#market intelligence methods

[tbrcresearchreport]

This market intelligence database provides you with a comprehensive overview on the current landscape of legal services industry. The database also includes extensive market data and analysis including market sizing, forecast, business strategy and trends.

[marketxcel]

Unlocking Consumer Insights: The Power of Focus Group Research

Discover how focus group research can unveil invaluable consumer insights. Dive into the world of group discussions, feedback, and meaningful data for smarter business decisions.

[fatehbaz]

was thinking about this

To be in "public", you must be a consumer. Or a laborer.

About control of peoples' movement in space/place. Since the beginning.

"Vagrancy" of 1830s-onward Britain, people criminalized for being outside without being a laborer.

Breaking laws resulted in being sentenced to coerced debtor/convict labor. Coinciding with the 1830-ish climax of the Industrial Revolution and the land enclosure acts, the "Workhouse Act" aka "Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834" forced poor people to work for a minimum number of hours every day. The major expansion of the "Vagrancy Act" of 1838 made "joblessness" a crime and enhanced its punishment. (Coincidentally, the law's date of royal assent was 27 July 1838, just 5 days before the British government was scheduled to allow fuller emancipation of its technical legal abolition of slavery in the British Caribbean on 1 August 1838.)

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"Vagrancy" of 1860s-onward United States, people criminalized for being outside while Black.

Widespread emancipation after slavery abolition in 1865 rapidly followed by the outlawing of loitering which de facto outlawed existing as Black in public. Inability to afford fines results in being sentenced to forced labor by working on chain gangs or prisons farms, some built atop plantations.

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"Vagrancy" of 1870s-onward across empires, people criminalized for being outside while being "foreign" and also being poor generally.

Especially from 1880-ish to 1918-ish, this was an age of widespread mass movement of peoples due to mass poverty and famine induced by global colonial extraction and "market expansion", as agricultural "revolutions" of monoculture/cash crop extraction resulted in ecological degradation. This coincides with and is facilitated by new railroads and telegraphs, leading to imperial implementation or expansion of identity documents, strict work contracts, passports, immigration surveillance, and border checkpoints.

All of this in just a few short years: In 1877, British administrators in India develop what would become the Henry Classification System of taking and keeping fingerprints for use in binding colonial Indians to legal contracts. That same year during the 1877 Great Railroad Strike, and in response to white anxiety about Black residents coming to the city during Great Migration, Chicago's policing institutions exponentially expand surveillance and pioneer "intelligence card" registers for tracking labor union organizing and Black movement, as Chicago's experiments become adopted by US military and expanded nationwide, later used by US forces monitoring dissent in colonial Philippines and Cuba. Japan based its 1880 Penal Code anti-vagrancy statutes on French models, and introduced "koseki" register to track poor/vagrant domestic citizens as Tokyo's Governor Matsuda segregates classes, and the nation introduces "modern police forces". In 1882, the United States passes the Chinese Exclusion Act. In 1884, the Ottoman government enacts major "Passport Nizamnamesi" legislation requiring passports. In 1885, during the "Tacoma riot" or "expulsion", a mob of hundreds of white residents rounded up all of the city's Chinese residents, marched them to the train station, kicked them out of the city, and burned down the Chinese neighborhood, introducing what is called "the Tacoma method".

Punished for being Chinese in San Francisco. Punished for being Korean in Japan. Punished for crossing Ottoman borders without correct paperwork. Arrested for whatever, then sent to do convict labor. A poor person in the Punjab, starving during a catastrophic famine, might be coerced into a work contract by British authorities. They will have to travel, shipped off to build a railroad in British Kenya. But now they have to work. Now they are bound. They will be punished for being Punjabi and trying to walk away from Britain's tea plantations in Assam or Britain's rubber plantations in Malaya.

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"Vagrancy" amidst all of this, people also criminalized for being outside while "unsightly" and merely even superficially appearing to be poor. San Francisco introduced the notorious "ugly law" in 1867, making it illegal for "any person, who is diseased, maimed, mutilated or deformed in any way, so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object, to expose himself or herself to public view". Today, if you walk into a building looking a little "weird" (poor, Black, ill, disabled, etc.) or carrying a small backpack, you are given seething spiteful glares and asked to leave.

"Vagrancy" everywhere in the United States, a combination of all of the above. De facto criminalized for simply going for a stroll without downloading the coffee shop's exclusive menu app. "Vagrancy", since at least early nineteenth century Europe. About the control of movement through and access to space/place. Concretizing and weaponizing caste, corralling people, anchoring them in place (de facto confinement), extracting their wealth/labor.

You are permitted to exist only as a paying customer or an employee.

[educationisimp0]

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[fkapommel]

A Rant about Bridgerton s3 from a person who doesn't care about Bridgerton

I'm just a hater who is an optimist at heart. On Polin, the Mondrich's, Michaela Stirling, and Cressida.

I haven't read the Bridgerton books, and I don't believe there is any validity to a "but this isn't book accurate!" argument because Bridgerton the Show was marketed as a diverse, representational adaptation that liked the bones of Quinn's idea but made something better. And I, a lay person, have never seen as much virtroil and hatred towards the showrunners as I have seen this season using that exact argument that has never been uttered before because, near unanimously, all fans agreed that the showrunners were making a better story that 90s Quinn ever could. So many people, readers and non-readers alike, were disappointed with the handling of this season.

Peneolope and Colin

Polin was ignored during THEIR season for conventionally "pretty" and "thin" romances. There was zero character growth for either Penelope or Colin individually and as a couple in their own season. We are never shown why Colin loves Peneolope or why he has grown to appreciate her Whistledown project beyond dialogue - "I've learned that they are both you" what the hell does that even mean. Most of the season is spent with them physically apart making dumb faces at each other at dances with no cinemagraphric tension being built - few body closeups, boring musical cues, meaningless and repetitive body/facial choreography (I'm looking at you, open-mouthed contoured Colin) - when all this and more were utilized successfully in Anthony and Kate's season. People were thirsty as fuck to watch a white man get fucked by a darker skinned woman (as was i), but not even the showrunners could be assed about the romance between their only plus-sized character and a Bridgerton. We spent more time building up Francesca's relationship with Kilmartin over penting up Peneolope's romance - her feelings of tragedy, hopelessness. Peneolope has always been overlooked and truly believed that was her fate forever - even nearly agreeing to a marriage that would literally leave her ignored for years on end - and that was the central tension of the season. She knows who she is, she knows that she is love-worthy, talented, and intelligent, but will Colin? DOES Colin? Oh, he does, and he randomly decides that mid-way through the season. And then fumbles her so hard to the point of insulting her very character - calling her manipulative and scheming after they slept together - when the true authorship of Whistledown is revealed. There was not enough tension built nor sustained to carry his hatred for his wife during those episodes, and no, a couple shots where he looks at his very hot wife and thinks "damn, she is hot" is enough.

This season we should have seen what his mother told him - that he is incredibly self-sacrificial and puts other people's (his quoted siblings') happiness before him - in action during Pen and his plot to get a suitor. That device could have been both means and method of Colin's realization that Pen was his true match all along by being forced to list her accolades, scrutinize her face and body for physical compliments and inticements in order to hype her up for other suitors and recognizing her intelligence and manner of speak in Whistedown because of their newfound constant proximity instead of having to be told about her authorship and realizing off-screen their similarity (which, I'll mention, has never been demonstrated in all three seasons. As a person who writes very different to how they speak, I understand that there is some grace to be had here, but Penelope's dialogue does not include any Whistledownisms at ALL and there absolutely should be some demonstrable similarities, especially this season.) That's how Colin could have NOTICED her. In all, their romance was extremely fumbled in favor of having "prettier," "skinnker" bodies on screen because the showrunner had no faith in Nicola's verified abilities in being a leading lady in a larger body (which isn't even plus-sized UGH different argument). Pen has been in love with Colin since the Featherington's "moved in next door" - where was any of that? We learn more about Kate Sharma's childhood in her season than we do about Polin's, the season where its plot important. No flashbacks, no reminescing, no reasons given why Pen even liked Colin in the first place (could he have done something for her, perhaps noticing her in some character-important way, and thats why she developed a crush? No. He's simply a cute guy next door.) We don't even reminisce on Colin's recent worldly travels that, at the start of the season, have completely transformed him into a lady's man or taught him how to assume that character-type. We don't see Pen's life without him to contrast with her life with him back, but different. We don't see the strain on Colin trying to hold up this facade of being a confident womanizer, nor do we see any consequence of his womanizing, just distant shots of jealous Pen. Why be different, why be different now, what shaped and taught his transformation? Did he think of Pen when he was gone? All important questions that would've better characterized him.

Colin magically realizes he's been tortured for a few days seeing Pen talk with Debling a few times (who is completely forgotten about in Pt 2 holy shit I totally forgot about him), then is so mean to her realizing she's Whistledown, then magically falls in love with her again, and then oop- there's babies. Which i guess wasn't a surprise, but rubbed me the wrong way as neither of Polin has talked about wanting kids at all. In all other seasons, we see our pair demonstrate their abilities as viscountess or duchess, and we see them discuss the importance of having children plus an understanding of what it's like being parents. We didn't get any of that from Polin and seeing them suddenly thrust into parenthood was a shock to their characterization. They're love story is allowed to be juvenile, girl-/boy-next-door fantasizing, and rushing past Penelope's pregnancy and their transformation into parents was needless, leaving more questions than answers.

Mondriches

Why, the hell, was the Mondrich's selling their bar so goddamn important to this season?? This show is called Bridgerton, about the Bridgertons, but we have sacrificed necessary screen time on Colin Bridgerton's characterization and romance with Pen for filler than ultimately means nothing! He sells the bar anyway! This show was billed on meaningful representation of its diverse cast. You can't just make a nothing burger conflict about if this Black family suddenly thrust into being titled when the husband is weirdly attached to a bar where he serves whisky to his majority white clientelle. A Black family suddenly needing to learn the rules and decorum of the nobility is an interesting storyline in the world of Bridgerton, which characterizes itself has post-racial. Learning all the minute rules of etiquette is crafted to be impossible to an outsider, so how does this family of outsiders learn it? Where is the conflict that their inheritance rests on their child becoming the legal head of the family? There is so much to be explored here. In this concept rests a meaningful and emotionally convincing plot, but all we got was "Dude you need to sell your bar." "But I don't wanna! ............... I sold my bar." If youre going to waste screen time on one of the very few depictions of a plus-size character finding love that doesn't center her weight in its conflict, at least make it not so fucking boring.

Michaela Stirling and Francesca

And finally. Here we get to Michaela Sterling, who, based on the audience reaction, came on screen, showed her whole vag, killed beloved character Michael Sterling with a chainsaw, and hypnotized innocent Francesca Bridgerton in lesbianism. Good God people. Get a grip.

As a person not in the fandom, I have never seen this level of disgust and anguish over an adaptational change than to the introduction of Michaela Stirling. To anyone who hates this change and loves Mr. "Im going to tie you to the bed until you get pregnant": you already have that. No one is taking the books away from you. But a television adaptation of the books is not FOR you, it's for a whole new audience that pays homage to the original readership. If you cannot handle this change, stop watching.

To all of the television viewers who make a monolith of this outcry, accusing all nay-sayers of homophobia: get a grip. It is indeed emotionally difficult to see your beloved books get a poor adaptation or when screen adapters make changes that you see will make the narrative weaker. Literally every fandom that has had an adaptation has acted this way once or twice. And readers make some important concerns for the impending narrative! By introducing Michaela right after an entire season of this slow, easy, quiet romance between Francesca and John, the show has retroactively trashed every time that Fran has assured her family that she is truly in love with her now-husband (a fact that is important when that said husband is to be lost in the coming seasons). Fran and Stirling were demonstrating a real, true love that differed from the steamy, bodice-ripping lust the concept of Bridgerton was founded on. Their love was, may I remind you, incredibly popular to neurodivergent viewers who saw many traits of ND represented in Fran's character and her relationship with John. Her constant conflict with her mother and the queen who doubted that their love was valid because it did not behave in the same sensual way theirs had and then Violet's eventual approval of their relationship is important representation for love not based on lust and sexuality but on shared psychologies and interests. So far in Bridgerton, it has been illustrated that the only correct and long-lasting type of marriage is one based in wanting to fuck the pants off your partner; JoFran complicates this narrative. By then introducing Michaela and having Fran stutter over her words in compliance to Violet's memory of "forgetting the most familiar of words" when meeting her husband completely erases everything JoFran fought for and meant. "Wait, on second though, everything that these two characters stood for was in fact wrong and being so horned up that you forget your name is the only true start to a fulfilling relationship." This alludes to an eventuality that Fran's personality will be altered even more, that more parts of Francesca are indeed wrong and need to be changed for her to live a fulfilling marriage. (Yes, I understand that this has not happened yet, but the complete reversal of her relationship that she championed for an entire season makes one wary that even more is on the horizon). Further, Francesca's narrative is centralized around grief. How can that be actualized in the show if she falls out of love with her husband before her marriage night, when she's already lusting after her cousin by marriage? The Micheala introduction as it is in season 3 completely rewrites Francesca's character in the show and foreboding for an even greater change in seasons to come. There is an in-narrative issue with Michaela that is not reducible to homophobia but a genuine concern for the narrative.

Secondly, I have seen some people state that miffed viewers are upset about Francesca's bisexuality but not Eloise's implied lesbianism because they were comforted by Eloise's adherence to gay stereotypes, such as her "militant" feminism, her "not-like-other-girls" black sheepism, her hatred and disgust of men and the institution of marriage, and her constant, deep, near-homoerotic relationships with women. Francesca, in contrast, is princessly, beautiful in the same manner as Daphne, modest and sexually inhibited, concerned with feminine pursuits including marriage, and has not expressed an interest in women until her introduction to Michaela. To these people I say this: stop giving television showrunners so much grace. Michaela's introduction was meant as a shock to the audience. It was not meant to retroactively construct Francesca as a bisexual, locked in a tower of heterosexuality. It was meant to drum up just as much media buzz as it has. It is a hook for the next season meant to draw in new viewers - a queer audience scrounging for representation in the carpet hairs - and their run-of-the-mill audience member who pointed at their TV, exclaimed WHAT!?, and who is now hooked to discover how this new plotline will play out in the next season. It will keep their audience curious for however many years it takes for B4 to come out. Look me in the eyes and tell me that you were not surprised by Fran's sudden bisexuality. There is a reason that Eloise's stereotypicality is shorthand for gay, and the fact that Benedict and now Fran have been confirmed as bisexual if not homosexual lessens the probability that Eloise's narrative will be queered. Bridgerton creators do not care about true representation, they care about providing for a wide enough audience. That's why we only got canon queer characters (and queer sex) until the end of s3 - when people were already hooked. But they can only include so much before people are turned away. Think to yourself, why has there been no main dark-skinned, or truly plus-sized, or blemished, or disabled, or asexual, or poor, or effiminate man, or butch woman, or trans* love interest? It's because diversity and representation have limits.

Queer people deserve good representation, and we deserve for that representation to be narratively treated well. We do not deserve shock marketing or the ruining of hard built plot and characterization so that creators can win Diversity Bingo. (Likewise, this goes for racial diversity as well).

Forgotten Cressida

And lastly, and most shortly, what the fuck did they do with poor Cressida. I have never been more let down by the show than how they villanized, then sympathized with, and then shipped off Cressida to a doom of her worst nightmares when her storyline could have genuinely be salvaged by inhabiting the Whistledown role - being an outcast, but a respected one that is still flits about society - or by allying herself more with Eloise and leaning on her for support. But no. She is forgotten by society, by her family, and the only person she has ever called a friend, who was in the perfect position to be a queer provider for her. That shit hurted.

[gabrielsbubblegumbitch]

any more headcanons about valentino’s death/past life??

Of course ~

I like to think that his life on Earth mirrored his afterlife, but with a greater emphasis on drug trafficking and gang activities rather than pimping and porn production (According to my hc he was also more a true mobster in Hell before ascending to the status of an overlord. Once he achieved a certain level of power that assured him relative safety, he became kinda lazy and spoiled, allowing Vox to undertake most of the strategic planning so he could revel in endless parties).

Valentino kick-started his criminal career in Colombia* simply being a beast of man, so strong he could take almost anyone in the hand to hand combat. This prowess caught the attention of a local cartel, which hired him as an bruiser. From there, he began to climb. He wasn't the brightest, but that didn't really matter—he was smart about who he hung out with, and he was both ruthless and intimidating. His bold moves early on helped him get a leg up on the competition. Kidnapping a government official's daughter for ransom money to buy coca leaves from Peru, turning them into cocaine, and then smuggling it into the U.S. while paying off the narcs? Or getting into gun-running for paramilitaries without any experience? Only a madman would try that, and lucky for him, he was just that. This helped Valentino make a name for himself as a local kingpin. Not on Escobar's level, but definitely someone.

I think he operated a bit like the Joker (at least some versions of Joker) - not particularly intelligent, not charismatic (in Colombia in the 70s, his queerness was probably not well-received) but brutal and so unhinged that no one dared to question him because they were so grappled by his chaotic nature. People followed him because they believed there was a method to this madness — after all, he did manage to succeed in what he did. However, this formula started to wear off after a while. As he grew more powerful, his mistakes became more costly. His associates started to get tired of too many risky operations and the uncertainty when they had a stable position in the market, and the only thing putting it at risk was Val's insatiable hunger for adrenaline. Especially since the climate changed rapidly with the introduction of the War on Drugs by the US. So, one day, Valentino's lieutenants decided they’d had enough of playing his risky games and just Caesared him. They spiked his drink, bagged him, took him to the jungle, and unloaded like 30 bullets into him. That's also why, after death, he became obsessed with loyalty — he expects his colleagues to be ride or die for him and doesn't tolerate anything less.

*did you know that there's this moth living in South America called Trosia nigropunctigera? I bet my ass Val's design is at least partially based on it

[whitherwanderer]

Galena, a Rusty Reforger & Pyrite, a Deliberate Deadeye feat. @shroudandsands

In one of worlds fourteenfold, a hyune reforger scales the crags of Alexandria's cliffs and ruins in search of precious electrope, artifacts, and other reusable materials. A scope is trained on him, a voice in his ear, coolly reminding him to watch his footing (as if it needed to be said).

The spotter is an ex-hunter who keeps the levin-cursed monsters and defective sentries off his back with a careful eye and a dead aim. She's also his wife, which makes it that much harder for her to watch him test his scavenging prowess over the deep canyons and crumbling spires that scar the land. Trust him as she does, she has her reasons to be wary.

Galena's methods are unusual. Instead of combing the ground, he climbs. The old kingdom's ruins hide valuable artifacts and electrope caches that would be out of reach for most, but more worrying is his choice not to wear a regulator despite the many obvious dangers. Among the reforgers, it's not wholly unusual for someone to refuse a regulator, but those who know the two hyune know well: it's not a choice made lightly.

———

Deep in the heart of Everkeep, Pyrite stalks the alleys of Solution Nine with a portion of the materials her husband gleaned from the old kingdom. It's how he can offer his support for the organization Pyrite now dedicates her time and talents to.

And an ex-hunter always finds ways to keep herself sharp; sentries vanish, dismantled and sold for parts in True Vue's less reputable markets. Weapons from the manufactories on the lower floors go missing and wind up in rebel hands. Credits grease the palms of the right people for the right intelligence and the doors of high clearance warehouses are left unlocked—by accident, of course.

As an agent for the rebel group Oblivion, the regulator Pyrite wears is a compromise allowing her to take advantage of Everkeep's systems while avoiding suspicion. But for all its conveniences, the regulator is also a grave reminder. Should Galena's hands ever slip, all she'll have of him is the recordings and images hidden away on encrypted data shards—assurance that they'd keep their promise never to forget again*.

———

No mourning, and yet no relief from the aching holes in their memories. All they have is the hints of a loss whose shape they can identify by feeling around its dark edges: an empty room, a closet full of clothes too small for either of them. A name that Pyrite herself chose, always lingering in the back of her mind but slipping through it like a sieve. An image of shade—a face that Galena chases through dreams and wakes up with no recollection of.

Loss enough to take immortality and toss it into a canyon. Pain enough to use that immortality as a weapon against the system that stole from them something so precious it becomes their reason and their resolve. Something that would be worth dismantling a miracle. *OOC Note: This was drafted before the Arcadion raids came out, which answers a critical question I had about the regulator mechanics. A person wearing a regulator will, in fact, remember someone who does not wear one after their death. So that final bit in Pyrite's section is wrong! Oh well.

[lunastrophe]

Drow Fashion 🕷️✨ About Spider Silk - Part 1

Everything you may want - or may not want - to know about spider silk in (mostly Lolth-sworn) drow culture and fashion. In this part you will find information about:

sources of spider silk,

basic uses and meaning of spider silk in drow culture.

🕷️ Various Types Of Silk – among surfacers, silk spun by spiders is generally not widely used, but in the Underdark, spider silk is not excessively hard to obtain. It is extremely light, very elastic, durable and often has many other extraordinary properties, especially after being imbued with magic. In consequence, the Underdark silk market is probably vast.

Raw spider silk can vary in quality, depending mainly on the spider species it comes from – also, most spiders are naturally able to produce several types of silk that vary in thickness and adhesiveness. Some threads are suitable for producing delicate, transparent or semi-transparent materials. Some are useful for weaving thicker fabrics, carpets and tapiseries. Silk waste, after being properly processed, is also useful – for example, for making silken threads and fabrics of lesser quality.

🕷️ Silk Farming? – silk can be obtained from webbings, cocoons or egg sacks of wild spiders, or it can be extracted directly from caught or freshly killed specimens of various sizes. Such methods are generally time-consuming, though, and often dangerous.

Silk farming is probably quite popular in the Underdark, allowing to produce silk on a larger scale while maintaining better control over its quantity, quality and properties. Silk farms can contain thousands of more or less domesticated spiders that can belong to species best suited for producing silk.

Headcanon warning - silk farming is not mentioned in drow lore sources, I borrowed this idea from historical attempts to produce spider silk on a larger scale. So far, we humans are bad at this, mainly because we cannot figure out how to domesticate spiders (they like to kill each other, so it is hard to keep them together) and how to make them produce the kind of silk we want them to produce (every spider produces several types of silk and only some are suitable for making threads and textiles)... but I bet that drow would figure out how to make this work.

(If anyone is curious about this topic, I was inspired mainly by this article).

🕷️ Free-Range And Cruelty-Free* – silk can be obtained without harming the spiders and in case of more intelligent species, even with their explicit permission. Such things are probably especially important to Lolth-sworn drow who are forbidden to cage, mistreat or kill arachnids, or even to disturb inhabited spiderwebs.

*Only in relation to spiders, though. Underdark drow are probably not overly concerned with well-being of slaves and serfs tasked with gathering and processing silk...

Silk of spiders that live in temples and other places sacred to the Spider Queen, as well as silk of abyssal arachnids that live in Lolth’s domain, is most likely highly valued among worshippers of Lolth – especially among her priestesses.

🕷️ Uses Of Spider Silk – drow use silk to make armour, weapons, clothing, domestic and ceremonial textiles, high-quality strings, lines, nets and tents, and various works of craft and art. Spider webs, often calcified with magic, are used in creation of architecture ornaments or sometimes even whole structures like bridges, passages or buildings.

Among Lolth-sworn drow, spider silk is closely connected to worship of Lolth and is widely present in Lolthite temples and shrines – just like living spiders. It is said that Lolth herself favours silk and that when she takes the guise of a drow, she appears as a lithe drow woman dressed in a gossamer gown woven from spider silk.

Spider silk is also useful as a spell component and it can be used to craft magical items. For example, silk of phase spider and strands of ether are needed to create a portable hole – wondrous item that looks like a circle of black cloth.

For more of my drow lore ramblings, feel free to check my pinned post 🕷️

[sassyfrassboss]

I have always thought that Meghan's pre- arriage "everyone loves classy" PR was as much aimed towards Harry as it was the public.

She presented herself as the ultimate fun loving, carefree, intelligent, smart, enterpreneur, business woman world traveler career woman millionaire who was also a domestic goddess, spiritual, go getter. These are words that Harry has used to describe her, at some point or other.

I believe a lot of what Harry initially got told about her, through her, was based off of her IG page, Tig blogs, small scale media presence. It must have been pretty easy for her to leave a story and present a certain personality based on pictures, cutsie videos and glam photoshoots. It's basically what she did on a more public scale with her PR as well.

But also, since Harry was pretty dumb, desperate for a partner he could show off to the world and his family, and they were pretty much in a long distance, he would have bought whatever she sold to him. His cosseted up bringing ensured he lacked the street smarts to call someone, especially such a confident outgoing woman out on her bullshit. What she presented to him was his version of "normal" everyday life, but it was also the right amount of adventurous, fun, glam, celebrity lifestyle which he could finally embrace.

Back in the UK, noone treated him a special of a celebrity. His family, his cousins, his friends were all low-key. But he had started believing his own PR and thought of himself as somewhat of a hunk, sought after bachelor celebrity. His friends would have laughed in his face if he started acting like he enjoyed the red carpet and Hollywood parties. But here, with her, he could enjoy that because it was her thing. She was seemingly accommodating him in her super celeb highflyer lifestyle.

He was being conned and he didn't know it.

Which is why it was such a shock to him Everytime she started collapsing on the floor in hysterics because he thought he broke her. So he had to play the hero and fix it for her. So this whole time, and till date maybe, he's been thinking he made all these decisions as a last resort, because he had no choice, but he was being backed into a corner so expertly that he saw no other option that to do what he did in the way did.

He thought that sudden, cataclysmic changes in her personality- from the art loving accomplished fun loving millionaire a complished actress supermodel best effortless classy royal to bitter, resentful hyper scared underconfident depressed person - was his doing. But actually, it was just Meghan finally being what she always was, and peeling back her own layers slowly and methodically so as not to scare him away.

What's hilarious is that while she was conning him, he was also being insidious and hiding his true self from her. She was too blinded by her hubris to see that. And she got hoodwinked too.

She never factored in Harry's special kind of sociopathy and darkness. Which is the biggest reason she (they are) is now failing.

But that's for another Ted talk, I guess, so I'll stop now and save that for later.

So I am going to break this down by paragraph.

I have always thought that Meghan's pre- arriage "everyone loves classy" PR was as much aimed towards Harry as it was the public.

She presented herself as the ultimate fun loving, carefree, intelligent, smart, entrepreneur, business woman world traveler career woman millionaire who was also a domestic goddess, spiritual, go getter. These are words that Harry has used to describe her, at some point or other.

Her “everyone loves classy” PR was 100% aimed at Harry. She had to market herself to him as a future Duchess/Princess but also a loving and caring wife. I also believe she was aiming this directly at the UK public and his family, but mostly the UK public. Her PR knew that if she didn’t have the backing of the UK public there is no way that the family would get behind their relationship. Also, she was marketing herself as the opposite of Catherine. Right around this time there were a ton of anti-Kate articles being published. About how she was too shy, not a hard worker, had a nanny, she didn’t know how to dress or photograph well, she wasn’t a kind and loving DIL to Charles, she was TOO involved with her family, she didn’t like horses, she had nothing in common with William – though Meghan had LOTS in common with William, she wasn’t well-educated, she wasn’t posh enough, she only had a degree in Art History, she never had a real job, she waited around for William to propose,…you get the idea. From November 2016 onwards we were saturated with articles about how Meghan was much better Duchess/Princess of Wales material.

I believe a lot of what Harry initially got told about her, through her, was based off of her IG page, Tig blogs, small scale media presence. It must have been pretty easy for her to leave a story and present a certain personality based on pictures, cutsie videos and glam photoshoots. It's basically what she did on a more public scale with her PR as well.

I will never forget the “cutsie” video of her eating the raspberries off her fingers. Also, it was in Bower’s book I believe that Meghan selected certain photos off of her IG for her friend to use to show Harry. She definitely was trying to get him hooked on her “sexiness” and then reel him in with her “carefree, loving, humanitarian” persona. We also know that they communicated thru IG often so from June 2016 onwards we can say for sure that her IG account and Tig blog were totally geared towards Harry and getting his attention and keeping it.

But also, since Harry was pretty dumb, desperate for a partner he could show off to the world and his family, and they were pretty much in a long distance, he would have bought whatever she sold to him. His cosseted up bringing ensured he lacked the street smarts to call someone, especially such a confident outgoing woman out on her bullshit. What she presented to him was his version of "normal" everyday life, but it was also the right amount of adventurous, fun, glam, celebrity lifestyle which he could finally embrace.

Exactly. Even though Harry now claims he hated the attention we all know he secretly loved being in the spotlight. His bitterness of George being born and then William taking on more of a Crown Prince role leaving Harry obsolete has been made clear through all of his interviews and his book. Harry wanted to be the center of attention so when he saw the “red carpet appearances” and fashion shoots of Meghan he thought he was finally getting someone who could make him more popular and more celebrity-like. Also, think of how easy it is to reinvent yourself when you aren’t faced with people from your past interfering in your relationship or you having to actually be around the person day to day. Meghan was totally able to tell Harry whatever she wanted because by this point, anyone who could truly tell him exactly who she was had been kicked out of her life long before.

Back in the UK, no one treated him a special of a celebrity. His family, his cousins, his friends were all low-key. But he had started believing his own PR and thought of himself as somewhat of a hunk, sought after bachelor celebrity. His friends would have laughed in his face if he started acting like he enjoyed the red carpet and Hollywood parties. But here, with her, he could enjoy that because it was her thing. She was seemingly accommodating him in her super celeb highflyer lifestyle.

He was being conned and he didn't know it.

Harry 100% believed his own hype. He totally bought into the “Hero Harry” PR campaign that ELF put out there…I mean we see it even now that Harry thinks he deserves special treatment because he served in the military. Well so did my brother who actually put his life on the line more than once and he doesn’t even use his military discount. What is hysterical is that his impression she was some sort of Hollywood superstar makes it clear he has no real knowledge of the workings of the world. He kept saying how impressed his family was by the amazing woman who was so accomplished and famous but 99.95% of the world had zero idea of who she was. What I find extremely telling is that he grew up with a certain set of people, women who had been raised in noble families and none of them wanted anything to do with him…it took a very long distance relationship with a hustler to tie him down.

Which is why it was such a shock to him every time she started collapsing on the floor in hysterics because he thought he broke her. So he had to play the hero and fix it for her. So this whole time, and till date maybe, he's been thinking he made all these decisions as a last resort, because he had no choice, but he was being backed into a corner so expertly that he saw no other option that to do what he did in the way did.

Meghan totally fed into Harry’s white knight complex. We know that Harry felt he could have done something to save his mother and Meghan feasted on that like a vulture. I do think that a lot of what he has done has been of his own violation though. Meghan might have nurtured the idea but I for a while have felt that Harry has always wanted to really bash his family and the press and he now has his opening.

He thought that sudden, cataclysmic changes in her personality- from the art loving accomplished fun loving millionaire accomplished actress supermodel best effortless classy royal to bitter, resentful hyper scared underconfident depressed person - was his doing. But actually, it was just Meghan finally being what she always was, and peeling back her own layers slowly and methodically so as not to scare him away.

You know when you get into a relationship and you always try to portray the best version of yourself and then slowly reveal your flaws? Like, maybe you aren’t the best housekeeper or you can’t cook to save your life…well Meghan portrayed herself as a victim and Diana 2.0. The thing is though, Diana was VERY prone to emotional outbursts and crying tirades so this is something familiar to Harry. It probably triggered him even more than her being completely in control of her emotions because Harry had witnessed his mother more than once sobbing on the floor during his childhood so Meghan sobbing on the floor triggered his white knight complex. What I think caught Harry by surprise, at first, was Meghan’s bullying tactics. That is one aspect of her personality she had a hard time suppressing. She was rude to anyone she saw as beneath her and at first he probably had issues with that but then she convinced him it was because she was bi-racial or that people were jealous of her.

What's hilarious is that while she was conning him, he was also being insidious and hiding his true self from her. She was too blinded by her hubris to see that. And she got hoodwinked too.

So I don’t know if you watched the Netflix series but it is SO clear that Meghan has him completely hoodwinked. By her saying in the series that she had no idea she had to curtsy to The Queen (Yeah okay sure) that she knew nothing of the Royals. Or when she was full on caught out lying during her lawsuit she blamed HER LYING and getting CAUGHT on William! And Harry bought it!

She never factored in Harry's special kind of sociopathy and darkness. Which is the biggest reason she (they are) is now failing.

She also never factored in him crashing and burning in popularity. Meghan truly thought that the heir to the throne should be determined by popularity and not birthright. So when they couldn’t convince the BRF to hand the keys to the castle over to Meghan and Harry she was pissed. I think she also counted on his popularity making her more important that Catherine in the hierarchy. The based all of their goals and ambitions on Harry’s popularity and not once did they take into account that the BRF would stick to the script. Once Harry started being told “No” for once in his life they started imploding and I think that is when Harry started to turn…up till that point he had been busy covering for her but now that he was going to be left out in the cold is when I think she truly got an idea of just what type of NARC he is.

But that's for another Ted talk, I guess, so I'll stop now and save that for later.

CAN’T WAIT!!!

[trickricksblog08]

Satanic Organized Pedophilia

[C] Central [ I ] Intelligence [ A] Agency

Satanic Elite Bloodline Families

Pedophilia ( Blackmail Method)

Human Hunting Parties

WAR

MK Ultra Monarch Programming

Hollywood Celebrities

‘REDRUM’ mirror 🪞’MURDER’

( Pedophile Snuff Films)

Generational Sexual Abuse

Satanic Rituals

Child Porn Industry

Satanic Ritual Abuse SRA

Human Sacrifice ( Pedophilia)

Child Sex Trafficking

Adrenochrome & Walnut Sauce

Organ Harvesting

Cannibalism

Red Market

Missing Children

#EndChildTrafficking

#SaveTheChildrenWorldWide

The17Letter

[bliow]

AGARTHA Aİ - DEVASA+ (4)

In an era where technology and creativity intertwine, AI design is revolutionizing the way we conceptualize and create across various industries. From the runway to retail, 3D fashion design is pushing boundaries, enabling designers to craft intricate garments with unparalleled precision. Likewise, 3D product design is transforming everything from gadgets to furniture, allowing for rapid prototyping and innovation. As we explore these exciting advancements, platforms like Agartha.ai are leading the charge in harnessing artificial intelligence to streamline the design process and inspire new ideas. 

AI design

Artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized numerous industries, and the realm of design is no exception. By leveraging the power of machine learning and advanced algorithms, AI is transforming the way designers create, innovate, and deliver their products. AI-driven tools enable designers to harness vast amounts of data, allowing for more informed decision-making and streamlined workflows.

In the context of graphic design, AI can assist artists in generating ideas, creating unique visuals, and even automating repetitive tasks. For instance, programs powered by AI design can analyze trends and consumer preferences, producing designs that resonate with target audiences more effectively than traditional methods. This shift not only enhances creativity but also enables designers to focus on strategic thinking and ideation.

Moreover, AI is facilitating personalized design experiences. With the help of algorithms that analyze user behavior, products can be tailored to meet the specific needs and tastes of individuals. This level of customization fosters deeper connections between brands and consumers, ultimately driving customer satisfaction and loyalty in an increasingly competitive market.

3D fashion design

In recent years, 3D fashion design has revolutionized the way we create and visualize clothing. Using advanced software and tools, designers can create lifelike virtual garments that allow for innovative experimentation without the need for physical fabric. This trend has not only streamlined the design process but has also significantly reduced waste in the fashion industry.

Moreover, 3D fashion design enables designers to showcase their creations in a more interactive manner. By utilizing 3D modeling and rendering technologies, designers can present their collections in virtual environments, making it easier for clients and consumers to appreciate the nuances of each piece. This immersive experience also helps in gathering valuable feedback before producing the final product.

Furthermore, the integration of 3D fashion design with augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies is bringing a fresh perspective to the industry. Consumers can virtually try on clothes from the comfort of their homes, thereby enhancing the shopping experience. As this field continues to evolve, it promises to bridge the gap between creativity and technology, paving the way for a sustainable and forward-thinking fashion future.

3D product design

3D product design has revolutionized the way we conceptualize and create products. With advanced software tools and technologies, designers can now create highly detailed and realistic prototypes that are not only visually appealing but also functional. This process allows for a quicker iteration of ideas, enabling designers to experiment with various styles and functionalities before arriving at the final design.

One of the significant advantages of 3D product design is the ability to visualize products in a virtual environment. Designers can see how their creations would look in real life, which is essential for understanding aesthetics and usability. Additionally, this technology enables manufacturers to identify potential issues in the design phase, reducing costs associated with prototype development and rework.

Moreover, the rise of 3D printing has further enhanced the significance of 3D product design. Designers can swiftly turn their digital models into tangible products, allowing for rapid prototyping and small-batch manufacturing. This agility not only speeds up the time-to-market for new products but also paves the way for more innovative designs that were previously impossible to execute.

Agartha.ai

Agartha.ai is a revolutionary platform that merges artificial intelligence with innovative design, creating a new avenue for designers and creators alike. With the rapid advancements in technology, Agartha.ai leverages AI to streamline various design processes, enabling users to produce unique and captivating designs with ease.

The platform provides tools that empower both emerging and established designers to explore the possibilities of AI design. By utilizing intelligent algorithms, Agartha.ai can assist in generating design options, ensuring that creativity is not hindered but enhanced. This results in a more efficient workflow and allows designers to focus on the conceptual aspects of their projects.

One of the standout features of Agartha.ai is its ability to adapt to different design disciplines, such as 3D fashion design and 3D product design. By supporting a broad spectrum of design fields, it positions itself as a versatile tool that meets the evolving needs of today's creative professionals. Whether it's crafting intricate fashion pieces or developing innovative product designs, Agartha.ai is at the forefront of the design revolution.

[ichiners]

Why iro doesnt get along (my thoughts on them)

Ichimatsu at the very beginning was marketed as unpredictable and kind of insane bc he didn’t reveal his thoughts to people and would happily join in to torment someone else. 

But they still kept playing with that concept of him being an unsociable beast. Just bc his brothers know he’s a softie doesn’t mean everyone else does! And just because he’s a softie doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his mean streaks! 

By the second season, Ichimatsu-sama was pretty much gone. Scrubbed clean of his unfriendly persona for whatever reason– but within canon there has to be some kind of explanation.

I like to think Ichimatsu got tired of doing it (pretending is hard when you’re a depressed introvert, even if you’re doing it for the bit).

So now he’s just some guy that likes cats and has social anxiety. He still keeps his thoughts and feelings to himself.

Initially, Karamatsu’s flamboyance was played up extremely. He was too confident for how tacky and loud he was. He legitimately couldn’t read the room. Karamatsu is met with different levels of exasperation (most notably from 110– the most self aware guys of the bunch).

This really really irritated Ichimatsu. S1e16 revealed he was jealous of him (and that osomatsu is a really good way to break their tension. If you’re ever stuck finishing an iro conversation, osomatsu’s like really annoying social lubricant).

He’s both jealous bc he wants that confidence and appalled because how can someone parade themselves like that? Karamatsu’s confidence is something that can be marveled at, but isn’t something a lot of people would realistically try to copy.

So what’s their deal?

I see a lot of people try to write iro bond over their shared struggles. They’re both easy to bulldoze and they try to hold their tongue until they can’t anymore. Funnily enough, they’ll still use each other when possible. They either haven’t realized how similar they are, or they just don’t care (most likely the latter).

What makes them the most similar is the fact that they’re avoidant of their problems. They’re shy. They’re introverted. They both prefer to be told what to do. They don’t like voicing their true opinion.

So what makes them different and unable to get along with each other? Their levels of self awareness and emotional intelligence. 

Ichimatsu can and will read the room. Karamatsu will choose to do it whenever it’s most convenient for him. He chose to read the room during the Ichimatsu incident, because he wanted to avoid embarrassing both himself and Ichimatsu. He chose not to see what was potentially going on when Choromatsu dyed his hair, because the situation doesn’t affect him at all. He couldn’t have known what was going on, but instead of taking a second to see if something was going on, he bulldozed the conversation and made everything worse. 

 More than anything though, it’s their preferred method of coping with their insecurities. 

So if they’re similar, why are they so awkward with each other?

The main reason why people have such a hard time making them relate to each other ( there are a lot of contrived fic ideas to make them bond) is bc they both would rather die than open up to someone like themselves.

Both of them already have a hard time opening up to others (esp nyanko; pizza) and if they’re going to go through the trouble of opening up to someone they’re not going to do it with someone who can’t or won’t help them.

Ichimatsu’s entirely too awkward to be of help to anyone and Karamatsu doesn’t have the emotional capacity to handle other people’s feelings in a sincere way. He might care, but caring isn’t always enough to make the situation better. People that are emotionally avoidant the way they are can’t help others out very much.

Karamatsu can help out if you’re having a bad day but he can’t help out if you’re depressed. He’s not the kind of person who can treat a root cause. Ichimatsu might give making your bad day better a shot, but he’s easily discouraged. He, too, is not equipped to handle something as permanent and prevalent as mental illness. 

Ichimatsu prefers extroverts (see: jyushimatsu, osomatsu) and karamatsu prefers people who are capable of socializing (see: totty, osomatsu, choromatsu). 

They’re also both passive characters and want to be led. Karamatsu wants to lead under very limited circumstances. He’ll lead when someone is below him on the hierarchy, even if they’re normally higher than him or more socially dominant (ep s1e24; s2 beach episode when they’re looking at girls). He would much rather be told what to do (within reason).

Ichimatsu steps up when there’s an opportunity and when he absolutely has to. Or he has to be fed up with the situation. Or there’s a chance to make fun of someone. He’s not immune to the hivemind and enjoys actively participating in it like everyone else. 

Otherwise he’d rather not be involved.

Tldr; it's very hard for iro to get along. Not impossible, but theyre the type to have fleeting moments of peace more so than a consistently pleasant relationship. Even if they wanted to get along they have 4 other brothers that are substantially easier to get along with.

[marketxcel]

How to Build a Strong B2B Market Research Plan

Learn how to create a robust B2B market research plan from scratch. Explore strategies, tools, and best practices to drive informed decisions and business growth.

[fl3shm4id3n]

Hey there! I hope you're having a great day/night! So instead of the hybrid reader I've been requesting lately I'd like to request a gender neutral reader where the reader is like luca! Basically they look human on shore but the second the touch water they turn into a sea monster, like the scientists were making creatures other than avatars and they made reader, after the war reader was taken along with spider and got taken care of, and then after spider got taken away reader travels with the sullys cuz they're a target as well , and I think reader is 6'11 due to scientists trying to make them fit with the navi, and I'd like some relationship headcannons if you can and again I hope you have a great day/night! :D

ₙₒₜ ₛₒ Dᵢffₑᵣₑₙₜ

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐃𝐀, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚'𝐯𝐢 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲'𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐤𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

ᴍɪʟᴇꜱ 'ꜱᴘɪᴅᴇʀ' ꜱᴏᴄᴏʀʀᴏ x ɢɴ! ᴍᴇᴛᴀ-ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ! ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ (ᴘʟᴀᴛᴏɴɪᴄ), ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴜʟʟʏ'ꜱ x ɢɴ! ᴍᴇᴛᴀ-ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ! ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ (ᴘʟᴀᴛᴏɴɪᴄ)

Tw: human experiments, death of failed experiments, mentions of the dark market, a bit of discrimination, attempted kidnapping.

A/N: Tbh, I've only seen bits and pieces of Luca, but I like this idea you gave me. I'll write a headcanon later in the future, I thought the reader would like the Asset from the shape of water when it the water, idk I had the idea that they'd look like that, plus I love that movie. I hope you're having a wonderful day/night. ♡

Masterlist

The RDA has been trying to create new types of species to live Pandora. It was much cheaper that way and plus, the creation will live like the humans. Learning whether to be a soldier, a scientist or a miner. The scientists had tried many types of tests subjects and DNA, but the experiment wouldn't survive long enough, so they began to use other methods.

They manage to get some kind of DNA from Earth. It was some kind of DNA related to some kind of Sea Monster, so they tried to it. They got an egg placed in the artificial womb and they began the experiment. Slowly the baby grew in the tank, but this baby had amphibian humanoid features. Scales, gills, webbed fingers and toes, the baby also had freckles that glowed blue in the dark, their skin also had some kind of dark and light patterns. To their surprise, the baby had survived.

When the baby was let out of the tank to run a few tests, when the baby's skin dried, their scales, gills, webbed fingers, freckles and everything had disappeared. They were a human, they had become a human. They had hair, soft skin, separate fingers and toes, they were the perfect experiment. The baby had been taken care of by the scientists, but not in an affectionate or motherly way, it was more of a job.

A few months had passed and you began to be taught things that normally kids around the age of 3-5 would learn. You were being taught to speak, read, spell, count and walk, you were really intelligent. You were already doing what a five year old would be doing. Since you were an amphibian creature, you were taught to swim. You'd always have to go for a swim in the indoor pool, you'd get tested on your speed and strength in the water.

Then the war happened, Scientists that had been working on you were sent back, due to your age you stayed with the scientists allowed to stay for helping. Just like they decided to raise Spider, they also decided to take care of you. They were surprised when they had found out that you were an amphibian humanoid, in other words. A MetaHuman.

Since then you were allowed to go outside more with Spider, you both had become attached when you met. You were both the same age as well, then you met the Sully kids, Jake was the first one to know about your amphibian genes and had to explain to his family how when you come in contact with the water then you can turn into a fish. The kids were now pumped into seen you become an fish, then you all began going to the river to see what you could do. As soon as they saw you become an amphibian, they were amazed, often asking you questions on how it was and how it felt. They really liked you.

Years had passed, you and Spider were now 16, but the thing about you is that you're tall. The scientists had tried make you somewhat the same height as the na'vi, you only reached up to 6'11, while Spider was only 6'0. You'd tease him a lot about his shortness. He'd hate it. To this day, you and Spider would still spend majority of the time at the Omaticaya village, as well as being with the Sully kids. You had basically adapted into the Omaticaya ways, from dressing like them, wielding a bow/spear, hunting, as well as the language. You were a fast leaner. You really liked being around the Na'vi, they were like your family along with Spider and the Scientists.

That day you were tagging along with Spider, Kiri, Lo'ak, and Tuk, who they were forced to bring or else she'll tell Neytiri about going to the battle field. So you all just went together. When you got to the old shack, you all stayed hidden in some bushes, while Spider and Lo'ak were in a private conversation about their dads, you all saw a group of na'vi were entering the old shack. The thing was this 'na'vi' had military gear on and guns. This were no na'vi.

Kiri warned Lo'ak to call it in, he didn't want to, but he did. Lo'ak explained to his dad about his company, being you, Spider, Kiri and Tuk. You all had to leave right away, besides it was almost eclipse so the best time was now. "It's almost eclipse come on!" Tuk said while running, she was already ahead from you all, until she got captured by a na'vi. Everyone began to panic as more of this na'vi came, Spider held his bow up ready to shoot, but they had guns, you also were about to get your bow and arrows, but it was unless.

Then Lo'ak instructed you both to not fight. So you both dropped your bows then got yanked by the hair by one of the na'vi. Their grip was tight on your hair due to you not having a queue. You wanted to cry out in pain. The person you being held by was a man with a buzzcut and shades that protected his eyes. Then the interrogation happened, their leader saw Kiri's four fingers as well as Lo'ak who was flipping him off.

He then moved on to Spider, calling him by his real name, it was a bit awkward first, then they moved to you. They had never seen you ever, so they tried to get some info from you but you choose to stay quiet. You were all dragged around the forest with the team, they talked about Jake and Neytiri, mainly Jake, they were after him for some things he did besides betraying humanity and so on.

It was now eclipse, you were all still held captive, then it began to rain. Shit, you thought, when Spider saw your expression, you mouth to him about the rain, then shared the same expression as you. Your skin then began to change when the drops of water began to hit your human skin. It was slow process, but this caught Mansk's attention. Seen how your human hair was now disappearing and become scales. Your transformation caught the attention of the other avatars and saw you now being into your amphibian form.

They had made comments about you being a freak of science and how they defiantly were going to take you back with them. That was cut short when Neytiri's call was heard, you knew that she was close by. Next thing you knew the Avatar that held Kiri, was shot by non other but Neytiri herself. All hell broke lose, when the tried to locate where she was. You heard someone yell for Lo'ak, then Lo'ak acted fast, he bit the arm of the person that kept him captive, then Tuk followed his example. Everyone began to run, but Kiri was about to get captured again, Neytiri shoot at the female who got a hold of her daughter.

You were all running away, avoiding the team, trying to get away from the danger. Due to an explosion Spider had fallen from the branches down a hill, Kiri attempted to go after him but was stopped by Neytiri, making her run again. After all the danger had passed, the family had gathered around to see if anyone was injured, everyone was okay except for Spider who had been taken. You all headed back to the camp, still shaken by the attempted kidnapping. You had been informed by Jake that you will be going with them to keep you safe a

So you left with the Sully's to the Metkayina, when you got to the village, it wasn't easy being allowed to stay. The Tsahik did not want outsiders coming to her village, specially with demon blood and a demon, after a bit of convincing you were allowed to stay. You were all lead by the Tsahik's daughter around the village and new home. Once settled in, Jake had talked you all into staying out of trouble, mainly towards Lo'ak since he'd tend to get into trouble a lot. It should be easy.

The next day was when lessons began, everyone had jumped in the water, except for you. You felt nervous about showing your amphibian side the Metkayina since they must have never seen someone like you, ever. Finally you dived in, allowing the water to change you from being a human into an amphibian. You didn't notice how the Metkayina and the Sully's watched you. You then began to swim towards the group, then you saw the expression of the Metkayina kids. Even though you were half a human, you aren't any different from the Metkayina, except you were mainly a fish underwater.

"How- what- are you?" Ao'nung couldn't properly ask, still shocked. "I'm a metahuman amphibian." You explained, seeing this caught the interest of both Tsireya and Rotxo. "So you're a human when on the land, but an amphibian when contact with water?" Rotxo asked. "Most likely yeah" you nodded your head. The lessons continued, they began to teach the Sully's how to breath underwater. You didn't really need to learn since you had gills. You watched how Lo'ak kept eyeing Tsireya, and how Neteyam was looking over at Rotxo who also noticed this. Kiri rolled her eyes at their behaviour.

[mariacallous]

Roman Pohorilyi was 22 when he started tracking Russian troop movements near Ukraine’s border. It was the fall of 2021, and he and a childhood friend, Ruslan Mykula, had been sharing news about foreign affairs to an audience of about 200 subscribers on a Telegram channel. It was just a hobby for them. Neither imagined that a year later their country would be in a state of absolute war with Russia, and that their hobby, which they called Deep State, would be tracking every aspect of it.

Although Deep State started as a news channel, it has become most famous for its open access map that charts the shifting front line of Russia’s invasion, and which has become a crucial tool for Ukrainians to keep track of the conflict that once threatened to overrun their country. On some days in late 2022, Deep State’s map received as many as 3 million views. Mykula showed WIRED a screenshot from the website’s dashboard that recorded more than 482 million views between June 2023 and June 2024.

Mykula and Pohorilyi created the map on the first day of the war, after recognizing a demand from their Telegram subscribers for frequent updates about what was happening. Pohorilyi was in the penultimate year of a law degree, and Mykula was working in marketing. But both had been learning open source intelligence skills to help verify videos of military activity that actors on all sides were publishing online.

The basic map itself, which a friend helped to design, is simple but precise. Territories occupied by Russia are shaded in red; those held by Ukraine are shaded in green. Blue marks areas that Ukraine has recently liberated. Known Russian units, airfields, and HQs are marked with small red squares; troop movements with arrows; and railways with black and white lines (Ukrainian positions are not shown). Zooming in, one can see detail down to the level of individual streets, villages, and tree lines. It looks like the board of a computer strategy game.

Over time, Deep State has added more advanced features and quirks to the map. A toolbar in the bottom-left corner offers the option to enable different layers, including weather patterns, fortifications, and gamma radiation levels in case of nuclear disaster. Users can simulate the effect of different weapons, calculating the range and potential damage of everything from self-propelled howitzers and ballistic missiles to Patriot air defense systems and nuclear explosions. A hidden Easter egg summons an animation of Baby Yoda that, when poked, uses the Force to destroy Russian units.

The map soon became too much for Mykula and Pohorilyi to manage alone; they now enlist the help of more than 100 paid employees and volunteers. Their methods have also evolved. They still use open source intelligence to verify new information, but also acquire data directly from frontline military units whom they’ve developed relationships with. In some cases, the authority of a single source whom they’ve learned to trust is enough, though Mykula admits there have been occasional errors. In other cases, when multiple sources contradict one another, they wait until definitive evidence emerges. Propaganda is rife on both sides, and Mykula insists that Deep State will take no part in it. “We want to win,” he says. “Propaganda will not win.”

Mykula and Pohorilyi do, however, oblige when Ukrainian military commanders request delays to map updates that may compromise their activities. They also receive some government funding for an alternate version of the map available only to verified members of the military. The government funding also goes toward other intelligence activities that Ruslan refuses to discuss; most of their funding comes from public donations.

Late in the first year of the war, Mykula and Pohorilyi learned that their map was helping another, unexpected group of users: Russian soldiers. The map’s designer had added a function that would display instructions to surrender if a user tried to access from a Russian IP address. Then, in October 2022, in an interview with a popular Ukrainian blogger, a Russian POW testified that he had used Deep State’s map for this exact purpose.

The success of Deep State’s map has attracted more users to their original Telegram channel, which now has more than 700,000 subscribers. It publishes its own original reports of the war, all available through a free app, which other established Ukrainian media organizations sometimes refer to. But the map remains the most popular product, used by Ukrainians at home and abroad to track the front line that, at the time of writing, creeps further toward their office in Kyiv every day.

Both Mykula and Pohorilyi approach their work with a stern dedication that belies their youth and inexperience. “We don’t want to disappoint our audience because our projects have become critical for Ukrainians,” Mykula says. “If you compare us to other maps, you will see that Ukrainians don’t go to check on them. They come to us.”

[oneatlatime]

The Storm

This post was delayed due to dumbass technical issues. I managed to save it from annihilation by the skin of my teeth, and learned an important lesson about saving drafts along the way.

Long time no blog. As it's currently storming where I am, I feel it's time to watch this one.

Aang in the opening credits has his tongue out like a dog on a car ride. Now picturing a car full of airbenders hanging their heads out the window.

It's been long enough since I watched one of these that I forgot that dream sequences tend to be tinted brown. Had a two second panic trying to remember the episode where Sokka learned airbending.

I wanted to see more of Gyatso but not like this!

Appa the morning person.

Hey Zuko's back. Haven't seen him in a few episodes. Pipi Longstocking hair is still doing him no favours. Also is he really pale this episode?

I feel like Zuko's intelligence varies wildly from episode to episode (usually to serve the plot) but this may be a new depth of dumbness: tell the crew to their faces that their lives don't matter. You know, the crew that prevents the thing you're standing on in the middle of the ocean from sinking. The crew that keeps you fed and actually going somewhere. That crew.

On the other hand, Zuko's method for creating mutiny may break a world record for efficiency. He's such a dumb smart guy.

I'm with Katara on this one. I don't like that swishing either. And if they're out of money, why were they in a market anyway?

And with a kick to the rear, this episode's 'violence towards Sokka for laughs' quota is filled.

Never before in the history of humanity's hubristic quest to tame the seas has a wharf ever been this clean.

And I'm with the crewman on this one too. Zuko's actions really do line up with him not caring about anything beyond his own concerns.

Talk about rock and a hard place for Iroh here. From what I've gathered, it's Zuko's ship, which means that Zuko's in charge of everything including keeping order. But, Zuko is also being unreasonable in the face of a very reasonable complaint from the crew. So Iroh has to pacify both while undermining neither, and not appear to be in command. Takes delicacy.

Appa gets a mooring! Also what is that cave back there?

I was hoping the show would bring this up! To anyone who isn't riding along on Aang's adventures, it sure does look like the Avatar disappeared when he was needed most, continued to stay gone no matter how bad things got, and then just reappeared randomly one day with seemingly no plan to set set things right. Did he reappear to fight the firelord? According to rumour, he reappeared to ride giant koi. What would the average person be left thinking? The fisherman is right. And Katara - will you please let Aang fight his own battles for once in his life?

Aang being the bravest person you know? Do you not remember this?

You know, this?

"That fisherman was way out of line."

Poor guy needs a blow dry. Should be possible, what with airbending and all. Didn't know that Appa had a goatee. Actually the facial hair in general in this show is pretty creative.

If this is going to be the exposition dump storytelling episode, we may all need an emotional support Momo.

These air scooter shenanigans are making me think that the first lesson airbenders learn is how to nullify motion sickness.

Is this the first airbending we see by someone that isn't Aang or Appa?

Someone's been taking fashion tips from Narcissa Malfoy.

Oh fuck off that's too much pressure for a kid. Nice Wisteria though.

Isn't the toys thing a thing in the real world? Something to do with the Dalai Lama?

If Avatars have to be told that they're the Avatar, that implies that they don't know instinctively. Theoretically, could an isolated avatar living in peace time go their whole lives without figuring it out?

Oh wise and learned council of airbenders, please tell me how relying on a 12 year old is going to save you from a war?

Baby Zuko! Baby scarless Zuko! He looks like just the prettiest little princess in these shots. Also, either this happened not all that long ago, or Zuko is majorly overdue a growth spurt, because he's maybe one inch shorter in this flashback. Also also, Pipi Longstocking hair doesn't work no matter how much hair you have to put up. Also also also, the whole reverse tonsure look he has going on in the present really downplays how round his face is. He's got chubby baby cheeks. Also also also also, if Zuko is as much of a prince as his title implies, he's right that he needs to know how to rule.

I have picked up over the course of this show the fact that the fire nation seems to prioritise aesthetic. But this is just ridiculous. And a bit on the nose too. A literal wall of fire dividing you from the commoners? Not even the commoners, the highly esteemed generals in charge of your war? How does this guy see or hear anything that's going on?

Katara asking Aang why he wouldn't be excited about being the Avatar seems out of character for me. Why exactly would he be excited about being catapulted to the number one spot on the fire nation's 'enemies of the state' list? It's not like Katara doesn't know what happens to people on that list.

Don't worry about these jerks. They'll all be immolated in a little bit.

Smelly kid jokes. That's some peak 90s comedy right there.

I love Gyatso. Solidly in Aang's corner and happy to advocate for his charge even against grumpy temple elders. Never loses sight of the fact that Aang is just a boy and needs balance.

This Zuko disrespecting old farts stuff is nonsense. Like when you get called in to HR for 'walking disrespectfully past Sherri's desk' or 'aggressive choice of footwear' and you know it's just because they're looking for a bullshit reason to fire you/force you to quit because the owner's nephew wants your job and they don't want to pay for severance or unemployment. If pointing out obvious flaws in objectively stupid plans is an offence worthy of an honour duel (I'm not even going to try and spell the actual name), then this guy needs to be dueled too:

He called bullshit too.

No

No no they're not actually going to

oh fuck no

hang on he doesn't have his scar yet is this going where I think it's going?

Back to idiot monks phew. Another rock and a hard place situation. Aang needs to be a normal 12 year old. The world needs a fully trained Avatar. The best they can do is a half trained 12 year old avatar. That would have ended well I'm sure.

Oh yeah just yank out the remainders of Aang's support system. That will certainly encourage him to quickly develop into a responsible adult, rather than an emotionally disturbed 12 year old with unmatchable uncontrolled powers. What were these monks thinking? Or were they thinking at all? Were they just panicking? Because only Gyatso seems to have his head on straight. Upset avatars destroy things - we've SEEN that - and these monks think the best way to turn Aang into the Avatar they need is to do something that will upset him probably more than any other possible thing? At least they didn't think to take away Appa too.

Katara's right. He does have a right to be angry. I like that this show gives the characters permission to feel.

Indulging my inner pedant for a minute, he never saw Gyatso alive again. His bones were in pretty good condition. Actually, given that firebenders killed him, why weren't his bones covered in scorch marks? Also, is that where all the other airbender skeletons went? Instant cremation?

The fisherman's right - the avatar did turn his back on the world. Aang's right - he did run away. Katara's right - not running away wouldn't have saved anyone. Kudos to a kids' show for not flinching from tackling topics that have no right answers. Yay nuance!

oh god here we go

Free life tip: If you ever see a dependent and/or child assume this position at the feet of their guardian, call the relevant authorities. Quickly.

And of course there's a crowd of hundreds too. Nothing like a little public mutilation of children to flex your power over the masses. This firelord's ego is so fragile.

So that's where the scar comes from. Also the firelord's line about learning respect casts a new light on when Zuko said he'd teach respect to the crewman at the beginning of the episode. Guess he was channelling the firelord.

Big repsect to Zuko for the above. He's never lacked in bravery. This is the opposite of the "shameful weakness" nonsense.

"Things will never return to normal." THANK YOU

Why is Zuko in such a hurry to go home to that anyway? Seems like the only person who likes him is his uncle, and he's travelling with him.

This is odd. I've always felt like I know Aang, and hearing his story this episode just confirms that I do know him, who he is, what makes him tick. And it lets me know him better. I've deepened an already deep understanding of who he is. However, I thought I had a surface (if jumbled) understanding of Zuko, but hearing his story this episode, and especially the final series of shots, the way they frame him as alone in darkness contrasted with brightly lit memories, makes me sure that I've never known Zuko at all. Who is this guy? I feel like this is meeting him for the first time.

There's also definitely something worth examining in the fact that Aang tells his own story but Iroh tells Zuko's (beyond the fact that Aang is the only person left who could tell his story).

Thank god some comic relief. Not a moment too soon.

I didn't know firebenders could do that. Judging by his face, I don't think he did either.

The judgmental energy in this shot is unparalleled.

"I'm not but I still don't wanna!" This old couple has some seriously good lines.

Appa saves the day once again, this time with an assist from the Avatar powers. I swear if Appa's existence was paired with Sokka's brain they could do the Avatar's job no problem.

Zuko apologises. That is good. But is it Iroh he should be apologising to?

"I'm here now and I'm going to make the most of it." A lovely message to conclude a show on. But are we going to gloss over the whole 'father mutilates his son BARELY offscreen' thing?

Appa shakes!

Final Thoughts

This section could very easily devolve into increasingly hysterical ranting about the whole ZUKO JUST GOT HALF HIS FACE BURNED OFF AS A FORM OF COURT ENTERTAINMENT thing. Lord have mercy the fire nation is fucked up. To prevent that, I am going to share one thought, and only one thought on that fiasco:

this is the first time I've really felt that I'm not the target audience of this show. If I had seen this at 8 or 10 years old, I would have been appropriately mad at the firelord for doing such a bad thing, but it would have made perfect sense, because he's a bad guy, and they have to do bad guy things. It's what makes them bad guys. As an adult, with more knowledge in general, but especially about things like power dynamics and the long term consequences of child abuse, I am valiantly fighting not to spiral down a path of horrific implications because I want to be able to sleep tonight. From both a political and a familial point of view, there was no one (who wasn't 12 and frozen) who could have stepped in. It was the firelord who did it; it appears that there is no one above him in the fire nation hierarchy. It's Zuko's father who did it; good luck getting a kid to stand up to a father in front of an audience of hundreds in a culture that obviously worships a bastardised concept of respect (zuko tried though). Iroh couldn't (or wouldn't) interfere on either political or familial grounds. As an adult, seeing a child (because Zuko may be 16 in the show but that boy kneeling is BABY) stuck in such a situation, knowing there's literally no way to get out of it, no hero going to swoop in and save the day, no judicial process to dish out consequences, well that's hard to watch. And that's all I'll say about that.

Here's a thought: did the avatar (not Aang, but the figure/concept of the Avatar) disappearing fail Zuko, and by extension the fire nation, as much as it failed the other three nations? And the natural follow-along to that thought: did the fire nation attacking the rest of the world hurt the fire nation as much as it hurt the rest of the world?

Aang made a mistake many years ago by running away. He gets to redeem himself by not running away and saving Sokka and the fisherman. Zuko made a mistake at the beginning of the episode by undervaluing the lives of his crew (to their faces, no less). He gets to redeem himself by saving the helmsman and letting the Avatar pass in favour of getting the crew to safety. But I don't think these stories are really parallel. Aang's natural impulse was the mistake. He learned from it, modified his behaviour, and did better the next chance he got. Zuko's natural impulse was to act as he should have. He was taught (violently) that this was incorrect behaviour, and modified his behaviour based on his father's teachings. This modification (not valuing the crew) is the mistake. In Zuko's case, learning from the experience and modifying his behaviour actually means unlearning the lesson he was taught and reverting to his former behaviour. Aang's natural state needed modification; Zuko's externally imposed behaviour needed to be forgotten. Not parallel.

Aang = hope is an interesting conclusion. It's only possible for him to represent hope because he dashed everyone's hopes by disappearing and staying gone. If the avatar had defeated the fire nation 100 years ago and prevented a war from ever happening, he would not have been a symbol of hope. I don't know what he would have been a symbol of, but it's the fact that he's been gone long enough for things to get really bad that makes him a symbol of hope in the present. So if Aang was always meant to be hope, then he was always meant to get frozen.

Aang = hope is also interesting in that it positions Zuko on the side of the enemies of the fire nation. If Aang represents hope to the world, and Aang represents hope to Zuko, then Zuko is not on the Fire Nation side of the conflict (whether he knows it or not).

The humour in this episode was minimal but very welcome. The old couple was heaps of fun, Sokka got a couple of good lines (although never enough - still waiting on a Sokka episode), and the juxtaposition of humour and very serious themes was artfully handled. It was never jarring or tonally off. The switching back and forth between the two story threads was well done too, especially how they tied in at the end.

I'm kind of annoyed that Katara got relegated to shouty defender of the actually-a-little-bit-guilty or Agony Aunt. She deserves better. I'm not at all annoyed that Momo filled the role of cuddle administration. That was lovely to see.

It didn't even occur to me to check if the art/animation in this episode was pretty. That's usually a primary concern with me, but I was too wrapped up in the plot to notice.

I can't believe a kids' show went there, but they did. And they did it well. This episode felt much longer than 20-ish minutes, in a good way. It was packed. Definitely going on my rewatch list.