#tablet form factor

[dilsdesigns]

hate to say it but i definitely need a new drawing tablet.

[wolf-tail]

When I was a kid, a formative part of my childhood experience was mobile gaming on my tablet, and I would constantly beg my parents for more and more free time with the device so I could play anything the restrictive parental controls would let me.

This means that there are a lot of obscure, indie mobile games, back from the ye olden days when mobile gaming was actually fun, that only exist in my distant memory.

One pair of games, that were taken off the app store that I miss greatly, are Egg!..

And it's predecessor, Egg Baby.

Both of these games are in the genre of virtual pet raising games, and absolute cream-of-the-crop examples.

They share the same mechanic of the player adopting a sentient egg creature, and caring for it until it's developed enough to hatch, releasing some kind of fantastical creature. What creature you get depends on two factors, what kind of egg you selected, and how you chose to raise it.

Neglecting your egg could potentially kill it, something that never happened under my watchful eye, but something I learned to be terrified of during my short stint as a mother.

I raised dozens of eggs before I eventually grew out of my tablet and graduated to a phone, but imagine my surprise when i went back to relive my lost childhood via the games, and found that both of them were deleted from the app store!

Looking into this further, a couple years ago I found out something fascinating.

The studio that developed both games, Nix Hydra, is these days more famous for developing...

The fucking Arcana!?

[spaghettioverdose]

regarding your recent posts on petit bougeoisie, one thing ive never managed to understand is how someone like an independent digital artist isnt considered to be selling their labour. in that scenario there is nothing they own that is making them more capable of making artworks, as they could fairly easily just be working off of a library computer or something, and what they’re selling is basicaly just the time and skill they’ve invested into producing their clients request. so besides the fact that they arnt being paid hourly and are instead charging based on how much work they’ve done, i dont really understand how they’re not considered to be selling their labour?

with something like a carpenter selling chairs or something i can more understand it as theres at least a physical thing being owned with the wood, and another being sold with the chairs, but even there it still seems like a stretch to say they’re not selling their labour at least in part, as the increased price of the chair compared to the wood is due to the work the carpeter put into sculpting it.

so far any reading ive done has been only really adressing small buisness owners who employ others and not really touching fully independent people working off of commisions or similar models of buisness, so im hoping you can clarify this for me or direct me to somewhere that does

Firstly, a clarification: a worker is not selling their labour, but rather their labour power. In some of the earlier works by Marx and Engles, they talk about selling their labour, which is later corrected to labour power. This is a more precise and useful term. When we refer to selling labour power, we are talking about the worker selling their ability to work for a given amount of hours in exchange for a wage. The worker who builds phones in a factory does not sell phones to the capitalist and their are not paid per phone. They are paid per hour. What is being purchased is their ability to work during those hours.

According to the formulation of labour in your ask, essentially everyone would be proletarian. In all commodities, regardless of who produces them and how they are made, the labour hours used to create them are factored into the price.

When it comes to independent artists, they are putting their labour power into the commodity (regardless if it is physical or digital) that their are selling, rather than selling the labour power itself. When an artist makes art in exchange for patreon money or doing comissions, the commodity that they are selling is the piece of art that they have made, rather than their labour power. They also receive income in the form of profits and not wages. This is in contrast with, for example, a digital artist who works for a AAA games company and is paid a wage for their ability to produce a certain amount of art per hour, rather than the piece of art itself.

In theory you could be an independent digital artist as someone who draws with a mouse on mspaint at a library computers and perhaps someone has done this before, but it is absolutely not how independent digital artists tend to operate. In reality, an independent digital artist is someone who owns a set of tools (copy of art software, computer, drawing tablet etc.) which act as the means of production when they produce a commodity (a piece of art that they intend to sell). When they invest their money into their further ability to produce more commodities (buying better software or hardware for example), that money acts as capital.

If I misinterpreted any part of your ask, please let me know.

As far as reading recommendations, and assuming that you have read Wage Labour and Capital, I would recommend Value, Price and Profit which touches more on this.

[knullanon]

Omg yes please continue the New Years Eve story, I’m literally obsessed 😭 I’ve requested parts before -Doc-Ock obsessed Anon 😞❤️

New Years Eve

4

I love u doc ock anon I hope this is good enough for u :)

words: 2157

warnings: chasing, abandonment, being left in the dark, lmk if I missed any!

~~~

Octavious sighed as he leaned back into his chair. He tapped his fingers against the table, inpatient. His arms were already getting antsy, moving around, opening and closing. He looked around the empty warehouse, the walls, floors, and ceiling all covered with mold and dust. The 2 door entrance was barely an entrance, as the left door was almost completely rusted off, making a shriek when he had to pry it open. The place was perfect for an overnight meeting with Martin to deliver him his cloaking device… if he were to show up on time.

He was already making a move to call Martin to tell him the meeting was off when there was a light passing by the window in the night, and he heard a car roll to a stop near the entrance. Within a few moments, Li and his guards sauntered into the room, and he took a seat on the other edge of the table.

“Good to see you, my friend.” He introduced, “I apologize for being late. Traffic, you know?”

Octavious was in no mood. He just wanted to get back and see you, and make sure you did your homework that he had assigned for you. And to tuck you into bed. One of his arms pulled out the device, which looked like a dash cam, and dropped it into his palm. “I’ve made it easy to control: the only thing is that the device will need to be manually operated. This button on the side turns it on, and, I’ve computed it to include various models and persons so that if you just need cover, then you don’t have to be invisible all the time.” He placed the device in the middle of the table, letting Li pick it up and inspect it.

“Thank you, my friend.” He looked back to Octavious, “By the way, were you still working on that ‘override’ project?”

Octavious raised a brow, and felt his arms start to stray. He pulled them back, “Yes, I have completed it. Why do you ask?”

Li shrugged a bit, putting the cloaking device in his pocket. “I’m planning a few heists in the next few weeks- it would help cause less frustrations in getting them set up.”

When Octavious didn’t answer, he added on, “A favor for a favor, then?”

This was taking too long. His arms were starting to become more and more impatient, reaching out and twitching. “No, that won’t be needed. Here,” he pulled out one of his chips, along with a tablet. He slid the chip over the table over to Li, and the table lit up.

“You may borrow it- maybe indefinitely depending on how many I am able to make. And don’t think about taking it, as I have all of them tracked.”

He placed the screen on the table, letting Martin look at every single one he had currently, most of them back at his base. He opened a side table from the GPS map, showing different uses and how it forms keys and cards and everything in between. His arms were whirring down at the tablet, but he ignored them, thinking it was just them being impatient about seeing you again.

“As you can see, depending on where and how you use it, it can serve a multitude of factors, not just opening doors, but creating system failures, hacking databases and-”

It was finally then that his arms started to do their little movements towards the tablet while he was talking with Li. Before he could make them retreat, he noticed what they were looking at. Almost all of the little red dots of the override chips were all at his base: except one, which was moving down different streets and alleys, much farther than his base. He picked up the tablet watching it move away from most of the other dots.

Li chuckled seeing Octavious be stumped. “I thought you were very overprotective of your projects, Doctor?”

He couldn’t understand. Was it a bug? In his technologies? Every genius has their flaws, he knew, but it wouldn’t make sense. He had built every single one of them differently, and had made sure there were no imperfections. But then that would mean someone had taken it and ran off with it. That was impossible, he reasoned, as the only person at the base right now is-

Oh. Oh, dear.

His arms, either reading his thoughts or realizing the same time he did, started to move around uncontrollably, writhing to get him out, to get to the base. No, he rationed, if they aren’t the ones who had taken it, then they would still be at the base safe and sound. If someone had come to steal the chips, they would’ve taken all of them.

When he stood up, pushing the chair all the way to the wall with the force, Li stood up as well. “I assume you must catch your runaway chip, then?”

Octavious was already climbing up to the wall, with the windows broken, breaking a few more so he could pass through. “Don’t you dare loose that chip, Li.” He called out, before he jumped away, moving in a frenzy to chase after you, ignoring whatever Li had said back.

---

When you escaped, you didn't really know where to go. His lair that he had was underneath a river, and while you thought it would be a nightmare to get out of, you guessed the door that you had found from that corridor was the easiest way out since it led you all the way up to some alleyway. You realized that, yes, you probably were under the Hudson River because you could see it running downstream when you had reached the top.

However, that didn’t matter to you. You hadn’t seen the moon in a long while, and it was a full one. Just your luck. You knew that Octavious would be busy with whatever he was doing in his lab, so you weren’t worried about him finding out until the early hours of the morning.

You were not lucky, however, in knowing where to go. You didn’t really know the area around the river well, especially in the dark, where you couldn’t see anything. Hiding in the alleys and running through the abandoned buildings didn’t help either.

There was no one around, and while you had thought about it, calling out for help probably wouldn’t do you any good. So, instead, you kept going, hoping that you could find an exit to the dark labyrinth soon.

As the moon got higher, and you could no longer hear the river run, you had slowed your pace, speed walking down streets and roads. Your feet hurt by now, but you trudged on, hoping to find someone eventually.

While walking, you pulled the rectangular chip from your pocket. It looked useless, besides that one hole in the wall. It was strange, because you never saw that hole in the wall before. You had scoured up and down that apartment, especially the doors, trying to find a way out. But there was nothing, at least when you looked. Looking at it more closely, the chips weren’t in the same spot as they were. In fact, as you moved around more, they kept changing, morphing into different things. Some looked like actual keys, others motherboards, and some just kept changing geometric shapes. It was constant, but subtle.

You had never noticed that. You were so busy watching them change shape and morph that you almost didn’t hear it. You turned your head, listening to some clanking noise. It was almost rhythmic if it didn’t sound frantic, almost like a car or truck. Maybe it was someone coming to pick something up from one of the buildings! You could get help from them, you thought.

You turned around, ignoring how your feet hurt, and ran towards the noise. You shoved the chip back into your pocket, and ran down the side of the building. The clanking noise was getting louder and closer, but it sounded… strange. Not like a truck or car kind of noise, where the shocks were holding large amounts of cargo, but more like a slamming of a metal pipe on the ground. You slowed your stop at the edge of the building, and peeked your head out, wondering what it was.

To your horror, just a few dozens of meters away, Otto was charging at you. You turned back, and started to run away, really praying that someone would find you now.

“_____!!” You heard him screech, which made you run even faster. You felt the ground shaking by now, and you could hear him push anything that was in his way away. “Get back here, NOW!!”

You kept running, hoping to get the hell away from him. You knew he was getting closer, and you could hear his arms becoming more hectic with every step they took. It made you run as fast as you could, hoping to outrun him, or to run into someone else. However, your luck ran out that night as you felt something slam into your side, and lift you up high into the air.

Catching your breath, you looked down and saw Otto, and he looked furious. The arm around your waist squeezed, making you yelp in pain. You went to say something, but he interrupted you, “Save it. For. Later.” He talked in between moving back towards the base, moving in large swift jumps of his 3 other arms.

While being held, he pulled you close to him, and while you thought he was going to hug you or slap you, instead he reached inside of your pocket and pulled out the rectangular chip that you had. “Hey, don’t-” you reached one of your hands out, trying to grab it from him, but he slapped your hand away.

“Save. It. And this-” he held up the chip, before putting it in his pocket, “Does not belong to you. You stole it.”

You rolled your eyes at that. “I did not-”

Otto stopped suddenly, making you jolt from being held. You grabbed onto the arm tightly, afraid of being dropped. He brought you very close to his face. “What part of save it do you not understand?” He gritted out. He was seething. You could see his eyes shake with anger, he was almost spitting out every word he said.

You decided that you had done enough, and you remained quiet. When you said nothing, he turned back to the road and continued going back to the base. For a short while, it was quiet. At least my feet aren’t hurting that much anymore.

Embarrassingly, you didn’t make it that far from the base based on how short the trip was back. This time, however, he brought you to a new entrance, one you didn’t even know was there. It was through a building, and then through a large pipe in the center of it. While you had thought it was the stupidest entrance ever, the multiple traps, cameras and security measures that he easily moved around or accessed proved it was not an easy way to get in. When he finally reached the bottom of the pipe, it brought you to a room that looked similarly to his lab. Except, it almost looked more evil. It was way bigger, and had tanks and monitors. Everything looked evil.

He walked (still using his arms) over to a large sphere, that looked like one of those Plasma balls you saw online. However, at the top, it had a little latch. He opened the latch, and unceremoniously dropped you in. You slid down the glass onto the floor of it, and you jumped to your feet just as he shut it and locked it. Looking around, it was literally just a fishbowl with a hole in the back.

You turned back to Otto, who was staring at you through the glass. He pressed his hand up against it, at your eye level.

“I am extremely upset with you.” He stated as he visibly tried to calm himself down. His voice sounded around the glass, like an echo. It really was like a fishbowl. “I don’t know or understand why you would run off like that- I know you are scared and frightened, but that is no way to treat your father.”

He had never referred to himself as such before. It took you by surprise, seeing him so… emotional. He started to walk away, even while you tried to say something, to say you were sorry, that you would never run away again. But he just turned around, and said, “I’ll see you in the morning. Think about your actions. We’ll have a talk in the morning.”

He walked out, and the lights turned off, leaving you sobbing in the darkness, alone and afraid.

~~~

i hope u like it doc ock anon, i made it with u in mind <3

[dwellordream]

“Medieval scholars inherited the idea from ancient times that there were seven primary colours: white, yellow, red, green, blue, purple, and black. Green occupied a central position, symbolically balanced between the extremes of white and black. It was also regarded as a soothing colour. Scribes often kept emeralds and other green objects nearby to rest their eyes. The poet Baudri de Bourgueil even suggested writing on green tablets instead of white or black ones for this reason.

Michel Pastoureau writes that “the true medieval opposite for white was not so much black as red.” This can be seen in the way Europeans adapted chess. When the game was adopted in Europe, the pieces and chessboard were painted in white and red, contrasting with the black and red sets common in India and the Middle East.

It was only towards the end of the Middle Ages that the white versus black dichotomy became more favoured. A key factor in this shift was the advent of printing, where black ink was used on white paper, reinforcing the perception of these colours as natural opposites.

Arthurian romances, one of the most popular forms of literature in the High Middle Ages, frequently employed colour symbolism, particularly in the depiction of knights. Pastoureau notes that these narratives used colours to convey deeper meanings and character traits. He writes:

The color code was recurrent and meaningful. A black knight was almost a character of primary importance (Tristan, Lancelot, Gawain) who wanted to hide his identity; he was generally motivated by good intentions and prepared to demonstrate his valor, especially by jousting or tournament. A red knight, on the other hand, was often hostile to the hero; this was a perfidious or evil knight, sometimes the devil’s envoy or a mysterious being from the Other World. Less prominent, a white knight was generally viewed as good; this was an older figure, a friend of protector or the hero, to who he gave wise council. Conversely, a green knight was a young knight, recently dubbed, whose audacious or insolent behavior was going to cause great disorder; he could be good or bad. Finally, yellow or gold knights were rare and blue knights nonexistent.

During the Early Middle Ages, monastic rules stipulated that monks should not concern themselves with the colour of their clothing. However, over the centuries, their attire became increasingly darker. The Cluniacs, one of the most influential monastic communities, believed that black was the appropriate colour for one’s habit. This perspective faced backlash in the twelfth century when the Cistercians adopted a white habit.

The debate over monastic colours was intense among the leaders of these orders. Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny, argued that black represented humility and renunciation, while white symbolized pride and was suitable for holidays and resurrection. In contrast, Bernard of Clairvaux, abbot of Clairvaux, claimed that white stood for purity, innocence, and virtue, whereas black symbolized death and sin, even likening it to the devil’s appearance.

Green is widely associated with Islam, but this association only developed in the twelfth century. The Quran mentions green eight times, always positively, as a colour representing vegetation, spring, and paradise. The Prophet Muhammad favoured green garments, including a green turban. While green was linked to Muhammad’s descendants, different colours were associated with the ruling Islamic dynasties: white for the Umayyads, black for the Abbasids, and red for the Almohads.

Pastoureau believes that green became a unifying colour for Muslims in the 1100s. He writes, “Its symbolism is associated with that of paradise, happiness, riches, water, the sky, and hope. Green became the sacred colour.” Consequently, many medieval copies of the Quran had green bindings or covers, a tradition that continues today. Religious dignitaries often wear green, whereas green gradually disappeared from carpets to avoid trampling on such a venerable colour.

Michel Pastoureau’s book on blue begins by highlighting the neglect this colour faced among the ancient Greeks and Romans, who rarely wrote about it or used it. He even explores the intriguing question of whether ancient peoples could perceive blue at all! This neglect persisted through the early Middle Ages until the twelfth century. “Then suddenly,” writes Pastoureau, “in just a few decades, everything changes – blue is ‘discovered’ and attains a prominent place in painting, heraldry, and clothing.”

The first significant shift in the ‘blue revolution’ was the use of blue to represent the clothing of the Virgin Mary. The scene of Mary mourning Jesus’ crucifixion was popular in the Middle Ages, and once artists began depicting her cloak in vibrant blue, it quickly became the standard. Additionally, artists, especially those working in stained glass, overcame technical limitations in creating blues, allowing the colour to be used in various mediums and clothing. Pastoureau notes that by the thirteenth century, monarchs such as France’s Louis IX and England’s Henry III began wearing blue, leading it to become the colour of medieval royalty.

Yellow initially benefited from its resemblance to gold, which bolstered its reputation. Many medieval heraldic symbols incorporated yellow, and possessing blonde hair was considered highly fashionable. However, in the Later Middle Ages, yellow began to acquire negative associations, including envy and heresy. Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was increasingly depicted wearing yellow clothing. Consequently, it was unsurprising that when the Catholic Church convicted the Czech reformer Jan Hus of heresy in 1415, they dressed him in a yellow robe for his execution.

Yellow also became associated with Jews, and as European Christians enforced clothing regulations on Jewish communities, yellow was often (though not always) included. By the early modern period, yellow fell out of favour, perceived as gaudy and unpopular.”

- Michel Pastoureau, “Colour in the Middle Ages”

[scarletwritesshit]

🕯️ Mortefi x F!Rover 🕯️The Rover and Her Red Cat Researcher

Mortefi scratched his head in utter confusion. He had absolutely no leads to go off of as a starting point, and even worse was that he had never seen a case quite like this before. Granted, he was more specialized in other fields of research, but denying the opportunity to learn more about the peculiar would be a fool’s choice. She returned seeking answers. He wanted answers himself. Unfortunately for the both of them, basic testing came back completely normal, and Mortefi did not know why.

What he did know, is that he didn’t know anything about the girl who went by the name of Rover. She had the clothes of a foreigner, most certainly a region that he was most unfamiliar with. Without as much of a formal name that could at least provide some clues to her heritage, Mortefi was at a complete loss for tracing back her origins. It was perplexing, to say the least. The thought of contacting senior researchers at Huaxu Academy had crossed his mind more than once, but what would they be able to do, if every result was as average as it could possibly be?

Rover came to him seeking some form of answer, and he was determined to give her something of value. A response along the lines of “I haven’t the slightest idea” simply was not acceptable. Unfortunately, he was stumped. He understood none of this. Mortefi was even sure to run multiple tests, and carry out the exact same procedures on another researcher he knew was average as a control. He could find absolutely nothing.

“Any luck yet?” Rover asked, peeking around his shoulder.

“Regrettably, no,” Mortefi admitted. “All of the tests that I have conducted have yieled completely normal results. You’re clearly a deviation from the norm, yet I fail to determine what factors exactly make you stand out in such a way.”

“But what about my memory loss?”

“No leads in regards to that either. Not even the medical specialists could find anything wrong with your head neurological system.”

Rover sighed, a bit disappointed with his response.

“If it were not for your unusual appearance, as well as the inclusion of that most curious sundial, I would have been led to believe that you were faking all of this for attention.”

“If I had the answers, then I would have no reason to pester you.”

“That may be so, but despite multiple attempts with a control variable taken into account, neither me nor my colleagues can find anything explicitly wrong with you. It’s slightly infuriating, to put it lightly,” Mortefi said, with a slight growl to his voice.

Rover noticed that Mortefi’s once curious expression quickly began to fade away. He exhaled a bit of smoke, clenching his fits as if his frustration was becoming unbearable. With another sigh tinged with smoke, Mortefi pulled out a lighter from his pocket and flicked the cap open. Rover’s heart jumped, and she backed away from him worried that Mortefi was one bad decision away from burning down the entire laboratory, the two of them included.

He clicked the lighter a couple of times, the flame igniting and dissipating, almost as if he was sizing up the equipment around him for the maximum carnage possible with such a small lighter. However, after a good couple of clicks, Mortefi let out a deep breath, this time no fiery smoke to be seen.

“I…apologize for that bout of unprofessionalism,” Mortefi said, sticking the lighter back into his pocket.

“Were you debating burning this entire place down just now?” Rover said, still tense and prepared to bolt.

“I merely find the click of my lighter to be soothing. I cannot let my nerves to get the best of me.”

“I can assume very much so. I could see you exhaling literal smoke.”

Mortefi cleared his throat, and picket up his tablet once more.

“With that being an issue best left in the past, I suppose that this mystery is not going to solve themselves. Shall we proceed?”

Although she was still somewhat shaken up from Mortefi’s actions just moments prior, Rover nodded her head and allowed for Mortefi to resume thoroughly examining her. He grabbed her hand and noticed her Tacet Mark, bringing it closer to his eyes in an attempt to find anything that stood out as unusual. As he squinted his eyes at her hand, Rover awaited the moment where he would be struck with inspiration and shove her under some laboratory equipment for vigorous testing. However, he simply held her had rather tight and continued observing it intently.

“Something super fascinating about my hand?” she asked.

“Ah…no. Just simply conducting a thorough examination.”

He leaned away a little, allowing a Rover a little bit more personal space. Now that he had lifted his head up a bit more, she caught a clear glimpse of his eyes for the first time. His pupils were slit, somewhat like those of the reptiles she had cut down on the way. They, however, felt more curious and alive than just plain bloodthirsty. In fact, they were almost cat-like, giving him the look of a man occupied with a lot of thoughts rather than just a beast whose only thought was what its next victim for a meal was.

Noble, majestic, respectable. It was like she was face to face with a dragon in human form, which made her heart skip a beat every time the light of the laboratory reflected the amber shine in his eyes.

Despite these thoughts of a well-respected dragon standing before her, Rover felt as if Mortefi kept the demeanor of a cat hidden beneath an aura of authority and intelligence. The way he lit up with curiosity while working on his research, his normally calm mannerisms, and the eyes that widened like a curious cat every time even the slightest detail caught his attention all further supported her strange feeling of fondness for Mortefi. Hell, it was becoming mighty tempting to reach out and pet his hair as if he really were a friendly cat.

Just one little pat wouldn’t hurt, she hoped. At the very worst, he would push her hand away, but this nagging urge of hers had to be satisfied. Just one little pet. She could just play it off as a side effect of the brain damage Mortefi insists she doesn’t have.

With her free hand, she reached up and gently pet him. His eyes widened and was a bit surprised by her sudden move, but showed no clear signs of taking any insult. In fact, she could argue that for a moment, she saw him enjoying the attention.

“You really are curious about me, aren’t you?” she said.

“I believe you to be the more curious one, in terms of both attributes and apparently behavior,” Mortefi said, releasing her hand to ruffle his hair back into place.

Some of Mortefi’s lingering tension appeared to have eased thanks to Rover’s playful gesture. Maybe her wild guess wasn’t too far off in actuality. She wouldn’t hesitate to continue if it meant putting Mortefi at ease, but even she had enough common sense remaining to think that petting someone performing tests on you was a bit unusual. Her mind was already upside down, and Mortefi was clearly withholding a great deal of stress, so both of them would have an excuse, should he desire more.

“You look like you’ve lightened up a bit,” Rover commented.

“I believe that I am the one who is supposed to be assisting at the current moment in time. Worry not about me, it’s nothing I haven’t experienced before.”

“Are you sure that you don’t want just a little more? You can think of it as a way of me repaying you for putting all of this effort into attempting to help me.”

Mortefi looked around the lab, as if he was anxious that someone had opened doors that have clearly remained shut throughout the duration of their conversation.

“A subject eager to assist is certainly an usual case. Usually, individuals that do come into the lab constantly ask when the tests are concluded as they get pried and poked,” Mortefi said, puzzled, yet intrigued.

“As we have clearly concluded, I’m not a normal test subject.”

“You are normal, in a sense. In a contradictory manner, that is rather abnormal. Abnormalities in some way are to be expected to be turn up in at least one test. You however, have shown- “

“Normal this, abnormal that, just say that this has been confusing you and you wouldn’t mind another pat to destress,” Rover said, reaching out her hand up once more.

“I suppose this could be a prime opportunity for us to both discover something about ourselves,” Mortefi said with a sigh.

He put his tablet down onto the table and glanced at Rover’s hand, nodding to signal that it was okay for her to proceed. With a smile, she once more began to pet him, only just realizing how soft his hair actually was. It was a bit of an unexpected feeling for a man whose chest was partially covered in what appeared to be scales.

“Do you like it?” she asked.

“In the most unusual way possible, I find it to be quite the soothing experience.”

As she continued gently petting Moretfi, she noticed that his eyes were relaxed and he was blinking rather slowly. Rover’s impulsiveness somehow managed to pay off for both of them, though now it was possible that she could be petting him all day if he was this fond of the attention. He was showing no signs of resistance or wanting to stop either, despite the tests waiting to be ran (or, re-ran) on Rover.

“If it helps you keep your cool, I would gladly keep going all day,” Rover said, mainly as an excuse to continue feeling his surprisingly soft hair.

“Are all outsiders like you this considerate for the well-being of others?” Mortefi asked, almost as if he were slowly becoming drunk off of the affection from Rover.

“Maybe. I don’t know how someone like me is normally supposed to think.”

“Right, my apologies,” Mortefi said, lifting his head up. “As nice as that truthfully feels for the soul, we must continue attempting to discern the extent of your…condition.”

“Mortefi, has anyone ever been nice to you in such a way?” Rover asked, completely disregarding his statement.

“I never considered such things as my studies have always taken top priority. An honest answer would be no, up until now, but I find it most strange that a stranger would be the first to think of me in such a regard,” Mortefi said, attempting to piece together his thoughts. “…Let’s resume the operation before I once more allow myself to get carried away.”

[just-someone-online]

There's something about Precure chatfics that becomes funnier to me once you factor in Hirogaru and Wonderful. Like, yeah, either Komugi and Yuki are sharing Iroha and Mayu's phones or the girls' parents got them one, but there's still something really novel to me about pets using phones.

Then you've got Ellee, assuming the Mirror Pad can be used as a tablet for her (For a little while. Ageha and Mashiro are not about to let her become an ipad baby). For one thing, can she even read? Does her teenage form give her that knowledge? If so, then you've got all the other Precure trying and failing to censor themselves in front of the literal baby. Like, I can so easily see one of the Hirogaru Cures forgetting to keep an eye on her for a moment and dying inside when she asks them what 'fuck' means.

[the-cosmic-blogger]

William Solis's Master Post

William Solis, AKA Billy, Will, Sol, or Solis, is a completely revamped version of Bill Cipher. This revamp is called The Shape Eater Factor, or TSEF.

He was born into an aristocratic family of squares and circles. Despite him being an equilateral triangle, they made sure he got the best of care and treated him kindly, while everyone else save for Kryptos and Hectorgon (Karlos Naica and Hector von Gahn here) treated him extremely poorly. But one day, his dimension was flooded with shape eaters, and became apocalyptic. His family was the last to go, and he got his x-shaped scar and jacket torn trying to protect them. With a burst of power and strength he never had before, he eradicated every shape eater with one fell swoop, leaving him the last one left (?) in his realm. He has nightmares about this, to this day. All he had left of the realm were a tablet and the clothes on his back. Alone, he traverses other dimensions, helping people, and has low hopes that his people will be reborn.

His realm still stands, razed and grayed out completely, and he uses it as a sorta home base for whenever he's not traveling dimensions, living in the forest so he won't have to look at the utterly destroyed buildings.

Appearance

by me

by @sunnihope

Some Facts:

William's voice claim is canon Bill, but just imagine that it's softer, more gentle and sometimes stammering.

he's a sweetheart. A bit jittery and paranoid thanks to bullies and the incident that destroyed his livelihood, but a sweetie nonetheless, as he is a friend to all living things.

absolutely loves sweets, especially hot chocolate.

he has an especial soft spot for children

he doesn't like being unexpectedly touched, nor does he like his tail and horns being touched. (He gives children a slight exception.)

his tail behaves like an animal's, in that it wags when he's excited and curls inward when he's upset, among other things. It's even prehensile!

appreciates expected hugs and cuddles

sometimes the scar hurts, and he doesn’t know why.

when possessing someone, which isn’t often, their eyes turn a brilliant, haunting blue, like his eye.

he doesn’t like his occasional supernatural hunger (souls, flesh, blood). He’s taken to bringing pork around with him to sate it.

his eye becomes a full-on slit if he’s hungry or angry enough, the latter of which is extremely rare.

his extremely kind nature led him to develop powerful healing abilities, to the point that he can cure terminal and otherwise incurable diseases.

he has a stammer. He almost always did, but it got worse a while after the Shape Eater incident.

William doesn’t really sleep, and if he does drift off he can't sleep well because of nightmares, so his dark circle formed as a result of that.

unlike canon, he wasn’t trapped in a dream or nightmare realm, so he can physically exist in any dimension he hops into.

William despite being a triangle is also very intelligent, very observant, and has an excellent way with words, especially if his anxiety doesn't get in the way.

he was studying to be a governor before the dimension was flooded with Shape Eaters. He really wanted to change things.

his birthday doesn’t exist in his and other dimensional calendars. The Shape Eaters and the burst of power left little behind.

he actually isn’t the only survivor... he just thinks he is...

Family

William's family were very aristocratic, rivaling the higher ups. They were also very kind and happy people. But they and the higher ups (the powers that be), were often at odds because they wanted a change and the powers that be knew no other way for their society to be.

He is the third child out of seven, and all of them were fond of William because of how they were raised. Billy was often in charge of taking care of the younger and youngest with his older siblings' help when his parents went to work, since his parents thought he could learn a thing or two about caring for children.

Euclydian Society

Triangles are the lowest, only set to become infantry, slaves or homeless. They usually don't speak grammar properly, and are taken out of school or drop out before high school.

Squares and circles, William's family makeup, are higher up, despite squares having just one side more than a triangle. They get to be lawyers or priests in particular, but they're not exactly limited to these. In this dimension, it's also possible for squares and circles to birth a triangle, but not the other way around.

Stars are rare, and rectangles and pentagons are the same as circles, squares and rectangles. Other shapes also exist, of course.

Wiliam's family sought to change the society, almost always butting heads with the powers that be, who were often diamonds, but the powers that be knew no other way.

There are three planets. One for slaves and infantry, since no one wants to be associated with them. Only reason shapes go there is to hire a veteran or get a slave to do their bidding. Another belongs to the governors, the powers that be, because they're higher than everyone else. The last one is just shapes living together and doing their daily jobs and lessons and so on.

On each planet are warps, similar to the Warp Pads in Steven Universe, but slaves and infantry can't use them unless they're with someone who can. There's a magical signature embedded within every shape's frame, dictated by their family bloodlines, that either allows or disallows use. William still has the Solis signature even with his transformation into a demon, but for extra proof his family gifted him a tablet that also contains identification, since they knew the guards of each warp won't take kindly to a triangle having access.

The insignia on the back of his tablet is this:

It also pops up in energy readings in general. Every family has an insignia, and it's different for every single one.

Shape Eaters

The Shape Eaters are vile, mindless creatures like the Heartless, only caring about eating shapes and destruction. A realm that has even one in it is doomed. They aren’t really supposed to exist. But they do. Only those affected by the Shape Eater Factor can truly kill them, and they become light gray ashes when they die. 

If a Shape Eater contacts a shape without killing them, the shape gets these powerful abilities akin to a demon, based on their interests, and thus transform into a demon; they also get the ability to dimension-hop and basic abilities such as shields and deflection, possession, shapeshifting, etc.

Involvement in Gravity Falls

William Solis met Ford around the time canon Bill met with Ford, only not in a dream. The demon met Ford when the man was sleeping against a tree. He sensed that the guy was troubled with other issues since he looked peaceful in sleep, and waited beside him for him to wake up. Ford at first thought he was dreaming when he woke up, but Billy assured him that wasn’t the case. They talked, and Billy offered to help with anything Ford needed. And he did genuinely help—patching Stan’s and Ford’s relationship back up, helping Fiddleford and Stanford with their studies on weirdness, helping Fiddleford cope with the weirdness around, and eventually, after Ford expressed interest in seeing other dimensions, helped create a true Interdimensional Portal*, marking Ford and everyone involved a star in Oddology. The Pines and McGucket families flourished with this. Eventually, Ford began to think of Billy more as a fellow Pines than a Muse because of how close they became and all the issues Billy single-handedly fixed, and offered that he could come visit Gravity Falls at any time. 

As a result, the memory gun and the Blind Eye don’t exist, and the people of Gravity Falls are much more competent.

* The possibility of parallel selves touching causing the dimension to fizzle out doesn't exist here. If what PF said about it was even true.

Writings / Stories

AO3 Series

[16woodsequ]

Sunday Steve - Day Three

Things that would be new or unfamiliar to Steve in the 21st century, either due to the time period he grew up in, or his social-economic status and other such factors.

Day Three: Yogurt

Although yogurt has a long history, it is possible Steve didn't eat much of it. At least not in the typical format we expect.

Yogurt was introduced to America in the 1900s and was available in tablet form for "those with digestive intolerance and for home culturing". (Link) (John Kellogg used it for enemas too.)

In New England, the main consumers in the 1930s were Near Eastern immigrants. The first yogurt factory to open in the States was in 1942. Yogurt was popularized in the 50s as a health food and sold in pharmacies.

But was still too sour for most people. This is when added fruit preserves became more common place and yogurt became a common American food in the late 20th century (around the 70s).

If Steve ever did try yogurt (maybe for health reasons) he probably didn't like it because "During the 1920s and 1930s, yogurt milk was described as having poor flavor because of its high acidity". It would have also probably been thinner than the thick 'greek' yogurt we are used to.

But most likely Steve never ate, possibly never even heard of yogurt. They did eat it more in Europe so he could have heard of it there during the war.

Sunday Steve Masterpost

[andmaybegayer]

As well as installing nix on the x64 laptop, I finally got around to migrating the ARM tablet to Plasma-Mobile from Phosh. Phosh is GNOME based which means it inherits all the annoying weirdness of GNOME, although it is slick if you happen to like GNOME.

Tablet PC gotta be one of my favourite genders. It's so versatile and I wish that there were more good tablets. Even that x64 laptop is a 2-in-1! If you're already going for portability and compactness in a laptop going full hog into tablet land works out quite well.

Plasma Mobile plays quite nicely and has solid cross-app integration. Like everything it suffers from the mid performance and driver support available on this 7c chip but hey! Could be worse. This form factor is really good for browsing photos off the server but also for reading webcomics.

[lemonpixycat]

Let's talk about how so many disabled people become artists because they can't work a 'conventional' job.

Let's talk about how because of AI 'art', companies and other people will be overlooking these actual artists in favor of using AI for cheap or for free

Let's talk about how because of how quick AI 'art' can be created, a real, disabled artist will be incapable of competing in the market because people hiring ai artist will now start expecting instantaneous results form commissions and the like, which is something real artists can't provide.

Let's talk about how abysmal it is attempting to make a living off being an artist is even NOW, and then let's talk about how because of AI art being cheaper, the value of art will come down and a real artist will not be able to charge anywhere NEAR a living wage for their art because they actually have to factor in things like time, effort, and equipment into their art where as an ai artist can afford to charge obscenely cheap rates for art they don't have to really produce themselves. they dont' have to factor in the cost of an ipad or a tablet or paint or charcoal or a pencil or their labor. Let's talk about how eventually, disabled people won't even be able to be AI artists themselves because AI imagery will over saturate the market, further driving prices down to the point that you'll have to spend all your time everyday churning out prompts in order to make a living wage off a now valueless "product".

Because of all these factors regarding AI, disabled people are now shut out of a career path they previously could have done and that was at least a somewhat viable alternative to the 'conventional' jobs they couldn't do. AI does not help disabled people. It is hurting them. It is robbing them of a career path that was previously open to them. Ai art will result in no longer being able to make a living off their ACTUAL artistry. And even if disabled people were to lower themselves to using AI themselves to try and make a living and compete in the market, they'll soon be unable to even do THAT. AI art is bad for disabled people. I'm sorry if you're disabled and you feel like your only option is putting words into a prompt and having a computer use art from other people to generate an image for you. But ultimately, it is bad for you, it is bad for people LIKE you, it is bad for disabled artists, it is bad for ALL artists. This thing exists to REPLACE artists. It does NOT exist with the intention of being a tool.

[runesmithsmadscribblings]

Runes Together Strong - Chaining rune effects

In some univereses, runes are standalone pieces of magic. You can only imbue one rune into an object or spell effect to get one specific effect from it, and adding more is either outright impossible, spells disaster, or both.

We will not be talking about these universes today.

Most universes that feature rune magic allow them to be combined in some fashion, ranging from ritual circles to music to runic circuits. This enables a lot of extra complexity and depth to be explored, and often these universes will feature so called "guile" or "scientist" heroes that prosper in such conditions.

The most common implementation are so called "modifier" runes. Modifier runes, as their name implies, serve no function besides changing the attributes of other runes and as such can only exist in universes that allow the combining of runes. Usually they exist as timers, inverters, attribute controllers, and other such utilities. A rune that projects a cone of energy might be modified with an elemental rune (say fire,) and a distance rune. The elemental rune changes the type of energy, and the distance rune affects either where the cone originates, or how far it travels/stretches.

There are a host of other such examples, but for now we'll move on to how these runes are actually chained together.

The simplest fashion of chaining runes is sequence casting, as the name implies, sequence casting involves creating runes in a specific order to achieve the desired effect. It typically also involves a large dollop of The Power Of Intent (POI) to ensure that the magic functions as the caster intended, given that a chain of runes may have many interpretations. This is what causes the same combination of runes in the same order to produce a blizzard for one caster and a high velocity icicle for another. The circle of eight based system found in The Magitech Chronicles and Shattered Gods (Chris Fox) is a fantastic example of this for individual spells.

One of the more complicated methods is what I call "Runic Circuits", otherwise known as Matrixes. These circuits are the result of placing multiples runes on a surface (usually an expressly made tablet or flat space on an object) and connecting them like... well... a circuit board. Take caution around these, as damaging them tends to have much more drastic consequences than most other forms of rune magic, due to their typically high containment requirements. This is a very common system for enchanting specifically, due to it's permanence, but it doesn't have to be. I am writing this late at night and can't come up with a good example right now, feel free to reblog if you have one.

The final example I would like to discuss today is the Ritual Circle, a natural evolution from sequence casting and runic circuits both. True to their name, their form is often a circle (grounded or otherwise) compose of runes meant to accomplish a goal. These circles vary in permanence, from a single shot of the effect to a consistently maintained magical machine that lasts for centuries. The uniting factor is that, again, damaging the higher ends of these things is a death wish and they take serious study, practice, and preparation time to use properly. CAL's interpretation found within his game of Eternium (Completionist Chronicles, Dakota Krout) is an unusually loose, but effective example of these.

So, yeah, to summarize:

Runes are very powerful on their own, but their true magic shines when combined in innovative ways.

So called "guile heroes" or "scientist heroes" THRIVE in universes with such systems.

Like all rune magic, damaging chained runes is a risky endeavor, even more so due to sheer quantity and scale.

[birgittesilverbae]

Jillian & Bea (platonic, must it be said?): embrace

"The swelling has subsided somewhat," Jillian comments, gaze fixed on the tablet in her left hand. She flicks her fingers and a three-dimensional model appears on the monitor in front of Beatrice, a brain rotating slowly in space. "That may have a positive effect on the headaches, if that's been a contributing factor."

Beatrice wets her lips. "And if not?"

"If they persist, I'd like to get you in for a more comprehensive suite of neuroimaging. See if we can induce an attack while we're actively scanning and pinpoint a root cause." 

"Do you expect to uncover anything?"

Jillian lifts her head and locks eyes with Beatrice. "I'm not… I'm not sure that it will," she admits. Her eyebrows draw down as she focuses inwardly, seemingly turning the problem over and over in her mind. 

Beatrice takes stock of Jillian's words in the intervening silence, forces herself to consider the possibility to which she's so steadfastly turned a blind eye. The perpetuity of serious injury has never truly been a concern, not when Sister Warriors so rarely live long enough for acute ailments to turn chronic. A sister is healthy, then injured, then dead. Devoured by the mission before the bill for years of cumulative trauma comes due. Mortality as a given.

But now, in the aftermath of the holy war, Beatrice must look to the future and consider that she will likely survive to see it, survive long enough to truly live. Survive long enough to be dogged by the lingering effects of combat, by constant low-grade joint and muscle pain, by headaches that lance through her skull with all the brutality of an icepick to the temple.

Jillian is closer, now, her mouth moving, but Beatrice can't quite put the sounds together to form words. She's crying, she realises with removal, recognising it only when the ice cold pad of Jillian's thumb brushes hesitantly across her cheek. 

"I don't know why I asked," Beatrice says, the words catching in her throat. "I didn't want to know."

Jillian's tone turns more gentle and she leans forward to put an arm around Beatrice's shoulder, to hold her in an unpracticed embrace. "It's better to know," she says, "to be able to use that knowledge to guide our next actions."

"I don't want a next action," Beatrice protests, petulance slipping into her voice without her consent. "I just want a nap."

[madamlaydebug]

What is Addiction?

Addiction is when a person continually takes a substance - or engages in a behavior - with a destructive impact on their health and life.

In Ancient Rome, when a person couldn’t repay a debtor they were forced to become their slave, or ‘addictus.’ This is the origin of being “a slave to your addictions.”

Addictions take many forms; some of them may surprise you. Do you struggle with any of these?

Alcohol

Body piercing

Book collecting

Exercising

Food

Gambling

Hoarding

Narcotics

Plastic surgery

Pain

Pornography

Prescription drugs

Rejection

Relationships

Screens (smartphones, computers, tablets, TV’s, etc.)

Social media

Sex

Shopping

Tattoos

Tobacco

Video games

Working

Addicts crave the behavior or substance, even when they know it causes them physical harm, mental harm, and/or harm to their relationships. Addiction can lead to criminal behavior, poverty, homelessness, and death.

Addiction is not defined by how much a person engages in the behavior but by the impact it has on their life. A workaholic may be very successful in the office, but at home their relationships are failing and their anxiety is increasing.

What Causes Addiction?

People become addicts through many different paths, but seeking pleasure (or avoiding pain) is the ultimate driver.

Whether a person is addicted to heroin or video games, their goal is to alter their mental state and reduce subconscious-stress.

Some people believe that taking drugs leads to addiction - but this is only part of the picture. Not everyone who takes narcotics becomes addicted to them. Therefore, there must be another factor involved - the human factor.

Research involving mice found they became easily addicted to cocaine when kept in isolation. But, when the environment was enriched with social activities, interesting food, places to explore, toys to play with and new mice to meet… they stopped taking cocaine! Just like mice, humans get depressed, miserable and bored when trapped in an unfulfilling life.

Unresolved Emotions

Addiction often stems from trauma. Adverse experiences during childhood (e.g. divorce, emotional neglect, poverty) predispose us to addiction later in life. Addiction is a response to painful or traumatic events, not simply a poor choice that people make.

Demonizing addicts is counterproductive; they need to be treated with care and compassion to maximize their chances of recovery. Brain scans on people with a range of addictions reveal the same neural circuits are involved, and they all share feelings of shame and low self-value.

People develop addictions to try and cover up issues and uncomfortable emotions:

To cope with stress and life events.

To escape the pain of past trauma.

To create connections with others.

To achieve a sense of control in life.

To avoid facing feelings of inadequacy.

To hush internal voices of self-loathing.

Overcoming Addiction

There’s no one size-fits-all solution for all addicts, but here are some general tips:

1. Find the Right Help

Addicts using opiates and narcotics need help. Addiction experts can provide the highly specialized support needed for this kind of recovery. Addicts can also be aided with behavioral re-training and dedicated recovery groups.

2. Increase Self-Value

All addicts can benefit from increasing their self-worth. Any activity that improves physical or mental health enhances esteem. Getting a massage, eating vitalizing alkaline foods, and going for walks in nature are acts of self-care that enhance how we feel about ourselves.

“Because the one thing you want to do is to LOVE, and that love should begin with you” - Dr. Sebi.

3. Be Ready to Give Up

The addicted person must be ready and willing to give up their addiction; if they are forced to give it up they are likely to relapse.

What are you ready to give up?

[orangameelectronics]

Unleash The Power of The Slim Power Bank 10000mAh for All Your Charging Needs

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[wozziebear]

Have had better luck with the phone app (android) of Balatro on a tablet rather than on windows steam. Probably not better odds, rather the more accessible form factor