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sparklepocalypse · 6 months ago

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First Line Analysis

Big thanks to @kiwiana-writes, @energievie, and @read-and-write- for the tags here! It's been awhile since I've done something like this, and I've posted a few things since then, so here we go!

RULES: post the first lines of your last 10 fics/chapters posted on AO3 (if you have less than 10 fics posted, post the first lines of all your fics) and try to draw some conclusions.

Opening Lines, from most to least recent:

“We’ll just have to keep it very casual, of course.” Henry is an idiot. He hopes desperately that this realization isn’t written all over his face, like his every thought always is when it comes to the man sitting opposite him on the boldly colored sofa. The taste of Alex’s cum still lingers in Henry’s mouth, and he might have just prevented himself from ever getting a refresher, and — [Nobody Knows, Just We Two | Alex/Henry | E]

Each evening, Alex texts when he gets off the subway, and today is no different. Be home in ten. Love you. Missed your face. [He Drives Me Fucking Crazy; I am His Everything | Alex/Henry | E]

“Ma, seriously. I’m sixteen. I can go to the UN fundraiser,” Alex huffs, smoothing down the front of his shirt as the car rolls to a stop. “It feels like you’re dropping me off at daycare. I don’t even know these people.” [Count to Ten & Breathe Real Deep | Alex/Henry | E]

“Oh, come on,” Alex groans as traffic grinds to a halt on I-10 just outside of Norwalk. His shift starts in an hour and a half; it’s his first as a face character, and he’s going to be late if the cars don’t get fucking moving. [Love Like Yours Will Surely Come My Way | Alex/Henry | E]

The worst part about being a siren in the modern era, Henry ponders as yet another ship flies past his cove at a speed that he knows will disturb the anemone gardens below, is the yacht bros. Between the sound of their vessels’ motors and the dissonant noise the humans call music, Henry’s singing has no chance of attracting anyone’s attention. [All the Ocean Was Sleeping | Alex/Henry | E]

Alex Claremont-Diaz is sixteen years old, and he hasn’t presented. His dad seems to think it’s fine and offers Alex regular reassurance that his cousin Angel hadn’t presented until nearly 20. His mom, though, gets a little crease between her eyebrows whenever she thinks Alex isn’t looking. Presenting is a Big Deal in the Claremont family, and Alex just... hasn’t. [Late Bloomer | Alex/Henry | E]

For once, they’re not due on set until nearly noon. The night shoot at the V&A had run until nearly 1 AM, and Matthew had deliberately given the cast a recovery day, with only their Prime Video interview scheduled until that evening. It will, the Prime reps have promised, be a low pressure interview featuring some unserious activities framing an opportunity to reintroduce themselves to the world as the men bringing Alex and Henry to life. [You're the Spark That Won't Go Out | Taylor/Nick | E]

Nick can pinpoint the exact moment the line disappears. [Just Want You to Make Me Move | Taylor/Nick | E]

It’s coming. [Single Sad-Sack Seeking Same | Alex/Henry | E]

“Go win an election.” [Wrap Me Up, Unfold Me | Alex/Henry | E]

Analysis and tags behind the jump because that's already a wall of text. 😅🤣

First Line Analysis:

Not a ton of world-building in any of these first lines.

You can typically tell what sort of AU one of the more out-there AUs is going to be from the first line; Late Bloomer mentions presentation; All the Ocean Was Sleeping mentions sirens. The less outlandish AUs are less obvious.

60% of my last 10 fics make it clear whose POV you're reading in the first line.

Only one of these first lines contains a swear word; likewise, only one contains an overt reference to smut (even though these are literally all rated E).

Two of these first lines are a single sentence under five words; the remainder are... much longer.

Two of the first lines are either just a quote from the movie script or include a quote from the movie.

Four of the first lines open on dialogue, and of the rest, five are expository and one is ominous.

Tagging @eusuntgratie, @firenati0n, @hgejfmw-hgejhsf, @duchessdepolignaca03, @priincebutt,

@violetbaudelaire-quagmire, @cactusdragon517, @bigassbowlingballhead, @anincompletelist, @cha-melodius,

@orchidscript, @porcelainmortal, @thesleepyskipper, @onthewaytosomewhere, @mudbloodpotter05

#tag game #my fic

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jcmarchi · 2 months ago

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Enfabrica Secures $115M Series C Funding and Announces Availability of World’s Fastest GPU Networking Chip

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/enfabrica-secures-115m-series-c-funding-and-announces-availability-of-worlds-fastest-gpu-networking-chip/

Enfabrica Secures $115M Series C Funding and Announces Availability of World’s Fastest GPU Networking Chip

In a powerful stride toward advancing artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, Enfabrica Corporation announced at Supercomputing 2024 (SC24) the closing of an impressive $115 million Series C funding round, alongside the upcoming launch of its industry-first, 3.2 Terabit per second (Tbps) Accelerated Compute Fabric (ACF) SuperNIC chip. This groundbreaking announcement highlights Enfabrica’s growing influence in the AI and high-performance computing (HPC) sectors, marking it as a leading innovator in scalable AI networking solutions.

The oversubscribed Series C financing was led by Spark Capital, with contributions from new investors Maverick Silicon and VentureTech Alliance. Existing investors, including Atreides Management, Alumni Ventures, Liberty Global Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, and Valor Equity Partners, also took part in the round, underscoring widespread confidence in Enfabrica’s vision and products. This latest capital injection follows Enfabrica’s Series B funding of $125 million in September 2023, highlighting the rapid growth and sustained investor interest in the company.

“This Series C fundraise fuels the next stage of growth for Enfabrica as a leading AI networking chip and software provider,” said Rochan Sankar, CEO of Enfabrica. “We were the first to draw up the concept of a high-bandwidth network interface controller chip optimized for accelerated computing clusters. And we are grateful to the incredible syndicate of investors who are supporting our journey. Their participation in this round speaks to the commercial viability and value of our ACF SuperNIC silicon. We’re well positioned to advance the state of the art in networking for the age of GenAI.”

The funding will be allocated to support the volume production ramp of Enfabrica’s ACF SuperNIC chip, expand the company’s global R&D team, and further develop Enfabrica’s product line, with the goal of transforming AI data centers worldwide. This funding provides the means to accelerate product and team growth at a pivotal moment in AI networking, as demand for scalable, high-bandwidth networking solutions in AI and HPC markets is rising steeply.

What Is a GPU and Why Is Networking Important?

A GPU, or Graphics Processing Unit, is a specialized electronic circuit designed to speed up the processing of images, video, and complex computations. Unlike traditional Central Processing Units (CPUs) that handle sequential processing tasks, GPUs are built for parallel processing, making them highly effective in training AI models, performing scientific computations, and processing high-volume datasets. These properties make GPUs a fundamental tool in AI, enabling the training of large-scale models that power technologies such as natural language processing, computer vision, and other GenAI applications.

In data centers, GPUs are deployed in vast arrays to handle massive computational workloads. However, for AI clusters to perform at scale, these GPUs require a robust, high-bandwidth networking solution to ensure efficient data transfer between each other and with other components. Enfabrica’s ACF SuperNIC chip addresses this challenge by providing unprecedented connectivity, enabling seamless integration and communication across large GPU clusters.

Breakthrough Capabilities of Enfabrica’s ACF SuperNIC

The newly introduced ACF SuperNIC offers groundbreaking performance with a throughput of 3.2 Tbps, delivering multi-port 800-Gigabit Ethernet connectivity. This connectivity provides four times the bandwidth and multipath resiliency of any other GPU-attached network interface controller (NIC) on the market, establishing Enfabrica as a frontrunner in advanced AI networking. The SuperNIC enables a high-radix, high-bandwidth network design that supports PCIe/Ethernet multipathing and data mover capabilities, allowing data centers to scale up to 500,000 GPUs while maintaining low latency and high performance.

The ACF SuperNIC is the first of its kind to introduce a “software-defined networking” approach to AI networking, giving data center operators full-stack control and programmability over their network infrastructure. This ability to customize and fine-tune network performance is vital for managing large AI clusters, which require highly efficient data movement to avoid bottlenecks and maximize computational efficiency.

“Today is a watershed moment for Enfabrica. We successfully closed a major Series C fundraise and our ACF SuperNIC silicon will be available for customer consumption and ramp in early 2025,” said Sankar. “With a software and hardware co-design approach from day one, our purpose has been to build category-defining AI networking silicon that our customers love, to the delight of system architects and software engineers alike. These are the people responsible for designing, deploying and efficiently maintaining AI compute clusters at scale, and who will decide the future direction of AI infrastructure.”

Unique Features Driving the ACF SuperNIC

Enfabrica’s ACF SuperNIC chip incorporates several pioneering features designed to meet the unique demands of AI data centers. Key features include:

High-Bandwidth Connectivity: Supports 800, 400, and 100 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, with up to 32 network ports and 160 PCIe lanes. This connectivity enables efficient and low-latency communication across a vast array of GPUs, crucial for large-scale AI applications.

Resilient Message Multipathing (RMM): Enfabrica’s RMM technology eliminates network interruptions and AI job stalls by rerouting data in case of network failures, enhancing resiliency, and ensuring higher GPU utilization rates. This feature is especially critical in maintaining uptime and serviceability in AI data centers where continuous operation is vital.

Software Defined RDMA Networking: By implementing Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) networking, the ACF SuperNIC offers direct memory transfers between devices without CPU intervention, significantly reducing latency. This feature enhances the performance of AI applications that require rapid data access across GPUs.

Collective Memory Zoning: This technology optimizes data movement and memory management across CPU, GPU, and CXL 2.0-based endpoints attached to the ACF-S chip. The result is more efficient memory utilization and higher Floating Point Operations per Second (FLOPs) for GPU server clusters, boosting overall AI cluster performance.

The ACF SuperNIC’s hardware and software capabilities enable high-throughput, low-latency connectivity across GPUs, CPUs, and other components, setting a new benchmark in AI infrastructure.

Availability and Future Impact

Enfabrica’s ACF SuperNIC will be available in initial quantities in Q1 of 2025, with full-scale commercial availability anticipated through its partnerships with OEM and ODM systems in 2025. This launch, backed by substantial investor confidence and capital, places Enfabrica at the forefront of next-generation AI data center networking, an area of technology critical for supporting the exponential growth of AI applications globally.

With these advancements, Enfabrica is set to redefine the landscape of AI infrastructure, providing AI clusters with unmatched efficiency, resiliency, and scalability. By combining cutting-edge hardware with software-defined networking, the ACF SuperNIC paves the way for unprecedented growth in AI data centers, offering a solution tailored to meet the demands of the world’s most intensive computing applications.

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starlightswordfight · 8 months ago

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🇵🇸 PALESTINE RESOURCE MASTERPOST: HERE 🇵🇸 (RESOURCES FOR OTHER COUNTRIES HERE)

→ VETTED FUNDRAISER MASTERPOST

-> PCRF

→ SUDANFUNDS

→ FRIENDS OF THE CONGO

→ CLICK TO HELP (DAILY, FREE)

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

introduction is below the cut, but i want people to look through the above links or at least save them for reference!! they're resources and explain important things far better than I could and I do not want them going ignored. do what you can and then keep doing it. please

[if you do donate to a fundraiser, PCRF, etc., reach out to me!! I'll draw/write something for you!! we can talk out specifics, think of it as indirect commissions. this offer is always open]

──────

╰┈➤ 🪸 INTRO AND FUN FACTS YAY 🪸

∘₊✧ My name is JEREMY! HI!! Will also occasionally go by Collin. Don't worry about it

✧ HE/HIM pronouns! + star/fish neos are also fine but not necessary!

∘₊✧ 19 years old! (NOT comfortable with NSFW interactions or additions to my posts or anything like that please don't)

∘₊✧ I love talking to people!! Absolutely feel free to reach out!! I struggle a lot with talking clearly, it is not you, it's my evil twisted disorder brain. it is Worse than it used to be but I am trying

✧ My AO3 is STARLIGHTSWORDFIGHT!! I also have a discord but it's more personal so I won't be giving it out here

✧ special interests include pikmin, adventure time, marine science and astronomy :D!! ask about sea urchins it will be okay (ominous)

∘₊✧ I am evil shadow skull

╰┈➤ 🪼 TAGS I USE WHILE POSTING OOOOOO 🪼

∘₊✧ #pikmin - all of my pikmin thoughts and art. all of it. [except ocs!! those are under #pikmin oc]

✧ #voyage log papillon - infection au. I write fanfiction

✧ #system failure au - robot collin au. I still write fanfiction

✧ #flukuey friend group from hell - my awesome ideas centering around the castaways from that planet being friends after the events on pnf-404. I wouldn't call it an au, it's largely Making It Up Headcanon, but I post about it so much it still has its own tag!! my bestest most favoritest scarabs

∘₊✧ #adventure time - EXACT same thing I do with pikmin except with adventure time

✧ several au ideas in progress but my brain is BREAKING so I'll add those LATER

∘₊✧ #that's not my neighbor / tnmn - breaking the color scheme to make this one Evil and Red

∘₊✧ #important - serious posts I reblog for reach or information purposes. some are very heavy so it's also there for people to filter if needed

∘₊✧ #jeremy screams about [stars/fish] then dies - I want you to guess

∘₊✧ #sea urchin sunday - SEA URCHIN SUNDAY

∘₊✧ #jeremy lore post - admin rambling that never EVER stops!! I have this as a tag so people can filter out looking at it if they want. the madness has largely been moved to an alt but that thing is filled with mental illness so watch out

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copperbadge · 3 years ago

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Chill Read

Daniel (what up Tarot Card Guy!) gave to the successful fountain fundraiser and requested: Natasha using tarot/psychic powers/cold reading to f*ck with Tony and/or Steve.

Title: Chill Read

Rating: General

Notes: The two of cups is a union or partnership. :D

(Got about 8-10 more of these to go. Still working away at ‘em!)

“It’s not that I think magic is nonsense, at this point we have strong evidence magic exists, and I’ll take up my anger about that with my therapist,” Tony said. “I just don’t think seventy-eight bits of cardboard are going to join forces to tell me my future.”

“It’s not supposed to be the cards that do the work. The cards just let you do the work,” Natasha said, shuffling them calmly.

“But you don’t seriously believe in this,” Tony said, as Steve came to hover curiously nearby.

“Bohr used to keep a horseshoe over his door,” Natasha said. “He said he understood they’re lucky whether you believe in them or not.”

“Probably an urban legend,” Tony announced. “Also Niehls Bohr was a well-known troll.”

Natasha offered him the cards. “Draw three.”

Tony rolled his eyes, but drew three cards and set them face-down in a row between them. Natasha turned the first one over.

“The Magician,” she said. “Good first card. Mastery of all things. Esoteric understanding. Someone who could, say, take all of his knowledge and build a flying suit of armor.”

Tony smirked at her. She shook her head and turned over the third one. “Oh, Knight of Wands. A leader who has overcome challenges. A little impulsive, but someone who sees the big picture.” She looked up at Steve, whose mouth was slightly open. “Well, you are right here, that makes sense. The cards know,” she said mysteriously. Tony rolled his eyes.

Natasha turned over the middle card. “Hm. Two of Cups. Oh, interesting.”

She reached for the deck and offered it to Steve. “Take one card.”

He frowned but did so. Natasha studied it.

“So you two’ve been fucking for what, about a week?” she said, and Steve dropped the card like it had burned him.

“What,” Tony said. “How did you -- “

“Oh my god, you two marks,” she cackled. “That was so easy. A little cold reading and a little sleight of hand and you think I’m Bride of Dr. Strange.”

“Natasha!” Steve said, appalled.

“Sorry, bud, I had to teach this one a lesson about disrespecting the cards,” she said, nodding at Tony. “Come by sometime and I’ll give you a real reading,” she told Steve. “In the meantime, run along, boys, I have important futures to predict.”

#fountain fundraiser #tarot #marvel #steve/tony #natasha romanoff

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fleur-marigold · 4 years ago

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🌺moveout fundraiser🌿

hello all! my beloved @sneakerdoodle and I are gearing up for our upcoming move 💃we're aiming for early 2022 & still figuring out the specifics we need, so to add as much cushioning to our estimate as we can, we decided to make this post to spread the word about the services we can offer!

🖌️ I take art commissions, and main in character design, character illustration and comics; I LOVE doing OC portraits & prompts, especially DND/TTRPG ones!

🖋️ Fern is an incredible creative writer, and is open for writing commissions! when the details are ready they'll be listed (along with available fandoms) in a post over on their blog :-D

🃏Fern is also open for personal tarot readings & spreads, and after years of receiving their explorative & inquisitive interpretations I cannot recommend them enough

we also opened up a ko-fi, so if you want to support us over there it'd mean the world - I'd love to draw pay what you want art requests as thanks, too!

#signal boost #fundraiser #art commissions #writing commissions #ko fi

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amajikilvr · 4 years ago

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five times you surprised tamaki amajiki and the one time he surprised you

word count 1.3k

reader type gender-neutral

“Amajiki-Kun?”

Their sweet voice makes his heart jolt, its beating rhythm shifts from a casual jog to a panicked sprint. He squeezes his eyes shut when he takes sight of the cheeky grin that quickly spreads across Mirio’s face. He remains frozen until his friend’s foot swings out and nicks him in the shin underneath their usual shared lunch table.

Tamaki’s eyes fly open and his breath catches on the stale cafeteria air like a bur snagging on an exposed sock when he inevitably sees them standing and gazing down at him. It’s a fleeting look, but it’s enough for him to notice the apples of their cheeks puffing out cutely and their whimsical aura of a smile that’s practically blinding.

His throat is bone-dry, but a single word somehow sneaks past his also withered lips.

“Y-Yes?” He’s still staring down at his half-eaten lunch, but they’re so utterly warm, he can easily feel them beside him.

What could they possibly want from him?

Another gentle kick to his lower leg encourages Tamaki to slowly lift his head and turn to them. He’s glad he did because their bright smile is somehow even brighter than before.

“So, hi, I know this is random but....”

They’re absolutely lovely in every sense of the word; from the way they draw out the last word to the breathy little laugh that punctuates their sentence.

“... I was wondering if you wanted this. I made way too many yesterday, but then I saw you sitting over here and remembered how you said you had a sweet tooth during that icebreaker on the first day of school. I just kinda thought “Oh, that’s perfect”, but you definitely don’t have to take it, okay?”

Amid his first stage cardiac arrest, Tamaki had failed to even see the skewer of delectable glistening Dango they’re holding. They offer it out to him and he manages to accept the dessert with a shaking hand.

“Thank you, Y/L/N.” He feels his face bloom with a rather powerful flush.

They nod and make heart-dropping eye contact for a second. “Of course, Amajiki. You’re very welcome. Have a nice day!”

Mirio starts talking before they’re even completely out of earshot.

“You do realize that they probably made those just for you? Congrats, I think someone has a not-so-secret admirer if you know what I mean.”

“Please not right now, Mirio…” Tamaki whines in embarrassment before taking a huge first bite out of his treat.

It’s one of the best things he’s ever tasted.

Tamaki gingerly tears off the little blue butterfly plush that was tapped to the front of his locker. He squeezes the stuffed animal and resists the sudden urge to hug it to his chest.

A single sheet of paper floats out and to his feet after opening the door. Someone must have put these here not that long ago. The realization gives Tamaki an unnerving chest pain and a fluttering crescendo in his stomach.

He carefully picks it up and a faint gasp escapes him as he examines the sparkly multi-colored butterfly stickers that cover the paper and the single sentence scrawled among them.

“I heard that you liked them <3”

Tamaki wants to shove his head in his locker, but before he does, he sees them out of the corner of his eye at the drinking fountain. He’s never seen them in this hallway before…

They finish and apparently spot him, smiling and waving brightly like it’s something the two of them do every day. Tamaki nearly faints on the spot with his heart pattering up a storm.

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I forgot!” Nejire squeals and pushes away the textbook in front of her. It’s clear their weekly “Big Three” studying session is about to take the back burner…

“Amajiki, guess what?”

“What?” Tamaki winces, wondering how this could possibly involve him.

Nejire lets out another excited squawk and spins her decorated pen between her fingers. “Y/L/N was totally talking about you! I heard them! Do you know what they said? They think you’re really cute, Amajiki. Can you believe it?”

He can not.

Usually, hearing that others were talking about him would’ve sent waves of unbearable anxiety rushing over him, drowning him, but this whole thing feels a bit different. Don’t get it twisted, he’s still as anxious as ever clutching his pencil like a lifeline. The difference is that there’s a pleasant kind of flickering deep inside his chest.

“You’re joking…” Tamaki groans and jumps when Mirio slaps his back roughly.

“I knew it!” He makes an enthusiastic ‘whoop’ noise. “I told you that they were into you!”

Nejire clasps her hands together, her flowing mass of hair practically vibrating like the rest of her and her energy. “This is so, so adorable! Look how pink his ears are getting!”

Tamaki doesn’t hesitate to cover his face and hide away from his two well-meaning, but overbearing friends.

His savior comes in the form of a still laughing Mirio. “Hado-san, we’ve got to leave him be before he combusts on the spot.”

Tamaki can’t believe he agreed to this. Well, technically he didn’t have a choice in the matter, but still.

He’s selling t-shirts with his face on them. His face! Why would Fatgum ever think this was a good idea for a fundraiser? It’s horrifying, actually. People have already purchased some and he still can’t fathom it as an actual thing. Why would anyone want that?

And then everything goes into overdrive when they walk up to his stand, practically skipping with a winning smile.

He can’t help but gawk at them.

“What?” They tilt their head, an easy laugh masking any possibility of them being as flustered as him.

“I’m a huge fan of Suneater.”

Their lips are soft and lush when they brush against Tamaki’s burning cheek. He feels so warm, the closest thing that he can compare the feeling to is the sensation of when you dip into a steaming bubble bath. They’re just so close to him and he swears he can hear their heart beating as hard as his.

They pull away, lashes touching their cheekbones and exhaling deeping. Their hand still grips his forearm before that touch leaves him too.

“Bye… Tamaki.” His first name seems to hesitantly seep out and he feels like he’s floating. “See you tomorrow?”

It’s such a good feeling that he can’t even get himself to pay attention to his shock.

“See you tomorrow.”

This is long overdue and Tamaki knows it.

Mirio and Nejire’s encouragement plus his own common sense is pushing him to ask them out right now. It’s just odd that they haven’t done it first already. They were the ones initiating everything, after all. He guesses they’ve just left that up to him for whatever reason.

He’s going to rise to that occasion. He has to.

“I wanted to ask…”

He pauses, taking a deep breath to steady himself. They nod at him to continue. Their smile is gentle, equivalent to a fluffy blanket. Their eyes are sparkling, so glittering and alive. Their hands look soft, tempting to take and squeeze in his own.

“... D-Do you want to go out with me?”

Tamaki glups heavily and forces himself to watch for their reaction.

Those lively eyes go wide and honeyed lips part slightly. Their gaze swiftly falls to the ground and Tamaki’s heart takes a huge drop from several stories. It feels like it’s getting harder to breathe…

Suddenly, they move forward, wrapping their arms around his middle. Their face buries into the crook of his neck. He shivers and embracing them back when he hears, and feels, the words whispered against his exposed skin.

“I would love to.”

────────────────────────

#bnha imagines #bnha x y/n #bnha requests #tamaki amajiki x y/n #tamaki amajiki x you #tamaki amajiki x reader #tamaki amajiki #mha tamaki #tamaki x y/n #tamaki x reader #tamaki headcanons #bnha tamaki #tamaki fluff #amajiki x y/n #amajiki headcanons #amajiki x you #bnha amajiki

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pretty-pendragon · 5 years ago

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Merlin Fans for BLM Masterpost

Greetings fellow Merlin fans! This is a comprehensive post of everyone who has volunteered to do commission work for those who donate to causes associated with the Black Lives Matter Movement.

To commission a work:

1) Make a donation to any of the causes, fundraisers, or organizations listed on this site. There are non-monetary methods of supporting listed as well.

Other ways to help include signing petitions. There are over 300 petitions listed here to sign if you live in the US, and here if you live in the UK.

2) Select one of the talented content creators on this post, message them to see if they are available to create the work that you would like in exchange for your donation. If they are, you must message them a screenshot or picture showing proof of donation, along with any specifics you may want that they are willing to do.

Don’t be afraid to ask if they are willing to accept non-monetary efforts such as watching videos or signing petitions. THIS IS A SFW INITIATIVE. PLEASE, NO NSFW COMMISSIONS.

3) Content creators will make their commissions and post them on Tumblr, tagging whomever requested the work if they want. Also available to content creators is the “Merlin Fans for Black Lives Matter” collection on Archive of Our Own that @arthurandhisswordbros was kind enough to make for our initiative. If you are able, feel free to share your works on that platform as well.

Please be advised... if this blows up, content creators reserve the right to turn down requests, as they may become overwhelmed by commissions. That said, it is important to communicate with them prior to donating. Should they become overwhelmed, content creators are encouraged to make a post on their blog saying that commissions are closed or paused, and can message me so I can update this post.

Our hashtag will be #Merlin fans for BLM. Please DO NOT use the #BLM or #Black Lives Matter hashtags, as that will oust the voices and messages that need to be spread and amplified on that tag.

Share this post, have the hard conversations about race and white privilege with those close to you, do your part to uplift black voices in any way you can, and PLEASE continue to educate yourselves on racial inequality and the struggle of people of color worldwide. Here is a helpful list of resources on of anti-racism.

WRITERS

Requirements are 100 words for $1 | 500 words for $5 | 1000 words for $10. Some writers may offer other word limit options. All writers are open to suggestions but do have some specializations.

@elissastillstands: F/F pairings | Any female characters

@dumbhotbitchknightgwaine: Perwaine | Merwaine | Gwaine

@quelsentiment: [Word limit details here] Merthur | AU | Canon compliant

@arsenicandsunshine: [Ask about 1.5k for $15] Merthur | Merlin | Arthur

@penningdragons: Merthur | the Knights | Gwen | Morgana

@queennuthouse: Lancelot | Original Characters

@merlinmyrddin: [Ask about 10k for $50 (limited)]

@nicecucumber: [$1+, flexible word limit (message for info)]

@agentlewomanandascholar: [Ask about 2k for $15-20 & 3k for $30]

@silvermyfanwy: [$10 per 1k, up to 10k (message for info)]

@aloeandredamaranth: Merwaine | Whump| Angst

@hum-my-name: Merthur | Hurt/Comfrot | Angst

@emma-d-klutz: Merthur | Comedy

@arthurandhisswordbros: [$1 per 100 words] Merthur | Merwaine

@futuralien: Merthur

@jayswing101: Merthur

@fishoutofcamelot

@highfunctioning-clotpole

@angrywitchpolice

@pretty-pendragon

@loanmeadragon

@sdewan6

@viktorkrumn

ARTISTS

2 character minimum for artworks. All artists are open to suggestions but do have some specializations. Varying prices apply.

@elissastillstands: [Digital drawings - $20 simple figures, $35 for complex background] F/F pairings | Any women on the show

@theredstringthatbindsus: [$5-10 for 3-5 drawings/comic] Merlin | Arthur | Gwaine

@candicewright: [Digital drawings - $20 for simple figures, $35 for complex background]

@excusemehellohi: [$7 single character portrait, $15 two character portrait, $20 1-2 characters in upper body pose]

@schweet-arts: [$20 single character portrait, $40 two characters, +$15 for a complex background] Any characters | Merthur

@arthurandhisswordbros: [Digital art - $5 lineart, $10 shading & coloring, $15 complex background]

@theonewhonothingknows: [Digital art - $5 lineart, $10 black & white w/shading]

@ceesaltsanctuary : [$10-15 digital drawing] Merthur

@pen-dragonlord: [5 digital drawing]

OTHER CONTENT CREATORS

All artists are open to suggestions but do have some specializations. Varying prices apply.

@arsenicandsunshine: [$5 moodboard]

@harringrovetrashh: [petition signing/<$5 moodboard]

@princearthur : [$15 for 5 to 10 icons; $30 gifset]

@pen-dragonlord: [$10 for gifset]

Thank you to my friend @harringrovetrashh for your involvement in the Harringrove for BLM initiative, and for helping me get this thing off the ground!

#merlin #bbc merlin #merlin fans for blm #merlin fans #merlin fandom #signal boost #let's goooooooo #please let me know if i made any serious mistakes in this post #also please lmk if you get overwhelmed

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so-shiny-so-chrome · 5 years ago

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Creators and Sponsors needed to Create-A-Thon January 24-February 2.

Creators can sign up here: https://forms.gle/4gdDS2zpGk8qVnzMA

List of Creators needing sponsors will be built here as Creators volunteer: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16Szo94Pcc1aUNlgmAe6Nnh_I9XoaRRw-H1LE_g3fW-U

For a simpler way to help, please see the ‘zine fundraiser managed by @thebyrchentwigges

We love Mad Max, which means we love Australia. Even those of us who have never been there have draw inspiration, joy, and meaning from that crazy down under home of doofing, fanging, and chrome. Australia needs our help, but what can we do? We can write and draw - a lot.

How it works:

Step 1) Creators volunteer to write or draw something in the period of time from January 24th to February 2nd. Creators may start a new project, add to a WIP, or take a prompt. Creators may chose an Australian Fire Relief charity to support or let their sponsor pick. This blog will offer suggestions in a future post.

Step 2) Sponsors pledge to donate, at least $.01 Australian or equivalent in your local currency per word or per pixel created during the Create-A-Thon. This is a one creator, one sponsor system. If someone has already signed up as sponsor for a creator you want, you can boot them by pledging more money. You and a friend can join forces to sponsor someone together, but one person must be primary contact.

Step 3) January 19th, sign-ups will close. Sponsors who have been outbid will be paired with any creators without sponsors. Final Creator/Sponsor pairing will be announced January 20th, and contact information will be given so prompts, charities, and general encouragement can be discussed.

Step 4) January 24th to February 2nd creator’s local time: the Create-A-Thon is on. Creators will post all work to the Mad for ‘Straya AO3 collection which will remain hidden. If you are adding to an existing WIP, please start a new chapter and put the new word count in an Author’s Note at the top. Art must be new.

Step 5) February 3rd: All works are due. Creators will post to the Mad for ‘Straya AO3 collection and provide word/pixel count to their Sponsor and to the event manager (me! @so-shiny-so-chrome ). Works do not have to be finished.

Step 6) February 9th: Proof of donation is due to the event sponsor (me! @so-shiny-so-chrome ). All donations must be in before the collection is unveiled.

Step 7) February 10th: the Mad for ‘Straya AO3 collection is unveiled along with word/pixel counts and the amounts that we raised. Witness us!

Further details will be given as this moves along. This whole project is a work in progress, and your feedback is greatly appreciated.

#mad max #Mad Max Fury Road #straya #australia #mad max fic #mad max art #wasteland #charity fundraiser #fire supression #fire recovery #fire relief #mmfr #mad max: fury road #mad max fandom #we are keeping these posts free of distressing images #mad Max fanfic #mad for Straya #mad for 'straya #madforstraya

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digitaldevotee · 5 years ago

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i wanted to ask a favor of hermes, and i was like ‘since this is a kinda big ask, i should do something more for an offering than what i usually do’

and i had no idea what to give him.

so, i decided to ask him; i wrote several options on little slips of paper, shuffled them around, drew one out-- it said “food”.

and i was like hm. alright. how do i narrow this one down.

so i separated that into four categories-- homemade sweet, homemade savory, bought sweet, bought savory.

he selected “bought sweet”.

repeated the drawing process with different types of sweet things,,,

then went on to answering yes/no questions by flipping a coin,,

and, lo and behold, we ended up with Chocolate Covered Almonds. which, incidentally, my younger brother was selling for a school fundraiser.

it was rather fun figuring out what he wanted!! like a little game :D

#note #hermes #hermes*#hermes deity #hermes worship #it was fun!!! omg!!#i love him how nice #also this is how i'm gonna choose offerings from now on when i have a question or smth #other offering ideas include: music; art; writing; drinks; trinkets; other #but yes i totes recommend this method

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valiantvoidavenue · 4 years ago

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How to Raise Finance For Your Upcoming Real Estate Development Project

Real estate development heavily relies on the availability of the finances. Gone are the days when individual property developers had enough resources to develop a piece of land on their own. Today, the market dynamics have changed. There are very less real estate developers who have all the finances in hand to get a project going.

Nowadays, a competent and robust real estate developer masters the art of fundraising for the projects. A positive impact of this has made smaller developers shake the monopoly of tycoons over the real estate development sector. However, fundraising requires you to go an extra mile and deploy unique tactics.

Here are some tips to help you raise financing for your upcoming real estate projects.

1. Crowd Funding:

This is a new one and the internet population is going crazy about this! Crowdfunding basically opens up investment and fund raising from virtually everyone! There are dedicated real estate crowdfunding portals online that let you, the real estate developer, connect with an investor.

However, the investors will be primarily interested in the rate of return your sales pitch offers them. Crowd funding projects, with a good sales pitch, draws in more attention. If you are going to compile a sales pitch with facts and verifiable statistics, you are surely in for the win in the least possible time.

So how do you start with getting your project financed via crowdfunding? To begin with, we suggest checking out RealtyMogul and FundRise. These two portals have earned quite a repute for themselves because of the active investor ratio. However, please do carry out in-depth searches for a crowdfunding platform that is better compatible with your project.

For instance, if you are going for crowd funding your real estate project in Pakistan then you can take lead from what Blue World City Islamabad did to raise funds for their project. They went into many phases of soft launching their inventory and accumulated majority of the running capital funds to fuel their cash flow.

2. JV Partnerships

Joint venture partnerships have always been the classical go-to fundraising. This is the point where you pitch your upcoming real estate development to potential high-end investors. The pitch is made to harness a partnership between you and the investor.

Unlike crowdfunding, JV partnerships are commissioned between two or more parties with a percentage of capital and liability stake. Your partners have as much as stake and responsibility as you in the project.

Ideally, your JV partners are required to be investing as much as you do in the project. But, you can also decide on a different percentage of investment and stake in case one of the parties can’t match the investment done by the other. JV partnerships are based on mutual trust. However, it is necessary to consult your local law about forging such partnerships.

3. Institutional Financing

Regardless of your project’s size and dynamics, institutional financing won’t become a part of history soon. Banks are the main financial institutions that lend you the funds on a certain interest rate. However, you can still look info credit unions, real estate angel investors, and non-conforming commercial mortgage providers in order to diversify your financial sources. The good thing about non-conforming lenders your ability to negotiate the interest rate with them.

4. Financing from Property Sellers

This is an intuitive source of funding for your real estate development project. With this method, you can actually let the seller of the land (on which your project is to be constructed) to become a partner in your project. Now this gig really works well with those land sellers who don’t have any immediate need that they want to resolve with the money from the sale.

If your property seller is a serial real estate investor, then you can convince him or her with becoming a partner in your project. In order to convince these investors, you’ll have to show them the money in future.

For instance, they don’t really need to become a 50% stakeholder in your company. You can sell them a whole floor and pitch them the rental income they’ll be able to gain after the project completion. The terms and conditions for these financiers are similar to that of JV partnerships. A good real estate company in Islamabad or anywhere in Pakistan can help you find JV partners.

5. End-consumer funding:

Your end customers, the people who are going to occupy your building, can become a funding source for your project. In order to hail this type of funding, you’ll need your pre-launch marketing plan to create an appeal for your target audience.

To gather funding from the end consumer, you’ll have to deliver them the complete project plan, estimated possession time as well as the facilities your project is going to offer. For instance, if you intend to build a residential society, then it is imperative to deliver the lot sizes, utility supply guarantees and the neighborhood details to your end customer.

If done right, your end consumers funding might rise up to 75% of the total project cost.

6. Real Estate Syndicates:

These syndicates are real estate investor consortiums that combine their funds to deliver funding to development projects. The funding from these syndicates is needed when you need a large part of your project to be financed by a third party. For instance, you can examine the case study of Capital Smart City Islamabad to see how they syndicated funds from majority of their previous investors to make this project a reality.

These syndicates finance your projects base d on the returns they are going to gather. Since the return has to be distributed uniformly among the syndicates, so they usually expect the higher rate of returns than your normal lenders and investors. The syndicates usually comprise of investors who have years of real estate experience under the belt.

Apart from being an active fundraising source, these syndicates can also advise you on various legal, development and other related issues. And since they have a stake in your endeavors, they’ll be keeping a check on the project’s progress.

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skyphile · 5 years ago

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im doing this on twitter and fa too, so i’m starting it here as well since this blog has +1.5k followers

i'm offering art if you donate to any of the following

NOTE: many bail funds have been helped out a Lot and are encouraging ppl to donate to mutual aid funds instead, links here: https://twitter.com/thegirlwithfood/status/1267572248149442562?s=19

https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/donate https://northstarhealthcollective.org/donate https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/louisville-community-bail-fund/ https://blackvisionsmn.org (scroll to the bottom for link) more on this list: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ra1crnSHFzgznux5BBPuFkd-7vCo7YAPCeIWZr3Ryjg/edit

no minimum required, just dm me proof of donation and who&what you'd like me to draw and let's do this. up to two characters, humans or furries, ac or pkmn characters, sfw or nsfw (+18 donators and characters only), anything goes

if you cant donate, please reblog

#donation art #blm donations #black lives matter #mutual aid donations #bail fund donations #ooc

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theyearoftheking · 5 years ago

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Book Thirty-Eight: Rose Madder

The first time I picked this book up, I was fifteen, and on a family vacation in Mexico. I have no idea how I found this book; I don’t remember selecting it from a book store, and my moms is not a fan of Stephen King, or horror, so I doubt it was something she had purchased for herself.

In all honesty, I remember bits and pieces of our trip to Mexico, but the most memorable part was reading Rose Madder. It imprinted on me in a way I can’t fully articulate. It remains my favorite Stephen King book because sometimes the scariest monsters are the ones we share a life with.

The second reason Rose Madder is so memorable for me... when I was in third grade, I auditioned for Really Rosie, and tormented my sister by singing it constantly. To this day, I still remember ALL the words to Carole King’s lovely song. I can barely remember a grocery list, or my gas card pin... but I remember, “YOU’D BETTER BELIEVE ME, I’M A GREAT BIG DEAL!!!! BEEEEELIEEEEVE MEEEEE!” In one of life’s more disappointing moments, I was cast as Rosie’s pet cat and spent most of the play crawling around on my hands and knees. Humiliating.

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In addition to being a double shot of nostalgia, Rose Madder is also a finely crafted, suspenseful piece of writing. It’s also a book I thought I knew like the back of my hand. But upon re-reading, I picked up on the following King universe mentions:

The novel starts with Rosie reading Misery’s Journey, and a later reference to Misery’s Lover (Misery Chastain from, well, Misery).

Several Ka references!

“I’ve seen bodies on fire and heads by the hundreds poked onto poles along the streets of the City of Lud.” (Dark Tower)

“On the wall was a framed picture of two women Norman recognized. One was the late great Susan Day.” (Insomnia)

Some of these references would have been lost on me, had I not taken the Constant Reader pledge to read every single book in chronological order. It almost makes this entire project worth it, just to find those Easter eggs.

Rose Madder is the story of abused wife Rose Daniels (nee McClendon) who finds a small spot of her blood on her bed sheets one morning, and decides she needs to leave her husband, Norman. She knows it’s now or never. If she stays, he will eventually kill her. As it is, he’s beaten her badly enough, and even caused a miscarriage in the past.

So, Rosie steals Norman’s debit card, withdraws some cash, and hops on a Greyhound bus to Chicago, where she hopes to lose herself. But Rosie has no idea what to do when she gets off the bus in Chicago. Thankfully, a helpful Traveler’s Aid worker, Peter Slowik, steers her towards Daughters and Sisters, a home for battered women, run by his ex-wife, Anna Stevenson.

At Daughters and Sisters, Rosie breaks down before building herself back up again. Her body starts to heal, she meets other women just like her, she gets a job working at a hotel, and she starts to shed some of the shame and guilt associated with being Norman’s punching bag.

One day after work, Rosie wanders into a pawn shop to sell her wedding ring. After their engagement, Norman told her he could have either bought a new car, or her engagement ring... that’s how expensive it was. Spoiler: Rosie finds out it’s a cubic zirconia. She’s pissed. But on her way out of the shop, she finds an intriguing painting of a blonde-haired woman in a rose colored toga, looking out over a field and ruins. Rosie can’t explain it, but she needs the painting, named Rose Madder. She swaps out her worthless engagement ring for the painting, and makes the acquaintance of shop proprietor Bill Steiner. She also meets Rob Lefferts, who is fascinated by her throaty, Elizabeth Taylor-esque voice, and offers her a job reading audio books.

Life is finding it’s rhythm for Rosie; she has her own apartment, she’s making more money than she could have ever expected, and she is casually dating Bill Steiner. But sometimes she looks at Rose Madder, and gets the feeling it’s alive.

One night she has a vivid dream that involves her going into the painting, and helping the woman pictured by rescuing her baby from inside a labyrinth, and avoiding a bull stomping around. The woman is so thankful, she promises Rosie that she’ll return the favor some day.

Spoiler: it wasn’t a dream.

Meanwhile, Norman is stewing over the embarrassment of his wife leaving him and stealing his debit card. Honestly, he seems more embarrassed about the debit card than anything else. Because... toxic masculinity. Using some sneaky police tactics, he tracks her to Chicago, and tortures and kills Peter Slowik in an attempt to get information out of him. Slowik tells him about Daughters and Sisters, and Norman is on a mission to find Rose.

Daughters and Sisters just so happens to be having a fundraising picnic that weekend, and Norman thinks it’s the perfect time to get his Rambling Rose back. He goes deep under cover, shaving his head and outfitting a wheelchair with feminist propaganda. But despite his best attempts, he’s still recognized as, “Rose’s crazy biting husband who probably killed Peter Slowik.” And... the next scene is so epic... Norman gets the shit kicked out of him by Gert, one of the women from Daughters & Sisters who is compared to Refrigerator Perry. Oh, and as payback for the damage Norman did to Rosie’s kidneys with his repeated kicks and punches; Gert pees all over him. It’s glorious.

Norman eludes capture, heads over to Daughter’s and Sisters main house, where he finds Rose’s new address, and kills Anna Stevenson.

Now... this is where the Stephen King twist shows up.

Rosie and Bill escape into Rose Madder, where they are pushed into the maze, and the woman turns into a spider (It?) and kills Norman... who had stolen a Ferdinand the Bull mask from some kid as he was fleeing the picnic, and inside Rose Madder, it turns him into an actual bull. But now he’s a dead bull, so that’s a plus.

Rosie and Bill step back out of the painting, and life continues on. Rosie slips a few drops of something into Bill’s drink, and he forgets the whole Rose Madder adventure. They get married, they have a baby, their careers flourish... but Rosie has fits of rage. She remembers the last thing the woman in the painting told her, “Remember the tree...” So, Rosie heads out to this park she and Bill went to once, and she buries some pomegranate-y fruit seeds and Norman’s ring under the tree. And she just kind of lets it all go. As you do.

I can’t say enough about this book. If you have friends or family members who are like, “Meh, I don’t really LIKE Stephen King,” or “I don’t really LIKE horror,” THIS is the book you need to put in their hands.

Oh, there was also one Wisconsin reference... it was thought Norman might have been spotted in Milwaukee.

Total Wisconsin Mentions: 27

Total Dark Tower References: 38

Book Grade: A+

Rebecca’s Definitive Ranking of Stephen King Books

The Talisman: A+

Needful Things: A+

Rose Madder: A+

Misery: A+

Different Seasons: A+

It: A+

Four Past Midnight: A+

The Shining: A-

The Stand: A-

The Wastelands: A-

The Drawing of the Three: A-

Dolores Claiborne: A-

Nightmares in the Sky: B+

The Dark Half: B+

Skeleton Crew: B+

The Dead Zone: B+

Nightmares & Dreamscapes: B+

‘Salem’s Lot: B+

Carrie: B+

Creepshow: B+

Cycle of the Werewolf: B-

Danse Macabre: B-

The Running Man: C+

Thinner: C+

Dark Visions: C+

The Eyes of the Dragon: C+

The Long Walk: C+

The Gunslinger: C+

Pet Sematary: C+

Firestarter: C+

Rage: C

Insomnia: C-

Cujo: C-

Nightshift: C-

Gerald’s Game: D

Roadwork: D

Christine: D

The Tommyknockers: D-

Next up is The Green Mile, which I am reluctant to start. I read it when it first came out, and I remember barely being able to read the last chapter because I was crying so hard. And based on our current climate, I’m not sure this re-read is going to be any better. But, onward.

Until next time, Long Days & Pleasant Nights,

Rebecca

#stephen king #constant readers #rose madder #dark tower #ka #misery #insomnia #chicago #really rosie #maurice sendak #carole king

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jamandtheanagrams · 5 years ago

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Halloween Hijinks

Companion piece to part one of @jemandthesingalongs ‘s Stingers fic! (link: https://allinthestyle.tumblr.com/post/188735887086/lovesick-for-you-part-1 )

Characters: Minx, Rapture, guest Holograms (+friend)

Word Count: 2,077

Rating: G

Summary: While Riot attends a charity event with Jem, Minx and Rapture find their own way to stay entertained.

________________________________________________________________

As the Stingers reached the venue for the “Ghouls Night Out” fundraiser, Rapture dropped back a few steps behind Riot and held out an arm, motioning for Minx to halt. Riot continued through the doors, unaware that his entourage was no longer by his side.

Now that they were alone, Minx could finally express her displeasure. “Rapture, how could you?” she moaned. “We watched Jem perform just last night. I cannot hear ‘It’s Fun to be Scared’ two days in a row. I think I’ll scream.”

Rapture waved her hand dismissively. “Jem isn’t here, I only said that to get Riot to come. We’re here for a different reason.” Her eyes glittered with barely-contained malice - a look that was only amplified by her horrific makeup. “Come on.”

Despite herself, her curiosity was aroused. Minx followed Rapture through the doors. Rapture impatiently shoved forty dollars at the miserable looking fellow collecting admissions while wearing an unfortunate bat costume. The poor fellow glanced up and made eye contact with Rapture, almost immediately averting his gaze upon seeing her costume. “Thank you, have a bat-tastic evening,” he droned, thrusting a printed map of the night’s attractions towards Minx.

“Thanks!” Rapture chirped, snatching the map instead.

“You could at least wear your mask,” Minx pointed out as they walked further into the building.

“Where’s the fun in that?”

________________________________________________________________

Minx knew from the way the corner of Rapture’s lips quirked upwards (she could still tell, even with that horrible prosthetic makeup she was wearing) that she had something in mind. An actual reason to be at this horrible fundraiser.

Normally, she wouldn’t mind. She was more than willing to play along with her girlfriend’s schemes if it made her happy. But tonight, she was bored, there was nothing here that interested her in the least, and Rapture was being infuriatingly mysterious. She told herself she wasn’t going to ask, wasn’t going to give Rapture the satisfaction.

But, as Rapture led them past the apple bobbing tub, past the fortune-teller and the refreshments, even past the stage (she swore she saw one of those dreadful Holograms setting up, she never bothered to remember their names), past everything that even remotely resembled anything Rapture would want to do, she finally heaved a sigh.

“Why are we here?”

Rapture waved her arms in a way she probably thought made her look spooky and mysterious. Minx thought it looked silly. “As you know, I consulted with the spirits on the ride here--” Minx rolled her eyes. She’d watched Rapture chant something that had sounded suspiciously like movie quotes over an unlit tapered candlestick she’d swiped from god-knows-where.

“Get to the point.”

“Look!” Rapture whipped the flyer out of her pocket, unfolding it and stabbing her finger on something near the bottom. Minx leaned in to see what she was going on about, and immediately groaned.

“Oh no--” “Oh, yes. Maeve is here. Headlining tonight’s performance.”

Minx knew it was pointless trying to argue with Rapture when she was in one of her moods, especially when Astral was involved. It was much easier to settle back and enjoy the ride. At least now the night was going to be interesting after all. “What’s the plan?”

“Well Minxy, I’m so glad you asked…”

________________________________________________________________

Something was wrong. Astral could sense it. It wasn’t anything to do with the event. The fundraiser was going perfectly, from what she could tell. It was more… intuition. Something had changed.

“What’s wrong?” Kimber asked. “Why’d you stop? You can’t pick the lock after all?” The flower in her hair was dangerously close to falling out.

“I still don’t see why you wanted to try this trick again,” Raya sighed, trying her best to hold still for Astral. “As funny as I think it is to be handcuffed in these costumes, it’s a little much, don’t you think? Sorry.” She moved her toy saxophone out of Astral’s way.

“I really thought I had it this time!” Kimber wailed, shaking their shared handcuffs for emphasis. Her hair flower finally drifted to the ground.

Whatever was going on, it would have to wait. “Please hold still, Kimber.” Astral leaned back over the cuffs, deftly working on the lock. “How did you come up with your costumes, anyway?”

Kimber’s face lit up. “Well, we were all arguing over what we wanted Shana to make for us when Raya pointed out that we didn’t have to fight, we could just go as the scariest things we knew -- the Misfits! So then I asked Stormer if she could help us figure out what to wear, and she found us some outfits the others only wore once, so they wouldn’t realize they were missing right away. Poor Shana got stuck being Pizzazz.” She beamed at Astral as the handcuffs fell away with a clatter.

“And Jem?” Astral had noticed earlier that Jem’s costume hadn’t matched the rest of the Holograms.

Raya and Kimber shared a look. “Jem already had her outfit planned,” Raya said carefully.

Astral narrowed her eyes, but didn’t press the subject. She had other things to worry about - that sense of wrongness was only increasing, for starters. “Have you seen Jerrica?”

Raya and Kimber shared another look. “I’ll go find her and let her know you’re looking for her!” Kimber offered quickly -- a little too quickly, Astral thought.

“Don’t bother,” Astral sighed. “I’ll find her myself. Thanks, though. See you both at the concert.”

“See you!” Kimber chirped brightly, before grabbing Raya’s hand and rushing off.

Shaking her head, Astral began her search for Jerrica.

________________________________________________________________

As she walked, the sense of wrong-ness only grew. The background chatter had dimmed somewhat, and Astral swore she saw fewer people around the main attractions. It concerned her a little. Were people leaving before the Holograms concert? She had a hard time believing that would be the case, considering they were the main draw for this fundraiser. They’d even had folks from out of state donate entrance fee costs without being unable to attend, just because they heard Jem was raising money for a good cause and they wanted to help out.

“Astral, there you are! Kimber said you were looking for me.” Jerrica looked a little flushed, as if she’d hurried on her way over.

Astral glanced over her costume and snorted. “Clash, really?”

“It was Kimber’s idea,” Jerrica sighed, adjusting her wig to keep it from sliding off of her head. “I wasn’t going to dress up, but she already got the outfit from Stormer and everyone else had picked out their costumes while I was in the office…”

“Hang on, Jerrica.” In front of them, hastily taped to the wall, was a poster advertising “Frau Verzückung’s Palm Readings - Only $10!”. “When did we hire a palm reader?”

Jerrica looked confused. “We didn’t.”

All of a sudden, the pieces of the puzzle finally clicked into place. “I’m going to kill her.”

________________________________________________________________

“Please, wait your turns! Frau Verzückung will see you all,” came an unfortunately familiar voice from nearby. Astral grit her teeth as she rounded the corner, Jerrica hot on her heels, and stopped short at the sight of the line in front of her. The line stretched across the room to stop in front of a blue cloth tent hastily pinned up in the corner. If she didn’t know better, Astral would swear it was made out of Rapture’s favorite “mystical” robes.

“Minx, what is this?” she called out. Minx ignored her.

The woman in front of Astral turned around to shush her. “You have to wait your turn like the rest of us,” she complained. “I’ve been here for twenty minutes already! This lady better be good!”

Astral could feel her cheeks flushing with annoyance. Jerrica leaned in close to whisper in her ear, laying her hand on Astral’s shoulder so lightly that Astral wasn’t even sure she was touching her. “Should we call security?”

“No, don’t bother. I want to deal with them myself.” Astral was sick of the Stingers (Rapture, mostly) turning up in her life to cause trouble. “Maybe we can come to an agreement.” Which she honestly doubted. She did like the thought of being able to say she tried, at least.

The line inched forward. “Are you sure? The concert starts in-” Jerrica checked her watch, her brow crinkling with worry, “-thirty minutes.”

Astral left the line, ignoring the complaints of the other attendees. She marched up to Minx, who held out an arm to stop her.

“You have to wait your turn like everyone else,” Minx said airily, flipping her hair over her shoulder and making a show out of turning away to peer into the tent.

“Ingrid.”

“Is that Maeve?” came a voice from within. Her German accent was faker than her usual blonde hair. “Let her in, mi querida, Frau Verzückung will tell all.”

“Meine liebste,” Minx corrected under her breath.

“...Let her in, meine liebste.”

Astral fought hard not to roll her eyes as she moved to enter the tent. Minx held an arm out to stop her again. “That’ll be ten dollars.”

“You have got to be kidding me!”

“She is right, ten dollars please,” Rapture piped up from within the tent. “The spirits require a small donation to support our services. Advertising isn’t cheap, you know.”

“Astral?” Jerrica was by her side all of a sudden. “Are you sure you don’t want me to--”

“It’s fine. It’ll only take a minute.” Astral shoved a crumpled ten dollar bill at Minx and pushed past her into the tent.

She recoiled almost instantly at the sight of Rapture’s makeup. “Lon Chaney?” she guessed. “Very good.” Rapture looked Astral up and down. “Your Dracula costume needs work,” she sniffed, grabbing Astral by the hand and yanking her down into the folding chair across from her. “What a poser.” “Actually, I’m supposed to be Carmilla. You always did underestimate me.”

Caught off guard, Rapture looked at her, really looked at her. She searched Astral’s face for a moment, trying to find a witty response. She lowered her gaze after a moment. “Guess you got me there.” She reached for Astral’s hand.

“I sure did.” Click! Rapture instinctively yanked her hand away, but the handcuff stopped her short.

“Get your hands off of me!” Minx snapped from outside the tent. Aja poked her head inside. “Hey Astral. Jerrica told me you needed a bit of help.”

“That was fast.” Astral wasn’t going to complain, though. She could use another set of hands. She held out the other end of the handcuff to Aja, who grabbed it and locked it in place around Minx’s wrist.

“Ready to go? The show starts soon.” Aja bent down to scoop up the Stingers, one over each shoulder.

“Just a minute. Rapture scammed a lot of money out of our friends tonight.” Astral ignored Rapture’s protests, digging around underneath the tablecloth until she came up with a duffel bag stuffed full of bills. “I think we can put it to much better use.”

“I like the way you think,” Aja smiled.

“I don’t!” Rapture exploded, trying to reach for the bag. Astral quickly stepped backwards out of her reach.

“Aja, let’s go. We have a performance to catch.”

________________________________________________________________

“This is so humiliating!” Minx groused.

“You’re telling me.”

“Quiet,” Aja said sternly, “or I’ll drop you both.” She paused for a moment to get a better grip on the two women, hiking them up higher on her shoulders. “Stop squirming.”

Rapture scowled at Astral, who trailed behind them to make sure they didn’t try any funny business. Astral only smiled sweetly back at her. “Thank you for the donation,” she said, shaking the duffel bag full of money.

As Aja hauled them backstage, Rapture and Minx caught a glimpse of Riot talking to that dreadful Jem. “No point in calling for help,” Rapture sulked, “he won’t even notice.”

“He completely brushed me off earlier!” Minx agreed glumly.

“All right you two, stay right here.” Aja unceremoniously dumped the Stingers into folding chairs in the wings of the stage.

“What do you expect us to do here?!” Rapture exclaimed, practically vibrating with annoyance. She started to get up, but one look from Aja sent her sitting right back down in a hurry.

“You can read Minx’s palm while you wait for the performance to end,” Astral said sweetly. The Holograms filed past her to take their places on stage.

Rapture groaned and sank even lower in her chair.

#the stingers #jem and the holograms

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nigeiadigitalmarketingcompany · 5 years ago

Text

2:00PM Water Cooler 7/31/2019

Digital Elixir 2:00PM Water Cooler 7/31/2019

By Lambert Strether of Corrente

Trade

“Trump’s Bid to Dismantle Global Trading System Poised for a Win” [Industry Week]. “Thanks to a U.S. veto on new appeals judges, the WTO’s dispute arm is expected to start slipping into the institutional equivalent of a coma at the end of this year. That has set off a scramble by the European Union, Canada and other countries to set up a temporary alternative allowing the use of arbitrators rather than three-judge panels to hear appeals. But by creating that system, WTO members may be giving Trump and aidesーwho, like him, have deep-rooted skepticism of multilateral institutionsーthe very thing they want. Arbitration would above all provide the flexibility the U.S. is after, Vaughn said. It would see disputes treated as individual cases, avoiding the precedent-dependent system the WTO appellate body has become.”

“Inside the lose-lose trade fight between Japan and South Korea” [Nikkei Asian Review]. “[There is a] growing ‘Boycott Japan’ movement spreading across South Korea. South Koreans have also stopped buying cars, beer, cosmetics and just about anything else bearing the label ‘Made in Japan.’ Some are even canceling their summer holidays…. Well-organized protests are not uncommon in South Korea, and they tend to pass relatively quickly. But these boycotts — which in South Koreans’ minds are tied with the emotionally-charged issue of wartime labor and a sense that their most successful companies are under attack — may be different. The movement kicked off shortly after the decision by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration on July 4 to tighten controls on exports of three chemicals essential for making semiconductors and flat panel screens used in smartphones and TVs. By choking off supplies of the chemicals — Japan’s market share for two of them stands at more than 90% — the Abe administration was essentially taking aim at the engine that powers South Korea’s high-tech economy.”

“USDA gave almost 100 percent of Trump’s trade war bailout to white farmers” [New Food Economy]. • Deceptive headline erases class: “The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has documented that the program has disproportionately helped wealthy landowners and a recent analysis by Donald Carr, a senior advisor for EWG, argues that the MFP has deepened the disadvantages of black and minority farmers.”

Politics

“But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?” –James Madison, Federalist 51

“They had one weapon left and both knew it: treachery.” –Frank Herbert, Dune

“2020 Democratic Presidential Nomination” [RealClearPolitics] (average of five polls). As of July 30: Biden continues rise at 32.2% (32.0), Sanders flat at 16.2% (16.2%), Warren up at 14.3% (14.0%), Buttigieg flat at 5.6% (5.5%), Harris up at 10.8% (10.5%), others Brownian motion. Sanders opens a little daylight between him and Warren, for the first time in two weeks.

* * *

2020

Delaney (D)(1): Naughty, naughty:

so someone edited John Delaney’s Wikipedia page

pic.twitter.com/dFMHiz15XD

— Sarah Flourance (@BookishFeminist) July 31, 2019

Gabbard (D)(1): “Tulsi’s Last Stand?” [The American Conservative]. “Gabbard has been perhaps the most interesting Democrat running for president and Wednesday night could be her last stand. She gets to share the stage with frontrunner Joe Biden, like Hillary Clinton a vote for the Iraq war. There is no guarantee she will get another opportunity: the eligibility criteria for subsequent debates is more stringent and she has yet to qualify…. Gabbard has so far been unable to penetrate this madness despite being young (she’s 38), attractive, telegenic, a military veteran, a woman of color, and an articulate, passionate opponent of the regime change wars that have brought our country so much pain.”

Warren (D)(1): The liberal Democrat enforcers are coming for Warren:

Maybe Warren really believes that single-payer is the only way; if so, I’ve misjudged her policy acumen. Either way, that was a bad night for someone who should be leading the progressive charge 7/

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) July 31, 2019

The Debates

“Sanders, Warren battle centrists in testy debate” [The Hill]. “But on Tuesday night, the moderates came out swinging at Medicare for all with grave warnings about the electoral consequences.” • Oh.

“The Centrists Did Not Hold” [Jeet Heer, The Nation]. The Deck: “Both the moderators and centrist Democratic candidates failed in their attempts to gang up on Sanders and Warren during Tuesday’s debate.” • So we’ve normalizes the idea that the moderators are not refs but players? One more reason to get the networks out the debate business. More: “The fusion of entertainment with politics continued apace with CNN orchestrating the Democratic primary debates as a professional-wrestling donnybrook. Led by Jake Tapper, the CNN hosts consistently tried to get the two factions to attack each other, while bizarrely elevating John Delaney for much of the debate.

“The Middle Ground Did Not Fare Well in the Democratic Debate” [Jacobin].

“‘Do or die:’ The pressure is on struggling 2020 Democrats to break through at Detroit debates” [McClatchy]. “With the leading candidates increasingly separating themselves from the rest of 2020 Democratic presidential primary field, this week’s second set of debates are shaping up to be most crucial for the bottom half of the pack who are dwelling in single digits and struggling to raise money. It’s those campaigns that are preparing to take a more aggressive posture in Detroit as they fight for survival ahead of a traditionally slow summer fundraising period and stiffer requirements to qualify for the next debates in the fall…. The next debates aren’t until September, when polling and donor requirements for entry will tighten. Seven candidates have indicated they’ve already crossed the necessary thresholds, with at least two others claiming they are close to doing so.” • Hence, beyond ideology, the aggressiveness of Hickenlooper, Delaney, et al., and the relative quiesence of Buttigieg and O’Rourke, who have already made it to the the next debate round. I would expect the same dynamic to be in play in tonight’s debate as well.

2019

“California Aims to Make Trump Release Taxes by Requiring It for Primary Ballot” [Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine]. “California governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation making disclosure of five years of income-tax filings a condition for appearing on the state’s presidential-primary ballot, beginning next year.” • Here the Constitutional qualifications and requirements for the Presidency. Article II, section 8:

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

I don’t see the grounds on which California gets to add additional qualifications for a Federal office. Further, the additional qualifications are blatantly aimed at a political enemy of the California Democrat power structure (California is a one-party state). What happens a tit-for-tat struggle begins with states dominated by Republicans? We won’t have national elections any more. Back to the article:

But the latest bill passed on a strict party-line vote, and Newsom signed it on the grounds that because of its size and stature, California had a “special responsibility to require this information of presidential and gubernatorial candidates” (it will apply to candidates for Newsom’s own job after 2024).

This is a 21st century states’ rights argument, except only for large states. Where is it written that any state has “special responsibilities”?

Realignment and Legitimacy

“DSA Members, America’s New Left” [New Left Review]. “But the five dsa members, all from California chapters—and spanning a range of positions, from neo-Kautskian electoralism to libertarian party-building—offer a vivid sense of the debates agitating the group’s membership base. How will dsa convert its newly acquired supporters into political organizers? What fields of activity should it bestow its (still limited) resources upon? Most pressingly, how should it relate to the Sanders 2020 campaign, and to the Democratic Party as a whole? Can the long-term goal of building an independent working-class party be reconciled with dsa’s current practice of running candidates on Democratic ballot-lines?” • Interviews with five DSA members. Interesting!

“No, Professors Aren’t Discriminating Against Conservative Students” [Pacific Standard]. “The idea that left-wing college professors are both brainwashing undergraduates and discriminating against conservative students has emerged as one of the most consistent right-wing lines of attack against American higher education over the last few decades. While conservative undergrads, like many types of students, may often feel isolated, a new working paper led by a public policy professor who tells me he’s a ‘lifelong Republican’ suggests that any evidence for bias in grading against conservative students is at best minimal and most likely absent.”

Stats Watch

Chicago Puchasing Managers Index, July 2019: “[T]he lowest reading in 4-1/2 years” [Econoday]. “New orders sank deeper into contraction with employment falling into contraction for the first time in nearly two years and to its deepest level of contraction in nearly 10 years… Though conclusions are difficult to draw based on uncertainties over the make-up and size of Chicago’s sample, the drop in this report could reflect trade-tension issues.”

ADP Employment Report, July 2019: “ADP estimates that private payroll growth in Friday’s employment report for July will rise 156,000” [Econoday].

Employment Cost Index, Q2 2019: “Wage pressures are flat and will not stand in the way of a Federal Reserve rate cut that is expected this afternoon” [Econoday]. “The lack of acceleration in employment compensation readings hints at available capacity in the labor market.”

State Street Investor Confidence Index, July 2019: “Global institutional investors continued to reduce their exposure to equities and were even more risk averse in July” [Econoday].

Tech: “Privately Owned Scooter Companies Don’t Have a Future” [Jacobin]. “Nearly two years ago, dockless e-scooters started appearing on the sidewalks of major cities across the United States, eventually fanning out to Europe, Asia, Australia, and beyond. In most American cities, the companies didn’t bother getting permits or checking their services would be legal; they just dropped off their scooters.” • Scooter economics seem quite similar to ride “sharing” economics, i.e. not and never going to be profitable.

Manufacturing: “The CEO of one of the world’s largest airlines said Boeing needs to get its ‘s— together’ as the ongoing 737 Max crisis hits the carrier’s profits” [Business Insider]. “The CEO of one of the world’s largest airlines said that Boeing needs to get its “shit together” as the ongoing grounding of its 737 Max planes extends beyond predictions and the carrier’s profits take a hit…. Ryanair, the biggest low-cost carrier in Europe, had ordered 135 of the 737 Max planes, with the first 58 of those planes due to arrive by summer 2020. The airline was the fifth-biggest in the world by seating capacity in 2018, and is the world’s largest airline by number of routes.”

The Biosphere

“Whose fault is plastic waste in the ocean?” [Deutsche Welle]. “Because plastic is so tough, it can last for centuries without breaking down. That means plastic made in the past, mainly in richer nations, has accumulated, often in the ocean. Experts say this, along with the lack of data on plastic from marine and other sources, makes blaming individual regions for ocean plastic unhelpful.” •

“Geoengineering is very controversial. How can you do experiments? Harvard has some ideas.” [MIT Technology Review]. “For years, several Harvard climate scientists have been preparing to launch a balloon capable of spraying reflective particles into the atmosphere, in the hopes of learning more about our ability to counteract global warming…. ‘It’s an extremely high-profile institution that’s decided they don’t want to wait for the regulatory regimes to greenlight this,’ says Wil Burns, co-director of the Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy at American University.”

Health Care

“The Plausible Path to Medicare for All” [The American Prospect]. “The flailing second-tier Democrats in the presidential debates who attack Medicare for All and its sponsors are indeed doing the work of Republicans. It is indeed possible to get to universal coverage under the auspices of Medicare, without bankrupting the public treasury or increasing net costs to the middle class. And the coverage would be better, more reliable, and more cost-effective than even the best insurance that people now get from their employers. Today’s employer-provided insurance is riddled with deductibles, co-pays, denials of reimbursement, limits on which doctor or hospital you can use, and loss of insurance when you change jobs. Sanders and Warren are right about all that. But the transition problems are far from trivial. The biggest problem is that the people who will save money when they no longer pay premiums are not the same people who will likely pay more in taxes*. So the sponsors of Medicare for All should recognize that a better transition strategy may be the best way to disarm critics, among centrist Democrats, Republican attackers, and the press; and to reassure the electorate and make Medicare for All the big winner that it can be. The best of the transition approaches are those proposed by Jacob Hacker, with a close legislative counterpart in the Medicare for America Act co-sponsored by Representatives Rosa DeLauro and Jan Schakowsky.” • I would be more sympathetic to Kuttner if TAP and its ilk hadn’t, through unremitting effort, themselves created the need to “reassure the electorate.” I also remember the fantastically destructive role played by Hacker in the liberal Democrat bait-and-switch operation against single payer in 2009-2010. I know this is the genetic fallacy, but it’s very hard for me to believe that TAP and Hacker are operating in good faith. NOTE * So #MedicareForAll is a downward transfer of wealth? And this is a bad thing?

Black Injustice Tipping Point

“Whites get half of mortgages in Detroit, nation’s largest majority black city” [Bridge]. “Home loans are heating up in Detroit after years of a frigid lending market, but a majority of loan dollars now go to whites, who comprise just over 10 percent of the population. African-Americans, who still make up fourth-fifths of the city, are now far more likely to buy homes in the suburbs than Detroit. The findings come from a Bridge Magazine analysis of hundreds of thousands of federal mortgage records from 2007 to 2017.”

Class Warfare

“The Roepke Lecture 2019: ʺWar, capitalism, and the making and unmaking of economic geographiesʺ [Erica Schoenberger, Johns Hopkins]. Worth a listen over a cup of coffee:

youtube

(I owe a hat tip to an alert reader for this, but I can’t find the comment where the suggestion was made.O)

“The tyranny of productivity” [The Week]. “More than 100 years ago, states began listening to workers’ demands and limiting the hours employers could make people work. Later, in the 1930s and ’40s, the federal government did the same thing on the national level. And governments didn’t just guarantee people the free time to pay attention to things one might deem “unproductive” — they also helped them find unproductive things to do. Indeed, early 20th-century political leaders made playgrounds and public spaces a priority. Teddy Roosevelt, who helped create the national parks system, ensuring Americans’ access to wild and beautiful places, frequently described the power of nature in decidedly non-instrumental terms. ‘There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy, and its charm,’ he once wrote. Later, during the depths of the Great Depression, workers hired by the federal government built some of the country’s most gorgeous public architecture — including, as Odell notes, the Oakland rose garden she so enjoys. But, in the second half of the 20th century, government increasingly shied away from policies aimed at anything as unproductive as beauty and pleasure and devoted itself to economic growth, instead.”

“IBU strike shuts down Alaska ferries” [Alaska Public Radio]. “In Ketchikan, approximately 30 picketing ferry workers stood on the sidewalk outside Alaska Marine Highway System terminal where the ferry Columbia was set to depart for Bellingham, Washington…. The union had warned the night before that a strike was imminent if it didn’t get a contract deal. It’s been negotiating for the past three years. An impasse last week led a majority of members to vote to authorize taking direct action.”

“These Are the Wealthiest Towns in the U.S.” [Bloomberg]. Handy map:

News of the Wired

“Daemons are the programs that run the internet. Here’s why it’s important to understand them.” [The Conversation]. “Internet daemons optimize how computers actively manage systems toward certain goals or highest-efficency states. Optimization is another way to understand algorithmic governance. It is at once a way of thinking and a way of doing. To optimize is to calculate optimal states that solve social and political problems. Optimization also involves ways to actualize these states…. The technical connotations of optimization obscures its social and political implications. For example, an optimal amount of news to include in Facebook’s NewsFeed or shorter passenger wait times on Uber are technical decisions and business ones.” • Optimization is not neutral!

“Behold, the most (intentionally) poorly designed website ever created” [Ars Technica]. • Here it is. Looks like Twitter’s designers examined this site closely.

* * *

Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, with (a) links, and even better (b) sources I should curate regularly, (c) how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal, and (d) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. Today’s plant (Re Silc):

Re Silc writes: “My 3-year-old bristly locust love southern vermont.”

* * *

Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not covered by the annual NC fundraiser. So do feel free to make a contribution today or any day. Here is why: Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know I’m on the right track with coverage. When I get no donations for five or ten days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of small donations helps me with expenses, and I factor in that trickle when setting fundraising goals. So if you see something you especially appreciate, do feel free to click this donate button:

Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated.

Readers, I have redesigned the image above because the composition of your Water Cooler donations has changed. For the last few months, donations have shifted to monthly donations in smaller amounts, with very few one-time donations in larger amounts. While I’m very happy to have enabled small contributions (Luke 21:1-4), the lack of larger contributions has cut into the trickle of funding from Water Cooler that I really do depend on. In other words, your contributions are way down. (Readership and comment counts have not fallen, so I don’t think Water Cooler editorial content as such is the issue, though do feel free to drop me a line if you have thoughts.)

So, I redesigned the image to emphasize one-time donations, while still enabling smaller monthly donations. And if you’ve been waiting for a good excuse to contribute, perhaps last night’s debate coverage will provide an excuse!

If you hate PayPal, you can email me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I will give you directions on how to send a check. Thank you!

2:00PM Water Cooler 7/31/2019

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