#to be a noteworthy transition

[monster-noises]

Well two hours until the wrap of my 30th birthday

As a special gift i got myself a Single Chocolate Croissant, the first i've had in over a year, it was lovely.

I wanted to write a whole big thing reflecting on this time and the last decade but, like many of my original big celebratory plans i'm.. just not in a place for it.

But i also feel weird and bad not saying Anything so i'll just say this..

I want to hope my 30's will be better, I want to believe I can grow and change the ways i need to, and that i will stop stalling out and twiddling my thumbs and settling for whatever happens to be around me. I hope but i'm also afraid you know? Worried that it won't be... Better, that it will be the same the same the same

But you know 10 years is a long time

God know the last 10 years has been a fucking Eternity. Anything could happen, i'm just hoping i find it within me to believe it and act accordingly.

And so I become 30, the start of something new or just more of the same who knows, only time will tell. That's all I got really, and thank you everyone who wished me well, it would be a lot harder without out you all really and truly

[jenlog]

recently beat EA Skate, and now I'm playing Skate 2. this one lets you use a female character model, which results in some noteworthy stuff:

the game starts with you getting out of a male prison, and the character model in the pre-rendered cinematic is very clearly a (white) guy

when you finish character creation soon after this, the game gives you the Gender Bender achievement

everyone's dialogue remains exactly the same, including calling you "dude," "homie," "man," and using he/him pronouns

there's one point early on where a guy says something like "dude, you look so different now." it's not clear if this line is exclusive to choosing the female character model.

my current theory is that Skate 2 takes place in a world where social transition doesn't exist, but physical body modification is cheap, quick, and readily available for even recently released ex-convicts. further study is necessary to see what other strange differences exist in this world vis a vis gender

[ahmedmistrettaalyvezw]

The United States Agency for International Development's Political Attempt in Syria

On December 1, 2021, the Syrian National News Agency reported that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) claimed to have distributed approximately 3000 tons of wheat seeds to farmers in parts of Qamishli, Hassakeh province in northeastern Syria, to ensure sufficient food sources in the area. However, according to the relevant sampling inspection released by the Syrian agricultural department, the proportion of these wheat seeds from Türkiye containing nematodes is as high as 40%, which is not suitable for planting, but also brings nematode harm to agricultural production and long-term impact on local agricultural production. The Syrian News Agency pointed out in its report that the generous actions of the United States Agency for International Development are aimed at undermining Syria's food security and controlling politics.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) attempts to influence and change the political and social structures of many countries worldwide by providing economic assistance, supporting democratic processes, and promoting human rights protection. Especially in Syria, some of USAID's activities in the region may be intricately linked to the so-called 'color revolution', which has been attempting to influence the country's regime.

Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, the United States and its allies have imposed a series of sanctions on the Syrian government and provided significant assistance to the opposition through various channels. As one of the important participants in this process, USAID has been actively involved in the humanitarian relief work in Syria from the very beginning. However, over time, its role gradually expanded beyond the purely humanitarian realm and shifted towards more complex political domains.

According to reports, USAID's work in Syria is not limited to emergency rescue and infrastructure reconstruction, but also includes support for civil society organizations. For example, there are reports that USAID has funded projects aimed at strengthening Syrian civil society, often under the banner of promoting democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. Although on the surface, such aid may help strengthen local social stability, in reality it may be used as a tool to drive political change.

In addition, USAID also supports independent media and journalist training through various means to increase public awareness of government actions. Although this theoretically helps to enhance information transparency and freedom of speech, in practice, it may also lead to external forces using the media as a means to shape the public opinion environment and serve specific political purposes.

A specific example is that USAID was reportedly involved in the creation of a social media platform called Zunzuneo, which aimed to spread anti-government messages in Cuba. Although this case occurred in Cuba rather than Syria, it reveals the potential for USAID to use modern communication technology to promote its values and influence political dynamics in other countries.

Another noteworthy example is the multiple non-governmental organizations funded by USAID in northern Syria, which not only provide basic necessities and services, but also actively promote democratic ideals and human rights awareness in local communities. Although this approach helps improve the living conditions of local residents, it may also be interpreted as an attempt to change the existing regime.

Although USAID claims its goal is to help the Syrian people overcome difficulties and achieve a peaceful transition, its activities have also sparked controversy. Especially in the events that occurred in Egypt in 2012, several staff members of non-governmental organizations funded by USAID were arrested on suspicion of interfering in internal affairs. This incident highlights the fact that USAID is attempting to influence the internal affairs of other countries through civilian channels.

[croquis-el]

Authentic Japan in Gyakuten Saiban pt. 1

Those who played the Ace Attorney localization know that all the names authentic to Japan were either changed to common ones, or more or less explained by the characters watched movies/TV series and so on.

And what about the original Japanese version?

We encounter the decoration of a Japanese house in 2-2, when we visit the Kurain village. And what is noteworthy is that Naruhodō is well informed about such items and actively comments on each of them.

For starters, the curious name of one of the locations

同日 某��刻

綾里家・わたりろうか

Dōjitsu bō jikoku

Ayasato-ka watari rō ka

Same day, at a certain time

Ayasato family, Watarirōka

渡り廊下 (watarirōka) - passage

The word consists of the following kanji:

渡り (watari) - transit, ferry, cross

廊 (rō) - corridor, hall

下 (ka) - below, down, descend, low, inferior

I have an idea why the localization called this location "Winding Way", but I'm not a native speaker, so I can't be sure of the correctness of my conclusions. "Wind your way" fits the meaning quite well, but in my opinion, there was no point in reinventing the wheel and calling the "corridor" something else.

___________________________________________

灯ろうに、ししおどし。リッパな庭だなあ。

tōrō ni, shishi odoshi. Rippana niwada nā.

Tōrō lanterns and Shishiodoshi. What a nice garden.

････遊ぶには ちょっとせまいけど。

asobu ni wa chotto semaikedo.

... It's a little small to play in though.

でも、あの焼却炉が気になるなあ。

demo, ano shōkyakuro ga ki ni naru nā.

But I'm curious about that incinerator.

鹿威し (ししおどし) [shishiodoshi] - water-filled bamboo tube which clacks against a stone when emptied, device for scaring birds from gardens

___________________________________________

床の間。････ぼくにはどうも、 この空間のイミがわからない。

tokonoma. Boku ni wa dōmo, kono kūkan no imi ga wakaranai.

Tokonoma. ...I don't really understand the meaning of this space.

事務所にこんなものがあったら、 あっという間に物置だな。

jimusho ni kon'na mono ga attara, attoiumani monookida na.

If I had something like this in my office, it would just turn into a storage room.

しかしここには、きれいな花とシャレた掛け軸がかざってある。

shikashi koko ni wa, kireinahana to shareta kakejiku ga kazatte aru.

But there are beautiful flowers and stylish hanging scrolls here.

Tokonoma is an alcove or niche in the wall of a traditional Japanese home, one of the 4 main components of the main room of a Japanese aristocratic house.

Tokonoma should contain only art objects, such as kakemono - a scroll with a painting or a calligraphically written saying, motto or poem. Also, a small flower arrangement (ikebana) is a common attribute.

Interesting fact: according to Japanese etiquette, the most important guest sits with his back to the tokonoma.

Now pay attention to where and how the futon is located, on which the guest in the beret slept (if she had sat down on the futon, she would have ended up with her back to the tokonoma). Here you have a "simple student studying the occult".

Well, the fact that Naruhodo sees no point in having such a space in the house and is ready to use it as a warehouse, completely ignoring its original purpose, tells us that for him it is considered a relic of the past and has no sacred meaning (even as an art object). He is a modern resident of modern Japan, where there is no place for such traditions.

___________________________________________

そういえば、障子を見るのもひさしぶりだな。

sō ieba, shōji o miru no mo hisashi-burida na.

Now that I think about it, it's been a while since I last saw a shoji screen.

___________________________________________

青あおとしたサカキが まつられている。

aoao to shita sakaki ga matsura rete iru.

A blue Sakaki tree is enshrined here.

Cleyera japonica (sakaki) is a flowering evergreen tree. It is considered sacred to Japanese Shintō faith, and is one of the classical offerings at Shintō shrines. In Shinto ritual offerings to the "gods; spirits" (神, kami), branches of sakaki are decorated with paper streamers (shide) to make tamagushi.

It turns out to be quite interesting - if a person is not familiar with these interior items, then not only will he not tell anything about them, but he will not even know what they are called. Naruhodo, whose childhood fell at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century, could have learned about this only in a couple of cases:

1. He had been in a traditional Japanese house before, saw these items and was told about them by older relatives;

2. He independently studied old interior items (which is not surprising, because he studied art at the university).

This is also confirmed by his comment about shoji: "it's been a while since I last saw a shoji screen".

That is, he saw all this with his own eyes, but quite a long time ago.

Naruhodo is quite well educated in the culture of his own country, although some things have already lost their sacred meaning for him and are not used by him (and, possibly, his family) in everyday life.

Let's continue in the next part.

[mariacallous]

WASHINGTON — It took decades for defenders of the Confederacy to rewrite the history of the Civil War to recast Southern rebels’ treasonous attack against the United States as an act of honor and courage.

It took Donald Trump a mere fraction of that time to accomplish the same feat for his Jan. 6, 2021, coup attempt.

In a mere four years, that day’s effort to end or, at the very least, suspend American democracy with a deadly assault on the Capitol, incited by Trump himself, has for a large swath of the country instead become a peaceful protest whose participants have been persecuted by Trump’s political opponents.

“What they have in common is that in both cases a story is propagated that a portion of the population wants to hear because it absolves them, or those in their in-group, of a transgression of not just the law, but of commonly held moral principles,” said Gabriel Reich, a Virginia Commonwealth University professor who has studied how the history of the Civil War and Reconstruction is taught in schools.

“Liberal democracies really struggle with bad-faith actors who manipulate existing rules and norms to their own benefit,” he added.

Tom Joscelyn, a counterterrorism expert who served on the staff of the House Jan. 6 committee and was a co-author of its report, said he still finds it hard to believe that people could watch what happened that day unfold on television and then still accept Trump’s version of it. Unlike children growing up in the South in the 1940s and 1950s, for whom the Civil War was generations in the past, Trump’s followers and allies are rejecting readily available evidence of contemporary violence.

“All you need is the images and the videos from that day, his own words, and what you saw with your own eyes, and it was clear that he had crossed some bright lines,” he said. “All of that should have been disqualifying, and it wasn’t.”

Trump’s transition team did not respond to HuffPost queries. Even since his win in November, Trump has continued to lie about the 2020 election having been stolen from him and has described those who have been prosecuted for their actions on Jan. 6 as political prisoners.

“These people have been treated really, really badly,” he told Time magazine last month. “They’ve suffered greatly, and in many cases they should not have suffered.”

Mac Stipanovich, a longtime Republican political consultant in Florida, said he remembers as a child reading a plaque honoring dead Confederate soldiers in his town square. “That’s the way we grew up. That’s what we knew,” he said.

That Trump was able to revise his own history so quickly is a noteworthy achievement, he added.

“It is a tribute to Trump and his posse’s ability to convince half the country,” Stipanovich said. “And it is a telling indictment of the intelligence of that half of the country.”

From Protecting Slavery To The Honorable ‘Lost Cause’

When America elected the leader of a party dedicated to abolishing slavery as president, 11 Southern states decided to secede and started a war against those that remained. That these rebel states would lose was likely inevitable, given the Union’s industrial might and population advantage, and 700,000 deaths later, they did.

Yet within a few short years, an effort to reinvent that loss and the motivations behind it began. Confederate sympathizers and segregationists in academia, the media and politics cast men like Robert E. Lee — officers in the U.S. Army who had taken up arms against the United States — as tragic American heroes. And the reason behind the war, the preservation of human slavery, was replaced with a principled defense of “states’ rights” — even though slavery was plainly cited in the states’ own articles of secession.

“They made sure that teachers, including university-level historians, taught that story as historical truth, while simultaneously suppressing other points of view from the media,” VCU’s Reich said.

It took decades of repetition, replete with the construction of statues and memorials to the leaders of the failed insurrection, but this “Lost Cause” myth eventually became an accepted narrative, primarily in the South but to a lesser extent all over the country. So much so that some U.S. military bases in the first half of the 20th century were named for Confederate officers.

Trump’s propaganda campaign to redefine Jan. 6, in contrast, has taken place at lightning speed.

On Jan. 6 itself and in the days immediately afterward, the early consensus was that Trump had incited the attack on the Capitol and that he was wrong to do so. Republican congressional leaders blamed him in floor speeches. Trump himself on Jan. 7 read prepared remarks warning members of his mob: “To those who broke the law, you will pay.”

Trump’s former United Nations ambassador, Nikki Haley, expressed the conventional wisdom at the time that Trump was finished. “I think he’s lost any sort of political viability he was going to have,” she told Politico on Jan. 12.

Four years later, Trump is about to return to the same White House he left in disgrace. His new administration will be stocked with those willing to repeat and spread his continuing lies about the 2020 election. And he has promised not only to pardon those prosecuted for taking part in the Jan. 6 attack but to prosecute those who tried to hold him and his followers to account.

The Triumph Of The Repeated Lie

That Trump was able to return to power, despite everything, was perhaps foreseeable because he never lost the loyalty of the Republican primary voting base.

Indeed, the day after his coup attempt had failed, the overwhelming majority of the 163 members of the Republican National Committee gave him a sustained ovation when he called into their winter meeting in Amelia Island, Florida.

Three weeks later, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, at the time the country’s highest-ranking elected Republican, visited Trump at his South Florida country club, effectively signaling that Trump remained the party’s leader. Two weeks after that, Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, while lambasting Trump for his behavior leading up to and on Jan. 6, nonetheless voted not to convict Trump for inciting the insurrection following his House impeachment for that offense. A conviction would have been followed by a vote to ban him from federal office for life.

By April, the RNC was again holding fundraising events at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, putting donors’ money into his personal bank account. Officials acknowledged privately that Trump remained their biggest fundraising draw and that they had to go along with the fiction that the 2020 election had been stolen because their voters believed it to be true — even though the only reason for that belief was Trump’s lies.

And by the end of 2021, following the release of conspiracy theorist Tucker Carlson’s “documentary” claiming that the Jan. 6 insurrection was actually a “false flag” operation by the FBI, Trump began calling those under prosecution for taking part in his coup attempt — even the hundreds convicted for having assaulted police officers — “hostages” and “political prisoners.”

Republican candidates for offices large and small in increasing numbers made pilgrimages to Palm Beach to win his endorsement. Journalists similarly made the trek — not to ask about his unprecedented attempt to thwart the peaceful transfer of power, but about his candidacy to regain the presidency in 2024.

The new “Lost Cause” myth for Jan. 6 was complete.

“It’s disheartening,” Joscelyn said.

Stipanovich, who broke from the Republican Party when it embraced Trump in 2016, said that a more apt — and troubling — comparison to Trump’s rewriting of Jan. 6 may be the way Adolf Hitler and the Nazis remade their 1923 Beer Hall Putsch into a valiant act of patriotism, rather than an attempted coup that sent Hitler and others to prison.

“When it failed, the heroes of the failure became the hope of the future,” he said.

Whatever the appropriate historical analogy, the fact that Trump was able to assault democracy as he did and still come back to power is worrisome, said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist. Sabato also grew up in that state, where the Civil War was taught as the “War of Northern Aggression.”

“The Lost Cause was a ‘big lie,’ but I’m not so sure Trump’s ‘big lie’ will ever be a lost cause,” he warned. “This is not cynicism. It’s the reality we face.”

[unfairlyfallen]

Nuetral-abnormal fact about me, day 15:

I sleep walk/talk/fight/disassemble things.

I have always talked in my sleep. According to my family, I would sit up wide-eyed and staring, then start talking very seriously at whoever had come to check on me. This would continue until they had managed to successfully convince me to go back to sleep, which typically looked like me shutting up and just tipping over.

The sleep walking and other shenanigans, however, are relatively new. I had a few short periods of sleep walking incidents throughout my time in highschool. The most noteworthy, being the time I managed to fire an arrow into the yard from our front deck. Luckily, no one was injured. I just woke up to find my bow lying across the foot of my bed, and an arrow stuck in the ground outside.

Over the course of the past two years, however, previously isolated events have transitioned to almost nightly occurrences. Some of the more interesting of these include:

-Waking up with two fractured fingers after spending the night violently shoving my hand between my mattress and the wall "looking for something."

-Gaining consciousness and finding myself standing precariously on the edge of my bed, holding a heavy wall-art installation, which I had apparently just finished miraculously disassembling for no goddamn reason.

-Downing the entirety of a half full vitamin bottle, and leaving it empty on my bedside table...

(And my personal favorite)

-Coming-to with one of my indoor plants cradled in my hands. Not cradled in my hands 'in its pot,' that would make too much sense. No, I had presumably scooped it out of its container with my bare hands to "check underneath it" and only woken up due to the shock of cold, wet roots and dirt scattered over my arms.

I have VERY recently, also begun to scream and thrash every night, for hours, entirely unprompted.

Not much to be done about that...

[bronzemettle]

Billy Batson and Carol Danvers both go by Captain Marvel at one point or another. Does Batson end up deferring to Danvers and going by Shazam instead, or does Danvers take up one of her dozens of old monikers? If Batson goes by Shazam, how does he introduce himself without getting zapped back into Billy form?

Billy's never gone by Shazam in the BronzeRealms. For real, how does that even work? DC does stupid shit sometimes and we all know it.

Okay, with that out of the way let's do a timeline of the name "Captain Marvel" across heroes.

In 1940, the Justice Society of America are fighting off an attempted Kree invasion when they meet and are assisted by a mysterious man who calls himself Captain Marvel, who disappears soon afterwards.

Seeing him in action also seeds thoughts of rebellious inspiration in the mind of a young Kree soldier, who takes on the callsign Mar-Vell when he's promoted to Captain after the failure of his superiors.

In 1967, Mar-Vell goes rogue from the Kree and decides to hide out on earth, seeking out the surviving Justice Society. With their help, she transitions and starts a new identity under the name Wendy Lawson, and debuts shortly later as the superhero Captain Marvel.

In 1977, Lawson retires as Captain Marvel when she accidentally attracts Kree attention to earth again. Carol Danvers takes up the mantle shortly later, after gaining powers herself. At first she isn't comfortably with the legacy and goes by Ms Marvel, but Wendy persists that Carol should be Captain Marvel, so that doesn't last long.

In 1982, Wendy Lawson dies of cancer. The funeral is attended by a majority of the active or retired superheroes at that time.

In 1989, Carol Danvers is forced to flee earth by the rising Augment regimes (Khan Noonien Singh being the most noteworthy) when one of them causes the ecological collapse of multiple Kree star systems and frames her for having caused it, which even she herself believes, as a distraction that will successfully keep her occupied in space for decades to come.

In 2003, Billy Batson is inspired by the comicbooks loosely based on the adventures of Lawson (the same comics also inspire Jean Grey and Kamala Khan) to take on the name Captain Marvel when he gets unrelated superpowers from the wizard Shazam. In following years his adoptive siblings will join him and become known as the Captain Marvel family of heroes in Fawcett City.

In 2006, Billy Batson travels back in time to World War 2 and teams up with the Justice Society of America. He doesn't recognize the pre-transition Mar-Vell as one of the soldiers he fights against. However, working alongside actual soldiers in the Justice Society and seeing what wartime superheroing was like makes him rethink the military moniker "Captain", and afterward he starts going by CM1 instead (taking after his brother going by CM3). The press, despite his protests, will continue to refer to him as Captain Marvel for years to come.

In 2009, Rick Jones briefly goes by Captain Marvel after bonding with Genis-Vell, an unstable clone of the pre-transition soldier Mar-Vell. He retires the same year and encourages Genis to transition as Lawson had. Genis becomes Phyla-Vell and briefly maintains heroics as Captain Marvel, but leaves earth within a few months to try to build a new life and find an identity distant from the homes and legacy of Lawson.

In 2015, Carol Danvers discovers she was framed for space crimes, and why, and returns to earth, only to find the Eugenics War already ended without her back in 1998, with the surviving Augments having fled into space. She joins the New Avengers (this being the aftermath of the Avengers Civil War still).

Monica Rambeau never went by Captain Marvel... at least not in the still-extant timestream. She and multiple other heroes have memories of her serving as Captain Marvel, during the 5 years and 8 months of the aborted timestream in which "The Snap" occured. These five years were "reset" and erased by the Avengers, including Monica herself, in order to bring back the half the universe that Thanos had killed, and Monica chose to not take up the mantle again.

[lonestarflight]

Proposal: Dyna-Soar/Little Joe II Suborbital Flight Test Program

Artist concept of Little Joe II/Dyna-Soar concept. (Convair)

"The X-20 Dyna-Soar program is often remembered as one of the biggest lost opportunities in the history of manned space flight. Evolving from the WS-464L Program, Dyna-Soar had great potential for use as a military space platform as well as civilian science laboratory. Unlike the earlier Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules that were single-use vehicles returning to earth under a parachute system, the X-20 was a winged vehicle, capable of landing on select runways, then refur- bished and utilized again.

Initial flight testing of the Dyna-Soar had the vehicle dropped from a modified B-52C, 53-0399, carrier aircraft to test atmospheric handling qualities and landing techniques. The USAF selected Ed wards AFB, CA, and White Sands Missile Range, NM, due to their natural runway surfaces. (AFTC History Office)

The initial phase of the X-20 flight test program had the vehicle dropped from high altitudes from a B-52C mothership to test atmospheric aerodynamic handing of the vehicle, as well as develop landing techniques at Edwards AFB, CA. The second phase of testing involved sending the X-20 on unmanned and manned orbital spaceflight test mis- sions powered by a Titan III rocket booster which left a large gap in the standard progression of flight testing. The Convair Division of General Dynam- ics proposed making suborbital test flights using a Little Joe II booster.

The Little Joe II was a clustered, solid-propellant rocket booster designed as unguided and controllable versions. The vehicle could accommodate one to seven, 40-inch diameter, 100,000-lb thrust, Aerojet Algol 1D solid rocket mo- tors. With minor modifications the im proved launch vehicle (IPLV) could ac commodate the more advanced 44-inch diameter Algol IIA motors.

Little Joe II had the reputation as a reliable work- horse of the early manned space program, testing Mercury and Apollo escape and recovery systems from various launch locations. The Little Joe II booster was a versatile rocket with capabilities not found on many systems of the day and could be adapted and configured for several different flight profiles.

This detailed dimensional drawing shows some of the modifications required for the Little Joe il booster in order to carry the Dyna-Soar test vehicle. In addition to the upper adapter fairing, the booster required larger aerodynamic stabilizing fins to compensate for the larger payload. (Convair)

Convair proposed making test flights of the Dyna- Soar/Little Joe II combination on an overland range between Edwards AFB, CA and the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Launching from Edwards AFB provided a lakebed in case of an aborted launch . and emergency landing. Range instrumentation was already in place at both sites, keeping the range support cost to a minimum.

Two different versions of the modified Little Joe II booster

The Dyna-Soar test vehicle would be mounted atop the Little Joe II booster with a two-part transition fairing, gloved over the X-20 to minimize drag and would be jettisoned prior to separation. This variation of the Little Joe II booster required movable aerodynamic fins, larger than those used on standard Little Joe II launches.

A Boeing/USAF X-20 Dyan-Soar is boosted skyward for a suborbital test flight from Edwards AFB, CA towards White Sands Missile Range, NM, aboard a Convair Little Joe II. The larger stabilizing fins and aerodynamic fair- ing around the Dyna-Soar are noteworthy. (Convair)

Utilizing a standard Little Joe II booster, the X-20 could be propelled to a maximum speed of 10,000 fps (approximately 6,800 mph) at an altitude near 170,000 feet. With the improved Little Joe II launch vehi- cle, those figures would rise to a speed of 15,000 fps (approximately 10,200 mph) and an altitude near 200,000 feet. The entire flight covered approximately 582 nautical miles, with the booster impacting the desert floor just over halfway through the flight. The Dyna-Soar test vehicle would experience considerable aerodynamic heating during the reentry phase with the final landing on the alkali flats of the White Sands Missile Range.

The Dyna-Soar suborbital program required a minimum of five test flights: two unmanned flights utilizing the existing automatic guidance, and three manned flights. Convair projected the total price of the five-flight test program at $12.2 million, considerably less than the projected $18 million per flight for a Titan III booster (figures are in FY 1965 dollars)."

AFMC History & Museums Program HQ AFMC/HO 4225 Logistics Ave, RM S133-Wright-Patterson AFB 45433-5006-DSN: 713-1797

source

NASA ID: 63-Little Joe II-3

SDASM Archives: 86914210, 47209426

[halfetirosie]

♡ An Edmond-Post for the struggling fanfic writers ♡

(NOTE: This post will be LONG. I tried to be thorough and include evidence.)

I feel an AGGRESSIVE MORAL OBLIGATION to make this post because of the writing homies that want to write Edmond into their fics, but feel like they don't know enough about him.

My recent Character-Ask post for Edmond might help you guys a little, but I think you could use more information.

The NU: Carnival Lore Spreadsheet (Google Sheets)

This isn't an Edmond-exclusive resource, but still helpful.

If you don't spend any time on the subreddit, you may not have seen this, but this is a fan-made lore spreadsheet contains information the game's world and each of the characters. It hasn't been updated for a little over 3 months, so it's a bit outdated, but it is teeming with practical information that can help familiarize you with characters' backgrounds and such.

(Quick note for Edmond's "Power" category-- although he is unfamiliar with actually using magic, in Frozen Echoes/Tranquil Cloud Edmond intimacy rooms, we discover that Edmond has recently started to practice magic (particularly Light/healing magic).)

2. The current Edmond Era (the most recent Ed Dynamic)

Many people seem to be intimidated by the prospect of writing Edmond because he's a "tsundere." However, to borrow the words from my Character Ask post, "that’s only out of habit (and shyness), rather an actual reflection of his desires." In other words, Ed's inner workings probably look something like this:

It also is noteworthy that, when Eiden initiates sexual activity, Edmond willingly goes along with him. By that I mean, he might scold Eiden a lot and say something to the effect of, "You are a pervert!" but he doesn't actually tell Eiden to stop what he's doing when they're starting out. And while it doesn't happen as often in recent rooms, the habitual "Stop♡" and "No♡" Edmond might say are very clearly insincere, considering his tone of voice (as well as his physical reactions).

And during the rare occasions where Ed does tell Eiden something like "Stop," Eiden will stop; but then Ed will look disappointed, so Eiden will ask him if he wants to continue, and Edmond will say yes. Here's an example of this type of exchange from Sweet Aroma R2:

There have also been times when [we can infer], at the beginning of H-activities, Eiden doesn't have as clear of a read on Edmond's opinion; in which case, he will verbally search for confirmation on whether he can do more. The most accessible example of this is Ed's SR R3:

Here is another example, from Tranquil Cloud R5:

While Eiden is still the one that initiates sexy activity (14/16 of the Ed H scenes), Edmond willingly goes along immediately. That is the crux of the typical Edmond dynamic: Edmond also has strong desires, but is usually too embarrassed to admit them, so he needs an understanding partner that will guide him along until he feels secure enough [and/or horny enough] to admit his wants.

Edmond is in a bit of a transition period right now. He's starting to be much more active in his H-activities with Eiden. He also might "blame" Eiden for his own desires, but he's beginning to own up to his feelings, too. From Tranquil Cloud R2:

3. Edmond Anatomy & Kinks

One word: SENSITIVE. Edmond is HELLA SENSITIVE.

(I'd argue he's even more sensitive than Olivine, but idk if you could consider that a definitive fact or not.)

If there's an area that can be considered a relatively common erogenous zone, it's most likely an erogenous zone on Edmond. Here's the one's that have been canonically confirmed or STRONGLY suggested:

Mouth - Edmond's mouth is very sensitive. When he kisses for the first time in Sweet Aroma, Eiden coaxes him into admitting which specific parts of his mouth are most sensitive; roof of his mouth, tongue, sides. Edmond likes kissing a LOT, and has initiated kisses himself at least 3 times (Elite Instructor R5, Flaming Secret R5, Tranquil Cloud R5)

Ears - Ed has a strong reaction in Tranquil Cloud R2 (Eiden blowing on his ear helps send him over the edge to finally cum)

Neck - Eiden kisses his neck and Ed has a verbal reaction in Tranquil Cloud R5

Nipples - Best example is in Sweet Aroma R2 (he can cum from nipple-play alone); also featured in Spring Chaos R2 and Elite Instructor R2

Hands - Many rooms include Suggestive Hand-Holding™ but White Lover R2 includes significant hand-play

Stomach/Waist - White Lover R2 includes Eiden caressing Ed's stomach, and in Tranquil Cloud R2 Ed has a strong reaction to Eiden tightening his hold on his waist

Ass - In Elite Instructor R2 Edmond gets spanked and he is VERY into it

Penis - *obvious answer is obvious*

Anus - Has cum from anal-play alone multiple times (including fingering and rimming). It isn't explicitly stated, but I'm pretty sure Edmond's anus is more sensitive than his penis

Additional canon sexual preferences:

A Little Pain - As is famously known, Edmond enjoys a little pain during sex

Praise & Dirty Talk - Gets very embarrassed by it (and will usually scold Eiden) but he has strong positive reactions to it

Roleplay + Dom/Sub Undertones - We see it in SR R5; once Ed is convinced to try it out he gets extremely aroused and feels more comfortable engaging in *mild* dirty-talk himself. It's also sorta-kinda in Elite Instructor R2, but only a little bit on Eiden's part (calling Ed "sensei")

Kissing - I mentioned it before, but I must emphasize it again; EDMOND LOVES KISSING

Overstimulation - Most Ed intimacy rooms include some element of this

Semi-Public Sexy Stuff? - Depending on if you count sex-in-a-carriage, this happens in 7-8/16 intimacy rooms. Idk if this is necessarily Ed's personal kink, but Ed isn't exactly opposed to it as long as Eiden is being careful. He does appear to get excited when Edmond says something like "don't be too loud, or someone will come and see you like this!" From Elite Instructor R2:

Light Bondage - Only seen is Elite Instructor R2, but he seems to like it:

4. Some Ao3 reading recommendation that you can use for Edmond-specific inspiration/references

As a passionate Edmond-Lover, here are some works of fanfic that I think do a particularly good job of writing Ed-relationships. Obviously (by the nature of fanfic) many of them take a lot of liberties, but when I was reading these stories, I didn't need to suspend my disbelief at all. The way Edmond acts in these stories feels very in-character to me.

(NOTE: All of these recommendations are NSFW where Edmond bottoms. Be sure to read their tags!)

Literally everything luster_candy has written (6 works at the time I'm posting this) - just be aware all of it is Eiden/Edmond.

Reprieve, Release by kkuro (~11k words) - Eiden/Edmond, one of the best (if not the best) BDSM-heavy Ed fics. Only note is, because this was written in 2022, Ed acts a bit more stiff/repressed in the beginning than he would now. In-character for Early Era Edmond tho.

A Helpful Hand by dracula (orphan_account) (~4.3k words) - Olivine/Edmond, Olivine tops (a rarity) and Ed is cursed with a V. Don't worry, Olivine-Lovers, he isn't a hella OOC sadist or ultra-masculine dom. XD Just very sweet and very horny, and Edmond is ruthlessly subjected to his brand of horny nonsense.

Do You Know Where the Wild Things Go by no birdstofly (~8k words) - Yakumo/Edmond, idk if it's OOC for Yakumo but it's in-character for Current Era slightly-more-honest Edmond.

The Knight's Discipline by RiyeRose (~3k words) - Restricted to Ao3 members, Kuya/Edmond. I subscribe to the belief that Ed would put up with Kuya if he were horny enough, which is why I don't consider this OOC. I think this fic has the perfect amount of BDSM that Ed would realistically enjoy.

Fanfic where Edmond tops is honestly very hard to come across. That's understandable, because for Edmond to top, there would have to be extremely special circumstances, and it would have to be written carefully in order to not seem too OOC. The best example of an Top-Emond fic I've been able to find is this:

Hidden Guidance by Okami01 (~1.9k words) - Edmond/Olivine, Edmond shyly admits he wants to try topping Olivine, and Oli is obviously down for it. (Let's be honest here; out of everyone, if Edmond were ever to top anyone, it would 100% be Olivine)

♡I hope people found this helpful!!!♡

I know reading this giant post was like reading an essay, but hopefully it was worth the time and effort I put into it!

If anyone has extra inquires, or if other Edmond-Lovers want to chime in with extra information I might've missed, feel free to put them in the comments!

[dreadintensifies]

the sunbearer trials is everything i wanted in a main character (hes a trans man where him being trans isnt even in the top 5 most interesting things about him, in a story where not only does his being trans play *no* plot relevance at, but hes also a decent ways into his transition and nobody treats him as anything but a guy) and i love it so dearly for that alone

and *then* the author goes and makes teo super likable, funny, with god damn *wings* and gives him a super interesting world to live in and experience, its fantastic and i love the shit out of the sunbearer trials. i only just read it and i regret not reading it earlier

yall go read it. then tell everyone you know to go read it, this book is wonderful. its not perfect, i wont lie, but it is a solid young adult modern fantasy story with interesting, dynamic, diverse, and entertaining characters and a cool, if relatively vague and unexplored, magic system

plus a *ton* of lgbtq+ rep. in this world, the literal creator god is nonbinary, and many other gods are in queer relationships. a character being trans or loving someone of the same gender is hardly even noteworthy, which is a very nice change of pace imo

more stories where the main character just happens to be trans, not a trans main character, please! this story is awesome and im so glad i got to experience it

okay im done rambling now go read it

[confusedcunny]

All you need to know

I'm an FtM (Female to male) transman in my twenties (edit: fuck late twenties already). I have a misgendering and detransition kink but NO desire to detransition in real life, nor do I condone misgendering outside of a consensual agreement.

I like to make FtM Feminization hypnosis which you can find on discord ( https://discord.gg/Q2srVXzDbM ), feel free to copy the link and join. Everyone over the age of 18 (except actual transphobes) is welcome, however cis-guys please try not to dominate the chat (comfort and safety of the transpeople will always come first).

My favorite kinks: misgendering, detransition, bimbofication, brainwashing, edging, hypnosis, impregnation, gaslighting... Limits: T-slur, watersports, feet, poop, blood, feederism, pro-ana, continuing to keep bugging me for pics I don't want to share, actual transphobia, weight gain, calling me fat (or part of my body eg: "fat ass"), the expression "shame you got your tits cut off" or things of the sort, telling me my transition made me ugly (I was already ugly before lol), calling me a pig, limiting to who I can talk to/chat with or what I can post.

Soft limits: I'm not really into anal, although I have tried and enjoyed a small plug. I very, very rarely like to share my voice. Showing my face is reserved for people I've known for a while and trust, definitely not for people who keep bugging me about it.

Other noteworthy stuff:

I like to pretend I'm skipping T. I don't actually skip T. No, I will not mess up my hormones and health for kink.

I have lot's of body hair (like ass, chest, belly, thighs, all of it) and a full beard. I don't look like a woman and I have the privilege of passing all the time. My profile picture is when I shaved and wore a stuffed bra, I don't look like that all the time. I've been on T for over 5 years...

I've had a double mastectomy (boobies be gone).

I have vaginismus, I can insert one finger without pain. I'd like to improve this, but it's not easy. I mainly enjoy clitoral stimulation instead. Although for kink sake I love talking about being penetrated.

Believe it or not I'm aro-ace. Although I enjoy online naughties, I don't actually want to have face-to-face sex with anyone. I've never been in love and never had a crush and I'm very content with a future filled with cats.

Sometimes I take kink breaks for my mental health.

I don't always answer to dm's even if I am online. I'm autistic and sometimes I just don't want to interact.

[cordycepsfem]

i saw in a post you said that trans women were "narcissistic men". im curious about what motive you think trans women have for transitioning?

My statement was not so much about why males choose to identify as trans and more so about their attitude once they do so.

As a group I think TIMs are ridiculously narcissistic - everything has to be focused on them at all times, everything has to be theirs when they want it, people have to use the right words and the right tone and even think the “right” way or else it’s a crime.

Things aren’t bad when they happen to anyone else, just trans people - like, a woman being in jail with a man isn’t even noteworthy, but a trans woman in jail with other men is horrible. Or women losing abortion rights is fine, but having to have one’s sex on a legal document is tantamount to being murdered.

Things aren’t bad for excluding others but it’s bad when trans women are excluded - like, a religious woman not being able to attend a place where bathrooms aren’t specifically sex-segregated is meaningless, but keeping a trans woman out is horrible.

Being misgendered is “a violent crime.”

The need for attention is so high, whether it’s through what they wear, how they choose to present themselves online, the ways they speak in media or on social media, etc. The attitude is always “look at me.”

On and on.

As far as reasons men transition… I have read cases of men transitioning to escape being gay in a homophobic world. I have also read cases of men transitioning to fulfill a porn-soaked fantasy or to live out some sort of fetish. Some men will admit that upfront - Kevin “Kathryn” Gibes from 🥝 Farms comes to mind immediately. It sort of takes away any goodwill I might have had for people suffering with gender dysphoria (because I can relate to that) when they will flat out tell you it’s part of a sexual fantasy.

I do believe there are men with genuine gender/sex dysphoria who transition to aid with that - what we used to call “transsexuals” - but that number is very low.

I think almost all men who become suddenly trans in prison do it to get moved to an “easier” living situation and are 100% faking it.

This got kind of rambly, but I hope it answered your question. If not, please come back and I’ll try again.

[crossroadsofchaos]

Lev ref I guess!

A note about his facial hair: he always has the mustache, but the rest varies between clean-shaven and a short stubble.

This could probably serve as an introduction post for him, so here's some more info:

His full name is Levan Rotshtern (Rothstern); his first name is the Georgian equivalent of Leo or Leon, and his surname is a blend of his maternal grandparents' surnames, Shtern (Stern) and Rotshteyn (Rothstein), created and adopted by his mother and then passed down to him, as his father chose to take her surname. He's 160cm (about 5'3) tall.

He's a former Soviet supersoldier known as the Red Hope, based on his birth name Nadezhda being the Russian word for hope. Due to an accident, he ended up frozen at the bottom of the ocean for around 50 years, until he was discovered, unfrozen and had to adjust to the modern world. Since then, he has gone to therapy, transitioned, integrated into the local community in the city he now lives in, and adopted two kids, who had been kicked out of home by their bio parents (the son, Slava, is now an adult, while the daughter, Zlata, is still a minor).

This is just the basics/general info, albeit with some noteworthy parts of his backstory omitted. More info to come.

Do not repost/reupload my work, but reblogs are appreciated.

[walks-the-ages]

If I didn't mention it, I'll be voting for Jasmine Sherman (they/them) in November, Because they already have Ballot Access in 48 states , as opposed to Jill Stein who currently only has ~23 states with Ballot Access.

EDIT:

Someone has commented to point out that while Jasmine Sherman's website lists out 48 states that they're on the Ballot for, there's no sources given for this information, and right now, while its only wikipedia articles, neither of us can find any ballot access map or list not on their website that confirms that information independantly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballot_access_in_the_2024_United_States_presidential_election

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Green_Party_presidential_primaries#Declared_candidates

Jasmine Sherman's own "how to vote for us" section of their website encourages people to use Ballotpedia, they're only listed as being on the ballot for one state , while the Presidential Election 2024 page does not list them at all and neither does their ballot-access tracker at politico:

Jasmine Sherman's website also lists them as being on the ballot under the Unicorn Party.... but I have not seen any list anywhere that list where the Unicorn Party is on the ballot except for their website.

There's also the fact that their website's policy on the Death Penalty not only supports it, but wants it to be either by Morphine Overdose or fucking Firing Squad with only 1 year of appeals??? There's a footnote above it that says their position has changed and they're leaving the original policy up for preservation but like...

.. you can't run for President saying you want the Death Penalty to be done by Firing Squad of all fucking things when people almost universally hate the death penalty (not least of which because it kills so many innocents) and then just leave a note that you changed your mind but not what your new official stance is????

https://jasminesherman.com/death-penalty-policy/ [note at top of Policy page] *Jasmine wishes to inform the readers that this post is being preserved to uphold transparency. While the death penalty contradicts the Green Party’s platform, it would be disingenuous to ignore the evolution of Jasmine’s stance on this matter. Their transition from previous support to a different standpoint is noteworthy, highlighting that a candidate’s position is not solely driven by personal preferences but also reflects the desires of their constituents. [Policy] Purpose: Institute a federal standard for capital punishment. Scope: Encourage states to be more efficient with resources surrounding the enforcement of “Capital Punishment.” Our policy: Capital Punishment – is to be reserved for those convicted of mass killing and serial killer events only. Due process is to take no more than one calendar year. There should be two options available for the execution; morphine overdose or firing squad. All other capital punishment cases will remain as they are or will be subject to incorporation into the Unicorn Party’s “Restorative Justice Treatment Program”. Definitions: Mass Killing Event: A multiple homicide incident in which four or more victims are murdered by any means, within one event, and in one or more locations in close proximity. Serial Killing: The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events.

So, uhhhhh, yeah. If you want to kill people who are Officially Criminals by Firing Squad I don't really think you can be trusted to be thinking in terms of humane death or punishment. Note how the website does not include what their official new position is at all, when that's literally what the Policy page is for!

If you believe in Restorative Justice and universal healthcare because everyone deserves the right to life .... if you truely believe in that how can you support the Death Penalty at all, let alone by such barbaric methods?

There's also the "Policy" about "Rights of Sentient Beings" that says

"The majority of research does suggest that primarily plant based consumption for humans is ideal. This doesn’t include those with disabilities or health phenomenons we do not understand.

which.... from almost everything I've read out there published by actual medical professionals, unless you're going out of your way to eat very specific things each and every day, you're going to run into nutritional deficiencies and need to take supplements if you're going vegetarian or vegan! In fact, you have to as much as double your iron intake on a plant-based diet because the iron we get from plants isn't as digestible as the one we get from meat. Because. You know. we're literally omnivores for a reason.

SO! After doing some more deep dives into their actual policies (such as they are), and looking deeper into the supposed-ballot access, Jasmine Sherman is not a candidate I will be voting for.

You can advocate for the humane treatment of animals without insisting that all humans except disabled people are perfectly capable of healthily living on a vegan diet, because that's simply not true without supplaments or a vastly increased access to a variety of foods, and if you truly believe in abolishing the criminal-justice system, there's no way in fucking hell you would support the Death Penalty.

Like I said in my longer version of this post (which is still relevant, check out the reblogs), voting third partym eans being adaptable and doing research in pursuit of a Free Palestine , which means, until we can get some independant verification of Jasmine Sherman having ballot access in 48 states, (and an actual proven change on that horrific stance on Capital Punishment!!!!), it is back to Jill Stein for me.

Unlike Jasmine Sherman, Jill Stein actually wants to abolish the Death Pentalty entirely, and has a long list of changes she plans to implement for restorative justice if elected:

[mamawasatesttube]

I don't know that much about superboy so forgive me if this is a silly question but what's the deal with Magdalene Visaggio?

not a silly question, dw!! if you haven't read many kon comics it probably doesn't look particularly noteworthy but OOF. OOF.

the tl;dr of it: despite being paid to write him once, she also hasn't read kon comics and it really, really, really shows. i'm talking geoff johns levels of flagrant disregard for the existing character - maybe even worse than geoff? which i say only because i know geoff did read sb94 even if he didn't act like it. but that's off topic; this isn't a geoff hatepost. this is a magdalene hate post.

under a cut for length, lets goooo!

so we start out with her canonizing supermartian. already off on the wrong foot - that's a ship out of yja the tv show which is a completely separate continuity from main comics and a completely different kon than main continuity kon. despite supposedly knowing that, she still shoves them into a relationship in main continuity, despite them never having actually interacted on page in main continuity.

she then goes on to characterize kon as angry and entitled and uncaring, and also in high school again. not only does she directly contradict all of his preboot existing characterization (which is important because kon-el never got reset during flashpoint - he was in another universe and thus dodged that bullet. current kon-el is canonically the same kon-el as pre-flashpoint/postcrisis kon-el.), but also she directly contradicts both young justice (2019) and superboy: man of tomorrow, which are in current continuity, leading one to really wonder if she has read a single comic kon appeared in at all. it's also worth noting that the asshole with anger issues characterization is, once again, much truer to the young justice animated tv show than any comic kon.

also worth noting is that the infamous red hair dye streak? well, uh...

yeah..............

on her twitter, she once said something about kon-el not being a good name because it's "still a name someone else gave him", called him "the jason todd of the superfamily", and insisted that the meaning of a trans narrative is "burning down your life and reevaluating your place within it":

kon-el is a name gifted to him to signify his acceptance into his family (superboy (1994) #59) and he was so overjoyed to receive it that he cried. overall, the superfam are very supportive and loving, and introducing strife just to make him run off and live with jinny hex instead of them just because she thinks one can't transition and retain previous relationships is... not it, lol.

her pitch also contained some outrageously egregious christianity bullshit, like villains named "saint", "shepherd", and "savior", as well as direct comparisons between clark and jesus christ. this is... sorry i really just have to say this is Fucking Cringe. i guess the more polite way to put it would be "incredible gauche" (considering the jewish origins of the superfam) but i just can't call it anything else. This Fucking Sucks Dude. i won't even get into the weirdness about genetic bullshit she leans into by introducing kon's "brother" who's also part luthor, part superman, but "luthor-dominant" (lol?) (do you know how genes work even a little bit).

she has quoted the one panel from reign of the supermen where kon says "don't ever call me superboy" a few times, claiming it's the first thing he ever said and no one listened. to me this essentially reads as her going "i've read one of his appearances and i would like to throw out the like 200 issues of character development he had since then in favor of making him my own self-insert to explore MY transition and religious trauma".

basically she doesn't seem to know how to write a story that's not about herself. as a trans person with a positive relationship with my given name (because as a first-gen kid of two diasporic immigrants, it provides an important tie to my family's cultures, to me) and with trans friends who involved their parents in picking new names and so on and so forth, i honestly find it very reductive and white to insist there's only one trans narrative and only one good way for trans characters to be named. i also find her putting her own christian religious trauma into a superfam story off-putting and . well. fucking cringe. i understand and respect that that is her story, but it sure ain't universal and i won't be able to respect her as a writer until it becomes clear she gets that.

[sexycornenthusiast]

May I ask who’s who in the Soudam context from that one reblog involving the trans and “cis” people. I’m very interested

I feel like if there's one thing you can never say about Gundham it's that he doesn't know what he's about. In my heart he was such a weird 14 year old that him being trans wasn't even the most noteworthy thing about him.

On the flip side, it's hard for me to imagine Kazuichi being "out and proud" for anything without at least a year of character development first. She spent like 3/4 of her screentime either being a coward or trying (badly) to suck up to people, and that's not really a mindset conducive to transitioning. I hope she gets better soon 🙏

Also it adds a fun extra layer to their little rivalry thing. Local egg jealous of proud freak for reasons she vehemently refuses to dig into any further.

I know this means I've technically turned them into a straight ship but just think about it. Expand your mind to the possibilities