#rather than 598

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

trying to buy an anti-glare screen protector thingy is a great way to discover i have a wildly non-standard screen size

my sektop computer has a really shiny screen and no matter what i do i don't seem to be able to reduce how much stuff reflects... i can see my entire room reflected in it (especially on sites with dark mode but tbh all the time) and it's kinda driving me nuts. any recommendations

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Harry Potter is Probably Gay and Here's Why

So.... a lot of this fandom likes to call one Harry James Potter a Bi disaster. Personally, I think he's gay and I can use book text to prove he isn't actually attracted to women at all.

So here goes:

How Harry Describes Men

Harry describes many men as attractive and handsome in the books, not only that but in general Harry goes into more detail when describing male characters. I'll mention it again in a later section in this post, but when describing men, even those Harry doesn't find attractive, he tends to describe much more details about them than about girls he supposedly does find attractive. Something that to me suggests, he doesn't find these girls attractive at all.

Here are some examples of Harry finding men attractive:

Charlie Weasley:

Charlie was built like the twins, shorter and stockier than Percy and Ron, who were both long and lanky. He had a broad, good-natured face, which was weatherbeaten and so freckly that he looked almost tanned; his arms were muscular, and one of them had a large, shiny burn on it.

(Goblet of Fire, page 52)

Bill Weasley:

However, Bill was — there was no other word for it — cool. He was tall, with long hair that he had tied back in a ponytail. He was wearing an earring with what looked like a fang dangling from it. Bill’s clothes would not have looked out of place at a rock concert, except that Harry recognized his boots to be made, not of leather, but of dragon hide.

(Goblet of Fire, page 52)

Cedric Diggory:

Cedric Diggory was an extremely handsome boy of around seventeen.

(Goblet of Fire, page 71)

Sirius Black:

Sirius was lounging in his chair at his ease, tilting it back on two legs. He was very good-looking; his dark hair fell into his eyes with a sort of casual elegance neither James’s nor Harry’s could ever have achieved, and a girl sitting behind him was eyeing him hopefully, though he didn’t seem to have noticed.

(Order of the Pheonix, page 642)

Sirius stared around at the students milling over the grass, looking rather haughty and bored, but very handsomely so.

(Order of the Pheonix, page 644)

Firenze:

white-blond hair and astonishingly blue eyes, the head and torso of a man joined to the palomino body of a horse.

(Order of the Pheonix, page 598)

Professor McGonagall turned next to Parvati Patil, whose first question was whether Firenze, the handsome centaur, was still teaching Divination

(Half-Blood Prince, page 174)

Blaise Zabini:

He recognized a Slytherin from their year, a tall black boy with high cheekbones and long, slanting eyes

(Half-Blood Prince, page 143)

Draco Malfoy:

It was Draco Malfoy. He had pushed to the front of the crowd, his cold eyes alive, his usually bloodless face flushed, as he grinned at the sight of the hanging, immobile cat.

(Chamber of Secrets, page 133)

Malfoy, who had a pale, pointed, sneering face

(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 79)

A pale boy with a pointed face and white-blond hair

(Goblet of Fire, pages 116-117)

Tom Marvolo Riddle:

There was no trace of the Gaunts in Tom Riddle’s face. Merope had got her dying wish: He was his handsome father in miniature, tall for eleven years old, dark-haired, and pale

(Half-Blood Prince, page 269)

The door creaked open. There on the threshold, holding an oldfashioned lamp, stood a boy Harry recognized at once: tall, pale, dark-haired, and handsome — the teenage Voldemort.

(Half-Blood Prince, page 364)

Harry recognized Voldemort at once. His was the most handsome face and he looked the most relaxed of all the boys.

(Half-Blood Prince, page 369)

followed by a tall young man Harry had no difficulty whatsoever in recognizing as Voldemort. He was plainly dressed in a black suit; his hair was a little longer than it had been at school and his cheeks were hollowed, but all of this suited him; he looked more handsome than ever.

(Half-Blood Prince, page 434)

I don't think anyone would argue Harry isn't attracted to men... He's kind of obvious. What I want to go more into detail about is him not being attracted to women, as that's what I think I disagree with most of the fandom about.

How Harry Describes Women (for comparison)

So, we saw how Harry describes men, specifically men he finds attractive, so, let's compare to how he describes a girl he thinks is pretty, like Cho Chang:

Harry couldn’t help noticing, nervous as he was, that she was extremely pretty. She smiled at Harry as the teams faced each other behind their captains, and he felt a slight lurch in the region of his stomach that he didn’t think had anything to do with nerves.

(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 259)

“Good luck, Harry!” called Cho. Harry felt himself blushing.

(Prisoner of Azkaban, page 304)

She was waiting for him a little to the side of the oak front doors, looking very pretty with her hair tied back in a long ponytail.

(Order of the Pheonix, page 556)

These are all the physical descriptions I managed to find of Cho, the girl Harry supposedly has a crush on from 3rd to 5th year... yeah, I don't see it. Sure, he mentions she's pretty, and he blushes around her, but he doesn't describe anything else about her. Not eye color, not hair color, skin color, eye shape, physique — nothing! Compare this to how he describes Bill Weasley or Blaise Zabini even, with so much more detail in their description.

Now, details in descriptions when writing from a character's POV are very important. Because a character would use more words to describe what's most important or striking to them... and in Harry's case Cho isn't it.

We know she's pretty and Harry's nervous around her, but the descriptions are just so stale and distant compared to: Tom "handsomest face in the room" Riddle, or Sirius "handsome handsomed handsomely" Black.

And I want to talk about Harry's crush on Cho more, but first:

Fleur Delacor:

I want to talk about Fleur for a bit. Because Harry's reaction to Fleur is very interesting, specifically because Fleur is a quarter veela.

Ron was still goggling at the girl as though he had never seen one before. Harry started to laugh. The sound seemed to jog Ron back to his senses. “She’s a veela!” he said hoarsely to Harry.

…

many boys’ heads turned, and some of them seemed to have become temporarily speechless, just like Ron.

(Goblet of Fire, page 252)

Veelas are literally magically attractive, if you are attracted to women, you'll find a veela woman attractive and be mesmerized. We see it with Ron and other boys, as Harry notes in the above quote. Ron and many other boys all stare, speechless at Fleur because that's how her magic works.

Harry, on the other hand, isn't affected at all. To the point, he's confused by Ron's drooling over Fleur. He later in GoF wonders why Ron wanted to go with Fleur to the Yule Ball so much, as he didn't see the appeal.

Harry is literally not attracted to a woman who is magically attractive to anyone who's attracted to women.

Looking careworn, she [Fleur] left the room. Ron still seemed slightly punch-drunk; he was shaking his head experimentally like a dog trying to rid its ears of water. “Don’t you get used to her if she’s staying in the same house?” Harry asked. “Well, you do,” said Ron, “but if she jumps out at you unexpectedly, like then . . .”

(Half-Blood Prince, page 93)

It continues in his later interactions with Fleur, like when he arrives at the Burrow in HBP in the above quote. Harry asks Ron if he shouldn't get used to Fleur and stop drooling whenever he sees her, to which Ron responds that you do to a degree. The thing is, Harry isn't used to being around Fleur, he just arrived, after not seeing her for over a year. But still, he isn't affected at all, like in 4th year, he seems to not get what all the fuss is about.

That being said, Harry does react to the full veela in the Quidditch World Cup:

But a hundred veela were now gliding out onto the field, and Harry’s question was answered for him. Veela were women . . . the most beautiful women Harry had ever seen . . . except that they weren’t — they couldn’t be — human. This puzzled Harry for a moment while he tried to guess what exactly they could be; what could make their skin shine moon-bright like that, or their white-gold hair fan out behind them without wind . . . but then the music started, and Harry stopped worrying about them not being human — in fact, he stopped worrying about anything at all.

...

And as the veela danced faster and faster, wild, half-formed thoughts started chasing through Harry’s dazed mind. He wanted to do something very impressive, right now. Jumping from the box into the stadium seemed a good idea . . . but would it be good enough? “Harry, what are you doing?” said Hermione’s voice from a long way off. The music stopped. Harry blinked. He was standing up, and one of his legs was resting on the wall of the box. Next to him, Ron was frozen in an attitude that looked as though he were about to dive from a springboard.

(Goblet of Fire, page 103)

I'm not sure exactly about the full veela's effects. Mostly because Arthur Weasley doesn't seem as affected as Harry and Ron, and Harry describes the crowd in general reacting to them, not just the men. Hermione doesn't seem affected though.

Something I want to note is that Harry only becomes affected once they start dancing, and not just by looking at them the way Ron and some of the boys are described as being with Fluer. Only when the music and dance start Harry becomes mesmerized. Before that, he is wondering how their hair moves behind them without wind... Additionally, after the music stops, Harry snaps out of it quickly, Ron on the other hand doesn't and proceeds to tear his Ireland merch.

So, while full veela, can influence him, it isn't by their appearance alone but by magic beyond their regular magical attractiveness.

Note that even with the veela, Harry barely describes anything about them. his descriptions of them aren't as detailed as his descriptions of men he finds attractive.

So even if he is attracted to women, it's very minor and barely there.

Harry's Disastrous Relationship with Cho

So, Harry and Cho... I don't think it's a pairing that has fans, but I might be wrong about that. Regardless of your opinion about it, I don't think Harry actually liked Cho. Like, at all.

They looked at each other for a long moment. Harry felt a burning desire to run from the room and, at the same time, a complete inability to move his feet. “Mistletoe,” said Cho quietly, pointing at the ceiling over his head. “Yeah,” said Harry. His mouth was very dry. “It’s probably full of nargles, though.” “What are nargles?” “No idea,” said Harry. She had moved closer. His brain seemed to have been Stunned. “You’d have to ask Loony. Luna, I mean.” Cho made a funny noise halfway between a sob and a laugh. She was even nearer him now. He could have counted the freckles on her nose. “I really like you, Harry.” He could not think. A tingling sensation was spreading throughout him, paralyzing his arms, legs, and brain. She was much too close. He could see every tear clinging to her eyelashes. . . .

(Order of the Pheonix, page 456)

Cho, the girl Harry is convinced he's crushing on since he was 13, is about to kiss him under the mistletoe, and he's thinking about nargles and Luna... And how does he feel about kissing Cho?

"a burning desire to run from the room"

He wants to run away from kissing Cho. And, well, it doesn't get any better than that.

“What kept you?” he [Ron] asked, as Harry sank into the armchair next to Hermione’s. Harry did not answer. He was in a state of shock. Half of him wanted to tell Ron and Hermione what had just happened, but the other half wanted to take the secret with him to the grave. “Are you all right, Harry?” Hermione asked, peering at him over the tip of her quill. Harry gave a halfhearted shrug. In truth, he didn’t know whether he was all right or not.

(Order of the Pheonix, page 457)

He is not sure he's alright after kissing Cho. Harry thinks about kissing Cho like it's a traumatic experience... He's happier talking about Voldemort's resurrection than about his first kiss. (WTF Harry?)

Harry doesn't like Cho. Not even a bit.

“Did you kiss?” asked Hermione briskly. Ron sat up so fast that he sent his ink bottle flying all over the rug. Disregarding this completely he stared avidly at Harry. “Well?” he demanded. Harry looked from Ron’s expression of mingled curiosity and hilarity to Hermione’s slight frown, and nodded. “HA!” Ron made a triumphant gesture with his fist and went into a raucous peal of laughter that made several timid-looking second years over beside the window jump. A reluctant grin spread over Harry’s face as he watched Ron rolling around on the hearthrug. Hermione gave Ron a look of deep disgust and returned to her letter. “Well?” Ron said finally, looking up at Harry. “How was it?” Harry considered for a moment. “Wet,” he said truthfully. Ron made a noise that might have indicated jubilation or disgust, it was hard to tell.

(Order of the Pheonix, pages 456-458)

I don't need I need to add anything here... Harry speaks for himself.

“You just had to be nice to her,” said Hermione, looking up anxiously. “You were, weren’t you?” “Well,” said Harry, an unpleasant heat creeping up his face, “I sort of — patted her on the back a bit.” Hermione looked as though she was restraining herself from rolling her eyes with extreme difficulty. “Well, I suppose it could have been worse,” she said. “Are you going to see her again?” “I’ll have to, won’t I?” said Harry. “We’ve got D.A. meetings, haven’t we?” “You know what I mean,” said Hermione impatiently. Harry said nothing. Hermione’s words opened up a whole new vista of frightening possibilities. He tried to imagine going somewhere with Cho — Hogsmeade, perhaps — and being alone with her for hours at a time. Of course, she would have been expecting him to ask her out after what had just happened. . . . The thought made his stomach clench painfully. “Oh well,” said Hermione distantly, buried in her letter once more, “you’ll have plenty of opportunities to ask her. . . .” “What if he doesn’t want to ask her?” said Ron, who had been watching Harry with an unusually shrewd expression on his face. “Don’t be silly,” said Hermione vaguely, “Harry’s liked her for ages, haven’t you, Harry?” He did not answer. Yes, he had liked Cho for ages, but whenever he had imagined a scene involving the two of them it had always featured a Cho who was enjoying herself, as opposed to a Cho who was sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder.

(Order of the Pheonix, page 460)

Okay, so I have two things to mention about this quote.

The first, Harry realizes he doesn't like Cho and probably never did. He didn't consider dating her until Hermoine mentioned it. He doesn't want to date her. He's terrified and grossed out by the notion.

This isn't a boy with a crush. I'd argue this proves he isn't straight at all. I mean, a guy who is attracted to girls, even if not crushing on Cho specifically, wouldn't be horrified to a painful degree at the thought of going on a date with a pretty girl. Or kissing a pretty girl. His reaction is just too viscerally grossed out.

The second is Ron's response. Not really related to Harry being gay, but I love Harry and Ron's friendship so I want to mention it. Hermione and a good chunk of the fandom dunk on Ron for having "the emotional range of a teaspoon", but he clearly doesn't. Ron is Harry's best friend, he knows Harry better than anyone else, yes, better than Hermione even, and this scene proves it. Hermione is flippant, ignoring Harry's responses to his kiss with Cho, just saying he should ask her out as if it's obvious.

Ron on the other hand, Ron notices Harry's expression and the turmoil thinking of dating Cho causes him. Ron is the one who speaks up that maybe Harry doesn't want to date Cho. He immediately defends Harry and his option to choose not to date Cho. (Ron would be very supportive if Harry ever came out, is what I'm saying)

They sat down at the last remaining table, which was situated in the steamy window. Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, was sitting about a foot and a half away with a pretty blonde girl. They were holding hands. The sight made Harry feel uncomfortable, particularly when, looking around the tea shop, he saw that it was full of nothing but couples, all of them holding hands. Perhaps Cho would expect him to hold her hand.

…

In the time it took for their coffees to arrive, Roger Davies and his girlfriend started kissing over their sugar bowl. Harry wished they wouldn’t; he felt that Davies was setting a standard with which Cho would soon expect him to compete.

(Order of the Pheonix, page 559)

The above quotes are from Harry's disaster of a date with Cho. I think no one needs me to explain that the date went badly, but what I want to note is how uncomfortable and grossed out Harry is by the very notion of holding Cho's hands. That he'd have to kiss her again.

Like, again, even if he isn't crushing on her, a guy who's attracted to girls wouldn't be grossed out and pained at the thought of kissing or holding hands with a pretty, attractive girl.

Harry has never been attracted to Cho, and I don't think he's attracted to girls at all.

But What About Ginny?

So this post has gotten quite long already, but I don't think Harry actually likes Ginny. And I have evidence for it in the sequel to this post that is taking a while to write.

No hate for Hinny shippers, but I don't see the pairing, like, at all. I did write some of my thoughts about Hinny here until I finish with the more comprehensive post about them.

But in general, let's just say Harry never uses the word pretty (or good-looking, or nice-looking, or attractive) to describe Ginny. Ever.

And when I looked for his descriptions of her all I found were descriptions of her hair:

He felt a strange twinge of annoyance as she [Ginny] walked away, her long red hair dancing behind her

(Half-Blood Prince, page 136)

she was the only real thing in the world, Ginny, the feel of her, one hand at her back and one in her long, sweet-smelling hair

(Deathly Hollows, page 103)

(There are more descriptions of her hair in the books, but they follow the same lines as these and don't add more information)

Again, contrast these descriptions to the ones of the guys earlier. No eye color, face shape, eye shape, or descriptions of her body or clothes — nothing.

I have more to say about their relationship, but that's for another post.

[dodgebolts]

the moment that absolutely no one has been waiting for... here are the results of the dtblr survey that went out last week! Thank you to the 650 people who responded, easily eclipsing the 598 responses that were submitted in September :]

Open the read more to see the results!

Starting out, we have a newcomer to our top 8, welcome Awesamdude, who stole a spot from Quackity (20.7% -> 3.1%). Since the last survey, more people say they main all 3 Dream Team members and less people are maining their friends, most of them slipping under 10% of respondents saying they mained them save for the lovely Foolish Gamers.

Next, there was an increase in people who came for and still are here for the Dream Team—with a decrease in the proportion of respondents for nearly every other category. Dream team forever!

While most people (85%) have been around before 2022, we have a greater proportion of newer people around now! In the last survey, that number was even greater at 93%. So don't feel bad for being new, it's actually way more likely than you think, and a very warm welcome to the 5% of people who joined after the face reveal/meetup <3

Next is a question that I think is really interesting: has watching the Dream team influenced how people play Minecraft? More people now don't play as much, which tracks considering that they play Minecraft a lot less than they used to.

Now for a rather sore subject for a lot of people, since there's been quite a shift in who plays in MCC since the last time. In the last poll, 60.8% of people said they watched Dream. Now, those viewers have dispersed across creators or just stopped watching altogether, with both George and Sapnap gaining 10% from their numbers in the fall. However, 25% of people said that they don't watch anymore, a huge jump from the 4.5% in the fall. RIP MCC Dream, you're missed severely by the community <3

Next up, Trust Issues has managed to nearly catch up to some of Dream's released music, gaining 8 percentage points from the last survey. Dream if you're out there your fans want it really badly. Release it just for us?

Since the fall, we've seen the official end of the DSMP, so this is more of a legacy question, which is reflected pretty well in the statistics shifting towards people who either don't watch or are very casual about it, our lorehead population shrinking by 4 percentage points from the first survey.

These statistics haven't moved too much since the first one, the trends going pretty much as predicted with following decreasing from main -> alt -> priv (with the exception of Dream whose alt is often confused for his main) and with George and Sapnap having fewer people following them than Dream.

The statistics shift from this question is really interesting, especially given all the shit that's gone down on Twitter since the first survey. The percentage of dtblr who joined the fandom on there increased 7.7%, a gain that knocked down nearly every other platform's percentages. AO3 also makes its debut in the top 6, tying with Reddit exactly.

Much like the twitter following question, these statistics didn't shift too much, with the YouTube algorithm and word of mouth from other people/creators doing most of the heavy lifting of marketing for the Dream Team. Shoutout to the people who found out through either Heat Waves or MrBeast, you guys are on like 2 ends of a horrific spectrum y'all are strong as hell LOL

Now for some shared fandom trauma, these results also didn't change too much from the first survey. However, for this iteration I added Supernatural, as I probably should've done the first time considering this IS the SPN website after all. I managed to grab a few more people than last time out of the 'none of the above' category with its inclusion, so hi all my former and current SPN bloggers o/ <- has never seen the show before

A vast majority of us have watched gaming content in some form before, and fewer people this time have never watched gaming content before. From those who specified which games they'd watched, the titles ranged far and wide, so it's really cool to see all of us under the dtblr umbrella :)

Once again, this question showcases how lurkers truly carry the community on their backs—there's a small decrease in lurkers from last time and an increase in blogging answers, so it seems like some of our lurkers started posting which is awesome :D

Over half of us don't really watch any other MC servers, but there's still a ton of people who like watching them! From the last time I ran the survey, most of the servers—save for Empires and Karmaland—now have fewer dtblr watchers. The QSMP makes a strong debut on the board though, eclipsing half of the other options.

This was a really interesting question, though it seems like the vast majority of people either continued posting on the same blog or took a break and just jumped back into the fray! Also a late welcome to the ~15% of people who either weren't here or started posting after <3

The answers to this question showed some of the most interesting shifts from last fall's data. Fewer people seem to be listening regularly, and the proportion of people who responded no is nearly doubled from the fall's 21%.

These data points were also really interesting to see shift from the fall! Of note, fewer people like and tolerate Jackbox, and more people seem to have warmed up to FPS games—Fortnite, CS:GO, and Valorant all have fewer people in the "don't like & won't watch" category. Still, Valorant is easily the most hated game of the 6 while Geoguessr is still almost universally loved/tolerated.

As expected in the shipping category, DNF dominates any other ships, with Karlnap easily taking the second place. The proportion of Toosh enjoyers has doubled since the fall, up from 14.7%, while the number of non-shippers has halved. Additionally, the proportion of Karlnapity enjoyers has plummeted from 25.4% to less than 10%. Otherwise, most ships have stayed within 3-4 percentage points of their fall numbers!

Once again, Dream seems to have forced the hands of nearly half of us, turning non-RPF shippers into the RPF fandom we are today. Interestingly, the number of "yes" respondents has nearly doubled from the fall, while fewer people responded that they still don't ship RPF. As would make Dream happy probably, the pie chart is colored blue and green.

Now onto some of the demographic questions, we've continued to be very heavily biased towards North America and Europe, with nearly 85% of us coming from those two continents. Compared to the fall, we've gotten proportionally more South American and Oceanian rep. Hey to the Asians/Australians who are probably going to see this when it's first posted! o/

Once again, the majority of us seem to be around the same age as our streamers, with 80% of us falling between the ages of 18 and 30. Don't fret, though! From the fall, the proportion of respondents in both the <18 and >30 age brackets have increased. All in all, nothing too surprising.

The pride parade is still running from last fall, with approximately the same percentage of people identifying as LGBTQIA+ or unsure. Just in time for pride month in a day or so!

I'm not sure if I was just miscounting but I could not for the life of me get all of these little squares into a proper rectangle, so just bear with my weird organization here. Regardless, the majority of us rep the blue and green as our favorite colors, with multiple people specifying the hex code of George's minecraft shirt or a classic teal.

It's been about a month since this has been out, and we still unfortunately haven't gotten It Takes Two back. We're still in the phase 42% of people believe that we're going to stay in for a while, getting bounced back and forth between Dream and George hoping that they can get the other wrangled for it. #I_BELIEVE!

This was kind of a cruel question for most of us, but to the 11 people who answered that have met any of them, know that you're in a very select group of users. I'm jealous!

Now to answer the age-old question of the dtblr 1%, it constitutes those of you with around or over 5,000 followers, while a majority of people have less than 50 followers or just no blog at all. As with most other follower polls I've seen floating around, the responses were heavier towards the bottom, but as is the common advice/adage, follower count means very little here—just start chatting and posting!

For the final question, I thought it'd be interesting to see what dtblr's academic interests are, and also to reaffirm or break my belief that George is like a flame to the moths of CS/Engineering-focused people, which was at least initially supported by the data from the fall. We've got people from all across the diversity of academic fields, with the most people indicating that they're interested in the arts and humanities.

As for my hypothesis: among non-George mains, the proportion of CS/Engineering people is about 5.5%, whereas 18.3% of George mains indicated that they're interested in CS/Engineering. In fact, I took a closer look at all the people who noted their interest in CS/Engineering, and nearly 70% of them said that they mained George. Like I said, moths to a flame. or something. I'm right there with y'all 🫡

That's all! Thanks so much to everyone for responding and waiting for me to get through all of this data, it's always a big task but I love seeing the results. Until next time!

[zoeoe-sims]

Peacemaker's Hinterlands Dining Pt 1 - 4to3 Conversion

A conversion of (most of) Peacemaker's lovely Hinterlands Dining set.

Includes a dining chair, 4 dining tables, a console table, bar cabinet, clock, and 2 decor wine bottles.

All are fully recolourable, and have 1 preset.

(personally I prefer making use of CASt and using patterns rather than converted ts4 textures of wood etc as it saves time, space, and I think the patterns fit the rest of the game's style better than textures from ts4 so ya in case you were wondering)

All have the same mesh for both LODs, but they are quite low poly anyway.

Hope you enjoy!

(Details, pics, and download below)

Polycounts:

Cottage Chair: 534

Small Round Farmhouse Table: 618

Large Round Farmhouse Table: 810

Farmhouse Table: 598

Long Farmhouse Table: 566

Half Moon Console Table: 964

Bar Cabinet: 576

Standing/Resting Wine Bottle: 170

Hanging Clock: 695

Notes:

The Bar Cabinet can be found in Misc Surfaces, and the Console Table in Surfaces>End Tables

The Bar Cabinet's glass piece is unpickable so you can place objects behind it on the shelves and pick them back up easily.

Will there be Pt2? I do not know.

Original TS4 objects here. Thank you, Peacemaker!

Download from SimFileShare - Merged, Separated, Collection File

If you like my mods, consider supporting me by donating

[wordsandrobots]

IBO reference notes on . . . spacesuits

For reasons that may or may not be related to fanfic, I decided to do a quick survey of the difference spacesuits -- or 'normal suits', in Gundam parlance -- that appear throughout Iron-Blooded Orphans. There's not really much to conclude from this, but it snagged me a set of reference screenshots that I think worth collating for your viewing pleasure.

The most commonly used normal suit first appears during the battle between Tekkadan and the Turbines, where Atra helps Kudelia out with putting one on, in a scene that provides some gratuitous shots of the girls changing. It's not especially tasteless, in the grand scheme of things, but it's one of those genre trappings that didn't really need to be there. Still, it provides a good demonstration of how the suits fit together, where the zippers and fastenings are, and so on. Plus the hilarious visual of the helmets being repurposed as potato buckets.

This normal suit is clearly a standard type, that turns up in multiple civilian and non-official military settings. Most immediately, we see that the Turbines use it, the orange swapped for a fetching maroon.

Generally speaking, the colour-blocking is the only thing to change between uses. Here are a couple more shots showing the Tekkadan and Turbines versions, including a close-up on the boots.

Beyond these two types, the most usual variant is a black and grey version that appears in various scenarios, including in the flashbacks to Akihiro's family, the Dort colonies, and the archaeologists in Urdr Hunt.

Curiously, Katya also wears this towards the end of Urdr Hunt -- where she must have been given it by Gjallarhorn. So can we take the black, grey and white to be a sort of universal default?

Other colour variants are worn by young!Amida and by Range (under his poncho) in Urdr Hunt, and by the various groups of mercenaries and space-pirates in Season 2.

Speaking of pirates, the ones who attacked Akihiro's family have added a jetpack for easy manoeuvring in zero-g. It's notable that this isn't something we see more generally: Mikazuki has to rely on a hand-held thruster in the Dorts. This, however, harkens back more to the original Gundam series in terms of moving around in space.

Moving on to the second major 'civilian' normal suit, the human debris all wear a slightly simpler, slightly more badly-fitted white version striped in red. We first see this with the Brewers and later with human debris used by the JPT Trust (not shown because it's mainly seen in fairly bloody scenes).

A palette-swap of this is used by 598 and his crew in Urdr Hunt, which I bring up as an excuse to post the bisexual-energy screenshot.

Due to image limits, I won't cover Tekkadan's pilot suit in this post. If you've seen the show, you'll have seen a lot of that, and of Gjallarhorn's equivalent. What I find interesting about the human debris normal suit is that it is clearly more closely related to the general-purpose version than what Shino is wearing here, which is a specialised for an Alaya-Vijnana-user in a military setting.

This of course makes sense given that everything about the human debris is meant to invoke cheapness. Rather than a custom-made battle suit, they just get a standard one-size-fits-nobody get-up with an A-V adaptor stuck on the back. It's a nice visual touch, that also helps emphasise the sense of human debris as little kids forced into situations they shouldn't be in. That being said, the *helmet* is distinctly made for a mobile suit pilot, being something close to what Gjallarhorn soldiers wear.

Tekkadan does use another distinct normal suit variant, with added armour, that shows up for the battle with the Brewers and never again. Or, well, I am not actually sure if this is meant to be a normal suit or more akin to the combat armour we see Gjallarhorn infantry wearing, or if that is a distinction without a difference. Since they are both deployed in space-based operations, we can probably assume they're at least potentially interchangeable with normal suits.

These do notably lack the backpack of the standard normal suit. which I take to be where the life-support gubbins goes. However that goes for the pilot suit as well (it only has the A-V adaptor block; I assume everything else is distributed at the waist and collar) and we see it functioning fine for spacewalks. So I'm grouping this in here as well.

As I said up the top of the post, there's not a whole lot to take away from this, beyond the different ways the same asset is reused throughout the series. It's a neat enough design, although the pilot suits are far more striking. I do like the pirates' jetpack; wish we'd seen more of that (that's actually what I was looking up when I started collecting these).

Overall, I quite like the commonality of design, the sense that someone somewhere is just mass producing these things as a standard piece of kit. That's kind of what you'd need, in a space-faring society, to make these widely available to as many people as possible, just as a matter of basic practicality. Then you'd have different groups that could afford it customising to fit their organisations.

Huh. That must mean the human debris normal suits are also mass produced, if there's a standard-issue version of those.

There we go again with another demonstration of the base-level exploitative awfulness built into this setting.

[Index of other writing]

[acourtofthought]

Lucien proving that he can have female friends and remain loyal to his mate.

ACOWAR Pg 24

ACOWAR Pg 47

ACOWAR Pg 676

(since some believe the above has romantic undertones, does it make sense that he preferred to accept Elain's offer below rather than finding a way to stay with Vassa?).

ACOWAR Pg 676 (a few paragraphs later)

ACOFAS Page 163

(Lucien seems to be comfortably living with Jurian and Vassa but is it really because it's where he wants to be?).

ACOFAS Page 165

ACOSF Page 598

(if you refer back to ACOWAR, you'll find a nearly identical line used in reference to Cassian and Nesta on page 174. Weird how that was romantic foreshadowing for a Nessian endgame but couldn't possibly mean the same for Jassa 🤔).

ACOSF Page 601

It's so interesting that E/riels love to use the "first choice" argument when it comes to Elain and Az. Which I don't even agree with anyway considering his first choice was Mor and hers was Graysen. Not to mention it's about the right choice and not the first choice. Yet those same people will try to push the Vassien ship when it's 100% obvious that Vassa is not at all who Lucien is interested in right now.

But to my original point, Lucien has shown through his friendship with Feyre that he is capable of having a loving yet non sexual relationship with a female. He has shown he has female friends in other courts that still do not come across as romantic as he "had no interest in female company these days". Could SJM have gone the route of Vassien? Absolutely, if that's what she wanted. Do I think that's the case based off everything she's written? Doubtful. She rarely (that's to say never) has a MMC express longing for their mate only to be developing feelings for another female at the same time. It's the ultimate gut wrenching scenario, tugging on the readers heartstring to see a male pining so desperately for the female he shares a bond with who has yet to return those feelings.

Adding in feelings for another female at the same time (for a traditional romance writer) makes the male seem a whole lot less sincere in what he feels for either female (cough cough, Az with Elain at the same time as his feelings for Mor, cough cough cough).

Really, I think Lucien and Vassa are just friends, something he desperately needs more than another love interest as he deals with the new feelings he has for Elain and still struggles with feeling like it means he's somehow betraying the memory of Jesminda.

[trevel]

For reasons that don't make that much sense to anyone except me, I have been trying to calculate how many different "setups" there are for the game Spirit Island.

Now for this I am explicitly *not* counting the order of shuffled decks, but rather things that players can actually choose. I'm also not counting mechanic-less changes like "what color tokens", it doesn't matter. The game with blue tokens plays exactly the same as with yellow or green. I'm also deliberately ignoring spirit/board combinations where you get to decide where to place presence; I don't think it comes up enough to make a huge difference and seems more like the first strategic choice rather than part of setup.

Okay? Okay.

So, let's start with the base game. It came with 8 possible spirits, 4 game boards, 3 potential adversaries, and 4 scenarios. For a single player game, that would _seem_ like 8*4*3*4 = 384 different games, which pleases me because the result number contains all the digits from the multiplication, but displeases me because it is incorrect. You can play without a scenario; you can play without an adversary; each adversary has 7 possible difficulty levels. ALSO each game board can be flipped over, to the "thematic" side, so that's 8 board possibilities instead of 4.

So we have 8 spirits * 8 boards * ((3*7)+1) adversaries * (3+1) scenarios. = 5632 possible single player games using the basic setup for Spirit Island.

For two player, *most* of that math stays the same; We now have 8 spirits * 7 spirits * 8 boards * 3 boards * 22 adversaries * 4 scenarios = 118 272 possible two-player games.

"But wait," you might ask, "why are you multiplying by 7 spirits for the second player but by 3 boards?" -- simple. Because the boards offer a choice between standard and thematic, we're going to assume that we're not going to MIX between standard and thematic boards. (If we would, then we'd just double our available choices -- but we don't really stand to gain much for that additional complexity, so I'm leaving it out for now.)

Actually, wait. That's still wrong. The thematic boards have specified arrangement AND you need to pick two adjacent board for it to make sense. Let's break it down; we can either play with 4*3 standard boards OR 2 possible arrangements of thematic boards, which means 4*3+2 boards = 14 possible boards. 56 spirit pairs * 14 possible board setups * 22 adversaries * 4 scenarios = 68 992 possible 2-player games.

For 3 players, we now have 8*7*6 for the spirit choices, 4*3*2 standard boards + 4 thematic choices, and still 88 adversary/scenario options = 827 904 options.

For 4 players, 8*7*6*5 for the spirit choices, 4*3*2*1 for the standard boards (because order still matters), only 1 thematic choice now, which means we only increase to 1680 * 25 * 88 = 3 696 000 different game set ups.

Total ALL of these together, and we get 4 598 528 possible different games of Spirit Island using only the base game.

Now this is assuming that a game with Ocean and River on boards A and B is different from a game with River and Ocean on boards A and B, is different from a game with Ocean and River on boards B and A, is different from a game with River and Ocean on boards B and A, and I'd say that's a fair critique. It would be absolutely fair to NOT care about minutia like that. So let's redo the math! 1 player doesn't change: 5632 2 player is now 8*7/2 * (4*3/2+2) * 88 = 28 * 8 * 88 = 19712 3 player is now 8*7*6/3/2 * (4*3*2/3/2+4) * 88 = 56 * 8 * 88 = 39424 4 player is now 8*7*6*5/4/3/2 * 2 * 88 = 12320

For a total of 77088 different games, which is a HUGE difference compared to the 4.6 million we have when we counted every permutation.

Which is correct? IDK, it all depends on what you consider a different game to look like. I'm inclined to prefer the larger number, where arranging the boards differently matters and which spirit is on which board matters, but I'm not going to complain if anyone prefers the other choice.

[dailyanarchistposts]

E.3.3 Can capitalism’s focus on short-term profitability deal with the ecological crisis?

No a word, no. This is another key problem associated with capitalism’s ability to deal with the ecological crisis it helps create. Due to the nature of the market, firms are forced to focus on short-term profitability rather than long-term survival. This makes sense. If a company does not make money now, it will not be around later.

This, obviously, drives the creation of “externalities” discussed in previous sections. Harmful environmental effects such as pollution, global warming, ozone depletion, and destruction of wildlife habitat are not counted as “costs of production” in standard methods of accounting because they are borne by everyone in the society. This gives companies a strong incentive to ignore such costs as competition forces firms to cut as many costs as possible in order to boost short-term profits.

To give an obvious example, if a firm has to decide between installing a piece of costly equipment which reduces its pollution and continuing as it currently is, then it is more likely to do the latter. If the firm does invest then its costs are increased and it will lose its competitive edge compared to its rivals who do not make a similar investment. The “rational” decision is, therefore, not to invest, particularly if by externalising costs it can increase its profits or market share by cutting prices. In other words, the market rewards the polluters and this is a powerful incentive to maximise such activities. The market, in other words, provides incentives to firms to produce externalities as part their drive for short-term profitability. While this is rational from the firm’s position, it is collectively irrational as the planet’s ecology is harmed.

The short-term perspective can also be seen by the tendency of firms to under-invest in developing risky new technologies. This is because basic research which may take years, if not decades, to develop and most companies are unwilling to take on that burden. Unsurprisingly, most advanced capitalist countries see such work funded by the state (as we noted in section D.8, over 50% of total R&D funding has been provided by the federal state in the USA). Moreover, the state has provided markets for such products until such time as markets have appeared for them in the commercial sector. Thus capitalism, by itself, will tend to under-invest in long term projects:

“in a competitive system you do short-term planning only … Let’s take corporate managers, where there’s no real confusion about what they’re doing. They are maximising profit and market share in the short term. In fact, if they were not to do that, they would no longer exist. Let’s be concrete. Suppose that some automobile company, say General Motors, decides to devote their resources to planning for something that will be profitable ten years from now. Suppose that’s where they divert their resources: they want to think in some long-term conception of market dominance. Their rivals are going to maximising profit and power in the short term, and they’re going to take over the market, and General Motors won’t be in business. That’s true for the owners and also for the managers. The managers want to stay managers. They can fight off hostile take-over bids, they can keep from being replaced, as long as they contribute to short-term profitability. As a result, long-term considerations are rarely considered in competitive systems.” [Noam Chomsky, Language and Politics, p. 598]

This does not mean that firms will not look into future products nor do research and development. Many do (particularly if helped by the state). Nor does it imply that some industries do not have a longer-term perspective. It simply shows that such activity is not the normal state of affairs. Moreover, any such “long-term” perspective is rarely more than a decade while an ecological perspective demands much more than this. This also applies to agriculture, which is increasingly being turned into agribusiness as small farmers are being driven out of business. Short-termism means that progress in agriculture is whatever increases the current yield of a crop even if means destroying the sources of fertility in the long run in order to maintain current fertility by adding more and more chemicals (which run off into rivers, seep into the water table and end up in the food itself.

This kind of irrational short-term behaviour also afflicts capital markets as well. The process works in the same way Chomsky highlights. Suppose there are 3 companies, X, Y, and Z and suppose that company X invests in the project of developing a non-polluting technology within ten years. At the same time its competitors, Y and Z, will be putting their resources into increasing profits and market share in the coming days and months and over the next year. During that period, company X will be unable to attract enough capital from investors to carry out its plans, since investors will flock to the companies that are most immediately profitable. This means that the default position under capitalism is that the company (or country) with the lowest standards enjoys a competitive advantage, and drags down the standards of other companies (or countries). Sometimes, though, capital markets experience irrational bubbles. During the dot.com boom of the 1990s, investors did plough money into internet start-ups and losses were tolerated for a few years in the expectation of high profits in the near future. When that did not happen, the stock market crashed and investors turned away from that market in droves. If something similar happened to eco-technologies, the subsequent aftermath may mean that funding essential for redressing our interaction with the environment would not be forthcoming until the memories of the crash had disappeared in the next bubble frenzy.

Besides, thanks to compound interest benefits far in the future have a very small present value. If $1 were left in a bank at 5% annual interest, it would be worth more than $2 million after 300 years. So if it costs $1 today to prevent ecological damage worth $2 million in the 24th century then economic theory argues that our descendants would be better off with us putting that $1 in the bank. This would suggest that basing our responsibility to future generations on economics may not be the wisest course.

The supporter of capitalism may respond by arguing that business leaders are as able to see long-term negative environmental effects as the rest of us. But this is to misunderstand the nature of the objection. It is not that business leaders as individuals are any less able to see what’s happening to the environment. It is that if they want to keep their jobs they have to do what the system requires, which is to concentrate on what is most profitable in the short term. Thus if the president of company X has a mystical experience of oneness with nature and starts diverting profits into pollution control while the presidents of Y and Z continue with business as usual, the stockholders of company X will get a new president who is willing to focus on short-term profits like Y and Z. As Joel Bakan stresses, managers of corporations “have a legal duty to put shareholders’ interests above all others … Corporate social responsibility is thus illegal — at least when it is genuine.” Ones which “choose social and environmental goals over profits — who try and act morally — are, in fact, immoral” as their role in both the economy and economic ideology is to “make much as much money as possible for shareholders.” [The Corporation, pp. 36–7 and p. 34]

In general, then, if one company tries to devote resources to develop products or processes that are ecologically responsible, they will simply be undercut by other companies which are not doing so (assuming such products or processes are more expensive, as they generally are as the costs are not inflicted on other people and the planet). While some products may survive in small niche markets which reflect the fact that many people are willing and able to pay more to protect their world, in general they will not be competitive in the market and so the ecologically damaging products will have the advantage. In other words, capitalism has a built-in bias toward short-term gain, and this bias — along with its inherent need for growth — means the planet will continue its free-fall toward ecological disaster so long as capitalism exists.

This suggests that attempts to address ecological problems like pollution and depletion of resources by calling for public education are unlikely to work. While it is true that this will raise people’s awareness to the point of creating enough demand for environment-friendly technologies and products that they will be profitable to produce, it does not solve the problem that the costs involved in doing such research now cannot be met by a possible future demand. Moreover, the costs of such technology can initially be quite high and so the effective demand for such products may not be sufficient. For example, energy-saving light bulbs have been around for some time but have been far more expensive that traditional ones. This means that for those on lower-incomes who would, in theory, benefit most from lower-energy bills cannot afford them. Thus their short-term income constrains undermine long-term benefits.

Even if the research is completed, the market itself can stop products being used. For example, the ability to produce reasonably inexpensive solar photovoltaic power cells has existed for some time. The problem is that they are currently very expensive and so there is a limited demand for them. This means that no capitalist wants to risk investing in factory large enough to take advantage of the economies of scale possible. The net effect is that short-term considerations ensure that a viable eco-technology has been margainalised.

This means that no amount of education can countermand the effects of market forces and the short-term perspective they inflict on us all. If faced with a tight budget and relatively expensive “ecological” products and technology, consumers and companies may be forced to choose the cheaper, ecologically unfriendly product to make ends meet or survive in the market. Under capitalism, we may be free to choose, but the options are usually lousy choices, and not the only ones potentially available in theory (this is a key problem with green consumerism — see section E.5).

The short-termism of capitalism has produced, in effect, a system which is “a massive pyramid scheme that will collapse somewhere down the line when all the major players have already retired from the game. Of course when the last of these hustlers cash in their chips, there won’t be any place left to retire to.” [David Watson, Op. Cit., p. 57]

[loksthegreat]

Part 1 of drawing the daughters in law of Queen Elaena IV!

Lady Sabitha Tully, the wife of Elaena’s third son and hand of the king to his older brother, prince Aeron, born in 599 AC

She was the eldest child of Lord Tully by his first wife, who died in childbirth giving birth to her third daughter, born in 602 AC at Riverrun, Sabitha married prince Aeron at the age of 18, after having been infatuated with the prince for a year in which the two exchanged frequent letters, their hasty wedding broke her engagement to the heir of house Bracken and left her and her fathers relationship in ruin, Lady Sabitha returned to court with her husband, who had laid off his studies at the citadel to be with her instead, where she would soon grow influential and support her husband in ruling the seven kingdoms as hand. She was known to be a fearless woman, that stood her ground in battle, as well as court, where she held a reputation for being sharp tongued and honest, though rarely cruel. Lady Sabitha sat as many council meetings as did her husband and her good brother, the king, valued her as an advisor, for she was as logical and pragmatic a thinker, as she was well spoken. She had six daughters, whom she loved, though she often said her relationship with them was more that of a father and his children, as she felt she held none of the warmth a mother should have. The girls where raised more by her younger sister and prince Aeron than by Sabitha, although she made a habit of carrying the girls with her to her study as well as council meetings when they where babes.

Lady Beatriz Corbray, the wife of Elaena’s seventh son, a famous warrior, prince Baelor, born in 609 AC

Born in 604 AC, Beatriz was the only daughter of Lord Jonos Corbray, who was said to cherish her most among her many brothers and therefore allowed her to do as she pleased, pursuing her great love for horse riding, archery, falconry and swordsmanship alongside her brothers, some say her father even allowed her to compete in jousts disguised as a mystery knight. She was known to be tall with weathered, angular features and a long mane of untamed curls, and while boys had been a passing fancy of her in the past, beyond the occasional flirt with one of her fathers knights or a visiting nobleman’s son, it is said that Beatriz found a love out of fairy tales in prince Baelor. The singers tell us that the prince stumbled upon the wild Lady in the year 630 AC, while traveling to a tourney at the Eyrie, his group had been attacked by mountain clan men and separated, Lady Bea, disguised as a man was roaming the Forrest as she often did and the two became companions upon their travels, some say prince Baelor fell for her while still under the impression that she was a man, true or not, Lady Bea disappeared upon their arrival at the Eyrie, only for Baelor to spot her at her fathers side during the tourney, grinning widely at him as it is said. After that they where wed within a week, at her fathers castle in the Vale. They would end up having only two children, a daughter in 632 and a son five years later.

Lady Alanna Velaryon, the wife of Elaena’s second son and lord of the tides, prince Daemion, born in 595 AC

Alanna was born in 598 AC to the son and daughter of a cousin of Queen Elaena’s mother, Lady Larissa Velaryon, she was known throughout the seven kingdoms for her immense beauty and talent with the harp, as well as her singing voice. She had been betrothed to prince Daemion, who would inherit Driftmark from his grandmother some day, as a babe and had been send to court at only 11 to become close with her future husband. While his brothers secured themselves great love matches Daemions love laid with the sea, with his dragon, and with his older brother, the king, whoms most adamant supporter he was. Alanna and her husband were friends and cousins rather than lovers, even after they were wed on Driftmark in 613 AC. While her husband traveled the world or spend his time at court, advising his brother, Alanna ruled as the Lady of Driftmark and preferred to surround herself with other women. Her closest companion and dearest friend was the Lady Larrya of Lsy, whom was the widow of her cousin. Lady Aly, as she was called by her friend Larrya, had three children with her husband, triplets, two sons and one girl, born in 618 AC, on which she doted all her life.

[dont-f-with-moogles]

Terra Darling ❤️🌹❤️

For the Drunk Drabbles vol.2, my request is 2 "You do have a stupid face".

Have fun & don't drink too much!!!

Kith kith 😘

Hope you like it, Val 💜 Mittens Characters: Levi x Hange fluff Word Count: 598 words

The supermarket aisle was lined with uniform shelves of plastic bottles, each emblazoned with eye-catching brand names. Levi rose out of his crouch, standing to check the contents of a particularly pricey washing detergent in his hand. Satisfied, he rounded the corner, passing milk cartons and tubs of butter as he approached Hange. The pair had agreed to meet in the chilled foods section - only Levi’s appearance had apparently caught her off guard. He watched her, curious, as she cradled their shopping basket and smiled down into its contents. As Levi drew closer, Hange’s head jerked up. There was a flicker of something - panic - before she raised her eyebrows in recognition. Hange buried whatever she had been holding under the other items in the basket. 

“Oi.” Levi brandished the detergent bottle at her. “What’s with that face?”

“This face?” she returned, pointing to herself in mock surprise, “I assumed you didn’t mind it?”

Under the store’s fluorescent lighting Hange’s cheeks glowed; eyes overbright behind her glasses.

“So what if I don’t?” Levi agreed with a wry half-smile. He motioned to place the bottle amongst their other purchases when Hange’s hand came down protectively over the basket. 

“See, you do have a stupid face!” Levi was studying her expression rather than the wedge of cheese that Hange was using to cover the items beneath it.

“Well, you have stupid-” Hange floundered, the flush upon her skin deepening, “-amounts of that stuff at home already! What, are you doing laundry for everyone in our building now?”

“Quit dodging the question,” Levi snapped, “what’s going on?”

Hange shifted her weight and glanced about herself as though anticipating some unforeseen interruption. Then, with a reluctant sigh, she plucked a clear, plastic packet from underneath the cheese wedge. It took Levi a moment to realise that the white cotton pieces inside it were, in fact, a row of tiny mittens.

“I picked them up as a gift for Miche and Nanaba, y’know.” Hange looked about herself once more as though expecting both friends to emerge jubilantly at this revelation. “Normally I couldn’t be less interested in baby clothes, but… consider the size and scale!”

With that, Hange grabbed Levi's wrist and forced his hand beside the bag.

“Look, Levi. They’re so small… each one is only the size of an adult thumb. I never appreciated how tiny these were… until now.” 

Levi’s eyes moved from his own hand, which was still forcibly suspended in the air, to Hange’s look of wonder. There was an eager glint in her eye; a sudden spark of desire which threatened to catch. It took Levi a moment to master a surge of panic. But his expression scarcely betrayed the shift from bewilderment to fear to uncertainty; the myriad of minute changes barely perceptible. All the while he watched Hange’s ridiculous smile; the mittens nestled in her open palm. Then quite simply, with his eyes on hers and in a tone of perfect calm, he spoke.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Hange repeated wildly.

“Okay,” Levi said with gravity. Hange looked as though she had not quite heard him. Her fingers fumbled on the packaging. The packet of mittens fell into the basket.

“Are we seriously having that conversation here, in the dairy aisle?”

“Where else do people decide these things?” Levi’s small grin had returned. Suddenly, irrepressibly, his features were mirrored in Hange’s expression.

“Guess here’s as good a place as any…”

They regarded one another as two criminals embarking upon a secret heist.

At that moment, an ear-splitting wail echoed from the next aisle, drowning out the pacifying tones of the child’s mother. Hange’s eyes widened in horror.

“Wanna head back before you change your mind?”

“Please!” Hange dropped the shopping basket on the floor and kicked it beneath the shelf of milk cartons. “Let’s go straight home, Levi! I’ll get Nanaba a voucher or something for the baby!” (Asks are open again for prompts! :))

[holdingforexo]

This may sound a bit weird, but I'm happy you have your countdown set so it counts the days that have passed instead of the days to come (75 of 645 vs 598 of 645). Whenever I see posts counting the other way, my brain kinda glazes over the numbers, but it makes sense the way you do it.

Thank you! I obviously feel the same haha. I’ve always called these countdowns, but I guess they’re really countups haha.

I think it’s really in the wording ... if it’s “day xxx of xxx”, it makes sense to count up. Counting down works if it’s “xxx days left”, but I wanted to word it in a way that would also include the total number of days we’ll be holding. With this project, it’s how many days we’ve been holding and how many days they’ve been away, rather than how many days until they return. It’s subtle—but I appreciate that you notice!

[kankhajurabai]

AFSP advanced - Jack Kelly

“A non-profit organization is an entity that is created and operated for a charitable or socially beneficial purpose rather than to make a profit.” (Kenton, 2024). The goal for this organization should be to promote its cause while also receiving support through donations to grow and offer more help. I chose to analyze the Americans for Suicide Preventions’ Social Media accounts’ metrics to see if I can find any weaknesses or strong points that they could benefit from.

Vanity metrics are basic ways to see how much interaction and activity that a page has with its followers. These include things such as likes, comments, and shares, where you see the interaction taking place but do not have any more data from it.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) has a Facebook page with 598 thousand followers, but averages below 50 likes, comments, and reactions per post. This is commonly seen with large organization’s accounts as many people will follow something they recognize with or a general topic that can be supported but do not care to engage with the content. The potential to reach large audiences is not farfetched, but AFSP would have to investigate doing more video interviews with people who tell a personal story. This could be about themselves, or a loved one who has struggled with metal health. These types of post get the most interactions and lead to their followers finding a personal connection with the person in the video. There is also an abundance of the same post “Walk with Us”. While this is a major part of where AFSP gets their donations, I would recommend posting the flyer in different colors, or with images of the location of the walk that will be taking place.

AFSP’s Instagram has seen more interaction with their posts than any other social media. This is because the younger generations have been struggling with mental health and suicide related thoughts or actions. Since 2011 the suicide rate in young adults has increased 39% (Panchal, 2023). And with Instagram having 30.8% of its users between the ages of 18 and 24, AFSP’s followers are more likely to be able to relate to the content being posted which intern leads to more interaction with the posts and more donations.

I think that AFSP could generate more awareness and interactions if they created a playlist that was specific to a person’s struggles. Making a playlist of different stories would be a good spot for someone who is feeling the same way to receive the help they need or the donations to help another. Trying to find the different posts that are relevant to a user can be a turn off and make the user bored. The goal should be to post content in a way that is easy to find while also being able to increase click rates and awareness.

Bibliography

Panchal, H. S. (2023, 08 04). A Look at the Latest Suicide Data and Change Over the Last Decade. Retrieved from KFF: https://www.kff.org/mental-health/issue-brief/a-look-at-the-latest-suicide-data-and-change-over-the-last-decade/

 Kenton, W. (2024, March 03). Nonprofit Organization (NPO): Definition and Example. Retrieved from Investopedia: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/non-profitorganization.asp

[wanda-the-hungry-warden]

Name: Wanda

Universe: Minecraft

Age: 1,823 years old (developmentally ~34 years)

Pronouns: She/her

Species: Warden

Height: 3.6 m/11 ft 10 in

Weight: 598 kg/1,318 lb

Family: Stella (partner); Melody, Chorus, Lyric, Trill, and Hum (children)

Wanda the warden may seem unfriendly at first, and is socially awkward even around other wardens. She has ample reason to be cautious of strangers, especially when her babies are nearby, and she thinks of most mobs as food first and friends second. However, she has a kind heart underneath her cynical exterior, and she has empathy for intelligent mobs so long as they don’t attempt to harm her.

Gaining Wanda’s trust can be a long process, but she is very loyal and affectionate toward those she holds dear. This especially includes her partner, Stella, and their five children, all of whom Wanda adores and will never hesitate to stand up for. They all live underground in a relatively new patch of sculk.

Wanda can be very forward, stubborn, and sassy, but she’s also smarter than she lets on. She can communicate with humans and some other mobs, albeit rather crudely, but is more eloquent when talking to other wardens.

Notably, Wanda loves to eat, and she will eat almost anything. Her appetite has resulted in her becoming chubbier than most wardens, which she takes in stride.

Fun fact: I picture her voice as sounding like the Sea Emperor Leviathan from Subnautica.

Wanda's Toyhouse profile

[masterofd1saster]

CJ current events 16nov23

Former Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby was found guilty on Thursday of two counts of perjury by a federal jury in Maryland. Mosby, who was Baltimore's highest-ranking prosecutor from 2015 to earlier this year, was found guilty after she falsely claimed she was suffering from "financial hardship" because of the pandemic and obtained federal funds illegally. She used the money for down payments on two vacation homes in Florida, according to the Justice Department.*** https://abcnews.go.com/US/former-baltimore-prosecutor-marilyn-mosby-found-guilty-perjury

Indeed, she was paid $247k during the relevant period.

***

Alabama has scheduled the nation’s first execution by nitrogen hypoxia, an alternative to lethal injection, its Republican governor said. Kenneth Eugene Smith’s execution by lethal injection was abruptly canceled in November after the state couldn’t properly set the IV line before the warrant for execution expired. He asked the state to be put to death by nitrogen gas rather than lethal injection after what he called a botched execution. Smith’s execution now is set to take place between January 25 and 26, according to a news release from Gov. Kay Ivey.***

The case was Hamm v. Smith, 598 U. S. __ (2023).

***

Don't help anyone in NYC.

NYPD arrested John Rote, 43, of Astoria, Queens, for firing a shot when Matthew Roesch, a homeless 49-year-old, was harassing a 40-year-old woman. Rote did not shoot at Roesch.

***

Should people be allowed to pay for stupid papers?

***

BB -

+++

***

Extraordinary

DENVER — As the one-year mark of the Club Q mass shooting nears, the shooter has been moved to an out-of-state prison due to safety concerns, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections. On Thursday evening, a spokesperson with the DOC confirmed that Anderson Lee Aldrich is now housed at the Wyoming State Penitentiary "due to safety concerns surrounding his high-profile cases."*** After pleading guilty to the murder and attempted murder charges, Aldrich was sentenced in June to five consecutive life sentences in the Department of Corrections without the possibility of parole. In addition, the judge issued 46 consecutive 48-year sentences — or 2,208 years — for the counts of first-degree attempted murder.*** The death penalty was mentioned by some of victims during the sentencing and subsequent press conference. But Colorado does not have a death penalty as a sentence for serious crimes — it was repealed by the governor in 2020 after he signed Senate Bill 20-100. However, the FBI opened an investigation to determine if the Club Q shooter should face federal charges and the possibility of the death penalty, even though it's abolished on the state level. The FBI is working with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice in this case.*** "The death penalty — the threat of the death penalty — in the federal system is a big part of what motivated this defendant to take this plea in our case here in the Fourth Judicial District," he said. "The death penalty still matters. Cases like this are why the death penalty should exist in the State of Colorado. The victims in this case deserve the ultimate punishment that the law can provide. And they were robbed of that by changes in the law just a few short years ago."*** https://www.denver7.com/news/club-q-shooting/club-q-shooter-moved-to-out-of-state-prison-due-to-safety-concerns-colorado-dept-of-corrections-says

***

Sparse details.

Someone murdered Samantha Wolf, a synagogue president, in Detroit on 21oct23. Police have released few details - probably to sort out false confessions.

Police arrested a man in Kalamazoo on Tues, but he was released on Fri, 10nov23. He apparently made an ambiguous statement about her death.

***

Fantastic Bari Weiss speech/column

listen at https://youtu.be/a6i9VPrj170

read https://www.thefp.com/p/you-are-the-last-line-of-defense - this is a literal quote, Tumblr hates indented text -

***The difference between 9/11 and 10/7 was that the catastrophe of 10/7 was followed, on October 8, by a different kind of catastrophe. A moral and spiritual catastrophe that was on full display throughout the West before the bodies of those men and women and children had even been identified.

People poured into the streets of our capital cities to celebrate the slaughter.

In Sydney, crowds gathered at the Sydney Opera House cheering “gas the Jews.” People rejoiced on the streets of Berlin and London and Toronto and New York.

Then came BLM Chicago using the paraglider—a symbol of mass death—as a symbol of freedom. Then came posters across our campuses calling for Israel to burn. Then came our own offices in New York City being vandalized with “Fuck Jews” and “Fuck Israel.” Then came Harvard’s task force to create safe spaces for pro-Hamas students.***

Because the proliferation of antisemitism, as always, is a symptom. 

When antisemitism moves from the shameful fringe into the public square, it is not about Jews. It is never about Jews. It is about everyone else. It is about the surrounding society or the culture or the country. It is an early warning system—a sign that the society itself is breaking down. That it is dying. 

It is a symptom of a much deeper crisis—one that explains how, in the span of a little over 20 years since Sept 11, educated people now respond to an act of savagery not with a defense of civilization, but with a defense of barbarism.

It was twenty years ago when I began to encounter the ideology that drives the people who tear down the posters. It was twenty years ago, when I was a college student, that I started writing about a nameless, then-niche worldview that seemed to contradict everything I had been taught since I was a child.

At first, things like postmodernism and postcolonialism and postnationalism seemed like wordplay and intellectual games—little puzzles to see how you could “deconstruct” just about anything. What I came to see over time was that it wasn’t going to remain an academic sideshow. And that it sought nothing less than the deconstruction of our civilization from within. 

It seeks to upend the very ideas of right and wrong.***

In recognizing allies, I’ll be an example. I am a gay woman who is moderately pro-choice. I know there are some in this room who do not believe my marriage should have been legal. And that’s okay, because we are all Americans who want lower taxes.

But seriously: I am here because I know that in the fight for the West, I know who my allies are. And my allies are not the people who, looking at facile, external markers of my identity, one might imagine them to be. My allies are people who believe that America is good. That the West is good. That human beings—not cultures—are created equal and that saying so is essential to knowing what we are fighting for. America and our values are worth fighting for—and that is the priority of the day. 

The other thing to look for is the good. Look hard for the good and don’t lose sight of it.

New York coffee shop owner Aaron Dahan had all of his baristas quit when he placed an Israeli flag in the window and began fundraising for Magen David Adom—the Israeli Red Cross.

But his café didn’t close—quite the opposite. Suppliers sent him free shipments of beans and cups. Community members picked up shifts for free. There were lines around the block to buy a cup of coffee. The cafe made $25,000 in a single day.

Just this week, American cowboys from the Great Plains and the Rockies traveled to Israel to tend to the fields and animals of Israeli farmers who were killed in the past month. This is the opposite of the cheap solidarity of standing with Hamas that we see across our campuses and city centers. This is the essence of the West—of the idea that free societies must stand together.***

Second: we—you—must enforce the law.

The wave of elected so-called “progressive prosecutors” has proven to be an immensely terrible thing for law and order in cities across America. It turns out that choosing not to enforce the law doesn’t reduce crime. It promotes it.

It is no coincidence that many of the same activists who have pushed to “defund the police” are also now publicly harassing Jews. Everyone needs equal protection, not only of the law but from the forces of chaos and violence. In Brooklyn, there have been an unconscionable number of violent attacks against Orthodox Jews over the past decade, correctly identified as hate crimes. But they are also simply crimes that, if the law were upheld, would be far less likely to happen—whatever their motivation. ***

There is another phrase traditional Jews invoke when speaking of someone who has been murdered: Hashem Yikom Dama. May God avenge her death.

We leave vengeance to God. But fighting is for all of us. Especially when there is something so precious worth fighting for. 

Ted once said of Barbara that “Barbara was Barbara because America, unlike any place in the world, gave her the space, freedom, oxygen, encouragement, and inspiration to be whatever she wanted to be.” 

There is no place like this country. And there is no second America to run to if this one fails. 

So let’s get up. Get up and fight for our future. This is the fight of—and for—our lives. 

=== - my thoughts ==>>

Gen Mattis used to say "this is not the junior varsity." You could take it as you were trained and ready and good enough to accomplish the mission. I think he meant that you are the one with the job; you are the one America depends on; you are the one who must not fail.

***

Why wasn't someone struck?

A Secret Service agent protecting President Joe Biden’s granddaughter opened fire after three people tried to break into an unmarked Secret Service vehicle in Washington, D.C., a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. Agents assigned to protect Naomi Biden were out with her in the Georgetown neighborhood late Sunday night when they saw the three people breaking a window of the parked and unoccupied SUV, the official said. The official could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on Monday on the condition of anonymity. One of the agents opened fire, but no one was struck by the gunfire, the Secret Service said in a statement. The three people were seen fleeing in a red car, and the Secret Service said it put out a regional bulletin to D.C. police to be on the lookout for it.*** https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/secret-service-agents-protecting-bidens-granddaughter-open-fire-when-3-people-try-to-break-into-suv/3469010/

Warning shots are not authorized b/c they're dangerous.

***

Nude “before and after” photos stolen from plastic surgeon, posted online, and sent to victims’ family and friends

Posted: November 9, 2023 by Pieter Arntz

The FBI is investigating a data breach where cybercriminals were able to steal patients’ records from a Las Vegas plastic surgeon’s office, and then post the details online which included nude photos. In February, cybercriminals gained access to Hankins & Sohn’s network, which has offices in both Henderson and Las Vegas. From there, the cybercriminals were able to download patient information.*** Apparently, the cybercriminals didn’t get what they wanted from Hankins & Sohn and started posting the information online. Several patients and court documents say that the stolen data included sensitive personal information, such as names and Social Security numbers, but also nude photos of patients taken before and after surgery. They cybercriminals didn’t stop at that. They sent the data, along with the nude photos, to family and friends through patients’ email accounts.*** https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2023/11/nude-before-and-after-photos-stolen-from-plastic-surgeon-posted-online-and-sent-to-victims-family-and-friends

***

You know you're a dirtbag when....

A child psychiatrist in Charlotte, N.C., has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for using artificial intelligence (AI) to create child pornography and secretly recording his 15-year-old cousin as she showered, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of North Carolina. David Tatum, 41, created the AI images by modifying pictures of ex-girlfriends with sexually explicit images of minors which he had obtained online. Tatum digitally altered images from a school dance and a photo commemorating the first day of school to make them sexually explicit, prosecutors said.*** The pervert also secretly recorded his 15-year-old cousin as she got naked in a bathroom to shower at a family vacation home in Maine. Tatum surreptitiously recorded other family members too, including more minors, getting naked and showering in the bathroom, according to the court documents.  According to trial evidence, Tatum made similar surreptitious recordings of others, including of his patient who had just turned 18 years old five days prior.*** https://www.foxnews.com/us/psychiatrist-used-ai-create-child-porn-sentenced-40-years-prison

***

drearily usual

***Kelly Ann Schutte, 35, is facing felony and misdemeanor charges, including three counts of having intercourse or sexual contact with a student at school, one count of corruption of minors and three counts of indecent assault of a person under 16 years old, according to Montgomery County records. Schutte was a counselor at Pennridge South Middle School, and the victim mentioned in court documents was 14 at the time of the defendant's alleged crimes, according to records obtained by FOX 29 Philadelphia. *** Schutte allegedly began having inappropriate contact with the student in her own home, officials said. Schutte's alleged sexual misconduct with the student began during a class field trip in the fall of 2022. Afterward, she would frequently call the victim to her office during school hours, FOX 29 reported. The suspect and victim allegedly used school apps like Canvas to contact each other during the academic year. When school ended for summer, the counselor and student allegedly messaged each other on Snapchat, a social media app that allows messages to disappear after a specified period of time. Schutte allegedly had sexual conduct with the student in her car outside a supermarket, in her home and at the victim's home when his parents were away, court documents reveal, according to FOX 29.***https://www.foxnews.com/us/pennsylvania-middle-school-counselor-allegedly-used-field-trip-start-sexually-grooming-student

***

Photos of cocaine found in a phone locker in President Joe Biden's White House this summer can be revealed by DailyMail.com for the first time.  The Secret Service included images of the bag of white powder that was found in a cubby hole used to store personal belongings near the White House's West Executive entrance in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.  Cocaine was found in locker No. 50 on Sunday, July 2 while the Biden family - including son Hunter - was spending the weekend away at Camp David ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.*** https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12744675/First-photos-reveal-COCAINE-White-House-Images.html

***

after tues

BB -

***

What would possess you to make you beat a Good Samaritan to death?

As yet another shocking video believed to show out-of-control teens inflicting a senseless killing in Las Vegas goes viral, Jonathan Lewis Sr. doesn’t want to see it. “I can’t watch the video of my son beaten to death, no,” he said on Monday. Jonathan Lewis Jr., his dad said, died from his injuries on Nov. 7 at University Medical Center, six days after the 17-year-old was beaten by a mob near Rancho High School, in broad daylight on Nov. 1.***

“Parents have got to step up and talk to their kids” about the potential consequences of such behavior, Zink said. “It’s just really sad.” Lewis’ father, who said he wants the kids involved to be held accountable and imprisoned, claims the teens were also involved in other incidents. “This is not a one-off, no. We know that there was another incident the Tuesday before that with these exact kids,” Lewis Sr. alleged, adding he couldn’t discuss it because it could affect someone else’s safety.***

According to the GoFundMe, which cites Lewis’ girlfriend, the teen was defending a smaller friend when he was attacked. The friend, a boy, had something stolen by a group of people. The group also threw the boy in a trash can. When Lewis confronted the group, he was beaten by them, the GoFundMe states. “Jonathan just went to help his friend and a couple of them attacked him and they couldn’t beat him up so he was like, defending himself and so then the whole group just jumped in,” Lewis Sr. said. https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/father-of-teen-i-cant-watch-the-video-of-my-son-beaten-to-death-2938984/ +++

Eight high school students in Las Vegas between the ages of 13 and 17 have been arrested on suspicion of murder in the fatal beating of a 17-year-old classmate, authorities announced Tuesday at a news conference. Las Vegas police homicide Lt. Jason Johansson said investigators were still working to identify two more students believed to have participated in the Nov. 1 fight that he said was over a pair of wireless headphones and a vape pen.*** https://www.cbsnews.com/news/8-teens-arrested-murder-charges-las-vegas-fatal-beating-17-year-old-boy-jonathan-lewis-jr

***

Move these body parts for $500?

The son of a Hollywood executive arrested after he allegedly tossed body parts into a dumpster in Encino was charged Monday with three counts of murder in connection with the disappearance of his wife and in-laws, prosecutors said. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office filed three special circumstances murder counts against Samuel Bond Haskell in the killing of his wife Mei Haskell and her parents, Yanxiang Wang and Gaoshen Li. Haskell last Tuesday tried to get day laborers to remove bags from his Tarzana home with what they realized were body parts and, when that failed, he was caught on video dumping them out of the back of his Tesla in Encino, authorities said. Haskell was arrested following the gruesome discovery of dismembered body parts last Wednesday. Los Angeles police investigators say those remains are likely those of his wife. Both his in-laws remain missing. Haskell briefly appeared in a courtroom Monday as a judge ordered he be held without bail, pending a Dec. 8 hearing. LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division detectives arrested Haskell after working through the weekend, gathering evidence from his home in the 4100 block of Coldstream Terrace in Tarzana and around the Encino dumpster at a strip mall where a man found a suitcase with fresh human remains. Investigators found evidence of body disposal inside the home and brought a dog that tracks human remains to check the surrounding area. Haskell tried last Tuesday to pay day laborers $500 to take away bags he first said were full of rocks, and then said were Halloween decorations, the workers told a reporter for NBC4. But the day laborers told NBC4 the contents felt like meat. “When we picked up the bags, we could tell they weren’t rocks,” one of the workers said in Spanish.*** Records show that Haskell is the son of Sam Haskell, the former executive vice president and worldwide head of television for William Morris who represented a slew of A-list stars and is still listed as head of Magnolia Hill Productions, which has produced several specials featuring Dolly Parton.

***

Disparity in federal sentences

Sentencing differences continued to exist across demographic groups when examining all sentences imposed during the five-year study period (fiscal years 2017-2021). These disparities were observed across demographic groups—both among males and females.

Specifically, Black males received sentences 13.4 percent longer, and Hispanic males received sentences 11.2 percent longer, than White males (depicted below).

Hispanic females received sentences 27.8 percent longer than White females, while Other race females received sentences 10.0 percent shorter.

The sentencing differences in the data the Commission examined largely can be attributed to the initial decision of whether the sentence should include incarceration at all rather than to the length of the prison term once a decision to impose one has been made. In particular, the likelihood of receiving a probationary sentence varied substantially by gender and race.

Black males were 23.4 percent less likely, and Hispanic males were 26.6 percent less likely, to receive a probationary sentence compared to White males (depicted below).

Similar trends were observed among females, with Black and Hispanic females less likely to receive a probation sentence than White females (11.2% percent less likely and 29.7% less likely, respectively).****

***

U Clowns Lose Again

Deion Sanders said he won’t hold a grudge against the four California high school students who are accused of stealing from the CU locker room at the Rose Bowl last month. And he’s hoping Buffs fans will do the same. Police in Pasadena have identified four suspects, which USA Today reported as being prospective UCLA recruits, in the alleged theft of personal items such as jewelry from Buffs players and staffers that took place while CU was playing the Bruins on Oct. 28. Names were not disclosed but police said the suspects were from Beaumont (Calif.) High School in Riverside County, 78 miles east of Pasadena, Sean Keeler reports.*** - Denver Post

***

BB-

***

Wrestle with a pig, and you both get dirty. The pig likes it.

Sen Markwayne Mullin is supposed to set an example.

Directly challenging a union boss to fight is unsavory, bad leadership. It puts you on his level.

If you suggested a charity MMA match, then you'd turn the tables on him. You choose American Cancer Society or Boys & Girls Clubs, and the boss loses serious face.

***

Really ugly

The former editor of a left-leaning political news site reportedly has been charged with possessing and distributing child pornography, according to authorities in Massachusetts. Slade Sohmer, 44, who until last month was editor-in-chief of the video-driven news site The Recount, was released on $100,000 bail on Monday after he was charged in Massachusetts court with possessing and disseminating “hundreds of child pornography images and videos,” according to The Berkshire Eagle. Sohmer — who also has worked as a camp counselor for a New York City-based nonprofit — was arrested at his home in Otis, Mass. on Friday, weeks after law enforcement officials confiscated his electronic devices after obtaining a search warrant, the newspaper reported.*** Sohmer since 2010 has worked as a co-director at Camp Power, a nonprofit which “provides kids from New York City’s most underfunded and underserved neighborhoods with freedom and encouragement that are often lacking in their communities back in the city.” Officials at Camp Power couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Court documents cited by The Berkshire Eagle allege that Sohmer’s phone contained disturbing video clips showing boys believed to be as young as three years of age being raped and forced to perform sex acts by adults.*** https://nypost.com/2023/11/14/media/ex-editor-in-chief-of-the-recount-charged-with-child-pornography/

***

What makes Joisey think this is a reasonable seizure?

TRENTON, N.J.—Today, a group of New Jersey parents teamed up with the Institute for Justice (IJ) to file a federal lawsuit challenging New Jersey’s practice of keeping blood samples taken from newborn babies for 23 years, all without parents’ knowledge or consent. Not only does New Jersey hold onto the blood, it can use the blood samples in any manner it chooses.  When babies are born in New Jersey, state law requires that blood be taken from the newborns and tested for diseases such as cystic fibrosis, hormonal deficiencies, and other immunity issues. All states perform similar tests.   But, after the testing is over, New Jersey’s Department of Health keeps the leftover blood for 23 years. The state does not ask parents for their consent to keep their babies’ blood, failing to even inform parents that it will hold on to the residual blood. The only way parents could learn about such retention is by proactively looking it up on one of the third-party websites listed on the bottom of the card they’re given after the blood draw. And, once the state has the blood, it can use it however it wishes, including selling it to third parties, giving it to police without a warrant, or even selling it to the Pentagon to create a registry—as previously happened in Texas. *** https://ij.org/press-release/new-jersey-parents-file-federal-class-action-lawsuit-challenging-states-secret-retention-of-newborn-blood-for-23-years

***

Caged Heat (1974) director's cut

Corman also wanted Caged Heat to retain most of the violence and nudity that audiences for this genre had come to expect. Demme introduced new aspects to Caged Heat, including a satirical approach and making the sadistic warden female instead of male. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caged_Heat

Dublin mess

A former Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) correctional officer was sentenced today to 96 months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for sexually abusing multiple female inmates and making false statements while he was a correctional officer at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Dublin, California. Andrew Jones, 36, of Clovis, California, pleaded guilty to the charges on Aug. 17. Today’s sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.*** Jones was employed as a correctional officer at FCI Dublin where he supervised prisoners who worked in the Food Services Department. Jones admitted that, between July 2020 and June 2021, while he had supervisory and disciplinary authority over all the female prisoners, he received oral sex from, and/or had sexual intercourse with, three female prisoners who worked for him in the FCI Dublin kitchen.  Jones admitted that he sexually abused these prisoners in multiple places near the FCI Dublin kitchen, including a staff bathroom, a warehouse, and a room where kitchen utensils were kept. In a memorandum filed in connection with Jones’ sentencing, the government argued that Jones “enforced silence and obedience” from the prisoners by using “violence and threats of violence.”  The memorandum stated that “intimidation and insults on the one hand, and the flattery on the other, was aimed at cultivating pliant prisoners who Jones could abuse for his own sexual pleasure, while he remained safe in the belief that his misconduct would go unreported.”*** Jones is one of eight correctional officers to have been charged with federal crimes involving sexual misconduct at FCI Dublin in the past three years and the fourth to have been sentenced. To date, all the recent sentences for FCI Dublin guards convicted of sexual abuse of a ward and/or abusive sexual contact of a prisoner have resulted in sentences that are above the U.S Sentencing Guidelines.*** https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-correctional-officer-sentenced-96-months-sexually-abusing-multiple-female-inmates

***

[wordsandrobots]

So the problem with my brain's capacity to plan stories is that it doesn't know when to stop.

Because here I am, 6000 words into writing the final part of Wishing on Space Hardware, which is essentially a superfluous coda to make up the numbers and tie off a few loose emotional strands from the main plot, and of course I'm already thinking about the other Iron-Blooded Orphans stories I'd like to write. Indeed, some of them I have already started, because of course I have.

Now, to be fair, most of those ideas are slash. Smutty slash too. Did you know writing sex scenes triggers the same 'choreography goes brr' synapses as writing fight scenes? I didn't until a couple of years ago and now here we are, with at least two collections of explicit short stories in the offing.

First up is Sympathy and Other Mistakes, which I would already call done if not for the inexplicable urge to add more chapters to it. This is the one that I previously mentioned goes well to Great Night by NEEDTOBREATHE and is for the . . . let's call it 'crack-ship taken seriously' that I'm still not sure I want to publish anything for. I'm fairly nonplussed by moral-purity hand-wringing over age gaps and so forth, and firmly of the belief that getting laid is the least problematic thing anyone in Tekkadan has ever done, but it's a pairing that essentially requires the entirety of Wishing on Space Hardware to have happened to work. So, about a decade of character development beyond the show, which probably narrows the audience past the initial 'wait, what' filter. Thing is, it's an interesting pairing that I think actually works incredibly well with established canon. A thoroughly unromantic thing that swerves from dubcon to somewhere that's honestly kind of sweet, rooted in a search for redemption both characters know is ultimately hopeless. So . . . yeah. We'll see.

Second is the one I suspect would be most popular, You, Me and Everyone Else, which is the logical extension of deciding Shino and Yamagi are poly i.e., how much of the rest of the cast can I ship them with?

Technically, I suppose the bit I've written most of already isn't actually that premise at all but rather them unlocking the most blindingly obvious kinks imaginable. Still, it's fun and should be interesting when placed alongside the other ideas I've got planned. To whit:

Yamagi/Shino/Eugene/Sri (OC) -- The poly relationship I've been building throughout WoSH, in a situation I can't discuss yet

Yamagi/Chad/Shino -- Because I'm curious if I can make that work. If you've been following along so far, you'll have noted the emotional heft in the Yamagi/Shino/Eugene relationship is skewed such that Shino/Eugene is more intense than Yamagi/Eugene. I kind of want to play with that in the other direction, by giving Yamagi a partner he's more strongly attracted to than Shino is. Also I want Chad to have nice things.

598/Yamagi/Shino -- Look. My perfect gremlin child managed to squeak out of that game in one piece and so I get to imagine him grown up and happy, OK? And by grown up I mean roughly barrel-shaped and capable of out-wrestling Shino, and by happy I mean slightly drunk and blurting out “You're really pretty" at Yamagi in the middle of swapping 'holy shit, you're not dead' stories. It'll be fine.

(Chapter titles are already themed: Fantasia for Chains, [REDACTED], Variation on a Theme, and Guest Soloist. Because yes.)

Beyond that, I suppose technically that idea of cadet!Cyclase trying to come on to young officer!McGillis is also slash but I don't believe it would actually go anywhere per se. More that McGillis would take one look at Cyclase and go 'not today, thank you', and Cyclase would get to a point in the conversation and come to the realisation that killing McGillis wouldn't achieve much. I don't know. I'm intrigued by the idea of McGillis accidentally prompting Cyclase off the path of vengeance and on to the path of whatever-the-fuck he was trying to achieve in Urdr Hunt, and there is the challenge of actually writing the bastard's POV (I scrupulously avoided writing either McGillis or Orga's perspective in WoSH).

Oh, speaking of POVs, I was considering doing something with the Venus gang as the other side to Eugene Sevenstark and the Hesperus Treasure, but the idea's not really stuck past how the Urdr Hunt plot wound up going. Maybe if the theatrical presentation version gives me more food for thought? (I am crossing everything that they don't pull a diablous ex machina on us and kill anyone else; I already wrote 598 a cameo in the fic I'm posting at the moment, damnit.)

And then, well. Then there's the actual . . . calling it a sequel to WoSH would be a stretch. It's set another ten years on in the same version of events, but it's very much detached from WoSH's plot and would be my attempt to do a 'what if Akatsuki grew up and starred in a Gundam show' story. The short answer is that he's the most throw-himself-on-the-wire pacifist you could hope to meet and he's gone and got himself caught up in a big mess involving interplanetary medical testing, pirates, and the IBO equivalent of the Gundam Fight because mobile suit battles for sport and the Jupiter equivalent of Las Vegas feels like a fun setting to explore. He'd be a dutagonist alongside a female Gundam pilot who I know lots about but don't have a name for yet. And the story would also feature me performing an act of character necromancy so devilish, you'll probably curse me for it. Because I worked out how I could pull it off and now I think I've got to. Overall this would very much be a one-and-done thing. I'm thinking like Narrative is to Unicorn: a story technically following on and handling some of the same themes but with much punchier pacing and an entirely new cast. No idea when I'd get to it and I don't expect it'll have as much traction as WoSH on account of largely being OC-focused, but I think it could be fun.

OK. There we go. Those are the currently-percolating ideas. I will answer questions on them if you have any but this is mainly just me jotting them down in the hopes that if I just focus on these, I won't spontaneously generate more.

*laughs hysterically*

Yeah, we all know it doesn't work like that. But I tried, damnit!

[star1117-archives]

Day Four : Lapdance w/ Mingi (Gn!Reader)

✭ Word Count : 598

✭ Warnings : Lap dance, Sexual tension, bsf!mingi, spin the bottle, mentioned WooSan (?)

✭ A/N : depression said no sexy hours so I cockblocked y’all lmao

✭ Network : @cacaokpop-fics

© 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟕-𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬. Do not steal, plagiarise, translate, repost or use my work in any way, shape or form.

It was nearing midnight when you settled into the circle Mingi and his friends had formed on the floor, the male resting his head on your shoulder as he idly watched the game of spin the bottle. After a busy day, he’d really rather have gone to bed early, but he begrudgingly joined Yunho’s mini-party, knowing he’d get no sleep either way. The only thing that kept him from giving up and escaping to his room however, was you, his best friend. The two of you were almost constantly mistaken for being a couple, both of you being fans of affection and skinship. It was why no one was even fazed when Mingi backhugged you, resting on you as he held you close.

It was now San’s turn to spin the bottle after finishing his dare, scowling slightly as Wooyoung blew kisses at him. He had to kiss the younger for seven seconds, and with Wooyoung being Wooyoung, this unexpectedly included tongue. He quickly turned the glass, watching it intently until it landed on you. Well, you and Mingi. San’s expression lightened as he sent you a teasing smirk.

“Who’s gonna do the truth or dare outta you lovebirds?”

Before you could speak up, ever the shit-stirrer, Wooyoung intervened. 

“Why don’t they just do it together? They’re practically joined at the hip anyways.”

San thought for a second before shrugging his shoulders and agreeing.

“Makes sense. Truth or dare, you two?” 

You looked back at Mingi, who was still half-asleep on your shoulder, seemingly uninterested. Perhaps it was time to wake him up a little.

“Dare.”

Mingi nudged your neck with his head, groaning at the thought of moving when it was the last thing he wanted to do. You were warm and comfy, so much so that he was nearly asleep. He was so comfy, in fact, that Mingi didn’t even notice Yunho leaning into San’s ear with an evil smirk. It was evident from the younger male’s expression that whatever Yunho had said was definitely a good dare.

“Y/N, I dare you to give Mingi a lap dance.”

Mingi perked up at this, pulling off your shoulder and about to argue when he was unexpectedly cut off by none other than… you?

“What a pathetic excuse for a dare. C’mon Min, come sit down.” 

Mingi tried to sputter out a protest but was shoved into a chair nevertheless, the whoops and cheers of your friends egging you on. When he tried to stand up, you simply pushed him down again by his shoulder, smirking as you whispered in his ear.

“Don’t be a pussy, baby.”

Mingi gulped at the petname and nodded, trying to fight the blush that was making its way onto his cheeks. You stalked away for a second, scrolling through whoever’s phone was connected to the speaker before choosing one with a smile. Mingi’s face dropped when P*$$Y Fairy by Jhené Aiko filled the room, regretting ever admitting to you one drunken evening that it was one of his favourites to.. have fun to.

You quickly made your way back to Mingi, loosely trailing your arm around the chair before leaning down next to his ear, voice sultry as you spoke.

“You ready?”

Mingi tried to laugh away his embarrassment, turning to you with a sheepish smile.

“If I say no, will it matter?”

“Nope.”

Sighing, Mingi slumped into the chair, frowning slightly.

“Fine, do your worst.”

Chuckling, you pressed a kiss to Mingi’s ear before straightening up, noticing the visible blush on the male’s cheeks.

“Oh, I plan to.”

————————— ׂׂૢ་༘࿐ [Sintober 2022]

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