#or at least the ones I currently have access to

[fakenewsfactcheck]

Okay, what the heck is this? Is there a conspiracy theory I haven't yet heard, in which Israel is trying to kill everyone in Gaza in order to... build a Suez-type Canal???

Can I please invite people to view a quick map?

Constructing a massive canal, from scratch, across the Negev Desert, is a visibly ridiculous idea.

The Suez Canal is literally right there.

But yes, of course there's a conspiracy theory about this. As featured in The New Arab, which (as we'll see) is absolutely not an unbiased source, nor one that fact-checks its shit.

Of note, this article features several blatant red flags:

Lack of sources or citations: For example, "The US had once proposed to use some 520 nuclear bombs on the Negev Desert (Naqab) to help create the canal." When? Says who?

Presentation of old data as current evidence: If the one above were true, do we think that the US would use 520 consecutive nuclear bombs for any reason today? Much less to build a canal next door to another canal?

As the article itself points out, it's talking about "a proposal in the 1960s by Israel to connect the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea through the southern end of the Gulf of Aqaba."

Not a current proposal.

And not an accepted proposal, obviously.

The reasons for the proposal at the time were that Egypt was at war with Israel. It was one of at least five Arab League countries that invaded, simultaneously, to destroy Israel as soon as Britain left.

It lost, but it did not accept a peace agreement with Israel until 1979. (And the rest of the Arab League countries were so angry with it for negotiating a peace agreement that they kicked Egypt out of the League. The Egyptian president was also subsequently assassinated by the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.)

Internal contradictions: "(the formerly proposed canal route) would then head north again to circumvent the Gaza Strip and connect to the Mediterranean Sea." So.... the canal the did NOT involve the Gaza Strip??

The article also tries to imply that it would be worth building a canal NOW, because back THEN, Egypt could deny Israel access to the Suez.

Again, that was before they had a peace treaty.

The article does NOT mention that that was an act of war, or that Israel has enjoyed freedom of navigation through the Suez Canal and the Straits of Tiran since 1979.

It does claim that "The Suez Canal was also closed for a staggering eight-year period in 1967, at the beginning of the Six-Day War, also known as the Arab–Israeli War, which was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan)." Uh. How was it closed for eight years at the beginning of a six-day war?

Weasel Words: Intentionally vague terms that lead the reader to a desired conclusion without anyone having to outright lie.

For example:

"As Israel intensifies its Gaza onslaught, focus turns to the controversial Ben Gurion Canal Project" - Whose focus?

"talks about a long-discussed economic opportunity known as the Ben Gurion Canal Project have surfaced online" - Whose talks? Talks now, or back then?

"This backdrop underscores the potential strategic importance of an alternative canal" - According to whom?

"He was described" - By whom?

"If it goes ahead, it would be almost one-third longer than the current 193.3km Suez Canal" - If it goes ahead?! This article still hasn't actually said it's been proposed again, much less considered... Because there's zero evidence that it has!

Outright falsehoods: "With Gaza razed to the ground" - Gaza has absolutely not been razed to the ground. Some 50% of buildings in the Strip have been damaged, not razed to the ground.

"there have been alleged plans to literally cut corners and reduce costs by diverting the canal straight through the middle of the Palestinian enclave." - Alleged by whom? By no one, as far as this article says.

"However, the presence of Palestinians there would remain an obstacle." No shit. You know what else would be an obstacle? The fact that it's part of PALESTINE. A country, with its own government, which Israel has to actively work with on a daily basis. And which would very definitely oppose Israel getting rid of everyone in Gaza and running a redundant canal through the whole darn thing.

"the mass explosion of Palestinians" - oh my god. I am very curious about the editing process of this publication now.

On top of everything else, this article is a year old. Israel has yet to kill everyone in Gaza, or otherwise clear out the tiny Strip and dig or atom-bomb a canal right through it. And yet, here we are, trying to buy this goofy story because there's vanishingly little evidence of anything like a genocide going on.

I do not understand how it can be that 13 months ago, a group that rules Gaza as a brutal dictatorship, whose mission is to violently destroy Israel because Jews Bad, invaded Israel and tortured, mutilated, and burned its way across an area larger than Gaza itself in less than a day... and yet, so many people find it impossible to believe that Israel would actually want to wipe Hamas out.

In fact, so many people find it far more plausible that Israel voluntarily dismantled all its settlements in Gaza in 2005 and left it to rule itself, because it... secretly wanted all that tiny piece of land, and really wanted to murder everybody in it. But not Palestinians in general. Not the West Bank. Not the diaspora. Just Gaza.

I just... what the entire fuck?

palestinian children are dying of heart attacks because of the constant fear and nervous system exhaustion of near 24 hr bombardment. for ELEVEN FULL MONTHS palestinian children have been dying of heart attacks. dying from fear.

[starmada4546]

Kamala Harris deserved to lose.

That’s a controversial statement, so let me get something out of the way right out the gate: I am not a Trump supporter. I fucking hate Trump’s racist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, fascist guts, and I will until the day I die. I voted for Harris, I volunteered for her campaign and several other local campaigns in my area. I did everything a politically active person should do to participate in our democracy.

And yet I, and anyone who was paying attention knew how this election was going to go ahead of time, for one very simple reason. What were Kamala Harris’s policy positions? What did she actually run on? What did she say she was going to do differently? Building a million homes for working-class people who have had their salaries so undercutted by inflation and price hikes that they can no longer afford the kind of long term saving required for that? Increase child tax credits when grocery prices are so high that nobody can afford another mouth to feed? Raising taxes on billionaires? She’s the Vice President of the current administration, why are they not already being taxed? And furthermore, where is that tax money going? Clearly not Medicare for All, or Student Debt Relief, or anything that could actually constitute benefits for the average citizen.

Discussing which demographics are “responsible” for electing Trump is a fucking stupid discussion, and anyone engaging in it should feel absolutely fucking ashamed at buying into more crap that the oligarchs put up to divide us. Except for a few exceptions, the demographics were coin-flip toss ups. What happened was that Kamala Harris lost 15 million votes. Not to Trump, but to apathy. Trump got 3 million less votes than he did in 2020, and still won, because people didn’t vote for Harris. The battle was in voter turnout, like we always knew it would be, and the Democratic Party lost it. Why?

Because Kamala Harris ran, like Biden did, on being the anti-Trump. And regardless of whether or not you think that the Democrats are responsible for current woes, (and I do not,) that's not a winning strategy when the "Anti-Trump" is the one in power. Being the Anti-Trump isn't a policy position. It's not a solution to anyone's issues. It's merely a hope that people think Trump is worse, and as we've seen, regardless of whether or not it should, that does not win elections. When gas prices or grocery bills are so expensive people can barely afford to survive, saying "Well, those will be worse under Trump," is not a solution. It does not provide confidence that she has plans to fix the issues. It is a shrug of the shoulders, and a dismissal, and that's why so many people stayed home.

In 2020, when the problems could be blamed on Trump without any sort of understanding of the complex issues that caused the problems, because Trump was simply the one in power and The President's Job Is To Fix Everything, so being Anti-Trump worked. When Democrats have been in the white house for four years, and people feel like the problems still aren't fixed, they lose confidence that the democrats will fix the problem, so they don't vote.

When food prices are spiking, you don't say, "The other guy will make it worse," because that's what any candidate would say, and it's not particularly different than just purely mudslinging, and its a claim that Trump will deny vehemently, so you can't win that argument. What you need to say is "I'll subsidize agriculture," or, "I'll increase the accessibility and power of food assistance programs." Regardless of whether or not those things would actually work, what they are is some kind of solid plan to actually fix the fucking problem. It's said that people don't vote on policy, and that's true a lot of the time, or at least more than it should be, but people do vote on confidence, and having policy of any kind builds that confidence. Regardless of what you think of Trump, the man has plenty of plans to implement policy. It's terrible, awful, nation destroying policy, but that's getting into the details and the facts, and that's where the voters' eyes glaze over and they stop listening to you. The fact that Trump has plans to change the status quo and Harris does not is how she lost this election.

When the status quo is untenable, people will vote for whatever breaks it, and that wasn't Harris.

It also doesn't help that Harris has pretty much refused to significantly differentiate herself from Joe Biden, who has plenty of his own problems, and again, is the status quo. Joe Biden refused to step aside and relegate himself to being a single term president because of his personal pride, and the Democrats absolutely refused to consider not backing him until he was forced to step aside when his problematic degradation was put on full display for the entire country to see and mock. Then, instead of holding an actual primary, where voters could choose who they wanted to see on the Democratic ticket, they decided to simply coronate Kamala Harris, a historically unpopular candidate with historically low approval ratings, and force anyone who was against Trump to rally behind a candidate they didn't choose and statistically speaking don't like. Is it any wonder that her ticket hemorrhaged 15 million votes from 2020? That's before getting into her incredibly strange choices during her campaign, from again having essentially no policy positions, to picking a Tim Walz, who while being imo a good person, is from an entirely blue state and not a swing state, and has neither experience running against serious mainline GOP candidates, nor any real nationwide appeal beyond his personality, and we've already established that vibes don't turn out voters.

Kamala Harris, and on a larger scale the Democratic Party, deserved to lose this election because they have almost entirely abandoned any sense of being the progressive option. They've completely abandoned the progressive wing of their party, because who else are they going to vote for? Trump?

I don't like being the guy who says, "Harris hasn't earned the votes," because if you didn't vote, fuck you, you're nearly as culpable in this as the MAGAts, but is it any wonder why progressives are abandoning the democrats? After being ignored, fucked over time after time for nearly a decade at this point, literally screaming and begging for people to care about genocide, fascism, and the literal end of the world and getting a pat on the head and a vote sticker, what the fuck else did anyone expect? Harris cozied up with Liz Cheney and tried to court the votes of a few thousand moderate republicans, while tens of millions of progressive votes were expected, and then you're all trying to to blame them when those votes don't come? Shame, shame on you, ye moderate democrats who'd rather get into bed with the center-right than any kind of progressive, you get what you fucking deserve.

Normally, I'd laugh at establishment democrats fucking around and finding out, but this time, it's not just them finding out, it's the whole of America finding out with them. I don't really have any advice, because I'm just as shattered as anyone else. Hunker down, spend time with your loved ones, and maybe learn how to use a gun in case some neo-nazi decides to try to hate-crime you. I'm hoping that the Democrats learn their lessons from this, but honestly at this point, I'm not sure they're capable of learning, if there'll even be a democratic party to speak of come 2028. Right now, I'm gonna go stare at the election results and feel my faith in humanity crack a little bit more.

[suzukiblu]

WIP excerpt for @qwertynerd97 behind the cut. If I had a nickel for every time an unethical billionaire cloned the superhero archnemesis he's obsessed with, I'd have two nickels. Which is not a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice. (( chrono || non-chrono ))

They really do get to Amity in, like, surprisingly good time, all things considered? At least Tucker’s surprised, anyway. If nothing else he would’ve expected a random ghost attack he’d have to teach Superboy how to fight ghosts really quickly during to happen, given . . . literally everything about his entire life since the age of fourteen, pretty much. Or maybe a supervillain or something, since Superboy’s in the mix right now and all. 

Mind, Tucker definitely did go over how ghosts work and all on the flight over and also during they two convenience store snack/pee/walk breaks they took, since he would personally like to avoid the demi-Kryptonian whose DNA he desperately needs free access to getting overshadowed. And also, like, it’s just a dick move to take anybody to Amity Park without mentioning the ghosts and how to deal with them. 

There are just . . . so many ghosts. So many. 

So, so many.

Superboy hopefully actually listened to at least most of the “Amity Park: Ghosts, Spirits, & Not Getting Your Ass Spectrally Kicked By Either 101” speech and didn’t just tune him the frick out for infodumping on him too hard and talking his ear off, but it at least seemed like he was listening? Like, he asked some questions and stuff and seemed to be following along okay, more or less? Mostly? 

Tucker really, really hopes Superboy listened to the ghost speech. 

“Okay, so like, avoid anybody too glowy for right now, maybe?” Tucker says as Superboy lets him down on the sidewalk just down the block from FentonWorks, which Superboy is currently squinting through his sunglasses at. Which, like–fair, Tucker figures. Definitely fair. “As in let me deal with anybody too glowy for right now, that’s probably just for the best right now. Like I’ll tell you who’s cool and who I’m gonna have to soup and who we need to flee from in a blind panic, yeah?” 

“‘Soup’?” Superboy repeats skeptically. 

“Thermos thing,” Tucker clarifies. “Remember the Thermos thing? We call it souping, sometimes. Also I mentioned we need to not say anything whatsoever to Danny’s parents, right, like I definitely mentioned that being a thing?” 

“Seven times,” Superboy says. “One of which was a seventeen-minute rant about their shitty tech skills.” 

“They don’t test! They don’t even have any basic safety protocols in place!” Tucker hisses. “Literally they got one of their kids literally killed via a portal to the Infinite Realms with no safety locks on it and didn’t even notice! Like I’m not this liminal because the Fentons have safety locks or literally any basic shielding or food safety knowledge! Which, on that note, don’t eat anything they offer you, if they offer you anything. Probably they won’t, they’re not really the type to think about basic human needs or general human politeness, but yeah.” 

“Yeah, I’m still not clear on the whole ‘liminal’ thing,” Superboy says. “The liminal thing is confusing.” 

“So are literally our entire lives,” Tucker replies frankly, making a mental note to get him a mini-primer or something. Maybe some notes or a spreadsheet. Like just whatever Superboy can brush up on while they’re poking at his DNA or whatever, basically. There is no such thing as knowing too much about ghosts, as far as he’s concerned. “So anyway, yeah, just lemme take the lead with the Fentons. Actually any Fentons? Just–let me take the lead in general, for right now. Like–uh. Please?” 

Probably Superboy is not gonna be down with that, actually, because he’s–actually Tucker’s not sure, is he an emancipated minor, or . . . ? Like, dude makes his own money, obviously, and he does his hero work solo, plus it’s not like he called any parent/guardian about leaving Hawaii on basically a whim, so . . . yeahhhhh. 

“I’m down with that,” Superboy says with an easy shrug, spreading his hands. “Your stomping grounds, man, not mine.” 

Tucker stares blankly at him for a moment, then decides not to look that gift poltergeist in the mouth. 

“Cool,” he says. “Uh–thanks. Uh–this way?” 

“Oh yeah?” Superboy asks, cocking an eyebrow at Fentonworks’ whole . . . Fentonworks-ness as he looks at it over the top of his sunglasses. Tucker boils in embarrassment, and also boils in renewed bewilderment about how pretty this dude’s eyes are. Just–pretty. So pretty. Tucker just came out to rescue Danny’s clone-sister/daughter/cousin and he is honestly feeling so attacked right now? “Good thing I sprung for the local tour guide.” 

“In my defense, this town is so much weirder than you know,” Tucker says. “Just–so much weirder.” 

“There’s this eternal party in space I just go to whenever I’m bored,” Superboy says. “Got a teleport thing that takes me, it’s kinda sick.” 

“. . . okay so your opinion of ‘weird’ is not universal, is what I’m hearing here,” Tucker says after a moment. Danny would friggin’ love that, if they weren’t all freaking out about Dani right now. 

“That’s what they tell me,” Superboy replies with another easy shrug. 

“I’m definitely making the mistake of assuming you’re a normie, yeah,” Tucker says, which is definitely a mistake he keeps making, for whatever reason. Probably, like, habit from interacting with literally every other living being he’s encountered in his life up until two years ago, he guesses. “Alright, yeah anyway, Fenton parents, threat level . . . orange, I’d say? Like not full red, but we’re getting there. So, uh–follow my lead, and please don’t maim them if they try to net you. Or shoot you. Or shoot you with a net, that’s also a–uh. Yeah.” 

He spares a moment to suffer in mortification over the way Superboy’s pushed his glasses up into his hair to squint at him, then flees–strategically retreats–towards FentonWorks. 

It is just very clearly time to strategically retreat, is all. 

Or, uh, time to figure out how to handle Danny’s parents, Tucker mentally amends with a wince as he gets close enough to see their stupid van haphazardly “parked” more on the sidewalk than the street. Parts of it are actively smoking; the rest is dripping bubbling ecto. 

“Trippy,” Superboy muses, floating up a few feet to peer over the top of his sunglasses at the top of the van. Tucker dives forward and automatically grabbing the guy in an attempt to yank him down out of the air before anyone mistakes him for a ghost. They very much do not have time for that right now, especially right outside the Fentons’ place. 

Unfortunately, his yank less yanks Superboy down than it yanks himself up, which is officially the closest he’s ever gotten to doing a pull-up, so he guesses that’s cool or whatever, but also not helpful. 

“Did I mention how you shouldn’t fly around here?” Tucker asks, maybe a little bit dangling off Superboy’s waist right now. Like, just a tiny little sort-of bit. “Because if I did not, that was a serious oversight on my part. So, uh, please come back down here, dude.” 

“Says the dude who’s climbed up here,” Superboy snorts, but does, mercifully, actually settle back down on the sidewalk. 

“I would not describe that as ‘climbing’ so much as ‘failing’, but you do you,” Tucker says. “C’mon, we’re going in. Try to look, uh . . . less like a superhero.” 

“I am literally incapable of that one, buddy,” Superboy says dryly, raising an eyebrow at him. “On account of how they made me in the literal exact image of the superhero.” 

“. . . yeah alright, that wasn’t a fair ask,” Tucker admits with another wince. Well–Danny’s parents aren’t that observant when they’ve got a distraction distracting them, and obviously they need distracted, so . . . it’ll probably be fine? Probably? 

. . . . . . maybe they should just sneak in Danny’s bedroom window, actually. Maybe that would be the smarter play right now.

[terramythos]

I Score FFXIV Fishing Titles (based on how fucking cool or fun they sound).

Note: I am NOT including titles that you can earn on any Disciple of the Hand job; this is only for titles you HAVE to be a fisher in order to earn. Also, sorry if I missed any of them LMAO.

FISHER NATION... there's way more fishing titles than I thought, so grab your rod and get ready to cast! 🎣🎣🎣

‘Of the Irresistible Lure’, from “I Caught That VIII”- Catch and record discovery of 1,460 unique fish.

6/10. I mean this one is OK, any title that can drop ‘Irresistible’ in there has something going for it. It’s just not a compelling title to me when there’s so much cooler sounding shit to pick from. And if you’ve gotten this title, you for sure have access to those cooler ones.

‘Master Fisher’, from “The One That Didn’t Get Away IV” - Catch 10,000 large-sized fish.

3/10. Come the fuck on, man. At least in the English-speaking client, everyone is going to be thinking about “Master Baiter” and missed opportunities. Even without that context this one is pretty boring. And considering how fishing mechanics work, how does catching 10k large fish imply mastery of any sort? That’s probably the most boring achievement to get in fishing.

‘Meadowcaster’, from “A Fisher’s Life for Me: La Noscea” - Obtain all five “Good Things Come to Those Who Bait: La Noscea” achievements.

8/10. This one is pretty good, and it’s one of the oldest fishing titles in the game. There’s two others that are very similar. The use of ‘caster’ for fishing is funny, but also applicable for the combat part of the game. Unfortunately this and the other two are a huge grindy pain in the ass to get. ‘Meadow’ is a little dull to me though.

‘Forestcaster’, from “A Fisher’s Life for Me: Black Shroud” - Obtain all five “Good Things Come to Those Who Bait: Black Shroud” achievements.

7/10. I don’t think “Forestcaster” rolls off the tongue as well as the other two achievements. Kind of boring if I’m being fully honest, but I’m sure there are characters who can use this title to great effect.

‘Desertcaster’, from “A Fisher’s Life for Me: Thanalan” - Obtain all five “Good Things Come to Those Who Bait: Thanalan” achievements.

10/10. This shit sounds so fucking cool to me, I might even actually get this title despite the grind. ‘Desert’ goes way harder than the other two from this achievement series, IMO.

‘Master Caster’, from “Go Big or Go Home IX” - Catch 100 different varieties of big fish in areas explored during A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, or Stormblood.

8/10. Master Fisher wishes it was this cool. The clever rhyme calls to mind FISHER NATION poetry, which helps this one a lot. The only reason it ranks so low is because….

‘Grandmaster Caster’, from “Go Big or Go Home IX” - Catch 204 different varieties of big fish in areas explored during A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, or Stormblood.

10/10. Automatically overshadows the previous entry, and for good reason: this one takes some real fuckin’ effort to get. I’m so happy to have finally gotten this title. It’s extremely funny to wear it when playing a ranged magical job. Also, ‘Grandmaster’ makes me feel like a chess champion or something.

‘Lord/Lady of Far Waters’, from “Go Big Far from Home V” - Catch 45 different varieties of big fish in areas explored during Shadowbringers.

11/10. God this one is so fucking cool we are hard-locked into this title for the forseeable future once I actually earn it (currently 43/45). I think this is my favorite fishing title? It’s so unique and powerful…. Nobody does it like her.

‘Big Fish’, from “No River Wide Enough” - Obtain the achievements “Go Big or Go Home XVI” and “Go Big Far From Home V”.

4/10. Can I be real with you. Whose idea was it to make the achievement for earning BOTH of its strong predecessors so fucking boring by comparison? This is definitely a flex title, but one I will not be wearing for more than like 20 seconds for some screenshots. This one gets points for reminding me of the movie of the same name, which was Pretty Good (TM).

‘Wavewalker’, from “Go Big Till the End” - Catch 40 different varieties of big fish in areas explored during Endwalker.

6/10. Listen, I get what this is going for. It’s a play on Endwalker. The thing is, Wavewalker just doesn’t evoke anything special to me. I think of regular surfing. I think of weird new-age crystal people projecting onto the astral plane, but in the most boring pseudoscientific way possible. I think about some kind of maneuver the audience might do during a concert. Just kind of mundane to me.

‘The Final Fish’, from “Fish Fear Me” - Obtain the achievements “No River Wide Enough” and “Go Big Till the End III.”

7/10. The sequel to ‘Big Fish’ sucks a little bit less, but it’s still not super special to me. I might wear this one a little longer when I get it. At least we have a play on Final Fantasy with this one. I would feel less boring wearing this one than some of the other entries on this list. To be honest I think "Fish Fear Me" would have been a cooler title instead of making that the achievement name.

‘Rod of the Firmament’, from “Skyward Rod III” - Earn 500,000 points toward your skyward score as a fisher.

8/10. You can make so many dick jokes with this one. A solid (heh) title, no notes, we appreciate this.

‘The Nest’s Own Fisher’, from “The Height of Angling” - As a fisher, submit 300 artisanal seafood items for the second phase of the Ishgardian restoration.

3/10. Man what is this even going for? The only real connection that comes to mind is a fishing bird or something. How do I use this? It gets a couple points for novelty since it’s unlike other fishing titles, but that’s it. Especially considering the next one does it better.

‘Featherfall’s Finest Fisher’, from “Fishers of a Feather” - As a fisher, submit 300 artisanal seafood items for the third phase of the Ishgardian restoration.

7/10. We’re getting somewhere with this one; we got the alliteration going, ‘Featherfall’ sounds cool as fuck. Probably not a title I’d use but it’s way more appealing than the previous.

‘The Risensung Fisher’, from “An Ode to Angling” - As a fisher, submit 300 artisanal seafood items for the fourth phase of the Ishgardian restoration.

5/10. Aaaand back down again. I know it’s a play on Dragonsong but “Risensung” just sounds awkward to me. It just does not work for me, too awkward and weird. But at least it’s better than the first of these.

‘World-class Troller’, from “On a Boat V” - Earn a cumulative total of 3,000,000 points while ocean fishing.

9/10. This title is perfect for silly little geese who do a little bit of trolling now and then. What kind of trolling? Well, that is simply for you to decide…. I knock off a point because this doesn’t scream ‘fishing title’ to me. But it IS a fun title nevertheless.

‘Ocean Fisher’, from “No More Fish in the Sea III” - Score at least 16,000 points during a single ocean fishing voyage on the Indigo route.

4/10. Yaaaawn. It’s giving ‘Master Fisher’ energy. At least this one makes me think of the ocean and not Master Baiting. But man what a generic title. Who gives a shit. Why would this be your pick ever?

‘Master of the Sea’, from “No More Fish in the Sea IV” - Score at least 20,000 points during a single ocean fishing voyage on the Indigo route.

9/10. WAY better than its predecessor. It’s not quite ‘Lord of Far Waters’ but it scratches a similar itch to me. There’s so many cool ways to use this one in terms of character, glam, etc. A strong pick for sure.

‘Doom of the Deep’, from “Near, Far, Wherever Fish Are III” - Score at least 16,000 points during a single ocean fishing voyage on the Ruby route.

10/10. Cool as FUCK. Very little can stand up to this one. The alliteration, etc… it’s so foreboding and badass. My only complaint is it’s a little too easy to get for such a cool title, IMO… but that doesn’t hurt it in the rankings.

‘Octopus Traveler’, from “What Did Octopodes Do to You?” - Earn the “Octopus Travelers” bonus during an ocean fishing voyage on the Indigo route.

8/10. Octopath Traveler gamers probably love this one. I guess it’s a little funny since that’s also a Square Enix property. I’m mostly giving it an 8 out of a sense of obligation considering. Also, octopodes are cool as fuck.

‘Shark Hunter’, from “What Did Sharks Do to You?” - Earn the “Certifiable Shark Hunters” bonus during an ocean fishing voyage on the Indigo route.

1/10. Shark hunting sucks IRL and I hate that this reminds me of that :( A sad title. Maybe you can make it work for a really elaborate Jaws cosplay but that’s stretching it.

‘Jellyfish Fanatic’, from “What Did Jellyfish Do to You?” - Earn the “Jelled Together” bonus during an ocean fishing voyage on the Indigo route.

6/10. This probably goes hard for jellyfish fans. IDK, I think jellyfish are fine, pretty cool organisms, but I wouldn’t personally consider myself a fanatic, so I don’t really get it.

‘Sea Dragoon’, from “What Did Seadragons Do to You?” - Earn the “Maritime Dragonslayers” bonus during an ocean fishing voyage on the Indigo route.

7/10. Big title if you’re a Dragoon main— it’s a fun pun and everything. But also I feel there are cooler Dragoon titles to pick from, even a cooler fishing one, so it’s a little mediocre. It’s fine, whatever.

‘Balloon Catcher’, from “What Did Balloons Do to You?” - Earn the “Balloon Catchers” bonus during an ocean fishing voyage on the Indigo route.

2/10. Balloon Catcher. Balloon Catcher? This is dire. This is bad. Keep this one away from me. Anti-cool if I’m being fully honest. Balloon Catcher… at least it’s not Shark Hunter, I suppose.

‘Deadliest Catcher’, from “What Did Crabs Do to You?” - Earn the “Crab Boat Crew” bonus during an ocean fishing voyage on the Indigo route.

8/10. Like, the title itself is fine, pretty good even, but it does not scream “fisher” to me in a way that matters. I know it’s a play on The Deadliest Catch, but it simply doesn’t wow me. It does score pretty high for general badassery.

‘Manta Maniac’, from “What Did Mantas Do to You?” - Earn the “Sticking it to the Manta” bonus during an ocean fishing voyage on the Indigo route.

7/10. This is super similar to Jellyfish Fanatic, but this gets an extra point for the alliteration. I also personally like manta rays more than jellyfish. Sorry, jellyfish fans.

‘Sea Comber’, from “What Did Shellfish Do to You?” - Earn the “Maximum Mussel” bonus during an ocean fishing voyage on the Ruby route.

2/10. Bro this suuuuucks. We’re fuckin’ combing? Inherently it’s not as bad as fucking ‘Balloon Catcher’, but it scores the same because HOW COULD YOU NOT DO A PLAY ON SHELLFISH/SELFISH FOR THIS. Fuck you. This sucks ass.

‘Squidzure Dragoon’, from “What Did Squid Do to You?” - Earn the “Squid Squadron” bonus during an ocean fishing voyage on the Ruby route.

9/10. Definitely the cooler Dragoon fishing title (it’s weird it happened twice). Absolutely brilliant pun, and it’s an iconic enough play on ‘Azure Dragoon’ that people will recognize it from the main story. No notes, great title.

‘Shrimp Mariner’, from “What Did Shrimp Do to You?” - Earn the “Shrimp Smorgasbord” bonus during an ocean fishing voyage on the Ruby route.

3/10. And back to the depths. What are we even going for here? This is stupid. There’s nothing cool about this. At least it’s a little more fishing related, I guess? I hate it less than the other 2s? Not a vote of confidence, I’ll say.

‘Otherworld Angler’, from “Live Long and Prospero” - Complete the quest “Morsel of the Deep.”

8/10. The poor man’s ‘Lord of Far Waters’. It’s a cool title and inherently provides the context behind it, which is impressive. It’s from Shadowbringers, after all. If you don’t have other cool fishing titles at your disposal, this is a pretty easy one to get. But as someone with cooler titles, this isn’t one I’ll be using.

‘Erudite Angler’, from “Sufficient Data” - Complete the quest “Pastures New.”

5/10. This is basically the Endwalker version of the previous title, and it doesn’t excite me. It’s just not as cool. I will say that this quest is basically the ‘this will negatively affect the trout population’ meme put into quest form. It’s hilarious and I recommend doing it. The title is just a mediocre reward for it.

‘Of Countless Catches’, from “Forever Fancy” - Complete the quest “An Odd Fish Odyssey.”

7/10. Love the alliteration on this one, which is the Dawntrail version of the previous two. I like that we angled away from Angler and into some new naming territory. To be honest, I think this should have been the title for the ‘Master Fisher’ achievement, but it is what it is.

‘The Ambitious Angler’, from “I Like Big Fish and I Cannot Lie” - Complete the quest “The Beast of Brewer’s Beacon.”

6/10. I didn’t even know this title existed??? I only found it scrolling through achievements. It’s just from a random ARR fishing side quest? Wild. Anyway this is fine. Maybe I’ll go get it. But there’s SO many cooler titles. This might be good for someone just starting their fishing journey.

[thatonebirdwrites]

There's also the fact that MOST covid tests on sale or sent by the government are NOT good at detecting Covid. They are prone to user-errors. It often takes repeated testing to finally get an accurate reading.

A positive test Always means you have Covid.

However, getting Negative on a Covid Test Does Not Mean You Do Not Have Covid. You might still have it!! It's so easy to cause errors on the test that false-negatives are common.

PCR tests are more likely to be accurate since that involves one's spit and other cells from closer to back of mouth. The swab nose tests are less accurate, but those are the ones most people can access.

It's better to Mask no matter what in public spaces and in poorly ventilated places. But if for some reason you refuse to mask because of x or y reason, at least do not go out if ill. Or if you must go out, then Mask if ill.

Stop engaging in non-consensual infection spreading. I did not consent to your coughing and snot and plague-bearing nonsense. Wear the mask when ill. Avoid going out when ill. Your body and everyone else will thank you.

In fact, it's often helpful to treat it like it is Covid, especially if you have a lot of the symptoms of Covid (current variants are more neurological symptom-wise but they are rapidly mutating thanks to the absolute abandonment of public health Biden decided to do instead of fixing that).

The more rest you do, the more you self-isolate, the more you don't push yourself, the more likely you'll recover even if it isn't Covid. Other diseases do exist (especially airborne ones!)

If you don't have paid sick days or any sick days left, then mask up and sanitize your hands as often as you an.

If possible, unionize or join a union and fight for that right. Because you ought to be able to not have to work when ill. It's not okay for workplaces to demand the sick work, that's just vile and a violation of your rights as a worker. So work in solidarity with one another and demand that right back.

Thanks for reading. Take care, folks.

weirdest side effect of the pandemic is how many people i know who get sick and say 'but my covid tests are negative so i should be fine' like you know other illnesses. exist. right.

[milverton]

I watch Jake Broe's update videos on the war in Ukraine pretty religiously, so I wanted to share what he had to say in his latest video because I at least felt a little better about this whole new trumpocalypse fiasco after hearing some of the points he made.

Here's his tweet that summarises what he says in the video, but I would recommend still watching the whole thing! (I've bolded the main points)

Okay! We all needed a day to reflect on what happened and I have good news and bad news for Ukraine about Trump returning to the US Presidency.

Let's start with the bad news for Ukraine…

Trump could end all US military cooperation

Trump could lift all sanctions on Russia

Trump could return all frozen assets to Russia

Yes, that is all very bad, but there might be good news.

First, Trump is always transactional. It does not matter if Russia was helping Trump or not in the past, Trump does not feel like he owes anyone anything for past favors. If Trump ever gives something up, then he will want something in return at the same time.

Russia will make demands that Trump is happy to accommodate, but only if Russia agrees to something that makes Trump look good. If Russia refuses, then Trump will rapidly escalate against Russia out of spite. American weapons in Ukrainian hands have already killed hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers. Putin might refuse any kind of transactional deal with Trump. Nobody knows what either Trump or Putin will do. Trump could inadvertently destabilize Russia without even meaning to.

Second, Trump does not take over until January 20th, which means we know for a fact that Russia is not going to use a nuclear weapon before Trump returns to office. Russia is not going to start a nuclear war if they think Trump will give them favorable terms. Meaning there is no risk of escalation management the next two months. Take the gloves off!

For the next two months Ukraine should be given permission to hit whatever they want with whatever is given to them anywhere on Russian territory. Additionally, Biden now is forced to rush deliver and allocate the rest of America's available funds allocated by Congress to Ukraine this winter.

If instead Harris was re-elected and MAGA controlled Congress, military aid would have ended anyways and Biden would have tried to stretch these funds out until next summer. Biden can't do that now. So Ukraine is actually going to get a huge boost in military aid right away.

Third, even though I do not think Trump cares at all about Ukraine, he does care about his own image and legacy. He is never running for office ever again, but he loves to be loved by his supporters. He does not want to look weak and if Ukraine refuses to a negotiated capitulation and instead fights on without US help, these are going to be top headlines daily (maybe the fall of Kharkiv or the fall of Odesa) and this will make Trump look weak. He hates that. These would be images that would look worse for America than the US withdrawal of Afghanistan.

Forth, Trump hates Iran. Trump fiercely supports Israel and Iran is currently trying to destroy Israel. If Trump takes any military action against Iran (or looks the other way when Israel does) this could weaken or cripple one of Russia's most important allies. Harris was never going to do anything about Iran. Trump might actually cripple Iran and their Russian allied proxies in the Middle East.

Fifth, Trump loves the idea of cheap oil. He might actually find ways (cutting regulations, building more pipes, granting access to more public lands) that brings the global price of oil down so much that this ends up bankrupting Russia faster. That is not Trump's goal, but he might accidentally do it.

Sixth, Europe might finally militarily wake up once Trump stops answering their phone calls. Europe has the population and the economic power to support Ukraine and defeat the Russians without America's help. This is Europe's moment. They can't use America as an excuse anymore for holding them back.

Lastly… this is crazy, but Trump's economic plan of tariffs and trade wars might actually trigger a massive recession in the United States. When the US goes into recession, this almost always triggers a global recession. We realistically need an economic collapse of Russia to defeat them and Trump might accidentally cause this without even wanting to.

It is all weird to think about. But we just do not know what will happen or what the state of the war will be three months from now. It is a complete mystery to everyone, including the Russians.

Keep supporting Ukraine. Russia will be defeated.

[peachfruitcake]

🐑

[panevanbuckley]

Max Verstappen & Lando Norris || British GP 2023

[sassyfever]

Now that the new mini arc is finally starting Imma make a couple predictions. Angelina is now a bizarre doll and ✨coincidentally✨at the hotel. Grelle is also there. For drama's sake you know how it goes.

[monster-noises]

You know sometimes you spend an afternoon re-filing your old art by Year and it makes you think about an old silly project you did a bit ago that you Know you messed up the timeline on and also missed So many pieces and now that you've got everything organized... Gosh, wouldn't it be interesting to try that again and get the chronology right? That happens to you guys right? anyway here's a chronology of the way I've drawn myself since, well, basically since I started drawing. I have doubts anyone will find this as interesting as I do but that isn't going to stop me from throwing it at the lot of you (/v-v)/

[universalzones]

"I can take care of the airships easily now that my powers are more stable then they've ever been. If I build up my lightning in just the right way I'm basically a walking EMP along with control the radius." Surge wasn't too concerned about how many airships the chance's of them countering that isn't very likely. Not like anyone on the ground could stop her from getting that close either.

"I'll only use your satellite if we use my own custom online network." Kitsunami wasn't going to use his personal network as his paranoia didn't trust Tails to possibly snoop around it later so decided it would be better to use the one he's made and has been selling to others online, at least those close enough to the base as the radius wasn't too strong yet.

"That's assuming GUN doesn't have any anti-wisp weapons. They've been here long enough and GUN seems to trust anyone or anything that doesn't work for them. Though that's also assuming there's someone smart enough at GUN to make a device to repeal Hyper-Go-On Energy." Kitsunami didn't have enough intel on GUN to know.

"Though if you think we can just scare them off I'm sure me thrashing a ton of these chumps will send them packing. Might as well have a bit of fun." Surge was doing her hardest not to reveal her own plan to Kit yet as she knew he'd fight her on this. Best to wait until everything was settled and GUN was ready to back the fuck off and leave. At least she'll get to rough them up a bit.

Surge then watched as Amy and the Chief walked in, figuring it'd be best to let Sonic and everyone else deal with that. Sounded like GUN just threw a punch, though then watched the hedgehog dash off. "Oh great, now I have to be the calm one?! Fuck me!" The tenrec's lightning turned blue as she dashed after him with the intent to slam his ass against a wall to calm him down.

The Belle Bot would turn to look at Miles hearing he wanted to get on the coms before looking back at the Chief. "I can access intercoms here, shall I do so?" Currently the only one's who had command over the bot was Belle, Amy, and the Chief.

Sonic made his way back into the lobby munching on the energy Bar and giving Surge a sideways glance. He tossed the remainder of the bar up and chomped it down, surprised it was as good as it was! He didn't often like to eat sweet things but it wasn't so bad. He just knew the doc was right, he'd burned through alot of calories already he should probably keep his strength up.

" just tellin' ring tail to get well soon. Don't worry i'm ready when you are... let's find Lano, and see what our approach should be. Though i'm betting our fox boys can come up with a good plan to get us on the airship... "

Miles knew he had to keep his distance from Kit, despite wanting to be his friend. Despite wanting to put that harsh feeling aside and somehow make up for what he went through. It was impossible for him to do it in a day, a week or maybe even a life time. But deep down Miles saw Kit as someone he wanted to know more, maybe even call a friend someday. Working together was logical but he knew Kit's hatred and anger might make it difficult.

" No worries, i won't touch without your say so. Though maybe if we link your systems to my companies satellite we can get a clear picture of what's going on. "

Being a wealthy tycoon sometimes came in handy, if GUN knew his satellites were rigged to keep an eye for eggman they'd probably flip out! but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

" I'd like to know how many airships we are dealing with and what kind of ground force has been mobilized. Also i was thinking... We could have Espioa sneak past GUN's check point and mobilize our forces from the other side. If things do go sideways catching GUN from both sides could be an advantage... though in reality i'd like to take out there automated defenses first... as for getting you two up there. I'm betting our shadowy wisps can help us there... zap you right past enemy defenses, and catch them off guard. "

" assuming they won't piss there pants and stand down of course... Sonic on his own is pretty intimidating force. Having you both should be an ample deterrent "

Miles was pretty confident that this wouldn't evolve into a full scale battle. More then likely when GUN got wind that Surge and Sonic was on base they'd back off. GUN wasn't known for standing its ground, they often acted big but backed down when push came to shove. His real question was who was behind it all and why were they attacking restoration?

Yet his thoughts broke entirely when the front door to the lobby opened up and the Chief came hobbling in with Amy in his arms, her eyes half closed. Blood still staining her fur under her nose. She looked like she took a nasty hit. Though he didn't see any wounds she was barely conscious by the look of it and struggling to keep awake. Tails ears perked up high mostly because he knew how Sonic could be when it came to protecting his friends.

Sonic on the other hand seemed to stop entirely with his eyes growing more stern. It was a shift in his entire attitude, like a flip of a switch you could see the worry in his eyes, with a hint of anger as well.

" Amy! what happened... "

The chief was glad to see Surge and Sonic as well as Tails and Kitsunami! it really made him believe they had a fighting chance if things did go sideways. He shook his Head to sonic as the Nurses seemed to swarm off to check on her. His eyes went to Sonic's as he looked just as worried as he did.

" Someone attacked her... struck hard and fast, knocked her clean out. A concussion i think but, she's struggling to stay awake. They took off, Blaze tried to catch them but they got away... looked like a soldier from what Belle said... im figuring GUN but, no proof of that... "

Now miles knew you never tell Sonic who you THINK it is without proof. Especially when it was someone he cared for. A friend was one thing but he and Amy were particularly close to Sonic, and had known him the longest. Amy and Sonic had even tried to date in the past and although it didn't work out--- he knew Sonic had feelings for her even if they would never be a couple, those emotions were still strong.

Sonic touched Amy's cheek and nodded to the Chief, and let the Nurses take her back into a room. But Sonic's attitude took a harsh shift as he stormed out past Surge and Kit. Slamming the door open on his way out, his fur even seemed to grow a shade darker as little gusts of air seemed to shift about him as he tried to control his anger. Not many got to see this side of Sonic, that darkness he kept bottled up, the rage he kept at bay. In his life he'd only ever let this side of him out once or twice and it never ended well for those involved!

Truth was... he was ALWAYS holding back...

" i'll be right back..."

Miles tried to leap out and stop Sonic but the force of Sonic taking off at full speed created a blast of wind that nearly knocked Miles off his feet! Sonic was heading straight for the GUN check point at full speed! It was clear to Mils he didn't intend on talking or making plans! He was pissed, and was going to go nuclear on GUN!

" SONIC WAI--- fuck... I need to reach the command center! i need to talk him down before he kills someone..."

================================================

She wanted to be out there, to help but she knew Tangle was right. She brought the Lemur's hand to her lips giving it a little kiss of comfort even if she wasn't sure she could feel it. But chaos did she feel helpless and knowing it was GUN? She couldn't help but feel like her old home was colliding with her new home and everything was about to come crashing down. But she didn't let herself focus on the doom and gloom. Instead she focused on Tangle and the doctor, at least she could be here for her and get her through this and back on her feet.

Altiss picked up Tangle's chart flipping through the papers and examining the various tests that had been run. Knowing the toxin in question was important to treating it. The wrong anti-venom could make it worse, so he had to make sure he knew exactly what to give her and thankfully he was an expert when it came to toxin's and poisons given his own unique gift.

" Just checking your Tox screen i had them run when you arrived, i need to know what poison it was so i can give you the right dose of anti-venom. "

He set the chart back down and walked over to Tangle and flashed a light in her eyes checking the dilation of her eyes. Nodding to himself he had a good idea what it was.

" Don't worry if the place does get overrun... Dawn will handle it. She's quite a good shot with her Wispeon and her unique gift allows her to multiply herself nearly 100x's if she has to. Makes for an excellent nurse and ample defense force in a pinch... though let's hope it doesn't come to that "

Altiss made his way over to the counter picking up a glass vial. He flicked out a fang and milked about 20cc's of his own venom into the Vial. Turning to Tangle and flicking the vial once or twice and swirling the toxin. He grabbed a Syringe and filled it up with his Venom and flicked the syringe to remove the air bubbles and stepped back over to the Lemur.

" as for my gift--- i can manipulate Toxin's, change the chemical composition... turn a deadly nuero toxin into an anti-venom for puffer fish venom. Of all the doctor's you could have gotten you lucked out that it was me. "

He smiled at Tangle as he held the big needle up

" now--- how do you feel about needles... "

[arolesbianism]

Realized it’s been over a year since I last drew him and couldn’t stand by that

[toytulini]

broke one of my filters last night due to Stupid, but i think i salvaged most of the media worth saving, got them all clean, the fish were Eating Actively last night, and i added meds

[ajdrawshq]

listening to octopath music and drawing and writing stuff for my octopath pmd au so The Horrors(tm) dont get me

[samaspic31]

Im losing my mind the world’s on fire and i can barely do is make somewhat pretty pictures

[phantomdecibel]

LISTEN. I don’t know WHAT you EXPECTED, but you can’t just ask me to do something “later” or “eventually “, I’m finding those files NOW or it’s never happening, OKAY :(( ? let me do things. it’s called being helpful before I completely forget