#4 hours total to extract...

[baddyzarc]

Duel Links: Vector (Human) Full Victory Sprite

[are-we-art-yet]

Is AWAY using it's own program or is this just a voluntary list of guidelines for people using programs like DALL-E? How does AWAY address the environmental concerns of how the companies making those AI programs conduct themselves (energy consumption, exploiting impoverished areas for cheap electricity, destruction of the environment to rapidly build and get the components for data centers etc.)? Are members of AWAY encouraged to contact their gov representatives about IP theft by AI apps?

What is AWAY and how does it work?

AWAY does not "use its own program" in the software sense—rather, we're a diverse collective of ~1000 members that each have their own varying workflows and approaches to art. While some members do use AI as one tool among many, most of the people in the server are actually traditional artists who don't use AI at all, yet are still interested in ethical approaches to new technologies.

Our code of ethics is a set of voluntary guidelines that members agree to follow upon joining. These emphasize ethical AI approaches, (preferably open-source models that can run locally), respecting artists who oppose AI by not training styles on their art, and refusing to use AI to undercut other artists or work for corporations that similarly exploit creative labor.

Environmental Impact in Context

It's important to place environmental concerns about AI in the context of our broader extractive, industrialized society, where there are virtually no "clean" solutions:

The water usage figures for AI data centers (200-740 million liters annually) represent roughly 0.00013% of total U.S. water usage. This is a small fraction compared to industrial agriculture or manufacturing—for example, golf course irrigation alone in the U.S. consumes approximately 2.08 billion gallons of water per day, or about 7.87 trillion liters annually. This makes AI's water usage about 0.01% of just golf course irrigation.

Looking into individual usage, the average American consumes about 26.8 kg of beef annually, which takes around 1,608 megajoules (MJ) of energy to produce. Making 10 ChatGPT queries daily for an entire year (3,650 queries) consumes just 38.1 MJ—about 42 times less energy than eating beef. In fact, a single quarter-pound beef patty takes 651 times more energy to produce than a single AI query.

Overall, power usage specific to AI represents just 4% of total data center power consumption, which itself is a small fraction of global energy usage. Current annual energy usage for data centers is roughly 9-15 TWh globally—comparable to producing a relatively small number of vehicles.

The consumer environmentalism narrative around technology often ignores how imperial exploitation pushes environmental costs onto the Global South. The rare earth minerals needed for computing hardware, the cheap labor for manufacturing, and the toxic waste from electronics disposal disproportionately burden developing nations, while the benefits flow largely to wealthy countries.

While this pattern isn't unique to AI, it is fundamental to our global economic structure. The focus on individual consumer choices (like whether or not one should use AI, for art or otherwise,) distracts from the much larger systemic issues of imperialism, extractive capitalism, and global inequality that drive environmental degradation at a massive scale.

They are not going to stop building the data centers, and they weren't going to even if AI never got invented.

Creative Tools and Environmental Impact

In actuality, all creative practices have some sort of environmental impact in an industrialized society:

Digital art software (such as Photoshop, Blender, etc) generally uses 60-300 watts per hour depending on your computer's specifications. This is typically more energy than dozens, if not hundreds, of AI image generations (maybe even thousands if you are using a particularly low-quality one).

Traditional art supplies rely on similar if not worse scales of resource extraction, chemical processing, and global supply chains, all of which come with their own environmental impact.

Paint production requires roughly thirteen gallons of water to manufacture one gallon of paint.

Many oil paints contain toxic heavy metals and solvents, which have the potential to contaminate ground water.

Synthetic brushes are made from petroleum-based plastics that take centuries to decompose.

That being said, the point of this section isn't to deflect criticism of AI by criticizing other art forms. Rather, it's important to recognize that we live in a society where virtually all artistic avenues have environmental costs. Focusing exclusively on the newest technologies while ignoring the environmental costs of pre-existing tools and practices doesn't help to solve any of the issues with our current or future waste.

The largest environmental problems come not from individual creative choices, but rather from industrial-scale systems, such as:

Industrial manufacturing (responsible for roughly 22% of global emissions)

Industrial agriculture (responsible for roughly 24% of global emissions)

Transportation and logistics networks (responsible for roughly 14% of global emissions)

Making changes on an individual scale, while meaningful on a personal level, can't address systemic issues without broader policy changes and overall restructuring of global economic systems.

Intellectual Property Considerations

AWAY doesn't encourage members to contact government representatives about "IP theft" for multiple reasons:

We acknowledge that copyright law overwhelmingly serves corporate interests rather than individual creators

Creating new "learning rights" or "style rights" would further empower large corporations while harming individual artists and fan creators

Many AWAY members live outside the United States, many of which having been directly damaged by the US, and thus understand that intellectual property regimes are often tools of imperial control that benefit wealthy nations

Instead, we emphasize respect for artists who are protective of their work and style. Our guidelines explicitly prohibit imitating the style of artists who have voiced their distaste for AI, working on an opt-in model that encourages traditional artists to give and subsequently revoke permissions if they see fit. This approach is about respect, not legal enforcement. We are not a pro-copyright group.

In Conclusion

AWAY aims to cultivate thoughtful, ethical engagement with new technologies, while also holding respect for creative communities outside of itself. As a collective, we recognize that real environmental solutions require addressing concepts such as imperial exploitation, extractive capitalism, and corporate power—not just focusing on individual consumer choices, which do little to change the current state of the world we live in.

When discussing environmental impacts, it's important to keep perspective on a relative scale, and to avoid ignoring major issues in favor of smaller ones. We promote balanced discussions based in concrete fact, with the belief that they can lead to meaningful solutions, rather than misplaced outrage that ultimately serves to maintain the status quo.

If this resonates with you, please feel free to join our discord. :)

Works Cited:

USGS Water Use Data: https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/water-use-united-states

Golf Course Superintendents Association of America water usage report: https://www.gcsaa.org/resources/research/golf-course-environmental-profile

Equinix data center water sustainability report: https://www.equinix.com/resources/infopapers/corporate-sustainability-report

Environmental Working Group's Meat Eater's Guide (beef energy calculations): https://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/

Hugging Face AI energy consumption study: https://huggingface.co/blog/carbon-footprint

International Energy Agency report on data centers: https://www.iea.org/reports/data-centres-and-data-transmission-networks

Goldman Sachs "Generational Growth" report on AI power demand: https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/pages/gs-research/generational-growth-ai-data-centers-and-the-coming-us-power-surge/report.pdf

Artists Network's guide to eco-friendly art practices: https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-business/how-to-be-an-eco-friendly-artist/

The Earth Chronicles' analysis of art materials: https://earthchronicles.org/artists-ironically-paint-nature-with-harmful-materials/

Natural Earth Paint's environmental impact report: https://naturalearthpaint.com/pages/environmental-impact

Our World in Data's global emissions by sector: https://ourworldindata.org/emissions-by-sector

"The High Cost of High Tech" report on electronics manufacturing: https://goodelectronics.org/the-high-cost-of-high-tech/

"Unearthing the Dirty Secrets of the Clean Energy Transition" (on rare earth mineral mining): https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/18/clean-energy-dirty-mining-indigenous-communities-climate-crisis

Electronic Frontier Foundation's position paper on AI and copyright: https://www.eff.org/wp/ai-and-copyright

Creative Commons research on enabling better sharing: https://creativecommons.org/2023/04/24/ai-and-creativity/

[warding-halo]

I made square spaghetti pt. 1

I’ve been haunted by the thought of square spaghetti since I heard about it from the kimulacrum. I’m sure many of you can relate. So after brainstorming with @probablylilly, I decided to give making square spaghetti a shot. Process and result below 👇

How to make square spaghetti

1. Choose your fighters. So although there are nearly an infinite number of ways to eventually arrive at square spaghetti (many of which I plan on attempting), I decided to go for a simple and low-cost method: gelatin and using a knife to cut the resulting spaghetti loaf into cubes (mostly because I think that’s what Arthur would realistically have had access to)(also I don’t have cube-shaped baking molds)

2. Acquire materials. Also gleefully explain what you are up to to anyone who will listen (optional)

3. Boil spaghetti. Make more than you think you’ll need. I ended up using a little more than a pound

4. Puree sauce until it’s silky smooth (I used the nutribullet I normally use to puree my cat’s wet food, but any blender will do). This step isn’t strictly necessary but I thought it might help the end product be more cohesive. I used about 16oz of sauce

(I forgot to get a picture of this step so please use your imagination)

5. Bloom gelatin in hot water. I used a ratio of about 1 packet gelatin:1 cup total liquid (total liquid=hot water+pureed sauce). It smells NASTY so be warned 🫵

6. Pour hot gelatin mixture into the same nutribullet cup as the sauce, then pour all that into a bowl instead and whisk it together by hand because you suddenly remembered what happened last time you tried to blend something hot in the nutribullet (explosion)

7. Combine everything in a mold of your choice like some kind of perverted jello salad. Just make sure it’s tall enough to yield a decently sized cube

8. Let it set (I recommend 4+ hours in the fridge) and then extract the resulting spaghetti loaf

9. Cut into cubes and profit

Conclusions:

Overall, the final result isn’t as clean-looking as I hoped it would be, and it was SHOCKINGLY edible. The texture was actually completely fine—the worst part about it was that it was cold. I think I could easily double or even triple the amount of gelatin in there without really adversely affecting the texture tbh. I’ve been eating the cubes for two days straight now because this method makes SO MUCH. Be prepared for the spaghettipocalypse to hit your kitchen if you try this.

I have no idea what Arthur did to make his square spaghetti so unpalatable, but I plan on experimenting until I create an abomination 😈 I have already ordered cube shaped baking molds so I can continue my experiments.

I will keep y’all up to date on spaghettiquest as more updates arise.

[hetalia-club]

You guys think France would let me in the culinary club?

Ahem, this is my Almond Vanilla Bean Cheesecake, made 100% from scratch and took me 11 hours in total, counting cooling and set up time.

I think this would be a good Christmas/winter cheesecake because the almonds and powdered sugar on top makes it look like you’re flying over a snowy landscape

It’s got a brown butter biscoff crust

A thick layer of a homemade Almond Frangipane

Vanilla bean cheese cake

And I topped it with a cream cheese, vanilla & almond whipped cream. Almonds and a dusting of powdered sugar

(I often just forget that I’m a trained pastry chef and then I just like am sitting around thinking “man I wish I had cheesecake right now” and then I’ll go “hold on! I CAN make cheesecake right now!)

Romano's Vanilla Bean Almond Cheesecake recipe below >>

9 1/2 inch round spring form pan measurements

Bisscoff Crust 1 full package of airline sized Biscoff cookies all of them opened and crushed up, idk how much that is, that's just how much I used, i think I ate 2 packs so minus 2 lol. 1 stick of butter or 1/2 cup or 250g. 4tbs of sugar (or not)

Almond Frangipane 2 cups almond flour 1 1/4 stick or 10 TBS of salted room temp butter 2 eggs 3TBS vanilla extract or bean paste 2 TBS of Almond extract (if you don't like almond extract taste you can do a little less and do more vanilla) 1 cup sugar

Stabilized whipped cream (won't fall in fridge) 4oz softened cream cheese 1 TBS vanilla bean paste 1 TBS almond extract idk like a few cups of heavy cream whatever you want to do man. powdered sugar

Crush your Biscoff cookies up, don't blend them it ruins it. Next brown your butter SLOWLY on a stove, stir constantly, you'll know it's done when it smells nutty. pour butter, Biscoff and the sugar in a bowl and stir it up until it's all coated. Then press into teh bottom of your spring form pan and bake it at 350 for like idk...8 minutes, just don't burn it. Take it out and switch your oven to 325 (or whatever your cheesecake temp asks for).

for the almond paste cream the butter & sugar together, add your eggs and wait until combined, add your extracts and almond flour, mix until just combined don't over mix. It will be pretty wet and you'll think you did it's wrong but it's okay it's supposed to be a paste not a dough.

Spread the Almond Frangipane over your baked crust, this is kinda messy use a piping bag if you have it if not just use your fingers because a spoon doesn't really work it just pulls up the crust.

pour your cheese cake batter on top and pop it in the oven and follow the baking instructions for the cheese cake batter recipe you used, usually like 50is minutes. (don't forget your water bath!) When it's done turn off the oven and open the door and let it sit there and think about it's life choices for about an hour or so then when the oven is cool take it out and sit it one the counter and go do something else for a few hours. Then place it in the fridge for at least 4 hours to stand or over night. When that's done you can finally take it out of the pan and make your whipped cream (yay)

Whipped cream: beat the cream cheese in the mixer and then add your extracts in. Mix it all together and add your heavy cream straight in mix it until it forms stiff peaks. add powdered sugar to get to your desired sweetness. Smooth, pipe or plop the whipped cream on in any design you want. top with sliced almonds and more powdered sugar.

all done! that only took *looks at phone* 11 hours now you can have a piece.

[see-arcane]

You've stated you want a proper Carmilla adaptation that actually stays true to the overall story and characters

That said, what changes and expansions to the story you think would be a good idea?

Carmilla turns into a cat monster when feeding on Laura. Give her cat familiars the same way Dracula got bats. Maybe show one of them eating a bat to hammer home the 'vampires do not automatically = bat imagery.' (Long unbroken stare at book cover designers.)

2. Elaborate on 1) The group of actor-lackeys that keep getting Carmilla planted in homes with hot young daughters to feed on and 2) The mystery vampire who came and went when Mircalla was human and turned her before ditching

3. Let Laura be present for the head-chopping. It's a narrative cop out to make her wait to be told the grisly details after the fact. Having her present, either by allowance or her sneaking out to spy, would at least go a long way towards proving the men weren't murdering some girl in a box, but an actual Monster. On that note?

4. Let Carmilla be Monstrous. She did not turn her previous victims. She did not take a dainty little tiddy sip and run. She has been doing murder. Bertha was killed before the story began--good opportunity for ghost-dream jumpscare for Laura!--and Carmilla only seems fixated on taking her quarry with her when it comes to Laura. She is a serial killing vampire who just happens to also be amorously fixated on this particular victim.

5. Highlight Laura's strange VIP status when it comes to Carmilla's targeting. She dreamed of Carmilla's coming as a young girl. She suffers what could either be PTSD or psychic warning pings that Carmilla's not really gone after the climax. There is something supernatural lurking about in her head and it seems to be aligned with Carmilla's presence specifically.

6. Remember the prologue to Carmilla?

As I publish the case, in this volume, simply to interest the “laity,” I shall forestall the intelligent lady, who relates it, in nothing; and after due consideration, I have determined, therefore, to abstain from presenting any précis of the learned Doctor’s reasoning, or extract from his statement on a subject which he describes as “involving, not improbably, some of the profoundest arcana of our dual existence, and its intermediates.” I was anxious on discovering this paper, to reopen the correspondence commenced by Doctor Hesselius, so many years before, with a person so clever and careful as his informant seems to have been. Much to my regret, however, I found that she had died in the interval.

Someone else is reading out Laura's writing on the subject.

And Laura herself has died after the writing of it.

What are the last lines of the story?

It was long before the terror of recent events subsided; and to this hour the image of Carmilla returns to memory with ambiguous alternations—sometimes the playful, languid, beautiful girl; sometimes the writhing fiend I saw in the ruined church; and often from a reverie I have started, fancying I heard the light step of Carmilla at the drawing room door.

Perhaps our reader, having sadly discovered Laura has passed, wishes to pay his respects at the grave. It is a simple and lovely affair. Sadly a marker declaring she had died young.

(You cannot tell the state of a coffin when it's buried. You cannot tell a coffin is even there.)

The late mourner might see great lambent eyes, still as a cat's in the surrounding wood. Four in total. But they are gone just as quickly as they are spotted. And all that marks their presence is the iron smell of blood on the air.

[doomsayersunited]

A Decade Of Doom!

I started this blog ten years ago to compile the growing evidence that our planet would not longer be able to sustain human life by 2050, thanks to our continued, capitalist-fueled efforts to destroy all the systems we rely upon to sustain life. The first thing I put up here was this essay, on February 20, 2014. Now, a decade later, I thought it might be "fun" to look at what's changed: 1) Earth Overshoot Day

In 2014, "Earth Overshoot Day" (the day that humanity collectively consumes more resources from nature than it can regenerate over a year) was August 19th. Now, in 2024, Earth Overshoot Day is August 1st, 2.5 weeks earlier. At this rate and assuming things don't accelerate (even though they are likely to), Earth Overshoot Day will be around June 17th by 2050. 2) Biocapacity Biocapacity is the amount of resources contained on the planet required available to sustain life, measured by area. In 2014, I calculated that the planet had a biocapacity of 1.7 hectares per person. By dividing the total available biocapacity today in 2024 with the current global population as I did then, it now appears that there are just 1.5 hectares of planetary resources left per person to extract all the materials needed to sustain life, as well as all the area available to dispose of waste. That's a 12% loss over ten years. At that rate, we can expect to lose another 30% of biocapacity by 2050, going down to just 1.05 hectares per person by then, and that's assuming that the rate of biocapacity loss does not accelerate further and that the global population suddenly stops increasing after a run of non-stop increases spanning five centuries. Oh, also a reminder that the average human requires 2.7 hectares of land to sustain its current consumption habits/levels. So. 3) Individual Conservation To illustrate the futility of individual conservation at this point in the apocalypse, let me give you an example: If you were: a fully-vegan localvore living in a one-bedroom apartment with nine other people and using 100% renewably-generated electricity; who did not ever use motorized transportation of any kind or buy new clothing, furnishings, electronics, books, magazines, or newspapers and recycled all the waste you generated that was recyclable, you'd only require 1.4 hectares of biocapacity to sustain yourself. That is close to the kind of lifestyle extremism it would take to live sustainably. Deviate from that level of stoicism even slightly (say by living in a two-bedroom apartment with three other people instead of a one-bedroom apartment with nine other people and taking a single, four-hour roundtrip flight, once a year) and you're now consuming 1.6 hectares of biocapacity, which means you're using more resources than the world has available for you if everything was divided evenly among everybody. Of course, biocapacity, like all resources, are not divvied up evenly among everybody, which is why there are currently 114 different armed conflicts happening worldwide - the highest number of armed conflicts since 1946. 2023 was the most violent year in the last three decades. 4) Other Signs Of The End Times In my 2014 essay, I referenced the work of geologist Dr. Evan Fraser, who studies civilization collapse. In his book Empires of Food, Dr. Fraser noted common signs of a civilization about to collapse, which began to appear about two decades before it all goes completely to hell. Those signs were: -a rapidly-increasing and rapidly-urbanizing population We've added 700 million people to the planet since I began this blog in 2014. And where is everyone moving to?

-farmers increasingly specializing in just a small number of crops " "As farm ecosystems have been simplified, so too are the organisms that populate the farm.  A farm that specializes in a limited number of crops in short rotations does not, for example, look for plant varieties that do well in more complex rotations with intercropping.  A beef feedlot operation wants breeds that gain weight quickly on grain diets and does not want cattle breeds that digest well pasture grasses and thrive in all year outdoor environments on the range." The result? Recent estimates put the loss of global food diversity over the last 100 years at 75%. Over the 300,000 species of edible plants that exist, humans only consume about 200 of them in notable quantities, with 90% of crop plants not being grown commercially. -endemic soil erosion Climate change and the need to raise more crops have combined to increase the rate of agricultural soil erosion globally. Back in 2014, when I started blogging about the end of everything, the UN had already determined that there was only enough fertile soil left to plant 60 more annual crops. So, by 2074, we won't be able to grow food, full stop. This of course comes at a time when the global population continues to increase, and with it the need to grow more food. If projections are accurate, we will need to increase food production by 50% over the next three decades to feed everyone. -a dramatic increase in the cost of food and raw materials When I started this blog in 2014, I noted that 2011-2013 had seen the highest food prices on record. So what's happened since then?

It's important to point out here that the current food price spike started in 2020, so if Dr. Fraser's calculations are correct, the food system will collapse sometime around 2034, taking civilization with it. I closed my debut essay on this blog with a quote from the (now deceased) climate scientist Dr. James Lovelock, who advised a Guardian journalist to "enjoy life while you can. Because if you're lucky it's going to be 20 years before it hits the fan." That interview was published in 2008. We have four years left to enjoy.

[shoku-and-awe]

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray or unsalted butter, for greasing the pan

141 grams (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

63 grams (¾ cup) Dutch-process or natural cocoa powder

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

267 grams (1 ⅓ cups) granulated sugar

5 grams (1 ½ teaspoons) Diamond Crystal or ¾ teaspoon Morton kosher salt

100 grams (2 large) eggs

110 grams (½ cup) sourdough starter discard (unfed, 100% hydration)

85 grams (3 ounces, ½ cup) chopped bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chunks/chips, divided

Flaky sea salt

Heat the oven to 375ºF with a rack in the center. Spray an 8×8-inch metal square cake pan with nonstick cooking spray, then line with parchment (see steps and diagram above), leaving an overhang on all four sides. 

Place the butter in a small saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Melt the butter until it starts to foam and sputter, 2-4 minutes. Whisking often, continue to cook the butter until it starts to quiet down, smells nutty, and turns deeply golden brown, another 3-5 minutes. As you whisk, try to lift any browning milk solids that are stuck to the pan. Remove from the heat and immediately pour into a large heatsafe bowl placed over a digital scale, making sure to scrape in as many browned bits stuck to the pan as possible. You should have about 113 grams of butter remaining.

Immediately whisk the cocoa and vanilla into the warm brown butter until smooth. Whisk the sugar and salt into the brown butter mixture until combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time, whisking vigorously to combine, about 1 minute (after the first egg the mixture will look lumpy and separated but after beating in the second it will form into a smooth, glossy mixture). Fold in the starter discard until combined, then fold in 59 grams (2 ounces, about 6 tablespoons) of the chopped chocolate.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth as needed to make an even layer. Sprinkle over the remaining chopped chocolate. Bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out with some moist (not totally gooey) crumbs, 29 to 32 minutes. Immediately sprinkle the surface with flaky salt, then let cool for at least 35 minutes, but ideally 1 hour—these are fudgy! (If you can, let the pan cool at room temperature for at least 15 minutes so it’s not searing hot, transfer the pan to the refrigerator and chill for at least another 15 minutes, or up to overnight.)

Lift the brownies out of the pan by the parchment and place on a cutting board. Cut into pieces (I like cutting the batch into 9 large, 12 medium, or 16 bite-sized pieces). Brownies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, in the fridge for up to 10 days (I love cold brownies, this is my preference), or in the freezer for up to 4 months.

[marcofoods]

🍓 STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE ICEBOX CAKE ❄️ Layers of juicy strawberries, creamy pudding, and coffee-dipped ladyfingers—no baking required!

🛒 INGREDIENTS

✔️ 1 box (3.4 oz) vanilla instant pudding ✔️ ½ cup strawberry juice *(or blend ½ cup strawberries + 2 tbsp water, strained)* ✔️ 1½ cups cold milk (whole milk for extra creaminess) ✔️ 1 tsp vanilla extract ✔️ 24 ladyfingers (Savoiardi biscuits) ✔️ 2 cups whipped cream (or 1 tub Cool Whip) ✔️ 1 lb fresh strawberries, hulled/sliced/pat-dried ✔️ Optional: 4 oz cream cheese, softened (fold into pudding for tang!)

📋 INSTRUCTIONS

1️⃣ MAKE PUDDING LAYER

Whisk pudding mix + milk + vanilla for 2 mins until thick. Chill 5 mins.

Optional: Fold in ½ cup whipped cream for fluffier texture.

2️⃣ ASSEMBLE LAYERS

Quick-dip ladyfingers in strawberry juice (1 sec per side—don’t soak!).

Line bottom of 8x8" dish with half the ladyfingers.

Spread half the pudding, then half the strawberries.

Repeat layers.

3️⃣ TOP & CHILL

Spread remaining whipped cream over top. Garnish with strawberries.

Refrigerate 4+ hours (overnight = best texture!).

💡 PRO TIPS

▸ Extra stability: Add 1 tbsp powdered sugar to whipped cream while beating ▸ Adult twist: Swap strawberry juice for Grand Marnier + orange juice ▸ Gluten-free: Use GF ladyfingers or thin sponge cake slices ▸ Serving idea: Cut into squares or scoop like a trifle!

⏳ Prep: 20 mins | Chill: 4+ hrs | Total: 4 hrs 20 mins 🍽 Servings: 9 | Calories: ~240/slice

#NoBakeDessert #StrawberrySeason #IceboxCake #SummerSweet

"Like strawberry shortcake’s elegant cousin!" 💃🍓

(Shortcut: Use store-bought strawberry glaze instead of fresh juice!)

[tanadrin]

Pr and the Mniw

Pr is a minor planet orbiting the millisecond magnetar MMR CHA J1712-2901 ("Ast"), about a thousand light years from Earth, in the constellation Sagittarius. Ast has four major planets: Wsjrhp, Hrw, Mnw, and Bstt. Hrw has one moon, Jmstj. There are five large minor planet in eccentric orbits within 3 AU, Jrb, Bjr, Rrj, Zr, and Pr.

Planetoid

Pr is a large asteroid with a rotation period of about two hours; its average density is less than 4 g/cm^3, but its internal composition is highly variable. About 40% of its solid material is composed of massive diamond fragments fused together at seams formed of carbon glass, and the interior of the planet contains a large irregular cavern roughly 250 kilometers in radius. This cavern is sufficiently enclosed to retain an envelope of water and air with minimal outgassing. Due to the very high rotation speed of the planetoid, the surface of the cavern, at its lower levels, experiences a centrifugal force about 1-2% of Earth's gravity. The axis of Pr's rotation is nearly perpendicular to its orbit.

No complete model of the formation of the Ast system has yet been offered, but several hypotheses have been suggested to account for some of its more unusual features. The formation of a protoplanetary disk may be due to the disruption of a stellar companion, or fallback from the supernova that formed Ast in the first place; the diamond fragments which make up Pr may have originated in a disrupted carbon-rich planet or planetoid, or gas giant. The interior atmosphere of Pr is perhaps due primarily to biological processes releasing volatiles into the cavern.

Deliberate planetary engineering has been mooted as a possibility, but the crew of the DSE Scholiast, the only vessel to survey the system so far, has not yet found evidence of such engineering by other civilizations, and the indigenous inhabitants of Pr are likely incapable of such undertakings at this time.

[Map of Pr, with some regions and bodies of water labelled, plus many major settlements. The relief of the cavern interior is very great; the large plateaus have scarps tens or hundreds of kilometers high. Note that the equilibrium potential at the interior surface of a rotating body is cylindrical, not spherical, and this projection is adjusted accordingly, and so shows true shapes near the poles. The nature of the geological processes that have shaped Pr's interior are not fully understood at this time. The total land area visible here is roughly equivalent to Texas or the Iberian Peninsula.]

Biology and Ecology

Pr's internal heat is maintained by the radiation from Ast, which is converted to thermal energy in Pr's crust. Thinner regions of the crust, particularly near the equator, have higher heat flow from the exterior; the high axial tilt of Pr also means that the northern and southern hemispheres can experience somewhat different heat flows throughout the year. Much more important to Pr's seasons, however, is the variability of Ast's magnetic field created by the eccentricity of Pr's orbit. When Pr is closest to Ast, organisms can extract energy from the magnetic field, as Pr's rotation allows them to create selective ion gradients whose diffusion provides energy, or to directly extract mechanical energy from electrically charged cilia. (Induced current is much too weak to be a useful source of biological energy).

As on Earth, the native lifeforms can be broadly classified into producers and consumers, but even the consumers on Ast obtain a significant portion of their energy budget from autotrophy, using heterotrophy only to supplement this budget. A minority of producers are also radiotrophs, who extract energy from the radioactive elements in Pr's crust.

Pr biology does not use DNA and is highly resistant to radiation. It also does not seem to experience Darwinian genetic drift. Instead, cells seem able to adapt their own internal machinery in response to certain kinds of stress, and to disseminate these changes throughout the organism, or even to conspecifics. The nature of this process and how it could have evolved is still a mystery, nor can they apparently account for all of the different forms observed among the native life.

The interior of Pr is dim, but not dark. Some plant species have evolved to emit light as a form of signaling, incentivizing some animal species to evolve eyes in response.

Because of the energy inefficiency of pure heterotrophy, to say nothing of pure heterotrophy that involves predating on other heterotrophs, no carnivorous animals are known on Pr.

[Above, the Mniw. The upper Mni has a fully-grown set of skin-plates; the lower Mni has either shed or removed hers, possibly as a cosmetic choice. The dark patches of skin shown are the rough beds from which the skin-plates grow.]

The Mniw

The Mniw (singular Mni) are the indigenous inhabitants of Pr. They are 12-18 centimeters long, with tough gray skin, and usually found with a mineralized defensive covering that grows out from the skin. They have a single sex, and reproduce via parthenogenesis. However, they still engage in a form of sexual intercourse, which is divorced from reproduction: instead, sex among the Mniw exists as a means of facilitating horizontal gene transfer, which then alters the nature of the offspring they bear. It can also allow a limited sharing of experiential memory. In addition to sight, hearing, and the other usual senses, the Mniw have the ability to sense the weak induced electrical currents in Pr's crust, which helps them perceive their environment better.

Mniw hatch from eggs and are generally raised in family units; they do not make sex-based distinctions, but do make social distinctions based on relationships. A mwt is the Mni who laid the egg; all other adults in the same household involved in childrearing are jtw; the sntw are siblings who share a mother, while other children raised in the same house are snw. Children from one's own eggs are srtw, while children from one's partner(s) are mnw.

As in humans, Mni adolesence is marked by gradual sexual maturity; reproductive fertility comes later in life, however, around the age of 30. Past 50, fertility declines slowly, as does the capacity to engage in horizontal gene transfer, though the capacity for sexual intercourse remains. Past 65 or so, Mniw enter their equivalent of "old age," but Mni do not experience a sudden collapse in their physiological health late in life, and can in principle life forever so long as they are not felled by accident, violence, or disease. In practice, lifespans are around 130-200 years, with a great deal of variability.

Mniw have many social elements, like hierarchy and emotions and social roles, that would not be entirely alien to humans, but they have no direct analogue to human sex roles or orientations. Instead the major cleavage in Mni society historically is between Mniw who tend to be primarily exogamous, preferring to mate and rear children with Mniw from distant communities, vs Mniw who tend to be primarily endogamous, with about 85% of Mniw being primarily endogamous; these traits perhaps evolved in the context of horizontal gene transfer to take advantage of different patterns of dissemination of useful traits.

Mniw can survive outside of Pr, but without a strong, moving magnetic field must consume a large amount of food; and the food they are normally adapted for will not grow at all absent such a field. An Earth-standard gravitational field would render them totally immobile, and would be extremely unpleasant, though probably not fatal, and it's possible given their unique physiology that they could eventually adapt to such an environment.

Mniw generally inhabit large, almost hive-like cities that are built out in three dimensions; historically, these could be strongly fortified against attack in a way that made wars of conquest nearly impossible until the invention of gunpowder. Mniw have had writing for about 5,000 years, and the first confederate states emerged around 3-4,000 years ago. The dissemination of gunpowder weapons 1,500 years ago radically altered politics and society on Pr, but the absence of easy paths to industrialization has caused a certain degree of stagnation since.

Modern Pr is divided into about a dozen large states, in an area of roughly 750,000 kilometers square, with a fair amount of diversity in languages, cultures, and social systems, given the small size of Pr. A very loose framework of international diplomacy is carried out through a series of councils called the Jaw Mwad, and on the occasion of the Scholiast's arrival, the Mniw convened a great council, a Wr Jaw Mwad, for the first time in over a century to open formal channels of communication.

[soylent-crocodile]

Qlippoth Boons- The Ladies

(Qlippoth Assault by Lie Setiawan)

The Qlippoth are one of my favorite aspects of Pathfinder's campaign setting- ancient squirming entities that exist in the overlap between adventure fantasy and cosmic horror. I understand why they're on the lower tier of boons- that is, their boons are entirely a set of three SLAs- they hate worshipers and are an anathema to souls. Consider these boons to be less something they've started giving out, and more a way that secret cults have learned to wrest power from these twilight divinities. The initial obedience and its basic boon are taken straight from PF canon, and I've chosen a handful to keep around.

If you're not familiar with these lovely ladies, I reccommend @monstersdownthepath's lovely articles in their Beasts from Before Month, and I'd also like to thank them for extracting these images from their bestiary!

Also; Major content warning for body horror! These two are themed around pregnancy and parasites in that order, and if either of those things skeev you out, it's best you give this one a pass!

Oaur-Ooung

(Oaur-Ooung by Alexander Alexandrov)

Obedience: Drink fouled water, and maintain yourself on the edge of regurgitation for an hour.  Gain a +4 profane bonus on saving throws against poison effects.

Boons

First Boon Mother’s Embrace- Summon Swarm 3/day, Fungal Infestation 2/day, or Black Tentacles 1/day

Second Boon Mycelium Strands- Strings of your mistress’s mycellial network begin to grow inside you and burst through your skin, allowing you to grasp distant foes and hold tight to your enemies. Increase your natural reach by 5ft and gain a +4 profane bonus to grapple checks.

Third Boon The Gift of Life- Whatever your anatomy, your body begins producing qlippoth at a daily rate. At the start of the day, upon completing your obedience, a random qlippoth from among from among an augnagar, a chernobue, a gongorinan, a nygoth, a shoggti, or an utukku begins gestating within your flesh, giving you a -2 penalty to AC and to charisma-based skill checks, but 2 temporary hit points per level. Upon you taking 50 or more damage, or at the end of the day, the qlippoth bursts from your flesh, dealing an additional 2d6 slashing damage to you. The qlippoth is loyal to you for 1 hour, after which it will come to find all ensouled beings to be an anathema. 

Isph-Aun-Vuln

(Isph-Aun-Vuln by Alexander Alexandrov)

Obedience: Consume a handful of live parasites or infested flesh.  Gain a +4 profane bonus on saving throws against disease and parasitic infestations.

Boons

First Boon From Inside- Detect Thoughts 3/day, Suggestion 2/day, or Fleshworm Infestation 1/day

Second Boon Soul Parasite- Gain Possession as a spell-like ability usable 2/day.

Third Boon Writhing Form- Your body and soul become infested with primordial, abyssal parasites. As a move action, you may dissolve your flesh into a pile of writhing abyssal grubs that, as a gestalt, contain your mind, and may stay in this state until you choose to leave it. While in this state you become an Outsider with the Swarm subtype, take up 10ft of space (square if you can’t fly, cubed if you can), and gain a swarm attack with Distraction that deals 1d6 damage for every 2 HD you have. The Distraction DC is equal to 10+½ your total HD+your Constitution modifier. A creature killed by your swarm attack has its soul devoured by you and cannot be revived with anything short of divine intervention. You can not cast spells that have a somatic component in this form and cannot wield weapons. 

[orangekittyenergy]

Here's a little story about my painful afternoon of dipping my toe into mods and blender and shit I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. Cannot emphasize enough how ill prepared I was for all this.

Tl;Dr - that shit is hard and you all have my respect and I have never felt dumber.

So, here I am obsessed with a tiny random NPC in cyberpunk and desperate to see more of them. Anything of them. "Okay, wait"....I think .... "People pull skins and dialogue all the time from game files? Why can't I?"

Okay let's just play with it. Cyberpunk has a pretty robust modding kit. And I find out quickly I need the mod toolkit from CDPR to find and grab specific files. Okay okay not so bad. I get it and start searching. But wait? The labels in cyberpunk are total crap and scattered all over the place. (More on this later) BUT I can search by name! Found the microblorbo I wanted!

BUT.... Wait to see anything I need more....Okay....so I download Blender so I can see this stiff (mind you, I've never touched Blender in my life) but I LITERALLY just want to see this one skin.

Okay fiddle with it a bit and extract some files, hopping back and forth between blender and the modtools where I'm getting the files (doesn't work at first of course - always just that default fucking cube). Oh okay I need the Cyberpunk extension into Blender. Okay what the fuck I'm this far in let's keep going...

It's not there. I need to enable something in blender to get it. Finally find the fucking extension, get the proper mesh file pulled and imported!! ...oh... Okay wait it looks like garbage 😭. All fuzzy and shit. Google more, OKAY....I need the fucking .ent file I GUESS!

Search some more in the files, no .ent for this guy! (Because of the crap way CDPR has their files labeled!!).

OKAYYYYYYY (I could've quit....or you know, used any sort of tutorial at this point but nah)

Search some more and there's apparently a mod that let's you click on a character in game and scan them for their .ent file. O K A Y. Download that mother fucking thing, BUT WAIT it doesn't work... Search some more and you need A WHOLE ASS SEPARATE MOD to be able to use the scanner mod.

I GUESS.png

I'm in too deep, download that mod.....still.... doesn't work. I'm 4 hours deep in this. Turns out I need this whole ass other thing to make this whole ridiculous set up work. At that point I'm literally the definition of the sunk cost fallacy and ready to pull my hair out. I finally gave up in defeat.

Anyway, that shit is hard. Maybe if I had a braincell left in me I could figure it out, but modders and rippers and renderers holy shit you have my respect.

If you read this far I guess hope you enjoyed my adventures in technology 🫠❤️

[lost-boy-into-the-upper-heavenly]

Santa Claus Cake

🎅 This Santa Claus Cake is the star of any holiday table! With a fluffy vanilla cake base and festive decorations, it’s as delicious as it is adorable. 🎄🍰

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup whole milk

For the Frosting:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

3-4 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Red gel food coloring

Black gel food coloring

For Decorations:

Mini marshmallows (for Santa's beard and hat trim)

Candy eyes or chocolate chips

Red candy (for nose)

Directions:

Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.

Prepare the Cake Batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients, alternating with milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.

Bake the Cake: Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the Frosting: In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, alternating with heavy cream, until smooth and spreadable. Add the vanilla extract. Divide the frosting into portions and tint some red and some black with gel food coloring.

Assemble the Cake: Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread a layer of white frosting on top. Add the second layer and frost the entire cake in white.

Decorate as Santa Claus:

Use red frosting to pipe Santa’s hat on the top half of the cake.

Pipe a beard and hat trim using mini marshmallows.

Use black frosting to create eyes and a mouth.

Add a red candy for Santa’s nose.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Baking Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour

Kcal: 420 kcal per slice (based on 12 servings)

#holidaybaking #santaclausdesserts #christmascakes #festivebaking

[nbula-rising]

Raspberry Rose Coffee Cake Prep Time: 1 hour Cook Time: 50 minutes Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes Yield: 12-14 slices

Ingredients

STREUSEL 1/4 cup (33g) all-purpose flour 1/4 cup (112g) packed brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter, melted

FILLING 8 oz (226g) cream cheese, room temperature 1/4 cup (52g) sugar 1 large egg white 1/4 tsp rose water 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup (115g) raspberries, cut in half Pink gel icing color

COFFEE CAKE 1 1/2 cups (195g) all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 cup (112g) unsalted butter, room temperature 3/4 cup (155g) sugar 6 tbsp (86g) sour cream 5 tbsp (ml) milk 1 large egg 1 large egg yolk 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup (115g) raspberries, cut in half

GLAZE 3/4 cup (86g) powdered sugar 1–2 tbsp milk 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1/8 tsp rose water Pink gel icing color

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 inch cake pan with a circle of parchment paper in the bottom and grease the sides.

To prepare the streusel, add the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter to a medium sized bowl and mix with a fork until well combined and crumbly. Set aside.

To prepare the cream cheese filling, beat cream cheese and sugar together with a mixer until smooth.

Add the egg white, rose water and vanilla extract and mix until well incorporated. Set aside egg yolk for cake batter. Set aside cream cheese mixture.

To make the cake batter, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Add the butter and sugar and beat together until light in color and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.

Add the sour cream and mix until well incorporated.

Add the milk and mix until well incorporated. The batter will be very thin.

Add egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until well combined, but don’t over mix. Batter will be thick and kind of sticky.

Spread a little more than half of the cake batter evenly into the bottom of the cake pan.

Spread the cream cheese filling evenly over the cake batter, then arrange raspberries for the filling in an even layer over the cream cheese.

Drop small spoonfuls of remaining cake batter over the filling and spread into an even layer as best you can, then add the raspberries on top.

Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top of the cake.

Bake coffee cake for 45-50 minutes. It may still seem a little jiggly in the center when you remove it, which is because of the cheesecake. The cake should be a nice golden color on top.

Allow the cake to cool completely, then remove it from the cake pan.

Combine glaze ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Drizzle over the cake. You can serve it warm or refrigerate it and serve it cool. If you refrigerate it before serving and want to eat it warm, you can microwave individual pieces for 10-15 seconds.

Notes

This cake can have a tendency to stick to the sides of the pan a bit because of the cream filling. Be sure to spray the pan well. You can also run a knife along the edge of the pan before removing it, or you can line the sides of the cake pan with parchment before adding the cake batter.

[chefchatter]

Easter Cookies: Sweet Treats to Celebrate the Season

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Assorted food coloring

Sprinkles, for decorating

Instructions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until a dough forms.

Divide the dough into smaller portions, depending on how many colors you want to use. Add a few drops of food coloring to each portion and knead until the color is evenly distributed.

Wrap each colored dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll out each colored dough portion on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut out Easter-themed shapes.

Place the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving some space between each cookie.

Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden.

Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cookies are completely cooled, decorate them with sprinkles or icing, if desired.

Serve and enjoy these festive Easter cookies with family and friends!

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Chill Time: 30 minutes | Bake Time: 8-10 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour

Servings: Makes about 24 cookies

#eastercookies #cookies #baking #homemade #spring #desserts #foodphotography #yum #foodbloggers #instafood

[sweethoneyrose83]

SugarBoos Spiced Peach Cobbler Cinnamon Rolls with Creamy Frosting

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

1 cup warm milk (about 110°F)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

4 cups all-purpose flour

For the Filling:

2 cups diced peaches (fresh or canned)

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the Frosting:

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Prepare the Dough: Dissolve yeast in warm milk with a pinch of sugar. Let sit until frothy, about 5 minutes. Add sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour to a large bowl. Mix in the yeast mixture. Knead until smooth. Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Make the Filling: Mix diced peaches with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Assemble Rolls: Roll out the dough into a rectangle. Spread the peach filling evenly. Roll up tightly and cut into 12 slices. Place in a greased baking dish. Let rise for 30 minutes.

Bake: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the rolls for 25 minutes or until golden.

Prepare Frosting: Beat cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth.

Finish: Drizzle frosting over warm rolls before serving.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cooking Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes

Kcal: 320 kcal | Servings: 12 servings

[brandwhorestarscream]

G1 transformers, if you fancy it: Megatron and Jazz (also Buzzsaw does not get enough love in this world).

Subject 1033 - Codename: Megatron

06-13-1987

Attending Physician: Dr. Stephen McCoy

Despite medication and two counts of "successful" reconditioning, Subject 1033 remains unpredictable and a danger to himself. Dr. Povlo claimed he was no longer harboring thoughts of suicide, but the first thing he did after being released onto the floor was try to throw himself into the machinery! It took me 9 hours of surgery to stabilize him, not to mention we don't have a replacement leg ready for him. It'll be at least 2 weeks before a replacement can be made, that's 2 weeks of our most promising Subject thus far not being able to walk!

Regardless. He is physically stable and under watch. I reccomend he be under supervision at all times. Not cameras, in person supervision. Despite his many incidents, he has shown no inclination toward violence, and his staff safety rating does not need to be re-evaluated at this time.

When his leg is replaced, 3 to 4 days of intense physical therapy should have him Floor-ready again, but someone has got to get his brain under control or I'm afraid these incidents will keep happening. That's not something we can afford. He's our most promising result so far: if he dies before we can replicate the procedure on another it will be a grave loss.

I recommend Subject be re-evaluated for psychiatric health, by someone that's not as gullible as Povlo.

End report.

Subject 1064 - Codename: Jazz

10-19-1987

Incident Report

Attending Personel: Rachel Walters - Head of Homestead, Dr. Sabrina Diaz - Subject Physician, Dr. Julian Anderson - Homestead Pediatrician

Subject 1064 was initially extracted from the Homestead on 07-04-1987 following the incident detailed in Emergency Report 43. Subject was released from hospital on 07-09-1987, and underwent a total of 4 procedures: B, E, H, and I. Subject 1064 was then-

ENOUGH with this bullshit! That thing killed 3 people-!

Miss Walters, I understand that you're upset-

Upset?! UPSET?! Damn straight I'm upset! You bring that- that monster down here and it strangles one of our counselors in front of a group of second-graders and all you can do is parrot numbers and codes like it doesn't matter-

Of course it matters, Miss Walters. That is why these reports are so important: to ensure this sort of incident does not recurr-

Ladies. The topic at hand, if you please.

Certainly. As I was saying, Subject 1064 underwent multiple successful operations and modeled excellent behavior: obedience, passiveness, and even a willingness to converse. His "melatonin factor" was noted to be highly effective, and to prevent this sort of incident from occurring again, we decided to assign Subject 1064 to the Homestead's night shift. His first 3 nights were without incident, correct?

I- yes! He- He was- the kids seemed to really like him, and his lullabies put them right to sleep, within a minute. Even the older ones. He went into each room, sang for 'em, then headed to the next one, over and over til they were all out. Then he went back to the front door to leave with... your people.

And on the 4th day?

I don't KNOW! He'd just finished putting the really little ones down for their nap, walked out to the front yard and just seemed to go crazy! By the time anyone who knew what they were doing got here, he'd choked the life outta Richie and locked himself in the belltower with three of the second-graders! It killed two security guards in broad daylight on the soccer field! Damn it, I want answers, and I don't want any more of those things down here! What if the next one goes after one of the kids?!

We have reason to believe they will not become violent towards children, Miss Walters. Was there anyt-

Well pardon me if I'm not comforted by that! Those things are dangerous-

We're off topic. Miss Walters, thank you for your testimony. You're dismissed. Closing remarks: Subject 1064 is no longer eligible for assignment outside of the Shelf without psychiatric re-evaluation. Punishment shall be determined by the disciplinary team.

Casualties: 3

End report.

Subject 1097 - Codename: Buzzsaw

11-05-1987

Attending Physician: Dr. Charles Yelavich

Subject 1097 is the first successful Subject under the Hands Free project, and is going on 5 days post-op and recovering well. Swelling has reduced nearly 70%, and his visual acuity is performing within expected parameters. Attached are today's eye exam results

Subject does seem to be experiencing moderate emotional distress, but this has been so far regulated with high-reward items, mainly drops of sugar syrup and pain relief. It is important to note that no physical or liquid food is to be administered to Subject 1097 post-discharge: he no longer possesses the necessary components to process it and must be cleaned out manually. Sugar syrup is only for use under my direct supervision.

Subject 1097's success is being partially attributed to the strategic amputations and occupational therapy pre-operation. In training him to function without dexterous limbs pre-op, he has been considerably more active, agreeable, and lively than previous subjects. I reccomend repeating his experimental treatments with future Subjects and fine tuning the process through careful trial and error. In the meantime, I will continue to work closely with Buzzsaw and train him as I see fit.

End report.