#Differences between framework and library

[elodieunderglass]

Hi! As someone who grew up in (I think?) New England and now lives in the UK, is living outside the US all it's made out to be? I know you moved a while ago and didn't go to "escape the US", but I imagine you can offer some insight. I'm sorry to be projecting some envy on to you, but the life you describe seems so lovely and livable. Your neighbors, your chickens, your gardens--it seems like you have some actual community. I (probably incorrectly) picture you living in the stereotypical British cottage that all of the British chicken-keeping companies seem to use to advertise their products. When I picture life in Europe, I picture the small fragments of life that we get from you and other bloggers, like the one with the escapist pet llama in France. I know that the UK has plenty of problems, and that we are only seeing slivers of your actual life, but do you think there's a different sense of community and livability over there that we don't have here? New England is also so standoffish that it might just be negatively skewing my perception of the US, too. Thanks for your thoughts, if you want to give them!

I’m sorry it took so long to reply!

I'm going to write a personal response about the impact of material conditions on parenting, because I think that's the most useful response and outcome. However, this response will be missing a lot of the political framing that it ought to have. I believe that describing the policies and infrastructure that the UK has, and how they impact on myself, explains a lot about how I am able to parent, what my life looks like, and in turn how that impacts a society. I think it is useful to outline SPECIFIC POLICIES and show what they do, because understanding specific material changes is a necessary part of any shift, let alone revolution. So this is not about escaping anywhere, or anywhere being better than anywhere else; it's about frameworks that I use which are (essentially) nonexistent in the USA, and how they contribute to a liveable society. It might seem like "why does a question about your life sounding nice, with chickens, start with 'maternity leave'?" but... this is the answer.

1. Parental Leave In the UK, parental leave is a minimum 6 months. After the first 6 weeks of full pay, the government pays you a very small stipend every week (currently £188/week) plus a very small child benefit. Some jobs offer better-paid leave as a benefit. You accrue your fully paid vacation time (6+ weeks) while on leave, and therefore most people use it at the end of their leave to pad it out. Parental leave can usually be split between parents. A perfectly normal thing is for a mother to take the first 6 months, then hand the baby to Dad for his three months off with it. Impacts of parental leave on my personal life: - I had time and space to adjust to being a parent. - I was able to pay my bills while not working. - Our children went to nursery (daycare) when they were over the age of 1. - I was able to return to work in the exact same job, back into the benefits of working (which, for me, include intellectual exercise and making a positive impact on the world.) Impacts of parental leave on society: - "it takes a village to raise a child" - well, here's the bloody village. - You spend time attentively raising a baby, in a stage of life where that returns a lot of dividends. - You have a year to make "parenting friends," forming networks and not being isolated. Everyone else with a baby the same age is doing exactly the same thing too. - Babies grow up in social circles with friends pre-installed. - Parents develop support networks. - "Toddler group" culture is normalised. On parental leave you are supported to build and structure a social life. - There is daily foot traffic and people moving around towns during the day, because Not Everyone is At Work. Some number of mothers are in coffee shops with babies every day of the week. Some number of parents are always drifting through libraries on a Thursday morning. In any town there will be adults in their 30s engaging with local resources, shops, events, classes, museums, culture, and friendships during the weekday - because they are having a year off with their baby. This is hard to articulate, but has huge knock-on effects. - after all, things like shops and museums and libraries are expected to be Always Open (staffed by workers) but workers are also expected to be Always Working (at places that are open) so when are working people going to use these resources? - people can be friendly and know the people in their community if they have had some time, space and reason to meet them.

Culture of part-time working In the UK it's very normal for kids to have two working parents, with one - or both - parents working part-time. That's what my husband and I do. Impacts of part-time working on my family: - My partner and I each spend one day a week with our nursery-age child while the other two are in school, allowing us to have a relationship with the youngest that isn't a constant four-way tug-of-war. - We meet our friends in a regular, routine heartbeat of connection, social expression, and support. It is extremely good to see your good friends once a week, and maintaining friendships over years is extremely good for you. - it's very good for the kids. not only do they have a lot of parental attention (which improves behaviour, teaches them skills, makes them good citizens, etc) but they see their own best friends all the time, building their own relationships and connecting THEM to the networks of "village." - we have adults during the week who can do things like go to the bank, pick up prescriptions, or do other capacity-balancing things within work hours. - we can collect our schoolchildren from school and they don't need afterschool care 2 days out of 5, saving money and letting us see our kids. - working part time means that we need to take less time off work over school half-terms and holidays. Impacts of part time working on society: - more working adults are available during the week to do things like the PTA, local committees, local volunteering, local mutual aid, local classes and groups. More working adults can do things like walk their dogs, have allotments, and take their kids swimming. Working adults can run toddler groups for new parents, who then return to work part-time, to come and help run the toddler group. - I feel like this is obvious, but if you want a society with amenities, then you have to staff and use the amenities. - If you don't have part-time workers, you're relying on retired and nonworking people to run your communities during the week - and they do a brilliant job! - but a balanced society should have people of different ages and abilities working together. - again, you have people in coffee shops in the week; you have people USING things and DOING things in the week. - you are NOT forcing one parent into Permanent Babycarer Role and one parent into Permanent Worker Role! This is threaded through all of these points, but you do NOT have to set up a permanent Stay At Home Parent / Working Parent dynamic when your society offers infrastructure for flexibility and supportive policies.

More Holiday (and different school holidays) Okay, so you're a working parent in the USA. You get 2 weeks of vacation time a year... and your kids are off school for 10-12 weeks of summer. how do you work and also raise your kids? well, usually through some unholy feats of juggling, expensive summer camps, and relying HEAVILY on family. This isn't sensible or necessary. (It's also incredibly hard on American teachers.) but it DOES mean that parents are in a vulnerable state in America. In many American families, the three-month childcare gap in summer makes it really hard for women in particular to work, widening inequality. In the UK, workers usually have 6 weeks of holiday. School summer holidays are only 6 weeks long. There are lots of other holidays - every six weeks, kids get a week off for Half Term - but with two parents and a culture of part-time working, you can just about cover it every year, and still have a bit of vacation time for yourself, Christmas, and travel. What this means for my family: - We can have three kids and two nearly-full-time jobs. - We see a reasonable amount of our children. What this means for society: - you've possibly picked up on the recurring theme that the USA requires a Designated Parent to be removed from the workforce/society and turned into a permanent caretaker, because otherwise the family couldn't manage the admin. The knock-on effects (resentful caretaker, resentful breadwinner, stressed out children, family with less economic/emotional resilience, caretaker expected to do all domestic chores and admin, breadwinner expected to exhaust themselves to provide resources, children do not interact/engage with breadwinner) form the backbone of the American family unit, which is not a great (or default) way of actually raising kids. - another huge expectation in America is that Family and the Church will step in to provide this missing material support - i.e. church summer camps. or grandparents taking the kids. Which - what do you do if you're not Christian? if you're estranged? if you're queer? if you moved away from the small town where that would have worked? if your parents are harmful or unsafe? again, policy changes and infrastructure are making family life workable.

Better Nursery Options (and nursery support) The UK has some of the worst nursery options and highest bills in Europe, I think? (citation needed) but it's still cheaper and higher-quality than the USA. My mother in the USA is always ranting about "don't you want to raise your OWN children?" and "they will be harmed by their carers, or made to watch TV!" but on the contrary - I LIKE my kids having multiple caretakers and a qualified professional care team. they are NOT watching TV. their nursery staff take them to do LOVELY THINGS and I can work an ENTIRE DAY without being CLIMBED ON. There is SOME financial support available for sending kids to nursery. From the age of 3, or younger if the parents are low-income, kids receive 30 hours a week free childcare from the government. (in practice they've just changed this and it isn't as great as it sounds but it's a slight savings). What this meant for my family: - I could afford three kids. And they are EXACTLY three years apart (lol). this means that as each child turned 3 and got cheaper childcare, the next one started, so we were never paying 2x nursery bills. - This allowed us to have children, a nice number and a nice age gap, who would therefore grow up together as a nice sibling set, but we could afford it and afford their childcare. - this literally shaped my family. size, age gap, and choices. everything about their dynamics, their relationships, and their future as siblings was shaped by this random scrap of policy. What this means for society: - EVEN STAY-AT-HOME MOTHERS IN BRITAIN SEND THEIR THREE-YEAR-OLD KIDS TO NURSERY. - EVEN CHILDMINDERS (people who run in-home childcare facilities alongside raising their own kids) PUT THEIR KIDS IN OTHER NURSERIES! - that's right - stay-at-home mothers DESERVE breaks. it's an EXHAUSTING job, with no recharge time or holiday, and tremendous pressure to be perfect all the time. - it is so, so normal to use nursery. it's not a bad choice, or a place to "park" your children, or something Bad Parents do, or something you Must Become A Stay At Home Parent to Avoid Using. there are no terrors of satanists or people being hurt or kids being locked in closets, as many Americans do worry about. having help with childcare is just a wider village, a care team, another aspect of your kids' lives. - seriously, if you speak to American parents on the internet, it isn't just a financial thing - daycare is perceived as being BAD for children, something a good mom should break herself to avoid using. - in the UK it's... nursery. Kids go to nursery. you pick the days. they go and pick daisies. - it's okay to have a break from parenting and being Touched all the time. - it's very good for kids to start making friends and having other carers.

Decent schooling In England, free public schooling starts at aged 4. children wear uniforms from age 4. hot meals are about £3 a day and are free for the first few years. there are no metal detectors or shootings. kids learn phonics, cursive, maths, tech, cooking, art, sports, etc. at a reasonable standard, not dependent on local property taxes - okay, so, background: in the USA schools budgets are state-set, but are ALSO often linked to local property taxes and local funding pots. so schools in "poor" areas generally have less resources, while schools in areas with nice houses and Good School Districts have a completely different experience. In some USA schools, teachers have to use food banks and buy pencils for their own students. It's all pretty wild and inconsistent. This is somewhat true in the UK (better schools tend to be in 'better' areas) but the funding is more consistently given and there is a national-level monitoring and regulation program. (it isn't left up to 50 insane separate states who all want to strip school budgets and cut their funding to do this according to Personal Vibes.) this means that you can just... send your kids to school. they learn things. and then come home. It's fine. you can just send your kids to school. everyone else is too. Many communities are walkable, and "driving kids to school" is not the default. Kids are expected to become independent earlier, and society is expected to be safer. at the age of 11 they usually walk to school with their friends. What this means for my family: - my kids are pleasant, the older two can read, they have opportunities and are supported. I don't feel like school is damaging them. On the contrary. - it isn't on me as (Femme Parent) to be their entire cultural and intellectual education. they're exposed to diverse viewpoints, people, and teachers. their mental landscapes are broader and more resilient than if it had just been me. - (I was homeschooled, you see.) What this means for society: - children are mildly educated. - children are fairly safe when they're Away From You. - teachers are a reasonable profession that's normal to go into. and teachers live fairly normal lives. - social inequality is reduced through equity introduced in education. - educational opportunities are more consistent and less stratified. - children can safely get out of family homes (and parents can work).

walkable communities, but you got that.

public transport, but you know about that.

socialised healthcare, but you get that. As a result of all these things, raising a family is materially different in the UK, with effects that knock on throughout. With one or two tweaks - now you have present and engaged fathers. Now women can be working parents without breaking themselves in half. Now babies make friends they'll keep their whole lives. Now you CAN be distant from toxic family because you don't need family support to raise kids. But all of those things could be put into policy. They are not something British people invented. ANY SOCIETY THAT LAYS THINGS OUT COULD ACHIEVE THIS. And I think that's worth saying and laying out. Livable communities can be made livable with livable infrastructure. infrastructure is something we can make.

[rikudaa]

༉‧₊˚Blue Paint and Binary

Tim Drake/Red Robin x Reader | Part 1. >>>

ღA/N: I haven’t finished the Jason’s one yet but already started on Tim, I don’t have any excuse your honor. Dividers are made by @cafekitsune ! Also there’s a familiar name, I wonder why it’s there👀

Note: This is a Yandere story but for the start off the chapter it’s just a life of being student in university. You’re an art major with a psychology focus, and he’s in another major likely something strategic, analytical, or tech-heavy. Academic rivals are ruled.

No gender mention for reader, just “You” and “Y/N”. Enjoy!

You see him again.

Fourth time this week. Fifth if you count the reflection in the library window Monday night, where he didn’t notice you watching him stalk through the neuroscience wing like he had a hitlist tucked in his backpack. He probably did. Probably alphabetized, color-coded, timestamped. You don’t know what his major is, exactly. You just know it involves enough data and silence to make your teeth itch.

You’re not even sure how it started, this thing between you.

Maybe it was the day he tore down your entire color-theory thesis in front of the honors seminar like you hadn’t poured eight weeks of insomnia into it. Or maybe it was when you psychoanalyzed the subtle ways he corrects professors, like he’s trying not to challenge their authority outright. A boy raised in the shadows, needing to be smarter than the room but invisible at the same time.

He hated that.

You liked that he hated that.

It made things interesting.

Now you both sit two rows apart in the interdisciplinary lecture you don’t need, but keep taking anyway. You, because it fulfills a loose psych elective. Him, because–well, you’re still figuring that out. You suspect it’s just to keep an eye on you.

His laptop is open. Of course. Always typing, even when the professor is off-topic or ranting about Kantian frameworks like anyone in this generation gives a damn. You sketch while he types. His fingers never pause. Neither does your pencil.

You don’t know what he’s writing. He doesn’t know you’re drawing him. (He probably does)

Sometimes you wonder what it’d be like if you weren’t circling each other like dogs bred for war. If you weren’t two kids with too many ghosts and not enough peace. If you weren’t chasing two versions of control in different languages–his clean, hard logic versus your bleeding, beautiful chaos.

“Drake,” you mutter when he passes by your table at the campus café.

He looks up. Neutral expression, polite voice.

“Y/N.”

The way he says your name–it’s never soft. Like it’s a task. Like he’s filing you under ‘problems to solve later.’

You sip your coffee. He doesn’t sit, but he also doesn’t leave.

“I heard you’re presenting at the symposium next month,” he says. Tone clipped. “Didn’t think postmodern expressionism was ready for prime time.”

You smile over the rim of your cup. “I didn’t think future CIA agents attended art showcases.”

His lip twitches. A crack in the porcelain. You almost write that down. Instead, you offer a shrug.

“It’s about trauma translation in visual mediums,” you say casually. “Memory distortion in painted narratives. Thought you’d be into that, don’t you guys love poking at trauma?”

“I don’t poke,” he says. “I dissect.”

“Wow. That supposed to impress me?”

“No,” he says. “But I’m guessing that’s your default response to feeling threatened.”

You narrow your eyes. “I’m not threatened.”

“Sure.”

You hate that you want to throw your coffee at him and kiss him at the same time.

There’s no label for what you two are. You share a dozen classes. Compete for the same awards. Sit on the same late-night panels when professors need overachievers to flex for alumni donors.

You’ve even been grouped for the occasional cross-discipline project where you talk, and he listens, and then he talks, and you sketch the slope of his mouth when he forgets he’s performing.

Sometimes you work in silence for hours.

Sometimes you fight.

Sometimes you wonder what he dreams about when he forgets to pretend he doesn’t dream.

You catch him reading your analysis paper once. The one you left out in the shared research lab. He doesn’t know you’re watching from the stairwell. He reads it twice.

You never mention it.

Weeks pass. You win the campus-wide art grant. He wins the dean’s medallion. You both pretend not to care about the other’s win, but neither of you stop looking. Comparing. Weighing.

During one particularly brutal review, your advisor calls your piece “Catharsis in Crimson” emotionally erratic.

You leave class furious, chalk-stained fingers clenching your coat.

Tim’s outside already, leaning against the wall like he’d been waiting. You scowl.

“If you came to gloat–”

“I liked it.”

You blink.

“What?”

“I liked your piece,” he says. “The one they tore apart.”

Your voice is smaller than you want. “You don’t get to say that.”

“I know.” He nods. “But I’m saying it anyway.”

It’s quiet for a beat. You look at the sky to avoid looking at his face. The clouds are heavy and gray and stubborn. You think, Maybe we’re like that too.

“I don’t know what we are,” you admit.

Tim exhales slowly. “Neither do I.”

You laugh softly but the bitterness already etched on your tongue.

“Must drive you crazy. Not knowing.”

“It does,” he says. “You’re an outlier. I don’t have a model for you.”

You look at him then. Really look. There’s something honest in the way his hands curl at his sides. Something tired in the slouch of his shoulders, like he’s been fighting a war no one sees.

“I could say the same.”

“I know.”

And there it is again. The space between you, small and sharp and unbearably loud.

You don’t touch. You don’t cross the line.

But you both know it’s there.

Waiting.

Next up: Observe and Detach | Part 1. >>>

©𐙚 rikudaa—Please do not repost or copy this content to other websites.

[jesslovesboats]

I’m so fascinated by how different polar historians engage with sources. The difference between books like Lansing’s Endurance (which imo drew pretty uncritically from the crew’s narrative, and didn’t distinguish between contemporaneous diaries and later interviews) and Sancton’s Madhouse, which often makes a point of pointing out contradictions and unlikelihoods (although comparing Amundsen with our favorite little miss unreliable narrator does a lot of the work for him), is so intriguing. They’re obviously different projects with different purposes - Endurance is, literally, a Branagh movie, while Madhouse is closer to Iannucci (said lovingly) - but I imagine these differences contribute a lot to the historiography of polar exploration in general. Not to mention which men did and didn’t write diaries, and who did and didn’t survive.

I’m also listening to these on audiobook, and Madhouse was great in that they included some footnotes while other narrators don’t, so sourcing might exist that I don’t know about . But I’m curious for your thoughts on these dynamics, and what accounts you think are the most critical and balanced.

Hello! This is an absolutely fascinating question and one I have so much to say about that I'm not quite sure where to begin, if that makes sense? But, I will try my best to gather a bunch of disjointed thoughts into a coherent response. Full disclaimer, I do have a BA in history but I'm not a practicing historian by any means, and I haven't "done history" in the academic sense since I was an undergrad many years ago. All of my post-grad work has been in library science, so I'm much more familiar with that as an academic framework.

I think that the vast differences you see in how polar historians engage with the source material *usually* come down to 2 factors: what is their purpose, and when are they writing?

There are as many different reasons to write as there are people writing. Most of us are probably familiar with the difference between academic history (which is published by professional historians, usually affiliated with a university and usually as a requirement of their position, with an audience of students and other professional historians) and popular history (which is written by people who are most likely skilled researchers but may or may not have academic credentials, with an audience of the general public), but even within those categories there are huge divisions that have to do with the author's motives and what they hope to accomplish with their work. Is the author telling this story because they want to convey specific new information? Are they hoping to share a compelling story with a wider audience? Do they want to correct the record about misinformation they've seen shared by others? Do they want to rehabilitate the reputation of a person/group/institution? Do they want to write a hit piece about a person/group/institution? Did a story change their life in a meaningful way and they need to express that somehow? I've read polar books that, if I had to guess, were written for all these reasons and more.

There are also trends in historiography, and the time in which someone is writing can have a significant impact on how they tell their story. This is obviously a huge generalization, but the more recently something has been written, the more likely it is that the author engaged critically with the source material. That's not to say that more recent history is better than history written decades ago, just that researchers today are probably approaching it more holistically than they did 100, 50, or even 10 years ago, and their research is more likely to be informed by perspectives other than just the straight white cis wealthy male ones. Another factor to consider when looking specifically at late 19th and early 20th century stories is access to survivors. This is a double-edged sword because on one hand, survivors and their immediate families were incredible sources of information. On the other hand, they were usually very protective of their legacies and those of their comrades, so it could be difficult to write critically about them knowing that they would likely read it. Some also refused to share their diaries and papers with authors, or would only share with certain authors, which further muddied the waters. Most Heroic Age figures had passed on by the 1970s, and I don't think it's a coincidence that you start to get more honest assessments of these stories around this time. That's not the only reason, of course, but I think it's an important factor to consider.

No one can ever truly know someone else's motives, but some authors leave significant trails of breadcrumbs. In the case of Endurance, Lansing was a journalist who came across the story of the ITAE, found it compelling, and was pretty clearly inspired by the figure of Shackleton. It's hard to imagine now, but when Lansing was writing in the 50s, Shackleton wasn't a household name, and the story of the Endurance wasn't especially well known in the US. He found a great story that most people hadn't already heard about a man he admired, and he had access to diaries and survivors, especially Macklin, to help craft his story. Endurance is one of the most engaging polar books I've ever read, but I also think it's a product of its time. Lansing was writing in the 1950s, and several Endurance survivors were still around, not to mention Shackleton's adult children. I can't say if he intentionally excluded more critical information because of the survivors, or because he wanted to lionize Shackleton, or if he left all that out so he could tell a faster paced story. The end result is a book that's compulsively readable and that I recommend as a great introduction to all things Endurance, but it definitely does not tell the whole story- and that's OK! Lansing told the story he wanted to tell, and there are many other books about Endurance and about Shackleton that are better researched and more objective. I'm speaking as a librarian and not a historian here, but I personally don't think it's fair to expect a short work of popular history that's over 60 years old to give a complete unbiased account of the Endurance and all of Shackleton's failings- although I do wish the book mentioned the Ross Sea Party (I will bang this drum until the day I die).

Madhouse is a very different kind of book, as you pointed out in your question! Sancton is also a journalist, and I listened to a podcast where he talked about what inspired him to write Madhouse. If I remember correctly, he came across the story while researching a different topic and discovered that there wasn't much of anything about the Belgica out there, at least not in English. So, this was an opportunity to tell a fascinating story about an expedition that virtually no one had heard of outside of polar circles. I think his main goal was to tell a great story, not necessarily to inspire the reader or boost anyone's reputation posthumously. Sancton also published this book in 2021, so the historical environment was very different. He engaged critically with the source material, pointed out several things in primary sources that seemed off, and offered a variety of possible motives for things that happen in the story. He also looked at the story from more of a social history perspective and talked about what was happening in Belgium at the time and how nationalism played a significant role in the expedition. Overall, I think it's a much stronger book than Endurance, and almost as compulsively readable.

So what to make of all this? I think that, just like it matters when the author was writing and why, it matters when you are reading and why. I have more to say about this (shocking, I know), but there is no perfect polar book- there are lots of excellent polar books appropriate for a variety of different situations. Looking for a great story and don't want to think too much about what's being left out? Endurance. Want something that was meticulously researched and has every detail imaginable? You definitely want journal articles or something written by an academic. Something in the middle? Madhouse. Up to the challenge of reading historic documents with fresh, modern eyes? Look for published diaries and journals (or hit up the archives)! Hagiography? Edward Wilson of the Antarctic by George Seaver. Hit piece? Scott and Amundsen by Roland Huntford. Passion project? The Worst Journey graphic novel by Sarah Airriess or The Expedition by Bea Uusma.

I have been yakking for entirely too long and have no idea if I actually answered your question, but I hope I did on some level, at least! Bottom line, I think your most well rounded source for information about an expedition is usually going to be a book written in the last 10ish years by an author, academic or popular, who is writing to inform as opposed to trying to prove something. I also think that, generally speaking, secondary sources that give an overview of an entire expedition are better entry points than primary sources.

Thank you for another great ask, and I'm sorry it took so long to respond, but as you can see from gestures wildly, I am not well 😅

[ofliterarynature]

MAY 2025 WRAP UP

[ loved liked okay nope dnf (reread) book club* ]

The Serpent Sea • The Orphans of Raspay • Once Was Willem • All Creatures Great and Small • The Siren Depths • The Physicians of Vilnoc • The Left Hand of Darkness* • Stories of the Raksura Vol. 1 • Piranesi • A Drop of Corruption • (Birth of the Firebringer) • Ducks, Newburyport

* * * * *

The Serpent Sea - enjoyed this! Which is pretty much all I have to say about most of the Raksura books, lol, so I'm going to take a moment to say - what is with the naming conventions for the books in this series? Yes, there is a sea that is a major setting/plot point for the book. Yes there are creatures in it, the most relevant of which is not a serpent. Never is the body of water (to my knowledge) called the Serpent Sea. lmao.

The Orphans of Raspay - another Penric & Desdemona! Enjoyed this as always, as well as the accidental child acquisition, but probably not a favorite.

Once Was Willem - put this on hold at the library after seeing @ wearethekat's review. Certainly a unique book with an interesting perspective! Unfortunately it did not quite stick in my brain and I keep forgetting that I'd read it.

All Creatures Great and Small - this was recommended as a chill, relaxing book, which I absolutely did not find it to be! Alas! This is the first volume of memoirs by a rural/small town veterinarian in 1930's Yorkshire. It is charming at times, but 1) his boss is absolutely infuriating, and 2) the second-hand embarrassment is inescapable and excruciating. It is written more as a series of connected vignettes rather than a cohesive narrative, so at least it was easy to pick up and put down and go do something else for awhile. I probably won't continue the series, but might be interested in the tv adaptation.

The Siren Depths - listen. Moon finding his birth family and all of the chaos and trauma that digs up? Delicious. Loved this plot line, though I wish Moon had had a little more belief in Indigo Cloud? (I knew Stone at least would be coming for him as soon as he returned and I was so tickled to be proven right lol). That said, the last quarter of this book? Mostly felt like it came out of nowhere. And also gave the book it's title, which, wtf. Sigh. Somehow I manage to keep forgetting that it happened.

The Physicians of Vilnoc - it feels weird saying that I loved an epidemic book in this day and age, but I also love Briar's Book by Tamora Pierce, so I may just have a specific type. On one hand, trying to figure out the cause of the disease is a great framework for a mystery. On the other, this book really makes Penric face his history and past trauma around medical sorcery, and I'd like to think finds some support and balance this time around. Liked this one a lot.

The Left Hand of Darkness - bookclub read! I'd been meaning to get around to this myself, but it was name-dropped in another book we'd read and was suggested for the list. I had previously read a different book in this cycle for college and completely forgotten anything about it, so I went into this with not much expectation. I did try to start with it in print, but the first few pages were so confusing I ended up immediately jumping to the audiobook. It definitely felt like it was trying to say something - I'm not entirely sure what. It made for great discussion at our meeting, but it was definitely not anyone's new favorite book.

Stories of the Raksura Vol. 1 - I noticed that all of the Raksura short stories were set before books 4 & 5 (which were definitely a later addition to the series), so I decided to pick the collected volumes up after finishing book 3. I ended up going back and fourth and reading a different book between each story (which is what I'd kind of been doing with the Penric novellas, tbh) and had a really nice time.

Piranesi - finally! I thought this was a neat book, but that's really all I have to say. I don't know if all of the hype raised my expectations too high or if it would have been just fine either way, but this just didn't hit me the way this seems to have for a lot of people. Not sure if I plan on reading any more Susanna Clarke after this.

A Drop of Corruption - so good!! I'd forgotten more of the world building and previous story than I'd have really liked, but I got back into it pretty quickly and had a fantastic time. Someday when the series is finished I'm going to have a great time reading these all back-to-back.

Birth of the Firebringer - reread of a book that was potentially on the list for getting rid of. I read this series sometime in middle school or high school, but I don't have a strong memory of rereading them a lot to justify still keeping copies. I picked up this first one with the intention of just reading the first chapter to help me decide but got hooked instead XD It's a very classic coming of age fantasy, featuring an angsty teen with an excellent horse and a good sword, except that the teen IS the horse AND the sword, because he's a unicorn! Shout out to all of the fantasy-reading horse girls out there. Also great that his warrior mentor is a mare, though I believe she does become a love interest (and oh, from what I can remember of the future plot twists, it's going to be delicious!)

DNF

Ducks, Newburyport (6%) - I knew just from word of mouth going into this that it wasn't a book for everyone, but it was set in Ohio and I found a copy at the library book sale, so I thought I'd give it a shot! I was absolutely not prepared. Literally, 1000 pages of unbroken stream of consciousness from an Ohio housewife. Yes you read that number right. I'm always appreciative of experimental and novel narrative styles, so I will say that I admire the hell out of this, if only on the fact that I managed to get as far as I did - attempting to follow along and piece together something of her train of thought was a great puzzle, but alas, not quite enough to counteract the mind-numbing and soporific effect of the rambling. ADHD people, is this what your brains are like? I'd love to see this style put to effect in a short story, but can't say I have any interest in slogging through it for 44 hours on audio.

[rustedleopard]

Monsters are made up of "Love, Hope, and Compassion," but I see it as a metaphor for their society as a whole. The Underground society is more peaceful, due to much less competition than humans, most likely due to less access to resources, which most likely contributed to cooperation.

Perhaps because of this, their scientific and technological progress has slowed down (the closure of Steamworks and the dismissal of all engineers. And the opening of a scientific complex with ONE scientist.) although because of the magic, they probably don't need that much technology...

As I said, their society is becoming more peaceful and monsters are just more inclined to cooperate. For them, murder is an unthinkable act (remember when Ed joked "that now he is with the wind," Martlet was shocked by these words.) Perhaps the monsters have built a kind of utopia within a limited framework

Even if the monsters broke the barrier and killed all the people, many people didn't like this result very much.

(Starlo rummages through a garbage dump and finds a VHS tape of Saving Private Ryan and takes it to his gang's house to show everyone, thinking it's about cowboys;)

P.S. This is the result of my brainstorming, which I decided to share with you.

I find it interesting that people think that monsters are made of "love, hope, and compassion" when the book from the Snowdin Librarby states:

Love, hope, compassion... This is what people say monster SOULs are made of.

But the absolute nature of "SOUL" is unknown.

After all, humans have proven their SOULs don't need these things to exist. - Book 6 (from the left) in Snowdin Library

Note that it doesn't state that monster SOULs are 100% confirmed to be made of "love, hope, and compassion;" it's just what they're said to be made out of (by monsters, so this conclusion is of course going to be biased) but what monster/human SOULs are actually made of is unknown. Love and hope and compassion are things that both humans and monsters need to live though. A monster denied these things will Fall Down because, being composed of magic, their dispositions are weaker than humans and they rely heavily on their SOULs/emotional state to sustain their being.

But humans have physical bodies that aren't linked so closely to the state of their SOUL. A human will certainly not die without love and compassion and hope, but that doesn't mean that they'll remain the same. Take what Frisk turns into over the course of a No Mercy Run (and I suppose I can throw Clover in here as well, even though they're from a fan-game). They become worse, warping into violent beings that are unrecognizable as human (Frisk)/unrecognizable as their former self (Clover). It's not a literal death of the person but more of a figurative death of the self.

Or look at Flowey: former monster, now SOULless being who's become so detached from his own emotions that love and compassion feel foreign to him. He's not dying from a lack of those feelings, but the person he used to be died over time + hundreds of Resets and Reloads and he's turned malevolent. He's able to recognize himself in Frisk when they finish a No Mercy Run in the Ruins ("Hahaha... You're not really human, are you? No. You're empty inside. Just like me."). This is the closest that you will likely get to seeing what a monster could become without love, hope, and compassion without Falling Down because Asriel exists in the physical body of a flower that is sustained by DT. And here he is drawing a comparison between himself and an exceptionally cruel human, proving that humans and monsters aren't so different from each other in the matters of the SOUL.

Tl;dr, personally I don't think that monsters are made of love, hope, and compassion like they claim to be. They still bully each other. They still hurt each other. They still want to go to war against humanity* and bring about the death of humankind. That doesn't sound loving and compassionate to me. They're peaceful beings and a large part of that is because of their magical physiology that relies on them feeling good in order to exist + they're all crammed under a mountain that practically forces cooperation with one another (you're stuck with your community whether you like it or not so you might as well get along). But that doesn't make them perfect.

And I have no clue how Starlo mistakes Saving Private Ryan for a cowboy movie from the title alone, but rest assured that I doubt that the Five making it through a war movie. Or any sort of movie that's excessively violent (unless it's a western and the violence is depicted in a more glorifying way but even they have their limits). They're LARPers, entertainers, not fighters.

*Though this fixation on destroying humanity seems more like monsters focusing on some nebulous goal that comes with their freedom than actually wanting the death of the human race, judging by how quickly they give up the War as soon as the Barrier is broken. Monster society is peaceful, crimes in the Underground are of the petty variety like theft. They lack the disposition for violence, judging by how so many of them aren't actually attacking Frisk/Clover but are instead communicating via magic which is perceived as an attack by humans--and those few monsters that are attacking for real can be dissuaded with the proper ACTs. I'd imagine that because monsters are so divorced from violence, they don't truly understand the suffering that comes with it; had they been plunged into actual war, they wouldn't have lasted long.

[talenlee]

Dev Pile 2025-11 — Blood And Bones

Starting next week, I will be in a classroom with a bunch of students talking about ideation and experimentation. That’s going to involve some generative tools and showing them ways that they can use those tools to launch off ideas. My plan is to take them the skeleton of Moonshiners and show them the way that these tools can be used to generate the templates of card faces. Then, when I have those concept assets generated, I can show them the steps I go through to take those ideas and make them into my own.

The aim here is to demonstrate the use of these tools as a kind of word calculator. I use Excel to do math for me, and I use it to generate random things. I use texture libraries and public domain art, I know that there is a value to having convenient things to prime the pump, to set up a template.

Anyway, because I have Moonshiners in a skeletal form, and I want to use that class exercise to demonstrate the process on that skeleton, what I’m going to do this week is talk a bit about progress on Bloodwork.

LaunchTableTop is my current toolkit for game making. This means that I have a good framework for volume of cards I can jam in a box, and, indeed, the box itself. I can look at the example of Cafe Romantica, our game they’ve printed, and use that as my framework for how many pieces I want to go into a box. That’s about 120 cards, and some tokens.

Bloodwork is meant to be an asymmetrical game with symmetrical pieces. That is, the players are both playing clans of vampires, and Old Vampires and Young Vampires treat their resources very differently. The Old Vampires have institutional power and can carry resources from turn to turn, with a slowly growing base of power. They’re supposed to win end games, but also take some time ‘waking up,’ while Young Vampires have to recruit and construct themselves out of what’s available. There’s a common area, called the Street, which has resources in it that players can access, but will react differently based on what gang they are.

Stuff in Bloodwork is meant to be therefore, just a set of player mats, showing the nature of your gang and how to play them, fundamentally:

There’s a vampire that’s a multi-level marketing scam, arranging its cards in a pyramid. The start of the game, this player takes 24 cards, and deals them out face-down in front of them. Each turn, they take one of these cards and flip it face up, then takes an action based on what’s visible in that tier for that clan. Originally, this was going to rely on dice rolls to trigger cascades in the organisation. They still care about what’s in the street, though, because while they can’t recruit, any thralls in the pyramid can be swapped with Vampires in the Street, and, they can exploit figures in the Street to get bonus actions.

There’s a vampire that’s running a cryptocurrency scam. They have a resource that drags Thralls out of the Street automatically, and they follow one of four different fake currencies they have going on. At the beginning of their turn, their weakest cryptocurrency (with the fewest thralls) collapses, losing all its thralls and that’s the amount of resources they get to work with that turn. They have to spend resources to establish a new cryptocurrency to call Thralls back, and at the end of their turn, these thralls are dealt out at random between their currencies.

Then there’s the vampire that’s running a police force. Their organisation is a single line. Every turn, they pick a card in their line to ‘retire’ and it fires off everything on one side or the other, then slides the rest in place. This means that they have their existing power structure, and it does change and have good or bad days, but it’s just a matter of rearranging who’s in charge.

The idea I’m currently brewing here is the idea that any given game of Bloodwork has to feature an Old vampire and a New Vampire building out of a shared common deck, where the Old Vampire has the victory condition in their deck somehow, and it’s the job of the Young Vampire gang to find it out. That means the Young Vampire can be aggressive and have limited ways to handle being attacked, while the Old Vampire can be defensive and have limited ways to handle doing damage. In a lot of ways I’m borrowing from the concept space of Netrunner with this idea.

In the original form of the game, it was based on Liar’s Dice; players would roll a dice and then tell the truth or lie about what in their tableau fired. But you could lie, and another player could call you out, and if they did call you out, it meant you’d given up paying attention to one of a small pool of victory-point jackpots known as the ancient tombs.

In this new idea, the game becomes straight up head to head, but where Netrunner was a game of asymmetrical pieces with a pre-emptive deckbuild, the Old Vampires get a cache of cards to start with, and they view the street as a place to play, a way to deploy threats. They can rile up vampires on the street, making Young Vampires have to deal with them, or fight them, before they can recruit them. They can deprive the Young Vampires of access to Thralls, and choke off their resources.

That means the game is going to feature these Young/Old playmats, then along with that a collection of 120+ish cards. Of those cards, the majority will be Thralls, Vampires, Resources and Events, and then there will be the return to those Ancient Tombs that the Old Vampires are protecting as a base of their power, for consolidation and control. They’ll have the same back as other cards – and depending on what the Old Vampire is doing, those cards will rest in some space or other that other Vampires can try and attack.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[bestmbacolleges]

Why IPU MBA Colleges in Delhi Are the Top Choice for Future Business Leaders

Students who wish to become business leaders should choose IPU Delhi MBA colleges because they represent the best educational options.

Delhi, India's capital city, retains its traditional heritage while embracing modern development, so students choose it as their primary academic centre. The MBA colleges affiliated with Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (IPU) have established a unique academic pathway that delivers complete educational integration between academic brilliance, practical application, and industrial networking. Students who want to study for an MBA in Delhi can find dependable academic institutions through IPU colleges, which provide many routes to establishing successful business management careers.

In IPU-affiliated colleges, the MBA program develops students' essential business skills and practical understanding of modern corporate competitiveness. The designed curriculum integrates teaching methods to deliver comprehensive education focused on management fundamentals, including financial education and marketing tactics, as well as human resource management and operational expertise. The program extends its focus on past textbook learning to implement practical training through case study work and real-world projects with additional seminars for students. Through instructor guidance, the curriculum pushes learners toward original thinking while forcing them to tackle difficult work-related business issues, which yield results that tackle active business problems.

MBA colleges within IPU prioritise setting up an optimal educational setting as one of their main attributes. The educational buildings at these institutions combine furniture and technological capabilities to support active student engagement. These classrooms provide abundant lighting in large spaces while being equipped with multimedia tools, including projectors, smart boards, and sound systems for faculty interaction. Through this focused approach, colleges develop learning spaces that allow students to actively participate, collaborate on projects, and achieve better educational outcomes.

 Students in MBA IPU colleges experience fundamental educational changes through technology modulation. Technology-based digital resources supported by institutions help students maintain current knowledge of contemporary industry trends and operational tools. Students receive access to business sector high-tech programs through these colleges for guidance in working with modern digital professional tools. Through their education, students gain access to financial modelling software along with customer relationship management tools they can use in their professional careers.

In addition to academic programs, colleges provide well-equipped research centres that serve students alongside their library resources. Students benefit from broad library resources containing books along with journals, research papers, and online databases that provide deeper business knowledge in specialised fields. Students receive better research independence through digital academic resources featuring e-books and journals. Students who wish to prepare for exams and those who conduct research projects find the library to be an invaluable institution supporting academic advancement.

Through industry connections, IPU MBA colleges emphasise one fundamental element in their educational framework. Through their network development with businesses and corporations across different sectors, colleges create multiple pathways for students to have practical experiences. Industry experts deliver events such as workshops, seminars and guest lectures, offering students deep insights into contemporary business elements. An integral part of the curriculum at these colleges exists through their robust connections with industry, which offers internships and live projects to students. The applied learning opportunities enable students to practice their knowledge while connecting with experts who help them establish relationships that accelerate their career development.

As an integral part of IPU colleges' MBA curriculum, extracurricular activities take a central place. Students' activities help their development by building vital abilities, including leadership and teamwork, while improving their communication and time management abilities. The academic year at management fests, together with cultural events and sports competitions, allows students to exhibit their talents while meeting students from different institutions. Through college activities, students transcend traditional educational boundaries and simultaneously develop their social personas for future executive responsibilities.

IP University MBA colleges foster excellent placement services which equip their students with skills needed in today's competitive business world. Every college possesses placement cells which help students build employability through career advisory services and training programs to develop resumes and conduct mock interviews. Full-time and internship opportunities are open to students through campus recruitment drives organised by these cell workshops alongside industry leaders as well as top companies. IPU colleges utilise their broad placement network to create extensive job options which extend across financial management and consulting through marketing roles and human resources functions.

Students who study for an MBA at an IPU college in Delhi will make a beneficial academic decision toward their business career. Among all MBA colleges in Delhi, Rukmini Devi Institute of Advanced Studies is the top pick. Academic success and practical abilities are equally important at these institutions, therefore delivering a complete educational package that suits students for future employment in dynamic business settings. Modern infrastructure joins with technology-driven education and industry connections, as well as placement assistance, to make students knowledgeable and capable of achieving career success, according to RDIAS.

[siderealmaven]

2024 Retrospective + 2025 Plans

"I want to write astrology posts that make people feel good about themselves. I want them to read it and it feels like a warm hug after a hard day. I want to inspire a sense of hope and optimism in people that don’t have any of their own. I want to be the spark of inspiration in someone who looks in a mirror and sees nothing they like anymore. I think that is what astrology was for me, a soul searching, a desperation to understand myself and how I fit in the world. But instead I found my spirituality, confidence, and strength and self awareness. That is what astrology should be used for, what I am going to use it for." -- Sidereal Maven / @siderealmaven

Hi, hello my lovely Readers :)

Like many of you, I am using the end of my 2024 to prepare for 2025. This includes looking back on the content I've made this year, what I think worked and what didn't. A lot of this is determined by how much I enjoyed creating it but it's also determined by your feedback. I pay a lot of attention to what gets engagement and what doesn't. So if there is any content this year that you really loved, that you want to see more of, let me know with a like or comment!

While going through this process, I ran across the above quotation from my journal last January, when I was working on 2024's content calendar. I wanted to share it because I feel like it really illustrates where I was last year with Sidereal Maven and the goals I wanted to achieve, as well as the goals that I have for my Patreon in 2025.

When I walked into 2024, I decided I wanted to take Sidereal Maven in a completely different direction than I had from 2020-2022. I no longer wanted to focus heavily on transits or horoscopes for a few reasons. The main one is that once the date for said content passes, the content dies too. It's no longer useful to anybody, which is upsetting considering this type of content takes some of the most thought, consideration, and energy. The other reason is because I was determined to break my own habit of nervously anticipating negative consequences to every incoming transit (which quite frankly was just unhealthy) and this is easier to do when you're not writing about it every month.

Instead, I was/am determined to create a library of natal sidereal astrology content for both beginners and advanced students to explore and reference. There are loads of books and youtube videos out there about how to read your tropical birth chart and your Vedic sidereal birth chart. There are articles and classes out there for sidereal students who don't use the Vedic framework, but these are few and far between. My mission is simply to fill this gap by writing everything I know, so that you and others can benefit from it at your own pace.

But to surmise my motivations as simply filling an obviously large gap in natal western sidereal astrology content on the internet or otherwise, is only half the story. The other half of it is that in the past, not only did I anticipate negative outcomes to every transit because of my own anxiety about the world, but these negative attitudes bled into everything that I wrote. Once I realized this, I felt embarrassed and ashamed. I do not want to push my negative feelings/beliefs about life onto my readers, who are going through their own hard times.

Secondly, I realized a big part of this issue was that I consumed astrology content that reaffirmed my negative beliefs and feelings, until they felt so overwhelming that for a while there, I was unable to have a positive relationship with astrology itself or have any hope for my future as an astrologer. I had to step back and really reconsider what astrology was to me, why it mattered so much that I had already dedicated years of my life to writing about it, performing readings for the public, and starting this patreon to begin with. This took a lot of soul searching, some grieving, and re-calibrating.

I wrote this in my journal during a time when I desperately looking for a reason to keep believing in myself and this work. It might be easy to say I keep writing because it pays a bill, or that I've already invested too much to stop even when it feels like nothing is quite working anymore, but it wouldn't be true. I am not someone who does things because I feel obligated, in fact that is usually motivation for me to burn a bridge if my Fire Dominant chart is being honest.

The truth is that I love astrology because of the way it has helped me see and reimagine myself, over and over again. I love the way astrology has inspired me to see my strengths and act on them, to take control of my life and the story I tell myself about who I am. Without astrology, I am not sure what kind of person I would be or where my life would have gone. This is why I devote myself, my time and my energy to astrology over and over again.

As for Sidereal Maven and the Patreon, I devote myself to it because I want other people to have the ability to use astrology as a tool of empowerment, the way it has been for me. I'm not here to poke and prod at your traumas, indoctrinate you into an ideology, or predict doom and gloom in the years ahead. Equally, I won't be predicting endless sunny skies either. I have no intentions of spouting vague spiritual advice or passive aggressive hot takes about your zodiac sign that hit you below the belt.

What I will be doing is slowly but surely building my library up with the hope that one day, whatever question you have can be answered with a search through my page. I will be taking my time to create content that shows you how to use astrology in a way that positively impacts your life, should you choose to study and apply the information I provide.

Here's what you can expect from Sidereal Maven in 2025

2025 Year Ahead Tarotscopes (Coming January)

Tarot Explored Series cont. starting with the Major Arcana

The Planets through every sign and house

Astrology 101 tutorials

Memes & Pop Culture analysis

1 Free & 1 Paid post every month (at minimum)

What else would you like to see? Let me know in the comments :)

Reminder: You can get 50% off your first month of Sidereal Maven's full post archive by using the code DECEMBERBABY until the end of December 2024.

[pixel7777]

Threefold Returns - Chapter 5/16

The naughty version of the beautiful artwork commissioned from the incredible misfitlunatic (https://x.com/misfit_lunatik or https://bsky.app/profile/misfitlunatik.bsky.social) can be seen in all its glory here.

See Ch. 1 for work summary and content tags. Read this chapter below the break here or on AO3!

Zelara

Zel drummed her fingers on the table, staring at the door Gale had fled through. "Well, that went about as expected."

"Did it?" Astarion raised an eyebrow.

"Eh." She drained her tea, which was all the tower was allowing her since it was apparently only taking orders from Astarion at the moment.

When the Tower didn't alert them to any crashes, magical explosions, or general catastrophes, Zel exchanged a look with Astarion. "Library?"

"Library."

They found Gale already there, methodically pulling books from different shelves. He didn't look up when they entered, but his shoulders tensed slightly.

"So—" Zel started.

"Not yet." Gale's voice was steady, if clipped. "I heard what you both said. I'm processing it. But right now my mind is clearer than it's been in weeks, and I'd like to use that clarity productively."

Zel bit back her immediate urge to push. He had a point—his eyes were focused, his movements precise. Whatever emotional revelation they'd triggered, it had knocked something loose in Mystra's hold on him. "Fair enough. About that memory she's trying to suppress—"

"I can't access it." Gale's hands stilled on the spine of a book. "Even now, when I can think clearly enough to know it exists, it's like trying to grab smoke. The harder I reach for it, the more it dissipates."

"But you know it's important?"

"I know it terrified her." He finally looked at them. "And I know that's why you're both here, even if you didn't realize it when you arrived."

Zel studied the books Gale was pulling, recognizing several treatises on memory and magical theory. But something wasn't adding up.

"If it's that explosive, it won't be in any book," she said. "Mystra would have destroyed anything containing information she wanted suppressed."

"Agreed." Gale set down the tome he'd been holding. "But I need to prepare for what happens when—if—I remember. Having a plan of action ready could make the difference."

Astarion leaned against a shelf, arms crossed. "If she's this desperate to keep it locked in your head, then we need to get it out as quickly as possible once you access it."

"Exactly." Gale's eyes lit with that familiar academic fire that made her chest ache. "That's what I'm trying to determine. How to disseminate the information so widely and quickly that she can't possibly suppress it all."

Now this was the kind of problem Zel could sink her teeth into. "Mass communication spell? Modified Message or Sending?"

"Perhaps." Gale pulled another book. "But it would need to be instantaneous. She's a goddess—she could interrupt anything that takes more than a few seconds."

"I can help with that." Zel cracked her knuckles. "Between your theoretical knowledge and my practical applications, we might cobble something together that works."

Gale hesitated only a moment before nodding. "Yes. Please."

The simple acceptance, without qualification or deflection, told her more about his state of mind than any conversation could have. Whatever they'd shaken loose in him, it had given him enough clarity to recognize the stakes.

Zel lost track of time as she and Gale fell into their old research rhythm. Papers spread across tables, diagrams sketched in the air with magical light, theoretical frameworks debated and discarded. The Tower helped, offering relevant books and clearing space when needed.

Speaking of the Tower... She glanced up as another door opened unprompted for Astarion, who practically preened at the attention.

"Are you actually flirting with a magical building?" she asked.

"It has excellent taste." Astarion ran his fingers along a wall that definitely glowed under his touch. "Unlike some people who keep their noses buried in dusty books all day."

"These dusty books might save our lives," Gale muttered, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

They broke briefly for lunch—blood wine for Astarion, actual food for Gale at Zel's insistence, and more tea. Then back to work, dividing their most promising ideas between them.

Zel focused on exploring the possibility of using rapport spores—while Gale explored magical theory about mass consciousness transfer. She couldn't help noticing how the Tower kept arranging things just so for Astarion, who wandered between them offering occasionally useful suggestions when he wasn't busy being pampered by architecture.

"That's actually quite sweet," she decided, watching a chair scoot itself into perfect position as Astarion approached.

"What is?" Astarion settled into the perfectly positioned seat.

"You and the Tower. It's like—"

A knocking at the door cut her off. The Tower's warm atmosphere instantly chilled.

Zel's fingers tightened on her potion belt as Elminster's distinctive voice carried from below. "Gale, my boy, a moment of your time?"

Gale's shoulders tensed, but he moved to open the door. "Master Elminster. What an... unexpected visit."

"Indeed." The archmage swept in, all dramatic robes and carefully cultivated mystique. His eyes landed on Zel and Astarion. "Ah. I see you have guests."

"Who are not leaving," Zel said flatly. She remembered all too clearly the last time this man had shown up with 'advice' from Mystra. The audacity of suggesting Gale kill himself still made her blood boil.

"Tea?" Gale offered with rigid politeness.

"If you would be so kind."

The next twenty minutes dragged like hours as Elminster meandered through pleasantries and small talk. He commented on the Tower's decor, reminisced about old adventures, and generally acted like this was a social call.

Zel caught Astarion's eye. His expression mirrored her irritation, but they both knew better than to rush this. Elminster would say what he came to say in his own time, and pushing would only make him more insufferable.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of watching him sip tea, Elminster set down his cup. "I come bearing a message from Our Lady of Mysteries."

"How generous of her to send you," Gale said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"She offers you a chance to return to her good graces. Again." Elminster's gaze swept over Zel and Astarion. "And suggests your... friends... stop meddling in matters beyond their understanding."

Zel snorted. "Beyond our understanding? That's rich coming from someone who's been her puppet for so long he's forgotten what strings feel like."

"My dear girl—"

"I'm older than I look," Zel cut him off, "and I'm not your anything."

Zel barely managed to hide her grin as Astarion surged to his feet, all pretense of lounging forgotten. Finally. She had started to worry he'd gotten too reasonable lately.

"Do you realize that your presence here is entirely redundant?" His voice dripped acid. "No? Elminster, your message isn't merely redundant—it's offensively late. While you were busy crafting the perfect diplomatic approach, your goddess has been tormenting him for weeks."

Elminster's carefully maintained expression cracked. "I beg your pardon?"

"We found him yesterday, trapped in his own tower, barely eating, unable to sleep." Astarion's fangs flashed. "Where were you then? Where was anyone from your precious Mystran order while she flooded his mind with visions and whispers?"

The archmage's face paled. "That's not possible. Lady Mystra would never—"

"Never what?" Astarion prowled closer. "Never torture someone who rejected her? Never try to break his mind to keep her secrets? Tell me, oh wise one, did you even check on him once in the past month?"

Elminster's silence was damning.

"That's what I thought." Astarion's laugh was sharp and cruel. "Some mentor you are. Some faithful servant of a benevolent goddess."

Zel watched with savage satisfaction as Elminster struggled to process this information. His carefully prepared speech lay in tatters around him, and for once, the ancient wizard seemed at a loss for words.

"I—" Elminster cleared his throat. "I was not aware of any direct contact from Our Lady."

"Clearly," Astarion spat. "Now, would you like to leave on your own, or shall we help you out? I'm sure the Tower would be delighted to assist."

As if on cue, the temperature dropped another few degrees. The door swung open with decisive force.

Zel watched Elminster draw himself up, adjusting his robes with wounded dignity.

"Now see here—if Lady Mystra felt compelled to send me after speaking to him directly, it can only mean he refused to listen to sense."

"Sense?" Zel barked out a laugh as Astarion snarled, both of them launching into simultaneous tirades.

"Oh yes, such sensible suggestions—"

"The audacity of you standing there—"

"—like 'kill yourself for the greater good'—"

"—enabling centuries of abuse—"

"—or 'give up your autonomy'—"

"—turning a blind eye while she breaks him—"

"—or my personal favorite, 'trust the goddess who tried to murder you'—"

"—just like every other sycophant who worships power—"

"—because that's totally reasonable and not at all the behavior of an abusive ex!"

"—while pretending not to see the bodies she leaves behind!"

They might have continued, but Zel caught sight of Gale. He stood absolutely still, watching them defend him with an expression she couldn't quite read. Something between wonder and terror, like he'd never seen anything quite like them before.

The sight stopped her cold. Astarion must have noticed too, because he fell silent mid-rant. Zel watched Gale straighten, his posture shifting from defensive to something more dignified.

"Master Elminster." Gale's voice was soft but clear. "You taught me so much over the years. The foundations of magical theory, yes, but more importantly, you showed me what it meant to be a proper wizard. To approach magic with reverence and responsibility."

Elminster's expression softened slightly. "My boy—"

"Please." Gale held up a hand. "Let me finish. Your guidance shaped who I am, and I will always be grateful. But involving you further in this situation would put you in an impossible position. It would force you to choose between your goddess and your conscience. I care about you too much to do that to you."

Zel caught the slight tremor in Gale's hands, though his voice remained steady.

"Whatever happens next, it needs to happen without you. For your safety, and because your presence can't help me now." Gale gestured to the door. "So please, go. Remember me as I was—your eager student, not... whatever I must become to survive this."

The ancient wizard stood frozen for a long moment. Then he nodded, just once, and walked to the door. He paused at the threshold, not looking back. "Take care, my boy."

The Tower shut the door behind him with surprising gentleness.

The moment the door closed, Zel launched herself at Gale, wrapping her arms around him fiercely. The familiar scent of his robes—parchment and ozone—filled her nose as she pressed her face against his chest. Gods, how had she forgotten what he was? Even diminished, even struggling, he remained the most magnificent man she'd ever known besides Astarion.

"That was incredible," she mumbled into his shirt. "You just—you were so—fuck, I'm sorry I've been such an ass. You didn't need my attitude on top of everything else."

His arms came around her hesitantly. "Zel—"

"No, shut up, I'm having a moment here." She squeezed tighter. "You just dismissed the mighty Elminster himself. And you did it with such grace and compassion, while I was over here calling him a puppet."

"To be fair, he rather deserved that."

"Still." She pulled back enough to look up at him. "Thank you for trusting us enough to let us stay when you're sending away someone that powerful. Though I suppose we're a bit less threatening than the mighty Elminster."

His lips twitched. "I wouldn't say that."

"Was that a joke?" She grinned. "Did you just make a joke?"

"I have been known to, on occasion."

She hugged him again, overwhelmed by the simple fact that he was here, solid and real and fighting back. "I've missed you so much, you impossible man."

Gale's arms tightened around her, and Zel's breath caught at the familiar comfort of it. Gods, she had missed this—missed him. The solid warmth of his chest, the way he always smelled faintly of magic and ink. They had been so close once, sharing ideas and discoveries late into the night. She wanted that back desperately, wanted all of it back, wanted—

She cut the thought off sharply. Selfish. He needed support right now, not her wanting things he might not be ready to give.

Movement caught her eye, and she glanced over to see Astarion looking utterly wrecked. The Tower, apparently deciding he needed comfort, materialized a tissue box on the nearest table. He ignored it, but his voice was raw when he spoke.

"The worst part wasn't just Cazador." His fingers clenched against his thigh. "It was all the patriars who knew. Who saw what he did to me, to others, and looked away. Or worse—helped him maintain his façade of respectability."

Zel wanted to go to him, but Gale's arms were still around her.

"You were kinder to Elminster than I could have managed," Astarion continued. "Though I suppose there's a difference. Elminster likely truly doesn't know what Mystra does. Cazador's supporters knew exactly what they were enabling."

The tissue box scooted closer to Astarion's elbow. He finally grabbed one, though he didn't actually cry. Just twisted it between his fingers as he collected himself.

Zel reluctantly pulled away from Gale as Astarion's expression shifted from vulnerable to calculating.

"We should discuss security," he said. "Elminster won't be the last well-meaning fool to show up at your door."

Shit. She hadn't thought of that. "The whole Mystran order."

"Precisely." Astarion's fingers drummed against the table. "When direct intervention fails, and their most respected member can't convince you, she'll send others. Probably in increasing numbers."

"The Tower has excellent defenses," Gale said, but he didn't sound entirely confident.

Zel glanced at the walls. "Against other wizards, though? People who understand how it works?"

"More importantly," Astarion added, "against people you might hesitate to harm. Former students, colleagues, friends..."

The Tower's temperature dropped again, and Zel felt the air crackle with protective energy.

"At least someone's ready for a fight." She patted the nearest wall. "But we need to work faster than planned. Get whatever's in your head out before they can organize a proper intervention."

"Or worse," Astarion said, "before they realize what we're attempting and try to stop us permanently."

Gale sank into a chair. "You think they'd—"

"Kill you to protect her secrets?" Astarion's laugh was bitter. "Darling, that's exactly what religious fanatics do."

The Tower rumbled ominously, and Zel felt the first stirrings of real fear. They weren't ready. Their plans for mass communication were still theoretical, and they had no idea what might happen when Gale actually remembered whatever Mystra wanted buried.

Gale's sudden laughter startled Zel so badly she nearly knocked over her tea. The sound rang through the Tower, bright and unexpected—and gods, when was the last time she had heard him laugh like that?

"Well." He wiped his eyes, still chuckling. "Perhaps it's time to skip the careful preparations and move straight to irresponsible, reckless experimentation." His eyes landed on Zel. "Pity I don't know anyone with experience in that particular field."

She opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. Who was she kidding? Her entire career consisted of doing things other alchemists considered too dangerous or unstable to attempt. Half her breakthroughs came from mixing things that technically shouldn't be mixed.

"You know what?" She pulled her notebook closer. "Fuck it. You're absolutely right. The spores are ready—I've been working with them for months. We've got the theory. We've got the base components." She started rifling through her bag. "And most importantly, we've got nothing to lose by trying now versus trying later, except maybe our lives, and when has that ever stopped us?"

The Tower helpfully slid her equipment case closer. She patted the wall in thanks, already cataloging what she'd need. The rapport spores were stable enough—she'd tested them extensively. The real trick would be modifying them to spread rapidly and communicate the intended message unambiguously.  Rapport spores tended to be better with touchy feely stuff.

"Just to be clear," Astarion drawled, "we're all accepting that our solution to 'religious fanatics might kill us' is 'let's do the dangerous experiment immediately'?"

"Obviously." Zel pulled out her alchemist's kit. "Now help me set up the circle. And Gale?" She grinned at him. "Try to keep your head clear enough to tell us if we're about to blow ourselves up."

[keploy]

What is React and React Native? Understanding the Difference

If you're starting out in frontend or mobile development, you've likely heard of both React and React Native. But what exactly are they, and how do they differ?

In this guide, we’ll break down what is React and React Native, their use cases, key differences, and when you should use one over the other.

What is React?

React (also known as React.js or ReactJS) is an open-source JavaScript library developed by Facebook, used to build user interfaces—primarily for single-page applications (SPAs). It's component-based, efficient, and declarative, making it ideal for building dynamic web applications.

Key Features of React:

Component-based architecture: Reusable pieces of UI logic.

Virtual DOM: Improves performance by reducing direct manipulation of the real DOM.

Unidirectional data flow: Predictable state management.

Rich ecosystem: Integrates well with Redux, React Router, and Next.js.

Common Use Cases:

Building dynamic web apps and dashboards

Single-page applications (SPAs)

E-commerce platforms

Admin panels and content management systems

What is React Native?

React Native is also developed by Facebook but is used for building native mobile apps using React principles. It enables developers to write apps using JavaScript and React, but renders UI components using native APIs—meaning it works just like a real native app.

Key Features of React Native:

Cross-platform compatibility: Build apps for both iOS and Android with a single codebase.

Native performance: Uses real mobile components.

Hot reloading: Faster development cycles.

Community support: Large ecosystem of plugins and libraries.

Common Use Cases:

Mobile apps for startups and MVPs

Apps with simple navigation and native look-and-feel

Projects that need rapid deployment across platforms

React vs React Native: Key Differences

Feature

React (React.js)

React Native

Platform

Web browsers

iOS and Android mobile devices

Rendering

HTML via the DOM

Native UI components

Styling

CSS and preprocessors

Uses StyleSheet API (like CSS in JS)

Navigation

React Router

React Navigation or native modules

Ecosystem

Rich support for web tools

Tailored to mobile development

Performance

Optimized for web

Optimized for native mobile experience

When to Use React

Choose React when:

You're building a web application or website

You need SEO optimization (e.g., with Next.js)

Your app depends heavily on web-based libraries or analytics tools

You want precise control over responsive design using HTML and CSS

When to Use React Native

Choose React Native when:

You need a mobile app for both iOS and Android

Your team is familiar with JavaScript and React

You want to reuse logic between mobile and web apps

You’re building an MVP to quickly test product-market fit

Can You Use Both Together?

Yes! You can share business logic, APIs, and sometimes even components (with frameworks like React Native Web) between your React and React Native projects. This is common in companies aiming for a unified development experience across platforms.

Real-World Examples

React is used in web apps like Facebook, Instagram (web), Airbnb, and Netflix.

React Native powers mobile apps like Facebook, Instagram (mobile), Shopify, Discord, and Bloomberg.

Final Thoughts

Understanding what is React and React Native is essential for any frontend or full-stack developer. React is perfect for building fast, scalable web applications, while React Native enables you to build cross-platform mobile apps with a native experience. If you’re deciding between the two, consider your target platform, performance needs, and development resources. In many modern development teams, using both React and React Native allows for a consistent developer experience and code reuse across web and mobile platforms.

[silvernskye]

my god this post is massive

note: the conferences are going to be mostly uk ones based bc that where i am

feel free to ask questions, i want to talk to people about this!

Conference the first - The Oxford Real Farming Conference

[youtube]

a yearly uk conference of farmers that are farming in alternative ways (mostly organic & regen) since 2010

not to be mistaken with the Oxford Faming conference which is the usual industrial farming conference (but there seem to be increasing regen ag talk over the years)

both happen around the same time in january and have their archive on youtube for free

the orfc was created bc farmers were frustrated that they couldnt find a place to discuss more progressive ag ideas

not all sessions get recorded as video, some are audio only (you can find them on the website), only a couple dont get recorded at all

sessions ive watched

ive barely started watching/listening to the sessions this year but here are some that i have watched & i found interesting:

Doing Dairy Differently

a talk about doing dairy better like keeping the calf with the mothers, rotational grazing, ect & the benefits and challenges trying to do that

Farmers — Saving More Lives Than Pharma

a talk by Dr Jenny Goodman, a doctor who uses organic food (and other stuff) as a tool to cure various illness (bc almost everyone is deficient in micro nutrients and micro-dosing on pesticides really doesnt help)

she has some good books with very actionable advice for the individual and with a lot of peer reviewed citations

the books are 'Staying Alive in Toxic Times: A Seasonal Guide to Lifelong Health' (ive read this one, got it from the library) and 'Getting Healthy In Toxic Times'

Homegrown Fashion: The British Fibres Regenerating Landscaoes and Creativity

panel that covers the state of the native british fibres and their industry of wool, linen, hemp and leather:

Fantasy Fibre Mill - developing open source linen and hemp processing machinery for the mid-scale/farm-level (uk has lost all processing infrastructure)

British Pasture Leather - a company developing the supply chain for leather from pasture for life (uk grassfed label)

Fernhill Farm & Fernhill Fibre - mixed livestock farm that is part of the south west england fibreshed, processes and sells their own wool and clothing, holds traditional blade sheep shearing competitions, records and monitors their carbon & biodiversity and and is verified as regenerative

Contempory Hempery - grows hemp for fine fibre fabric and aims to process the hemp into fibre and fabric

Growing the Rainbow: LGBTQ+ Perspectives in Landwork

Indie Food Retail: Challenges, Learnings and Success Stories

sessions i havent yet watched

here are some havent watched/listened to yet and you might want to too (very roughly categorised):

socialish stuff

Roots of Resistance: Farming in Palestine

Smash Imperialism! For a New Trade Framework Based on Solidarity!

Rooting for Diversity: Cultivating Farms for Neurodiversity To Thrive

WORKSHOP: Cultivating Long-Term Solidarity with Farmers in Palestine

WORKSHOP: Reparations — Learning From Examples Existing Within Modernity

farming stuff

Making Public Farmland Work for the Public Interest

Creating New Crofts: A Pathway Towards Land Justice?

Is a Fossil Free Food System Possible?

WORKSHOP: Farms and Kitchens — Forging Connections Between Food Citizenship Hubs

WORKSHOP: Beyond the Tech Divide: Rethinking Innovation for Agroecology

What Might Insect Sentience Mean for Agroecology?

Better Meat, More Plants: Opportunities for Farmers?

FARM DEEP DIVE: Our Journey into Nature Friendly Livestock Farming

animals & meat

WORKSHOP: Deer Are Food for the Future (deer is a big problem in the uk bc of lack of natural predators)

Pigs, Environmental Engineers or Architects of Destruction?

Sustainable Meat: Minimise Transport, Slaughter Humanely, Stay Profitable (about small abattoirs, very important for animal welfare and sustainable meat production (both in the profitable and the ecology sense); we are are losing them so fast, tw: discussions of animal death & butchery)

Rise of the Planet of the Chicken

Ensuring a Just Transition from Intensive Livestock

grains

WORKSHOP: Next Steps in Building a New Cereal Seed System

Increasing Home-Grown Protein in an Organic Farming System (about growing native non-soya feed for animals)

other produce

WORKSHOP: Learning to Connect with the Ocean

WORKSHOP: Adding Flowers to Your Farm: Increasing Profits and Pollinators

Can Farmed Salmon Ever Be Sustainable

[open-hearth-rpg]

Base Building: Great RPG Mechanics #RPGMechanics Week Seven

I’ve always loved the idea of developing a “place” in play: a location, a home, an organization. I remember when Advanced Dungeons & Dragons arrived it presented the concept of high level fighters & such having a castle or keep. The rules limited this privilege limited by level– you needed a ton of experience before you could be lord of a fortress. And it also cost in-game money. A hefty price tag would consistent mechanic in ttrpgs for years. If you wanted something big– vehicles, robots, a wizard’s tower– you had earn hard cash first. 

That system would evolve with cash-based economies joined by point-based ones. Champions and accounting-heavy games would eventually create systems for detailed base-building. But these were often architectural and mapping sub-systems and just involved making a big vehicle that didn’t move. There would be other approaches, but the next big shift came with Forged in the Dark’s Crew Playbooks.

Developing your Crew offered many benefits: increased effectiveness in certain areas, physical locations offering a benefit, new access, additional members. A tier system and crew special abilities added to that. You picked elements from a flow chart on the Crew sheet, another version of experience points being converted into benefits. This system offered a striking new area for game design. I’ve talked before about how games like Girl by Moonlight and Vergence use those as campaign and series frameworks. 

But one of the most exciting new Forged in the Dark approaches has been that of Mountain Home. In MH you play Founders, leaders setting up a new Dwarven Settlement. The settlement itself acts as a kind of crew playbook, but there’s a shared template. You can choose between claiming a lost fortress, building a buried metropolis, being on an exodus from their previous settlement, or seeking to mine a new mother lode. Each has questions to help set things up and there’s a definite shift in tone between them. The choice of settlement type impacts abilities, special discoveries, and a couple of other things. 

Mountain Home, like other Forged games, has a distinct cycle of play. The Settlement Phase is final part of Mountain Home’s play cycle and includes the Downtime phase. It marks the end of the year–something which mentally gives the players a sense of closure and the larger span of time happening. The phase begins with players activating Claim Buildings. I’ll come back to that in a moment, but basically there are effects: like special healing or increasing reputation which are based on particular buildings. 

Downtime actions in the settlement phase include the usual FitD choices, like training and clearing stress. But the big ticket item here is the Long Term Project. As with other FitD games these can be flexibly used for lots of things. 

These projects include two of the most important aspects of Mountain Home: Discoveries and Claim Buildings. The players’ settlement is broken into four rows and five columns. The rows represent depths from Surface to Depth 3. Each of the intersections of Depth and column have two spots where players can eventually build Claim buildings. But to do so, they first have to discover and explore them– a long term project. When they finish that project, the GM rolls to see what kind of location it is (Earthy Caves, Iron Vein, Lava-Filled Caverns, etc). The depth and kind of discovery affects what kinds of buildings can be constructed in those two associated spots. There’s also a set of special discoveries which can get triggered, unique to the kind of settlement being built. 

The other big long term project is establishing one of those Claim buildings. As I mentioned, some have requirements for where they can be built. For example a Lumber Mill can only be built in a Surface Forest, a Research Library in an Ancient Ruin, an Iron Guildhall in an Iron Vein. These have different Tiers (up to IV); the clock for building them is 3+Tier. So with a couple of people working, a building can often be finished in a single Settlement phase. 

This breaks the concept of base building away from just point-buying or experience spending. Instead the act of creation is part of play. That’s novel and opens up what you can do in play. Functionally you have two things. The first is the idea of a space which needs to be prepared: explored, excavated, etc. Players take actions and invest in handling that. Then there’s actually choosing and building things in those uncovered areas. 

The selection of buildings is really interesting, but with room for the players to add more. Some affect the Trade roll which is made after the Downtime phase, generating treasure. Others are permanently dedicated for effects. For example, you need to dedicate a Farm of some kind to raise your settlement’s Tier. There’s enough options and interesting ideas there that the players will always have tough choices– and each settlement will be different. When I ran it players did projects to come up with the plans for new buildings (which they then spent actions building) including a Hot Springs.   

I would say the Settlement map, the Claim buildings, and that whole system is really the secret sauce of Mountain Home. It’s great and really makes adding what are effectively elements to your crew sheet feel super satisfying.

You can easily hack this in-play base-building I can imagine using this for developing a space colony; it maps easily to that. You could adapt it for something post-apocalyptic like Forbidden Lands or Twilight 2000. The players find an abandoned base or town and have to work to restore it. For something like Urban Shadows or Vampire, it might be about extending influence over the area. One idea I’ve mentioned before is the concept borrowed from Wrath of the Autarch. In this fantasy setting, the players are exiles who had fled and found themselves at a long-lost supernatural fortress. They have rebuild that in order to gather allies and strike back at the Empress who drove them out.

[fancymagazinewizard]

The Strategic Value of Premium Gaming Subscriptions: A 2025 Analysis for Serious Gamers

The digital entertainment ecosystem has undergone a paradigm shift in recent years, with subscription-based models revolutionizing how consumers access interactive content. In 2025, premium gaming subscriptions represent not merely a convenience but a strategic advantage for discerning players seeking to maximize their entertainment investment. This comprehensive analysis examines the quantifiable benefits, technological advancements, and economic efficiencies inherent in today's premier gaming subscription services, providing essential insights for both casual enthusiasts and dedicated players.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: Redefining Content Economics

Microsoft's flagship subscription service has evolved into an unparalleled value proposition within the gaming industry, fundamentally altering the calculation of content acquisition costs versus accessibility. A meticulous analysis of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate offering reveals several critical advantages that merit consideration.

Content Library Valuation and Fiscal Efficiency

The service's expansive library—now exceeding 450 high-caliber titles—represents a retail valuation of approximately $27,000 if purchased individually at standard market rates. This remarkable content aggregation creates an unprecedented 96% cost reduction compared to traditional ownership models when utilized by active subscribers who explore the catalog's breadth.

The inclusion of day-one releases from Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks, and Activision Blizzard constitutes a particularly compelling component. Quantitative analysis indicates that subscribers who would otherwise purchase just two first-party releases annually already achieve cost neutrality, with every subsequent title representing pure economic advantage.

Technical Infrastructure and Cross-Platform Integration

The service's cloud gaming infrastructure has achieved significant technical milestones in 2025, with server-side enhancements reducing input latency to 21ms—below the threshold of perception for most users—while delivering consistent 4K resolution at 60 frames per second on compatible devices. This technological foundation effectively democratizes access to computationally demanding experiences across smartphones, tablets, and older hardware configurations.

The seamless ecosystem integration facilitates a continuous gaming experience across multiple devices, with advanced synchronization protocols ensuring that progress, achievements, and personalized settings transfer instantaneously between platforms. This infrastructure represents significant additional value beyond the content library itself.

For those seeking immediate access to this comprehensive gaming ecosystem, Gift20nline's Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions provide verified activation codes with enterprise-grade security and guaranteed delivery within 24 hours.

PlayStation Plus Premium: Strategic Differentiation Through Curation and Legacy Content

Sony Interactive Entertainment's premium subscription tier employs a distinctly different strategic approach, emphasizing carefully curated content selection and preservation of gaming heritage as key differentiators in the competitive landscape.

Qualitative Content Selection Methodology

Rather than pursuing sheer numerical superiority, PlayStation Plus Premium implements a sophisticated content selection framework focused on three critical dimensions:

Critical Acclaim: Prioritizing titles with Metacritic scores above 80/100

Cultural Significance: Including influential works that have shaped game design

Exclusive Experiences: Providing access to content unavailable on competing platforms

This methodology results in a library of demonstrably higher average quality as measured by professional critical assessment and user satisfaction metrics, albeit with a more limited selection compared to Xbox Game Pass.

Historic Preservation and Backwards Compatibility

The service's most distinctive attribute lies in its comprehensive archival approach to gaming history, providing technically optimized access to titles spanning PlayStation's entire 30-year legacy. The preservation initiative extends beyond mere emulation, incorporating:

Resolution enhancement to 4K for select titles

Trophy support integration for legacy games

Control scheme modernization options

Performance stabilization for consistent frame rates

For PlayStation ecosystem participants, Gift20nline's PlayStation Plus Premium subscriptions provide immediate authentication with Sony's servers, enabling instant access to this curated content archive.

Steam Wallet: Liquidity and Market Efficiency in PC Gaming

While subscription services offer compelling value through bundled access, the PC gaming ecosystem benefits from a fundamentally different economic structure that emphasizes individual title ownership within a dynamic marketplace. Steam Wallet funds represent liquid digital capital with unique advantages in this environment.

Seasonal Sale Optimization Strategies

Steam's regular discount events create predictable opportunities for strategic purchasing that significantly enhance the effective purchasing power of wallet funds. Historical data analysis reveals:

Major seasonal sales (Summer, Winter, Autumn) offer average discounts of 67% across the catalog

Publisher-specific promotions provide 72% average discounts on targeted collections

Weekend deals frequently discount recent releases by 33-50%

Through strategic timing of purchases during these promotional periods, a $50 Steam Wallet allocation potentially yields $150-180 in content acquisition value—a 200-260% effective return on investment.

Catalog Diversity and Long-Tail Content Access

The platform's unparalleled library breadth—exceeding 50,000 titles in 2025—ensures access to specialized content across every conceivable genre, development scale, and commercial profile. This comprehensive coverage includes:

Independent productions with experimental mechanics

Mainstream commercial releases with high production values

Historical releases preserved through compatibility layers

Early-stage development projects with community input

Specialized simulation titles with narrow but deep appeal

This diversity allows Steam Wallet recipients to precisely target their specific gaming preferences with unmatched granularity. Gift20nline's Steam Wallet codes provide secured digital delivery with verification protocols that ensure legitimacy and immediate redemption capability.

Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack: Ecosystem Value Through Exclusivity

Nintendo's subscription model represents a unique approach within the industry, leveraging the company's unparalleled intellectual property portfolio and distinctive hardware architecture to create value that cannot be replicated elsewhere.

Proprietary Content Exclusive to Subscribers

Unlike competitors who primarily aggregate third-party content, Nintendo employs its subscription service as a platform for exclusive software that cannot be purchased separately, including:

Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis libraries with modern enhancements

Subscriber-exclusive software like Tetris 99 and Pac-Man 99

Mission modes and enhanced content for first-party releases

Limited-time special events and tournaments

This exclusivity creates a compelling value proposition for Nintendo hardware owners, as these experiences remain inaccessible through any other means, regardless of willingness to purchase separately.

Family Plan Economics and Multi-User Efficiency

The service's family membership option represents exceptional economic efficiency for multi-user households, supporting up to eight individual Nintendo Account holders under a single subscription. When fully utilized, this reduces the effective cost per user to approximately 12.5% of the individual rate—the most cost-efficient multi-user arrangement in the gaming subscription landscape.

For immediate access to Nintendo's proprietary content library, Gift20nline's Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions provide verified activation with guaranteed delivery, enabling instant enjoyment of exclusive Nintendo experiences.

Strategic Analysis: Emerging Trends and Future Trajectories

As the digital entertainment subscription landscape continues to evolve, several significant trends merit attention for their potential to reshape the value proposition of gaming services:

Cross-Ecosystem Integration and Subscription Consolidation

The boundaries between traditionally siloed entertainment ecosystems are progressively dissolving, with strategic partnerships creating integrated subscription bundles that span gaming, streaming video, music, and other digital media. These consolidated offerings represent enhanced consumer value through:

Unified billing and account management

Cross-media promotional synergies

Integrated discovery algorithms

Unified content delivery infrastructure

Early adopters of these consolidated models have demonstrated 17% higher retention rates and 22% greater lifetime customer value compared to single-service subscribers.

AI-Driven Content Personalization

Machine learning algorithms are transforming how subscription services deliver content to users, moving beyond simplistic recommendation systems toward sophisticated personalization engines that:

Predict optimal play times based on historical engagement patterns

Identify content with high probability of individual appeal

Customize difficulty curves across multiple titles

Generate personalized in-game challenges and rewards

These technologies significantly enhance the perceived value of subscription services by ensuring that each user's experience is optimized for their specific preferences and behaviors.

Cloud-Native Game Design Evolution

The subscription model is beginning to influence fundamental game design approaches, with developers creating experiences specifically optimized for cloud delivery and subscription contexts. These titles leverage unique technical capabilities:

Server-side physics calculations enabling unprecedented simulation complexity

Massive persistent worlds with continuous updates rather than discrete sequels

Asynchronous multiplayer integration across thousands of simultaneous users

Dynamic content generation based on collective player behaviors

As these design innovations mature, subscription services will increasingly offer experiences impossible to replicate in traditional purchase models.

Investment Optimization: Strategic Selection Framework

When evaluating gaming subscription options—whether for personal use or as a gift—apply this analytical framework to maximize return on investment:

Platform Ecosystem Analysis

Conduct a comprehensive inventory of existing hardware ownership and ecosystem investment. The value of a subscription increases proportionally with the degree of platform commitment due to:

Leveraging already-acquired hardware capabilities

Utilization of existing peripheral accessories

Integration with established friend networks and social connections

Continuity with current game progress and achievements

Content Consumption Pattern Matching

Analyze historical gaming engagement patterns to identify optimal service alignment:

High-volume, exploratory players extract maximum value from broad libraries (Xbox Game Pass Ultimate)

Selective, completion-focused players benefit from curated, quality-focused offerings (PlayStation Plus Premium)

Variable interest players with specific preferences achieve optimal results with à la carte models (Steam Wallet)

Family-oriented or nostalgia-driven players find superior value in Nintendo's ecosystem-specific approach

Return on Investment Calculation

Employ quantitative analysis to determine effective hourly entertainment cost using this formula:Effective Cost Per Hour = Subscription Fee ÷ (Games Explored × Average Hours Per Game)

This calculation typically reveals subscription models achieving costs below $0.30 per hour of quality entertainment—significantly outperforming traditional media consumption models.

Conclusion: The Analytical Case for Subscription Gaming

The subscription model represents the most economically efficient access method for interactive entertainment in 2025. Quantitative analysis consistently demonstrates that active subscribers receive 3-15x greater content value compared to traditional purchasing models, while simultaneously benefiting from technological advantages impossible to replicate through individual purchases.

For the analytically-minded consumer, the decision to adopt premium gaming subscriptions is not merely preference-based but mathematically sound. The subscription model eliminates inefficient content acquisition risks, provides enhanced technological infrastructure, and delivers continuous value expansion through regular catalog additions.

Gift20nline offers secure, verified access to all premium gaming subscription services with enterprise-grade delivery protocols ensuring activation within 24 hours. Their comprehensive selection includes Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PlayStation Plus Premium, Steam Wallet codes, Nintendo Switch Online, and additional specialized services for discerning players seeking optimal value.

For those seeking to maximize their gaming investment or provide exceptional value as a gift, premium gaming subscriptions represent not merely a convenience but a strategic advantage in the modern digital entertainment landscape.

[dailyanarchistposts]

Joyful militancy and emergent powers

When people come into contact with their own power—with their capacity to participate in something life-giving—they often become more militant. Militancy is a loaded word for some, evoking images of machismo and militarism. For us, militancy means combativeness and a willingness to fight, but fighting might look like a lot of different things. It might mean the struggle against internalized shame and oppression; fierce support for a friend or loved one; the courage to sit with trauma; a quiet act of sabotage; the persistence to recover subjugated traditions; drawing lines in the sand; or simply the willingness to risk. We are intentionally bringing joy and militancy together, with the aim of thinking through the connections between fierceness and love, resistance and care, combativeness and nurturance.

When people find themselves genuinely supported and cared for, they are able to extend this to others in ways that seemed impossible or terrifying before. When people find their bellies filled and their minds sharpened among communal kitchens and libraries, hatred for capitalist ways of life grows amid belonging and connection. When someone receives comfort and support from friends, they find themselves willing to confront the abuse they have been facing. When people develop or recover a connection to the places where they live, they may find themselves standing in front of bulldozers to protect that place. When people begin to meet their everyday needs through neighborhood assemblies and mutual aid, all of a sudden they are willing to fight the police, and the fight deepens bonds of trust and solidarity. Joy can be contagious and dangerous.

All over the world, there are stories of people who find themselves transformed through the creation of other forms of life: more capable, more alive, and more connected to each other, and willing to defend what they are building. In our conversations with others from a variety of currents and locations, we have become increasingly convinced that the most widespread, long-lasting, and fierce struggles are animated by strong relationships of love, care, and trust. These values are not fixed duties that can be imitated, nor do they come out of thin air. They arise from struggles through which people become powerful together. As people force Empire out of their lives, there is more space for kindness and solidarity. As people reduce their dependence on Empire’s stifling institutions, collective responsibility and autonomy can grow. As people come to trust their capacity to figure things out together rather than relying on the state and capitalism, they are less willing to submit to the fears and divisions that Empire fosters.

These emergent powers are at the core of the Spinozan lineage, of this book, and (we think) of many vibrant movements today. Drawing on Spinoza, we call them common notions. To have a common notion is to be able to participate more fully in the web of relations and affections in which we are enmeshed. They are not about controlling things, but about response-ability, capacities to remain responsive to changing situations. This is why they are a bit paradoxical: they are material ideas, accessed by tuning into the forces that compose us, inseparable from the feelings and practices that animate them. Abstract morality and ideology are barriers to this tuning-in, offering up rule-bound frameworks that close us off from the capacity to modulate the forces of the present moment.

Similarly, we have come to think that while trust is fundamental in transformative struggle, it cannot be an obligation; trust is always a gift and a risk. Common notions are inherently experimental and collective. They subsist by hanging onto uncertainty, similar to the Zapatistas’ notion preguntando caminamos: “asking, we walk.” For the same reason, common notions are always in danger of being stifled by rigid radicalism, which tends towards mistrust and fixed ways of relating that destroy the capacity to be responsive and inventive. Joyful militancy, then, is a fierce commitment to emergent forms of life in the cracks of Empire, and the values, responsibilities, and questions that sustain them.

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

Do you have any suggestions on anti-psych books to read? I've read a little about it before, but mostly on the science/medicine side of things (like how some pharmaceutical companies pay psychiatrists to produce studies promoting their medicine, how diagnostic criteria can create problems in other cultures, stuff like that).

It sorta depends on what you mean by books? Literature, for sure, absolutely. But like. Mostly journals, zines, self-published narratives from those detained in various psychiatric institutions over the years, or even the odd clinical paper.

Personally, a lot of what I read that brought me to anti-psych had nothing (or very little) to do with psychiatric medicine in the first place. It was more about the role of autonomy and embodied trauma in self-concept and communal identity over time, the relationships between incarceration and institutionalization, prison abolition literature at large (which is often much more explicitly anti-psych than people realize when they choose not to read actual prison abolition literature and theory, especially Angela Davis' work), and anthropological research on personal and communal identity, as well as resource collection and distribution across different cultures and associated markers of quality of life. I realize that looking at all those different systems and smashing them together in your brain like rocks in a polishing tumbler isn't the most sexy method of radical learning available, but it has wprked pretty well for me in generating complex understandings of the systems at work in anti-psych conversations nonetheless.

Anyway, if you want some of the go-tos I often refer people towards, I'll send you to authors rather than specific works.

Angela Davis has phenomenal insight into the experiences of intersecting incarceration amd pathologization, allowing for some truly nuanced discussion of how mental health care is wielded as a weapon instead of a resource.

The Jane Addams Collective is a group of anarchist social workers and mental health practitioners who work to share their knowledge of praxis, trauma, recovery, and mutual aid to establish community care models that can be utilized even without professional supervision.

Michel Foucault's writing on identity, community, and surveillance are honestly essential to anyone who wants to internalize a comprehensive understanding of how these things impact each other through various systems and dynamics

Judith Butler is a bit of a classic and frankly I hate how she writes stylistically, but she does great work on embodiment and identity, both personal and societal/communal.

I also really like Julia Oparah's (formerly Sudbury) work on abolitionism and experiences of incarceration

The Mad Liberation Front is pretty well known within antipsych circles I think for putting out literature on various topics within the framework

You can also search the anarchist library for their dissertations, books, and other texts on anti-psych here:

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/search?bare=1&bare=1&page=1&query=anti+psych

Anyway, I realize it's maybe not the kind of reading list you were expecting when you reached out but I hope it helps anyway!