#so long as it's ethically sourced of course

[plebeiangoth]

Not sponsored or anything but Eden Botanicals is a great place to buy plant stinks. I like my stinks and that's a good place to get them. Just feeling like saying so because I just ordered some fossilized amber oil on a whim at ass o'clock this evening and it's already been picked up by UPS. Damn.

[themedialmercurial]

Asteroid Glo (3267) and How you Shine🐚

This asteroid and its placements point towards the ways in which an individual naturally shines. By taking awareness of this, one can level up their life in a more naturally-occurring way, tending to their innate strengths. With dedication, it can even lead to fame ⭐️

I'm finally back with a new post! Thank you for both your patience and your kindness on this platform. I'm so glad to have joined such a kind and accepting community on here 🫶🏽

As always, do share your own placements and how you believe it has played out in your life thus far! Of course, asteroids are not as important as the natal chart itself, though it can be fun to explore, because why not? Enough chatter, more about the content:

GLO IN THE HOUSES

1H

You shine for your authenticity, your natural beauty and personality. This kind of person reminds me of someone who simply wakes and is considered to be radiant. All face. Great skin.

2H

Your personal possessions are something of interest of others, perhaps being literally shiny and even of great quality. You are perceived to be of high status as a result.

3H

Your mind is highlighted with this placement. There is something so magnetic about the way you think and communicate with others. Perhaps your learning style is innovative and an emphasis on your early education days.

4H

☆ of the family vibes? Either way, your family is a very important factor in your life and even moreso, when it comes to your mother.

5H

Your mind is highlighted, this time in terms of your creativity. Your children, pets and romantic relationships can be a source of light for your life. Also, there is an emphasis on talent.

6H

Your work ethic is likely the talk of the town, perhaps for your disciplined nature. Also, the way in which you tend to your body (diet, exercise, hygiene) can be admired.

7H

Your long-term relationships (marriage) are something that naturally draw attention. On the other hand, careful with open enemies and envy on others behalf.

8H

Your ability to transform and resilience throughout your life are truly one of a kind. Perhaps your spiritual practices draw a lot of attention.

9H

This placement points towards a life plentiful in travel experiences, upper education opportunities (college, university) and overall incessant learning in life, particular language learning and of other cultures. These qualities do not go unseen by others.

10H

Your career and your status draw in attention naturally, regardless of what it is that you do. You can be admired for your authority-like presence.

11H

Friend magnet position. You also can be a hopeful and wishful person, thus attracting even more abundance, which makes you glow even further.

12H

Your energy is unforgettable. Despite this placement being more reclusive and desiring time alone, your spiritual practices are often highlighted. Also, some of your secrets and fears may to more apparent due to the illuminating nature of this asteroid

GLO IN THE SIGNS

How can you express and optimize your natural gifts?

ARIES

Through your shameless and enthusiastic nature

TAURUS

Through your patient and artistic nature

GEMINI

Through your inquisitive, communicative and adaptable nature

CANCER

Through your emotional, nurturing nature

LEO

Through your creative and fun-loving nature

VIRGO

Through your attention to detail, precision and helpful nature

LIBRA

Through your peace-loving, diplomatic and charming nature

SCORPIO

Through your magnetic, persevering and passionate nature

SAGGITARIUS

Through your optimistic and honest nature

CAPRICORN

Through your ambitious and efficient nature

AQUARIUS

Through your independent, unique nature

PISCES

Through your empathetic, responsive, escapist nature

GLO IN ASPECT

Glo-Sun benefic aspects (conjunction, sextile, trine)

You shine in your self-expression and identity. You know that you shine though it isn't an ego show, you know how to acknowledge the confidence you have in yourself

Glo-Sun malefic aspects (opposition, square)

Surplus of ego, cockiness that may not be well-received. On the other hand, this may manifest as insecurity and lack of sense of self and esteem.

Glo-Moon benefic aspects (conjunction, sextile, trine)

You have a knack for expressing your feelings that others resonate with, people can feel understood when you open up (youtubers who share their intimate mental health struggles come to mind).

Glo-Moon malefic aspects (opposition, square)

May manifest as emotional outbursts if not careful (breakdowns, surges of anger) that are not well-received but are perceivable to the public eye.

Glo-Mercury benefic aspects (conjunction, sextile, trine)

Your communication style, whether that be through writing or speaking draw people in.

Glo-Mercury malefic aspects (opposition, square)

You may be prone to overthinking and communicating in a way that is difficult to follow as a result. On the other hand, this can point towards a fast speaker that engages their audience (a rapper perhaps).

Glo-Venus benefic aspects (conjunction, sextile, trine)

You have a natural beauty that you too know how to accentuate. Whether it be through clothes, makeup, art or all the above, you capture others attention as a result.

Glo-Venus malefic aspects (opposition, square)

You may not see your beauty as easily as others, which may lead others to think you're searching for validation. On the other hand, this placement may lead to vanity, constant appearance checks and being unable to stop thinking about how one looks (overindulgence).

Glo-Saturn benefic aspects (conjunction, sextile, trine)

You are a naturally hard-working person ("started from the bottom now we here" vibes) and your discipline does not go uncelebrated by the masses.

Glo-Saturn malefic aspects (opposition, square)

Despite well intent, you may be prone to overworking, something that generates concern for your well-being. On the other hand, perhaps you do not see the point of hard work and lack discipline.

Glo-Mars benefic aspects (conjunction, sextile, trine)

You are likely a trailblazer in whichever career you choose. What comes to mind is a fitness instructor for example, who creates new exercises that can be done from the comfort of one's home. This creates competition in the best possible way.

Glo-Mars malefic aspects (opposition, square)

Despite your potential trailblazing capabilities, perhaps it wasn't always in the best interest of others. Remember not to step on others just to reach the top, not only is it not well-received, it also will not go unpunished (the fiery mars energy). Remember, competitiveness is healthy, in small doses.

Glo-Jupiter benefic aspects (conjunction, sextile, trine)

You are perceived as a lucky person, particularly when it comes to all your life experiences. This is someone who likely finds luck through their travels and emerging themself in new cultures. Not to mention, higher education opportunities are abundant, something that does not go unnoticed. These blessings strengthen the individual.

Glo-Jupiter malefic aspects (opposition, square)

This can lead to either a blockage in opportunities, causing despair to the person or a surplus of opportunities, leading the individual to feel overwhelmed and unable to choose. In particular, this makes me think of someone who wants to do many things with their life though is unable to choose one venture. In the public eye, this person can be perceived as scattered or restless as a result.

Glo-Uranus benefic aspects (conjunction, sextile, trine)

You shine through your uniqueness, your ability to tap into your original ideas. In particular, unconventional YouTube videos come to mind like storytimes with several plot twists or even "Staying in My Freezer for 24 Hours", idk. You have a great ability to entertain.

Glo-Uranus malefic aspects (opposition, square)

This can manifest as sudden, undesired changes. Using the previous YouTube example, perhaps things go wrong seemingly out of nowhere or that you venture into more dangerous video ideas.

Glo-Chiron benefic aspects (conjunction, sextile, trine)

When you are aware of your natural ability to shine and you own it, this placement in turn shines again for their ability to share their teachings and past hurt to others.

Glo-Chiron malefic aspects (opposition, square)

This placement indicates a person who is not able to work through their shame associated with their natural shine, who shies away from what they know they are good at, in the guise of humility. They dwell on the undesired parts of themself rather than foster and nurture their strengths.

Glo-Neptune benefic aspects (conjunction, sextile, trine)

Your imagination, and artistic ability take you far in life. Sharing these gifts with others provides both parties with a healthy escape from the daily routine of life.

Glo-Neptune malefic aspects (opposition, square)

This placement may lead to an excess in escapist tendencies, and mental sensitivity, thus leading the person to retreat more into themself and not share their gift.

Glo-Pluto benefic aspects (conjunction, sextile, trine)

This persons' transformative nature is incredible. This can be perceived as having many different "phases" (emo, edgy, girly, hairstyles, clothing, etc) depending on what it is that they've gone through in their life. This is admired by many.

Glo-Pluto malefic aspects (opposition, square)

This may manifest as someone who is in the spotlight for their inability to adjust to the constant changes in their life, who is famous for unfavourable transformations as a result.

GLO AND INSECURITIES

Forgive me for not mentioning the exact source but I've seen a person on TikTok hypothesize that when we feel insecure, we tend to embody the negative traits of the sister sign of the placement in question when we feel lesser than.

Let's use myself as an example. Natally I have asteroid Glo in Libra 1H. According to this, I shine for simply being myself. In times of insecurity, it can be said that may appear self-centered and arrogant (negative aries traits) and perhaps seek external validation through romantic relationships in attempt to remedy this (7H). With this awareness, I can learn to pour more into myself and become more attuned to my needs.

SOLAR RETURN OBSERVATIONS

This year (2023-july 2024), I have Glo in Cancer 11H trine saturn and squaring neptune. I've found myself slowly opening up more and literally crying (cancer) to my friends (11H) and noticing that it does help with the emotional burden, as someone who usually doesn't. Also, I find that those closest to me occasional make remarks about how hard-working I am (saturn) and this in turn has led me to in more into their perspective of me (8H) and lean more into discipline (capricorn) daily routine, diet and healthy regiment (6H). On the other hand, I have been trying to balance my mental sensitivity (neptune) through my formal education alongside more spiritual practices such as tarot, crystals and astrology (9H). As a result, this year has led me to take a more caring and gentle approach (pisces) to my mental health and explore the inner workings of my mind through guides such as tarot and astrology (8H) though I do require more alone time.

As for this upcoming year (july 2024-2025), I'll have Glo in Virgo 12H sextile the moon and venus, as well as trine uranus and opposing chiron (wow). I foresee myself taking a more analytical view (virgo) when it comes to the inner workings of my mind, analyzing my spiritual beliefs, sleeping routine and hidden fears (12H). With this placement sextile moon, I suspect that emotional expression may come with more ease (moon) and that freeing myself from emotional turmoil may lead me to more career opportunities, and a greater reputation (10H). With a venus sextile as well, this placement is indicative of an improved fashion sense and general understanding of what natural suits me through an intuitive and emotional connected approach, nurturing my needs (cancer), in particular when it comes to finding success in career and social standing (10H), which mirrors my exact natal placement. With a uranus trine, embracing my innovative ideas (uranus) will allow me to flourish in matters related to fear as a general concept, conquering it and transform for the greater good as a result, becoming more spiritually attuned to myself perhaps (8H). This success should be approached in a patient, practical way as lasting success is not immediate (taurus). Now, with Glo opposing chiron, this upcoming year may be one where I must actively fight against my limiting beliefs, perhaps even those that others project onto me (chiron). In particular, challenges associated with potential romantic pursuits are at the forefront, if I do not acknowledge my strengths and hide away instead (7H). I must not waver in my faith and tap into the true courageous, leader-like energy that I know I have inside (aries). This last part shouldn't be as daunting seeing as I have Glo square chiron natally, both in cardinal signs.

Dividers from source!

[squiddy-god]

Pomfriore as vampires

This is a re-upload from my terminated account squid-god-supreme. This is technically part of the monster test Au I had but it isn't what the three of them are it's just for Halloween

CW : vampires, blood, gn!reader, uhhhhhh established relationship

Vil 

Vil comes from a very long line of vampires, and he's very classy so he doesn't "hunt"

He gets his blood from his family's blood bank, a personal supplier that ethically sources the blood

Of course after he's revealed himself as a vampire to his s/O it's a different story! If they'll let him then he'll simply drink from them

He doesn't drink blood very often, nor does he have a taste for human food beside a few select things. 

When drinking from his s/O vil is romantic, lighting candles, making a dinner he's sure you'll enjoy, the works

His favorite place to bite is your lips and the inside of your wrist 

Rook 

😃Literally hunts- 

Although he mostly survives off of animal blood from creatures he kills, it's not uncommon for him to go hunting and simply suck blood from an animal carcass right then and there 

So that is mostly how he eats

Unlike the other two took needs no convincing if you offer to let him feed off you

Another romantic<3 

Possibly even more to than vil~ he'll also light candles, probably draw you two a warm bath, dinner, cuddles, reading to you, 

If you find it romantic he'll do it

Very gentle when he bites

Favorite places to bite are your wrists and collar bone above your heart

Epel

Only recently turned so he's still adjusting! 

I think at first he just eats whatever he can find, small farm animals and such, he never kills them unless he has to, only taking what he needs to survive 

If his s/o offers their blood it's messy, he tries to make it not hurt but he's very inexperienced so it gets messy

He can go overboard sometimes but he always apologizes profusely

He really loves to cuddle afterwards, he quickly learns that it's quite intense so aftercare is a must 

Quickly becomes addicted to you

[sp4rklyr0t]

Hey Aster! Could we get a guide on Ares please?

Ares, Greek God of Everything Kind and Sweet: A Guide

Just kidding, of course.

Hi! I'm Astin/Aster and this is my guide to Ares. A disclaimer before we begin, this is going to be bare-bones basic. I will not be going over any specific myths in the post. Hope this is helpful!

Ares is the god of war and thus peace, as appeasing him would thus prevent war, bloodshed and bloodlust, violence, anger/rage, manliness, rebellion. Something to note is that Ares is less of the strategy involved in war, and more of the actuality of it. He is not only a god of war but the personification of it.

His parents are Zeus and Hera, and his lover was Aphrodite. With Aphrodite, according to Hesiod's theogony, he has three children, Phobos (Terror), Deimos (Fear), and Harmonia (Harmony).

Sacred Symbols, Animals, and Epithets

His symbols are the spear, as well as armor, particularly the helm and shield.

His sacred animals were:

Serpents- he is frequently depicted with one and has myths regarding serpents.

Barn owl, eagle owl, and woodpecker, as shown:

Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 21 (trans. Celoria) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :

"Zeus loathed them [the giants Agrios and Oreios] and sent Hermes to punish them . . . But Ares, since the family of Polyphonte [mother of the giants] descended from him, snatched her sons from this fate. With the help of Hermes he changed them into birds. Polyphonte became a small owl whose voice is heard at night. She does not eat or drink and keeps her head turned down and the tips of her feet turned up. She is a portent of war and sedition for mankind. Oreios became an eagle owl, a bird that presages little good to anyone when it appears. Argios was changed into a vulture, the bird most detested by gods and men. These gods gave him an utter craving for human flesh and blood. Their female servant was changed into a woodpecker. As she was changing her shape she prayed to the gods not to become a bird evil for mankind. Hermes and Ares heard her prayer because she had by necessity done what her masters had ordered. This a bird of good omen for someone going hunting or to feasts."

He is also associated with horses, as his chariot is pulled by them.

Another notable animal are the bronze bulls, depicted as so:

Ovid, Heroides 12.39 ff : "The condition is imposed [by King Aeetes] that you [Jason] press the hard necks of the fierce bulls at the unaccustomed plow. To Mars [Ares] the bulls belonged, raging with more than mere horns, for their breathing was of terrible fire; of solid bronze were their feet, wrought round with bronze their nostrils, made black, too, by the blasts of their own breath."

Notable Epithets:

Thêritas - Beastly, brutish

Gynaikothoinas - Feasted by women

Enyalios - Warlike

Khrysopêlêx - Of the golden helm

Obrimos - Strong, mighty

Worship

His This section is going to be mainly UPG, so if you think of something else you'd like to do or give, please do so, as long as it is respectful.

Sacred Day:

Tuesday

Offerings:

Snake symbolism

Symbolism of His sacred birds

Spicy food 

Feathers from His sacred birds (sourced ethically)

Self defense weapons

Imagery of Him

Devotional Activities:

Workout or do physical activity

Go to a protest

Stand up for yourself and what you believe in 

Work on anger management 

Honor Aphrodite and their children together

Do something you're really passionate about

[evilminji]

Okay, you know how City Spirits are a thing?

And Superheros both Die, Un-Die, Re-Die, Dimensionally Sorta Maybe Die But Then Don't, and also never Died in the first place? And probably do at least a portion of that in Medical? While ALSO hanging out, quantumly maybe Dead, maybe alive, in their Super Cool Clubhouse?

Which is ALSO exposed to space rays, the entirety of The Magic Club, weird alien Technology, aaaaand whatever they decide to store on it??

:T

I'm just SAYING...

For as long as dwellings Of Significance have existed, there have been house spirits. They are the IDEA of the house. The SIGNIFICANCE of it. What makes it HOME. The weight of the halls that turn into Halls. And The Watchtower? Is KNOWN to enough people, to have SIGNIFICANCE.

It's a HALL where Heros Live. A Place Of Safety. It GAURDS.

It is also inanimate. Steeped heavily in every sort of energy, be it magic or science, and multidimensional fuckery imaginable. But? Not SENTIENT. Yet.

Until of course... this new fangled Anti-Ghost Shield comes out. By the new and recently no-longer on the run (from the Goverment they're at war with) Dr.'s Fenton! Why were they are war? Don't worry about it!

They Won.

:)

Unrelated! Never threaten their kids. They WILL find you. Not a threat, just informing!

:) :)

The security guy they sent to the expo was from Gotham, unfortunately. So he found the couple to be completely normal. They? Should not have sent Thomas. He was hired BECAUSE his parents were Mad Scientists in the making. Batman was steering him away from a life of crime. Thomas could judge "normal" from "deeply unhinged" if it belly danced infront of him, in the seduction dance of a thousand, deep fried, mackerel.

It's his version of face blindness. Great with technology though! And the shield worked a treat. Even promised to be both ethical AND programmable! Not harming the ghosts it pushed out unless they try to force entry AND allowing them to program in exceptions. Allowing Heros such as Deadman to freely enter!

Is it a little janky looking? Yeah. But if it works, it works. They add it to the systems and flip it on.

One small and immediate problem. There is now a small knight shaped child in the engine room. She was NOT there a second ago. She has controlo of the ENTIRE Watchtower, claims to BE the Watchtower, and knows all their names. Knows a disturbing level of information about every employee on the Tower.

Oh and apparently "No one is leaving."

No one panic! Just unplug the... she has swallowed the ghost shielding unit into a wall. Slightly panic.

Panic lite.

Luckily, no one is willing to throw the first punch at what appears to be a small child. So the JLA Dark have a chance to literally run over.

They demand to know who's bright idea it was to add... "ectoplasm"? Was THAT the energy source? Oooh. Their departments probably in trouble. Later though, the hero's are trying to negotiate with a small child. Who is apparently a ghost.

It's not SAFE, she's insisting. Everyone has to stay HERE where she can protect them. From the nebulous threat of Bad Guys. They LEAVE and come back HURT. She is UPSET and everyone is going to STAY! Forever!

Not good.

Then Thomas pipes up, like the oblivious asshole he is, that he should PROBABLY call the engines makers. They did mention something a long these lines might happen.

WHAT.

You think, Thomas? Might be a good idea, maybe? Just a bit? YES FUCKING CALL THEM!

(All right, all right! No need to YELL! *ring ring* 'Ello? Maddie? Sorry to catch you at dinner-)

So now? There is a glowing college student, who was escorted here by a WEREWOLF, who just? Tore open reality? To some green, swirling hellscape? And popped through like "sup, sorry I'm late. Was in a council meeting!" And judging by the ficking CROWN and the various quietly panicking magic users, he probably didn't mean student council, and just?

Guess he's hear to talk to their newly sentient Tower.

Question! Asks Thomas, of the fucking Ghost King because of course he does, are they Dads now? Or if they already have kids, Dads AGAIN? Do they have to come up with a baby name?

.......oh dear lord, the Ghost King looks like he has to think about it.

What are we gonna tell our SPOUSES!? "Hey honey, guess what I got at work today! A NEW CHILD. They're a space station!"

@hdgnj @nerdpoe @ailithnight @the-witchhunter @hypewinter @mutable-manifestation

[allpiesforourown]

Okay, okay, permanent-pregnancy for Shizun anon back again. I have read the worries people have, but have been too sick meanwhile to answer, but here it goes! Like, there is no reason to worry about the potential child, because you just have to decide what is your goal when making Shizun pregnant??? Children don't have to be involved at all!

Like, we know Shizuns love of the monstrous right?? What if he had a little accident when finding a new plant and after he is saved he finds it left a little something behind? And of course this plant is extremely rare so he couldn't possibly just let it's offspring die, no the only option is to carry it to term and then safely release it back into nature! He would be so cute and excited about learning about it, but also sooooooo shy, why did it have to be like this, oh, but he can't show that to the other lord's if they then decide to remove it, he is way too protective for that! So as his disciples it is of course our responsibility to make sure Shizuns is cared for and all his needs met while the little baby plant grows inside him!! (And if afterwards Shizuns realised this is the only way to keep the plant from dying out... Shizun is so kind and sometimes sacrifices have to be made)

But what if it is us breeding him that is the point? Well, I imagine Binghe and Shizun having shameless sex doing dual cultivation and as Binghe *AHEM* in Sizhun their cultivation mix and a new spirit is created. Something between demonic cultivation and human cultivation, something never seen before! Something only they could make together and now have to foster and grow! Since this isn't a normal pregnancy who knows how long it will last, just how it will affect sweet kind Shizun? Certainly, it is up to dear Binghe to make certain all Shizuns needs are met no matter what!!! (And if suddenly other cultivators want that new cultivation core and tries to kidnap Shizun? Well, then it is ours Binghes responsibility to save him each time which means Shizun would gladly reward us in any way we wanted!)

Okay, but what about some darker drama?? Shizun stuck in the Water Prison and Binghe can't have him running, what do he do? He finds an artifact that keeps Shizun pregnant and vulnerable (Not with actual child, it is just a curse), because how can he run when his feet hurt and stomach grows? How could he show himself to the rest of the world when he is like this? No, now he has to stay with Binghe and hopefully this will give Binghe time to prove himself for Shizun! And once they finally talk and clear the misunderstandings, then Binghe of course undoes the curse and they live happily ever after! (And if they keep the artifact for some... More adventurous evenings, that is between Binghe and Shizun)

And of course, what if you want to go full horror? Shizun becomes cursed without his knowledge and nothing we do can find the source or undo it! As he gets morning sickness, slowly grows larger, has all these weird cravings, there is no doubt what it is! But how could it be possible? Shizun knows he is a virgin, never even thought about the deed, how could this have happened? And he is a man, this shouldn't even be possible! He would be so scared and lost and we would be there to hold his hand and for him to have a shoulder to cry on as he shared all his worries and we would stay by his side during it all, so he never felt alone. Who knows what will happen, but we do know we will never leave Shizun! (And as long as he is like this... Then I suppose Shizun could never leave us...)

The point is, you need to ask yourself, what is the goal with the preggers Shizun kink?? None of these examples require an actual child to be involved, like we don't need to consider ethical dilemmas here! Do we want Shizun protecting the rare life growing inside of him? To we want to see him fill out with something we Binghe gave him, something created together? Do we want the drama of using the vulnerability against him until we finally understand each other? Or do we love the horror and a scared Shizun who can only go to us for support? So many different directions to go and each of them delicious in their own way! The wonders of fiction mean there are no limits of what we can put Shizun through OR how we save him <3

Sorry about my ramblings, just wanted to share my thoughts <3 Hopefully one or more of these scenarios will be written out soon, just have to write a few more chapters for my fic first!

Have a great day!

Op I am genuinely flabbergasted. I don't think anyone has ever out-horny'd me like this when it comes to shizun. I am listening and learning. Pondering all these mpreg alternatives. Thank you

[essektheylyss]

We can presume, based on the fact that this is a story, that what the Hells are seeing in Aeor's surveillance footage is largely complete and true, at least to the extent of whatever particular story the audience is about to be told. In universe, they're viewing something externally recorded, not reading or hearing someone's account, and while it is unclear if it has been edited by either the Aeorians or Ludinus's tampering, we can take this complete arc largely at face value.

With that being said, I do actually think the conservation of this area of Aeor is worth noting and considering for what it suggests in the context of Exandria, in that this is essentially the control center for the entire floating city. It would probably have significant structural support, even more than the rest of the Genesis Ward. Even the fact that Dominox was only allowed some leeway to cause issues after the Solstice suggests that the engine room was very well-built to take a hit. This is the nucleus of the city, likely something of a black box as well, and the mechanisms by which it stayed flying. It stands to reason that if nothing else, this would remain intact.

Also, a lot of the reason that Aeor is as well-preserved as it is is that it crashed in the Arctic. Zemniaz, which came down in the fields named for it, has basically been overtaken by the civilization that succeeded it, and we can imagine that it was both picked clean by survivors and travelers and that its ruins were subject to significant environmental decay.

Though even in reality, discoveries of conserved archeological finds in the Arctic are significantly better preserved than most, some of Aeor's preservation of course goes beyond what would be expected for ruins of its ilk, which we can attribute to magic and, as mentioned earlier, suspension of disbelief.* But Aeor's overall preservation, state of structural collapse, and position as an in-universe source of significant technological rediscovery makes it very interesting as an exploration of digital preservation in a technologically-advanced society, and what might be dug up long after such a society is gone.**

In our society, where this kind of question is still very much open, there's plenty of discussion around digital decay, which we have of course seen. But our digital technology is so incredibly nascent in the grand scheme of things, and we simply do not yet have the timescale to say for sure what might remain a thousand years on; most of it will be gone, yes, but we have found remarkably well-preserved relics of many different kinds.*** So it's entirely possible that some of our digital footprint will remain.

This campaign overall has been a long discussion about what stories are told about history, and how are they preserved, and I think that there is a lot to be said about Aeor being the best-preserved record of the Age of Arcanum. We know that it was, even in the eyes of its peers and probably a good portion of its own populace, a monstrous example of the abuse of both magical and institutional power in that era. We know that it drew such divine ire that its downfall was the product of a brief truce in the most destructive war in living memory. We know that the discoveries that come out of it speak of blatant ethical and moral violations against other cultures, mortals, and nature itself.

These are things that have been conveyed in historical record, through the memories and histories of both FCG and FRIDA, and in the discussions within Avalir, one of Aeor's most powerful contemporaries and seemingly one of few other cities of the age that came close to the same level of advancement, which Aeor only seems to have surpassed via the aforementioned lack of ethical and moral qualms. What discoveries are made in Aeor already paint an incredibly skewed picture of the era, one that seems as though it would more likely inspire more apprehension about mages, arcane technology, and by extension, the cause that Ludinus wants to convey. The fact that Aeor placed significant intrinsic value upon the conservation of the product of extensive and long-running mass surveillance, to the point that it remains intact for us and the Hells to see now, only feeds further into the idea that, even when a discovery is seemingly complete****, we cannot ever know how representative the stories of the past actually were.

(Footnotes under the cut)

* Plenty has been written about time scales in fantasy, but in general this tends to be true of any dungeon crawling. In fact, it's probably a lot of the reason magic items are explicitly noted as being breakable only via other magic, and otherwise remain in good condition.

** I was going to have a fun quote to pull from the last chapter of Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane which is relevant to this discussion but unfortunately my mother has yet to give my copy back and it is on hold at the library so I am giving you all a summer reading assignment. Please go read this book right now. It is my number one nonfiction book of all time.

*** The oldest known intact shipwreck, aged somewhere over three millennia, was actually found recently.

**** For instance, based solely on fossilized bone, even a complete skeleton, it would never have become clear that dinosaurs had feathers!

[learnastrowallura]

💚The 10th house in astrology💚

The source if this information is The Astrology Podcast (Chris Brennan) on Youtube and I will add a personal example plus some of my own thoughts as well

10th house: career, occupation, profession, work, enactment, achievement, reputation, intention, choice, actions, public image, visibility, exposure, rank, position, demand, duty, reward, honor, MC, legacy, bosses, power dynamics, angular

The sign and planet(s) in the 10th house can show us the image that is apparent or visible to others within a professional context, what we do exactly or how we take action toward achieving what we desire, what is the vision that we have and the contribution that we make (within the 6th house it is more... well what you HAVE to do, whereas with the 10th it is more end result based aka what impact will I have in the world), what is my role to play here etc, technical abilities and talents, career potential, our tendencies or even enthusiasm pertaining to taking action (or in the opposite case hesitation toward it) during work, which type of career the individual will take on, what we are known for

Looking at the ruler of the 10th house can, of course, give us more detail on career/reputation matters.

The midheaven in hellenistic astrology may not always fall in the 10th house, so for example if it falls in the 9th house your career may involve spiritual and/or religious matters, teaching people perhaps in college, and if it is in the 11th house then it may involve friendships so maybe there is an overlap with the coworker and friend relationship, or if you pay attention to the talks that you have with your friends there might be a certain theme that comes up that may be a good fit for you in your career, etc (use whole sign house system for this)

Personal example: Leo in 10th house, no planets

Right well this one is a bit tricky to delineate, to be honest

Starting with Leo I definitely make... a statement, I suppose? See the thing is with the 10th house it is something that becomes easier to analyze and figure out in adulthood. I would say I am known for being a certain kind of provocative and bold at my school for sure. Leo is all about shining and self expression and I do not shy away from being authentic and presenting myself as I am, yk? Not many people like it but yea

The reason why I mention college is because I do believe the way I behave there is close to how I would behave in jobs as well since it does count as 10th house work for me but that is my own perspective on it so take it with a grain of salt <3

Right now I am doing an internship which is as close as it gets to a job as of now and I would say I am all fired up to get shit done and I am also quite focused on doing the things that I have to do in a good and proper way (fixed sign quality; stability is prioritized) even though the situation rarely ever demands it; I would say I have good work ethic personally.

My midheaven is in my 10th house so there is not much to talk about there it is the most common case

My Sun which is the ruler of my 10th house is in 1st house placidus and I do resonate with that because my career, my legacy is of priority to me and I take that shit super seriously like it is this huge like goal of mine

Whereas with WS my Sun is in my 2nd house and to me that manifests in being very financially driven so while I do have a good work ethic if I find myself investing my time and energy into something long term that is not going to give me a financial ROI then I will look for something that does idc

My Sun trines my Saturn in the 9th house which does make me feel like that slowly but surely success in career vibes are relevant to me and that hard work and leaning into spiritual studies is going to be quite beneficial

My Sun is also square my Uranus in 4th house and I am not in a stage within my life in which I can quite explain that, however, I do think that shit constantly happening within my private life and home could potentially make me lose my focus and weaken my resolve at times butttt I always bounce back so it's oki

Thank you for reading <3

Masterlist

Paid readings available

x

[lalalian]

I always think to myself, "I'm out of ideas... I'm out of actually cool, creative ideas, will I have to shut all my shit down? How am I supposed to continue posting if I've got nothing..." but then, the next second I'll come up with something that genuinely could be a whole ass dr

...

here's a dump of some of the drs I've been wanting to make into filled scripts for awhile now, but I haven't even started designing the scripts for them yet.

Some of them are literally just titles, but idk I just know I can work with it yk?

since I finished some prototyping hw today, I'll put in a little more effort sectioning this post

some of the ideas in question

cloud catcher: steampunk reality based on a cloud city, you've got a job as a cloud catcher, your job is to catch and sell different kinds of clouds, have a cloud shop

inedible edible cafe: inedible things here (in our OR) would be edible in this dr.. Initially I only wanted to include slime as a dish, but now I want to make dishes with different ingredients, like puffy sticker cereal or sum shit

shifting school dr: okay so this actually was a trend on shifttok for a sec, it was called a 'mysterious school' idk why. anyway, this school was supposed to be it's own dr, but I think i may include it in my dreamscape dr

magitech engineer dr: ngl this idea was in the fucking basement of my mind-- ain't nobody gonna wanna shift here besides for someone that actually likes crafting things. idk i just feel like it’s a niche idea

number magic: uh so no, that's not the title for this dr-- I just really wanna make a dr with this kind of system. idk I was just in world lit class and I realized the poem I was reading was repeating the number 5. we were supposed to analyze the poem, but my dumbass just started daydreaming... anyway, next idea

fantasy cosmetic makeup maker dr: so like imagine handmaking make up with like... mermaid pearls or like ground unicorn horns (sourced ethically of course-- unicorns will shed their horns like baby teeth throughout their lifetime. I cannot imagine depriving a unicorn of its horn... imagine doing that... what a psycho😨) you could make like a mermaid line, a sky beauty line, IMAGINE THE PACKAGING. STOP. WAIT. FLOWER KNOWS. AHHH.

guardian flame: I have so little down for this DR lmao 😭😭 essentially like you're some sort of being that's been assigned to protect another, probably someone who isn't as strong as you. the kinda oddball part about your drself in particular is that you have to go to school to train how to be a good protector, but like you've already got a person you need to protect. nobody is assigned to protect anyone until affffftteeerrr graduation, but ur stuck with an idiot

futuristic skater/futuristic biker: self explanatory! I also wanted this to be in a high school setting. this idea stemmed from me just wanting a high school futuristic dr, cuz like yk I was curious about what high school students would need to learn. what would be considered important to learn about? would all students be taught about how to make technology we would find difficult to make today? what about psychology class? what new theories would arise? what would students think about our generation (in our CR) today? would they think we're stupid, crass, or selfish? anyway, initially I just wanted to go to school and walk around... but, I had a dream about living in the future, more abt that in the next idea (this idea is getting long). Instead, I think I wanna deviate a bit from what I would usually do here and in literally every other school dr I have-- I want to experience what it'd be like to be a... deliquient? idk, growing up i kinda just was just that quiet girl that listened to her parents... soooooooo why not do smth different? I'm still not gonna drink or do drugs tho, boooooooo ik so boring 🙄🙄 oh also I was gonna have a group of friends that were also skaters or bikers and compete in definitely legal biker/skater competitions

futuristic entertainment district: anyway more about that dream, essentially everyone was wearing these levitating rocket boots that looked a lot like roller skates (they had those wheels at the bottom of the shoes). the city was like a huge pot hole filled with stores on the side, but like it seemed like parts of the land was broken apart and floating around-- even those had advertisements and people singing and dancing on them. like this pot hole city was filled to the brim with advertisements, shops, stores, entertainment places, literally I remember that there was a huge section of like idol shit. there were a lot of people darting around the place using those levitating boots I was wearing, but there were also futuristic floating cars. imagine cyberpunk but if it was located in a big ass pot hole. yah, that. idk i just wanna explore

dystopian futuristic dr: similar to cyberpunk in the fact that it's a world dominated by companies; I want to join an underground group that wants to overtake the gov and make the world less ass

singles inferno - introvert ver: I actually have all the contestants scripted + designed a script for this DR, but I haven't worked on this script in a whiillleeeee. I wanna be song jia. not literally, but like I want to have her charm, yk? ok so the introvert part-- a lot of the game will take place in a group chat room. you do challenges in-person and in this chatroom to get a date, sometimes it's a random date, but most of the time it's like your choice. very heavily inspired by a game called picka!

a minecraft roleplay dr: I know at least one of yall cringed so hard at this, trust me, I knooowwwww-- but I really want to be like the next aphmau or smth. oh except I don't want to make kid vids, tho I'm sure yall knew that right. I want to recreate aethergarde academy in minecraft (ALSO ALRUNA TOO OMFG) but then I also wanna do other things that aren't dr related. idk I just know that this DR's gonna be sooooo fun. I haven't even decided on a channel name yet 😭😭

...

uh so I prob got more, but these were just the ones that came to mind

I'll prob make a part two when I'm lazy with posting

if anyone wants to use these ideas, please do credit me! if one of yall see someone using my ideas without credit, plz plz tell me, ty!

[positivelybeastly]

Love reading through your analyses and I was wondering if you had insight on something I noticed with Hank/Beast and Kurt/Nightcrawler: writers often use both of them in the visible mutation metaphor and emotional cores, but Kurt's approach is more from faith and Hank's is more from curiosity. Often when one or either are gone/dead/changed, things seem to get worse for the Team overall.

Do you think those two would benefit each other's characters? Even just to have spirited philosophical discussion?

So, this actually touches on a funny thing that I've noticed with Beast and Nightcrawler over time - which is that they're almost never on the same team together, probably precisely because they serve an extremely similar function in a team composition, for the reasons you've kind of touched on here.

They are, after all, both heavily visibly mutated individuals who were, or are, considered figures of great integrity and morality, with a strong code of ethics and a depth of feeling that expresses itself in a deeply vivacious personality - romantic, friendly, charming, and erudite.

Therefore, having them both on a team is, unfortunately, somewhat redundant.

That being said! They do still interact, and they're shown to be sources of great comfort and friendship for one another. Their first meetings were - somewhat inauspicious . . .

See, this is the funny thing about old comics - storylines just flow and flow and flow. Comics didn't stop after ten issues and get restarted with a new #1 every few months, they just ran and ran and ran, and the pacing reflected that.

There aren't usually month long gaps where you can assume nothing happened and people just got to hang out, they're working hard! Hank has been working with the Avengers so much that he literally hasn't even had time to meet the new X-Men properly! Wild.

But, eventually, things did slow down, and they got a chance to properly socialise, and, as expected, they got along like a house on fire.

Like, these two are just born to be friends. They have so much in common. Where Hank leans more to the obscure, the erudite, and the scientific, Kurt leans more to the dashing, the swashbuckling, and, of course, the religious, but they're still both fundamentally cut from the same cloth - acrobatic, charming, philosophical, heroic, fun.

But, that same alike quality means you don't get a ton of interaction between them, so I cling to what they do have. One of my favourite interactions between them is in Nightcrawler's 2004 solo series.

First off, absolutely adore Hank in this art style. The fact that the artist decided to include the detail of his fur poking out of the shirt like that is just. It transfixes me. I really want to go over and just. Run my fingers through his side fur. But mostly, I just like their chemistry? Hank's a great supporting character because he's so emotionally intelligent and reflective, and he's great at giving people perspective, usually with a healthy dose of sarcasm and teasing.

That being said, this scene is always the one I point to whenever I say that the X-Men really have no idea what's going on in Hank's head a lot of the time, because this took place after Hank had been psychically brutalised, nearly beaten to death, and one of his best friends had just been murdered - and he's doing a really very good job of hiding that trauma.

So much so that Kurt thinks he's just fine. He's just fine. There's nothing to worry about. But it's not Kurt's fault, and it's nowhere near unique to him, either. He had no way to know, he had his own stuff going on (the subject matter of this solo series, as it happens), and Hank is doing well enough that it isn't interfering with things, so, let him deal with it in peace, I suppose.

At least on this occasion.

Kurt is, after all, an emotionally intelligent and caring individual. You can't stop Nightcrawler from trying to help where he can. And I think that even just the reaching out, just the show of support, can be enough for a character like Hank.

Moments like these matter, in my opinion. It's important to show that teammates and friends care about each other, in the moment to moment stories, otherwise it can all feel very impersonal and like no-one cares about one another. This is how you establish dynamics over years, even between characters who have, technically speaking, never really been on a team together before.

The next big milestone I can think of comes after the X-Men's move to Utopia, where, again, Hank and Kurt don't share a ton of panel time together, but . . .

This is one of the few times you'll ever hear anyone say that Hank was right. And it's not really a surprise that it comes from Kurt, because, again, these men are cut from the same cloth. They come at it from different angles, but they believe in much the same things.

And . . . that's why it hits so hard when Kurt dies.

I don't necessarily agree with the decision to have Hank break from the literal funeral procession to call Scott out for Kurt's death. Some fans of Nightcrawler really appreciate that moment, because it shows how much Kurt's death affected Hank, but I personally just. Don't think it tracks, for Hank to be quite that disrespectful.

After the funeral, or even before, but during it? Nah. Matt Fraction made a good few Hank characterisation choices I don't agree with, and this was one of them.

This felt a bit more apropos.

Remember what I said about how little moments build to dynamics between characters who have never been on teams together? I buy this moment so much more with the context of that moment from Endangered Species, where Kurt is literally positioned as the light trying to pull Hank out of the dark path he's following with obsessive fervour. The fact that he was trying went a long way. Hank felt it, even if he didn't take him up on it at the time. That moment mattered.

And that's why I absolutely buy Hank's reaction when Kurt came back to life.

Hank believes in Kurt. He believes the very best of him. On teams where Hank can often feel alone or isolated, someone like Kurt will reach out, and make him feel connected, and welcome, and pull him back. Temper his scientific pessimism and realism with optimism and belief. Restore his fervour, and remind him of simpler, happier times.

A lot of the best scientists, who have contributed the most to scientific inquiry, were religious, because for a lot of them, there's no real conflict between science and religion, they're both two sides of the same coin, in a way - a belief in a higher power. It's just how they react to that higher power that changes.

And while Hank was explicitly religious for a while, I always interpreted him as losing that faith over the years, becoming bogged down in the real over the sublime as what he went through wore him down. Someone like Kurt was able to spark that in him again. Maybe not his faith, per se, but at the very least belief in the human spirit.

It's important. As you say, massive benefit to each other's characters. Underrated dynamic, these two. Absolutely love 'em.

[foone]

So here's the thing about AI art, and why it seems to be connected to a bunch of unethical scumbags despite being an ethically neutral technology on its own. After the readmore, cause long. Tl;dr: capitalism

The problem is competition. More generally, the problem is capitalism.

So the kind of AI art we're seeing these days is based on something called "deep learning", a type of machine learning based on neural networks. How they work exactly isn't important, but one aspect in general is: they have to be trained.

The way it works is that if you want your AI to be able to generate X, you have to be able to train it on a lot of X. The more, the better. It gets better and better at generating something the more it has seen it. Too small a training dataset and it will do a bad job of generating it.

So you need to feed your hungry AI as much as you can. Now, say you've got two AI projects starting up:

Project A wants to do this ethically. They generate their own content to train the AI on, and they seek out datasets that allow them to be used in AI training systems. They avoid misusing any public data that doesn't explicitly give consent for the data to be used for AI training.

Meanwhile, Project B has no interest in the ethics of what they're doing, so long as it makes them money. So they don't shy away from scraping entire websites of user-submitted content and stuffing it into their AI. DeviantArt, Flickr, Tumblr? It's all the same to them. Shove it in!

Now let's fast forward a couple months of these two projects doing this. They both go to demo their project to potential investors and the public art large.

Which one do you think has a better-trained AI? the one with the smaller, ethically-obtained dataset? Or the one with the much larger dataset that they "found" somewhere after it fell off a truck?

It's gonna be the second one, every time. So they get the money, they get the attention, they get to keep growing as more and more data gets stuffed into it.

And this has a follow-on effect: we've just pre-selected AI projects for being run by amoral bastards, remember. So when someone is like "hey can we use this AI to make NFTs?" or "Hey can your AI help us detect illegal immigrants by scanning Facebook selfies?", of course they're gonna say "yeah, if you pay us enough".

So while the technology is not, in itself, immoral or unethical, the situations around how it gets used in capitalism definitely are. That external influence heavily affects how it gets used, and who "wins" in this field. And it won't be the good guys.

An important follow-up: this is focusing on the production side of AI, but obviously even if you had an AI art generator trained on entirely ethically sourced data, it could still be used unethically: it could put artists out of work, by replacing their labor with cheaper machine labor. Again, this is not a problem of the technology itself: it's a problem of capitalism. If artists weren't competing to survive, the existence of cheap AI art would not be a threat.

I just feel it's important to point this out, because I sometimes see people defending the existence of AI Art from a sort of abstract perspective. Yes, if you separate it completely from the society we live in, it's a neutral or even good technology. Unfortunately, we still live in a world ruled by capitalism, and it only makes sense to analyze AI Art from a perspective of having to continue to live in capitalism alongside it.

If you want ideologically pure AI Art, feel free to rise up, lose your chains, overthrow the bourgeoisie, and all that. But it's naive to defend it as just a neutral technology like any other when it's being wielded in capitalism; ie overwhelmingly negatively in impact.

[mswyrr]

"circle sewn with fate": more evidence that they are meant to be a "coven true"

-Agatha didn't think they'd be able to open the Road together because "only a true coven can open the door." And yet they did open the door together. They did something only a true coven can do.

-Agatha talks about the "Covenstead Rule" and it's kind of wild to me as a bit of symbolism. This whole time--all these long centuries--and wherever she is there have been people around her she could have connected with, made community with. It takes work and it's not easy, but it's there for her. As a metaphor about community it's pretty powerful? And, as Teen puts it, "beautiful."

Notable that she says it's "definitely not" beautiful in response. There's something here, about the spell/delusions she was trapped within and then her overall incapacity/unwillingness to see that's right in front of her face (adamant in 1x04 that the song says "coven TWO" when it's obviously "coven true"). You don't see it until you're ready to. There's people all around us at any given time we could connect with, but are we ready for that? Are they?

The next part is even more pointed, if we think of it as metaphorical about human relationships and community overall:

-And then the real kicker - Lilia's magical gift determined the group's members. And when she got the names she also got "Three of Pentacles," a really positive card that the show has released with a special design meant to represent the coven.

Here's the show merch Three of Pentacles design and the Smith-Waite classic design:

Its meaning is really positive for what this group can be to each other:

Apprenticeship, learning, studying, growing, hard work, commitment, building on success, collaboration, teamwork, determination, goals, dedication, quality, attention to detail, tradesperson, achievements, recognition, reward, hard work paying off, effort, motivation​ (source)

And the core takeaway in the card as something given by a reading (as Lilia says it to Agatha imo) is this:

"Each person has an important role to play, and when they come together as a team, they can create something much more significant than if they were to undertake the project on their own. So, when the Three of Pentacles turns up in a Tarot reading, take it as a sign to collaborate with others, creating synergies to achieve big results. The Three of Pentacles represents the value of different ideas and levels of experience in collaboration. The architects respect the specialised knowledge of the stonemason, and the stonemason appreciates the wisdom and experience of the architects. Even though their backgrounds, experience levels and expertise are very different, they can come together to share their insight in a way that creates synergy and improves the finished product. There is no ‘us and them’ or any sense of superiority. Instead, each person has something to offer and is willing to learn from the others involved in the project. Everyone is getting the job done collectively and contributes to the group through active listening and sharing. As you work on projects with others, acknowledge the value that each person brings to the table. You will also learn from each member of the team when you see his or her unique contribution." (source)

I truly think this season is the story of how Agatha gets a "coven true" again, even though it is the last thing she thinks she wants. There's so much symbolism and references to it! Even passing "joke" moments like the "Chief of police" starting to say "teamwork makes the dream work" and Agatha cutting in with "eat my ass." Of course, if she rejects what the magic (the Road's magic, Lilia's divination magic) is telling her, she could face the Three of Pentacles reversed:

Not learning from mistakes, unwillingness to learn, lack of growth, poor work ethic, lack of commitment, mistakes, lack of effort, lack of teamwork, apathy, no determination, no goals, no dedication, no motivation, poor quality work

It's her choice. And the choice of her coven too, if they want to walk the road (both literally the Witches' Road and metaphorically the road of life) with her despite what a huge pain in the ass she can be lol

[mostlysignssomeportents]

"Open" "AI" isn’t

Tomorrow (19 Aug), I'm appearing at the San Diego Union-Tribune Festival of Books. I'm on a 2:30PM panel called "Return From Retirement," followed by a signing:

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/festivalofbooks

The crybabies who freak out about The Communist Manifesto appearing on university curriculum clearly never read it – chapter one is basically a long hymn to capitalism's flexibility and inventiveness, its ability to change form and adapt itself to everything the world throws at it and come out on top:

https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch01.htm#007

Today, leftists signal this protean capacity of capital with the -washing suffix: greenwashing, genderwashing, queerwashing, wokewashing – all the ways capital cloaks itself in liberatory, progressive values, while still serving as a force for extraction, exploitation, and political corruption.

A smart capitalist is someone who, sensing the outrage at a world run by 150 old white guys in boardrooms, proposes replacing half of them with women, queers, and people of color. This is a superficial maneuver, sure, but it's an incredibly effective one.

In "Open (For Business): Big Tech, Concentrated Power, and the Political Economy of Open AI," a new working paper, Meredith Whittaker, David Gray Widder and Sarah B Myers document a new kind of -washing: openwashing:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4543807

Openwashing is the trick that large "AI" companies use to evade regulation and neutralizing critics, by casting themselves as forces of ethical capitalism, committed to the virtue of openness. No one should be surprised to learn that the products of the "open" wing of an industry whose products are neither "artificial," nor "intelligent," are also not "open." Every word AI huxters say is a lie; including "and," and "the."

So what work does the "open" in "open AI" do? "Open" here is supposed to invoke the "open" in "open source," a movement that emphasizes a software development methodology that promotes code transparency, reusability and extensibility, which are three important virtues.

But "open source" itself is an offshoot of a more foundational movement, the Free Software movement, whose goal is to promote freedom, and whose method is openness. The point of software freedom was technological self-determination, the right of technology users to decide not just what their technology does, but who it does it to and who it does it for:

https://locusmag.com/2022/01/cory-doctorow-science-fiction-is-a-luddite-literature/

The open source split from free software was ostensibly driven by the need to reassure investors and businesspeople so they would join the movement. The "free" in free software is (deliberately) ambiguous, a bit of wordplay that sometimes misleads people into thinking it means "Free as in Beer" when really it means "Free as in Speech" (in Romance languages, these distinctions are captured by translating "free" as "libre" rather than "gratis").

The idea behind open source was to rebrand free software in a less ambiguous – and more instrumental – package that stressed cost-savings and software quality, as well as "ecosystem benefits" from a co-operative form of development that recruited tinkerers, independents, and rivals to contribute to a robust infrastructural commons.

But "open" doesn't merely resolve the linguistic ambiguity of libre vs gratis – it does so by removing the "liberty" from "libre," the "freedom" from "free." "Open" changes the pole-star that movement participants follow as they set their course. Rather than asking "Which course of action makes us more free?" they ask, "Which course of action makes our software better?"

Thus, by dribs and drabs, the freedom leeches out of openness. Today's tech giants have mobilized "open" to create a two-tier system: the largest tech firms enjoy broad freedom themselves – they alone get to decide how their software stack is configured. But for all of us who rely on that (increasingly unavoidable) software stack, all we have is "open": the ability to peer inside that software and see how it works, and perhaps suggest improvements to it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBknF2yUZZ8

In the Big Tech internet, it's freedom for them, openness for us. "Openness" – transparency, reusability and extensibility – is valuable, but it shouldn't be mistaken for technological self-determination. As the tech sector becomes ever-more concentrated, the limits of openness become more apparent.

But even by those standards, the openness of "open AI" is thin gruel indeed (that goes triple for the company that calls itself "OpenAI," which is a particularly egregious openwasher).

The paper's authors start by suggesting that the "open" in "open AI" is meant to imply that an "open AI" can be scratch-built by competitors (or even hobbyists), but that this isn't true. Not only is the material that "open AI" companies publish insufficient for reproducing their products, even if those gaps were plugged, the resource burden required to do so is so intense that only the largest companies could do so.

Beyond this, the "open" parts of "open AI" are insufficient for achieving the other claimed benefits of "open AI": they don't promote auditing, or safety, or competition. Indeed, they often cut against these goals.

"Open AI" is a wordgame that exploits the malleability of "open," but also the ambiguity of the term "AI": "a grab bag of approaches, not… a technical term of art, but more … marketing and a signifier of aspirations." Hitching this vague term to "open" creates all kinds of bait-and-switch opportunities.

That's how you get Meta claiming that LLaMa2 is "open source," despite being licensed in a way that is absolutely incompatible with any widely accepted definition of the term:

https://blog.opensource.org/metas-llama-2-license-is-not-open-source/

LLaMa-2 is a particularly egregious openwashing example, but there are plenty of other ways that "open" is misleadingly applied to AI: sometimes it means you can see the source code, sometimes that you can see the training data, and sometimes that you can tune a model, all to different degrees, alone and in combination.

But even the most "open" systems can't be independently replicated, due to raw computing requirements. This isn't the fault of the AI industry – the computational intensity is a fact, not a choice – but when the AI industry claims that "open" will "democratize" AI, they are hiding the ball. People who hear these "democratization" claims (especially policymakers) are thinking about entrepreneurial kids in garages, but unless these kids have access to multi-billion-dollar data centers, they can't be "disruptors" who topple tech giants with cool new ideas. At best, they can hope to pay rent to those giants for access to their compute grids, in order to create products and services at the margin that rely on existing products, rather than displacing them.

The "open" story, with its claims of democratization, is an especially important one in the context of regulation. In Europe, where a variety of AI regulations have been proposed, the AI industry has co-opted the open source movement's hard-won narrative battles about the harms of ill-considered regulation.

For open source (and free software) advocates, many tech regulations aimed at taming large, abusive companies – such as requirements to surveil and control users to extinguish toxic behavior – wreak collateral damage on the free, open, user-centric systems that we see as superior alternatives to Big Tech. This leads to the paradoxical effect of passing regulation to "punish" Big Tech that end up simply shaving an infinitesimal percentage off the giants' profits, while destroying the small co-ops, nonprofits and startups before they can grow to be a viable alternative.

The years-long fight to get regulators to understand this risk has been waged by principled actors working for subsistence nonprofit wages or for free, and now the AI industry is capitalizing on lawmakers' hard-won consideration for collateral damage by claiming to be "open AI" and thus vulnerable to overbroad regulation.

But the "open" projects that lawmakers have been coached to value are precious because they deliver a level playing field, competition, innovation and democratization – all things that "open AI" fails to deliver. The regulations the AI industry is fighting also don't necessarily implicate the speech implications that are core to protecting free software:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/remembering-case-established-code-speech

Just think about LLaMa-2. You can download it for free, along with the model weights it relies on – but not detailed specs for the data that was used in its training. And the source-code is licensed under a homebrewed license cooked up by Meta's lawyers, a license that only glancingly resembles anything from the Open Source Definition:

https://opensource.org/osd/

Core to Big Tech companies' "open AI" offerings are tools, like Meta's PyTorch and Google's TensorFlow. These tools are indeed "open source," licensed under real OSS terms. But they are designed and maintained by the companies that sponsor them, and optimize for the proprietary back-ends each company offers in its own cloud. When programmers train themselves to develop in these environments, they are gaining expertise in adding value to a monopolist's ecosystem, locking themselves in with their own expertise. This a classic example of software freedom for tech giants and open source for the rest of us.

One way to understand how "open" can produce a lock-in that "free" might prevent is to think of Android: Android is an open platform in the sense that its sourcecode is freely licensed, but the existence of Android doesn't make it any easier to challenge the mobile OS duopoly with a new mobile OS; nor does it make it easier to switch from Android to iOS and vice versa.

Another example: MongoDB, a free/open database tool that was adopted by Amazon, which subsequently forked the codebase and tuning it to work on their proprietary cloud infrastructure.

The value of open tooling as a stickytrap for creating a pool of developers who end up as sharecroppers who are glued to a specific company's closed infrastructure is well-understood and openly acknowledged by "open AI" companies. Zuckerberg boasts about how PyTorch ropes developers into Meta's stack, "when there are opportunities to make integrations with products, [so] it’s much easier to make sure that developers and other folks are compatible with the things that we need in the way that our systems work."

Tooling is a relatively obscure issue, primarily debated by developers. A much broader debate has raged over training data – how it is acquired, labeled, sorted and used. Many of the biggest "open AI" companies are totally opaque when it comes to training data. Google and OpenAI won't even say how many pieces of data went into their models' training – let alone which data they used.

Other "open AI" companies use publicly available datasets like the Pile and CommonCrawl. But you can't replicate their models by shoveling these datasets into an algorithm. Each one has to be groomed – labeled, sorted, de-duplicated, and otherwise filtered. Many "open" models merge these datasets with other, proprietary sets, in varying (and secret) proportions.

Quality filtering and labeling for training data is incredibly expensive and labor-intensive, and involves some of the most exploitative and traumatizing clickwork in the world, as poorly paid workers in the Global South make pennies for reviewing data that includes graphic violence, rape, and gore.

Not only is the product of this "data pipeline" kept a secret by "open" companies, the very nature of the pipeline is likewise cloaked in mystery, in order to obscure the exploitative labor relations it embodies (the joke that "AI" stands for "absent Indians" comes out of the South Asian clickwork industry).

The most common "open" in "open AI" is a model that arrives built and trained, which is "open" in the sense that end-users can "fine-tune" it – usually while running it on the manufacturer's own proprietary cloud hardware, under that company's supervision and surveillance. These tunable models are undocumented blobs, not the rigorously peer-reviewed transparent tools celebrated by the open source movement.

If "open" was a way to transform "free software" from an ethical proposition to an efficient methodology for developing high-quality software; then "open AI" is a way to transform "open source" into a rent-extracting black box.

Some "open AI" has slipped out of the corporate silo. Meta's LLaMa was leaked by early testers, republished on 4chan, and is now in the wild. Some exciting stuff has emerged from this, but despite this work happening outside of Meta's control, it is not without benefits to Meta. As an infamous leaked Google memo explains:

Paradoxically, the one clear winner in all of this is Meta. Because the leaked model was theirs, they have effectively garnered an entire planet's worth of free labor. Since most open source innovation is happening on top of their architecture, there is nothing stopping them from directly incorporating it into their products.

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/leaked-google-memo-admits-defeat-by-open-source-ai/486290/

Thus, "open AI" is best understood as "as free product development" for large, well-capitalized AI companies, conducted by tinkerers who will not be able to escape these giants' proprietary compute silos and opaque training corpuses, and whose work product is guaranteed to be compatible with the giants' own systems.

The instrumental story about the virtues of "open" often invoke auditability: the fact that anyone can look at the source code makes it easier for bugs to be identified. But as open source projects have learned the hard way, the fact that anyone can audit your widely used, high-stakes code doesn't mean that anyone will.

The Heartbleed vulnerability in OpenSSL was a wake-up call for the open source movement – a bug that endangered every secure webserver connection in the world, which had hidden in plain sight for years. The result was an admirable and successful effort to build institutions whose job it is to actually make use of open source transparency to conduct regular, deep, systemic audits.

In other words, "open" is a necessary, but insufficient, precondition for auditing. But when the "open AI" movement touts its "safety" thanks to its "auditability," it fails to describe any steps it is taking to replicate these auditing institutions – how they'll be constituted, funded and directed. The story starts and ends with "transparency" and then makes the unjustifiable leap to "safety," without any intermediate steps about how the one will turn into the other.

It's a Magic Underpants Gnome story, in other words:

Step One: Transparency

Step Two: ??

Step Three: Safety

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5ih_TQWqCA

Meanwhile, OpenAI itself has gone on record as objecting to "burdensome mechanisms like licenses or audits" as an impediment to "innovation" – all the while arguing that these "burdensome mechanisms" should be mandatory for rival offerings that are more advanced than its own. To call this a "transparent ruse" is to do violence to good, hardworking transparent ruses all the world over:

https://openai.com/blog/governance-of-superintelligence

Some "open AI" is much more open than the industry dominating offerings. There's EleutherAI, a donor-supported nonprofit whose model comes with documentation and code, licensed Apache 2.0. There are also some smaller academic offerings: Vicuna (UCSD/CMU/Berkeley); Koala (Berkeley) and Alpaca (Stanford).

These are indeed more open (though Alpaca – which ran on a laptop – had to be withdrawn because it "hallucinated" so profusely). But to the extent that the "open AI" movement invokes (or cares about) these projects, it is in order to brandish them before hostile policymakers and say, "Won't someone please think of the academics?" These are the poster children for proposals like exempting AI from antitrust enforcement, but they're not significant players in the "open AI" industry, nor are they likely to be for so long as the largest companies are running the show:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4493900

I'm kickstarting the audiobook for "The Internet Con: How To Seize the Means of Computation," a Big Tech disassembly manual to disenshittify the web and make a new, good internet to succeed the old, good internet. It's a DRM-free book, which means Audible won't carry it, so this crowdfunder is essential. Back now to get the audio, Verso hardcover and ebook:

http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/18/openwashing/#you-keep-using-that-word-i-do-not-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[starsreality]

do u have some ways/explanations I could logically become rich and wealthy? I wanna be a billionaire but I just can’t imagine doing that without being unethical…

I was just thinking of this question a few days ago and consulted with ChatGPT, so I have the answers ready and loaded!

Ways to become super ultra rich without having to resort to unethical or immoral methods/practices:

› Entrepreneurship: Start your own business in a growing industry. Identify a gap in the market, create a product or service that meets a need, and scale it. Focus on innovation and customer satisfaction.

› Investing: Educate yourself on investing in stocks, real estate, or other assets. Consider long-term investment strategies, such as index funds or rental properties, which can compound wealth over time.

› Build a Personal Brand: Create a strong online presence in your field. Share knowledge through blogs, podcasts, or social media, and leverage your brand for consulting, speaking engagements, or product endorsements.

› Develop Valuable Skills: Acquire skills in high-demand fields like technology, finance, or healthcare. Expertise can lead to high-paying job opportunities or freelance work.

› Networking: Build relationships with influential people in your industry. Networking can lead to collaborations, partnerships, and opportunities that can significantly boost your wealth.

› Innovate and Create: Focus on research and development in emerging fields, such as renewable energy, biotechnology, or artificial intelligence. Invent new products or improve existing ones.

› Real Estate Development: Invest in real estate, starting with rental properties or flipping houses. Learn the market and focus on areas with potential growth.

› Passive Income Streams: Create sources of passive income, such as writing books, creating online courses, or investing in dividend-paying stocks.

› Franchise Ownership: Consider investing in a reputable franchise. This can provide a proven business model and brand recognition while allowing you to operate your own business.

› Philanthropy and Ethical Investing: Invest in socially responsible businesses or initiatives. This can lead to both financial returns and positive societal impact, enhancing your reputation and network.

Ways to “stumble” into wealth without (directly) hoarding wealth:

› Inheriting Wealth: Unexpectedly inheriting wealth from a distant unknown relative or family friend.

› Winning the Lottery: Not a very sustainable source of income but it works.

› Discovering Hidden Talents: Uncovering a unique skill or talent that becomes highly valued—like writing a bestselling book or creating viral content.

› Investing Early: Accidentally investing in a promising startup or stock that later skyrockets in value.

› Networking: Making a valuable connection at a social event that leads to a lucrative job or business opportunity.

› Crowdfunding Success: Launching a project that resonates with a broad audience, leading to substantial financial backing.

› Accidental Invention: Creating a product by chance that fills a market need, like a popular app or gadget.

[codfanficedits]

Bittersweet memories.

CW: ANGST. I have no words for this one, at this point I'm just hurting my own feelings idk

Fem!reader x Simon 'Ghost' Riley.

Eight years ago you joined the army. You wanted to be the best recruit they had ever seen. You wanted to succeed in something, anything at all. You craved the validation and the army could give that to you. Your eagerness didn’t go unnoticed. Your work ethic being the main reason for the praise you received. Your hard work did also pique a mans interest. You’d found him intimidating at first. The skull mask, his large physique, the gloved hands, the unreadable eyes. But Ghost took a liking to you. It started with small gestures, very small gestures. A little nod when you completed your training. A soft hum of approval when you hit the target during practice. An awkward pat on your shoulder when you returned from your first mission, a gentle squeeze on your bicep when you went to the bar to celebrate your mission.

Seven years ago it weren’t just little gestures anymore. It had evolved to holding your hips a little too long when he had to move past you, pressing himself against you a little too hard when he corrected your stance. Jealous glares when another man tried to buy you a drink in the bar. Being a little too eager to be teamed up with you. So seven years ago you finally bit the bullet, asking him out for a date. Ghost disappeared after that, avoiding you like the plague, leaving you confused and even a little heartbroken. Took him three weeks to come around, to reach out to you, to apologise. He’d told himself you were pulling an awful prank on him, that you couldn’t be possible be interested in him. It took you a lot of convincing that you were in fact interested in him.

Six and a half years ago, you finally saw his face for the first time. Until then you had been blessed with a half pulled up balaclava, enough to see his lips, enough to kiss you. But never enough to fully see him. He had come to your quarters after one of his hard mission, tired, beaten, but alive. No words exchanged when he sat down on your couch, manspreading as his hands rested against him. A long, tired exhale and a moment of awkward silence. His hand waved you over, urging you to sit next to him, your head on his chest as you listened to his heartbeat. The balaclava falling on his lap when he finally took the piece of fabric off. The military had taught you to be brave, and you needed all the skills you had learned to look up at him.

And by God was he divine. A slightly crooked nose, you knew he had broken his nose as a child, the result prominent in his face, soft brown eyes, a little freckle here and there, an old scar decorating the left side of his upper lip. You hand reaches out to touch his cheek and he leans into your touch as if he is starving and you’re his only source of life, from that moment on it felt wrong to call him Ghost, because Simon came back to life from your touch.

Six years ago he finally told you he loved you for the first time. Of course you had said it before, and you understood that he needed more time to say it. You could see his love for you in the smallest things in life. How he held his hand against the sharp edge of the countertop when you had to pick something up from the floor, so you wouldn’t hit your head. How he would always keep a small picture of you in his wallet, keeping you close when you weren’t there. How you became his emergency contact for the hospital, you know, just in case. So when you were lying under his sheets, your body intertwined with his, sweat glistering on his chest as you admired the marks he had left on you collarbones, the words came as a surprise.

“I love you.”

Five years ago the two of you start to discuss marriage. It started casually, one of your friends had gotten married and on the car ride back the two of you were discussing the things you’d like different on your wedding. It was then that you’d realise how similar your taste was. How you wanted to same things for the most special day in your life. He wanted a vanilla cake, with a white chocolate strawberry buttercream filling, and you wanted the same. Both of you wanted a small wedding, just close friends and family, a lovely little outdoor venue, with fairy lights and sunflowers. The both of you agreed that he would look best in white. A blue tie, and a small sunflower in his chest pocket. The next time marriage was discussed you were lying under his sheets again, on your stomach as his fingers traced around the soft skin on your back. Again you two agreed on the white suit, the fairy lights and the cake.

Four years ago he took you to the beach. Growing up you’d never been there and when Simon found out, he needed to show you the beach. So he found the two of you a secluded spot and he disappeared with a blue little bucket to catch you some starfish and little crabs. A smile on his gorgeous face when he returned, proudly holding up the bucket. A soft grumble when he requested you to put sunscreen on his back, after all, he had been the one to carry all the stuff you had packed to this secluded spot, and this would’ve been an amazing payback for his duties.

The two of you stayed on the beach until the sun started to set, when you watched it in awe you could see him fumble with his hands, and you wondered what would make him so nervous. Your question would be answered quickly when he got on one knee, a little black velvet box coming out of the pocket of his trunks. The vulnerability on his face when he asked you to marry him became engraved in your mind, in your soul.

Today he stood before you, looking gorgeous in that white suit, a blue tie, and a small flower in his chest pocket. Although the venue wasn’t an outdoor one, and there were more people than you had discussed, you couldn’t help but fall in love all over again with him. The slight crook in his nose, the few soft freckles on his face, those beautiful brown eyes who reminded you of the desert over and over again. His dirty blonde hair suiting his face so well.

You get snapped out of your thought when you can hear the officiant starting to speak.

“Do you take Simon Riley, to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Your eyes shift to his bride.

Three years ago your world stopped when he told you he was leaving you. He had fallen out of love, the spark being gone, the thrill no longer being there. He knew your every move, and it had made him realise it wasn’t what he wanted. Your world had stopped the moment he walked out of your shared apartment with nothing more than a black duffle bag and his balaclava. Seeing him around base was the worst, your heart shattering every time you saw him. The pain never got easier, not even when you could see him move on, when he became Ghost again, instead of Simon.

Two and a half years ago, you learned that he had found a new girlfriend, some civilian working in the café where the two of you used to go on little dates. Your heart clawed it’s way out of your chest when you heard the news. He was moving on, while you sobbed in the bed you once shared with him, holding on to one of his shirts, his scent long gone, but if you closed your eyes hard enough, you could pretend it was still there.

Two years ago you tried dating again, you really tried to move on, but none of the other men were him. None of them knew you the way he knew you. With every new man you meet, you seek Simon, but you’re left empty handed. You’ve been trying to chase the happiness he had given you, losing yourself in all sorts of self-destruction, only to be met by that empty bed every night.

One year ago Ghost announced to the team that he was engaged. Again. It took you all your strength, but you mustered up a fake smile, pretending to be happy for him and his new girl. If only your heart was as cold as you pretended to be, maybe you could get over this. Your heart is filled with a burning question, can you hate someone for what they have done, but still love them for whom they had been? You knew you could, you knew you would always love him, no matter how horrible he had shattered your heart.

Today is the day of his wedding, and you’re coming along as Soap’s plus one. The worst pain is being homesick for arms that don’t want to hold you. You can picture yourself standing in front of him, reading him vows, looking back at them you joined the army, just eight years ago. You can picture yourself cutting the cake with him, but instead you can feel our heart clawing at your ribcage again as you hold up that fake smile you mastered. You can feel that it is getting hard to breathe again. The pain settling in once more. You feel it, heavy in your chest, why can’t you breathe through this moment like all the times before?

[tapiocasaturn404]

⇢ ˗ˏˋ Relationship to other members࿐ ྂ 🍓ɞ

⤷ Effy and Bang Chan

SHIP NAME: Cheffy

HAS HER SAVED IN HIS PHONE AS: Lizzie☕(Mom)

HAS HIM SAVED IN HER PHONE AS: Chris🦘(Dad)

Effy and Chan know each other since their trainee days. They have danced together prior and also produced songs. Chan thinks that she has immense talent and fought for her to be the new 9th member of Stray Kids.

Effy and Bang Chan take on the roles of organizers and schedulers for the group. Because of that, they get called "Mom and Dad" by the other members.

They work seamlessly together, balancing each other's strengths to ensure the group functions smoothly.

He fully supports her in the decision to study alongside being an idol. Went to visit universities with her and they looked together at possible courses she could master in.

Very proud producer Chan when she told him she wants to major in music and science (to incorporate it into their production).

Effy becomes a source of comfort for Bang Chan, especially when he overworks himself. She does not scold him for staying too long at the studio or forgetting to eat, instead she will just stop by and bring his favourite food to eat with him. Will give him shoulder rubs and encourage him when he feels low. He is so so grateful to have her.

When Chan notices that Effy is stressed, he plans a day off for her and they spend it outside the dorm or the entertaiment. He also gives her extra breaks where they sit down and talk about what stresses her and how they can change that.

Lizzie often spends the night with him (and 3Racha) in the studio producing songs, especially when its shortly before a come back.

Effy tends to zone out when she is too tired and Chan is showing her something

"Sweetheart, Pay attention to me. Should we add that 808 or not?"

Chan affectionately calls Effy "sweethart."

Effy playfully calls Chan "oppa" .

Like any close relationship, they have occasional disagreements, often related to group decisions or creative choices.

However, even when they fight, they quickly make up afterwards.

Chan shows up at Effys room with her favourite snack or Effy just finishes all of Chans paperwork and hands it to him.

"Hey. Here is your paperwork. Finished. I am sorry for how I behaved earlier today Chris"

He will smile at her, accepting the apology and pull her close to his chest.

"It´s okay sweetheart. I already forgot"

Effy and Chan have a collaborative playlist. It become the soundtrack of their shared moments, from late night drives and road trips to discussions about music.

Everyone says Chan gives the best hugs and to be honest Effy just can´t get enough of them.

Stays go crazy when Chris hugs Lizzie from behind.

Chan may give Effy a gentle forehead kiss when she is sleepy and falls asleep next to him when in the stuido or when they are spending their evening on the couch.

Carries her to bed and tucks her in.

Or gives her a quick kiss on the cheek when he is leaving to the studio and is in a rush.

"Oppa, taking care of you is not worrying too much. You're the best leader, but you're human too. Get some rest!"

"Alright, alright, "Mom". I'll take a break, but only because you said so."

⤷ Effy and Lee Know

SHIP NAME: Minlee

HAS HER SAVED IN HIS PHONE AS: Menace 🙄

HAS HIM SAVED IN HER PHONE AS: Bully🤦🏻‍♀️

Minho was initially skeptical about having a girl join the group, especially given the close-knit brotherhood they had. He was strict and critical during Effy's early dance training, pushing her to prove herself.

"No, you´re doing that wrong. Aish, can´t you do anything right?"

Over time, Minho witnessed Effy's dedication and fast learning. He gained respect for her work ethic and talent, realizing that gender had no bearing on her ability to contribute to the group.

Despite their initial clashes, Minho and Effy developed a unique dynamic filled with bantering, teasing and (playful) bullying.

Effy teaches him english, since he is not as good at it. She teaches him british slang words and expressions, leaving the other members confused when they start talking in english.

"Hey Felix, uh, fancy a cuppa?"

Felix: *Confused in Australian*

The duo often goes shopping together, exchanging fashion tips and opinions. They also share a love for watching shows and not being able to go to sleep without at least clicking "Next" five times in a row.

Has made it his mission to disturb her while she studies. Whether through annoying questions or things on his phone that he shows her. At some point Effy becomes unfocused and annoyed by him and gets upset. He just grins because he has achieved his goal and leaves.

"Lino, can you just stop?! I´m seriously trying to concentrate!"

"What, I didn´t do anything kitten"

Minho calls Effy "kitten" as suggested by Stay (Stay = 👀). He said it once to her out of fun and Stays noticed that it make her blush. It became a constant nickname, adding a touch of sweetness to their dynamic.

Whenever Effy shows him affection through hugs or cuddles, he acts as if he is disgusted.

“If you're waiting for me to care, I hope you brought something to eat, 'cause it's gonna be a really long time“.

"Clingy, much huh?“.

However, when no one looks, Minho returns it. Often it is the way he rests his hand on her knee when they are sitting next to each other or his hand being on her lower back when walking. However not even he can resist pulling her into a bone crushing hug sometimes.

"Ah, let's go shopping this weekend. I need to make sure you don't ruin our group's image with questionable fashion choices"

"Whatever. But yeah, lets go shopping"

⤷ Effy and Changbin

SHIP NAME: Changbeth

HAS HER SAVED IN HIS PHONE AS: Pilates Princess👑

HAS HIM SAVED IN HER PHONE AS: Gym Bro 🏅

Changbin was intrigued but slightly skeptical when Effy joined Stray Kids. He quickly noticed her determination and work ethic, especially in maintaining her fitness routine.

They got along quickly when they noticed that they go to the same gym. He works out and she does Pilates.

Effy admires Changbin's rap skills and initially took his critiques as an opportunity to learn and grow. She always tries to rap his parts but fails horribly. He teaches her how to do it right.

Effy likes to teach Changbin girl group dances when they have time between schedules. Whenever she learned a new dance from Itzy or Twice, she seeks him as her dance partner.

Changbin shows her how to play pool.

Simply steals all her books and revision sheets when he is of the opinion that she studies too much. Does not listen to her complaints

"But I have an exam next week!"

"You need breaks too, princess"

Princess and princess protector duo!!

He protects her at all costs. Shields her whenever they are walking through a crowd or at fansigns. Carries her when it started to rain suddenly and she is wearing heels or nice shoes. Will threaten everyone that that makes her feel uncomfortable.

If she gets hurt while working out he immediately worries.

“Ouch, that looked like it hurts. You okay, princess?“

“I’m okay, it’s just a scratch Binnie“

Effy becomes a confidante for Changbin, and he becomes a reliable pillar of support for her. Their dynamic evolves into a sibling-like relationship, where they can share their concerns, dreams, and daily experiences without judgment.

Changbin becomes Effy's personal pillow. No matter if it is while watching a movie or during a break after dancing. His broad shoulders become a comfortable resting spot for her.

"Oh, princess said you liked sour gummies , so I bought this for you"

“Binnie I’m so unmotivated today, can we go to the gym together?“ “Sure princess“

⤷ Effy and Hyunjin

SHIP NAME: Lizjin

HAS HER SAVED IN HIS PHONE AS: Muse 💫

HAS HIM SAVED IN HER PHONE AS: Artist🎨

Effy appreciates Hyunjin's artistic talents and sees him as the "Artist" who brings her visions to life.

Her presence sparks his artistic imagination.

Hyunjin appreciates Effy's input on his drawings and welcomes her suggestions. He does not like input from everyone, but he feels like she always has the best ideas.

Will paint together and switch canvas every ten minutes. It ends in a disaster because Effy has no idea how to paint and creates the most weirldy looking faces.

"Ahh what have you done, you have disfigured him!"

"Well, no, it's just all a matter of interpretation-"

Hyunjin tries to teach her basic drawing anatomy but its hopeless.

They are the aesthetic duo!!

Productive time together is so important to them. Lizzie drags him with her to her unis library so she can study in peace (away from the boys in the dorm) and he sketches in the mean time/reads books about famous painters.

Taking pretty pictures while going on coffee or museum/art gallery dates together.

Effy and Hyunjin indulge in skincare routines together, sharing tips and trying out new products. It's a relaxing time for them to unwind. They do face masks when they go live and gossip about the newest scandals on the internet or about shows/movies they have watched.

Effy sometimes takes on the role of Hyunjin's hairstylist, experimenting with different hair colors and hairstyles (She gets scolded by the stylists the next day because the makeover did not fit into the look schedule).

Play fighting and tickling are common occurrences between them, adding a light-hearted and playful element to their relationship.

Effy comes to him when she feels drained and exhausted.

Rather than skinship, Hyunjin mostly offers words of encouragement, reminding Effy of her strengths and accomplishments. He emphasizes that struggles are a natural part of life and reassures her that he's there to support her through any challenges.

Hyunjin often affectionately pats Effy's head, especially when he wants to reassure or congratulate her.

Hyunjin is Effys dramatic counterpart.

Will whine and complain when she does not have time for him because she is busy with her schedule.

"But Muse, you promiseeedd"

Lizzie will buy him art supplies as reparation which leaves him satisfied.

Steals his hoodies and shirts. When Stays notice it, she just huffs and says something like

"He is the ambassador of Versace, a few shirts less wont hurt him"

"I brought you coffee!"

"Oh, good. Is it americano?"

"Yeah, Hyune. Otherwise you would send me back"

"Wanna go on a coffee date today, my Muse? I need some inspiration. Lets go to the new little Cafe that opened next to the company!"

"Yeah and after that we can visit the art gallery!"

⤷ Effy and Jisung

SHIP NAME: Jiffy

HAS HER SAVED IN HIS PHONE AS: Owl 🦉

HAS HIM SAVED IN HER PHONE AS: Quokka🦦

British duo and chaotic duo

He is her certified british brother and keeps teaching him how to improve his accent to sound even more british.

"Yeah, but, you have to say it like that. Ah mate im so knackered"

Jisung and Effy often find themselves in humorous and mischievous situations. Jisung appreciates Effy's quick thinking and resourcefulness when they get into trouble.

Calls her Jagi/Jagiya

Calls him Hannie or Ji

Effy holds her "mom privilege" to bail Jisung out of trouble, especially when he's in hot water with Bang Chan. Jisung playfully complains but secretly relies on Effy's rescue missions.

“Uhhh Jagi, we have a problem“

“No, YOU have a problem. I have an idiot who keeps getting into one“

Jisung and Effy have established anime marathon nights, where they binge-watch their favorite series together. The shared enthusiasm for the characters and storylines becomes a bonding experience.

Effy and Jisung's love for horror movies leads to amusing reactions. Jisung, pretending to be brave, ends up jumping at the scary scenes, and Effy can't help but tease him mercilessly.

"Who is the brave one now, huh?“

Will eventually scare him at night.

Whenever Effy is sad Jisung does his Doraemon voice impression. She always has to laugh because she thinks it is so cute and it maker her sadness dissappear in seconds.

Effy bakes cheescake for them to eat it while watching movies. She often tries different variations, e.g. strawberry cheescakes and makes Han try it.

They go on winter strolls together when snow fell. Almost always building a snow man or having a snow ball fight, which ends up into them wrestling each other in the snow.

They would come home totaly frozen and shivering. When they changed they quickly cuddle up under a blanket on the couch to heat themselves up and start watching something on TV while drinking hot chocolate.

Effy likes to show her affection to Jisung thrugh squishing his cheeks together or hugging him.

He, too, shows his affection through skinship. He plays with her hair when she is nervous to calm her down.

Tries new hairstyles on her when she is studying. Braids her hair, decorates it with little colorfull hair clips or just plays with it to help her stay focused.

“Jagi your hair is so soft“

Rubs her back when she needs encouragement. Holds her hand when they go through crowds.

“Hold on tight so we don’t get lost, okay Jagi?“

"Mom, Chan's giving me that 'disappointed dad' look again. Any chance you could save me from another lecture?"

"Ahh, Ji, you're lucky to have me. But seriously, what did you do this time?!?!"

⤷ Effy and Felix

SHIP NAME: Efflix

HAS HER SAVED IN HIS PHONE AS: My rainy day ☔

HAS HIM SAVED IN HER PHONE AS: My sunshine ☀️

When they first met, they instantly clicked. Felix feels an instant connection with Effy

Like sunshine breaking through the clouds

He cherishes the warmth and positivity she brings into his life.

Says she is like a rainy summer day

In the beginning, Felix found Korean to be a challenging language to grasp. Effy had the same problem.

They talk most of the time in english because it just became a habit.

They enjoy baking together. Most of the time, they are making Felix famous brownies.

They try other recipes too like pastries or cakes.

Felix tries introducing Lizzie to of League of Legends and Genshin Impact.

He explaines the intricate mechanics, strategies, and lore behind these games.

However Effy enjoys more quiet games like Minecraft and Animal Crossing.

They decided to compromise and make gaming "date" nights.

Felix patiently taught Lizzie the basics of League of Legends, emphasizing teamwork and strategy.

On the flip side, Lizzie forced the charm of Animal Crossing onto Felix, trying to teach him how to farm Tarantulas and Scorpions to sell.

Whenever Felix feels sad or everything just gets overwhelming, he comes to Lizzie.

Will probably silently just hug her and burst out into tears.

Lizzie does not want to pressure him into talking or anything, so she just comforts him.

"Take your time, Lixie. It is okay, I’m here"

There are nights when Effy finds herself tossing and turning, unable to find the solace of sleep.

Knowing she can always turn to Felix, Effy often quietly slips into his room.

Might just state a simple "Can't sleep," and Felix responds with a comforting and sleepy smile.

Will scoot over immediately for her to slip under the blanket and gently rubs her back or soothingly strokes her hair.

Holds her in his arms for the whole night.

Warms her up. Sometimes he sings to her quietly if she can’t fall asleep again.

"Why cant you sleep honey, hm? Tell me about it“

“Is this calming you down? Should I stop?“

Their "love language" is skinship.

Their close-knit relationship often sparks rumors among Stays, constanly speculating if they are dating or not.

Lizzie quickly debunks any dating rumors that circulate. She clarifies that their affectionate interactions stem from a deep friendship and a shared understanding.

Effy finds comfort and security in physical contact. She can count herself happy that Felix is the same.

Sends her sweet messages throughout the day

"Hey honey. I hope you have a great day! I baked brownies and saved some for you. Did you eat enough today?"

Scolds Felix because he spends too much time on TikTok. He is like one of those 12 year old boys.

He forces her to do TikToks with him and spams her with videos that are funny (in his opinion).

"Yah, Yongbok stop sending me that unfunny TikToks I beg you"

"Only if you promise we can play Genshin tonight, pleaseeee"

⤷ Effy and Seungmin

SHIP NAME: Seungbeth

HAS HER SAVED IN HIS PHONE AS: Ms. Sensitive ✨

HAS HIM SAVED IN HER PHONE AS: Meanie 🤚🏻

Was the first one she met (besides Chan). She couldn’t find their record studio and asked him for the way. He looked at her weirdly and asked what she want to do there. She explained that she is joining the group. Somehow he did not get the memo that there will be a new 9th member and had to call Chris to confirm.

Seungmin is meanie number two!! Teases Effy in a different way than Minho but certainly knows how to push her buttons (But it's all in good fun).

At first Lizzie thought he was serious about it, but quickly noticed that he did not mean it in a bad way at all. Effy decided to turn the tables and engage in some teasing of her own.

“I‘m too old to keep up with this shit“

“Then die, Grandpa“

Seungmin helps Effy with singing and training her voice. When she first joined Stray Kids, they spent hours and hours in the recording room practicing. He teached her different techniques and always was patient with her. From time to time she manages to sing his high notes, making him proud.

Effy and Seungmin are in charge of making breakfast at the dorm. Whether they’re making pancakes, eggs, or avocado toast, the kitchen is always filled with laughter and the delicious aroma of breakfast.

Earning praise from the other members for it like

"Ahh its sooo delicious, you’re treating us so well!“

While Effy takes charge of the creativity in the kitchen, Seungmin ensures everything is spotless afterwards. He is the most clean member and it shows. Effy might experiment with new recipes, and Seungmin is there to assist.

Seungmin always tries to get Effy to like baseball. Seungmin takes the time to explain the rules, strategies, and the excitement of the game to Effy. However, most of the times she will just sit there confused and proceed to ask him what they are doing.

“Huh? Why is he running now, I thought he was supposed to hit the ball!“

When Lizzie is studying, Seungmin might make some snippy remarks about it.

“Why are you even trying? Its not like you have a brain“

“Were you dropped on your head as a child? Even a second grader could understand it!“

But will bring her snacks, water, a blanket or coffee without being asked and make not a comment about it. Keeps Effy energized and comfortable while studying. It's his way of showing car.

Seungmin, while not as openly affectionate as some of the other members, has his own subtle and caring ways of showing how much he adores he.

Occasionally holds Effy by the waist when they are on stage/she is singing and gets a little anxious about messing up.

Recognizing when Effy is stressed or tense, Seungmin gives her gentle shoulder rubs.

“Remember when I asked for your opinion? Me neither.“

“You have your entire life to be a jerk. Why not take today off?“

⤷ Effy and I.N.

SHIP NAME: Effyin

HAS HER SAVED IN HIS PHONE AS: Maknae Noona 🐞

HAS HIM SAVED IN HER PHONE AS: Desert Fox🦊🌵

When Effy first joined Stray Kids, there were several cultural differences and the new environment posed a challenge for her to fully acclimate to the group.

It was Jeongin, the youngest member who took it upon himself to ensure Effy felt welcomed and comfortable.

He said that in some way she also was a Maknae, even if she is older than him.

"I´ll just call you Maknae Noona, how does that sound?"

Jeongin became her unofficial orientation guide. He showed her around the dorm, introduced her to the members, and explained the group's dynamics.

Jeongin organized team-building activities within the group.

Whether it was playing games or going out.

These activities helped Effy integrate.

Lizzie and Jeongin have a mother-son relationship.

When Effy and Chris are fighting, he sends messages to the groupchat like

"Attention! Stay away from the dorm, Mom and Dad are fighting again!"

Jeongin finds comfort in confiding in Effy about his concerns and experiences. Whether it's about the pressures of being the maknae or personal matters, Effy becomes a trusted confidante.

"Innie, your dancing has improved so much. You have nothing to worry about okay?"

Both being music enthusiasts, Effy and Jeongin enjoy exploring record shops together, discovering new albums and sharing their favorite tracks.

Everywhere IN goes, a series of trips and stumbles follow him.

Effy has become a pro at predicting when he's about to take a tumble and subtly offers a helping hand.

"You´re more zombie than human the way you run against everything"

Effy and Jeongin often indulge in late-night mukbang sessions on vlive, trying out various snacks and sharing their favorites.

Jeongin tends to get excited about trying spicy foods, and Effy is always there with a glass of milk to save the day when he underestimates the heat.

"Ahhh Noona you were right it´s too hot it´s too hot!!!"

Thinks Effy is cute when she is angry and teases her with it.

"You´re cute when youre angry"

"Ohh so you think I´m cute when I´m angry? Well get ready because I´m about to be gorgeous!"

IN is the one who wakes up first in the dorm and obviously needs to disturb Effys sleep.

Will go to her room and play loud music until she wakes up.

If that does not work, he will start jumping on her bed.

"Innie I swear! Go away! Let me sleep in peace"

Eventually will lay down with her, softly talk and caress her face while she is half asleep.

"What did you dream last night? I had a dream where I was floating in a sea of bubble tea!"

"Noona, I heard there's a new escape room in town. Let's give it a try! Pleaseee"

"We'll escape in record time!"