#part of the point of coil was to explore what it might be like if Monika was *forced* to find a way to cope with her life post epiphany

[heartbeatbookclub]

I have a draft somewhere I never finished on this topic. I've always thought the subject of Monika's love for the player is super interesting.

I don't necessarily think it's completely false, but I think it's important to define what false would mean in this context. I think in the sense that Monika's love is a specific love for you, the person behind the screen, it's clearly not real. Monika has no real details on who you are, regardless of what she might think. She has no way of receiving direct contact from you in a way she understands.

But Monika's affection for you is not one big act, either. I don't think it is, anyway. I think Monika really does believe that she loves you. I think she genuinely is infatuated with you, and feels a great deal of care for you and your well-being. The way she talks about everything, it seems to me that she has truly sold herself on the idea that her feelings are genuine, even if in true yandere fashion, she's actually only in love with the idea of you.

I think it's a last ditch effort of denying the fact that she will be trapped in her reality for as long as she lives. She will never escape. She knows this. But knowing that you are here, and you love her, and she loves you, is enough...for now. I think she truly is content to keep talking to a brick wall that can't respond to her, forever, just happy to trust that you, whoever you are, are listening. And that sense, in and of itself, is something I think builds her view of you. You must be kind, and conscientious, and patient. You've stuck with her this long, and are still listening. A bad person wouldn't do that.

I think I definitely put it better and more concisely in our comment back in forth up there, so I'd recommend anybody reading this to read that if you really want it put simply and effectively, and I'll go ahead and just nab a quote from there to finish this:

"You are her only connection to the outside world. You are her only hope. She has destroyed everything for you. You are all she lives for. But you can't be together. Not really.

But she doesn't know any other way to be. In fact, she's so thoroughly entrenched herself in this kind of thinking, I think she might stay in that void, talking to someone she hopes is listening, until the hard drive holding her data and the RAM holding her in memory give out.

But deep down, I don't think she'd be happy."

Alright, I need to speak to SOMEONE with more of a vast understanding of characterization than me and considering well you can piece it together why I'm saying this to you specifically there's just a little bit of signs that point to you liking DDLC I dunno Anyhow but I got into ddlc about a month ago? I think I don't really remember, could've been a month and a half but from what I've seen, the wiser fandom belief is that Monika in no way feels any real romantic attraction to the player, and is just feeling like they are due to their desire and need to be real or that she's faking her attraction but, that doesn't exactly make sense to me, yknow? because in partial matters, the reason she starts doing what she does in the events of ddlc is because she wasn't given a romance route, so that points to her, in fact, craving romantic attention but being guarded off by the fact that the game literally doesn't have a route for her so even if by the end of the game she doesn't hold that sentiment, she did start it all because she wanted to be loved which by the end of the game? I still don't think it's just a masked desire to be real, sure, that can be present, but I don't think it's the singular thing that's on her mind and whilst the idea of her love being just the desire to be real, does make a lot of sense to be honest I really don't like it being the only thing, yknow? because to her at least, she does love the player, and I don't think the desire to be real would make sense for her actions after you delete her because post deletion she does outwardly reset everything so that you can be happy with the literature club and that doesn't make sense to me if she's just craving to be real, yknow? it can be a combo of wanting to be real and loving the player, but just wanting to be real alone doesn't explain why she chooses to set back the literature club and as well as the post-deletion-full-deletion I feel like people see her as being way more emotionally distant than she is I mean, place yourself as the only "real" one in a scenario, unable to achieve what could be your only lifeline to be real you'd do the same, right? but when she deletes the club it's because of Sayori getting admin permissions due to being head of the club, and Monika seeing herself doing all she did, going again deleting the club out of a mercy because, fairly, there's no happy endings in it I think that's it I write out alot, so yknow but yeah! those are all my thoughts seeya!

i feel like calling my takes "a more vast understanding of characterisation" gives them wayyy more credit than they should lol

in my experience, the fandom is kind of split between "monika did not love the player at all" and "monika did everything for the player and no other reason". which seems to be kind of a pattern when it comes to monika's character, shes either a complete monster or she did nothing wrong, she either loves the player or doesn't, she either cares deeply for the girls or she never cared at all. shes kind of always either one end of the spectrum or the other. and personally i think trying to fit her in such black and white categories really limit what you can do with her character.

my take on the whole "does monika actually love the player?" is yeah she definitely thinks she does, and maybe she does truly as well, but also it's way more complicated.

anyway, ive spent a lot of time questioning if monika's love for the player is real and the conclusion ive reached is that i don't think I'll ever be 100% sure if its not or if it is, simply because i dont think monika herself knows. she definitely truly believes its love, the main question is can we take her belief of it at face value?

Actually @beddhead-red and I had a convo about this a whileee back in the comments of this post so id suggest looking through that as well if you want a more detailed response

[hoover1st]

Work in progress I wrote for my durge and Astarion:

What makes me so special?

*M/F, no pronouns used, fingering, Astarion is manipulative, exploration of what Astarion might be like after all he’s gone through pre-tadpole*

Every nerve of mine is firing, or at least that seems like the most logical way to explain the effects of his cold fingers’ tireless ministrations

My minds a fuzzy haze; a different kind than I’m used to. I’m seeing stars, tensing up, when I feel a harsh icy finger press against my open, panting lips

“Shush now darling, it’s already painfully obvious to our companions that you need me, we needn’t illustrate the point any further”

Astarion’s smug grin peers down at me. It’s an effort to peel my eyes open, and I almost immediately regret doing so

My gut churns at his words and there’s the small, unrelenting voice that rings through my useless head. Yearning to wipe that shit eating grin off his face. Dig my nails into him and shout that he’s wrong, I don’t need him

I don’t do any of those things. I know that he’s right. I need him, and I’m not going to argue with the man whose ending my world with a couple digits

Astarion seems to know my body better than I ever could, or at least he does now. Maybe before all this, I could have done it by myself, knew how to tilt my fingers, what pace felt best. Yet I don’t, so I’ve resolved to letting myself be degraded by this pallid, sharp-toothed fiend

Against my better judgment, against the disgusting voice that grinds against the inside of my skull, I’m sucking that taut finger in with my tongue. I’m bobbing my head in agreement and holding in my whines as his grin widens at my compliance

He clicks his tongue, his amusement growing, “Yes that’s right dear, who else could possibly unravel you like this?”

I can feel the weight of his gaze as it rakes down my form, those sharp scrutinizing eyes devour me “You know that no one else could help you like I do, guide you with your condition, right?”

I don’t deign to respond, Im too focused on finding that sweet ending. he always does this anyways, asks these demeaning questions when I’m at my most vulnerable.

My blood boils as he picks up the pace, I know this dance by now. He quickens, works those magic fingers, then I feel the coil snap. Only this time, right as I’m about to burst, he rips his fingers out from my core with a sudden movement.

The hand that was once on my lips is digs into the side of my face, cradling my head up to his. My eyes snap open, a whine rips from my throat as my gaze finds his.

His face is cold and harsh, he’s a breadth away from me and his lips pull back into a snarl

Most would likely stiffen with fear at the sight of those mean crimson eyes or the threat promised in his glinting canines. Unfortunately for me, my body doesn’t seem to react to danger, another broken function of mine. Maybe if I were normal, I wouldn’t be in this situation.

His voice lacks the practiced sensuality. Instead it drips venom as he snarls “I asked a question my sweet. I don’t appreciate being ignored, especially not when I’m providing for you so kindly”

The voice is now screaming at me, scratching its claws at my forehead. It shouts at me to pay him pack for all his disrespect. For taking my lifeblood. It urges me with all its might to give him a taste of his own medicine, maybe see how his neck and blood tastes

Of course, I don’t listen. Astarion knows as well as I do that I’m weak. Every warrior has an Achilles Heel. Whatever the voice in me is, I know it hates Astarion. Hates the weakness I have for him, maybe that’s part of the draw I have to the vampire

I hold his gaze for a long moment. I pretend that I could hate him, pretend that I’m able to stand up to him, pretend that I’m making an exception just this once. I put on a good show. Baring my teeth, clenching my fists, meeting his gaze with my own, but we both know it’s a show.

With a heavy sigh I nod, “Fine Astarion, you’re right. I need you”

My voice is defiant and unconvincing but he accepts it. He pulls back, his sensual smug expression returning as his fingers trail back down my body, teasing my core, lightly circling my clit

This is good, this is worth the disrespect. I’ve forgotten all about it by the time his fingers stuff me, pumping in and out in rhythm to the song my body sings to him

Astarion’s back to whispering sugary sweet praises into my neck. This is our arrangement, as he makes me come undone, he gets his own payment. I’m on the edge when he sinks his teeth into my neck, groaning and lapping incessantly as he drinks my blood

The sensation always pushes me over the edge, and I cry as the coil in my stomach snaps. His fingers pump in me as I ride out my high, and for a brief sweet moment, we’re holding each other and shuddering, coming down from our highs.

It’s like clockwork. He helps clean me up, I offer to return the favor, he politely declines and claims “my blood is payment enough”, and he leaves me, sweaty and panting, alone in my tent.

I don’t believe him, but I dont understand why. This started slow, built to sex, and now has become this quick easy dance. I’ll take anything he will give me, but I desperately want to return the favor. I’ve lain here many nights, trying to figure out why he rejects my offers.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I suck at it. I wonder if I was once good and desirable, if the roles could’ve been reversed, and I could have Astarion begging me instead. My bodies primal instincts don’t tell me how to touch another gently, how to pleasure, so I’ve accepted that blood is a good exchange.

But sometimes I consider that it could be another part of whatever plot he has. Astarion likes to remind me I’m not the brightest, but the voice tells me not to trust him. Maybe one day he will remind me of how selfish I am, how my need for him isn’t fair and blood doesn’t equate to the way he makes me feel

Everyone has blood, what makes me so special?

[rivetgoth]

hi do you have any music recs for somebody who's trapped in the industrial rock/metal (kmfdm, nin, etc) cycle and wants to explore more lesser known and weird industrial artists?

Yesssss of course! I’ll try to list some artists I think would directly interest you based on your liking industrial rock. Hopefully this isn’t too much, for each band I’ll link a song from an album I’d recommend starting with :) I’m also not sure how much you know BEYOND the two bands you listed so if these are really obvious and you already know them I’m sorry 😭🙏

My immediate biased answer right now is Foetus because I’ve been obsessed recently. If you like the rock elements of industrial rock I genuinely think Foetus is perfectly accessible but he’s also so deranged and theatrical. Raymond Watts of KMFDM would collaborate with him and honestly once you get into Foetus you realize how much of Raymond’s early stuff is just directly taking inspo lol. Check out the album Nail.

I don’t know from the list you gave if you listen to Skinny Puppy or not, if you don’t you definitely should though. Incredibly important to the formation of what would become industrial rock and also my favorite band of all time. Trent even directly sampled the Skuppy song “Dig It” for “Down In It.” I’d specifically recommend checking out The Process (the most industrial rock of their discography) or Rabies (the most metal—they collaborated with Al Jourgensen of Ministry for it!) to start in your case.

The cool thing with industrial is so many of the older bands are all connected once you go back a bit, so if you find yourself liking a certain artist you can start exploring who they’ve worked with and a whole world of music opens up to you. Two early Skinny Puppy collaborators are The Legendary Pink Dots and Severed Heads. Both of those are also all time favorites and they can really shift your sense of what industrial music is and means because they sound very different from what industrial would become over time. Both formed between 1979-1980. Two favorites from them (off albums that I think are the best starting points!):

Going back a bit further, for the early pioneers I think you’d enjoy Einstürzende Neubauten and Cabaret Voltaire. Both of them were involved from the very beginning of the development of the genre and everything that came after them is in part thanks to them (as well as the other pioneers, but I’m trying not to overwhelm and I think these guys are really good starting points). You can really hear their influence if you trace the progression of the genre from them to the bands they worked with. Start with Neubauten’s Haus Der Lüge since that’s their most well known, & I’d say Cabaret Voltaire’s Code is a good balance between their very experimental early stuff and their most synthpop later stuff.

Of course I do think it’s worth checking out Throbbing Gristle if you haven’t. They’re the OG OGs that actually named the genre and everything. They are significantly less accessible and might not as quickly be your thing but imo they are worth knowing about so you can really hear where it all comes from. Maybe this is just my own preference but I feel like going back through the history and watching the progression and evolution of all of this was a huge part of what made me fully fall in love with the industrial genre and all of its weirdness. It made it feel like such a full and lively subculture of so many different people taking direct inspiration from each other over the years. Coil and SPK as well.

(SPK has very little on Spotify so a Bandcamp link it’ll be, and I’d recommend starting with Coil’s Horse Rotorvator which is not on Spotify but IS on YouTube, though one of the songs IS on Spotify…. lol)

What I basically gave you is a very very quick descent from 90s industrial rock to the beginning of the genre, obviously give or take a couple hundred bands lmao. I guess to me the best thing to do when you’re looking into these genres is to get deeper into the history of ‘em. There’s nothing wrong with preferring bands like NIN or KMFDM to bands like SPK and Throbbing Gristle, but I think it can really deepen your relationship to the former to at least know about the latter and what they sounded like and were doing.

I’m out of song links I’m allowed for a single post but I’ll also share a handful of other bands you can check out:

Nocturnal Emissions (start with Viral Shedding)

Fad Gadget (start with Fireside Favorites; Tovey was influential for both industrial and goth!)

Babyland (I’ve just recently been listening to them more, check out You Suck Crap)

Lead Into Gold (the solo project of Ministry’s Paul Barker, extremely good both old and new material, check out The Sun Behind the Sun)

If you haven’t yet just in general check out Wax Trax! Records because NIN and KMFDM were directly working with all those guys and that label put out some of the greatest music of all time. Ministry I assume you know if you like industrial metal but you gotta listen through Ministry’s discography starting from Twitch to Filth Pig, Revolting Cocks’ first two albums, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, Die Warzau, they’re not actually Wax Trax! but Electric Hellfire Club… etc. That’s obviously a lot of names and might be a bit more overwhelming but just starting with one and going thru who each band member has worked with will open up a MASSIVE world of music.

Umm or disregard all that and if you truly want weird music just listen to Caroliner.

^picture of their stageshow

[morelikeravenbore]

is there going to be any smut in how to make a villain? 👀

🦋 Hahaha anon coming in with the important questions 👀

Sooo short answer is no, there won't be any smut in Villain, lolol. There's a number of reasons for this, and I might expand on my thoughts on smut etc in another post, but basically at the current point in the story, Aurélie hasn't even been kissed yet. She's also just not the typa girlie who'd be comfortable with having her sex life written about in explicit detail (I've tried and it's weird and I just feel like she'd never forgive me for it.)

✨However✨

You anon'd me at a great time because the writing event in my HL server this month was Forbidden Fruit, and what better way to explore the dynamic between my li'l reserved, modest, very nervous girl and her clingy, overly affectionate, touchy boyfie. So without further ado, I present to you:

🦋 Content warnings: mature themes and sexual references, mostly fluff, pov character is a shy virgin, dry humping if you squint, of age post-Hogwarts. [1450 words] also on wattpad & AO3.

Noctilucent: luminous at night.

'Okay, now...' Aurélie took a deep, steadying breath. 'All you need to do is breathe,' she instructed in the most soothing voice she could manage.

Beneath her, sprawled out across the huge, squashy bed, his arms wide and his palms open to the ceiling, Sebastian let out an almighty snort of mirth.

'Breathe?' he laughed, immediately disrupting the state of perfect calm Aurélie had spent the last half hour cultivating. 'How can I breathe when you're sitting on me?'

Aurélie clapped her hand over his mouth.

'In through your nose,' she went on over the sound of his muffled laughter. 'Clear your mind of all distractio— eurgh!' She shrieked as something warm and wet pressed against her palm — his tongue. Horrified, she whipped her hand away from his mouth, wailing French invectives while he giggled beneath her.

Freshly graduated from Hogwarts, practicing Muggle meditation wasn't exactly how Aurélie imagined she'd be spending her first few weeks of adult freedom, but between Sebastian's chronic insomnia and her inability to stay asleep for longer than a few hours at a time, her need for relief from the insomnious nights had driven her to unorthodox measures.

But cultivating calm was no easy feat when it came to Sebastian Sallow; he was, after all, the epitome of impatience, as restless as a babbling brook and twice as chatty — not to mention a complete and utter boy whose inability to fall asleep was only exacerbated by the fact he was sharing a bed with a girl every night. A girl who, despite her vestal reservations, had rather a hard time easing herself into a state of calm when the aforementioned boy was shirtless beneath her.

Wiping her spitty hand across his stomach — and pretending to be thoroughly annoyed — Aurélie allowed herself a little indulgent peek of the wide-eyed, sleep-deprived maniac she was straddling: toned stomach and Quidditch-defined shoulders; golden-warm skin bathed in blue light from the jar of bluebell flames she kept by the bed; a novae of new freckles enhanced by the summer sun — he was noctilucent beneath her, like something borne of a dream, surely too unreal to belong to her.

As she dared to trail her fingertips across his stomach, Sebastian's breath stilled, his eyes glazed and his lips parted in silent adoration. To think that she'd fought against this — against him — for as long as she had, that she'd been so afraid of enduring more loss that the idea of falling in love had been the most unendurable thing in the world... Little did she know then, it was also the easiest, and she'd slipped into it so quietly that even now she couldn't quite pinpoint the moment it happened.

Perhaps it had been that very first day.

Though barely a shiver betrayed the tension of Sebastian's infractible restraint, Aurélie could feel it coiling in his stomach, his arms, his shoulders, pulling tighter each time he met her tentative movements with gentle upward thrusts of his own — but when she leaned down to trace the veins that bulged in his arms, starting at his elbow before dancing down to his calloused, upturned palms, he sucked in a breath and bucked his hips so suddenly that she almost toppled backwards.

He lunged forward, steadying her by the waist with a startled laugh before sliding his hands down to squeeze her bottom.

'Enjoying the view?' he teased, his eyes as bright with mirth as they were dark with desire.

'Eh oh!' she yelped, slapping his hands away. 'You're supposed to be avoiding distractions!'

'You are the distraction.' He tugged her down so they were chest to chest, racing heart against racing heart. 'And I don't want to avoid a single moment of this.'

Having only recently experienced her first kiss, sharing a bed with someone as physically affectionate as Sebastian, who expressed his feelings by hugging, kissing, pinching, squashing, squirming, pulling, biting, petting, and, apparently, palm-licking — usually while shirtless — was a bit of an adjustment. Still, though her newfound companionship came at the cost of sleeping half-smooshed beneath the brown-eyed, wild-haired embodiment of neediness — who seemed to grow an inch taller for every day closer he drew to his twentieth birthday and slept on both sides of the bed at once — it was one she never wanted to live without. Not even if it meant waking from a restless sleep with all manner of hard body parts pressing against her.

It was nice to be desired, even if she was still getting used to the idea of how very badly — and how very often — Sebastian desired her.

Blushing, Aurélie shifted her weight atop him. 'I can feel that, you know.'

'Feel what?' The wicked gleam in his eyes matched the grin that split across his face.

Her blush warmed. 'Your — baguette!' she stammered.

'I'd be disappointed if you couldn't.'

'Sebastian!'

'What? You're the one...kneading it!'

'Sebastian!' She rolled off him with an indignant squeak, but he only followed her, laughing madly as he flipped her onto her back and plonked his entire six-foot-something, half-naked body on top of her.

'It's hard to think of witty bread euphemisms when you're doing that!' he laughed, nuzzling the crook of her neck while she squirmed uselessly beneath him. 'Hard to think of anything, actually, except how cute you look when you're all flustered.'

Aurélie groaned, embarrassed by how responsive she was to his slightest touch, his softest breath, wishing she possessed at least an ounce of the seemingly boundless confidence that bolstered his every whim, to tell him what she wanted without blushing herself into oblivion.

'I like it when you touch me, you know.' Sebastian braced himself on his elbows and grinned down at her, his expression softening as he thumbed her hair away from her face. 'I'm not some forbidden fruit; you have my full and willing permission to touch me where ever you like.'

Aurélie made a sound like a moan and a snort rolled into one. 'Like here?' she teased, wiggling an arm free to squash his nose with her fingertip.

'Mmm...' he smirked. 'I was thinking a bit lower.'

She poked his chin.

'A lot lower.'

'Sebastiaaan...'

Laughing, he caught her finger and nibbled on it.

'Alright, alright, I'm sorry,' he said, mock-serious. 'What is it you want me to do?'

'Breathe!' she whined, kicking her feet against the mattress.

'Right. Breathe...' Fighting a smile, he dipped his head back to her neck and inhaled deeply, skimming his nose along her throat, her jaw, her chin, tickling all the sensitive spots he intuitively knew to kiss though she'd never had the nerve to ask.

She wished she had the nerve to ask now.

'And then?' he murmured, his lips brushing back and forth over her quickening pulse.

'B-breathe out.'

'Hmm.' His slow exhale was a warm caress across her face, gentle but persistent. 'If this is supposed to calm me down,' — he hummed against her throat, — 'it's definitely not working.'

'That's — because you're — doing it wrong.'

His eyes were endless when they lifted to meet hers again, entire galaxies reflected in the blue light; and there, glowing in the depths of them — brilliant and radiant and clear — was her.

'Then show me how to do it right,' he whispered, pressing her into the bed with his hips. 'Show me how to love you.'

A gentle nudge against his chest was all it took to reclaim her position on top of him; Sebastian rolled easily onto his back, his eager hands steadying her as he'd done before. But this time all his teasing humour was subdued beneath a reverent, half-lidded gaze, disturbed only by a flicker of amusement when she splayed her hands across his stomach and warned him not to fling her off again.

Taking her time now, she skimmed her fingers up his arm, from palm to elbow, elbow to shoulder, shoulder to face, summoning goosebumps over his skin as if by some unspoken command, a spell. Sebastian swallowed roughly, pushing his hips up to meet the downward pressure she applied, his throat bobbing, fists clutching the bedsheets. Aurélie felt the ripple of tension when she pressed down on him a little harder, the thrill of anticipation that hummed through his body into hers, tethering them both to a moment that felt universal in nature.

Infinite.

'Whatever you want, I'm yours,' Sebastian avowed, his voice thick. 'Just tell me what to do.'

Smiling demurely, Aurélie drew the blanket over them.

'Breathe in,' she instructed in the most alluring voice she could manage. 'And don't breathe out until I tell you to.'

[slybluehologhost]

DRAMAtical Murder ＞ Misc Assets [JAST USA Release, 2021]

...And here's everything else that I thought might be interesting! Since there's quite a hodgepodge of content here, I've loosely organized things into categories, but beyond that it's mostly up to you to explore in full. The more technical pieces would likely be more relevant for fan games, while other parts can just be fun to look at.

Package details & links are under the cut, or you can click here for a static page.

Misc — [ L I N K ] ＞ CHARACTER PROFILES — Those little character intro screens that Usui always shouts during ＞ CHOICES — Any assets relating to making in-game choices ＞ DIALOGUE BOXES — The boxes that all the text goes into, plus the frames for holding face images ＞ ENDING CREDITS — The credits for each route, along with the liner notes that unlock after 100% completion ＞ PIXELS — Full set of 8-bit sprites, as seen on the home screen & during Noiz's "Comfortable World" ending ＞ PROGRESS MARKERS — Pause screen assets to let you know what points you've gotten & how far along you are ＞ RHYME — All other Rhyme-related assets, including attack animations & UI ＞ SPECIAL ASSETS — Coil assets, glitched backgrounds & CGs from Noiz's route, logos & gang tags, & popups (like maps) ＞ SYSTEM — The technical stuff, including menu assets & glossary entries ＞ TEXT — A few special text screens ＞ TEXTURES & EFFECTS — Things that jazz up standard backgrounds & CGs, including headaches, blood, action, & much more ＞ These files contain spoilers for all routes — proceed with caution if you have not yet 100% completed the game

Looking for even more DMMd assets? ＞ [ L I N K ]

[rbrooksdesign]

Greetings!

Today, Plexus Projects has its online and in-gallery opening of a special exhibition -- “GUI/GOOEY” — this evening. Curated by founder Laura Splan, I am very excited to have been selected to exhibit in this group exhibition exploring my favorite subject: the interface of Art & Science! My work is under the “GUSH” subcategory. I am honored to be among those selected to have a gallery showing as well! The press release is in the LINK ABOVE. I would highly recommend that you follow up on some of the links to Laura’s own work, including her current show at the UC Irvine — it looks amazing!

My earlier solo Vitrine Exhibition “Oceans of Numbers” is still up for viewing.

~~~

Speaking of “Oceans of Numbers:”

Oceans of Numbers, Part 3

Our favorite barkeep's ^ dream went something like this:

Before the spiraling double-helical structure of the DNA molecule came to being -- you know, two sugar-phosphate strands wrapping around each other in a cylindrical form that are connected by the complementary pairing of their inner amino acid bases -- there most likely had to have been some form of pre-cursor shape and attractor in play.

Well, let's skip all the intermediary forms and go way back to the number forms, keeping in mind that they are just symbols for the real conceptual form -- quantity. Quantity of space and quantity of time. Distance traveled over ticks of the clock. Quantity of SpaceTime (ST). Yes, when you go from quantity 1 to quantity 2 you have motion: ST begins. And yes, all manifestations of energy and fields are simply expressions of synchronous, re-iterative, fractal-based pulse-propagations of individual, granular, quantum ST units. We see, become aware, develop consciousness as sentient beings at the peaks and sleep in the valleys.

Drawing on our previous "Oceans of Numbers," where certain ST quantities derived from the Exponential Power of 2 -- a.k.a. the Butterfly Fractal 1 -- gives us the simplest expression of doubling quantity 1 -->2, 2-->4, 4-->8,... we have now found that the numbers generated fall into two nearly-identical SETS or STRANS that appear to spiral around each other -- connected by a specific number -- one that is simply double its predecessor, albeit its role upon connecting to the other strand is different -- in a form that initially resembled that of the DNA double-helix. We refer to the individual group of defining parameters for any and all doublings as "containers" -- as they both express the BF1 and are candidates for being TRUE Mersenne Prime-Perfect Number pairings. The overlapping similarities have shown that any pattern of the Mp-PN pairings is only apparent within the context of considering ALL the "containers" expressions.

The initial DNA-like diagrammatic of the two STRANDS (Sets) show the PN "container" candidates connected by the doubling of the smaller PN of one to the CR (Complement Rectangle=xy) of the other larger, e.i. 28 x 2 = 56 and 56 is the CR of 120.

(see top 3 images: 1st is cylindrical double-helix: 2nd is split cone version diagrammatic; 3rd is overhead flattened cone diagrammatic)

.However, a crucial difference is apparent from the start. As one progresses along, all the numbers are expanding! We don't have a double-stranded cylindrical form -- no, we have a double-stranded conical form -- a cone! And a cone implies a small -- usually singular -- starting point that expands outward. Sound familiar? Yes, it is the shape of a quantum, granular number-fractal -- BF1 -- starting from quantity 1 and doubling itself as it pulse-propagates outward, before collapsing and repeating.

The STRAND 1 and 2 -- shown pulled apart -- coil together around each other, centered on their origin, quantity 1.

So what does this have to do with your Bank Account? Not much, but this analogy might help.

At your bank, you might have two accounts -- 1 & 2 -- that are nearly, but not exactly, identical. Of course each one has its own running balance, and at least at this bank, you can get a TOTAL running balance of all your assets at any time.

Differences between Account 1 & 2:

Account 1: the balance is NEVER evenly divisible by 24 after deposit, but the balance from one deposit to another is ÷24.

Account 2: the balance is ALWAYS evenly divisible by 24, and, the balance from one deposit to another is also ÷24.

Caveat: The running balance after deposit across individual Accounts 1 & 2 is NEVER evenly divisible by 24!

The BF1 STRANDS 1 & 2 are just like that! And, well, yes -- there are a few other differences:

STRAND 1: -- and ONLY STRAND 1 -- holds the TRUE and extremely rare Mersenne Prime-Perfect Number pairings.

STRAND 2: -- while appearing similar to 1 -- never holds ANY of the rare Mersenne Prime-Perfect Number pairings.

It should be pointed out that STRAND 1 also holds other "containers" that are NOT TRUE Mp-PN pairings.

So what does this have to do with the rest of "Oceans of Numbers?"

The 51 known Mp-PN pairings found exclusively in STRAND 1 are not only nearly identical to all the other "containers" -- and as such are stealthily hidden amongst an infinity of look a-likes -- but reveal themselves in only their purest, most minimalist manner: they have the least, minimalist number of divisors within ALL the "containers!" They are pure gemstones! Their resonance is pure!

The discovery of the Divisor Matrix Table (DMT) has put the entire "Oceans of Numbers" into context. The DMT holds ALL the natural whole numbers, and, all of their divisors. It is built from the natural doubling of quantity 1 in the form of the BF1. Yes, simple re-iterations of the fractal BF1 generates the entire, all-encompassing table of numbers and their divisors -- including the rare Mp-PN pairings. The implications for entanglement -- quantum entanglement -- entropy, order, and the passage of time are real. The only disorder one sees is that that is not yet resolved.

Is that the damn alarm clock? Whose counting anyway!

~~~

If you go to the bottom of this page on my website, you will find more context. You will also find the four-part video series — “Numbers: Doubling Fractals Fill the Voids” that is included in the GUI/GOOEY exhibition. TIP: on Vimeo, you can change the playback speed by selecting the “gear” icon. TIP: don't miss the Part 4 video, it's the one featured in the gallery showing.

Here is the link for TES (Teachers, educators and students)

~~~

[graffic17]

Chariot!

Another minor character for the collection.

Chariot is fascinating to me because we know so little about him. We get the bare minimum of his personality, that he's driven more by money and wanting to upgrade his tech than any ideological pursuits. Which he why he works for Coil. More thoughts under the cut.

We don't know his Trigger Event. We don't know how long he's had powers. We don't know if he's purely a Tinker or if he has a Thinker sub ability to cope with the enhanced speed his tech provides. We don't even know if the woman that Kid Win meets when visiting him is actually Chariot's mother or a Coil merc. And we certainly don't know what happened to him after Coil's death.

There's three possibilities for what happened to him. He's dead. He got captured and jailed by the PRT. Or, he escaped and laid low until Gold Morning.

Judging by how useful his tech is, being able to completely mimic Mover abilities, even sought after ones like teleportation, and how he's not mentioned at any point after him being jailed isn't the most likely to me.

Personally, I like to think he escaped and laid low, and survived Gold Morning. Afterwards, I think he'd likely become a mercenary again, maybe even being a part of the Mall Cluster's entourage of mercs, given how well his tech would intersect with their Mover abilities. I do also have a scenario I like where he ends up teaming up with Blockade (the daughter of Bastion, number 1 Vista traumatizer), and another Tinker that makes Brute-mimicking gear to become a heist crew. Something I might explore in future art.

Also, I find it interesting that he could have tech based on most of the other Brockton Wards. Like, slow-down grenades (Clockblocker), terrain shortening (Vista), hover tech (Kid Win), a flight pack (Glory Girl, not technically a Ward but y'know), and so on. Plus all the other Brockton capes with Mover abilities he could have potentially scanned, or the Tinkers whose tech he could have studied (especially Squealer). Chariot just has the potential to be an utter power house.

[incissam]

💭 + childhood / dreams / nightmares

Buckle up this is going to be sizable.

Daenerys

Childhood

Dany's childhood wasn't always an easy one considering that when she was five years old she was forced out of the only home she had ever known. She associates the loss of the house in Braavos with the red door as a kind of loss of safety and even innocence in a way. Her childhood from age 5 and up was one of always looking over her shoulder once she was old enough to understand what Viserys meant by the assassins chasing after them. Due to the fact that they were on the streets off and on for 8 years she did pick up a few survival basics and thievery skills with being forced to grow up quickly due to her circumstances. There were nights where they slept on the streets huddled in alley ways and praying they weren't noticed and some where they slept in nice houses of nobles hoping to get something out of them. Though when the money was all gone the niceness stopped until Illyrio took them in. Living with Illyrio restored some of that missing childhood for her until the time came of her maturity so that she could be wed.

There are times in which she wishes that she could go back to being a young girl and behaving her age rather than being a leader. She misses that lost childhood which is why she will have sleep overs in her room with Missandei because she is the closest in age to herself. She is her little sister and best friend in a way that her other ladies cannot be. In these little moments they are both reclaiming their lost childhoods.

Dreams

Daenerys has a dream of returning home and fulfilling Viserys' dream of taking back the Iron Throne for their house. She only adopted this on his death because it was everything that he wanted and since she feels responsible for his death she wants to fulfill his dream. Her own dream prior to his death was to find a home where she could feel safe and maybe start a family of her own. Now she always has a target on her back because she wants to see her family rightfully restored as it's assumed last member.

In terms of literal dreams though she has dragon dreams in which she is a dragon flying over Westeros or viewing events of the past. Some of these might be prophetic, but they always leave her feeling changed the next day.

Nightmares

Daenerys is plagued by nightmares. There are nights where she has nightmares of Viserys with his face still melting from the gold and telling her that she has failed their family or she is not good enough. She also has nightmares about the past and unseen assassins chasing her as a child. There are other nightmares that are about her failing in her goal to take back the iron throne because she is not strong enough and these haunt her to the point of her sometimes lashing out when there are problems that she is unsure how to face.

Rhaenyra

Childhood

Childhood for Rhaenyra was a bit complicated. It was really great when it was great and then it got to be not so great when her mother died and she was named heir. That put a bit of pressure on her and forced her to grow up a bit faster than maybe Aemma would have ever wanted her to. It only got worse when Viserys remarried and she felt herself becoming more distanced from her father due to him becoming so coiled around Alicent and their children. It also wasn't like she didn't try to be a big sister to Alicent's kids either, but found when she was getting closer to being a family she was forced several steps back which made the remainder of her childhood difficult. The only parts that she truly looks back on fondly were the parts with her mother when she could spend time with her.

Dreams

Rhaenyra's dreams have evolved over the years. When she was young her dream was to have her independence to explore the world and have a life of adventure like her Uncle Daemon. As she grew though her dream became to have the peace that her father wanted to keep for the 7 Kingdoms only she wanted it at home. Living in the Red Keep became a war zone to the point of her moving and her dream became giving her sons the happiness that she didn't always have wanting to see them have a bright future.

Nightmares

Rhaenyra ended up living her nightmares. Her nightmares were seeing everyone that she loved dying. In the last years of her life she lived her nightmares in seeing her father die, her only daughter be stillborn and malformed, all of her sons from her first marriage dying, both of her husbands dying before her, her lover dying, and her dragon dying.

[twentyyearstoolate]

One of my favorite things in fantasy media is the exploration of magic as a utility in day-to-day living. Like in D&D, it's touched on how some spells have applications that adventurers might find marginally useful, but have ground-shaking impact for society at large. Like Plant Growth, for example:

This is a great area control spell, but the second effect has huge worldbuilding potential in any game where spellcasters are even remotely common, and I'm a little sad that it gets slept on. It doesn't take a historian to tell you that kingdoms rise and fall on their ability to procure food for their inhabitants. The implications of this spell that can effectively guarantee a bumper crop make me incredulous about how few court druids there are compared to wizards, even in WotC's own materials - A single person that is capable of doubling the food output of 500+ acres of land every day is a fucking golden goose, far more so than some pointy-hatted old man who can create explosions, and maybe even more valuable than one who could turn lead into gold. You can't eat gold, but you can sure sell excess produce to your neighbors.

And think of the knock-on effects here for storytelling and plot hooks - Druids tend to be motivated by the cultivation and protection of natural resources, and that's in direct conflict with the consumption and expansion of a kingdom, to the point that a circle that once offered this spell to a smaller village to prevent a famine might now withhold their spellcasting services unless the king agrees to turn a particular forest into a nature reserve, but the king needs that wood to build and maintain a navy to protect the kingdom from pirates and warring factions, to construct additional housing for ever more citizens, or even just to survive the harsh winters. Can a party convince the druid that the needs of the kingdom and its people outweigh the need to preserve the forest? Or the king that the forest should be preserved, and there are other means of achieving these ends? Maybe there's another solution that satisfies both parties that you haven't thought of buried in a class feature or another spell, but one of the players will?

And keep in mind, this is just one spell, and it's a spell that shows up in the PHB because it is also useful to PCs. Other spells like Fabricate, even cantrips like Mending, have the potential to drastically reshape what a fantasy society looks like if they're accessible to more than just the PCs or hostile NPCs. And if you're willing to dip your toes into homebrewing, you can make the kinds of spells that nonadventuring casters would have need of. A spell that can sort things based on caster specifications. A spell that can build and paint a row of fencing around a designated area. A spell that summarizes a body of text, or simplifies instructions. The possibilities go on.

It's fun to expand on this further into magic items, the kind that tell stories about their users and/or creators, and make sense as tools that would be useful for both common folk and adventurers. Perhaps one of my favorite homebrew magic items is a ring that the party found on a dead kobold trapper after reaching the far end of a rigged ruin, his skeleton pinned against the wall by a spear in front of a concealed hideout:

Ring of Tripwires - Ring, uncommon This bronze ring has a seemingly infinite coil of thin, clear wire wrapped around it. The wearer can produce any length of strong, semitransparent string from the ring. Any string produced in this way is otherwise mundane. Once per day, as an action, the wearer can drag the ring a few inches over a walkable surface, drawing up to 15 feet of string in a straight line. This magical string is invisible, can be connected to a trap as part of a triggering mechanism, and remains until it is broken or this ability is used again. Any creature who moves into it must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone, as the string breaks. If it is connected to a trap, the trap also activates. Regardless of whether the save is successful, the wearer knows when the string has been broken.

(As an aside, I love taking the time to put this kind of bespoke treasure on NPCs, living or dead, because there's a very direct connection between the storytelling and the mechanics that makes the encounter come alive, as opposed to the blandness and occasional dissonance of the typical dead adventurer item economy where players routinely stumble across corpses and hoards with useful things, or loot them from hostile creatures, when it raises questions about how they couldn't or didn't use these to get out of a jam - god forbid you use a random table to generate loot, because then you get the party wondering why this bandit chief was carrying a +1 longsword, a wand of missiles and a potion of invisibility, and didn't think to use those items in the fight they just died in against an adventuring group.)

Anyway, back to the point - magic in these settings has the potential to be so versatile and integral in worldbuilding, and if you have NPC casters and don't explore the possibility of the use of magic in day-to-day life, you're leaving so much good story on the table. If you're looking for inspiration, it's never a bad time to peruse the spell lists. Don't just say a wizard did it - find out how. It's a lot of fun.

[johngarrison1517]

Maximizing Cable Length: VCM Performance at 30m

When was the last time you faced challenges with cable length in your system? What happens when your equipment can only work within a short distance but your project requires longer cables? For industries relying on precision and reliability, such as automotive, robotics, or advanced camera systems, the distance that a signal can travel can make or break the system’s performance. But what if the solution to a longer cable length didn’t compromise the performance you’ve come to rely on? That's where the VCM actuator comes into play, offering possibilities that you might not have considered.

In this blog, we’ll dive into the technology behind VCM actuators and explore how they can maximize cable length—up to 30 meters—without losing performance. Whether you're looking to extend the reach of your camera systems or fine-tune a precision tool for an automotive design, VCM actuators are poised to solve many of your cable length issues. Let’s explore how these advanced components can provide value to your system while addressing key pain points like signal degradation, noise interference, and limited flexibility.

The VCM Actuator: Unlocking New Possibilities

The VCM (Voice Coil Motor) actuator, often used in cameras and other precision applications, operates based on a simple yet efficient electromagnetic principle. It’s a linear motor that moves a part in a direct, precise manner without the need for gears. This makes it ideal for a variety of applications, from autofocus mechanisms in cameras to precise movement in robotic arms.

However, the standard limitation of VCM actuators, like many other precision components, is the length of the cable that can be used without significant performance loss. In many systems, the signal transmission over long distances can introduce noise or result in a loss of power. For example, an autofocus system in a camera may fail to perform correctly if the cable length is too long, leading to delays or inaccuracies in focusing.

So, how can a VCM actuator overcome this limitation, and how can it help you extend your cable lengths to 30 meters without sacrificing performance? Let's break it down.

Overcoming Signal Loss and Degradation

One of the primary issues that customers face when working with longer cables is signal degradation. As the cable length increases, the strength of the signal weakens, leading to lower efficiency and potential failure of the system. For a VCM actuator, this issue is especially critical since precision is key, and even minor errors can lead to a compromised result.

To address this problem, VCM actuators designed for extended cable lengths use specialized signal transmission techniques and components that maintain signal integrity. For example, high-quality, shielded cables are often used to minimize electromagnetic interference (EMI), which can cause issues such as noise or unpredictable performance. Additionally, using signal repeaters or active components within the system can help boost the signal strength over long distances, ensuring that the actuator receives the necessary power and feedback for smooth, precise operation.

By implementing these solutions, it’s possible to maintain the integrity of your system even at 30 meters, making the VCM actuator a reliable option for long-distance applications.

Maximizing Performance in Camera Systems

Let’s focus on one of the most common uses for VCM actuators: camera systems. Whether you're working in industrial inspection, retail, or even telemedicine, camera systems often require precise control over lens movement, focus, and positioning. Traditionally, the longer the cable connecting the VCM actuator to the system, the more prone it is to performance issues. These issues can include delayed autofocus, blurry images, or inaccurate zoom functions. For many industries, this can lead to operational inefficiencies or poor user experiences.

But when you integrate VCM actuators capable of supporting 30-meter cable lengths, you unlock new possibilities. Imagine a retail environment where cameras are positioned far away from the central control system, or a factory floor where robotic cameras need to move freely but stay connected to the power source. With optimized VCM actuators, you can achieve smooth, precise movement and focus adjustments even with long cables.

This ability to maximize cable length without compromising performance is a game-changer in industries where remote cameras and precise adjustments are critical.

Reducing Interference and Increasing Flexibility

Another concern when dealing with long cables is interference. As cables extend over greater distances, the likelihood of picking up electromagnetic interference (EMI) increases. This interference can disrupt the VCM actuator’s performance, causing erratic motion or even failure to respond correctly.

VCM actuators designed for long-distance use often come with built-in protection against EMI, such as robust shielding and optimized power supply designs. This allows them to perform reliably in environments with high levels of interference, providing peace of mind that your system will function as expected, regardless of external factors.

Additionally, with the capability to run cables over 30 meters, you gain more flexibility in your system design. Whether you need to position actuators in hard-to-reach places or reconfigure your system to accommodate more space, the ability to extend cable lengths without worrying about signal loss or interference allows for greater versatility in your designs.

Applications Beyond Camera Systems

The versatility of VCM actuators doesn’t stop at cameras. These components are integral to a wide range of industries that rely on precision movements. In robotics, for example, VCM actuators can control the exact position of a robotic arm, providing movement with millimeter-level accuracy. In automotive applications, they can be used to fine-tune everything from seat adjustments to advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), all while maintaining the flexibility to run longer cables.

By extending the reach of your VCM actuators to 30 meters, you can design systems that are more adaptable, more capable, and more efficient. The ability to place actuators further from the control unit without sacrificing performance opens up new avenues for innovation in industries ranging from manufacturing to healthcare.

Empowering Your System Design with VCM Actuators

Are you ready to take your system to the next level? With the ability to maximize cable length while maintaining the high-performance standards expected of VCM actuators, you’re no longer limited by the constraints of short cables. Whether you’re upgrading an existing system or designing something entirely new, the VCM actuator is your key to unlocking more flexibility, more reliability, and more performance.

Don’t let cable length hold you back. Take advantage of the technology that can propel your systems forward and improve efficiency, precision, and flexibility in your designs. If you're looking to integrate VCM actuators with extended cable lengths into your system, don't hesitate to reach out. Our team can help guide you through the process, ensuring that your setup meets your exact needs while delivering the top-tier performance you require.

Ready to Maximize Your System's Potential?

If you’re ready to enhance your system's performance with VCM actuators that can support 30-meter cable lengths without compromising precision or reliability, contact us today to discuss your needs. We’ll help you integrate the best solutions into your design and ensure your system performs at its best—no matter the distance.

[withinkandquill-aa]

[ PRESENTS ] for receiver to open a present from sender. (bonus points for saying what the present is.)  It's a painting of them both. Not the formal royal portraits you might expect but a smaller, roughly hand size oval canvas. Cardan's looking ahead smiling, his dark hair framed in a gold halo like the crest of a dawning sun. Hel is stood beside him, she's not looking ahead but she is smiling. Up at him. Her read hair is framed in a pale yellow. Like a waxing moon's light. At the very bottom left it is signed in the three runes that make her name: ᚺᛖᛚ. // Cardan & Hel // @helreginn

Gift-giving is not a task Cardan takes lightly, namely because faeries don’t give gifts. They do not celebrate mortal holidays like Christmas or Valentine’s Day that mandate it and while they do throw lavish balls on solstices, gifts and offerings are not part of the ritual. Reciprocity is, after all, required. It is as ingrained in the fae as their inability to speak lies and it makes for a dangerous game, one that can easily be manipulated to someone’s whim. Therefore, it is something generally avoided unless one had something to gain.

Hel is different, however. Her tongue speaks lies with ease and yet Cardan often feels as though she is the most genuine thing in this entire kingdom and she gives these gifts willingly, unafraid of consequences.

Cardan was glad that this time, he came prepared thanks to Hel’s forethought for communication and careful planning of their solitary rendition of her native holidays. They had tucked themselves away in Hallow Hall while Balekin was blessedly enjoying the week-long party at the palace. It was an event of no consequence to Cardan. If the absence of the youngest prince was noted, it would be with relief.

“You crafted this?” His fingers hover over their likenesses, wanting to explore the craftsmanship but too scared to touch it lest he ruin it somehow. Not only was talent evident but attention to detail, thought, and some fondness at the very least. “It is remarkable.”

Cardan stands only to pivot towards the roaring fireplace. His eyes scan the mantel before he slides a few trinkets around to give the portrait a place of honor in the center. He quickly comes back to his seat on the floor to offer up a small wooden box engraved with a delicate wreath of forest motifs - leaves, acorns, rabbits, deer, songbirds - each shining with gold foiling. But this is simply the packaging. Once opened, Hel would see a necklace lying on a burgundy bed, gold (to claim her the way the silver on his arm seems to claim him) shining in the firelight. Like the ornamentation on the box, it is a circle of sticks and leaves, acorns and songbirds, a snake even coils from one of the branches, it’s head drooping below, a tongue made of metal as delicate as lace flicking from its mouth. The craftsmanship was so skilled, so detailed that it could only be magical.

And magical, it was.

Cardan had little patience in the moment, but it is not annoyance that urges him into early movements and explanations. It is an almost boyish enjoyment of the exchange, a child-like eagerness to reveal all his secrets. His fingers claim the necklace and drape it around her neck. The movement immediately brings the scent of oak and pine and fresh autumn breezes. When the metal fragments bump against each other, it is not the tinkling of metal on metal that she hears, but morning birdsong.

“I know you miss the forest,” he says. “I do not know the one you call home and I cannot take you to it, but I hope I have managed to capture a piece of something similar. Now, close your eyes.”

As she does, he takes her hand, presses the pads of her fingers to the metal and somehow, she seems transported into an autumn wood, busy with creatures as they prepare for the coming winter, but his voice still sounds clear above it all and his hand is still warm against hers, even through the illusion of a chilly breeze.

“It is the best I could do, but I hope it suffices.”

[alsaadhomeeee]

The Digital Bed Bazaar: Your Roadmap to Seamless Online Mattress Shopping

In today's digital world, the convenience of online shopping has touched almost every aspect of our lives. One area where it’s revolutionized the experience is mattress shopping. No longer do you need to roam through multiple stores, testing different beds, or speaking to pushy salespeople. With the rise of e-commerce, you can now browse, compare, and buy your mattress and home essentials from the comfort of your home, especially in the UAE. Alsaad Home UAE (alsaadhome.com/ar/aed) provides a seamless online shopping experience, making it easier than ever to buy مراتب سرير, مرتبة طبية, or any other home furnishing items like طقم لحاف قطن and مفارش سرير.

bed sheet

Why Shop for Mattresses Online in the UAE?

The UAE is a hub for luxury and comfort, and this extends to home furnishing and bedding solutions. With Alsaad Home, the process of buying a mattress has become simple, quick, and hassle-free. You can browse various types of mattresses including مرتبة فنددقية, دوشق, and even مرتبة طبية at the click of a button. Online platforms give you a variety of choices and detailed product descriptions to help you pick the perfect mattress without leaving your home.

The Benefits of Online Mattress Shopping

Convenience at Its Best Whether you're looking for a high-quality فرشة سرير or a specific type of mattress like مرتبة سرير, you can browse through different options from anywhere, be it your couch or your office. This eliminates the need to drive through the crowded streets of Dubai or stand in long queues at traditional brick-and-mortar stores.

Wide Variety of Options One of the biggest advantages of shopping online at Alsaad Home UAE is the wide selection of mattresses. Whether you need a مرتبة طبية for health reasons or a luxurious مرتبة فنددقية for a hotel-like experience, you will find everything you need in one place. You can also explore options for your entire family, like مفارش نفرين or مفارش نفر for smaller beds.

Competitive Pricing Alsaad Home UAE offers competitive pricing and exclusive online deals that you might not find in physical stores. If you're looking to buy buy mattress online in Dubai, UAE or buy mattress in Dubai, UAE, shopping online gives you access to discounts and offers that can save you a significant amount of money.

Easy Comparison The best part of online shopping is that you can compare various brands, materials, and price points at your convenience. You can easily filter options for comforter set buy online in Dubai UAE, single bed comforter set buy online in Dubai UAE, or king size bed sheet in Dubai UAE, ensuring that you find exactly what you need for your home.

Finding the Right Mattress Online

Shopping for the right mattress can feel overwhelming, given the numerous choices available. But knowing what to look for can simplify the process. Here are some tips:

1. Know Your Mattress Type

Alsaad Home UAE offers a variety of mattresses to suit different needs. For instance, if you’re looking for a mattress with optimal health benefits, a مرتبة طبية may be ideal. These mattresses are designed to support the spine and alleviate back pain, making them a great choice for those with medical conditions.

On the other hand, if you're after comfort and luxury, the مرتبة فنددقية gives you that hotel-like sleep experience. These mattresses are soft, plush, and designed for superior relaxation, providing that luxury feel right in your own home.

2. Check Mattress Sizes

Before you buy mattress Dubai, it’s essential to measure your bed frame. Most online stores offer a variety of sizes, including single, double, and king. Be sure to confirm your bed size so that you can match it with the right فرشة سرير or مرتبة سرير.

3. Consider Durability

Durability is key when investing in a mattress. The materials used, such as memory foam, latex, or spring coils, can affect how long a mattress lasts. Many high-quality mattresses, such as the مرتبة فنددقية, are built to withstand years of use, ensuring you don’t need to replace them frequently.

More than Just Mattresses: Complete Your Bedroom Setup

A mattress is just the first step to creating a cozy bedroom. With Alsaad Home, you can find an entire range of home essentials to complement your new mattress, ensuring your home is as comfortable as possible. Here are some items to consider:

1. Bedding Essentials

In addition to mattresses, Alsaad Home UAE also offers a variety of مفارش سرير and شراشف سرير. Whether you need a bed sheet set with comforter buy online in Dubai UAE or a quilt cover set in Dubai UAE, the options are vast. The white bed sheet is a classic choice, providing a clean and crisp look to your bedroom.

2. Pillows and Comforters

What’s a good mattress without equally comfortable pillows? Alsaad Home offers a variety of وسادة نوم and مخدة طبية that complement your mattress and provide you with the best possible sleep. If you're looking for something soft, buy pillows online in Dubai, UAE from their extensive collection. And for those cooler nights, browse the Comforter Set Dubai options that include single bed comforter sets and king-sized sets for ultimate coziness.

3. Home Decor and Accessories

Complete your bedroom with stylish accessories and decor. You can explore اكسسوارات منزلية, إكسسوارات ديكور, and even كتب ديكور to give your bedroom the personal touch it needs. For flooring, buy carpet online in Dubai UAE and choose from a wide range of سجاد تركي and زولية options that add warmth and style to your space.

Scented Comfort for Your Bedroom

A well-decorated bedroom isn't complete without the right ambiance. Alsaad Home offers مع��رات فراش and معطرات جو to keep your bedroom smelling fresh and inviting. For those looking to pamper their skin, the كريم الحلزون and صابون الحمار are luxurious options that promote skin health while adding a touch of spa-like luxury to your daily routine.

see more:-

شراشف, شرشف سرير, طقم شرشف, شرشف مطاط, مفارش سرير

مخدات , وسادة نوم, وشائد نوم, مخدة طبية, وسايد نوم

سجاد تركي, سجاد , زولية, سجاد ممرات , سجاد الامارات, سجاد دبي

مراتب سرير, مرتبة فنددقية, دوشق, فرشة, مرتبة طبية

علامات حقائب جيدة شراء الأمتعة عبر الإنترنت شراء حقيبة سفر عبر الإنترنت

[accurateautorepair]

Car Air Conditioner Repair: Common Failures and Costs in Canada

As Canadians, we’re no strangers to weather extremes, from icy winters to sweltering summers. While we focus heavily on winterizing our vehicles, summer brings its own set of challenges, particularly when your car’s air conditioning (A/C) system isn’t performing at its best. When that cool breeze turns warm, you know something is wrong. In this blog, we’ll explore common car A/C failures and what you can expect to pay for repairs in Canada.

Common Car A/C Failures

Whether your car’s air conditioning has stopped working entirely or is just blowing warm air, several common issues could be at play. Understanding these problems can help you diagnose the issue early and get the system back in working order.

Refrigerant Leaks

If your A/C is blowing warm or only slightly cool air, a refrigerant leak could be the culprit. Refrigerant is the substance that cools the air, and even a small leak can reduce its effectiveness.

Leaks commonly occur due to damaged hoses, seals, or other connections in the system. Over time, these parts can degrade, causing the refrigerant to escape.

Leak repairs and refrigerant recharges typically range from CAD $200 to $400, depending on the extent of the damage and the type of refrigerant your car uses.

Compressor Failure

The compressor is the heart of the A/C system, pumping refrigerant through the system. If your compressor fails, your entire A/C system will stop working, and you may hear odd noises coming from under the hood.

Compressor failure often results from mechanical issues, such as internal wear and tear or overheating. If left unchecked, a faulty compressor can lead to more extensive system damage.

This is one of the more expensive A/C repairs, with compressor replacements costing between CAD $600 and $1,500, depending on your vehicle's make and model.

Condenser Problems

If your A/C is underperforming or blowing only slightly cool air, the condenser might be blocked or damaged.

The condenser, located near the front of your vehicle, can easily become clogged with debris, or it may suffer from a leak, restricting the flow of refrigerant.

Cleaning a condenser is relatively inexpensive, typically CAD $100 to $150. However, if it needs replacing, expect costs to climb to CAD $400 to $900.

Blower Motor Issues

Is your A/C blowing cold air, but at a weak airflow? The problem could be with the blower motor, which pushes the cooled air through your vents.

Electrical problems, such as a faulty blower motor or resistor, often lead to reduced airflow or no airflow at all.

Blower motor replacements usually cost between CAD $200 and $500, depending on the labor involved and your vehicle's complexity.

Electrical Issues (Fuses, Wiring, and Relays)

Electrical issues can cause the A/C to stop working entirely, or the fan may not turn on.

Blown fuses, faulty relays, or damaged wiring are often to blame for electrical failures in the A/C system.

Electrical repairs typically range from CAD $100 to $300, depending on the problem's complexity.

Evaporator Coil Problems

Poor cooling performance, or a musty smell from the vents, might point to an evaporator coil issue.

The evaporator coil can become clogged or develop leaks over time, impairing the system’s ability to cool air effectively.

Replacing an evaporator coil can be pricey, ranging from CAD $800 to $1,400, primarily due to the labor involved in accessing the coil.

Factors Affecting Repair Costs in Canada

Several factors can influence the overall cost of car A/C repairs in Canada:

Vehicle Make and Model: Luxury or high-performance vehicles like BMW or Audi typically have more expensive parts and labor costs.

Geographic Location: Repair costs in major urban centers like Toronto, Vancouver, or Montreal tend to be higher than in smaller towns or rural areas.

Type of Refrigerant: Older vehicles use R134a refrigerant, while newer models may require R1234yf, which is more eco-friendly but also more expensive.

Labor Rates: Labor rates can range from CAD $70 to $150 per hour, depending on the region and the complexity of the repair.

Preventative Maintenance Tips

Want to avoid hefty repair bills? Follow these simple tips to keep your car’s A/C system in good shape:

1. Run the A/C Regularly: Even during winter, run your A/C for a few minutes to prevent the seals from drying out.

2. Keep the Condenser Clean: Check for leaves, dirt, or debris blocking the condenser, especially after driving on dusty roads.

3. Annual Check-ups: Have your A/C system inspected annually by a certified technician. A small investment in maintenance can save you from expensive repairs down the road.

Conclusion

Car A/C issues can be frustrating, especially when the temperature rises, but understanding common problems and repair costs can help you make informed decisions. Whether it’s a refrigerant leak, compressor failure, or an electrical issue, knowing what to expect in terms of cost and repair time will help you get back to driving comfortably. Don’t forget to perform routine maintenance to prolong the life of your A/C system and keep those summer drives cool and enjoyable!

By staying proactive, you can ensure your car’s air conditioner is always ready to battle the summer heat.

[neimiismycoolgirlname]

Diary of Cadence Oakling, Mer , adventurer. 

I lost my previous journal, the one in which I kept notes of the events occurring during escorting missions. I don’t mind though. This is all behind me. What even was the point of noting who died in my group when even the clients did not give a fuck. We might as well keep track of how many claw marks we ended up with for all they cared. I decided I would stick to the habit however. It feels right to note what we did and what we learn of a place, a person,... Also there’s a certain usefulness of keeping track of the time passing, maybe this will be the last thing I leave on this earth ? Gods I hope I fill at least one of these before I croak. Following the Scorned Grove Tenders leader’s instruction, I made my way towards the Tangle wild. I know my way around these parts so it was just a matter of finding the best path. I arrived at around noon where we met with one Caspian Hedge. I was the third out of four to arrive. Others might join on the way. Caspian told us that 3 explorers went missing which was why they turned to adventurers to help with the exploration of this area. 

Beyond the Archaeologist, there were two other party members, the first one was one of those lizard folks. I have met a few of them before but I did not know a lot about them. their name was Sauri (pronounced Sorry), they seemed to be a tinkerer of some sort and quite night. The other one was a parrot, a magic bird. They made us potions before we went. quite useful although I had never been asked to give of my person to help make them. When our employers asked us for escorts they generally paid us a poor stipend to buy our own potions at a merchant’s (generally we had to be careful not to waste it too soon because we could only afford once. I wonder how often Cy can make them. Cy also had a critter with them, a pixie of some sort. I’m sure she is very powerful as well. 

I was dubious of them from the start, and I’m afraid, forgive my choice of word, I may have ruffled a few feathers. To be honest, I am used to hanging around martial folks who have clear goals and try to steer away from magic as much as possible. 

The last member of our merry band, sent to retrieve this magical staff was Eep, i… am confounded by them. They seem to be a very powerful cleric but also seem to lack the social skills. They are very observant and confusing to me. And proud above all else. 

Caspian reminded us why we were there and showed us our destination. Far on the horizon stood the ruins of a gigantic pyramid with a cube standing atop of it. It is rumored that a staff that can protect the trees from lightning might be in there. Could help protect a whole lot of folks if it is true. Caspian seems to be the bookish kind and went back to wherever he was studying after giving us our goal. 

Meanwhile Sauri made a few pyrotechnics potions which could turn out to be useful in the future. I decided to take the lead, I have a keen sense of orientation and felt like as the only trained fighter in the group I should stay ahead to take the brunt of whatever would be coming for us in the woods. Luckily nothing of note happened until we took a small rest. Behind me I heard the sound of something slithering and managed to strike it when it appeared : a giant snake! We fought it with all our might, although we did not manage to prevent Weed from being caught in its coil. I ended up beheading it after everyone helped weaken it. 

Afterwards It was badly hurt and we tried to convince them to heal but realized that their pride prevented them from admitting they were hurt. We all pretended to not see they were taking a health potion, I am pretty sure they know deep down we saw but we won’t bring it up. 

Although the afternoon was coming to an end, we kept pushing a bit further. We hoped to reach the temple by nightfall. Right before sunset, Sauri smells something in a clearing nearby. These were capybaras, three mounts with their saddle that seemed to have been there for a good while. 

Cy, Sauri and I helped them out of the saddle, whoever owned these had not secured them to a tree and left them to roam without looking back. This annoyed me. I did not like leaving allies behind and it felt like it. The poor things were hurting and it could have been very bad if we had not been there. 

Now I cannot explain what happened then. But when I removed the saddle of the Capybara it looked me straight in the eye and recognized me ? somehow ? I scratched its head gently and it closed its eyes and pushed towards my paw and… yeah… it’s still following me everywhere. I feel grateful for it but I also feel like I should not put it in danger. I am torn between my desire to keep it safe with me or to find its rightful owner and reunite them. 

We walked away from the two other capybara but then set up camp. This was probably the best day of my life so far, and I am not sure if I should be happy about what it says about me.

[vapehk1]

Breeze Through Your Day: The Ultimate Guide to Breeze Vape

In the vaping universe, there's a breeze that’s catching everyone's attention—the Breeze Vape. Known for its effortless style and simplicity, this device promises to elevate your vaping experience without any of the usual fuss. Perfect for those who appreciate a good laugh along with their clouds, this guide will explore all the nifty quirks and features of Breeze Vape. Whether you're trying to kick the cigarette habit or just in it for the flavorful clouds, let's find out why Breeze Vape might just be your new best friend. What is Breeze Vape? Breeze Vape has stormed onto the scene with a sleek, pen-like design that’s as easy on the eyes as it is on the user experience. Aimed at both novices and pros, it offers a hassle-free approach to vaping with pre-filled pods and a buttonless operation—just inhale and enjoy. In this section, we'll break down the elements that make Breeze Vape a standout product, from its portability to its discreet cloud production that won’t send you into a coughing fit. One of Breeze Vape's biggest selling points is its plug-and-play nature. Forget about fiddling with settings and building coils; this device is all about simplicity. With Breeze Vape, you can literally pick up your device and start vaping with minimal setup, making it a favorite for those who value convenience and ease over customization. The Variety of Flavors Offered by Breeze Vape Imagine a kaleidoscope of flavors at your fingertips. Breeze Vape offers a plethora of choices from classic tobacco to exotic mango and chilling mint. Each pod is crafted to deliver a consistent and satisfying hit of flavor, ensuring that every puff is as good as the last. We’ll explore the top flavors that keep vapers coming back for more and what makes Breeze Vape’s juice formulations unique. Beyond just the variety, Breeze Vape takes pride in the quality of its flavors. Using high-quality ingredients and advanced formulation techniques, each pod is designed to deliver a smooth and enjoyable experience without the dreaded ‘vape tongue’. We’ll delve into how Breeze Vape maintains flavor consistency across batches and what they are doing to push the boundaries of what you can expect from a vape pod. Part 3: Understanding the Technology Behind Breeze Vape A good vape is only as reliable as its battery. Breeze Vape comes equipped with a battery that supports all-day vaping without the need for constant recharges. Coupled with a coil system designed for maximum efficiency and flavor retention, this section will explain the tech specs that help Breeze Vape deliver a superior vaping experience. Safety is a paramount concern in the world of electronic devices. Breeze Vape integrates several safety features to protect its users, including short-circuit protection and overuse protection. We’ll review how these features work and why they matter for your daily vaping. Comparing Breeze Vape to Other Vaping Brands In the competitive world of vaping products, how does Breeze Vape stack up against the likes of Juul, Vuse, and Blu? This comparative analysis will look at design, flavor selection, battery life, and price points to help you understand where Breeze Vape sits in the market landscape. Concluding with a compelling argument, we’ll highlight the reasons many users choose Breeze Vape over other brands, focusing on its user-friendly design, exceptional flavor range, and robust technology. Conclusion Dive into the delightful and effortless world of Breeze Vape with our comprehensive guide that blends humor with practical insights. This article introduces you to Breeze Vape, a user-friendly device that stands out with its sleek design and easy operation, ideal for both beginners and experienced vapers. We delve into the rich variety of flavors Breeze Vape offers, from classic to exotic, emphasizing the brand’s commitment to quality and innovation in taste. We also explore the advanced technology behind the device, including its efficient battery life and safety features that ensure a reliable vaping experience. Comparing Breeze Vape with other market competitors, we highlight its advantages in terms of design, flavor selection, and technological sophistication. FAQs 1. How long does a Breeze Vape last? Breeze Vape devices are designed for convenience and moderate usage. A fully charged Breeze Vape can typically last a day of consistent use. The lifespan of the device itself depends on how it's maintained, but with proper care, it can last several months before you might consider replacing it. As for the pods, each one can last until the e-liquid runs out, typically providing around 200 puffs depending on your vaping habits. 2. Can you refill Breeze Vape pods? Breeze Vape pods are not designed to be refilled. They are pre-filled with high-quality e-liquid to ensure the best flavor and performance. Once a pod is used up, it should be replaced. This design is part of what makes Breeze Vape so user-friendly, particularly for beginners or those looking for convenience without the mess and fuss of refilling. 3. Is Breeze Vape suitable for beginners? Absolutely! Breeze Vape is one of the most beginner-friendly options on the market. It features a simple, sleek design with no buttons or complicated settings. To use it, you simply inhale from the mouthpiece. This intuitive design makes it a great choice for those who are new to vaping or prefer a straightforward vaping experience. 4. What are the nicotine strengths available in Breeze Vape? Breeze Vape pods are available in a variety of nicotine strengths to cater to different preferences and needs. Typically, these strengths range from nicotine-free up to high-strength options suitable for heavy smokers looking to transition to vaping. This range allows users to choose the strength that best matches their current smoking or vaping habits and can help in gradually reducing their nicotine intake if desired. 5. Are there any maintenance tips for Breeze Vape devices? To ensure the longevity and optimal performance of your Breeze Vape, there are a few maintenance tips to follow: keep the device clean, especially around the mouthpiece and the area where the pod connects; store the device at room temperature; avoid exposing it to extreme temperatures; and use only Breeze Vape pods to prevent any possible damage or performance issues. Regularly checking and replacing the pod when needed will also ensure that each vape is as fresh and satisfying as the first. Read the full article

[schismusic]

THE DISCOGRAPHY PRINCIPLE, Episode 3: Godflesh - or, Song Against Itself

The discography principle may be defined as an objective way to determine whether or not you're worthy of calling a band or artist "your favorite" or "one of your favorites". A possible enunciation of it goes as follows:

"Let u ≝ some asshole, B ≝ {b|b is a band}, n ≝ #({x|x is a record by b}); let p = #({y|y is a record by b in u's possession}) = p1 + p2 wherein p1 ≝ number of physical records by b you own in any format and p2 ≝ number of records by b you have downloaded. If p ≥ n ∨ p2 = n (for n → +∞), then ∃b∈B such that b is one of u's favorite bands."

When u = me, this subset of B (which we might call Bf) is comprised of six bands, off the top of my head: Autechre, Godflesh, Shellac, Kraftwerk, Fugazi and Coil, listed in no particular order.

If you want to read the prologue to this series, go here. Otherwise, let's get going.

Okay, okay, I know, it was the funniest bit ever to call this article like a song by the band I discussed in the previous episode and with a song title I'd teased in the post right before this one, please stop clapping, autographs on the left.

As some of you might remember, a piece about Godflesh already exists on this blog and, if you're so inclined, you can read it here. The reason why I'm writing another one is because

a) that post doesn't entirely fit the criteria of this series, being mostly focused on autobiography and other such bullshit, and

b) somewhat randomly, last month I spent a really long time wondering if I should setup my guitar for C# standard tuning the next time I re-string it. The most obvious reason to do so is, of course, covering Godflesh on my free time, and I don't even really care about the added ease of playing and bending - I'm actually considering using .012 or even .013 gauge strings to maintain the same feel that .011 gauge has with E standard; I really just want the extra range.

My band is in a bit of a rut as we speak, writing songs is a bit hard for me at this given time and nothing new has emerged yet since last summer; we have a couple new ones that we've already played live, but our last gig kind of sucked if I have to be totally honest with you. I guess what I'm aiming for here is something that might shake up my playing again, get me to think a bit and explore new possibilities.

One of the key elements of Godflesh that have always captivated my imagination is their conscious, and tragically ill-fated, effort to not be perceived as a metal band. It's an effort I at the very least understand, not to say share. Most bands in the rock ballpark do this thing where they try to, somehow, relate to rock music more than they do the idea behind it. Let me rephrase that: the people who play an instrument who grew up on rock music almost always, without fail, talk about how rock music had them wanting to right the wrongs, do something new and powerful and liberating, but in practice that drive turns into constant blues jamming in E minor or A minor. Or, if you're a punk band, a liberal amount of power chord riffs bordering on pop-punk songwriting (assuming you haven't taken that exact road already). Metal is possibly the most open about its clichéd nature, to a point where it's kind of part of its perception in the general public: calling it "just noise" not only implies it not to be music, it implies it never goes anywhere else from there. And to be fair many bands kind of play on that idea: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. This is particularly evident in the case of the more rock'n'roll-adjacent types of metal, or in the more mainstream ones: a record like 72 Seasons by Metallica being hailed by the few who actually did say good things about it because "it's a return to their roots", or black metal bands trying to convince their listeners that this time they might be doing something different. And just to be clear, I'm not saying these don't happen in other genres as well (I still cannot for the life of me figure out why everything Aphex Twin put out from Syro onwards was seen as some kind of second coming of Christ even though 1) RDJ had been putting out a ton of music under his other aliases up until that point and 2) they're not bad records, but it all feels sort of like a retread of early AFX stuff).

Eloquently enough, in 1989, Godflesh put out a t-shirt with a pretty unequivocal sentence on its back: DEATH TO FALSE METAL. While the sentence was very happily appropriated by those who, as it turns out, eat and breathe and live and - most likely - even shit out false metal, in the year 1989 the statement could not resonate any clearer: no frills, no bullshit, no dicking around. Godflesh's presentation gave an excellent expression of what quote-unquote "true" metal could be. It's two people on stage, with a small stack of amps behind them and an Alesis HR-16 drum machine as the only other elements of stage decor. At three points of their career the band had a third member: an extra guitarist on a couple tracks on Pure, a drummer on the records Songs of Love and Hate and Hymns. But that was it. Justin Broadrick's retrospective grievances concerning the band's name applied to the records with a human drummer notwithstanding, it was unmistakable that Godflesh's music had the heart of presenting itself alone, naked and very much afraid. More than that: it was, for all intents and purposes, the band's only defense.

Formally analyzing the music of Godflesh lends little interesting results, even though JKB's unconventional approach to guitar writing and GC Green's thunderous basslines offer surprises and subtleties aplenty for those who are willing to listen. The point is actually how much of a racket these two manage to conjure as much as the way it's never simply - as we said above - just noise, if you can give them the time to prove it to you. And I'm not even talking about their surprisingly keen if minimal melodic sense, or they way they construct memorable riffs from very restrictive elements (even on their least focused efforts, like for instance Songs of Love and Hate, there's always at least one brainworm level riff that you can't get out - for me it's Wake and Anthem, and for the latter - off of Hymns - the fault might very well lie with the spectacular Jesus Christ Superstar mashup floating around on the internet), but both pale in comparison to the band's consistent honesty. Like David Lynch characters, Godflesh never lie. They never try anything funny in the conventional sense of the word, and yet they remain open to flirtation with anything that might catch their interest. Which is also where the plethora of side projects JKB took part in over the years factors in: I will admit I've only ever explored Techno Animal/Zonal, but I guess I have all the time in the world to get that in order.

Another thing that comes to my mind when listening to/thinking of Godflesh is Deus Ex, and specifically the original from 2000, in that everytime somebody mentions either the former or the latter I just have to play it again. It's quite hard to quantify just what exactly the special quality to these two things is - if I had to take a guess, it's simply the profound interest they radiate. It kind of always feels like it's in your hands, in full control, and yet something still escapes you, something could be approached differently. And it's surprisingly fragile and emotional. JKB and Ben Green's friendship is, I think, the best indicator of what Godflesh at its core is - an element of familiarity for someone who's unfamiliar to the rest of the world, who feels out of place and out of step.

And this last reference is nowhere near unintentional: just like Ian MacKaye felt "out of step with the world", or for that matter just like Henry Rollins had a whole slew of songs about profound feelings of discontent and solipsism both in and out of Black Flag, Justin Broadrick and Ben Green built their musical and social identities in a place of being unrecognized, invalidated, seen as weird and bad - it's no surprise that Godflesh saw themselves more aligned with Killing Joke than, say, Black Sabbath (despite coming from the same city).

Of course, an excess of sincerity - a policy of truth, even? - can very easily lead you astray, make you lose yourself in a way. But I still enjoyed that sense of laser-focused disorientation that Songs of Love and Hate, Us and Them and (to an extent) Hymns have to offer, and I still do give them the occasional spin. The same goes for the supposed (here we go again…) "return to form" with the last three records: but then again, when did Godflesh ever do anything like Post Self? I mean, ok, if you want you can trace it back to Selfless (the connection is pretty obvious if you can read, which at this point is a pretty safe assumption), and then again Streetcleaner's album cover back in '89 literally represented a world lit only by fire, and Purge is just Pure with an extra G. But all of the records sort of succeed in giving us a very interesting look at a mature Godflesh, a Godflesh that went through the trappings of their entire professional and personal lives and then once again come back and rearrange their influences. And how often does that happen? How often does a band offer a "critical retrospective" that is, for once, actually critical and not just a rehash or a best-of?

For reference, I don't even like A World Lit Only by Fire that much, and I do recognize the irony in JKB admitting he literally just wanted to recapture the early records' magic after all I've said. I just kind of see it as getting your bearings again. And if I were them, I'd understand: you get back to the scene ten years after the band crashed and burned in the middle of their biggest tour yet, you essentially haven't spoken since 2002 and then you pull up to the Roadburn Festival and play your biggest record. A test drive would be in order: can we still do this?, can we get it up and running again? And if that riff at the beginning of New Dark Ages is any indicator, hell yeah they could.

A World Lit Only by Fire is an excellent representation of why "artists must be allowed to go through bad periods, they must be allowed to do bad work, they must be allowed to get in a mess, they must be allowed to have dud experiments. They must be allowed to have periods where they repeat themselves in a rather aimless, fruitless way before they can pick up and go on" (David Sylvester). And Godflesh never were the kind to give way to the pressure - give them three years and they can still, at the very least, turn some heads. A track like the alternate version of Parasite they included in the New Flesh in Dub album and in the Japanese version of Post Self tells the whole story: its understanding of its own internal rhythm is as fragmented as ever in the work of Godflesh, sounding closer to a re-edit of Techno Animal's more rhythmically oriented moments, and the mangled guitar and bass parts reveal the truly skilled engineering of the violence going on in the studio - and the way that the band choose to sacrifice it in order to sound real. Because if the original Parasite has anything, that is believability and presence: it's uncomfortably close and tangible, with horrifying lyrics that would, at the very least, seem to be about historical recurrence and political discomfort with demagogy. Neither of which are particularly frequent topics in Godflesh's lyric book and are at high risk of turning cringier and more memeable by the second (see for instance Eminem's now-infamous anti-Trump freestyle), but here happen to come in very economically packaged doses that feel much more poignant specifically because they refuse to go too far into specifics. Like, for Christ's sake, what the fuck is a slateman?

So yeah, in short, you bet your ass my fanboy ass was in a record shop on June 9, 2023, and Purge was exactly what I expected it to be: a good record by a good band that still manages to prove capable to sound like they give a shit about what they're doing, unlike their former friends Metallica, and to be in touch with a form of emotionality that seems to exist firmly outside of the reach of anyone else involved in the genre - or outside of it. This is, by definition, the truest metal possible; the one that tugs at the heartstrings with the grace and poise of a mule with its balls tied to a fencepost.