#notes on worklife

[le-trash-prince]

I just wanna throw my two-cents in for anyone feeling like The Ex Morning is only for SOTUS fans—I haven’t watched SOTUS and have never really been interested in doing so. I’ve seen a handful of Singto’s shows but never anything with Krist in it. But I am still really, really enjoying The Ex Morning. I think the quality is just up there. The writing, the directing, the visuals are all great.

We also still don’t have all that many live action BL series about working adults, and certainly fewer about those outside of salarymen BL, so that’s something I appreciate. There’s a lot of focus in the story about Phi’s career as a reporter, it’s not just background filler noise, it’s something that’s central to his life. It’s also a rare perspective in BL of an adult who has achieved a goal he was passionate about in college and yet is struggling with how empty his worklife has become.

And I think it’s even more rare to have a BL about exes. This isn’t a story about two people getting to know each other and falling in love for the first time. It’s about two people who already know each other and already love each other but who have so much unresolved hurt and loss between them.

Anyways, we’re only one episode in, but so far it’s hitting the notes it needs to hit and it’s delivering some really good character storytelling. While I think the whole premise and creation of this show seems like absolute gold for SOTUS fans, you don’t need to have an existing bias to enjoy it. I’d say simply if you like heartfelt romcoms about adults who bicker, then The Ex Morning worth checking out.

[debb987]

Debb's AO3 fanfic notes

Well, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? I can’t believe it’s been so long, time sure flies by!

I’m so grateful for the comments wondering if I was fine and wishing me well, sorry I went radio-silent, thank you for your concern ❤️

Sadly I had to stop writing fanfics for a bit. Writing is addictive and I was using it as a way to escape/deal with IRL, which isn’t bad per se, but it reached a point where I stopped living my own life so my characters could live theirs. Reaching that level of escapism is Not Healthy TM, indeed.

Thus the pause. For anyone that cares, I’m happy to share I’ve been living life to the fullest ever since, and I’m happy. I do broidery and investigate esoterism as a hobby, I eat healthier, I exercise. I spend time with friends and family, playing boardgames, supporting an aroace project for more visibility in my local community, worklife is somewhat stable, house is well-maintained, my cat is a cuddly void stuck to my side whenever I’m home. I usually have enough spoons to deal with the less-nice side of daily life, so all’s great!

Still, I have so many things drafted up, the timeline of how the stories were meant to develop… little scenes of drafts of emotional moments... so I’ll publish that in AO3 to bring “closure” to the fics. You can keep an eye out for those in case you were wondering about how they would have ended c: it will be a slow upload but probably happening sometime within this year lml.

The urge to write sometimes strikes me like a knife. There’s so many plot bunnies running in my head… I can’t say I won’t write fics ever again, cause the ideas sometimes don’t let me sleep aksjdakjd it just won’t be with the frequency I used to. I’ll try to stick to one-shots and shorter stories where possible ✨💕and ignore the plot-bunnies that would need a long story to come across properly.

So yeah, keep an eye out on AO3 if interested (or subscribe to get the notification of the update when it happens, if you're interested in a particular fic) and thanks for everything, it was a pleasure to have you as my readers ❤️hopefully we’ll continue to cross paths here!

See you around! Lots of love, Debb

[loserlvrss]

｡ ｡ ─────𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐒𝐒, 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐘 𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐄𝐒 ( 유.𝐊ang𝐌in )

( 베리베리 ). kangmin was there to remind you life is still beautiful

유강민 x gf!rea. ⟡ warn. kiss, angst, ment. of mental health drabble, hurt-comfort800HUN 👟🐋

노트 for ves i love our man

Safety was a concept that you’d grown unfamiliar with over the years. You missed being naive before the utility bills, the unstable worklife of a capilatistic society and withering friendships in it’s wake. You missed being able to see the people you used to call friends consistently, before the wave of bustling streets and days that went by too quickly came and swallowed you up. You used to think time wasn’t moving, but now all you could think about was how it was moving too fast; One to ten to thirteen to sixteen to eighteen to twenty and beyond. Too much, too fast. It gave you the spins.

Uncertainty was all you knew now, when you used to be so sure of yourself. Everything was always planned. You pride yourself on being prepared for every outcome, but even if you were on the right path, you could still get hit if you stopped moving. Now, however, through the mirror looking back at you, was a stranger who used to be so bright and full of life—Not synthetic green grass against a gray sky. It’s like you were a hollow shell, only able to feel when it was someone else doing the job for you. 

You were out of touch. You’d never felt so out of reach before. Disconnected from what used to give you joy—Who used to give you joy. 

Your whole world felt like you were on a nice beach somewhere warm looking at a bomb going off in the distance. Hopeless and helpless through the chaos, running through quicksand, tripping, and being swallowed by the following tsunami with eyes wide open. Frozen. Motionless. Overdosing on the adrenaline of fear.

But there was one place where all the screaming and carnage subsided…One place where you could take off all your armor and dance around like no one was watching hard enough to judge. Where you weren’t under the microscope to point out every flaw you had, but to count how many beauty marks were on your face, and trace the smile lines that made you human. The crease between your eyebrows reminded you of where you’ve been, and the gentle press of lips over it made you realize where you wanted to end up. 

Safety wasn’t something you could resite, and being uncomfortable was a familiar feeling, but it all subsided wrapped up in your boyfriend’s arms. With him. Yoo Kangmin. The light of your messy life. 

Nothing mattered when it was just the two of you. 

Nothing mattered like it did when the sun was up, birds chirping on your windowsill. Nothing mattered like the coffee in your cup and the piles of notes you were too tired to organize the night before. Nothing mattered because at the end of the day, it should’ve been the little things. 

He was the clean corner of your depression room, the canned food that never went bad, the hands that covered your ears when the noise was too much. He was the certainty you could feel despite being numb. 

With him you weren’t scared to close your eyes. You could talk sunrise to sunset and not regret a word you’d said. Love was the strongest drug you never had to buy. And the easiest one you could get addicted to. 

His fingers threaded through the ends of your hair as you leaned back to his side, “What’s on your mind?”

“Honestly,” You started, silencing yourself in his everlasting presence, “you make everything okay.” 

He guffawed at your confession, “Really?” 

“Yeah,” You replied, “Thank you.” 

He pressed his lips to the top of your head, lingering long after he’d pulled back. “You make it all worth it, y/n. All the small, irrelevant things don’t seem like it when I’m with you.” 

You turned, lifting your head from off his shoulder. His eyes were so sincere it made you draw a blank. He was comfort within a person, the man designed down to a T for you. You never thought you’d get it, and now you’ll spend your whole life being grateful. 

“I love you a lot, Kangmin.” 

A grin spread across his face, yours mirroring it in an instant. “I love you more, stupid.” 

You rolled your eyes as he took your cheeks within his palms, pulling you down to him. Face to face. Your heart picked up a steady rhythm—One you hoped harmonized with his—Until he finally pressed his lips to yours, fitting almost too perfectly; In your life, mind, soul. 

You pulled back momentarily, “For the record, I’m not the stupid one…stupid.” He laughed in response, wrapping his arms around you as you got comfortable against his chest again. 

You were uncertain about most things, It’s true, but one thing was for sure, you saw him in your fate. 

© loserlvrss 2024 / 25. 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱.

networks : @blossomnet @starlit-network @k-films @kstrucknet

taglist : @slytherinshua @hursheys | fill out form to be added. 

back to masterlist!

[goetzjpvis]

2/9/24 "ZOM 100" JPT3702

With the first episode of Bucket list of the dead, it is expected that one would think the anime is about the toxicity of Japanese worklife culture. And to an extent, the first episode very much is- we see Akira Tendo's gradual descent into an uncomfortable life working at a black company, which is a reality that Japanese OL workers know all too well. It's no secret that their work life, social hierarchies, and leisure time are tightly restricted. Employees usually need to hang out with each other after work to the extent that they are not seen as social outcasts or losers. They are also made to work excruciating overtime often falling asleep or even sleeping at the company. Many employees, even women, are sexually harassed by their bosses with nobody to report to. And last but not least, employees are verbally harassed and abused by their bosses resulting in a high turnover/suicide rate.

When I lived in Japan, I enjoyed riding the subway to and from school every day. I also found the gates in front of the train itself endearing, because I thought it was Japan's considerate way of keeping their elderly, children, and unfortunate out of danger. Based on what I read online, these gates are actually meant to prevent suicide. At first, I was shocked, because the gate was not that high and easy to jump over. So naturally, I questioned its effectiveness. While watching the anime I realized it does stop people- the tired, zombie-like workers who stumble to and from work every day. It's easy to break the monotony of your life with a simple 3 steps forward, but not with a jump and a hop.

The show definitely did have a message (or rather an attempt at a message)- You can do whatever you want, and you should not submit to authority just because they are there. Rather, you should find somebody you trust or work for yourself. At the end of episode 7, Shizuka tells Akira that the future is open to endless possibilities and you can 'be whoever you want to be'. Which I believe to be the general theme of the show, freedom of choice.

Now, onto what I didn't like.......

Fanservice I found it funny that Akira's first love was a woman who was sexually abused by her company because the show immediately turns around and sexualizes her during her death scene- which is kinda redundant, no? The framing of the scenes in which female characters exist is often sexualized as well. There is no reason to add SWEAT BEADS to Shizuka's chest when they cannot even get the shading on her Jacket correct. The image below was like an 8 second still. I seriously laughed. Also, so many sexualized female zombies?? Even in death, women can't catch a break from horny animators. One last note: You might be inclined to argue that just because you can see an exposed part of a woman's body, she is not sexualized. And that is true! However with the framing of the scene, overabundance of BRA shots(!??!) and comments made specifically about female's bodies.... it's easy to see that the mangaka dont gaf....

2. A whole lot of nothing

in the sense that the show tried very hard to shove the *point* down your throat instead of letting you analyze and find it out yourselves... It's clear the author wants you to experience freedom of choice for a better life, but we only really get that through endless monologuing and the "bad" characters doing things that scream GRAHHHH I'M SO BADDDD!!! GRAHH

3. High-Key Unrealistic

My suspension of disbelief was affected greatly by company meetings still going on OUTSIDE during an apocalypse, Shizuka's dad immediately putting down her dog for no other reason than being the "bad guy", and still having electricity during an apocalypse, etc.

[colourstreakgryffin]

Could u do an aizawa angst to comfort fic?

I can definitely try! I’ll try live up to what you wish! Damn, I hope you mean Shota Aizawa!

In all honesty! I don’t know Aizawa very well so I also hope this is decent!

A Smile Worth Protecting

“Are you okay, Myōji-sensei?” One of your students asked out of nowhere, your originally focused expression shaped into a smile. It may have looked genuine but it wasn’t

You weren’t okay and it shanked your heart forcing yourself to smile when you couldn’t feel any reason to. You were stressed, exhausted and miserable all at once with your nightmare of a situation

The memories of the hellish funeral flooded through your mind as your fingers clutched a hold onto the business course book in your hand as your other hand holding the whiteboard eraser, slowed down it’s pace of rubbing off the now worthless writing.

A horrible accident happened only a mere week ago. The death of your mother and little brother, killed mysteriously by a unknown villain. The pro-heroes spent hours on end trying to locate the murderer, to no luck. Stepping foot into that church and seeing the two caskets broke your heart into two.

You knew beginning your career as U.A High’s first year Support Course teacher could come with some sacrifices. Some stress but never did you suspect you’d become the affected victim of a murder.

You never got time to heal off this pain. As the stress of midterm exams and grading all the packets of important material had your head feeling light. You turned around to the student in question, putting down the eraser in the process.

“I’m fine, dear. You have a wonderful rest of your day” You chirp in the most believable joyful voice you could muster, her eyes sparkled with such life and wonder. The girl smiled back, pulling you in for a quick hug before she jogged off at the call of her friends, who disappeared into the hallway.

Even with such a caring class of students. You still felt alone, closing the book in your hand and placing it down flat to begin the stack of books you were to take home. In no time, all your belongings were in the bookbag as you quickly gathered the dismissed shoulder bag and put back on your winter jacket, in which hid under the desk.

Locking the classroom for the day, you basically dragged yourself through the empty halls with a heavy heart and threatening to water exhausted eyes. Thankfully, you didn’t have to muster strength to push open the private staff lounge. The door was open already

The sight before you almost made you crumble on the floor. Another pile of paperwork. Sure, you didn’t know what exactly all of it was but the only blaring thing was a sticky note spewing worthless apologies about making you work in your current state. You wanted more than anything to sit at your computer and relax for a while, you needed time off work. You couldn’t stand going home with the weight of your mother and brother’s death plaguing the building

But no. More work, more stress and more problems. You lazily dropped the bags strapped to your shoulder and threw yourself into the chair. The loud noise erupted through the air conditioned room and silence relieved your high nerves

As you begin shuffling through the many pages stacked neatly on the desk with reluctant hands and a heavy sigh to try steady your burning heart. You were a bit absorbed with examining the contents as minutes flew by, nothing more than material for your classes. It seems Nezu decided to have mercy on you

Eventually, the powerful footsteps entered the vacant space. You would have turned around to see who it was but you didn’t need to. The person yawned and the deep, attractive tone of the yawn so familiar as it was ingrained into your head

Aizawa Shota, a friend of yours. You have had a crush on him for a while, though, he was so occupied with his worklife and taking naps in that weird sleeping bag, that your conversations with him were more minor then you wanted. Sure, he was very professional and polite to you, but you wanted to learn more about him on a friendly basis, then a coworker one

Aizawa rubbed his eyes to shake off the sleep, looking around the empty bland room to see you hunched over the table and vigorously shifting through papers. He always found you so impressive, work and never stop. He can barely handle his own class, though, he wouldn’t trade his job for anything.

He frowns at the sight of you, leaning up slightly from his hunched stance. As a pro-hero, Aizawa knew about your disgusting situation and felt his heart break for you. He worked even harder than the rest of the pro-heroes and police force handling the case, to find the killer as he cared intently for you

But his work was fruitless and it frustrated him. Alongside providing help for his students and pro-hero business, Aizawa had you on his mind. He couldn’t say he had a crush on you but he knew his heart was latched to you. He gently walked up to your leant over back and sighed softly before speaking

“Isn’t it time for you to go home?” Aizawa asked, his voice slithered through as smooth as silk. You felt as if your musculoskeletal frame jumped out of your skin as you didn’t turn around. You didn’t want to dogpile your crush with your problems stop his so you quickly huffed out, hoping you brushing him off will make him take the hint

“Yes. But I got work to do. Don’t worry about it, I’m fine” You responded rather firm, stress building and building with each second as it all piled onto your heart, making it feel as if it weighs thousands of pounds. Your hands went from laying on the papers to the keyboard of your computer, booting it up so you begin your work and finish it as soon as possible

“You’re fine? You have been quiet and irritable all day. Usually, you’re calm and outgoing, have you not been looking after yourself?” Aizawa asks once again in his usual monotone voice, his heart broke for the obvious pain in your tone. He cared so dearly about your state, though, he was now concerned that he seemed a bit too nosy

“I’m fine” You bark again, desperately keeping your semi-swollen eyes glued onto the awakening screen before you. You needed to begin typing up these lessons before tomorrow, you had no time to chat meaningless nonsense with him

“Dokusha. Talk to me” Aizawa firmly spoke, grabbing your chair and spinning you around until you faced him, tough dark eyes glaring down holes as his mighty hands kept the chair still, caging you so you couldn’t get up in any way or form

“I’m fine, Aizawa. Just… leave me alone” You softly spoke in contrast to the rising venom lacing your tone, wanting to beg him to get off your case. However, the more heartbroken second half of yourself was screaming out for his attention. You didn’t want to shop him away, he was giving up his usual resting time to make sure you were okay.

How could you not thank him for his consideration? You did, you were more than thankful but you didn’t want to tell him about all the problems you were facing at one time. He already has plenty of stress to deal with! More than you, you’d argue.

You teach children how to build support items for heroes, Aizawa teaches children how to effectively battle villains and utilise their quirks to become those heroes. He is far more important than you as your mind continued to repeat that idea in a intense chant

“Dokusha” Aizawa sighed deeply as hearing him say your name made your heart beat faster. He dropped to his knees so he can properly meet eyes with you, which were lowered to your knees by your hunched head

“You don’t need to tell me, okay. You know that I know what’s wrong. It’s been tough but keeping it all bundled up isn’t helping with your mental health. May I ask that you listen to me?” Aizawa requests in his signature soft yet firm aura, his calloused palms rubbed over your smaller hands in a comforting way. You gently nod in defeat, tears rolling down your cheeks out of your control

You couldn’t fight the man you liked a lot anymore. You just sobbed, Aizawa wraps his strong arms around you and perched himself up to give you a better hug. His heart flipped at the feeling of your wet cheek fall on his shoulder, slightly wetting his dark longsleeve.

“I know. C’mere” Aizawa cooed gently at your light crying, pulling you out of the chair with a single tug after letting go and leading you over to his infamous sleeping bag left propped up on the left of the doorway. He threw it onto the lounge’s nearby couch lazily and sat you down by the open head, hand still caressing yours and rubbing the knuckles in a almost massaging like way

You were confused, looking at the sleeping-bag then at Aizawa, his long messy raven black hair laid over his shoulders as that faded scar over his cheek highlighted his sharp jaw. You were about to ask Aizawa what he was thinking but he beat you to the punch

“Go to sleep. You need a break” He remarked with that same firm yet gentle tone, combing his free hand through your hair as you attempted to protest, but he had already made up the decision for you

“I’ll talk to Nezu about letting you have a week off from work. Going to sleep will be better for the two of us” Aizawa answers, opening up the sleeping bag and waiting for you to climb in. You sighed gently, cheeks turning rosy with shyness

Helping you get inside and comfortable, you breathed in sharply in surprise as he zips up the bag. It was surprisingly clean and smelt like strawberry soap, he must have cleaned it regularly. Aizawa laid his chin down on the couch cushion besides yours. He had very little room but he didn’t mind as he could see relief flood you

You felt so warm and snuggly in a instant, you now understood why Aizawa liked the sleeping bag so much. Aizawa begun speaking, his voice helped ease your high intensity and stressed nerves. His hand rubbing up your head once again

“We’ll find a substitute, okay. Just relax, you need some rest” Aizawa reassured, patting your hair softly and locking eyes on your slowly fluttering eyelids. You were tired and falling asleep like the sleeping bag had a quirk of it’s own. All his hardwork will pay off, seeing the woman he “adores” finally settle down from all her stress is reliving him of his stress too

Aizawa‘s face glowed with a soft smile. Just at the sight of your closed eyes and softened breathing had made his entire day. He couldn’t help but just admire your beautiful face with his dark irises sparkling in love

The love he knew he had but he didn’t want to admit just yet

[electrolightorchestra]

Getting a breather.

The welsh have some glorious mountains.. time to pause from worklife, travel to different destinations. Refresh unwind and relax Also a side note trying to work out the settings. This is a place for my refllective photos, away from Fb, X and reddit

[rogue-bard]

Every now and again this comes across my notes and reminds me how much I love Zombies Run.

I wanna start again but my health amd worklife won't let me...

(Spoilers up to S2-M23: Galvanize)

Abel is salvation. Abel is home.

[dannygronerportfolio]

10 Things I'm Most Proud of from 2024

I entered this year mid-transformation, awaiting the first deal that I had sourced to close. In March, it did. By the end of April, I saw a second one I'd sourced enter out portfolio. Getting one felt like an accomplishment, but seeing two back-to-back was a revelation. =My confidence only grew from there, knowing that I had gotten what I had sought for 18 months leading up to it. Over the summer that followed, I read two VC books, aspiring to continue to level up on the back of proven successes.

On the other side of my work, portfolio support, I also rose in stature. I went from PR service provider to more firmly an advisor to our companies. A few anecdotes along the way: One cofounder told me earlier this year that PR wasn't a priority for her. When I suggested ceasing to have our calls, she said she'd still like to speak with me despite, that she gets a lot from our calls. Also, after my first company closed, at the first board meeting that our board adviser attended, he let me know afterward that my name was shouted out at the board meeting. That gave me goosebumps. Finally, we onboarded a new team member this past Fall. After he attended one of my initial calls with an investor, as part of his onboarding, he told me that nobody thinks as quickly on the fly as I do, that he's never seen people warm up to someone as quickly as people do with me.

My Substack hit its stride this year. It doesn't matter to me how many subscribers I have, though I do hope it picks up more along the way, attracting only the people who seek something like it. Nobody is writing in the first-person how I am, and the people who have benefited from it have told me how much it means to them as they plan for what's next. Someone left me a voice note this week telling me, out of the blue, that she is grateful this holiday season for my writing. That's impact. It has all been fueled by my effort this year to live more so at ease than I could previously, and to trust that achievement and clarity would follow. These days, I am writing a full season in advance of publishing columns. I have so much I wish to express.

I spoke with The Washington Post about so-called boyfriend sickness, defending the practice. In the article, I argue that men mature most once they get into a relationship with the person they should be with - and others should understand why and how it happens. I also appeared on a podcast discussing why it's important to have lay leaders speak from the pulpit. I participated in a roundup about PR measurement. And I chatted with The Wall Street Journal about celebrating birthdays at work.

This year, remote work was at a crossroads, and we saw portfolio companies quoted on several occasions about navigating the tension and transition: The Hill, Wall Street Journal, WorkLife, Associated Press,

Public appeared in Quartz about IPOs, in Barron's about Trump Media, in USA Today about retirement, in Digiday about third-party cookies, in USA Today about treasury bonds, and the San Francisco Chronicle about what's to come in 2025.

Lalo spoke to The Wall Street Journal about business travel, with Reuters about tariffs, then Washington Post about tariffs, with Bloomberg about inflation, with Modern Retail about Amazon Prime Day, and Wall Street Journal about ads leading up to the national election.

Trust & Will landed a profile in Sherwood News on estate planning and Gen Z, another significant mention in The Wall Street Journal, a feature in CNBC, and a similar story a few weeks later in The Wall Street Journal.

Hive Brands was cited in The New York Times about the state of the economy, and in Associated Press about loyalty programs.

Forecast Labs was cited in TechCrunch projecting on what to expect from Series A financing rounds, and Outcomes4Me was listed with Women's Health forecasting the future of AI in healthcare. We expect to see more opportunities like those in 2025 as a new administration takes over and reporters are bound to be looking for commentary about what comes next.

(Here’s a link to the 2023 list.)

[mediamonarchy]

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/20241002_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 The spectacular failure of self-checkout technology, unreasonable risk and stormy weather + this day in history w/”you’re all going to die tonight” and our song of the day by Doyley & the Rejects on your #MorningMonarchy for October 2, 2024. Notes/Links: Winamp Releases Source Code, But Is It Really Open? https://hackaday.com/2024/09/24/winamp-releases-source-code-but-is-it-really-open/ ‘It hasn’t delivered’: The spectacular failure of self-checkout technology https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20240111-it-hasnt-delivered-the-spectacular-failure-of-self-checkout-technology Video: The spectacular failure of self-checkout technology (Audio) https://youtu.be/zDILuTQ_GKI Tiffany Williams & Dalton Mills – “Gold Watch And Chain” (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR_3Z0yB1CY Kamala Harris October surprise psyop! This dock strike is all staged. Kamala will come in and negotiate a deal that saves the day. The main stream media will make her out a hero! Bookmark this tweet! https://x.com/Sweetcaligurl07/status/1840789188133974296/video/1 https://x.com/RyanMattaMedia/status/1840903059049742763 Revealed: The US Government-Funded ‘Private Social Network’ Attacking Pesticide Critics https://sustainablepulse.com/2024/09/29/revealed-the-us-government-funded-private-social-network-attacking-pesticide-critics/ Cancer Risk from Pesticides Equivalent to Smoking – New US Study https://sustainablepulse.com/2024/08/06/cancer-risk-from-pesticides-equivalent-to-smoking-new-us-study/ Judge Orders EPA to Address Potential Risk of Fluoride in Drinking Water; ‘The risk to health at exposure levels in United States drinking water is sufficiently high to trigger regulatory response by the EPA,’ Judge Edward Chen said. https://archive.is/hPBpi After 7 years of pursuing legal action, FluorideAction (FAN) has reportedly won their lawsuit against the EPA. https://x.com/decensorednews/status/1838945423794352544 EPA Must Reduce Fluoride’s IQ Risks to Children, Court Says https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/epa-must-reduce-fluorides-risks-to-childrens-iq-court-says Video: Fluoride in Water Poses “Unreasonable Risk” to Children, Federal Judge Rules (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM72aS88388 Town Meeting – “Moonlight On The Tracks” (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZohLB1wq7I Trading one war for another, Israeli Jews stream to Ukraine’s Uman for Rosh Hashanah; Ignoring warnings from authorities about ongoing Russian invasion, over 14,000 pilgrims arrive for annual new year festival at grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov https://www.timesofisrael.com/trading-one-war-for-another-israeli-jews-stream-to-ukraines-uman-for-rosh-hashanah/ Helene kills at least 90, homes and memories washed away https://www.reuters.com/world/us/hurricane-helene-wreaks-havoc-us-southeast-death-toll-rises-2024-09-29/ Hurricane Helene live updates: Death toll rises to 166 ahead of Biden, Harris visits https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/hurricane-helene/?id=113931821 Video: Hurricane Helene brought ‘historic devastation,’ Asheville, North Carolina mayor says (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3F5Id1cZZU Jesse Welles – “Autumn” (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p2Yo6iZzvk October 2014 – Page 3 – Media Monarchy https://mediamonarchy.com/2014/10/page/3/ Flashback: How #HongKong Protesters Get Around Official #Censorship (Oct. 2, 2014) https://mediamonarchy.com/how-hongkong-protesters-get-around/ #ThisDayInHistory/#MorningMonarchy: October 2, 2017 – Las Vegas concert goer says a woman told her and group of friends, “you’re all going to die tonight,” 45 minutes before shooting. (Audio) https://mediamonarchy.com/20171002morningmonarchy/ #PumpUpThaVolume: October 2, 2017 ♬ Prince & Tom Petty’s death day https://mediamonarchy.com/20171002pumpupthavolume/ #GoodNewsNextWeek: Cord-Cutting Winter Is Coming + Website Farms & Animals Return https://mediamonarc...

[beardedmrbean]

Finland's unemployment benefit regime changed at the start of this month, with income-linked benefits set to reduce in stages the longer a recipient is unemployed.

The goal is to encourage people to take jobs they might not consider if they were on the higher payments for longer.

A Kauppalehti editorial says the inspiration for this reform comes from Denmark, where people are encouraged back into work quickly and unemployment benefits reduce over time.

KL writes that the Finnish reform is, however, missing an important element. Denmark's employment offices are exceptionally active in helping people to find work and offering new training, whereas Finland's are not.

Individual officials are overworked, with too many clients and not enough time to offer genuine help.

The paper suggests that this might doom the Finnish reform, and notes that third-sector and private-sector providers should be asked to offer some of the missing services.

Faking, but not so illegal

Helsingin Sanomat followed up on recent controversies over a campaign against fake tickets on Helsinki buses with an attempt to use the paper's front page as a ticket.

The local transport authority had launched an ad campaign fighting the scourge of fake tickets, which can be shown on a phone screen but are revealed to be invalid when scanned by inspectors.

That campaign was pulled from physical stops after a controversy over possible racist undertones, but HS decided to test how difficult it is to use fake tickets.

The reporter sent out on this mission did have a valid ticket, so he was not subject to a fine if inspectors boarded the bus, but instead showed bus drivers the Helsingin Sanomat website. As he was not using a forged ticket, nothing illegal was taking place.

Most nodded him through and barely glanced at his phone, suggesting that controls are lax on the Helsinki region's bus system.

Although inspectors did check tickets on one service, he had a ticket to show when asked. The challenge for Helsinki Regional Transport (HSL) appears to be getting bus drivers to request to see it.

Therian ban

Ilta-Sanomat reports on an Oulu school that has been forced to clamp down on children identifying as animals, a trend linked to the Therian subculture, where individuals emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually identify as non-human animals.

These children have been crawling on all fours and going outside in their socks (because animals don't wear shoes), which then get wet and dirty.

As pupils don't wear shoes indoors, that in turn makes other pupils' socks wet and dirty.

So the school decided to act, sending messages to parents stating that such role playing should occur outside school hours.

The problem was small, but clear communication was necessary, according to the headteacher.

Pupils are now banned from acting or dressing like animals, but special permission can be granted if teachers believe doing so is necessary to ensure the psychological safety of the child.

Therians Explained: Wikihow

[lostlevelsclub]

Pre-Chat: 𝕏🔪🐦

Mike and Ting talk about X and lazy girl jobs.

NOTE: this is the pre-episode warm up chat for Diablo 4.

Contact us: @lostlevelsclub or mike.and.ting@lostlevels.club

Show Notes:

Pre-Chat

I was wrong, you can totally have a single letter domain name 🤷‍♂️

Single-letter second-level domain - Wikipedia

Elon Musk: Twitter rebrands as X and kills off blue bird logo - BBC News

Threads active users have halved in a week, report says | Mashable

Clubhouse

The Twits - Wikipedia

Local timeline - Gamedev Mastodon

How the 'lazy girl job' took over work TikTok - BBC Worklife

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Rewatch: Evil rephrased—it eats you, starting with your bottom | Tor.com

Download this Episode

[deepushibu]

Notes from my workplace. #2

Never be an Asshole.

And this is really important.

Consider a person who has worked all his life for a single company, coming up from the low levels in his youth to a prominent managerial position at the end of his career. The transition from an engineer/worker to a manager takes time and there are cases in which these managers may not have a management degree. And in some cases people who have…

[sailoreuterpe]

Tfw you’re the fuckup womanchild sibling who can’t get their shit together.

[elvirayunita]

Pernah suatu ketika, aku berupaya mengerahkan seluruh kemampuanku untuk menjalankan amanah yang telah diberikan. Lalu, kutemukan ia yang karena kesibukan belum dapat memberikan upaya terhadap hal yang tadi telah aku upayakan. Singkat cerita kami dikeluarkan dari tim karena dinilai kurang bertanggung jawab. Ya, kami yang dikeluarkan. Selintas ada kelegaan luar biasa yang kurasa karena tidak perlu lagi bekerja di bawah tekanan. Bersamaan dengan itu, entah kenapa kutapik setitik kecewa yang terbersit. Bukan karena dikeluarkan dari tim nya, tetapi lebih karena perasaan semacam dianggap tidak baik padahal aku telah melakukan yang terbaik. Kemudian aku sadar, hal itulah yang membuatku merasa kecewa. Tak apa, semoga Allah gantikan dengan balasan yang lebih indah, di sisi Allah saja.

Ditengah itu aku tersadar, Rabbi... sungguh banyak sekali yang harus dibenahi dari diri hamba ini, salah satunya enyahkan rasa dan bersitan ingin diapresiasi. Bekerjalah dengan tulus dan ikhlas hanya untuk Allah saja. Hasil kerja keras tidak harus sebanding dengan apresiasi orang lain, terlebih jika memang kamu bukan siapa-siapa. 

[thekitchensocial]

Feeling v inspired whilst doing some goal planning, a favourite past time of mine. 2018 still has sooo much potential 🙏 . . . #2018 #goals #planning #inspired #domore #learnmore #becreative #drinkmorecoffee #coffeelover #hollytucker #notes #writeitdown #sunshine #keepingbusy #worklife #yoga #foodie #music #inspiration #wkend (at Holly & Co)

[myonmukyuu]

Art Summary: 2021

It’s time for my yearly art review! This makes my 8th year of recording year-long summaries. They’re really piling up now. 😊

I feel like this summary isn't really indicative of my improvement? It's more like what I got up to over the year.

...I really did draw stpm for an entire year 🤣

Previous: 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020

Let’s see... what did I get up to this year?

My worklife shifted to primarily working from home, so I ended up getting more time to draw. Though on the flipside I’ve been quite busy with my life, especially because I’ve been trying to organise building a house with my family.  Either way, my comic output has been quite constant.

It may have taken me 2-4 months to do ch8 in my series, but I wasn’t spending that time sitting around y’know. I feel like I’m becoming a lot more confident with making comics like this! I usually feel a lot of grief about how I’m “not fast enough” and things like that. But looking back, I really should cut myself some slack 😅. I did 138 pages worth of comic this year. On average that makes about 11 pages a month. Of course this doesn’t take into account whether those pages were coloured or not, not does it take into account the breaks I’ve taken to do standalone illustrations or other things but I still think it’s pretty consistent work if you ask me! And I’m happy I could keep it up. Comics are the kind of thing you get better at by just doing, after all.

As a side-note, I’m also happy that some of my work was accepted onto Dynasty Scans this year. People have different opinions about rehosting, but for my comics specifically, I feel comfort in knowing that they’re archived somewhere outside of my art accounts. Especially somewhere that people visit specifically to read comics.

Overall... I’m pretty darn satisfied with the content I’ve output this year! My series has always been really fun to do (even though it can be stressful) because it really lets me try to flex all of my muscles, y’know? Painting skills, writing skills, doing weird backgrounds, doing weirder angles... Stuff like that. Just trying new things. Even if it’s hard to do, I have a lot of fun trying to push things further! Of course I’m not a machine and that’s not something I can constantly do, so weaving in black/white one-shots is also very satisfying. I think above everything, I want to be able to tell a good story, so being able to do comics quickly in b/w really helps me quickly pump out an idea!

I wonder if there’s anyone out there thinking “when will she get tired of drawing Setsuna/Ayumu” and honestly that’s a really good question. If you’ve been a long time follower of mine, you probably wouldn’t be asking such a question though, You’d know that I’m that kind of person who draws a single thing and nothing else for years at a time 😂. I’m just very focused okay!! I’m a depth-first kind of person when it comes to things and I still feel like there’s so much to explore between these two. I’m sorry if there’s anyone out there who wants me to draw other ships 😂.  It’s just that I really adore these characters, so I wanna continue to explore and develop them! Both as characters and as a relationship dynamic. I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface honestly... so I have my work cut out for me. (I definitely have no shortage of ideas).

I think that’s it for my general overview? Well it’s what I can think of at the moment. I’m gonna move into where I am and where I wanna go in terms of art.

Like I said before, I’m pretty satisfied with what I’ve been getting up to. Of course, technical-skills-wise I definitely have a long way to go. My lines are still so... tight, I have difficulty drawing in perspective (which really puts a wrench in lining up dramatic panels) and I barely know what 3D-shape is to name a few things. But let’s talk about what I’ve been doing!

Last year I wrote the following goals in my art summary. Let’s address them individually:

“I want to finish my comic series”

Hahhahahahahahah I’m so sorry 2020 me. This comic was a lot bigger than you initially imagine 😂. I’m not going to make any excuses or anything. But I can say for a fact that I will most definitely finish this comic in 2022! I promise!

“I want to continue to play to my strengths and enhance them”

This is a vague-sounding goal, but it still rings true. I know that my skills mainly lie in being able to create atmosphere/tone to best communicate a feeling. At least that’s what I think. But I believe I have been enhancing them! Over the course of my comics this year I’ve been trying lots of new things when it comes to lighting and colour! For my main series comics I actually do quite a bit of research and experimentation. Like in Ch 7 the rainy day scenes took some playing around with. And in ch8 the entire chapter had me trying ~4 different approaches and strategies. I think it’s really important to try to do new things and push out of your comfort-zone so I think this has been valuable to my learning. I feel like I could’ve better explained this bit but... well I’m writing this mainly for myself and I know what I mean sadaskdadklsf

“I also want to continue to try things that are outside of my comfort zone. I want to see myself try things like different angles/perspectives and more complex backgrounds.”

Speaking of comfort zones, I also shared the desires to push from them last year too. I don’t think I really pushed too far, but, I think a little goes a long way y’know? Hmmmm, while I did do more interesting angles and perspectives over the year, I don’t think I pushed as hard as I could. The same with backgrounds. While there is definitely improvement in this areas compared to last year, I think I could do a lot better. But! I will give myself credit where credit is due. It’s actually this year - a few months ago where I started using 3D tools and various other resources to help me draw. I used to be very stubborn against using such things, but now I’m much more open to it. Specifically I’ve started using 3D-models in Clip Studio Paint! This has really helped me visualise different angles and even implement foreshortening where I otherwise would’ve struggled. I feel it has helped with my improvement this year for sure. I’m hoping to better gain and understanding of 3D-space by continuing to use tools to assist me because I seriously have bad intuition for it asdasdasd.

Okay! Moving forward! What do I wanna learn in 2022? Well I have a couple of loose goals:

I want to do more illustrations/quick drawings on top of my comic work.

One thing that I always sulk about is how long my comics take to produce. And at times, it really can’t be helped. Especially if the comic is fully coloured. And like...how do I explain this... I want to upload work as often as any other fan artist, y’know? Whenever I post my big comics I feel the tension of months of work releasing from me, and like, it’s a lot lighter on my mental to be able to work on smaller things and actually finish them.  So one thing I’d like to implement is some way to work in smaller works. Whether that’d be little mini comics, or doodles or whatever while I’m working on my bigger comics. How I’ll do this? We’ll see what works, but at the moment I’m thinking of allowing 2-4 hours a week for me to work on whatever I wish outside of the main comic. Like 2 hours twice a week? Or 2 hours a week? Or- well you get the idea, I’ll figure it out! Just some time set for little things so I can get more of my ideas out.

I want to learn to paint.

This isn’t really a compulsory goal, but it’s somethign that would be nice to explore, even if it’s just a bit. For those who aren’t too familiar with making art, I’m referring to a dramatic change in my process. Usually I draw a sketch, ink the lines, and then colour beneath the lines and on top of the sketch.  Now when i say “paint” I mean it in terms of process. This would be sketching, plopping base paints on top of the sketch, then colouring as usual, painting in lines as I need them on top (much like traditional painting!). I find the style rather appealing, but it’s a bit hard for me to get used to hahahahah. But if I can figure it out well, it might help contribute to my next goal.

I want to learn to draw faster.

Above everything, I would like to be able to tell the stories that I want to tell. So it’d be helpful if I could output stories at a faster rate. I think my lining is really slow... well I think I’m quite slow in general. Even my drafting is quite slow. There are a two angles I can approach this gripe of mine from.

Faster lines.

Faster/more clever drafting.

As I’ve mentioned my lines are quite tight. If I could learn to be more loose and flowy, then perhaps I’d be able to draw faster.

As I mentioned before, I wanted to dedicate some time each week to do other things. Perhaps one of those things could be speed drawing/doodling. It’s a possibility that just allowing myself to do doodles would passively boost this skill though.

This dips into a flaw that I have that has been bubbling for awhile now. I think I’m horribly inefficient when it comes to panels and pacing when compared to professional mangaka.

...though in general I’m extremely lacking compared to a pro so what am I saying 😂

Either way, the way my comics have been becoming longer and longer is likely related to this. I’m too afraid to compress my comics and end up spacing them out unecessarily. I’m uncertain how to approach this issue as it’s very ingrained in the way I write... Regardless, I believe it to be an issue that directly affects how long I spend working a comic. I mean, if my comic panelling were more efficient, I’d have less to draw!

Again, it’s a toughie to really fix this. I think I’ll just have to do more research and keep it in mind moving forward.

I want to utilise resources that I have available to me and take more active learning.

At work I realised that my office was paying for heaps of learning resources and courses. I figured, if it’s available to me might as well use it? So maybe to help address the other problems I might take paid online lectures about them. Like gesture drawing! Or backgrounding and perspective! Stuff like that has loads of resources online so maybe putting some time into it would be valuable.

I want to print my comic.

This is a bit less of a skill-related thing. But I really want to print my setsuayu comic! I cannot promise I’ll be selling it for cheap, but if anyone buys it, I’d feel really happy! But even if people don’t, just having a physical copy of what I poured my soul into for the past 1.5 years would make me really happy. I do have my work cut out for me though. Gotta finish the comic and then reformat it to fit being printed! I believe in me!!

I also hope I can sell it in an artist alley in the coming year. I feel like people wouldn’t really be interested but.. yeah! I still wanna anyways! I’ll do my best.

General improvement.

I feel like this is a given, but I do hope to continue to improve in the various ways that I can. Like proportions, anatomy, colouring etcetc etc. Since I don’t put too much focus to it, I’m not asking for much. But, if I could be better at the end of next year than I am now, I think I’d be happy with that.

Anyways, I think that’s all from me for now? Maybe? Wait how much did I typ- oh wow 2k words asjkldaskldklas. If anyone takes the time to read this, thank you!! This is mainly written for myself, so that I can keep drawing and then look back and ask myself “did I do what I wanted to do last year?”, reflect and then do it again. For anyone looking to improve a skill, I find it really valuable to do and recommend it!

Happy New Year! Let’s see what 2022 has in store for us. 💖