your Mercury in your partner’s 12th house - You can help them gain insight into the mechanism and habit patterns of their subconscious mind. You can stimulate each other‘s creative imagination. There can be mutual interest in subjects such as art, music, psychology, mysticism, and approaches to religion. They can bring out your intuitive perceptions, which in turn, can help them, to understand and make practical use of their imagination and intuitive insights. You both tend to stimulate the other‘s interest in the areas of psychic awareness.

Your Venus in your partner‘s 12th house - this position indicates a close psychic and emotional link between the two of you creating a psychic awareness of each other‘s moods & feelings. You will both be sympathetic and compassionate toward the other.

Your Mars in your partner‘s 12th house - may indicate group involvement in secret or behind-the-scenes activities. You like to stir up their subconscious mind, in a way that they may learn from the results.

Your Jupiter in your partner‘s 12th house - indicates a mutual interest in meditation, spirituality, and development of intuitive powers. You will be able to share everything with each other, no matter how sensitive the subject. You can help them understand and overcome their subconscious emotional hang-ups.

Your Saturn in your partner‘s 12th house - the two of you will have serious interactions involving psychic and occult pursuits, or psychological investigation of the subconscious mind. You can help them to exercise discipline in understanding and overcoming conditional behaviours, stemming from painful memories in the past. They can help you gain intuitive insight into professional matters.

Your Uranus in your partner‘s 12th house - indicates mutual interest in mystical, intuitive, and occult activities. You can put them in touch with their neurotic and habitual patterns that are unproductive for them, by introducing new concepts and alternative ideas into their thinking. You will both be concerned with reincarnation, past lives, and your individual and combined spiritual quest for this lifecycle.

Your Neptune in your partner‘s 12th house - indicates that you both are very involved with each other‘s subconscious minds and intuitive faculties. You both have strong mutual interest in psychology and probing the deeper level of human consciousness.

Your Pluto in your partner’s 12th house - this arrangement indicates a mutual interest in investigating and regenerating the unconscious mind involving in-depth psychology, spirituality, parapsychology, and reincarnation. You may want to help them understand and reform their subconscious tendencies that interfere with their growth. You may consider some of their ideas as being a dream world and try to get them to deal with reality as you see it.

Your Chiron in your partner‘s 12th house - As a child your partner suffered psychological pain from their intense sensitivity to others, and mystical experience in their childhood that may have scared him, or left them feeling uneasy about their self. They are deeply intuitive and sensitive to their environment, and as child they may have been overloaded with the emotions and thoughts of others. They may have been forced to deny or bury their talents in their unconscious, because of their family, cultural, or environment, You can help them to safety bring out those abilities in their life now, and use their gifts for the intended purposes in their life. Through your help and acceptance, they will be able to heal themselves and apply their talents to helping others.

[thecreaturecodex]

The Great Game

The galaxy is sick, and has been for so long that even most of the gods have forgotten what it was like when it was healthy. If a cosmology is like an ecosystem, Golarion and its surrounding worlds have too many predators, not enough prey, too much competition, not enough mutualism. The Material Plane is a little too similar to a chaotic, evil world—like the Abyss specifically. On Golarion, it’s kill or be killed.

The reason is Lamashtu. In ages past, the Mother of Monsters ambushed Curchanus, stripping from him the portfolio of Animals and leaving him for dead. He survived long enough to pass his domain of Travel to his protégé, Desna, but Lamashtu was able to use that surge of power to claim divinity for herself and become the Queen of Demons. Since then, Lamashtu has done as she willed, fighting and fucking her way across reality and leaving thousands of new species of horrors in her wake.

But Lamashtu is a neglectful mother. Because of her influence, animals in the Material Plane are overly hostile, too aggressive, liable to pick fights that they can’t win. Animals are liable to view humanoids as prey, which leads to savage reprisals and environmental catastrophe. The species created by Lamashtu and her followers, both demonic and mortal, are born without a niche, and their shoving into the world around them leads to disruption and devastation. It’s not a coincidence that crazed wizards and misguided druids have brought so many new monsters into existence, and that one-off horrors are liable to mutate and become entire species.

But this has not gone unnoticed.

Deep within the First World lives a goddess. A Goddess of Predators, although she is only quasi-divine. For now. Mormo, the First Medusa, Goddess of Predators, has been alive since before the Age of Serpents, since before the birth of mammals. She is a primordial entity, a Great Old One, although more benevolent than most. She and Yig call each other Brother and Sister, although this may or may not represent a genetic linkage. She retreated from the Material Plane as humanity became a growing power, disgusted by the callousness of the Azlanti and the machinations of the aboleths.

But now she has chanced to gaze upon the Material again. And is horrified to see how much things have gotten worse in her absence. Mormo wants to help. And to help the best way she knows how. By killing and eating something. Someone. Lamashtu.

Mormo’s ultimate goal is to do to Lamashtu what Lamashtu did to Curchanus. Weaken her to the point where she can be fought, strip the domain of Animals from her, and ideally kill her for good. Leave the demons without a Queen, so they can go back to clawing at each other’s throats for a while. Restore the ecological balance of Golarion and allow the biological exuberance of the First World back onto the Material Plane.

But she needs help. And Lamashtu may be confident, but she’s not complacent. She knows that Mormo is gunning for her. And is bringing together allies of her own.

This is the Great Game, the cosmological underpinnings of the Age of Monsters. Gods, demigods and other entities are picking sides, or choosing to remain neutral, or remaining neutral on the surface but shoring up their favorites in secret. The teams are not defined by alignment. There are those of all alignments, of all of the planar power groups, who support Team Lamashtu or Team Mormo, in large ways or small. Any conflict where Desna and Pazuzu both have the same enemy is bound to get complicated, after all. Further articles will be posted throughout the year, tagged with The Great Game, discussing who is on who’s side, and why.

Full statistics for Mormo are forthcoming—those are likely going to be the capstone of Monster Girl Summer, posted in August. Mormo is a N great old one, with the portfolio of reptiles, terror and ecology. Her domains are Knowledge, Scalykind, Strength and Trickery, and her subdomains are Competition, Fear (modifying Trickery), Thought and Venom.

[monologuerhead]

Radiohead public library

The idea of the archive is a romantic one: in the age of information technology who can resist the pull of a centralized archive? Not any who has ever followed a trail of hyperlinks through the channels and nooks of Wikipedia. I find myself pulled into the romance of the archive drawn by the hint of knowledge that is just out of reach. The archive is just one way to make sense of the themes that have dominated the 20th century onwards*; cycles of repression, isolation, and capital make themselves clear almost immediately with any sort of sifting into the history of information technology (which is tied inextricably to the history of the archive), but in ways that are difficult to categorize and quantify.

This interest lead me to look into the radiohead public library. In its thoroughness (and their rare willingness to include an archive of their own websites, in the memory hole!) I have been pleasantly surprised to find a reflection of the original memex proposed by Vannevar Bush in his 1945 essay “As We May Think”, a labyrinth of articles linked by the paths of those who have read them before, and open to further linkages as the reader proceeds on. The memex could be seen as the prototype for any website stitched together by hyperlinks, a la wikipedia or the encyclopedia britannica, or more obscurely certain sections of the museum of jurassic technology’s website, and it is through the memex’s associative potential that a nonlinear (even networked) model of the world can be studied for its array of information, displayed for casual consideration, or even used to hypnotize the pursuant into a fictionalized version of events (for example, I still have yet to figure out how close to consensus reality the history of the museum of jurassic tech that is featured on its website. Clicking through the site itself is a trippy experience).

The mind fills the gaps between dream imagery with narrative and the cuts between movie scenes with implication— could the same be true for the spaces between hyperlinks, or even the silence between one tiktok video and the next? What is the meaning that links one thing to another? The Dewey Decimal System incorporates within its classification incredible bias against marginalized groups (thankfully, bias that is, albeit slowly, being addressed) simply in the way that information in the form of published books is sorted into one group or another. Through this sorting information of a slippery kind is introduced into the unwary unconscious. A connection between ‘x marginalized group’ and ‘abnormal psychology’ (DDC 301(dot)4157), has been made in the mind of the pursuant irrationally, and without any supported evidence, anecdotes, or even necessarily logic.

This is an important distinction between these hyperlinked archives and the Borgesian ‘total archive’ introduced in the short story The Library of Babel. The Library of Babel simply presents information at its rawest and most indigestible- disregarding all meaning, all truth, and all direction, the pages of its books contain more or less entire nonsense unless one is willing to use the website to find a specific hex that will repeat to you the phrase that you have asked for. Sure, it contains the summation of all human knowledge (within the english alphabet), but only at infinitesimal odds does one stumble upon meaning within its halls. It is perhaps better (or at least more sensical) if the map is smaller than the territory.

I wonder if in the present day the algorithm is at odds with the old system of hyperlinks. The algorithm approaches with a seemingly benign offer of information and media— arranged on a plate you hardly have to make the connections yourself. It’s far more coherent than the Babelian library, but its system of organization is just as dense and nonsensical (at least to the user, I have no idea what’s going on in the back end. Ping pong tables and swanky apartments in Brooklyn?). The threat within the algorithm is that the connections themselves are unstable and irrational, based and reinforced on the patterns that people already move within, but also directing their movement towards undemocratically controllable goals (I was about to simply say uncontrollable goals, but I realized that yes, there are people behind the algorithm directing it to hit certain metrics of responses or views or emotions or whatever). Being irrational, they’re difficult to rationalize, understand, and either follow further, outside of any given algorithm, or deprogram from the pursuant themself. I’m reminded of Burrough’s cut-up technique that he uses for The Soft Machine and the kind of magical terrorism that he inflicts upon his least favorite cafe. Information will resolve into meaning and meaning will condense into (re)action whether consciously or unconsciously. Even the space within paragraphs, even sentences, requires a willingness to find associative potential.

And so here I am back to my romantic archive, (let’s pretend wikipedia) where I can pretend to see within the spaces between a kind of orderly, genteel meaning, where I the pursuant can follow my own heart down the isles, tracing my own steps in a trail of purple hyperlinks. Or if I’m in the depths of the past twenty-five years of archived radiohead websites, I can find a surreal landscape where I can only partially direct my path through lyrics and images both familiar and unfamiliar; things that pertain to the year that the site was archived and things that did not reappear until much, much later (burn the witch). Still, despite all its surrealism, meaning surfaces like the white whale, and the ship goes down with its hunt.

Anyway, I wrote this all on a whim. I like to pretend to be 45 years old. I like radiohead.

*I’d be very open to extending this date further back but unfortunately I haven’t found a whole lot of material that goes further than that— or maybe I’m just not that interested in anything much older

[just-antithings]

I hate hearing "be critical of your interests!" from people who just objectively are not. You see something you like and you'll write anything off as fine. You'll justify it, explain it away as good or nonsexual somehow. You like it, and so it must be free of sin. You'll cover your ears and close your eyes.

Meanwhile, I was critical of my interests, experienced an amount of anguish over thinking I was "into abuse," and found out, actually, they're quite simple. I'm not romanticizing abuse. I'm not "into toxicity" (and it's totally fine if someone else is, but I'm also sure it's more than that, you know?). Because I was critical and I came out on the other side realizing that what I like is vulnerability and trust and consent and clarity. I like some sense of discarding myself for a bit and to play as if the lines are being blurred. To set up a dynamic and then "forget". It's a scene. We're different people. Like, here we are, at the doorway into something else, two responsible adults, shedding our skin and forgetting ourselves. We set up rules but then play like we're discarding them. We hang our selves up at the door like winter coats. This is one of the few things in the world, as an autistic woman, that makes me feel normal and functional and regulated. I'm not romanticizing the bad things that happened to me. Many things are things that never happened to me. Some of it (things like cigarettes, alcohol) are only things I was in close proximity to growing up. And finding out that things like that and paraphilias can have a higher linkage in neurodivergent brains just makes all of it feel like more ableist. It's always the removal of autonomy - from women, from minority groups, from people who probably need it most because, most likely, it helps them as it does me. It's also the inverse of personality that's pleasurable, I think, and in some ways, a pleasure of doing wrong and not being able to help yourself. No one could blame you. Basically. The switch from a very in control person whose holding the reins, making it up as I go along, leading the way into... "Well, I'm tired today." And it can be soft and nonsexual. It can be. Pick out my clothes. Tell me what to do and how to do it. I would normally revolt against that, but I'm doing it because I want to, which is most important. If I didn't want to, I simply wouldn't. And there's so much trust and quiet intimacy in that. I'm laying these things down and giving them to you. I will continue to hold them in my regular days. I don't know how else to live, but here and now, we can forget all of it.

.

[eretzyisrael]

The UNRWA-Hamas Linkage 

Since Hamas' savage attack against Israel on October 7th 2023, the IDF has been operating in Gaza to eliminate Hamas' military and governance capabilities and free the Israeli hostages. During this operation, a wealth of new intelligence has been gathered on Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and other terror organizations. Israeli forces have retrieved millions of documents in captured enemy material.��This new intelligence exposed two related issues: first, the involvement of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) employees in the October 7th massacre. Second, the deep and systemic infiltration by those terror organizations, particularly Hamas, into the ranks of UNRWA.

What are the new findings on UNRWA in Gaza?

The collection and analysis of the new information is still ongoing, yet it is already clear that a significant share of UNRWA's employees in Gaza serve in the ranks of Hamas and other terror organizations, including in military positions.

Israel has sent UNRWA an official letter with a list of 100 terror operatives employed by the agency with their names, ID and military ID numbers.

__

Over 10% of senior UNRWA educators in Gaza (school principals or deputy principals, directors or deputy directors of training centers) were found to be members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad (click here for details).

__

Over thirty UNRWA facilities in Gaza have been found to contain terror infrastructures such as tunnel shafts, reflecting a deeply concerning, and possibly systematic, abuse of the status of these facilities for terrorist purposes. Hamas operated a high-end server farm directly under UNRWA's Gaza headquarters, with communication and electricity cables connecting both compounds.

Intelligence shows that Hamas considers UNRWA an essential asset both for maintaining its rule over Gaza and for exploiting its facilities to build terror infrastructure. It is not a case of "a few rotten apples", as some have tried to portray it.

Multiple times in the past, Israel provided UNRWA with information on members of Hamas that are employed by the agency, yet no action was taken.

What did Israel do with the information?

In January, as the full details were still being gathered, Israel discretely shared the initial details with UNRWA's High Commissioner, Phillipe Lazzarini. This included the names of twelve UNRWA employees, who had been identified at the time as having participated in the October 7th massacre.

Subsequently, the UN Secretary General ordered an investigation by the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) strictly on the involvement of those twelve employees in the October 7th massacre. In addition, the Secretary General appointed an external Review Group to examine UNRWA's neutrality mechanisms, chaired by Former French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna. In early March, both bodies visited Israel where they received detailed briefings and information, including raw intelligence, exposing the full depth and breadth of the terror infiltration into UNRWA.

In parallel, the information was shared with Israel's intelligence partners and was presented to the relevant officials in UNRWA's donor countries.

The often-repeated claim that Israel did not share information on the UNRWA-Hamas nexus is entirely false.

UNRWA in Gaza is beyond repair

As the new revelations on UNRWA were being gathered, and following a thorough inter-agency assessment, Israel concluded that the terror infiltration into UNRWA's Gaza operations poses a grave security risk and seriously jeopardizes the humanitarian efforts. Furthermore, it was concluded that the problem cannot be fixed by reforms or the introduction of new "neutrality mechanisms" in UNRWA, for two key reasons:

First, contrary to most of the donor governments, UNRWA – like the UN itself – does not regard Hamas as a terrorist organization. As recently as February 2024, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths publicly stated that “Hamas is not a terrorist group for us, as you know, it is a political movement." Moreover, reforms will not change the basic fact that UNRWA in Gaza is the only UN entity in the world which runs a state-like enterprise employing 13,000 local staff members, managed by a small number of international staff, in an area controlled by a terrorist organization with a genocidal agenda (the Hamas Charter openly states that: “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it"). UNRWA has yet to show any inclination to investigate the affiliation of over 2000 of its staff in Hamas and other terrorist organizations, nor to dismiss them. It also has not declared whether it considers employing Hamas militants as a breach of its neutrality.

Secondly, over the past decade UNRWA announced various reforms and new "mechanisms" ostensibly aimed at ensuring its neutrality to address public scandals and concerns by donors. However, an analysis of those measures shows that they were ineffectual and never fully implemented. This reflects either a lack of will or a lack of ability to apply steps which effectively prevent terror infiltration. For example, UNRWA boasts of conducting quarterly "neutrality inspection" of its facilities, yet those checks, conducted by local staff (who may or may not be Hamas members), according to UNRWA's own website, look only for political slogans in posters and graffiti, not for any evidence of abuse by terrorist organizations:

"Installation inspections include checks for: (i) proper use and placement of signage, including: flags, UN sign/logo, no weapons sign; (ii) ensuring that the building is free of political slogans, flags, posters and other markings; (iii) a short questionnaire for the installation manager on any experiences related to incursions, unauthorized activity and harassment of staff..."

A ’neutrality breach’ according to UNRWA’s definition is "taking sides in hostilities or engaging in controversies of a political, racial, religious, or ideological nature." Infiltration by a terror organization that then exploits UNRWA facilities to further their terror organization’s objectives goes far beyond a mere neutrality breach. It undermines all other humanitarian principles, including humanity, impartiality and independence. UNRWA's attempt to frame the issue as merely one concerning neutrality is misleading and points to ineffective solutions. Preventing terror infiltration of such massive enterprises requires tools that UN agencies in the field do not have, starting with the ability to define local terrorist organizations as such.

UNRWA can be replaced in Gaza gradually without hampering the humanitarian effort

After the exposure of the extent of terrorist infiltration of UNRWA, Israel’s humanitarian policy has been to shift focus to working with responsible aid organizations that aren’t compromised by terrorist organizations. The priority has been to do so without hampering the goal of increasing and improving the humanitarian assistance provided to the civilian population in Gaza. This policy was devised and approved after a thorough assessment of UNRWA's role in the humanitarian effort and its functioning since October 7th. The assessment concluded as follows:

UNRWA has underperformed logistically on the ground since October 7th, including inter alia by failing to scale up its operations in a timely fashion while simultaneously trying to take lead in multiple operational areas in which it did not have deep expertise. UNRWA has attempted to create a monopoly on the distribution of aid in Gaza at the expense of other humanitarian agencies, and the cluster system that the UN applies in all other humanitarian missions worldwide. Instead of adopting a professional, solutions-oriented approach, UNRWA's top leadership prioritized their political and media campaign against Israel which included countless baseless accusations and disinformation.

UNRWA's functions in Gaza can be gradually transferred to more professional providers. For example, for a period of six weeks in February and March 2024 UNRWA didn’t make a single request to take aid to the north of Gaza where it was needed most. Instead, the food relief was brought by other actors such as the private sector, other UN agencies and international NGOs. Since the start of the war, UNRWA was responsible for bringing in 15% of the aid, compared to 27% by the Egyptian Red Crescent and 20% by the World Food Program (WFP). There are many other responsible humanitarian actors, including other UN organizations and over 43 NGOs currently operating in Gaza, who can take a larger role in aid distribution.

In the longer run, UNRWA's state-like function as a provider of basic services, such as education, health and garbage collection, could and should be transferred to local civilian authorities in post-Hamas Gaza.

Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, has repeatedly demonstrated that it prioritizes terror over the wellbeing of Gazan civilians. It exploits them as human shields and views a humanitarian crisis as an integral part of their war strategy. The effectiveness of the humanitarian efforts in Gaza, and the safety of the people involved in it, requires their complete delinking from Hamas. Unfortunately, the UN’s and UNRWA’s leadership have chosen to understate the severity of this unprecedented scandal, leading to what might go down as one of the biggest whitewashes in the history of the United Nations.

Pursuant to these assessments, Israel is effecting a graduated replacement of UNRWA in Gaza, without hampering the humanitarian effort.

Both UN review processes cannot offer a path to safely resume funding to UNRWA in Gaza.

The two reviews have very strict and limited terms of reference (TORs). The OIOS has been mandated to investigate only the involvement of the initial twelve UNRWA employees whose names were provided in January. The Review Group chaired by Ms. Colonna has been explicitly instructed by the TOR given to it by the Secretary General not to investigate any allegations of breaches of neutrality by UNRWA "nor make any findings of fact in respect of them." Its mandate is limited to examining UNRWA's internal mechanisms to preserve its neutrality. Furthermore, it does not intend to examine whether UNRWA's reports and public communications abide by the principles of neutrality and impartiality.

To summarize, both review processes lack the mandate and the expertise to provide donors with answers to the following questions:

Has UNRWA been deeply infiltrated by designated terrorist organizations?

Is UNRWA's exposure to terror infiltration in Gaza beyond repair?

Can UNRWA be replaced in Gaza without hampering the humanitarian effort?

Israel's assessment has resulted in affirmative answers to all three questions.

It is therefore up to governments, parliaments and the public in donor countries to make their own assessments and answer those questions before the flow of tax-payers' money to UNRWA, and through it to Hamas, continues.

Israel is willing to engage and provide all the information that can help such a process.

[fatehbaz]

In this coastal ecology, no fixed separation between land and water. The “polymorphous personality” of the mangrove ecosystem defies stable boundaries. The mangrove’s name is a combination of Malay and Arabic, of Portuguese and English. At the Sundarbans of Bengal, the largest mangrove region, the “sea forest” is marked by unfixity and a porous quality that undermines formal political boundaries, demonstrating “the trembling instability of borders”. While Euro-American legal institutions rely on clear delineation of land to recognize tenure, Yolgnu Aboriginal communities and Dholupuyngu cosmology cannot be contained. The landscape respires, is in flux, among the tidal seas of mangrove forests, “antithetical to the manicured” lawn.

---

[T]his tropical coastal ecology is a site of continual refiguration: neither sea nor land, neither river nor sea, bearing neither salty nor fresh water [...]. The mangrove has been prone to confused definitions, since it is a grouping of over eighty specialized plant species that survive as “botanical amphibians,” but is also a complex coastal ecosystem in itself. With these hybrid conditions of “belonging,” the mangrove lends itself to helping us think through the present-day schematic of Euro-American crises amid larger constellations of political insurrections and migratory movements. Its polymorphous personality as a sediment-carrier, land-builder, defender of numerous life forms, and also an inadvertent protector of pirates renders the mangrove a fascinating study in the biopolitics of selfhood. [...]

---

The mangrove also traces a language cartography, setting sail through the routes of travel and the histories of encounter to which mangrove-naming bears witness. The hybrid terms that define mangroves in different linguistic cultures become conveyors of sociopolitical contact between civilizations and coastal ecologies. For instance, the combination of the old Malay word “mangi mangi” and the Arabic word “el grum” refers to the Avicennia genus of mangrove tree, which is a favorite attraction for fireflies. Or consider the juxtaposition of the Portuguese “mangle” with the English word “grove” [...].

However, the mangrove’s intense bed of foliage, punctuated with prop and stilt roots, remains antithetical to the manicured and decisively cultivated grove. It may therefore be more productive to reflect on the mangrove’s word origins not merely through land, but as linkages with a specific kind of tree and tide.

The Sundarbans covers an area of 10,000 square kilometers of intertidal zones between parts of southwestern Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India. The largest mangrove forest in the world, its name bears the combined genesis of a beautiful “sea forest” and of the Sundari tree, the Heritiera fomes species of mangrove, which grows across these wetlands in abundance. [...]

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As a landscape, the Sundarbans is marked by unfixity, since its intertidal nature places it between appearance and disappearance -- with islands being submerged overnight. It is ironic that while the aerial root systems of mangroves are highly valued as fortifications against the onslaught of angry tidal waves (as experienced during the tsunami of 2004) their porous quality does not allow for clear border-making. In reading this satellite image of the Sundarbans, produced by what is said to be “the most stable, best characterized Earth observation instrument ever placed in orbit,” we are met with the trembling instability of borders. The water channels eat into the land as gnarled roots of mangrove, uncontainable on ground and from an aerial view -- here the coastline becomes indiscernible as a single entity.

---

The legal vexations of such amphibious and obtuse terrain become pronounced in sea-rights cases, wherein border-making becomes the necessity of tenure. Forming rulings over such zones lays legality prone to paradox. In the Blue Mud Bay case, heard by the High Court of Australia in 2008, a legal body was called upon to make a determination regarding the shifting geography of a mangrove coastal region. In the final ruling the aboriginal Yolgnu claimants were successful, with the court ruling that the column of tidal water lying above land should be regarded no differently from the land itself. Thus the court’s attempt to encompass Dholupuyngu cosmology and “aqueography” occasioned a legal magic transforming water flow into the fixity of “land.” [...]

In the intertidal and interpenetrating zone of the mangrove, the border between land and sea becomes a choreography of re-crossings. The mangrove line is, hence, one of sedimentary reclamation rather than clear political divisions of terra firma. In mangrove zones, human determinations become ghosts.

---

Text by: Natasha Ginwala and Vivian Ziherl. “Sensing Grounds: Mangroves, Unauthentic Belonging, Extra-Territoriality.” e-flux Journal Issue #45. May 2013. [Bold emphasis and italicized first paragraph in this post added by me.]

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Kaiser came through the door with a girl on each arm, blondes with measurements like Playboy models.  Kaiser wore armor head to toe, elaborately worked and topped with a crown of blades.  The leader of Empire Eighty Eight.  The twins went by the names Fenja and Menja, and were decked out in Valkyrie-style armor featuring countless little steel wings, along with closed-face helms.  Had to admit, Kaiser liked his heavy hitters.  These two could grow to be three stories tall, and they were a hundred times more durable when they were. Purity entered a few steps behind him with several others following her.  She was dressed in a white costume without any markings or symbols on it, but the fabric glowed softly.  Her white hair and eyes glowed too, but it was more like they were made of heated magnesium than anything else.  I couldn’t look in her direction without getting spots in my eyes, and my mask had tinted lenses designed to reduce glare. The people that had come in with Purity were other members of Empire Eighty Eight.  Krieg, Night, Fog and Hookwolf.   It was interesting to see, because as far as I’d known, while every one of them had been a member of Empire Eighty Eight at some point in time, Purity had gone solo, while Night and Fog had splintered off to form their own duo in Boston not long after.  All reunited, apparently. That wasn’t even Kaiser’s entire team.  Aside from the rare exception like Lung reaching out to Bakuda when she’d been at Cornell, it seemed that most groups recruited new members from within their own city.  Kaiser was different.  He was one of the better known American villains with a white supremacist agenda, and people sharing his ideals were either recruited from other states or they came to him.  Most didn’t stay with him for too long, for whatever reason, but it still made him the Brockton Bay resident with the most raw parahuman muscle at his beck and call.

E88, I think, would absolutely be written differently if Wildbow was writing Worm today, but it is still done very interestingly, regardless.

The gang having more extensive linkages beyond just Brockton Bay, and presumably to the Gelleschaft (is that canon? WoG? Just a common fan thing?) to explain where some of the recruits he gets goes.

I do feel like it's a bit of a missed opportunity to not have E88 be bigger than just Brockton Bay - the degree to which Kaiser is monofocused on the city is a bit weird, but it does also fit with classic superhero tropes, which have a tendency to treat cities as islands unto themselves half the time (Most of the the rest of the time it's worldwide stuff. There doesn't seem to be a lot in between for the average comic book superhero story, from what I can tell. Regional/multicity narratives seem uncommon.

Then again, they seem uncommon in general. If you're going to spend any serious time in a given city for the story... you're gonna keep spending time in that city, I guess.

White Supremacy is a coherent (for a given value of the word) ideology that can serve as a motivating and rallying factor across the board for people well beyond the local area.

Technically the ABB sorta have a similar operating ideology, but in practice, it's mostly just Lung's self-aggrandizement, and recruiting for that, especially on a broader scale beyond just your local city, has got to be hard.

Probably one of the reasons E88 is such a big deal is just that it has what most villain cape gangs don't have - something to pull people in beyond the opportunity to make money as a criminal and have some cape cover and stuff.

I'm sure there's tons of that too, people who just join up for the money and the chance to be a brute, but if you believe in the ideals of E88, you can tell yourself you' re making the city a better place and all that.

Kayden/Purity certainly told herself that, and is telling herself that, now that she's rejoined.

Because she isn't willing to really do what she needed to do to change, to separate out from E88 and her past and so on.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

TOMORROW (May 14), I'm on a livecast about AI AND ENSHITTIFICATION with TIM O'REILLY; on WEDNESDAY (May 15), I'm in NORTH HOLLYWOOD with HARRY SHEARER for a screening of STEPHANIE KELTON'S FINDING THE MONEY; FRIDAY (May 17), I'm at the INTERNET ARCHIVE in SAN FRANCISCO to keynote the 10th anniversary of the AUTHORS ALLIANCE.

#20yrsago Open source games from 1978 https://www.atariarchives.org/basicgames/

#15yrsago Why RIAA lawsuits matter to the Free Software Foundation https://torrentfreak.com/the-war-on-sharing-why-the-fsf-cares-about-riaa-lawsuits-090513/

#10yrsago Clapper’s ban on talking about leaks makes life difficult for crypto profs with cleared students https://twitter.com/mattblaze/status/464841668391624705

#10yrsago Ukip councillor sends cops to activist’s house, ask him to delete critical tweet https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/12/police-ask-blogger-remove-legitimate-tweet-ukip

#10yrsago Bletchley Park Trust erects “Berlin Wall” to cut off on-site computer history museum https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/may/12/bletchley-park-national-museum-computing-berlin-wall-restored-colossus-codebreaking

#5yrsago Vancouver’s housing bubble was driven by billions in laundered criminal proceeds https://www.seattletimes.com/business/billions-in-dirty-cash-helped-fuel-vancouver-b-c-s-housing-boom/

#5yrsago Supreme Court greenlights Apple customers’ lawsuit over App Store price-fixing https://www.wired.com/story/supreme-court-apple-decision-antitrust/

#5yrsago Amazon’s monopsony power: the other antitrust white meat https://www.promarket.org/2019/02/15/is-amazon-violating-the-sherman-act/

#5yrsago Trump supporters astonished to learn that the man they gave $20m to “build the wall” has nothing to show for it https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/05/11/group-raised-more-than-million-build-wall-now-some-supporters-want-answers/

#1yrsago Revenge of the Linkdumps https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/13/four-bar-linkage/#linkspittle

[granulesofsand]

Respectability Politics in CDDs

🗝️🏷️ OEA flavored syscourse

I know that fawning is a survival mode, but survival modes have never been an excuse to cause harm. By trying to appease and fit into a social group that doesn’t want us, we are intentionally discarding our most vulnerable peers.

If you’ve been around long enough, you’ll have seen some of these themes thrown around in every wider community a subgroup belongs to:

In medicine, psychology is often considered a soft science. Practitioners don’t have to believe in any of the theories or evidence to do their jobs, so they discount the whole field as less than or a pseudoscience

In psychology, trauma care is often considered a specialty. Clinicians can find clients without building safe relationships for disclosure, so they don’t know about and don’t treat trauma. People with trauma disorders are passed off as too complex or volatile for most support people

In trauma care, dissociation is a niche that clinicians don’t need to know about. Many people, caregivers and patients alike, don’t believe in repressed (dissociated) memories.

If a caregiver is informed about dissociation, that doesn’t guarantee they know about DID. They can find clients without validating or believing in any CDD, and can be downright venomous towards clients with those disorders (or CD structures in general)

In CDD treatment, OEA is an often considered conspiracy theory. Regardless of the actual story, clinicians will pass by OEA survivors as too much, or simply delusional.

In OEA circles, not everyone believes in mind control. They treat it as a buzz word, denying its possibility while describing it in practice with slightly different words. Even OEA circles might not believe in dissociation or CDSs, let alone programmed CDDs

In programming survivor circles, any survivor whose group wore cloaks, used candles, had fancy machines, or called themselves a secret society or government (by name or not) is discounted in an attempt to gain wider recognition

We all throw each other under the bus in an attempt to board ourselves, and that bus does not want us as passengers. It’s almost always a means of looking more believable to the people who don’t care to believe us, to present ourselves as respectable so one part of our collective narrative can be heard.

And it doesn’t work. If you can gain recognition by climbing a pile of bait, you can only hope nobody else tries to climb up you. Sometimes the group you are trying to squeeze into notices on their own that you look a little too different from them, or a little too similar to the people you stand on.

If we can get a piece of our community recognized by research we can replicate and arguments we can reuse, that’s a good thing. But if you were lucky enough to be included in that piece, turning your back on the people who were you is nothing short of hypocrisy and betrayal.

The rest of us don’t go away because you got lucky. And it is luck; as much as I love a good essay, what we need to get the rest of us to that level is evidence. Evidence that requires brain scans and chemical linkage, because we aren’t believed when we testify ourselves. Do you see how this a resource problem? Do you see how it isn’t?

People with degrees are qualified to record our experiences because they have access to education, the academic formats and vocabulary, the multifocal background. If you aren’t using those same tools, you have no reason to require them of others. This is why community isn’t reliant on academia, and why the cultural group is different than the medicalized group. We were the same, and then we weren’t. Subgroups exist because you left us behind.

[ummick]

'It's the start of something' – Mick Schumacher follows in Dad's sports car footsteps

Mick Schumacher's career stalled after two difficult years – now he's set to complete a circle started by his father by making his Le Mans Hypercar debut this weekend

Almost 33 years ago, a young Michael Schumacher found himself indignantly stranded just outside the Silverstone pit exit when his Mercedes C11 Group C car’s gear linkage crumbled during qualifying for the British Empire Trophy, as the ex-WEC round was known then. After the Silver Arrows junior driver’s mechanics came to his rescue – legging it down the pitlane to fix the car – the incident was deemed 'outside assistance' and the German hotshot was promptly excluded from the event, along with his Le Mans-winning team-mate Jochen Mass. Over three decades later, his son Mick is now getting to grips with what he calls "the basics" of a fast and furious, 40-car strong sports car field as he prepares to make his World Endurance Championship debut this weekend for Alpine in Qatar. Father and son have an uncanny reverse symmetry to their careers – while Michael had a couple of years of sports car appearances before famously launching into F1, son Mick is now embarking on an endurance racing journey after a couple of years in the grand prix world. Speaking to Motor Sport, the former F2 and F3 champion is clearly keen to put recent unsatisfying years behind him when he was either stuck at the back of the F1 grid with Haas or on the bench as a reserve driver for Mercedes – and describes how glad he is to be back behind the wheel.

"It's amazing," he enthuses. "It was my first season [in 2023] not racing in over 15 years, so it felt quite weird and I didn’t like it, so I'm happy that I'm back in the racing seat. Also, I feel like that working aspect of trying to prove yourself, trying to get after it, is something so special and unique to sports in general, and if you just sit on the bench, you don’t really get to do that. “I think it's definitely a start of something, which hopefully is a good season, a good project. Who knows what the future holds?" With limited testing in WEC, over the course of the Prologue and practice sessions Schumacher has just been trying to acclimatise to what is a congested Losail track at the best of times; a tight circuit originally designed for MotoGP bikes. "It's been my first experience with every car on track," he says, slightly wide-eyed. "I think it was good to have that with the GT cars, and see how [a number of] Hypercars behave on track – it's out of the ordinary to me [after] racing in open wheels. But it’s been positive, I got to do my laps. I think we learned a lot." Having only driven featherlight karts and single seaters up to this point, Schumacher admits that Alpine A424 has come as a bit of a shock to the system. Its Mecachrome V6 and rear-axle MGU might pump out a combined 670bhp, but compared to his Haas F1 car the French car still feels like a bit of an electric blue tank. "It's a very heavy car, low downforce, low power compared to what I’m used to," he says. "But there's still this racing aspect, there's still this aspect of trying to improve every single bit. And at the end, [while] not everybody has the same [cars], we're all pretty much in the same boat." Schumacher said that he was still adjusting to driving within a team of three, sharing the same car, rather than as an individual. "It's a very different approach to F1. Sometimes I still catch myself trying to be the fastest. It's just about learning to take the information, process it and be able to use it right away, counter-checking with the experiences of my teammates so I don't go in blind. We're trying to position ourselves with a car where we know we can last around ten hours."

With the Qatar race stretching out so long, Schumacher says that he has to be ready for anything that might be thrown his way, clearly relishing the challenge of this new discipline. That said, the young German makes no bones about where he’s trying to get back to. WEC is quite simply a springboard. "The closeness to Europe and the ability to merge it with my reserve driver role in F1 are for me the main aspects," he says when asked as to the reason behind the WEC move. "It's important to just go racing again, to stay race fit, sharp in my head so that whenever the opportunity arises in F1 I'm ready to switch over to that. But I think that there's a big future in Hypercar at the moment, with so many manufacturers coming in,and more races coming into the calendar, I hope, at some points. I think there's loads of great things to come in both championships." When asked 'Why Alpine?,' a similar response is forthcoming. "The closeness to F1 is definitely a big aspect," he admits. "But also just the fact to see how committed Alpine was as a brand to push this project – it's also a big factor. The combination was just difficult to resist." Part of the excitement around WEC this season is that in a 19-strong Hypercar line-up, no one is quite sure what the competitive order will be. Heavyweights Ferrari and Toyota will likely be near the sharp end, but this season Porsche and Cadillac look like serious threats to their supremacy. Meanwhile, new kids on the Hypercar block Alpine and Lamborghini are the dark horses. Even Schumacher himself isn't sure. "Honestly, I don't think anybody knows, really, where we are," he says. "I think we're just very excited to see how it's going to go for the ten hours here. It's a great track, it's a great place, great venue to come to, and it'll be exciting to get the first experience in race trim and try to contextualise every little detail and see where we end up."