#national home builders

[handcraftedloghomes]

This week in Cascade Handcrafted News - June 25th is National Log Cabin Day and what it's all about.

[nationalbuilders01]

Building a luxury apartment is a very complex and usually prolonged process, demanding conscious planning and coordination. Top-notch builders like National Builders may be perfect in modern project management by balancing time frames with the necessity of high-quality outcomes.

[heberthome]

New Construction For Sale 12089 Mustang, Willis, Texas, 77378 Montgomery

Move-In Ready June 28 2024! 🏡 NEWLY CONSTRUCTED! NEVER LIVED IN! This stunning property located at 12061 Mustang Way in Willis, Texas, offers the epitome of modern living in the desirable Texas National neighborhood of Montgomery County. Spacious Layout: Featuring 3 bedrooms with a study or the option for a 4th bedroom, along with 3 baths, this home provides ample space for comfortable living…

[styllwaters]

KNIGHT ETHNIC GROUPS, ORDERS AND CULTURES: A GUIDE

MAP OF ETTERA (Knight Homeplanet)

Standard map [continents shown]

Regional map [territories shown]

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

I have here a weeks worth of writing and art because I for some reason enjoy torturing myself! I've been slaving away at this for so long but it's finally done and polished. So! As promised, I'm gonna talk a bit about the different Knight cultures/ethnicities, territories and general social structure.

Knights are one of my alien sophont civilisations from my Vivere 44 headworld. Here are more links from my previous posts:

Introductory post

Knight deities

Knight languages and names

With that being said, worldbuilding textwalls below the cut!

____

First, an explanation of the maps.

CONTINENTS

There are three main continents on Ettera. The two polar landmasses are Thannoeh in the northern end and Nahrui in the southern end. Thannoeh is divided by east and west, and is home to the two major Polar Knight nations. Nahrui is not occupied by any, aside from explorers or scientists. For many Knights, it is a strange, enigmatic land and a topic of great curiosity. In the middle is Val-srat; the central continent inhabited by Mountain and Plains Knights. The landmass is named as such because it is often represented in folklore as a Knight, with Valazear (the ‘Host’) being the southern Plains territories and Srati (the ‘Helmet’) being the northern Mountain territories. The Ihmna Stretch is the section of land connecting the two countries - ‘Ihmna’ is the Ferhahti word for the Integrator organ which joins the host and helmet’s consciousness.

Plant life on Ettera takes on hues of red and orange.

____

Before I get into the different ethnicities, I should elaborate more on how Knight Orders are structured and the different titles; some of the clothing articles are specific to status.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Most Knights live in groups called ‘Orders’, which I talked more about in this ask.

The standard roles for an Order are as follows:

Commander - Makes decisions, protects and supports the group. Commanders lead the Order across difficult terrain, plan out hunts, and take care of their members. A Commander might be chosen based on generational succession, experience, or strength. Depending on the rules of the Order, a Commander might be challenged by a Knight who desires their position, although only an elite or lieutenant would be permitted to do this. In more traditional and conservative orders Commanders are always Pike-forts.

Lieutenant - Second in command. The Lieutenant is the Commander’s primary advisor and runs the Order when they are unable to. A Commander may train their lieutenant to one day take their place as leader, or a lieutenant might serve multiple generations of Commanders without ever challenging them.

Elites - A selection of Knight soldiers who are exceptionally experienced, strong and fast. Highly respected by the rest of the Order and carry out important duties such as organisation. They have the highest chance of being the next lieutenant or Commander. 

Soldiers - The main body of the Order, fully grown Knights who are proficient in all the skills necessary for survival. Soldiers are tasked with a variety of jobs to keep the Order healthy and running: they are also farmers, medics, entertainers, strategists, builders, etc. 

Scouts - Scouts are Knights who make reconnaissance trips for the Order. Their job is to gather information about a potential area to settle or travel through. Scouts also have a range of other responsibilities, such as acting as lookouts, messengers, and taking care of Pages.

There are two types of Scouts - temporary and permanent. Temporary scouts are Squires (16-17 years) who have completed their training and are performing Expeditions, which they are required to do before becoming a full soldier. On Expeditions two or three Scouts will travel a certain distance away from the Order, sometimes miles away, to deliver goods to other Orders or to simply evaluate an area/route. Permanent scouts are lower-ranked Knights who are unable to become Soldiers, prefer a caretaker role, or have been relegated to the position.

Squires - Knights in training. Squires learn from a Soldier assigned to teach them. They may be tutored one-on-one, or taught in a group. They learn the ways of the Order and the world around them. Squires will often be assigned small hunting trips with their tutor, or cleaning jobs. Typically aged 7-15 years.

Pages - The youth of the Order, Knights aged 0-6 years. The pages are fiercely protected by every member of the Order. A newborn Helmet or Host will stay with their birth parent/s until they have assimilated, in which care duty is passed on to a permanent Scout. The Scout raises the Pages alongside several others until they are ready to become Squires.

This structure originated from Mountain Orders and spread to Plains and Polar regions a long time ago. Of course, not every Order follows this plan exactly, and there are countless variations. Some Knights don't live in Orders at all, and may live in pairs (which is common for travelling merchants and explorers) or small groups. Very rarely, a Knight may travel alone. This is the case for exiles.

____

You may already be familiar with the Mountain, Plains and Polar Knight regional varieties, but within these subspecies are various ethnic groups.

THE ETHNICITIES

✦ MOUNTAIN ✦

✦ Ferhahti [Ferhaht]

The Ferhahti Knights are an ethnic group located in the Ferhaht territory of Srati. Their thick fur is of various shades of grey and grey-blue. Their clothing styles are typically beige and tan, often complete with rectangular tassels and red accents. The Ferhahti have a ‘New Years’ festival called Khulaam in which they call upon Etteran spirits to bless them with good harvests, hunting and rain. During these festivals there is music, food, dancing and socialising with others. Allied Orders, usually 2-5, will come together to celebrate. Celebrations last five days. Alliances may be temporary or long-lasting, but the Orders will go on a hunt on the final day to bring down a large quarry. Oftentimes there will be a ‘Herald’ dancer who bears a flag on their horn, depicting glyphs of good fortune. 

Since the Ferhahti and Kaata territories are neighbouring, and have no physical borders, Orders from both lands will often meet to trade goods and information. Many Plains-Mountain hybrids are of Ferhahti and Kaata descent due to the close proximity of the nations. 

NOTE: Plains and Mountain Knights are capable of producing hybrid offspring, although they will be infertile. Neither Plains nor Mountain Knights can produce viable hybrids with Polar Knights.

✦ Fejga [Fejg]

Fejga Knights (pronounced Fej-ya) make their home in the Fejg archipelago. They are generally of a bulkier physique than other Mountain Knights, have a coat of thick fur and are well adjusted to chillier climates. They also sport a ‘saddle’ marking on their backs and are likely to have mottled/freckled patterns and blue eyes. Their Orders are partially seafaring, with many sailing from island to island in magnificent ships. Fishing is a large part of their lifestyles as the sea provides a stable source of food. 

Their clothes are frequently made from leather and wool from domesticated animals. It is deceptively thin, as their pelts already provide natural insulation from the cold. Fejga Commanders wear three silver piercings on their Helmets.

✦ Svunacht [Svun]

Svunacht Knights live within the mountain-bordered territory of Svun and the island of Naahek. Orders have a special ceremony for choosing their Commander. The next in line, usually a chosen Host and Helmet born of the previous Commander and their partner, must journey across the Asall mountain range which borders Svun. It is a treacherous, long passage, and requires the Knight to wear a mask to block out the searing winds. They must also wear a spiked collar as a traditional accessory and safety measure to deter larger predators which roam the mountains. They are forbidden from carrying firearms, only armed with a knife, their wits, and natural defences. Ceremonial garments are required, passed down through generations, and three slips of fabric are worn on their horn for good luck: representing strength, wisdom and tenacity. The journey, called the Meha, is the final step in a long series of rigorous training for future successors. 

The painting of Helmets is also a large part of Svunacht culture. It is typically only reserved for Commanders, Lieutenants or Elites. 

★ PLAINS ★

★ Kaata [Kaat]

Kaata Knight Orders inhabit the deserts of Kaat. They are perfectly suited to desert life, their tan coats reducing heat absorbed from the sun. Kaata Knights make their clothing from woven fibres of plants that are garnished with gold pigments derived from a natural mineral found in the sands. They are especially known for their proficiency in fine crafts, and often trade jewellery to Ferhahti Orders across the Ihmna Stretch connecting Kaat and Ferhaht. Kaata clothing tends to be highly detailed and ornamental, with shiny beads adorning arm cuffs, necklaces, mandible rings and horn sleeves. The many gemstone and fossil deposits in Kaat are also incorporated into their styles. Like the Svunacht Knights, Kaata also paint their Helmets, although the practice is not restricted to any particular titles.

★ Saisala [Saisal]

Saisala Knights live in and around the deltas and rivers of Saisal, the southernmost territory of Val-srat. The area is filled with marshlands and everglades, and the weather is more wet and humid than the dry plains of Kaat. Saisala forts sport a dark reddish mane that grows right down their backs and bears some resemblance to maned wolves. Their pikes have hooked horns and sloping spines, as well as more ‘splotchy’ red stripes. Their Helmet eyes also have a pale ring around their pupils.

Saisala clothing styles are characterised by draping, ovular shapes and translucent sections of fabric. The green and gold drapes in the drawing are traditional wedding garments, complete with rounded tassels and a horn extension for pikes. The hanging ‘coins’ have engravings which tell a short but sweet poem.

★ Yaemioui [Yaemiou]

Yaemioui Orders live in a similar environment to Saisala Knights, in the wetland territories of Yaemiou. Their coats are pale like Kaata, but come in a greater combination of hues such as orange, grey and vermilion. Fun fact: all Plains Host pups are born with faint spots to help them camouflage, like lion cubs. Most lose these markings as they grow older, but Yaemioui hosts retain them even in adulthood. Their patterns are similar to painted dogs. The Yaemioui have a rich storytelling culture and have records dating back thousands of years.

Their clothing styles utilise dusky, non-bright colours that are usually two-piece. The outfit in the picture is worn by an elder Pike-fort who has carried and sired many offspring. The spine extensions are an indicator of age and experience, and a mark of high respect. The scarf around their neck depicts circles symbolising their Helmet children, and the circles on the larger cloth represent their Host progeny. 

★ Balkzaiinu [Balkzaii]

On the island of Balkzaii reside the Balkzaiinu Knights, who have dark stripes on both their Hosts and Helmets and short curly fur. Unlike other Orders, Balkzaiinu communities rarely ever hunt - they were one of the first countries to develop farming and agriculture, and import a lot of domesticated animals to Saisal and Yaemiou. They are also the only country that has no Commanders in their Orders, and decisions are made by a council of higher-ups. They live in a tropical climate which receives lots of rainfall and cyclones. They are also masters in boat making and sailing, and contacted the mainland several centuries ago. Balkzaiinu have different decency standards than other Plains Knights, and in their culture it is considered proper to cover the neck area. Their clothing is generally layered and contains colourful, square designs.

✧ POLAR ✧

✧ Aikka [Ehtte Thannoeh]

Aikka Knights have domain over the Eastern section of Thannoeh. The polar word for East is Ehtte, and West Uesse. Since the country is so close to the Fegj archipelago, the two have been in contact for a long time.

Aikka have pristine white fur and a slightly bluish tinge to their Helmets. As with all Polar Knights, they are much smaller than their Plains or Mountain relatives, but are incredibly tough and hardy as a result of surviving in one of the harshest biomes. Ehtte Thannoeh is associated with scientific prowess, discovery and knowledge, and many famous Knight explorers are from Thannoeh. There are several research stations on Nahrui that are run and managed by Aikka; they have no difficulty working in the icy environment. Aikka Knights are also experts in carving, sculpting figurines and charms from the ivory tusks of marine animals. The outfit depicted in the drawing shows an Aikka Scout wearing a pendant with a carved basilosaurus-like animal for spiritual protection. These pendants are often given by parents to children. Their coat has six pockets for navigational instruments, goggles, knives, a spyglass, medical equipment and more. 

✧ Myet [Uesse Thannoeh]

Myet Orders have less contact with other regions than Aikka. Residing in Uesse Thannoeh, Many of them live further inland. Myet Hosts have a more yellowish tinge to their fur and their Pike Helmets have a tan stripe. The Helmets also have a more rounded 'snout'. They have managed to domesticate a large predator which defends their camps and is used as a mount/companion. Like the Balkzaiinu, Myet Orders have a different structure than most, having two Commanders, usually a mated pair, and no lieutenants or elites.

Myet clothing is more minimal than Aikka styles. They usually cover the back with a ‘saddle’ and manipulators with gloves. The outfit drawn is of a Commander, distinguished by the ring of fabric around their horn and eye makeup. In their backpack they carry hunting weapons, and wear a knife sheathed at their side.

_________________

And that's a wrap! Thank you for reading, this project is truly a delight to work on. I leave you with some messy concept art I did a while ago for Mountain Knight clothing styles.

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - January 15, 2024

🎊 - As we embark on another journey around the sun, I am thrilled to bring you the first newsletter of the year, packed with inspiring, informative, and sometimes downright amusing stories.

1. Marijuana meets criteria for reclassification as lower-risk drug

Marijuana has a lower potential for abuse than other drugs that are subjected to the same restrictions, with scientific support for its use as a medical treatment, researchers from the US Food and Drug Administration say in documents supporting its reclassification as a Schedule III substance.

2. South Korea passes law banning dog meat trade

The slaughter and sale of dogs for their meat is to become illegal in South Korea after MPs backed a new law. The legislation, set to come into force by 2027, aims to end the centuries-old practice of humans eating dog meat.

3. After 20 years in a tiny cage, these 'broken bears' are finally feeling the grass beneath their paws

These bears, termed "broken bears" due to physical and psychological trauma from years of abuse, are treated at the Tam Dao rescue center with individually tailored diets, physiotherapy, and medical care. The bear bile trade, which involves extracting bile for traditional Asian medicine, has been illegal in Vietnam since 2005, but a black market still exists.

4. France just got its first openly gay prime minister.

Gabriel Attal is France’s youngest-ever prime minister at age 34 and the first who is openly gay.

5. Australian ‘builders without borders’ repairing war-torn homes and schools in Ukraine

Manfred Hin, a 66-year-old builder from Townsville, Australia, spent most of 2023 volunteering in Ukraine to rebuild homes and schools damaged by Russian attacks. Having contributed to over 50 house and a dozen school renovations, he worked with Ukrainian charity Brave to Rebuild, mentoring young volunteers and sourcing three tonnes of donated tools.

Inspired by Hin's story, Tasmanian carpenter Hamish Stirling also joined the efforts, learning Ukrainian, traveling to Europe, and volunteering for three months to help rebuild homes.

6. The age-standardized death rate from cancer has declined by 15% since 1990

The age-standardized death rate from cancer declined by 15%

Cancer kills mostly older people – as the death rate by age shows, of those who are 70 years and older, 1% die from cancer every year. For people who are younger than 50, the cancer death rate is more than 40-times lower (more detail here).

7. Germany Reached 55% Renewable Energy in 2023

In 2023, 55 percent of Germany’s power came from renewables — an increase of 6.6 percent, according to energy regulator Bundesnetzagentur, reported Reuters. Europe’s biggest national economy has a goal of 80 percent green energy by 2030.

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That's it for this week :)

This newsletter will always be free. If you liked this post you can support me with a small kofi donation here:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Also don’t forget to reblog this post with your friends.

[malestransforming]

Chronivac Twins

The moment I saw this AI image, I knew I had to write something. Probably one of the hottest things I have ever seen.

Special thanks to @octuscle for the image inspiration. Here is a link to their original story.

- - - - - - - -

Empty beer cans filled the table in front of the two men. The room was silent, the TV showing the console home screen, and darkness was creeping in from the night. The night was winding down, and the two friends were enjoying peaceful moment before the night truly wrapped up.

Mason breathed a heavy sigh, comfortable in his current state. He was clearly drunk, but happily drunk. He fished around in his pockets, feeling for the recent purchase he had received that day: a brand new Chronivac tablet. He pulled it out of his pocket, powering it on for the first time, watching the screen suddenly brighten, flashing the Chronivac logo. 

“Check it out!” Mason suddenly exclaimed, surprising even himself with his boldness. “I got this new Chronivac in the mail.”

Beside him sat Chris, Mason’s best friend since grade school. Chris was drunker than Mason was, with his eyes closed and his body still, but he too was in happy state of intoxication. 

“Oh yeah? What is that?” Chris slurred from the other end of the coach. The back of Mason’s head was resting on the top of the sofa, leaned back in an almost unnatural position. A massive drunken grin was plastered on his face, highlighting the comfortable state he was currently in.

Mason held up the sleek tablet to an oblivious Chris. A loading screen flashed again as the system booted up. 

“Yeah, it’s a tool that lets me change a part of my body. Actually it will change a part of both of us. They had a deal on the twins package.”

“Cool…” Chris breathed.

“Yeah. I know you have been feeling down lately, so I thought it would be nice to spice things up for you. Plus, you know you’re my bro. We’ve been buds since we were five years old. I figured it was time we made it official.”

Mason began tapping at the screen, swiping at different sliders and dials. There were dozens of different settings with labels like “Hair”, “Muscle Levels”, “Race/Nationality”… Mason balked at the overwhelming choices and options, but forced himself to stay focussed; this was a change he had wanted for a while.

“So I was thinking of doing some kind of mixed race. Hmm. Japanese and Mexican? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. I bet that would look hot. With jacked muscles, like body builders. And since we’re gonna be twins, you’ll get it too. Sound good to you Chris?”

Chris only smiled and laughed to himself, the way drunk people often do. It was clear he was not fully present in the moment. Mason took Chris’ drunken laughter as a sign of agreement and continued with the settings page. He slid up the muscle slider to the max, added jock personalities and details such as personal trainer and fitness influencer. He double checked the ‘Race’ tab, making sure that Japanese and Mexican were both checked off. Pleased with his work, he continued on to the last section, “Target Selection” and “Transform”. He allowed the device a few moments to calibrate before confirming the two bodies in the room. He double checked that the “Twins” button was selected and hovered over the Transform button.

“All right bro. This is it. See you on the other side!”

And with that he tapped the button. The screen went blank for a moment, creating a quick sense of panic in Mason’s heart, but reappeared with a white, animated progress bar.

Mason looked down at his hands and arms. “I don’t feel any different,” he said. 

He checked the screen again. The progress bar had moved up by one pixel and showed a time remaining of 1440 minutes. 

“Oh shoot! I set the transformation duration to be 24 hours. Well that’s okay. When we wake up tomorrow, we’ll definitely see some changes! Next time you see me Chris I’ll be be a huge muscled-out bro. And a completely different race. And so will you! We’ll be twins. Pedro and Miguel. We’re gonna be so fucking hot.”

A gentle and rhythmic breathing came from the other end of the couch. Mason turned his head and grinned at Chris who had passed out on the couch. 

“See you in the morning, Miguel,” he whispered. 

-

Bright sunlight was pouring into the apartment. The morning was late, but the day was still young. Chris stirred on the sofa; he was now lying horizontally on the couch, shirtless and in his underwear. He blinked his eyes in the sunlight, rubbing his eyelids with a balled up fist, and stretching against the soft cushions of the sofa. His broad feet pushed against the far armrest, and his arms stretched off behind him. He sat up, and noticed his first change.

Looking down at his chest, Chris saw his pectoral muscles had ballooned out in front of him to a God-like proportion. He cupped his chest, making note of how his nipple had slipped down below his eye line, and squeezed the new muscle. 

“What the fuck?” He exclaimed. “Why do I have tits?” 

Mason launched himself off the sofa and dove into the bathroom. The flickering fluorescent light clicked on, revealing the extent of Mason’s initial changes. Below his chest were the unmistakeable beginnings of 6-pack abs. Mason ran his fingers over top of his stomach, remembering the slight beer gut that had been there the night before. 

He leaned in closer to the mirror and begin poking and prodding his face. His nose seemed wider and his eyes were narrower. His lips were plumping as well, into two thick pillows. He ran his meatier fingers through his darkening hair; it seemed thicker, curlier and shorter than it had before. He pulled a strand and watched it bounce back into place on his scalp. 

The sound of a door slamming brought Chris out of his trance. He stepped out of the bathroom and back into the main room.

“Bro!” Mason called from the entry-way. “Are you up?”

“Yeah! What the fuck is happening to me?” Chris replied in anguish.

Mason came around the corner and Chris immediately became aware that the changes he was going through were also happening to Mason. Mason appeared to be several inches shorter, and Chris noticed that he was roughly eye-level to himself now. His chest and abs were similarly large and muscled as Chris’ were, except Mason’s shoulders and arms were much wider. Veins pulsed across Mason’ skin and over his bulging biceps. His nose and eye shape seemed strangely familiar, as did the plumpness of his lips. Mason noticed that Chris’ hair was shorter on top with a shaved, faded appearance on the side.

“Mason, what the fuck is happening? I pass out drunk and wake up all top heavy like this! And then you waltz in looking like that! What the fuck?”

“Chill out bro,” Pedro said. “And my name isn’t Mason anymore. It’s Pedro. And your name isn’t Chris, it’s Miguel. You’re turning out to be such a hot twin.”

Chris/Miguel was unable to get anymore words out as sharp pains coursed through his arms and legs. He hunched over, wrapping his growing limbs around his torso. In front of his eyes he saw the muscles in his arms and legs double, triple and quadruple in size, into massive slabs of muscle. His trap muscles ached and burned as the fibres inside re-stitched themselves, growing to match the mass of his arms and chest. Across the room Pedro grinned in anticipation, as his adonis belt thinned out, becoming lean and chiselled, into his tight pelvis and butt. 

“Miguel, we’re going to be so hot!” Pedro’s voice was deeper and more coastal sounding. His jock-instincts were bubbling in his brain, overwriting whatever personality he had before.

“Don’t call me that. My name is Miguel. I mean Chris.” Chris stammered. “How did you even do this?”

“Bro, it was the Chronivac. I told you last night. Just embrace it. I paid good money for this twins package.”

“I need to call them. There has to be a way to reverse this.” 

With a wide stride, Chris/Miguel walked over to where his phone was, but doubled over as a burning pain seared through his stomach. He squeezed with his hands, feeling the muscles underneath swell and grow under his touch. Before his eyes his abs went from flat and empty to being completely ripped. His waist got tighter as his adonis belt and hip muscles also tensed and flexed, just like Pedro’s had.

“Bro, I have a six pack!” Chris exclaimed, his voice cracking as it matched the timbre of Pedro’s.  

“They match mine, bro!” Pedro said.

Chris shook his head. If he could just call the company and explain what the problem was, then he figured he could stop the changes. He found his phone and brought it to his face, waiting for Face ID to unlock. The phone vibrated in his dark and meaty hand, refusing to unlock. In the black mirror of his phone, he saw a completely different face than the one he was used to. His nose was wider, and his jaw was leaner. His eyes had narrowed into Asian-like features and his hair was shorter and darker than before. His face was looking identical to Pedro’s, right down to the plump lips.

In a panic, Chris typed in his passcode and Googled the number for Chronivac. The phone began ringing.

“Hello?” said a voice on the other end.

“Hello, is this support? My name is Miguel, I mean Chris. My name is Chris. I don’t own your product, but my brother Pedro — I mean my best friend Mason does. He used the Chronivac on me last night and I woke up with big muscles and my face is looking Japanese and Mexican? And the same thing is happening to him! He says we’re becoming twins. This has to be against your Terms of Service! I didn’t agree to this.”

A dark skin spot formed on the back of Chris’ hand, spreading across his skin and up his bulging arms. His skin was darkening, to match his new ethnicity. 

“It sounds to me like it might be too late to intervene. Our records show Pedro and Miguel Watanabe.”

“That’s right,” Miguel interjected. He was Miguel, not Chris.

“Yeah,” the agent continued. “So your brother got the Twins Package, and since you are legally twins now, there’s nothing that can be done to change back the transformation. But it’s going to be great being a pair of super hot Latino-Asian influencers, right?”

“Yeah,” Miguel replied absent-mindedly, and in a voice that was deepening. “Thanks anyway. Peace.” 

He hung up and tossed the phone aside. Pedro wandered over and wrapped his hand around his twin brother’s shoulder. 

“It’s at ninety-nine percent,” Pedro said, indicating the transformation process on the Chronivac. 

Miguel felt another spasm in his thighs and legs and saw his skin was now completely browned and tanned now. His legs were thick and bulging, and so was the rest of his body. A wave of emotions came feelings rolled over his brain, and Miguel stood silently in place as his brain and personality adjusted to match his new physique. Pedro stood still for a moment too, as the twenty-two year old twins realized they could speak English, apanese and Spanish and had a long history of lifting weights and posting work-out videos on TikTok. The transformation progress bar clicked up one last pixel to one-hundred percent, snapping the twins out of their daze. 

“Bro,” Pedro said. “You wanna get a workout in?”

“You know it!” Miguel said, high-fiving his twin brother with a grin. 

[fatehbaz]

"The most fashionable bathing station in all Europe". British industrialists and American mining investors plotting the colonization of the Congo, while mingling at Ostend's seaside vacation resorts. Extracting African life to build European railways, hotels, palaces, suburbs, and other modern(ist) infrastructure. "Towards infinity!"

---

In 1885, King Leopold II achieved an astonishing and improbable goal: he claimed a vast new realm of his own devising, a conjury on a map called [...] the Congo Free State. [...] [A] fictional state owned by the king, ruled by decree, and run from Brussels from 1885 to 1908. [...] This was [...] a private entrepreneurial venture [for the king]. The abundance of ivory, timber, and wild rubber found in this enormous territory brought sudden and spectacular profits to Belgium, the king, and a web of interlocking concession companies. The frenzy to amass these precious resources unleashed a regime of forced labor, violence [millions of deaths], and unchecked atrocities for Congolese people. These same two and a half decades of contact with the Congo Free State remade Belgium [...] into a global powerhouse, vitalized by an economic boom, architectural burst, and imperial surge.

Congo profits supplied King Leopold II with funds for a series of monumental building projects [...]. Indeed, Belgian Art Nouveau exploded after 1895, created from Congolese raw materials and inspired by Congolese motifs. Contemporaries called it “Style Congo,” [...]. The inventory of this royal architecture is astonishing [...]. [H]istorical research [...] recovers Leopold’s formative ideas of architecture as power, his unrelenting efforts to implement them [...]. King Leopold II harbored lifelong ambitions to “embellish” and beautify the nation [...]. [W]ith his personal treasury flush with Congo revenue, [...] Leopold - now the Roi Batisseur ("Builder King") he long aimed to be - planned renovations explicitly designed to outdo Louis XIV's Versailles. Enormous greenhouses contained flora from every corner of the globe, with a dedicated soaring structure completed specifically to house the oversize palms of the Congolese jungles. [...]

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The Tervuren Congo palace [...]. Electric tramways were built and a wide swath of avenue emerged. [...] [In and around Brussels] real estate developers began to break up lots [...] for suburban mansions and gardens. Between 1902 and 1910, new neighborhoods with luxury homes appeared along the Avenue [...]. By 1892, Antwerp was not only the port of call for trade but also the headquarters of the most profitable of an interlinking set of banks and Congo investment companies [...]. As Antwerp in the 1890s became once again the “Queen of the Scheldt,” the city was also the home of what was referred to as the “Queen of Congo companies.” This was the ABIR, or Anglo-Belgian India Rubber Company, founded in 1892 with funds from British businessman “Colonel” John Thomas North [...].

Set on the seaside coast, Belgium’s Ostend was the third imperial cityscape to be remade by King Leopold [...] [in a] transformation [that] was concentrated between 1899 and 1905 [...]. Ostend encompassed a boomtown not of harbor and trade, like Antwerp, but of beachfront and leisure [...] [developed] as a "British-style" seaside resort. [...] Leopold [...] [w]as said to spend "as much time in Ostend as he did in Brussels," [...]. Ostend underwent a dramatic population expansion in a short period, tripling its inhabitants from 1870–1900. [...] Networks of steamers, trams, and railway lines coordinated to bring seasonal visitors in, and hotels and paved walkways were completed. [...] [A]nd Leopold’s favorite spot, the 1883 state-of-the-art racetracks, the Wellington Hippodrome. Referred to with an eye-wink as “the king incognito” (generating an entire genre of photography), visitors to the seaside could often see Leopold in his top hat and summer suit [...], riding his customized three-wheeled bicycle [...]. By 1900, Ostend’s expansion and enhancement made it known as “the Queen of the Belgian seaside resorts” and “the most fashionable bathing station in all Europe.” Opulence, convenience, and spectacle brought the Shah of Persia, American tycoons, European aristocrats, and Belgian elites, among others, to Ostend.

---

Leopold’s interventions and the Congo Free State personnel and proceeds played three pivotal and understudied roles in this transformation, all of which involved ABIR [British industrialists].

First, it was at Ostend that an early and decisive action was taken to structure the “red rubber” regime and set it in motion. In 1892, jurists such as [E.P.] had ruled, contravening [...] trade laws, that the king was entitled to claim the Congo as his domanial property [...]. Leopold [...] devised one part of that royal domain as a zone for private company concessions [...] to extract and export wild rubber.

Soon after, in 1892, King Leopold happened to meet the British “Colonel” John Thomas North at the Ostend Hippodrome. North, a Leeds-born mechanic [...] had made a fortune speculating on Chilean nitrates in the 1880s. He owned monopoly shares in nitrate mines and quickly expanded to acquire monopolies in Chilean freight railways, water supplies, and iron and coal mines. By 1890 North was a high-society socialite worth millions [...]. Leopold approached North at the Ostend racecourse to provide the initial investments to set up the Anglo-Belgian India Rubber Company (ABIR). [...]

---

One visible sign of Ostend’s little-known character as Congo boomtown was the Royal Palace Hotel, a lavish property next to the king’s Royal Domain, which opened in 1899. With hundreds of rooms and a broad sweep of acreage along the beachfront, the palace “occupied the largest space of any hotel in Europe.” [...]

King Leopold met American mining magnate Thomas Walsh there, and as with North, the meeting proved beneficial for his Congo enterprise: Leopold enlisted Walsh to provide assessments of some of his own Congo mining prospects. The hotel was part of [...] [a major European association of leisure profiteers] founded in 1894, that began to bundle luxury tourism and dedicated railway travel, and whose major investors were King Leopold, Colonel North [...].

At the height of Congo expansionism, fin-de-siècle Antwerp embodied an exhilarated launch point [...]. Explorers and expeditioners set sail for Matadi after 1887 with the rallying call “Vers l’infini!” (“towards infinity!”) [...].

---

Text above by: Debora Silverman. "Empire as Architecture: Monumental Cities the Congo Built in Belgium". e-flux Architecture (Appropriations series). May 2024. At: e-flux.com/architecture/appropriations/608151/empire-as-architecture-monumental-cities-the-congo-built-in-belgium/ [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Italicized first paragraph/heading in this post was added by me. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism.]

[thatwildnya]

venti when griffin wifey disappears to nest

The anemo archon is freaking out after his wife has suddenly vanished without a trace. After hours of searching with the help of the Favonius Knights and Diluc he discovers she has made a nest in Dvalin's home to lay a clutch of eggs.

TW: none

notes: the format this is written in what we've named a headcanon drabble mix. it will start with hcs and have a drabble at the end or multiple sprinkled throughout it. these will be tagged as headcanon drabble mix, hc drabble mix, or [fandom]hcdm.

chitters and nickers

Wild: I've started playing genshin recently and it's been on my mind a lot. Decided to write somethin' on a whim. Might make more with the same prompt if this one gets a lot of attention.

nya: i wanna squish venti's cheeks

wifey's bird cat mix

european wildcat, white dove, 7 eggs

very likely this was not planned, Venti’s alcoholic tendencies often cause him to forget protection so it was only a matter of time it caught up to him

unexpected pregnancies with female griffins can be absolutely heart attack inducing due to their instincts kicking in immediately once their body realizes what’s happening. bird brains go into maximum overdrive and once it decides where it wants to nest they’re making a beeline to claim said spot and going builder mode asap.

so imagine the archon’s panic when you’re nowhere to be found after being sick and acting weird all week. poor guy is zooming all over the city alongside the knights and Diluc to find you. once he’s combed through the city he uses his godly powers to call for Dvalin’s assistance. but there’s no answer.

Equation: wifey acting odd + wifey missing + dragon friend not responding. Conclusion: something very bad happened. Solution: it is time to panic at the anemo.

shouts at some random pedestrian passing by to gather the knights and meet him at the lair. unfortunately he mistook the stranger as a knight them self due to wearing similar clothes. and on top of that this person was a foreigner. but he’s gone before the misunderstanding can be cleared. now hubby is thought to be missing. what an eventful day for Mondstadt.

creates a crater when he lands outside his friends home. said friend sticks his head out from the crumbling tower with blurry eyes. what was all this racket for? this is the second time he’s been so rudely awoken today! bro already lost hours of sleep from his wife barging in at 1AM to nest and lay eggs. wifey did what now.

the dragon’s grumpiness dissolves once the situation has been cleared. in fact he was laughing in the end. the image of a large number of humans scurrying around in search of a god’s wife thinking the worst when in actuality she’s enjoying baby time in arguably the safest place in the nation is hilarious!

but that’s not important right now you laid eggies sired by him he’s gonna be a dad! this twink of a god can’t contain his excitement. how many did you lay? when will they hatch? how big are they? have they developed enough to be able to hear his voice? can he hold them? too bad you can’t answer, doves can’t mimic sounds and you aren’t reverting back to human for a while.

has no problem with you nesting in Dvalin’s home. in fact he’s all for it. very few humans and monsters dare to intrude on the territory of the anemo dragon once called Storm Terror. no worries here! so long you had no issues he’d stand by your decision, y’know what they say, a mother knows best!

you are never left alone Venti makes sure there’s always one person he trusts to watch over you and your growing kids. if he could he’d be right there in the nest with his family 24/7. the issue is, however, that you’re the breadwinner of the family. and griffin moms to be won’t leave the eggs alone until they’ve hatched. not for food, water, nothing. avian feline mom’s have wills of steel.

it isn’t long before Venti realizes the problem. kids are not cheap to raise. (especially in this economy) so for the first time in history, the anemo archon begins the treacherous and traumatizing journey of job hunting. it was a grueling quest, one of hardships and difficulty like no other. his confidence and ego took many serious blows, wounds inflicted upon them so deep it was feared he might never recover. there were plenty of times he almost gave up, but he persevered! his family was counting on him, he couldn’t give up. and with the power of love and friendship, he was able to slay- jk he just became a part time knight and takes on quick jobs spread across his nation.

this is quite the change to his usual routine but it’s all worth it. every time he returns to his recently grown family is all the motivation he needs. can’t wait for the day he’ll be greeted by a chorus of chirps after a long day of work.

when he isn’t working he’s always near the nest, if he isn’t in it. and more likely than not he’s by a fire cooking up something for you to eat. he’s glad you’ll eat if food is in reach. man’s on his way to becoming a 5 star chef with how much he’s expanding his culinary skills.

when is baby time? it’s always baby time in this house. and everyone is invited to baby time. can’t help but squeal internally whenever you get excited at visitors. leaving the nest just to gently tug them over so they could see the eggs will always be the cutest thing you’ll do to him. how can he not smile when your feathered face shines with pride everytime you present his kids?

finally, the day comes. he’s in the middle of aiding Diluc unload supplies for Angel’s Share when the Mondstadt citizens are given a heart attack by Dvalin suddenly swooping overhead shouting for him to get his butt back to you. get ready folks, it’s time for round 2 of panic at the anemo!

adding a new crater in Dvalin's lawn he runs to your side with heaving lungs all winded and worried. but you seem completely fine? and so do the babies, albeit two are shivering from the chillness of the ruins and being wet having just hatched… wait a minute-

Did you really have to disappear like that? Especially since you’ve been acting strange the past week?

Your side of the bed was cold when he woke up and he thought you had already left for work. The day goes on as normal, some bard performances here, archon duties there, wine shenanigans, nothing out of the ordinary. Until your boss shows up demanding to know where you are just as he was about to take a post lunch nap.

Okay, there’s no need to panic yet. Maybe your boss forgot you weren’t supposed to be in today? Nope, it’s the middle of the week. Maybe you were late getting back from lunch? What do you mean you haven’t been in all day. Were you scheduled to work offsite? No? Okay, now it's time to panic.

He’s fearing the worst as he and the others search for you. His true identity may be a secret to most but that unfortunately wasn’t true for a certain large powerful group that had already stolen from him twice. He hopes this isn’t their doing.

Thankfully the search doesn’t last long. Once the city has been combed through he flies off to get help from Dvalin. His friend can’t help but laugh when told what was going on. That’s when it’s revealed you’ve been in his lair the whole time.

Just as the dragon said, you’ve taken residence in his lair. Showing up in the middle of the night without warning to build a nest. So that’s where all the missing clothes, blankets, and pillows went. Used as cushions for the nest you’ve built in the middle of the night. The nest, might I add, looks very comfortable. Your loafing self emits a blissful aura, wings drooping lazily at your side and talons tucked under your chest.

Doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Opts for a third option to beeline to you for a hug. But there will be no hugs for him. Dvalin manages to grab him before he can take a few steps.

“I would advise against this approach, Barbatos.” the anemo dragon warns while the archon flails in his talons whining, “less you desire a delay in meeting your offspring.”

The bard freezes at his words. Offspring? Does he mean you were…?

Venti is plopped down a few steps away from you, this time waiting for your acknowledgement before coming close. You are more than happy to have him there. Thank you Dvalin for intercepting, you’d be on guard if you’d seen your husband suddenly running full speed at you.

You raise your wings slightly, doing mini flaps as you call out to him in your beautiful avian voice with enthusiasm. You are practically vibrating in excitement as your mate comes to join you in your nest made of natural and man made materials. The same could be said for him.

“Lemme see, lemme see, lemme see!” Venti claps impatiently, ready to see the incubating life underneath your feathers. His eyes somehow manage to get even wider as you sit up. You puff up your chest feathers, head raised high with pride as you reveal the seven eggs you’d laid hours ago.

Venti’s eyes are sparkling with happy tears. Head in hands as he leans forward on his elbows, he studies his growing babies in awe. It pleased him to no end that the shells were decorated in the colors of anemo. If that didn’t scream who sired these eggs then he didn’t know what would.

Hand slightly reaching out, he had intended to wait for the okay like before. But you were offended he had the audacity to think he had to get permission to touch what he had helped to create. And you were going to make your feelings very clear.

Without warning you lunge forward. Small beak clamping on his shirt to jerk him over the edge. The bard lets out a startled yelp, face planting into your wing. Despite being a combination of smaller species of the feline and avian family, you were still quite strong.

“Ow ow ow, was that really necessary love dove?” He rubs his nose. Beak snaps are your reply, pouting at him to hurry up. Your impatience was so great he was denied the option to shake out his hat of feathers and twigs, getting robbed of his head wear. Okay he gets the memo sheesh!

The remainder of the evening is spent snuggled in the nest. Songs of humans and birds are heard late into the night, the voice of a dragon chiming in at times. Peace befalls the land of anemo.

Until it’s shattered by a frantic legion of knights still searching for their god and his wife hours later.

~ time skip yay ~

Venti sobs, clutching his bundle of joy to his chest. It had been nearly half an hour since his firstborn had entered the world yet somehow the tears kept flowing. No matter how hard he tried, the tears wouldn’t halt. But could you really blame him?

���You’re going to hyperventilate at this rate. It’s a wonder you haven’t already.”

“I-I-I *sniffle* can’t h-hel- *sob* help i-it!” he hugs his firstborn closer, blurry gaze never leaving his child’s face. “Sh-she-she’s *hiccup* s-so beau- *sniffle* beautiful!” the dragon rolled his eyes. How much longer did he have to listen to his crying?

“Get a hold of yourself. Your hatchlings won’t benefit if both parents are unable to assist due to being unconscious.”

Venti gives a final sniffle before tilting his head up in an attempt to stop the tears. He blinks rapidly, steadying his breath. A quick wipe of the sleeve and it’s back to staring.

He wanted to see every little thing she did. His perfect little feathered treasure.

The hatchling had somehow managed to sleep through his whole cry fest. Cozily wrapped in a quilt and blissfully resting from her first big hurdle. Not even a day old and she had already passed the most important milestone of her life, breaking the shell that had protected her as she grew.

He quickly wiped his eyes again. He’d cried enough today.

Suddenly she yawned, beak opening wide and talons outstretching. Eyes blinking open, she looks up at her father’s puffy face. Venti smiles warmly at her, his own eyes giving her loving slow blinks. His daughter returns the gesture.

She begins to wiggle in his hold, talons reaching to grip his shirt in an attempt to pull herself closer to his face. To save his daughter the trouble he lifts her closer. He chuckles as he nuzzles her face, her curious sniffs ticking.

“Hello, little one,” he whispers quietly, planting a kiss on her forehead, “the winds welcome you into the world.”

[razorroy]

Kamala Harris vs. Donald Trump

Tax plan Trump and Harris have competing tax plans. Both nominees' plans would have to be passed by Congress, which has the power of the purse. Here's what Harris has proposed so far:

Harris says she'd provide bigger tax benefits for families but would offset the costs by raising corporate taxes, while Trump has said he'd extend the tax cuts enacted in 2017.

Under Harris' tax plan, according to an analysis by the Penn Wharton Budget Model, 95% of Americans would see lower taxes, and higher earners would pay more taxes. The top 0.1% — whose annual average income exceeds $14 million — would pay about $167,000 more in taxes.

Harris wants to eliminate federal taxes on tips, which Trump first proposed.

She also says she wants to provide a financial cushion for small businesses with a tenfold increase in the startup expense deduction — lifting it from $5,000 to $50,000. New businesses wouldn't need to claim the deduction in their first year, when many take losses and would not be able to use it. Instead, they'd be able to wait until they're profitable and use the deduction at that time. Businesses would also be able to take part of the deduction in one year and save the rest for future years.

Child tax credit

After Trump's running mate JD Vance pitched boosting the child tax credit to $5,000, up from the current top tax break of $2,000, Harris one-upped Vance's number, suggesting a child tax credit of $6,000, although this would be for the parents of newborns.

Harris also suggests a return to the pandemic-era expansion of the child tax credit, up to $3,600 for young children. She hasn't released income eligibility thresholds, but it's likely that it would phase out for those at higher income levels.

Earlier this year, Senate Republicans blocked legislation that would have increased the child tax credit.

Housing shortage Harris says she'd address the nation's housing shortage with several initiatives. She promises to build 3 million affordable new homes and rentals by the end of her first term, offering tax breaks to builders who construct homes for first-time home buyers. She's also proposing a $40 billion fund to help local governments find solutions to the low housing stock.

And she wants to provide Americans who have paid their rent on time for two years with up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance, with more support for first-generation homeowners.

Inflation

Inflation has cooled nearly to pre-pandemic levels — it's now at 2.9% — but prices have risen nearly 21% since the beginning of the pandemic. A recent survey found two-thirds of middle-income families said they're falling behind their cost of living

Harris is trying to address the effects of inflation on lower- and middle-class Americans, an approach used by the Biden administration. She blames price gouging by food suppliers and grocery chains for high prices at the store and pledges to take on corporations with the first federal law against price gouging. Economists have expressed doubts about the efficacy of such a law because they say that the reasons for food inflation are complex.

She also wants to lower prescription drug costs, which has been a focus for the Biden administration. Last month, the White House announced Medicare reached agreements with drug manufacturers for lower prices for 10 drugs that treat a range of ailments, from heart failure and blood clots to diabetes, resulting in savings for patients of 38% to 79%, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It was Harris who cast the tie-breaking vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, which granted Medicare the drug negotiating authority.

Immigration

Harris has not yet issued an immigration policy platform. At campaign events, Harris has mostly brought up the bipartisan border security deal that collapsed in Congress earlier this year after Trump urged GOP lawmakers to reject it. Harris has promised to revive the bill and accused Trump of scuttling it for political reasons.

The legislation would have enacted permanent restrictions on asylum, given the president the power to quickly deport migrants when border crossings soar and boosted the ranks of border agents, deportation officers, immigration judges and asylum adjudicators. It would also have expanded legal immigration, allocating 50,000 new immigrant visas annually for five years.

While the bipartisan border deal did not include a legalization program for undocumented immigrants — a longtime Democratic priority in immigration negotiations — Harris has expressed support for an "earned" path to citizenship for this population on the campaign trail.

Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Harris' campaign manager, signaled to CBS News that Harris would likely continue a June order by Mr. Biden that has severely curtailed access to the U.S. asylum system. It's a move officials credit for a four-year-low in illegal border crossings.

Harris' campaign has tried to distance her from the more liberal immigration positions she espoused when she was a presidential candidate in 2020. Those prior positions included an openness to decriminalizing the act of crossing the border without authorization and overhauling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Abortion Harris and Trump have opposing views on abortion access, an issue that could be a crucial motivator for voters in November.

Both Trump and Harris have highlighted the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, and the role that the three justices appointed by Trump played in that landmark decision, albeit for different reasons: Trump has touted his nomination of three of the five justices who voted to overturn Roe, while Harris has criticized her opponent for specifically selecting justices who would dismantle the constitutional right to abortion. Since the high court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, nearly one-third of states have near-total bans on the procedure in place, while access to abortion is severely restricted in a handful of others.

Harris has made abortion rights a focal point of her campaign and lambasted "Trump abortion bans" on the trail.

In her speech at the Democratic National Convention accepting the party's presidential nominee, the vice president pledged to sign into law legislation that restores the federal right to abortion — if such a bill is passed by Congress.

IVF Access to in vitro fertilization services became a campaign issue after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that frozen embryos created during the IVF process could be considered children. The decision threatened the availability of IVF services in Alabama and thrust access to fertility treatments into the national conversation, including among the presidential candidates.

Harris has repeatedly said she supports the right of women to make their own decisions about their bodies and family-planning, and told the crowd at the DNC that since Roe's reversal, she has heard stories of couples who have had their IVF treatments cut off.

The vice president said in a video shared to social media that Trump "is literally the architect of this entire crisis," and said the Alabama ruling is a "direct result" of the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe.

Climate Harris has not outlined her climate policy yet, but she is expected to continue to pursue the goals of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which funded energy and climate projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2030.

As vice president, Harris advocates moving the country toward a "clean energy economy" while not completely backing away from oil and gas, which is a major industry in battleground states like Pennsylvania. The Keystone State is one of the top natural gas producers in the country.

In an interview with CNN, Harris said that as president, she wouldn't ban fracking — a technique for extracting natural gas from shale — a departure from a statement she made in 2019 that she'd support a fracking ban. Citing the creation of 300,000 clean energy jobs during the Biden administration, she told CNN that her experience as vice president shows "we can increase a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking."

A Harris campaign spokesperson said 300,000 clean energy jobs were created under the Biden-Harris administration in both 2021 and 2022.

The Democratic Party platform says it will increase protections against drilling and mining in the Arctic, although U.S. oil production has hit record highs during Mr. Biden's presidency. Mr. Biden approved almost 50% more gas and oil leases during his time in office than Trump did during his first three years in office.

Trump has vowed to undo what he calls Biden's "electric vehicle mandate" on Day One in office. A spokesperson for Harris' campaign told Axios Harris doesn't support an electric vehicle mandate. The Biden administration has not issued a mandate, but it has introduced incentives to encourage Americans to buy EVs and set a target that half of all new vehicle sales be zero emissions by 2030.

Guns

President Biden in 2022 signed the most significant update to gun safety law in almost three decades in the wake of mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and New York. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act augmented background checks for gun buyers under 21, provided billions for mental health services and closed the so-called "boyfriend loophole" to prevent convicted domestic abusers from purchasing a firearm for five years. It also clarified the definition of gun dealers — 26 GOP-led states are suing to block this provision. The measure also creates penalties for straw purchases and gun trafficking. In 2023, Mr. Biden announced the creation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, to be overseen by Harris.

Before she became the nominee, Harris visited Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the site of the 2018 mass shooting that left 17 dead, where she called on states to pass "red flag" laws, which allow courts to seize guns from those deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. Twenty-one states have enacted red flag laws, but many do not enforce them. She also announced federal funding and resources aimed at providing training and technical assistance to help states with their red flag programs. In 2024, the Justice Department announced the creation of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center, dedicated to training and technical assistance to support states and localities in implementing their red flag programs.

At her speech at the Democratic National Convention, Harris only made passing reference to gun violence. "In this election, many other fundamental freedoms are at stake," she said. "The freedom to live safe from gun violence in our schools, communities and places of worship."

Education

As a senator, Harris backed a bill that would have provided tuition-free college for most families.

The Democratic Party's platform also calls for free college tuition for all. This is not an idea Harris has been discussing on the campaign trail.

Israel and Gaza Both Harris and Trump have, at times, been critical of Israel's handling of its war against Hamas in Gaza. But neither has threatened to pull support for the ally.

Harris has called the bloodshed in Gaza "devastating," but vowed there would be no change in policy toward Israel.

She has pushed for a cease-fire deal that would release the remaining hostages held by Hamas.

She backs a two-state solution.

Ukraine and Russia

Harris pledged in her DNC address that she "will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies."

Harris accused Russia of committing "crimes against humanity" in Ukraine a year after the war began.

The Biden administration has spearheaded a number of aid packages for Ukraine, including weapons, and worked with allies to sanction Russia for its invasion. Still, the administration's response — especially early on in the war — has been criticized as slow-moving, and more recently, Republican opposition in Congress further slowed aid to Ukraine.

China Harris has offered few details about how her China policy would differ from Mr. Biden's. In her Democratic National Convention speech, Harris said "America — not China — wins the competition for the 21st century."

She told "Face the Nation" in September 2023 that the U.S.-China economic relationship is "not about decoupling, it is about de-risking."

Harris briefly met Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2022 in Bangkok amid friction between the two countries. The vice president said she stressed the need to "maintain open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between our countries."

She has condemned China's aggression in the South China Sea, accusing it of "undermining key elements of the international rules-based order" and coercing and intimidating its neighbors.

Harris has also reaffirmed U.S. support for Taiwan.

In the Senate, Harris cosponsored the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act and the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act. Trump signed both into law.

Iran nuclear deal It's unclear whether Harris would seek to renegotiate a new nuclear deal with Iran if she wins the election. During the 2020 campaign, Harris, who was running in a crowded Democratic presidential primary, told the Council on Foreign Relations that she would seek to rejoin the Iran nuclear agreement, "so long as Iran also returned to verifiable compliance."

The Harris campaign has a lot to comb through for her vision for America over the next 4 years!

Meanwhile, Donald J. Trump can ace a tremendously hard cognitive test and cheat like no one has ever seen before at golf.

He has also been known to throw temper tantrums that rival a three year old that can result in ketchup bottles being thrown at walls. Trump loves McDonald's, sex with women other than Mrs. Trump. Believes in conspiracy theories. Enjoys wearing extremely tight polo shirts that show off his tremendously large man boobs.

Trump lost all four hundred million of his trust fund from his daddy and will lose all of your money to lawyer fees if you simply make a donation to his fake "Save America" scam.

[loving-n0t-heyting]

On Friday, Florida lawmakers passed a bill that would make it illegal for cities or counties to enforce the likes of mandated shade breaks or access to water on companies whose workers operate predominantly outside. If Republican governor Ron DeSantis signs it, the law — whose backers include the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Home Builders Association, and the National Utility Contractors Association — would also bar local governments from even asking companies with whom they contract about their heat-exposure standards.

“This is very much a people-centric bill,” remarked Esposito in response to concerns about its proposed elimination of local heat exposure ordinances. “And if you want to talk about health and wellness, and you want to talk about how we can make sure that all Floridians are healthy, you do that by making sure that they have a good job. And in order to provide good jobs, we need to not put businesses out of business.”

[hirotheinkling]

Murder Drones Headcanon: Alien Species

In my personal Murder Drones Headcanon, there are many species of sapient extraterrestrial beings who live on the planets that have been discovered by humans as they reached out into space. Every single one of them is extremely unique in their appearance and biology, having been evolutionarily shaped by the conditions of their respective homeworlds. There is also the Interstellar Commonwealth, an interplanetary government which was founded in 2546 to unite space-faring civilizations into the common goal of further exploration.

The Tragedy of Zyphoria-3 and the Consequences of Cultural Contamination

When the Interstellar Commonwealth was still very young, its explorers were more similar to missionaries, wanting to help less advanced civilizations. When they arrived at the third planet in the Zyphoria system in 2576, they found a world in the midst of an arms race (of biological weapons rather than nuclear ones), with continents cut up by national borders. So they landed and revealed themselves as well as their technology, as they thought it was the right thing to do. They simply wanted to help this world skip the cumbersome steps that others had to go through to achieve a sufficient level of advancement. However, they couldn’t control the spread. Wars broke out across the planet due to nations seeking to use the technology for personal gain and political dominance. By 2580, 16 billion Zyphorians had perished in the resulting global conflict. After that, new laws were passed, strictly prohibiting any interference of this manner, commonly referred to as ‘cultural contamination’, in the future.

And all those Commonwealth explorers tried to do was help.

Murder Drones Alien Species Design Contest

I would love to see a design for an alien species which is both fitting for the Murder Drones Universe and displays true originality, so I am holding a contest to see who can come up with the most creative design! Although humanoid designs are not prohibited, they are strongly discouraged. Entries will consist of artwork of the species and its home planet as well as an overview of their culture. (You can put two or more species on one planet if you’d like to!) You have until August 18th at 12:00 PM UTC to reblog this post and attach your entry!

@starryinkart, @electrozeistyking, @withered--s0uls, @yadchi-i-guess, @kkolg, @starlightohstar, @chaotically-coz, @megbanned, @jazzstarrlight, @roseofhybrids, and @thecosmiccrow, I’m at it again! Another opportunity to see everyone’s ideas!

I highly encourage you guys to take inspiration from the works of the wonderful Alex Ries (Creator of the birrin) as seen below for your designs while also staying true to the style of Liam Vickers!

Also, here’s a list of a few species from the show The Orville (which I’ve gotten into a bit recently) which you can also use as a basis for your alien species designs and cultures, but remember to give it the aesthetic of Alex Ries’ works and the style of Liam Vickers!

Moclans of the planet Moclus

Sarguns of the planet Sargus 4

Xelayans of the planet Xelaya

Regorians of the planet Regor 2

The Krill of the planet Krill

The Kaylon and their Builders from the planet Kaylon 1

Lastly, here are some designs by the wonderful Alex Ries! Good luck, and do your best, everyone! I would like to see at least one design for the Zyphorians too!

Edit (8/1/2024): This contest has not received as much attention as I hoped it would, so it must unfortunately come to an end.

[tokidokitokyo]

栃木県

Japanese Prefectures: Kantō - Tochigi

都道府県 (とどうふけん) - Prefectures of Japan

Learning the kanji and a little bit about each of Japan’s 47 prefectures!

Kanji・漢字

栃　とち　horse chestnut

木　き、こ～、ボク、モク　tree, wood

県　ケン　prefecture

関東　かんとう　Kanto, region consisting of Tokyo and surrounding prefectures

Prefectural Capital (県庁所在地) : Utsunomiya (宇都宮市)

One of only eight land-locked prefectures in Japan, Tochigi prefecture is famous for gyoza and strawberries. It is also home to Japan's oldest school of higher education, the Ashikaga Gakkō, and is home to the Tōshō-gū shrine, dedicated to the shogun who unified Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu, in the city of Nikkō.

Tochigi lies just north of Tokyo, and is accessible in less than an hour by bullet train. Nasu is the location of one of the imperial family's villas, and hot springs near Nasu and Shiobara mountains are popular resort spots. In the southeast of Tochigi, the town of Mashiko is renowned for its simple but highly prized ceramics.

Recommended Tourist Spot・おすすめ観光スポット World Heritage Site Nikkō Tōshōgū - 世界遺産・日光東照宮

Nikkō is closely associated with Tokugawa Ieyasu, who unified the country after a century of warfare and founded the Tokugawa shogunate. Ieyasu retired and then passed away in present-day Shizuoka Prefecture, and was laid to rest at Kunōzan. In 1617, his remains were moved to Nikkō and he was deified as the protector of the eight Kantō provinces.

Ieyasu’s remains were reinterred at the temple Rinnōji in Nikkō, and his successor Hidetada erected the Tōshōsha in his honor. The third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu had great respect for Ieyasu and ordered the original shrine renovated, having the country’s most skilled artisans create the richly decorated buildings that stand today. The work was completed in 1636, and nine years later the imperial court bestowed the name Tōshōgū on the shrine.

Nikkō Tōshōgū boasts eight buildings designated as national treasures and thirty-four structures selected as important cultural properties. Some of these impressive cultural properties include the 9.2-meter-tall stone torii marking the entrance and the five-storied pagoda nearby, as well as the Yōmeimon, a richly decorated gate with over 500 carvings depicting fables and saints. This magnificent gate holds an ancient superstition, which said that completing it might lead to the collapse of the Tokugawa regime. To avoid this, the builders installed one of the twelve supporting pillars upside down, thus insuring that it remained incomplete.

For more photos and information check out: nippon.com

Regional Cuisine - 郷土料理 Gyoza Dumpling - 餃子

A statue of the goddess Venus wrapped in gyoza skin outside Utsunomiya Station (source)

“Utsunomiya Gyoza” is an important part of the culinary culture of Utsunomiya City. The city has over 300 gyoza restaurants, and queuing in front of your favorite restaurant or visiting multiple restaurants is quite common. The restaurants compete to create unique recipes in order to be recognized as the best gyoza in the city. You can even join gyoza-making classes led by top chefs. There is also a gyoza association called the Utsunomiya Gyozakai that holds an annual festival in the beginning of November.

Tochigi Dialect・Tochigi-ben・栃木弁

こわい　kowai　tired

「とうと登ってたっけ、こわいから座ってもいいけ？」 touto nobottetakke, kowai kara suwatte mo iike?

Standard Japanese: 「ずっと登ってたし、疲れたから座ってもいい？」 (zutto nobottetashi, tsukareta kara suwatte mo ii?)

English: "I've been climbing for a while now, and I'm tired, so can I sit down?"

いかんべ　ikanbe　it's good

A: 「こんなもん���、いがっぺ？」 (konna mon de, igappe?) B: 「いかんべ。」 (ikanbe)

Standard Japanese: A: 「こんなもんで、いいでしょう？」 (konna mon de, ii deshou?) B: 「いいですよ。」 (ii desu yo)

English: A: "Is it okay if I do it like this?" B: "Yes, that's fine."

いじやける　ijiyakeru　irritated

「あの店員の態度、すげ～いじやける！」 (ano tenin no taido, suge～ijiyakeru!)

Standard Japanese: 「あの店員の態度、凄くイライラする！」 (ano tenin no taido, sugoku iraira suru!)

English: "That store clerk's attitude, is so irritating!"

だいじだ　daiji　no problem

A: 「だいじ？」　(daiji?) B: 「だいじだいじ！」　(daiji daiji!)

Standard Japanese: A: 「大丈夫？」　(daijyoubu?) B: 「大丈夫、大丈夫！」　(daijyoubu, daijyoubu!)

English: A: "Is it ok?" B: "No problem, no problem!"

あかなす　akanasu　tomato (lit. red eggplant)

Standard Japanese: トマト (tomato) English: tomato

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Crafting Luxury: How a Best Builder Can Assist on a Luxury Apartment Construction

The difference between an ordinary apartment and a luxury apartment  lies usually in the hands of a best builder. An experienced and skilled builder as National Builders is central to the luxury apartment construction, as he makes mere architectural blueprints into great realities. It is essential to preserve the integrity of a structure along with the experience.

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New Construction For Sale 12089 Mustang, Willis, Texas, 77378 Montgomery

🏡 NEWLY CONSTRUCTED! NEVER LIVED IN! This stunning property located at 12061 Mustang Way in Willis, Texas, offers the epitome of modern living in the desirable Texas National neighborhood of Montgomery County. Spacious Layout: Featuring 3 bedrooms with a study or the option for a 4th bedroom, along with 3 baths, this home provides ample space for comfortable living for families or individuals…

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REVISED SCALESWIND HEADCANNONS

SCALESWIND

◦ Scallets (Scale-etts)

TERRAIN: While surrounded by rocky mountains and tall trees, within the walls of Scaleswind are prime meadows and farming land. Scaleswind is shut off from the ocean, only having access to a river which brings them to the ocean. There are a variety of trees, evergreens, oaks, apple trees. Scaleswind has some of the best soil in all of Ru'uan.

FOOD: apples, cabbage, Pears, pumpkin, wheat, hay, barley, kale, radish, corn, squash, potato, rice, beef, goat, sheep, chicken, duck, geese, fish.

LIVESTOCK: cows, horses, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, cats and dogs.

ANIMALS: Deer, elk, bear, beavers, foxes, beavers, groundhogs, birds, fish, squirrels.

CULTURE: Scaleswind is very battle ready and they value being able to protect themselves. Men and women are taught from a young age how to defend themselves. Scaleswind, second to O'Khasis, has produced the most guards/knights and some of the best fighters in the region. Scaleswind has some of the best job opportunities as well as land and homes for their villagers. Scaleswind uses many apartment style buildings to house more people. They also have a variety of supplies which makes them a huge trade spot. They are very similar to O'Khasis success wise, like the little sister of O'Khasis. Scaleswind is average with it's religiousness - this is due to them being very successful on their own and not feeling the need for divine intervention. Popular careers include: Guard, Knight, Noble, Farmer, Builder, Merchant, Blacksmith, Seamstress, Barhand, Sailor, Logger, Baker, Teacher, Prostitute.

NATIONALITIES: Greek/Spartan, Roman, Scandinavian/Viking,/Norse.

FIGHTING: Swords, jousting, sparring, hand to hand, archery.

WEAPONS: Longsword, shortsword, Estoc, Arming Sword, dagger, knives, bow and arrow, crossbow, spears, Morning stars, axes,

RESPECT LEVEL: 9/10 (Amazing fighters, basically O'Khasis, but being landlocked from the ocean doesn't help them.

REWRITE LINKED BELOW

[mariacallous]

Whatever his personal flaws, Elon Musk has been a masterful business builder. Tesla and SpaceX are two of the more successful companies the South African-born entrepreneur has conceived or led. But now Musk has encountered an obstacle both tenacious and effective: Swedish trade unions. Not even the world’s some-time richest man and the world’s most valuable auto brand have been able to dislodge the unions from their long-standing place in the Swedish economy. That’s good news for every country that believes in tempering the market economy with its own national characteristics.

“This is insane,” Musk tweeted on Nov. 23, 2023. He was responding to news from Sweden: The communications workers union had announced that its members would no longer deliver letters and packages to Tesla. That meant, among other things, that number plates for Tesla cars would not be delivered. That, of course, made the cars undrivable.

The communications workers union—known as Seko—was just the latest group to launch so-called sympathy strikes against the American carmaker. The transport workers union had already stopped handling Tesla cars arriving in Swedish ports, and so had the dockworkers union. The electricians union had stopped installing and servicing Tesla charging points. The custodians union had stopped cleaning the company’s facilities. The painters union had announced it was going to stop painting Tesla cars. The construction workers union had announced it would stop work and repairs on Tesla facilities. Since then, Norwegian and Danish labor unions have stopped handling Tesla cargo bound for Sweden and suspended garbage collection at Tesla’s facilities. Since the end of October, more than a dozen unions have launched strikes against Tesla, and the strikes continue.

These workers and their unions don’t have a direct conflict with Tesla: They’ve gone on strike to support their auto-mechanic colleagues who are employed by the global auto giant, because Tesla has refused to allow the IF Metall, which represents a range of groups including factory workers, the right to collective bargaining on behalf of its autoworkers. Tesla’s autoworkers went on strike on Oct. 27 entreaties by IF Metall for collective bargaining went nowhere. (Tesla doesn’t have a Swedish manufacturing plant, but it does have facilities where the cars are serviced.)

Sympathy strikes, where unions suspend work for a company in support of another union, are a powerful but rarely used feature of the Swedish labor market. It is, in fact, a bit of a remnant from a century ago, when Swedish labor market relations were more adversarial than today. For many decades now, however, relations have been largely collaborative. It works like this: Every employer allows trade employees not just to unionize but to represent all its workers, and the unions then negotiate wages and other aspects with the employer on behalf of their worker category.

IF Metall, for example, conducts collective bargaining with Volvo on behalf of the carmaker’s autoworkers, while the custodians union—Fastighets—negotiates with Volvo on behalf of the custodians employed by the company. Under this kind of arrangement, trade unions act with moderation, because the recurring negotiations with the employers allow them to reach agreement on not just wages but also on other issues including sick pay, vacation pay, working hours, termination, and personal fulfillment. Today, Sweden has some 650 such agreements covering 90 percent of the country’s employees.

But Musk doesn’t like unions. “It’s generally not good to have an adversarial relationship between … one group at a company and another group,” he told Andrew Ross Sorkin in an interview on Nov. 29. Indeed, Musk has tried to keep Tesla de-unionized, and that seems to have served him well on American home soil: When the United Auto Workers union targeted the Big Three (GM, Ford, and Stellantis) in a massive strike last fall and emerged with pay raises as high as 89 percent, Tesla could keep turning out its cars, unperturbed by any disruption. When IF Metall tried to get Tesla in Sweden to agree to collective bargaining, the answer came back that such decisions are made by Tesla’s headquarters in the United States.

The autoworkers’ strike, and the massive wave of sympathy strikes that have hit every aspect of Tesla’s operations, followed. “When we take action against an employer that doesn’t allow collective bargaining, it’s typically a small workplace, and we get public opinion against us,” Veli-Pekka Saikkala, a former auto mechanic who leads IF Metall’s collective bargaining, told me. “But this time, people’s view is that big Tesla, which is owned by the world’s richest man, shouldn’t come to Sweden and tell us how to do things.” The issue isn’t just about Tesla’s practices; it’s about protecting Sweden’s business and union norms—and a system that most Swedes are happy with and that has produced an extraordinarily well-performing economy.

Christer Thornqvist, a lecturer in business administration at the University of Skovde who specializes in trade unions, told a Swedish publication that Sweden has seen nothing like it since sympathy strikes against Toys “R” Us in the 1990s. In those delirious early days of globalization, the American toy chain arrived, similarly thinking that it could export its labor market practices along with its goods. But Swedish workers would have none of it. The transport workers union stopped transporting goods from Toys “R” Us; the dockworkers union stopped handling its arriving cargo; Fastighets stopped cleaning its shops and facilities; and eventually the American giant relented.

“The strikes against Tesla are, of course, about Tesla’s workers in Sweden, because they deserve the same rights as other workers in Sweden,” said Laura Hartman, who was until last fall chief economist at LO, Sweden’s blue-collar trade union confederation. “But primarily this is about the Swedish model, which is built on the concept that the labor market parties reach agreements. If companies start deviating from it, this will undermine our system and legislate about many workers’ rights.” Sweden, for example, doesn’t have a minimum wage—because unions and employers jointly negotiate such matters.

Back in the ‘90s, U.S. firms rapidly expanded in a dizzying range of emerging market economies, and expanding there often meant that they could also export their way of doing business. Western European companies did the same. There were other hurdles, to be sure, but a solid collective-bargaining system wasn’t one of them. U.S. foreign policy pursued a similar strategy: Other countries were to become more like America. This wasn’t done with malice. American business leaders and policymakers simply assumed that countries opening up would naturally want to become more like the United States. In those exuberant years, it didn’t occur to most American leaders, or admittedly to leaders from other Western countries, that states might want market economies and even democracy—but done their own way.

“In Sweden, we have very few strikes, and that’s because employers and unions work closely together,” Saikkala noted. “This benefits the labor market. The situation may be different in other countries, but it’s strange to assume that a company can use the same model around the world.” Indeed, Musk seems unaware that Swedish unions are different from American ones. In December, Tesla advertised on its careers page for a person with “a proven track record of getting regulatory changes made in the Nordics” to be based in Stockholm or Oslo. The listing is no longer available, though it’s unclear if this is because the person who’s to force the Nordics to change their generations-old labor market system has been hired—or because someone realized it was a bad idea.

Either way, in the Swedish unions, the world’s some-time richest man has encountered what may be the most maddening hurdle of his career. Even though going on strike is expensive for unions and thus their members, the sympathy strikes have kept accumulating. The fate of a few dozen mechanics has turned into a battle between the softer Nordic model and the unbridled capitalist vision of people like Musk. “All of a sudden, people in Sweden and beyond are learning a lot about collective bargaining,” Hartman reflected. “In the long run, this can strengthen unions in other countries. Small trade unions have a tendency to become militant. Large trade unions like we have in Sweden tend to work more collaboratively with employers, and that model is what’s at risk if companies like Tesla refuse to allow collective bargaining.”

Indeed, Tesla has emerged looking tin-eared, and not just because of the job advert. Rather than giving a few dozen Swedish autoworkers the right to collective bargaining, the world’s by far most valuable automaker is—for example—collecting its trash in vans and using a convoluted way of getting temporary license plates. Now 16 Nordic institutional investors with combined assets of more than $1 trillion have written to Tesla headquarters asking the company to work with the Swedish unions. The Danish pension fund PensionDanmark is even selling its Tesla shares over the dispute. As Billy Bragg sang, “There is power in a union.”