#Best Travel Ads Network

[adsnetwork]

Best Travel Ad Network Advertisement

What are Travel Ad Networks? 

An online advertising network, often known as an Ad network, is a company that connects advertisers with websites wishing to run advertisements. An advertising network's primary responsibility is to fulfill the publisher's ad supply and match it with the advertiser's demand.

Online ad networks differ from traditional media ad networks in that they use a central ad server to distribute adverts to consumers, enabling targeting, tracking, and reporting of impressions in ways that are not possible with traditional media alternatives.

A platform called Travel Ad Network offers online travel advertising options. The sector develops, produces, and distributes online advertising campaigns and personalized advertising programs for travel websites. Travel Ad Network serves global customers.

Best Travel Ad Networks for Advertisement:-

7Search PPC 

7Search PPC is one of the leading ad networks. They always worked to benefit their advertisers and publishers' needs.

7Search PPC is often an all-in-one advertising solution for travel ad publishers and advertisers. They also have a straightforward registration process along with indefinite services.

7SearchPPC.com offers Google Adsense alternatives for publishers and pay-per-click services for advertisers. They help advertisers grow their ROI and reach by supplying them with high-quality direct traffic. By offering high-performing advertising, we also assist publishers in making money from their websites. 7Search PPC using sophisticated analytics & bidding on an extensive network of traffic sources. Also, offer alternatives to Adsense for modest websites.

They have various ad formats, including mobile ads, display ads, and pay-per-click ad models.

Along with travel ads, they offer various categories, including pharmacy, entertainment, media, etc. 7Search PPC also provides excellent payment options, including Bitcoin, PayPal, Credit/Debit Cards, etc.

Google Adsense: 

When talking about ad networks, how can we skip Google Adsense? 

Google launched the Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising program called Google Adsense. It was introduced in 2003 and automatically distributed text, pictures, video, and rich media advertisements relevant to the audience and site content.

Pay Per Click or Pay Per model is the basis for calculating the publisher's revenue. The benefit of Google Adsense is that you can apply for an account even if your site has little traffic, and you can even apply for an account with a free Blogspot blog.

Facebook Ads:

There are many distinct types of Facebook advertisements, each with advantages and disadvantages specific to marketers wishing to use Facebook. 

With a headline, copy, and image, Facebook marketplace advertising can be seen in the side columns of the Facebook website.

Through Facebook ads called "Boosted Posts," businesses can promote a single organic post on their Facebook business page for a set fee. The promoted post reaches more audiences and fans than a standard post.

Tumblr Ads:

Tumblr advertisements are available in a variety of formats. Tumblr Spotlight and Radar let "sponsors," or advertisers, be displayed in areas where Tumblr highlights specific content and accounts. The Tumblr community is busy and vibrant, boasting 54 million users and 70 million daily posts that receive over half a billion page views. It is one of the best ad networks for travel advertisements to increase audiences and consumers.

Additionally, Tumblr provides sponsored web post advertising, which are bits of Tumblr content created by advertisers that are mixed in with regular, user-generated material on users' primary dashboard feeds. Minor money signs are used to identify these Tumblr ads as advertisements. You must sign up as a Tumblr sponsor for your online ads on the Tumblr platform.

Reddit Ads:

Reddit ads are banners with a headline, a destination URL, and a potential image. Reddit advertising operates under a bid-based structure, allowing marketers to set campaign budgets and specify the duration of their campaigns. Reddit ads frequently cost less than one cent per impression and offer distinctive targeting capabilities.

People can upvote or downvote an ad, providing advertisers with a quick read on whether users like or detest an ad, which really sets Reddit ads apart. Like every other post on Reddit, each advertisement has a comment section. Advertisers may find this handy as it enables users to give feedback sent directly to the advertiser.

The most effective Reddit advertisements respect their target - Young, tech-savvy people, usually men, are the primary audience of Reddit. Posting a Reddit advertisement can feel a little bit like playing with fire because the Reddit community as a whole is quite cautious of overt marketing. If they are done right, Reddit ads may generate a lot of buzz for little money. Through their website, you can promote Reddit.

YouTube Ads:

Advertisements that show on Google's video-sharing website are known as YouTube ads. Since Google took over YouTube, YouTube advertising has become almost as simple and personalized as AdWords advertising.

YouTube advertisements offer multiple targeting possibilities and a variety of ad types. YouTube advertising may show as banners, in-video overlays, in-stream videos (commercials that play before or after another YouTube video), and other general configurations.

Instagram Ads:

Instagram advertisements are images or videos that are displayed across the platform in locations such as the News Feed, Explore page, Reels feed, Stories, and Instagram Shops.

Instagram is one of the biggest travel lovers' platforms where users go to check out millions of travel posts in a single day. If you have a travel website or a tour and travel forum, nothing is better than promoting your business through Instagram ads. 

Propeller Ads:

This ad alternative is best for popunder ad formats. Providing possibilities for both new and established blog sites, PropellerAds is a rapidly expanding platform. Popunder adverts, which run behind the active browser window and manifest themselves once this window is closed, are a trademark of PropellerAds.

PropellerAds offers more targeted and non-targeted ad options for desktops, such as native ads, banners, and video ads. Additionally serving mobile applications and websites, PropellerAds even provides a push notification ad format for these channels.

Pros and Cons of Travel Ad Networks:

When discussing the pros and cons of using/hiring an ad network, choosing their best and most destructive efforts is not entirely simple. But here is a list of some of their pros and cons according to the majority of users:

Pros:-

Dedicated Support: Travel Ad Networks has a massive team of qualified professionals, ad experts, several upgraded tools, affiliates, and various advertisement roles. These qualities of an ad network help a travel advertiser to get the right traffic for their ads.

Convenience: You don't need to use valuable time from your busy schedule to learn and practice new tactics. Allow the professionals to do the work on your behalf.

Affordable: As you work with ad networks on a cost-per-click or cost-per-install module. About your typical revenue per user, you have an excellent notion. For help conducting a cost-benefit analysis of your investments, you may also ask.

Cons:-

Fake Traffic: First, Non-human technologies are at their height as the market shifts away from the human touch day by day, increasing the likelihood of fraud. Your money might all be wasted because of this. 

Quality Doubts: Because ad networks only provide a certain amount of traffic, there is no assurance that this traffic will ever result in conversions and raise income. Therefore, try to stay away from ad networks with a negative reputation because your money will be lost in an instant without any real gain.

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[thesiltverses]

any clues on whats next after tsv ends ? :)

No concrete confirmation, but we did put out a Patreon post back in spring with a few draft pitches, to gauge initial interest and see what kind of genre storytelling folks were most excited to see from us.

I'll paste them below, so you can see the kinds of things we've had in mind (#2 and #3 were the most popular, but it was a fairly even spread outside of that). We've had a few more really fun ideas since then that I'll keep schtum about for now.

General feedback was that people were most enthusiastic about seeing ongoing, multi-season projects from us, which makes perfect sense and is much more sensible for us anyway in terms of sustaining a livelihood / retaining audience members along the way.

That said, TSV has been a three-year endeavour which is a big commitment, and personally I think the best horror is often self-contained, short and sweet.

So I'd really love to have the time to work on a few miniseries-type shows as well, but also need to recognise that we likely don't have the bandwidth to juggle two projects simultaneously.

With all that in mind, I think the direction we're hoping to be able to pursue is:

1+ shorter horror miniseries or one-offs with production or network partners (if they want to work with us) where we're largely on writing duties or with a lighter load.

1 longer, ongoing weird-fiction show which is all ours, baby, all ours.

Draft pitches

#1: Manes

Genre: Historical horror, cosmic horror, family drama with murderous stakes

Influences: The Terror Season 1, pretty much.

Summary: In 208 AD, the ailing Roman emperor Septimius Severus travels north across Hadrian's Wall into Caledonia, with the aim of finally uniting Britain under imperial rule.

For Severus, there's more at stake - his two sons are openly at odds over the succession, and it's openly said that civil war will follow the emperor's death.

Severus himself rose to supreme power through violence and the elimination of his rivals. Now, haunted by the possibility of revenge by the shades of the divine dead and dwelling unhappily on his legacy, the emperor hopes to share his final triumph with his sons and demonstrate a different lesson to them - that an equitable peace is a lasting possibility.

But as the Roman column makes its way north into apparently endless woods, surrounded by cronies, schemers, Britons, soothsayers, priestesses of Cybele, and more, the emperor and his family find that their enemy is nowhere to be seen - but they are being pursued by a force that is both strange and terrible.

And soon enough, the Romans realise that they have perhaps strayed not into Caledonia at all - but into a hostile realm of their own imagining...

Why make this show? We adore period horror, and there's far too little of it out there.

Severus and his family are a fascinating set of characters who we'd love to spend some time with - as ethically-compromised participants in a very Shakespearean tragedy, and as individuals whose heritage, religious beliefs and psychologies allow us to explore aspects of ancient Rome that haven't been done to death in fiction already.

#2: I'll Dance In The Deep Shadow

Genre: Weird-fiction noir, paranoid espionage fiction, cosmic horror

Influences: Cold War spy classics, Roadside Picnic

Summary: Across the water from the mainland UK, a vast walled city has come unexpectedly into existence.

The city’s walls are composed of purest shadow; its leaders have not revealed themselves to us, nor have they made demands of us.

Upon its streets, our own dead and forlorn doubles wander; grinning doppelgangers who seem to know something terrible from the future that’s to come.

We call the city Umbra.

Umbra is a bottomless well of shadow and secrets; its darkened landscapes are home to suppressed memories turned savage and monstrous.

Its citizens and its guards are twisted echoes, repetitions, and whispering relics of the world's buried past - and they will not reveal Umbra's purpose to us.

Around Umbra's great walls, representatives from the world's governments gather and plot against one another - mercenaries, guides, spies, black-market traders, scientists and killers - to infiltrate the city, map its streets, and navigate its dangers for themselves.

Why make this show? Less of an Eskew sequel than it probably sounds at first glance, this one. 

We'd love to do a paranoid, twist-filled, pessimistic John Le Carre-style spy thriller, with multiple characters who can neither trust themselves nor each other - and we feel like we've got some really interesting horror themes around memory and forgetting here to explore with this concept.

#3: Our Wars Have Ended

Genre: Dark fantasy, New Weird fantasy

Influences: The Black Company, the Bas-Lag series, Gormenghast.

Summary: It’s a strange time to be alive.

Thirty years ago, countless legions of the ancient dead rose from their graves to conquer the living lands; lands which now rest in an uneasy - but peaceful - state of occupation.

Withered corpses sit upon the thrones of the living and play silent courtier in the shadowed halls, acting out the rituals and habits of their past lives while dead men and women keep watch from the ruined towers. 

Mortal historians and linguists frantically mediate between our returned masters, trying to keep the peace - which estate belongs to whom? Who shall rule eternal? Which traditions deserve to live on?

But this is a time of wondrous change, too - new technologies, empowered by the revelations of the Dead Reclamation and the will of the Ancestors. Strange machines rumble through the hills and necronautical vessels delve into the unexplored territories of the afterlife itself.

And it has been announced that the Hollowbrow Queen will unite the nation with a powerful gesture, taking on a living consort in a marriage of the fleeting and the eternal.

On one side of the conquered country, an old veteran leads his mercenary company on a reluctant expedition towards the capital, in the employ of a long-dead king on a mission of revenge.

On the other, a young dead-diver and essayer into the realms of the dead is hired to investigate a peculiar mystery, and a conspiracy that may involve both the living and the returned…

Why make this show? Because Game of Thrones had no interest in the (to us) enjoyable questions of 'well, why do the ancient dead want to conquer the living, exactly? What happens once they've done it?' and we'd love to deconstruct that and play with the idea of loathsome undead aristocrats from every period of history squabbling with one another over what their conquered nation actually means.

Because we think we've built up the confidence and the skills to take a big swing at an epic adventure story and a semi-traditional fantasy - it feels like an idea that could potentially appeal to a wider audience while remaining true to our own core values of Weirdness, Horrible Things and More Weirdness.

#4: To Those Who Wait

Genre: Cosmic horror, dark comedy, mockumentary

Influences: Dead Set, Ghostwatch, Savageland, Evil Dead

Summary: Eskew Productions has gone in a surprising direction with its latest production - a new reality experiment and dating-show podcast.

Eight lovelorn singletons have been given rooms in the exclusive Gregory Hotel. Over the course of six weeks, these contestants will go on dates, carry out team challenges, and ultimately try and find themselves a life partner - all without seeing each other's faces.

The aim of the experiment? To prove that good things really do come to those who wait.

As they pore through a mixture of recorded and behind-the-scenes footage, however, it may become very apparent to listeners that something else is waiting in the Gregory.

And one by one, our contestants find themselves at risk of far more than being voted off...

Why make this show? As a great big act of play more than anything else.

We adore horror mockumentaries, but in audio-drama they tend to be faux-journalistic. 

Doing a show that instead mimics hokey reality shows to the point of being mistakable for the real thing, but turns out to be a ghost story instead...that's a lot of fun to us.

#5: In The Devil's Counties

Genre: Historical horror, cosmic horror

Influences: Nathan Ballingrud's Wounds, Seven Samurai, Between Two Fires, Dog Soldiers, Aliens…

Summary: As the Magna Carta states: “All evil customs relating to forests and warrens, foresters, warreners, sheriffs and their servants, or river-banks and their wardens, are at once to be investigated by twelve sworn knights of the county, and within forty days of their enquiry the evil customs are to be abolished completely and irrevocably.”

In early-medieval Sussex, a motley group of knights rides out to investigate tales of ungodly horror and acts of forbidden worship from deep in the English countryside - including Ralph Dagworth, 'hell's mapmaker'.

What the party of knights discovers out in the warrens and the forests of the county, however, is far stranger and more terrible than any Christian conception of hell…

Why make this show? Again, because we're itching to have a go at some period horror, and that weirdly specific Magna Carta quote is just too fun to pass up as a springboard for some 'isolated squaddies in enemy territory' storytelling. (Sadly, it does have a more grounded explanation.)

#6: Strangling Knot

Genre: Anthology horror

Influences: Junji Ito, experimental 8-bit horror, Black Mirror's Bandersnatch

Summary: 

“The rules of the game are simple. This is a place of endless forking paths and one exit. 

There’s something terrible in here with you. Get ready."

A Choose Your Own Adventure-style horror audio anthology; each episode is a distinct story with branching paths that may lead to failure (most of the time) or escape (more rarely).

Why make this show? This is likely the only show that we could reasonably produce as a side-project (and we've been chatting to a couple of other talented horror creators about it already, sssh).

We'd like to be able to play with single-narrator horror storytelling again that's relatively quick and easy to produce - but we do want to at least try and ensure it doesn't feel like we're repeating I Am In Eskew.

There's some really fun stuff happening out there already with CYOA-style audiodrama, and that seems like an opportunity that's ripe for playing about with.

[mariacallous]

Five years ago, in a splashy speech in Washington, DC, Jeff Bezos rolled out Amazon’s Climate Pledge, a series of commitments to show that the company was serious about addressing climate change.

A core component of that pledge, one that Bezos touted in front of members of Congress during Amazon’s antitrust hearing a year later, was putting 100,000 electric delivery vans on the road by 2030. In a blog post from this July—headlined with a picture of a Prime Rivian van driving through an open field filled with wind turbines—the company proclaims that it has now delivered 800 million packages in the US using EVs, with 15,000 trucks on the road in neighborhoods across the country.

But those EVs might not be doing much to help the climate. The company’s US delivery vehicle emissions have potentially shot up an estimated 194 percent since the Climate Pledge went into place in 2019, according to a new report.

The report, released Thursday from corporate campaigners at Stand.earth, attempts to figure out just how much damage shipping the US’s Amazon orders is doing to the planet. It finds that overall emissions from shipping packages have increased 75 percent since 2019, from 3.3 million tons of CO2 equivalents in 2019 to 5.8 million tons last year. The 2.5-million-ton difference is the equivalent of putting 595,000 additional gas-powered cars on the road for a year.

Those Rivian vans are often just delivering the last leg of a package’s life. Before coming to customers’ doorsteps, packages travel by airplane, cargo ship, and/or long-haul truck—transport methods that are both notoriously dirty and tricky to decarbonize.

Doing the math on Amazon’s delivery emissions entails a lot of guesswork. Unlike some of its competitors, Amazon does not break out details on its emissions associated with shipping and delivery. In fact, the company’s annual sustainability report doesn’t give any hard numbers at all on its logistics operations, despite Amazon dominating the US ecommerce market and delivering 4 billion packages in the US within two days in 2023.

“Stand.earth’s work is based on inaccurate data, a broad mischaracterization of our operations, and by their own admission, a methodology based on assumptions and unverified information,” Amazon spokesperson Steve Kelly said in a statement to WIRED. “The truth is that The Climate Pledge is an ambitious commitment for Amazon and the more than 525 companies that have signed up to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. It’s only by taking this on that we can work collectively to transform industries such as shipping, transportation, and the built environment, and we need more companies encouraged to take this direction and quick action.” (As well as committing Amazon to addressing climate change, another aim of the Climate Pledge is to get other companies to follow Amazon’s lead.)

Kelly added: “We’ve continued to publish a detailed, transparent reporting of our year-on-year progress. We encourage everyone to track our progress through our annual Sustainability Report, which has correct data, transparent methodologies, and a third-party assurance.”

The company did not provide WIRED with any additional emissions statistics or other additional data for its shipping and delivery operations.

“We’re doing the best we can with the data available,” says Joshua Archer, a campaigner at Stand.earth and the primary author of the report. “Amazon’s [data] doesn’t even scratch the surface of this massive operations network.”

As a result, the Stand.earth report is based on a mountain of third-party data—all US-based—and math equations to get to some ballpark estimates. UPS and FedEx emissions data disclosed in those companies’ sustainability reports allowed researchers to get an idea of the emissions created by shipping packages by truck in the US. Third-party data from two aviation analytics providers helped to tally up the estimated domestic emissions associated with Amazon Air, a fleet of planes that deliver parcels for the company. Maritime shipping estimates are based on manifest data from US ports where Amazon was a signee. Many of these numbers, the report stresses, are almost certainly an undercount, as authors excluded calculations like emissions associated with package returns and packages shipped or delivered by third-party carriers due to lack of data.

The main culprit for Amazon’s increased shipping emissions, the report finds, is from airplanes: US emissions associated with Amazon Air have skyrocketed 67 percent since 2019. According to Kelly, Amazon’s overall emissions have increased since 2019 due to the company’s expansion during the pandemic.

“When you think of things people order through Amazon, a lot of them are things you don’t need the next day,” Archer says. “Nevertheless, they’re getting shipped on airplanes.”

This trend tracks with the rest of the industry. During the pandemic, port disruptions around the world forced providers to switch over to airplanes to transport cargo; much of this air infrastructure remains in place today. Simultaneously, the US ecommerce market shot up by 43 percent in 2020 as everyone stuck inside ordered more and more stuff. In 2023, the US shipped 21.7 billion parcels—that’s 687 packages every second.

There’s one area where things are improving for Amazon: according to the Stand.earth report, emissions per package have been dropping for Amazon since 2020, which, Archer says, is largely thanks to loading more parcels on bigger planes. (Kelly says that the company’s overall carbon intensity—measuring the efficiency of its operations—has improved by 34 percent since 2019, even as its overall emissions went up.) In comparison, UPS’s package emissions intensity has consistently risen since 2020, thanks in part to its increased reliance on aviation.

But even considering small improvements like these, the aggressive growth Amazon has driven over the past few years is, in many ways, incompatible with sustainability. “Keep an eye on the skies for even more A330s delivering for Amazon customers in the coming months and years,” Amazon concludes in a blog post touting its new, more efficient cargo planes. Unless greener alternatives to jet fuel become available years ahead of schedule, it will be impossible for the company to add more planes to its fleet without also making emissions jump up.

“Amazon prides itself on being an ambitious and innovative company, but it’s making quite a problem for itself with its air freight cargo growth,” Archer says. “If Amazon is serious about climate progress, that’s a really easy place to start: stop flying so much.”

Amazon is no stranger to climate criticism. Its overall emissions have skyrocketed since it rolled out the Climate Pledge in 2019, despite an incremental drop in 2023. Last year, Amazon lost the support of a key UN-backed global climate organization, the Science Based Targets Initiative, for not meeting certain deadlines to set targets to reduce emissions; it was one of nearly two dozen companies axed by SBTI from its list of climate-conscious companies. In July, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, an employee group, released a report criticizing the company’s calculations around its claim that it had met a sustainable energy goal. In 2023, Amazon quietly eliminated a goal to make half its shipments carbon neutral by 2030—a goal which, the company says, was superseded by the larger Climate Pledge.

Part of the issue in calculating emissions for Amazon is just how sprawling the challenges it faces are, thanks to its relentless vertical integration: the Wall Street Journal reported in May that in order to expand its control over its logistics processes, the company had already leased, bought, or announced plans to expand warehouse space in the US by 16 million square feet this year. Kelly said in an email in response to WIRED’s request for comment that the vast network of logistics the company has built allows it to deliver packages closer to their destination and avoid driving long miles.

Reading the company’s sustainability report is an exercise in understanding a variety of different ambitious technical and sociological climate goals across different industries involved in its supply chain. In response to WIRED’s request for comment, Kelly listed out Amazon’s membership in two business organizations advancing sustainable shipping, its membership in a buyers’ alliance encouraging the adoption of sustainable aviation fuel, and its investment in electric trucking: in May, the company put 50 electric trucks on the road in Southern California.

“I think it creates a lot of challenges for the broader transportation industry if every company just does what Amazon does and brings air freight in house,” Archer says. “Then you’ll have a situation where a lot of people are flying a lot of planes.”

There’s a real question of whether or not the company making significant changes would just move emissions from one company’s balance sheet to another’s as the rest of the industry keeps growing. Atlas Air, a subcontractor of Amazon Air, announced in May that it would stop domestic flights carrying Amazon parcels in favor of concentrating on other customers, including Chinese ecommerce titans Shein and Temu.

Still, with Amazon dominating so much of the US market—and with the capacity to kick off trends that other suppliers then follow, like expedited shipping—the company has an opportunity to set an aggressive example, like throwing a substantial effort into decreasing plane use and helping the US build out infrastructure for more sustainable long-haul trucking. (The company didn’t provide figures on how much it has spent on partnerships, research, lobbying, or other activities to decarbonize the trucking sector in the US.)

As for that splashy electric van pledge? The Stand.earth report projects that at Amazon’s current growth rates, if the company puts all the electric vans it promises on the roads by the end of the decade, that would still only account for a third of the company’s deliveries. If Amazon’s sales keep growing on pace, it would need 400,000 EVs to deliver all its packages.

“The 100,000 vans by 2030 is way too little, way too late,” Archer says.

[wushigod]

The Harry Potter actor pays tribute to his “favourite human”, who died on 24 March, saying: “I miss her hugs.” “Her passing has left a huge hole in our lives as a family,” he added. Mrs Davis was also an actor, appearing alongside her husband in the final Harry Potter film in 2010, in which she played a goblin. The couple, who lived near Peterborough, met on the set of the film Willow in 1988, before marrying three years later. The Star Wars star described Sammy, as he called her, as his “most trusted confidante and an ardent supporter of everything I did in my career”. She was a unique character, always seeing the sunny side of life she had a wicked sense of humour and always laughed at my bad jokes,” he said. Davis said that with his wife by his side, he felt sure he could achieve anything, adding: “It was like having a super-power.” “Without Sammy, there would have been no Tenable quiz show, no Willow series. No Idiot Abroad Series 3.” He added it had been his wife who persuaded comedian Ricky Gervais to send him with Karl Pilkington for the travel series. The couple’s children, Harrison and Annabelle, joined their father in paying tribute, saying “her love and happiness carried us through our whole lives”. “Mum is our best friend and we’re honoured to have received a love like hers,” they added. Davis played both Professor Flitwick and the goblin Griphook in all eight films in the Harry Potter franchise. He also played several characters in the Star Wars film series, and starred in both the Willow film and the 2022 sequel. His wife’s other acting credits include the children’s series Through the Dragon’s Eye (1989). Outside of acting, Samantha Davis and her husband founded the charity Little People UK in 2012 to help individuals with dwarfism and their families. “She was passionate about helping people, without judgement. She had time for everyone and a genuine listening ear,” the Tenable host said. Davis said in recent years his wife’s mobility had become impaired but she was “determined that it would not impact her quality of life”. Disney, the network the Willow series was on, said Samantha was “beloved member of the UK film and TV community”, adding: “Our thoughts are with the Davis family during this difficult time”.

[queersatanic]

What John Oliver gets wrong about The Satanic Temple and abortion rights

In the most recent episode of HBO's "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver", he made a mention of a particular publicity stunt by a certain satanic for-profit business-cum-church.

In so doing, he demonstrated perfectly the way The Satanic Temple's grift works, and the limitations of "Last Week Tonight" as an actual news program rather than what it is: a popularizer and disseminator of the work done by others.

If the show had done a proper investigation, they would have immediately found huge red flags involving the Temple's clinic that call into question its legitimacy entirely. Since they did not, we'll show you what so many have missed despite being out in the open.

JOHN OLIVER: But also, note that we can still act here. Some have taken some small steps in the last year that are, if nothing else, immensely satisfying. Like this one that was covered by a Catholic news network. > TRACY SABOL: An international group named after Satan will soon open its first abortion business in the United States. > > The Satanic Temple, which claims to not believe in a literal Satan, will provide telehealth screenings and prescribe abortion pills for patients in New Mexico. The name of the soon-to-be facility? The Samuel Alito's Mom's Satanic Abortion Clinic. (AUDIENCE CHEERS) JOHN OLIVER: Incredible. Very well played. Now, is that gonna fix everything? No, of course it isn't. But when it comes to responding to such wide spreading devastation, you could do a lot worse than the single best "your mom" joke of all time. Especially when you add in that one of the group's co-founders even said, "In 1950, Samuel Alito's mother did not have options, and look what happened."

That seems like pretty high praise, and the show moves on without further comment on it.

From this, you would not know that The Satanic Temple fundamentally jeopardized the legitimacy of this telehealth clinic by utilizing fake names on government documents for its New Mexico corporations registry.

"Malcolm Jarry" is the pseudonym of TST co-owner Cevin Soling; despite listing two different addresses and listing him twice, "Lucien Greaves" is the same person as Douglas Misicko.

Doing this is almost certainly literally perjury, as has come up in court for them before.

Actually, several times.

To repeat: You do not get to lie and use a fake name for yourself on government documents, particularly documents establishing legal ownership of your corporation.

In any proper legal challenge to The Satanic Temple's clinic, including anyone who treats TST's marketing as credible and wants to use it as a shield against abortion bans, this would be found out and it would absolutely put the entire endeavor in jeopardy.

Of course, it gets worse.

Here's what the Temple says on its website about this clinic, emphasis added:

Q: Abortion is illegal where I live. Can I still get an abortion with TST Health? A: Abortion is legal in New Mexico. Regardless of where you live, if you are in the state of New Mexico during your video consultation and when you perform your abortion ritual, you will have abided by the law. However, if you travel to a state where abortion is illegal and need follow-up care, there may be some risks. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough information to know how state laws will be enforced. We believe that the religious nature of our care neutralizes this risk, but state courts must affirm this, and we are working toward attaining that confirmation.

And here are the kinds of billboards TST has run around the country and in its Facebook ads in bids for attention and while soliciting money:

“Our religious Abortion Ritual Averts Many State Restrictions”.

Yet, when The Satanic Temple sued a billboard company that was unwilling to run that demonstrably false advertisement, TST owner Cevin Soling had to admit in his deposition that he was not aware of any examples where Satanism had been successfully used to avert a state restriction on abortion, including their own previous attempts:

As of November 2023, The Satanic Temple has lost six (6) abortion-ban challenges, lost them in state and in federal court, lost them at the district court, appellate court, and supreme courts.

TST has never helped someone avert a state law restricting abortion. But they have fundraised heavily off of the idea that they can.

How much? It's very tough to say because "The Satanic Temple, Inc." d/b/a "TST Health Inc." and "Sam Alito's Mom's Satanic Abortion Clinic Inc." is not a regular nonprofit: it's a tax-exempt church. And as a tax-exempt church, it is under no legal requirement to report its finances.

John Oliver famously created "Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption" in 2015 to highlight the problems inherent with this, so you might argue that TST is just doing the same thing and attempting to bring awareness to a problem with the U.S. tax code.

Except that Oliver shut his corporation down after a month and reported its finances, meanwhile "The Satanic Temple Inc." chugs along year after year soliciting money and providing no financial transparency about how much money is coming in or where it's being spent. (Say, pursuing various SLAPP actions against ex-members; again, Oliver would know something about being on the receiving end of one of those.)

Of course it gets even more complicated.

The Satanic Temple's owners registered their tax-exempt church "The Satanic Temple Inc." in New Mexico as, among other things, "TST Health Inc." and have been promoting merchandise for it as well.

But the merch lacks the "tax-deductible" notification, which is the only way on TST's website to distinguish purchases benefitting the for-profit "United Federation of Churches LLC d/b/a 'The Satanic Temple' " from its nonprofit "The Satanic Temple (Inc.)".

How much money did The Satanic Temple bring in specifically for this telehealth clinic based on its fundraising campaigns? We don't know, and TST's owners won't tell you.

How many people did The Satanic Temple actually help with its telehealth clinic? We don't know — although we did get some idea from TST's failed Indiana abortion-ban lawsuit where TST indicated "over two dozen" people in a state with existing abortion clinics where abortion was legal had been able to be helped between February and June 2023.

Now, as part of the same proceedings, The Satanic Temple claims that it spent "over $75,000 to establish and maintain an abortion clinic" but that number is rather suspiciously the exact number TST needed to claim for damages in order to meet federal jurisdictional requirements, and it's exactly the sort of thing you'd want to see broken down in an audit because it claims it spent this in March 2023, prior to operating expenses actually kicking in.

So if that were true, and again, there's no reason to think it is, it would mean that The Satanic Temple is one of the most inefficient ways for anyone to get fund abortions. This is the sort of thing the group Indigenous Women Rising pointed out at the time in response to TST's announcement.

Even if The Satanic Temple were actually doing this with the best of intentions, and there's no reason to think they are, it would be a bad idea to try to come in from Massachusetts and re-invent the wheel rather than support any of the established organizations operating in New Mexico who have local connections and experience with the challenges of funding abortions for people.

None of this is especially hidden information, you know. Even the court proceedings are out for the public to examine, especially for lawsuits that have gotten so much attention when they were announced, thanks to a TST press release, and at their close, thanks to the Indiana Attorney General's press release.

But they do require doing work, asking follow up questions, and expecting more evidence in response to those questions than, "Just trust me, bro."

So how did the "Last Week Tonight" segment happen? Well, going back to the video, have two news outlets here: the first is EWTN, and the second is the Albuquerque Journal.

The EWTN "News Nightly" segment comes from Feb. 3, 2023, the Albuquerque Journal article from Feb. 6, 2023.

If you look at both, the way they're structured is taking a press release from The Satanic Temple and quoting from it and TST's website. EWTN is a straightforwardly Catholic news agency, so it just talks to Father Steve Grunow, CEO of Word on Fire Ministries for his take on the situation; the Albuquerque Journal is a mainstream, "objective" newspaper, so it quotes Elisa Martinez, founder and executive director of the New Mexico Alliance for Life; and it quotes Joan Lamunyon Sanford, executive director of the New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, while adding in some more details about "The Satanic Temple Inc." being an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Note that no one has yet done actual journalism here. The Catholic news agency has a bogeyman to beat up on and connect to abortion rights more generally, such as Ruth Bader Ginsberg getting a statue. The "straight news" outlet quotes from a press release then plays stenographer for the views of "both sides"; the deepest anyone goes is confirming that TST has an entity that can accept tax-deductible donations.

Sympathetic outlets like Hemant Mehta of "The Friendly Atheist", meanwhile, offer no pushback and just look for more quotes from TST to dutifully transcribe with no pushback or further investigation.

The Satanic Temple's press release and additional quotations from "pro" and/or "anti" abortion rights figures who are basically unconcerned with any particular facts of the situation, just taking TST's framing and reacting to it. When "Last Week Tonight" does a short segment about it, it leans on the work of others who upon deeper examination are actually doing very little work.

Larger media outlets like Jezebel and smaller, local ones like the Riverfront Times, on the other hand, have done in-depth looks at the Temple more generally and discovered that underneath the marketing there is not much of anything.

Prior to this clinic's announcement, we did our own in-depth roundup of abortion access orgs, journalists, legal experts, and actual court outcomes. Again: when abortion rights folks are actually familiar with the specifics of The Satanic Temple and TST's activities, the opinion is skeptical to outright hostile.

It would be really nice if John Oliver and his team were willing to apply the same level of skepticism to glorified press releases about The Satanic Temple that they do to many other topics.

But that takes work, and if local and partisan sources aren't doing the yeoman's work for them, even with HBO's budget, "Last Week Tonight" is like to skip it and make mistakes.

We've been willing to do the work, to be deservedly skeptical, and to compare the claims The Satanic Temple has made in one place versus ones they've made other places. We have limited resources and time as well, and we're not professionals. Unfortunately, it often seems like we're the only ones doing this.

But you can, too. You can watch yourself when a piece of news comes in that tickles your fancy, like someone being rude to an odious Supreme Court justice, and ask yourself a few more questions about what claims are actually being made and whether you ought to have some follow-up questions about it.

For us the most important one remains, "Why doesn't The Satanic Temple have any financial transparency or accountability for what it does with its donations, and why is it not more clear what is a for-profit sale benefiting the owners and what is a nonprofit donation?"

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

The Arcana HCs: M6 on social media

Julian

He is on all the apps, you name it, he probably uses it

He's on theatre kid tiktok

Shamelessly posts thirst traps with niche references

Too many of them are doctor inspired

Perfectly understands the female gaze and takes full advantage of that

Embraces the cringe

Malak regularly photobombs his posts and there are multiple compilations of him fighting off/cussing out a shrieking crow

He canonically has a beautiful singing voice that he does not know how to use, voice coaches love duetting and reacting to him because it is so impressively terrible

He also needs to be carefully monitored though, for two main reasons:

One, all his posts need to be reviewed before he posts them, because he's terrible about internet safety

Two, because everyone gets hate comments and he already has nasty self-esteem issues

Portia gets into so many fights in the comments on her burner account

He is quite popular and has a large and dedicated following

Asra

As much potential as they have for stardom, they are an extremely private person and they are very aware of what kind of place the internet can be

He probably has BeReal and spends most of his time on SnapChat (you know he loves watching drama unfold)

Also has a very aesthetically pleasing Instagram that they forget exists. Scroll through and you'll see random photodumps of all the places they've traveled recently, spaced six months apart

Faust has her own account

He is the type to lurk, never comments, rarely likes, prefers to save something for later to show his friends in person instead of sharing or tagging them

They do love trying out what they see though, like viral pasta recipes and room lighting ideas

Except he'll add his own flashes of creativity as he goes

Sometimes it pays off, like when they got their whole living room to feel like an oasis

Sometimes it doesn't pay off, like when he tried an already sketchy viral food hack and added charcoal

They don't mind integrating social media into in-person situations, if the only thing you have energy for is cuddling up in a pillow pile and scrolling through saved videos together, they're down

Nadia

Facebook and LinkedIn

She's trying her best, she really is, but she has places to be and things to do and she'd rather spend her free time with the people she loves or getting some well-earned rest

The screens also contribute to her headaches

All her sisters are older than her, she has Facebook to keep up with them

She doesn't know that most of them keep with the times enough to have accounts on other platforms as well

She uses LinkedIn for networking, obviously

She does enjoy being entertained though! She loves it when you tilt your phone screen towards her so she can see whatever made you smile or laugh

Regularly asks you or Portia to show her everyone else's most recent posts

Julian's tiktok page is a mystery that never fails to make her laugh

She loves to be included in your posts and is always willing to pose with you for a selfie

She is a fantastic camera woman, she can follow angles and lighting like nobody's business

She does not know how to write captions

Muriel

He doesn't have one until you or Asra sit him down and walk him through the process

He chooses Instagram because he can see cat pictures that way

And because it's the platform most of you guys have an account on, so he can keep tabs on everyone

He has all of his privacy settings enabled

Most of his posts are pictures of Innana or the chickens (mostly the chickens)

No captions, ever

Every now and then someone from the Kokhuri will stumble across his profile and send a message request

He'll wait until you're free to sit with him while he messages them

He's slowly putting a family tree together of the people he's made contact with

Heartily dislikes the reels feature, the constant stimulation puts him on edge

Honestly prefers YouTube, he got a great ad blocker and he watches nature compilations and wilderness survival videos

He also watches videos about wolves so he can take care of Innana better, but he has to be careful when he does that because if the wolf in the video howls she does too

He stumbled across a fan-made compilation of Julian's thirst traps once and refuses to speak about it

Portia

Snapchat for the gossip, Tumblr for all the novels she's become a fan of, and Instagram for Pepi and her garden and baking endeavors

She is on everyone's Snapchat story. If she spots someone new at her workplace she's already sending them a friend request

Tumblr is her guilty pleasure, she has spent hours in the library devouring novels and now she can read and write as much unhinged fanfiction as she wants to

She also loves interacting with other people who enjoy the books and characters she does

Fanart makes her squeal

She hasn't found out about AO3 yet but once she does it's over

Her Instagram is gorgeous. She posts once or twice a day with garden updates, candid shots of Pepi being precious, and baking tips and tricks

Her feed is full of the wanderlust hashtag and it's fueling her bucket list

She has a decently sized following and loves it when people message her

She also has a tiktok burner account to monitor her crazy older brother

Definitely stays on top of all the trends and incorporates them into her Instagram posts

Lucio

He wants to be famous, he really does, but everything he tries flops

Obsessed with tiktok, it's where the young people are

It's also perfect for his limited attention span

Constantly trying to hop on new trends, but always misses the mark ever so slightly

Tried to put the LED light strips up in his bedroom, but he couldn't keep them straight so they're all slightly wonky

Refuses to take them down

He fell down the "alpha male" pipeline once and it took so much work to get him back out, he was insufferable

You got Nadia and Asra to give him a good beat down while you went through his phone and deleted all the accounts that couldn't be saved

You only let him back on when he promised to share his accounts with you, and he agreed on the condition that you help him try to get famous

You suggested he post about the things he knows, like self-defense tactics and survival

He gets a boost when you post a video of him trying and failing to follow a tiktok dance tutorial while he uses increasingly creative language and it goes viral

He's got a small following now and he's so proud of both of you

[leahnardo-da-veggie]

Fast Food- Travels

Designed to be read on its own, but you can find part 1 here and part 2 here.

Those were the days! No stress, no struggle, no weight of an inexorable prophecy hanging over my head. Just me, eating and sleeping as I pleased.

My first stop had been Saints-burrow, the town closest to my home. The humans there had hair like flax and skin like the earth, their skirts thick with spun valli-wool. They tended the fields with cheer, and welcomed me with open arms. 

Kindness was as rampant as tallgrass there, an endless flow of generosity the likes of which I'd never encountered. There was no need to steal, thieve or burgle, for they were all too willing to give it to me for free. 

I spent two years in the local inn, spinning tales to the tavern's regulars in exchange for a steady supply of ale and bread (though I suspect they would've given it to me for free), before I felt the itch to travel. 

Somedays I sit and wonder what happened to those people, to their children's grandchildren. I wonder if they would have wept to see what became of their kindness. I wonder if they would blame me and curse themselves for being so generous toward me.

My wandering feet, or wings, as the case came to be, took me down to Nyctomachia, the land of a thousand gods.

My first night there had been thoroughly godless, however. It had been a gloomy night, like many others to come, full of rain and mist. Amidst the dampness, I stumbled across the corpse of a man, dressed in the rich purple fabrics of high nobility. His chest leaked blood like a fireflower blooming out of his heart, and his pockets held nothing but death. There was still one thing to take, however, and I, ever the pragmatist, took it with both hands.

That night, I slept under the plush covers of a dead man's bed, wearing his face, donning his silk nightgown. Oh, and screwing his lovely, obliging spouse. I do suspect they knew all along that I was an imposter, and I do suspect they didn't care.

I came to discover that Nyctomachia held an array of wonders for me. There were the night markets, where people were crushed together and trinkets hung off the walls, ripe for the taking. There were the galleries, where an established gentleman such as my current identity could waltz in, and, in the form of a rather grotesque street rat, flee with stolen goods. Best of all, there was the Undercity.

It was a hidden network of tunnels, spreading across the entire city, home to every inhuman thinkable. All manners for creatures lived there, from ghouls, goblins and vampires, to harpies, dryads and even a few centaurs. I, to my shock, fit right in. 

I spent my days mimicking Sir Armuin Kinaei the twelfth, lounging about looking pretty while my spouse managed the estates. I spent my nights gambling away my stolen goods and getting drunk on spirit-mead, gossiping in bad pidgin the whole time. I spent fourty years like that, twenty carefree years that ended with my spouse dying on me.

It wasn't a sudden thing. Everyone had seen it coming a long way. Humans only lived for so long after all, and Akati was not young when I met them. It still hurt. It still hurt a lot.

It hurt enough that I disappeared into the night and never returned, leaving my possessions to the living who I held dear. I suppose it was just too much for my heart to bear, to watch any more of my friends die.

Little did I know my heart was fated to experience far worse hurts.

Taglist:

@coffeeangelinabox, @dorky-pals, @calliecwrites, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @shukei-jiwa

@thewingedbaron, @pluppsauthor, @cowboybrunch, @wylloblr, @possiblyeldritch @ramwritblr, @urnumber1star, @fortunatetragedy, @bigwipscholar, @ratedn

@vampirelover890, @possiblylisle, @illarian-rambling, @the-ellia-west

@finicky-felix, @evilgabe29, @glitched-dawn, @rivenantiqnerd, @dragonhoardesfandoms

@drchenquill, @everythingismadeofchaos, @owldwagitoutofyou (Anyone else who wants to get added can tell me in the comments, pm me, or send me an ask about it!)

[snowbellewells]

Self Promo Sunday: "While You Were Sleeping"

It seemed like the right time to dig out this older story of mine and revisit it. I even created some fic cover art for it at long last. I originally wrote this for @searchingwardrobes' Captain Swan is my Favorite Rom Com collection on AO3, and I had a lot of fun adapting one of my all-time favorite movies While Your Were Sleeping to include Killian, Emma, and many of our other favorite OuaT characters. I hope you will enjoy seeing it again, or seeing it for the first time, as this week's self promo re-run.

~*~ Complete in 8 Chapters ~*~

Also available on AO3 or ff.net if that is your preference...

by: @snowbellewells

Part One: Prologue

“Next.”

The clink of the subway token in the steel drop slot made its familiar sound as Emma Swan almost robotically gestured the traveler through to make room for the next and fished the coin out to add to the growing pile on the counter at her elbow. At this point, the main part of her job at the Riverside subway terminal on Boston’s Green Line was so routine she barely paid attention or even looked at the equally harried and distracted commuters, but simply gathered their fares, waved them on, and kept the line moving. It certainly wasn’t exciting or life-changing, but it paid the bills, kept her and her cat fed, and if she daydreamed meanwhile about someday traveling beyond the bounds of the city’s subway network, and having someone to travel with – well, no one had to know that but her.

The jangle of another coin in the till jarred her from her morosely-veering thoughts and reminded Emma of her duty, “Ne-” she began to say, even looking up at this person as if to prove she wasn’t lazing on the job, but the words froze on her tongue at the sight before her.

It was him – the mystery man who traveled through her station every week. Like clockwork, he appeared each Saturday at nine, then reappeared on his return journey in the early evening. Only on Saturdays, but without fail; once a week some pilgrimage brought him to her like a shimmering mirage, leaving Emma shaken and breathless, thinking throughout the rest of her work week that she must have conjured him from her own imagination. Though she wanted to shake her head at the preposterous reaction, roll her eyes at the dramatic way her heart raced whenever this guy came into view, and write herself off as pathetic for behaving with such girlish enthusiasm, it never failed to strike her again on Mr. Handsome’s next arrival.

It wasn’t just the perfectly tailored slate gray suit and handsome overcoat the man wore, the fancy watch on his wrist, or the confident, decisive way he moved and carried himself; it was more in the twinkle of playful mischief she saw in his breathtaking blue eyes behind the proper veneer of his business-like appearance (even on a Saturday), the subtle quirk of his mouth as he never failed to thank her, in a heart-stopping British accent no less, before moving on to his destination, and the way that, though he without doubt had the best products and stylists at his fingertips, there was still an unruly, disheveled mess of curls atop his thick, sandy head of hair. The man was clearly a mover and shaker, powerful, well-to-do, and yet he carried himself as if it were an easy mantle, with the grace not to give his power too much credence or act better than anyone else.

As if to prove her point, the guy smiled at her kindly, even as she did little more than nod dumbly and reach out to take his subway token. His voice was warm, almost melodious with the lilt of that accent as he added, “Thank you, Lass. Have a lovely day.” Then, with a dip of his head and a wink, he was gone, moving off on his way again, leaving Emma looking after him and trying to shake herself back into coherence.

She watched his tall, broad-shouldered frame, now with his back to her, stop on the platform to check the time, and she sighed, dejectedly berating herself for being too dumbstruck to even answer the seeming man of her dreams. “You have a nice day too.” “That’s a great tie you’re wearing,” she snarked to herself quietly, reminding her stunted brain of the sensible replies she could have given Mr. Dreamy instead of merely gawping at him like a fish out of water. “‘You’re beautiful”, “Take me with you…” Letting out a growl of frustration at her own lunacy, Emma buried her head in her hand a moment before knocking her brow against the glass a couple times for good measure. “Stupid, stupid,” was really all she could find to mutter to herself.

However, though she admitted that she might be many things, a wallower was not one of them. After her short personal pity party, Emma drew a deep breath, squared her shoulders and looked up, intending to get back to work – monotony and all. Unfortunately, that still wasn’t in the cards.

She looked up just in time to see her daydreams’ focus be joined on the platform by three other men, looking much less clean-cut and a lot shiftier in their bearings. Whatever the first one said to her suited regular, it clearly wasn’t friendly, as he stiffened rigidly, and Emma did too merely from watching at a distance. The first newcomer gave her commuter’s scarf a flip back over his shoulder, making the muffler fall from his shoulders to the ground, and she could almost read the words on those well-formed lips, imaginary or perhaps even distantly hearing his, “Watch it, you lot. Just back off. I’m not looking for any trouble.” He had turned partially to take in all three of the men who’d accosted him, clearly not wanting to put his back to any one of them, and she could see the storm cloud that had settled on his strong brow, that handsome face dark and warning where before she had only ever seen it show either mild happiness or amused curiosity.

One of the newcomers jeered loud enough for Emma to hear as she cracked open the door of her vestibule, ready to call out and intervene, asking loiters to move on before the next train’s arrival. “Well, you may not want any trouble, guv’nuh,” mocking his English speech obviously as he moved right into her guy’s space, “but what if we do?” And before Emma could call out or make any sort of sound at all, he shoved at her regular passenger, hard enough to send him stumbling back despite his height and the casual poise with which Emma normally saw him move. Though he might well have caught his balance just fine in usual circumstances, they were standing too near the edge of the platform. The next foot he put back to brace himself found only empty space.

One of the hoods bent quickly to swipe the dropped briefcase he had been carrying; while another gave her handsome stranger one last shove in the chest before the three attackers bolted, disappearing up the subway steps, even as Emma finally jolted from her wide-eyed shock, leapt from her stool, and ran toward the fray.

Unfortunately, even as she hurried, she knew it was too late. In nightmarish slow motion, her guy’s arms pin wheeled, still seeking balance. The desperate attempt failed, and Emma skidded to a stop where he had been, grasping for nothing but air as he fell and vanished over the side, plummeting to the tracks below.

Tagging a few who might enjoy: @searchingwardrobes @kmomof4 @jennjenn615 @laschatzi @whimsicallyenchantedrose @jrob64 @apiratewhopines @teamhook @revanmeetra87 @xarandomdreamx @xsajx @bluewildcatfanatic @spartanguard @therooksshiningknight @tiganasummertree @optomisticgirl @motherkatereloyshipper @stahlop @booksteaandtoomuchtv @kazoosandfannypacks @thislassishooked @winterbaby89 @the-darkdragonfly @elizabeethan @donteattheappleshook @lfh1226-linda @justanother-unluckysoul @mie779 @drowned-dreamer @gingerchangeling @gingerpolyglot @wefoundloveunderthelight

[sunkissedchld]

𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐨𝐥𝐚'𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭

Nikola Stojanovic is a Serbian astrologer known for sharing his theory that each degree of the zodiac circle corresponds to the zodiac signs. @bratz-kitten has the best post on overall correspondents and specific degrees that Stojanovic focused on, and I used said post to apply the theory to my chart. i also used forensicastrolger’s post on their site because i felt it added even more information.

this intepretation is obviously specific to my chart, but if you have similar placements you may find it helpful. you might also find it helpful if you want an idea of how to start applying this theory to your chart. i hope you all find this helpful!

Leo Ascendant at 11°

the first house correlates to our appearance, first impressions, and our natural tendencies/disposition. with my ascendant in leo, my hair is a very noticable part of me. people may view me as a confident person who is a natural leader. i’m likely easily recognizable and have influence over others due to my charisma and prestige/high status.

the eleventh degree is an aquarius degree. according to nikola, this degree is connected to suicide. others say it’s connected to divorce. in my opinion, these two subjects connect in that appearances don’t match what’s under the surface. this is only heightened as this degree is on my ascendant, which directly correlates to literal appearances. aquarian degrees also have ties to technology, innovation, networking, intelligence, and humanitarianism.

to me, this manifests in my chart in that fact that i have a hard time connecting my own view of myself to the view others have of me. what i project does not match what’s inside - or at least, i don’t feel that it does. this probably also manifests in the greatness/potential others see in me that i also have a hard time seeing in myself. this might lastly manifest in a “suicide” of my reputation where i ruin people’s expectations of me because i cause my own downfall.

3H Scorpio Moon at 2°

the third house relates to the mind, communication/language, and people we find roots with before our mother (ie. siblings). the moon details our inner bearings - our emotions and instinctual desires and actions. it’s important to note the moon is in its fall in scorpio, meaning the planet is uncomfortable and debilitated in its bearings. with that said, my scorpio moon makes for an intense placement. i tend to be overly introspective to the point of isolation when it comes to my thoughts, as they’re often intense. when going through internal turmoil, i often look to drastic transformative actions in order to feel more in control.

the second degree is a taurean one. nikola believed this degree was linked to high achievements and greatness - often in the public eye. taurean degrees can also be indicators of luxury, stability, and one’s voice.

i feel this degree and planet placement seem to go against one another. my emotions are almost inherently blocked from the public due to the scorpio influence, but the second degree makes for a situation where my emotions are likely to be exposed to the general public in a large way. with the connection to one’s voice, i feel this manifests in my chart in that i have a way of achieving greatness as a result of my emotions in the way i communicate them. oftentimes, it’s hard for me to express my emotions verbally, but i have a way with displaying them in my writings and other art forms. i may be able to gain greatness, attention, and luxury because of the way i learn to express my emotions to the collective.

5H Sagittarius Mercury at 22°

the fifth house corresponds to life’s pleasures - artistic talents, entertainment, romance, and the inclination and want to be in the spotlight. mercury handles communication, education, and short travels. my sagittarius placement enables me to have a way with words, as explained when talking about my moon sign. i am able to entertain and educate others in a way that is mesmerizing and engaging but also friendly and relatable rather than condescending and confusing. my ideas and words tend to be more all-encompassing and abstract but well thought out, so people feel drawn to it.

the twenty-second degree is connected to capricorn. nikola proposed this degree to be one that indicates one who is “to kill or be killed”. he explains this in a literal sense, but it doesn’t have to entail actual murder. i personally believe the twenty-second degree operates similarly to leo degrees in that one is likely to gain recognition due to the capricorn influence (capricorn rules over the tenth house, which deals with fame, public recognition, legacy, etc.). i also believe it has more karmic ties due to its closeness to the twenty-ninth degree. in my opinion, the twenty-second degree could indicate an area of life where can gain and/or lose a ton. it could indicate a possible fall from grace.

looking at this placement along with my scorpio moon interpretation leads me to believe my words and writings could be my biggest advantage and my biggest downfall. i could gain public recognition as result of my words (ie. writing a book or music), but if i were to go into the deep end a lose myself by becoming too arrogant or forgetting my original reasonings for sharing my words i could leave a smeared legacy. this could technically be seen in what i do on this platform! i share my ideas and such relating to astro content and have gained many people’s trust, but that trust can easily be lost if i’m rude, don’t keep my word, or (going back to the leo interpretation) mar the image people have of me.

5H Sagittarius Pluto at 15°

pluto rules over transformations, death & rebirth, power, sexuality, and mystery. this planet is generational, and i was born while it was in sagittarius (1995 - 2008). with this placement in my fifth house, i experience and understand Pluto’s traits best within a creative arena. my power lies within my creative abilities (and is enhanced due to my fifth house and sagittarius stellium). for others, discovering the hidden parts of me is like a cat-and-mouse chase that they often enjoy. personally, i explore the hidden parts of me utilizing the art of creation.

the fifteenth degree is associated with gemini. nikola asserts it as an “assination” or “kill”/murder degree, and says that it could indicate accidental death if in the sign of gemini. gemini degrees are also associated with double happenings and geometric patterns. 

the concept of a degree associated with “assisination”, murder, and/or accidental death connected to a pluto placement makes me believe the effects of pluto are heightened in my life - and this is even more so true as the planet conjuncts both my sun (representing my ego, my core beliefs and ideals; essentially who i am) and my venus (what i love and attach myself to; what draws me in).

in one way, this degree and the aspects i have to the planet could be one explanation as to why the concepts of death and rebirth have always been a focal point in my life. where the fifteenth degree is associated with accidental deaths in gemini, one could argue it means intentional deaths in the sign of sagittarius since the two are sister signs. taking this argument into account and remembering the association of patterns with the degree makes me believe that my encounters with death and are intentional in order to aid in my growth and ultimate transformation. the concept of rebirth is one that i am to become comfortable with because it’s important to my being and goals (see sun-pluto aspect). 

this also goes back to my interpretation of my mercury degree with the concept of killing coming back. i also think this, again, plays into the aspect of me having a bigger purpose that could connect to public recognition - so much so that the recognition is generational. this reminds me of the idea of someone completely tearing themselves down and almost re-creating themselves in order to become their best person - not only for themselves but also for the collective. in all, it makes me believe i need to be willing to tear down my ego and wants in order to become more.

5H Sagittarius Chiron at 29°

chiron represents one’s deepest wounds - the traumas from childhood that leave deep impressions on someone for long period of time. my fifth house placement makes for an even closer emphasis on the wounds’ impact and presence on my childhood. this in combination with the sagittarius placement means i have long term wound relating to self-expression. with my fifth house stellium, i have a need to be creative and unique in my thoughts and actions, but early life experiences lead to self-doubt and possible repression.

the twenty-ninth degree is an indicator of clairvoyance and strong intuition. nikola proposed that those with placements in the twenty-ninth degree could predict the future; he also had this degree in his own chart. it should also be noted the twenty-ninth degree is a leo degree, which deals with attention, fame, expression, and creativity. this degree could indicate the person has a knowing feeling of future success.

in astrology, it’s naturally assumed that chiron is meant to be healed. with this, the degree of the asteroid could explain the severity of the wound. the fact that chiron is connected to my fifth house sagittarius stellium (which includes my sun sign) could explain why i often feel confused about whether or not fifth house activities like singing, performing, writing, etc. are really for me. it also explains why i doubt the beauty of the art i create.

additionally, the twenty-ninth degree could further indicate that my future is linked to fame and attention. it could also mean that i am already aware of the fame present in my future. so, despite my current doubting of my art and my hobbies, my deeper conscious is likely aware of the true final outcome.

1H Leo Juno at 29°

juno is an asteroid connected to the roman goddess that rules over marriage and family and who is also known as the protector of women. this roman goddess is also known as hera in greek beliefs. hera is also connected to the former topics of juno, but is also known for her fierce love for her husband - zeus. her love for zeus was so prominent that even when he would cheat on her, hera would instead punish and blame the mistresses rather than zeus himself. with that, asteroid juno is known to be connected to marriage and represents what one often looks for in a long-term significant other.

with this sign in leo and the first house, i desire someone who is fiercely protective and loyal. i may prefer being by the person often and may even engage in PDA. this placement also gives me trophy wife/husband vibes. there’s a want to be shown off and doted on. the first house placement makes me think of love at first sight. regardless, there is a want for love to be grand and immediate yet long lasting.

as stated before, the twenty-ninth degree is associated with both psychic abilities and leo traits including fame, attention, expression, and fun. i also mentioned a knowing feeling of success.

with this clairvoyance aspect present, i propose that juno in the twenty-ninth degree could be an indicator of a soulmate and/or twin flame connection, and this is likely intensified with the first house placement. this could tell of a love from a past life or a love that even those beyond this life know about. this could be a love where my future spouse and i already know about one another before meeting; it could even mean that we’re able to speak to one another without being together. this would explain why sometimes i feel as if i learn small bits of information about then through my dreams.

the leo traits could mean that i gain fame, success, or public recognition from my long term significant other. the leo and first house placements could also mean that i’m likely to learn more about myself due my future spouse. i might open up more and become more confident in myself due to their presence.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

On June 20, I'm keynoting the LOCUS AWARDS in OAKLAND.

#20yrsago Kill a stupid Internet patent https://web.archive.org/web/20040612095150/https://www.eff.org/patent/contest/

#15yrsago Stiglitz: America’s double-standard on economic crises infuriates the poor world https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2009/07/third-world-debt200907

#15yrsago Chinese censorware will expose every PC in the nation to malware, ID theft, botnetting https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2009/06/11/chinas-new-mandatory-censorware-creates-big-security-flaws/

#15yrsago Eliot Spitzer explains himself https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2009/07/out-to-lunch-spitzer200907

#15yrsago Network neutrality advocated by…cable operators? https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/06/cable-group-turns-net-neutrality-around-over-isp-access-fees/

#15yrsago Econoblogger explains why Batman villains shouldn’t cooperate https://eco-comics.blogspot.com/2009/06/should-batman-villains-betray-each_2173.html

#10yrsago Armed, masked Russian separatists seize “decadent” hackspace in Donetsk, Ukraine https://www.euronews.com/2014/06/10/in-donetsk-armed-pro-russian-separatists-target-seize-decadent-cultural-centre-

#10yrsago Pensacola newspaper editorial board condemns censorship of Little Brother https://www.pnj.com/story/opinion/editorials/2014/06/11/fear-books/10295745/

#10yrsago Rarity versus the Internet https://medium.com/message/you-need-to-hear-this-extremely-rare-recording-27619411e077

#10yrsago Big Cable fronts fake anti-Net-Neutrality group whose “members” never joined https://www.vice.com/en/article/4w747j/community-groups-were-duped-into-joining-telecom-industrys-anti-net-neutrality-coalition

#10yrsago Join the Fastlane: hypothetical ISP from the cable company fuckery dystopia https://web.archive.org/web/20140614100545/http://jointhefastlane.com/

#10yrsago Happynomics versus econobollocks https://timharford.com/2014/06/the-four-lessons-of-happynomics/

#10yrsago Dada vs Hitler: the anti-Nazi collages of John Heartfield https://web.archive.org/web/20140530122539/http://www.kuriositas.com/2011/06/extraordinary-anti-nazi-photomontages.html

#5yrsago The Church of the Subgenius’s Salvation Pack is the best $35 I ever spent https://memex.craphound.com/2019/06/11/the-church-of-the-subgeniuss-salvation-pack-is-the-best-35-i-ever-spent/

#5yrsago Countries with longer copyright terms have access to fewer books (pay attention, Canada!) https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3401684

#5yrsago Hackers stole a US Customs and Border Patrol facial recognition database https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/06/10/us-customs-border-protection-says-photos-travelers-into-out-country-were-recently-taken-data-breach/

#5yrsago Chrome-derived browsers threaten to fork from Google, refuse to eliminate ad-blocker features https://www.zdnet.com/article/opera-brave-vivaldi-to-ignore-chromes-anti-ad-blocker-changes-despite-shared-codebase/

#5yrsago Detroit charter school salutatorians use their graduation speeches to condemn their school for putting profits before kids https://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2019/06/10/salutatorians-criticize-charter-school-graduation/1381474001/

#5yrsago How fanfic archives lead the world in data organization https://www.wired.com/story/archive-of-our-own-fans-better-than-tech-organizing-information/

#5yrsago The Grand Dark: Richard Kadrey’s headlong rush of noir dieselpunk, so fast and so smart https://memex.craphound.com/2019/06/11/the-grand-dark-richard-kadreys-headlong-rush-of-noir-dieselpunk-so-fast-and-so-smart/

#5yrsago “The Grand Dark”: Kadrey’s latest is a noir, dieselpunk masterpiece that’s timely as hell https://web.archive.org/web/20190612041736/https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-review-richard-kadrey-grand-dark-20190611-story.html

#1yrago The Shitty Tech Adoption Curve Has a Business Model https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/11/the-shitty-tech-adoption-curve-has-a-business-model/

[pluckysidekick]

Hello, Drewds! The Drew Crew actors have all been active this week, a very rare occurrence. The most recent is this morning we got this fabulous photo from Amanda Row, director of many classic Nancy Drew episodes (e.g. Burning Bride, Uninvited Guest, S2 finale) and both the S4 premiere and finale. She was out last night with none other than Alex Saxon AND RJ Hatanaka.

Love seeing these people back together - and extra points for Alex sporting a classic Ace snapback. How amazing would it be if we got to see Alex and RJ together in something directed by Amanda? Ace and Tamura did have the best scenes together. A person can dream…

Meanwhile, we caught our first glimpse of Tunji in the “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” trailer. He looks (and sounds) so amazing in period garb.

Sadly it appears from IMDB that he’s only in the first episode - hopefully we’ll see more added as we get closer. No matter what really looking forward to seeing him on my screen again come May 4!

Onto the women of Nancy Drew. Kennedy, who we’re waiting to hear if her backdoor pilot The Good Lawyer was picked up for the fall, gifted us with a duet to Taylor’s “Invisible String” on TikTok. I’ve only listened to it fifty or so times. More please, Kennedy!

Speaking of pilots AND singing, Leah similarly has her own pilot (a Matlock reboot), which started filming on Monday in Toronto. Really hope this one gets picked up - I want to see Leah sparring with the brilliant Kathy Bates. Network TV has room for both of our favs as up and coming lawyers!

Leah has also been singing for us in her spare time in her IG stories this week, her voice is sick. Maybe a Nancy and George duet could be arranged? In the meantime you can envision them putting on an entire musical in my Nancy Drew AU fic No One Mourns the Wicked!

Last but definitely not least, Maddison has been out and about in Vancouver and around B.C., taking some fabulous photos, baking, and visiting her friend who’s building a house. She also mentioned on IG she’d be traveling back to England soon to visit family and enjoy British comfort foods. Hope she has a great time, and that we get to see her on our screens again soon in something new!

Craving Nancy Drew S4, but glad to see what our favorite crew members are up to in the meantime.

[thegothgainer]

A couple of my favorite things from each Pokemon generation

I have a lot of negative things to say about recent Pokemon, but I kinda want to offset that with a list of some of my actual favorite things. There are a lot, so I'm going to try and list just one from each gen.

Gen 1

Probably the hardest to come up with, since later games mostly improved upon the formula. I could just say "it's the first Pokemon game" but that feels like a cop-out. So, instead, I'll say it's the sort of mystery it had. You'd find new things out from being told by friends. There were rumors about how to catch the mythical Mew. There was the superstition that holding down certain buttons would help catch Pokemon. It may have just been a thing of its time, given the state of the internet back then. But there's something about getting information from guides and friends instead of an ad-ridden barf of a website that made Pokemon feel really personal.

Actually, I just remembered one more positive in me. Gary being an absolute asshole. I love being able to take my rival down a notch. I don't want to feel bad I destroyed my rival because they're a great person. I want to rub it in Gary's dumb face.

Gen 2

The phone system. Being able to get calls from trainers, asking for a rematch was the coolest thing. It made the world feel so alive. Like there were things going on while you were training to become a champion.

I'm surprised we don't have anything like this in modern Pokemon games. A fake social media network would be sooooo cool to see within Pokemon. Gen 7 kinda had this with the photos, but the responses weren't from NPCs you've met. It felt kind of flat to me. But if Youngster Joey followed me and commented on every picture of a Ratata I posted, I'd be stoked. If my rival sent pics of their travels while I did mine, it would make me want to go out and find those places and show them up. I think there is a lot of potential to make the Pokemon world feel more lived-in in the games.

Gen 3

So, Gen 3 is two things, but both because of the same reason: Puzzles and Exploration.

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald had a lot of depth to the maps. You could climb your bike up the side of a mountain and drive over a bridge from where you were just standing. The sense of exploration was strong too. You could dive underwater and see the depths. Too much water, my ass.

Exploration felt worth it too. Especially the Regi trio. Three legendary Pokemon you get just by wandering around and hearing myths and solving puzzles. None of it is part of the main story. You feel rewarded for exploration. We got a whole open world in Gen 9, but none of the exploration really feels as worth it as it did in Gen 3.

And the puzzles were really fun too. They had a slight challenge to them as a kid. In the newer games, the gym challenges feel a little more like filler than a challenge. The themed puzzles were almost a staple of Pokemon gameplay at this point, from spinning tiles, to cracking ice blocks to pushing boulders around. It was a part of Pokemon's DNA, and honestly, I miss it.

I put these in the same category because of the Regi trio. They are the result of exploration and puzzles, and I really feel like they highlight everything that was great about Gen 3 gameplay.

Gen 4

The best thing I remember about Gen 4 was the lore. And it had to be in Gen 4! This was the game where the creation trio was introduced. But seeing all this lore really helped to flesh out the world a lot. I really want to see more story outside of the main storyline and Pokedex entries. I want to know about the wars that happened long ago. I want to know the myths that the mythicals were involved in. I want to know more about this world that GameFreak has created. We do see a little bit of that in Legends: Arceus. And I love it for it.

Gen 5

Sprites.

I never had the opportunity to play the Gen 5 games until after I completed Gen 7. But I do remember that I was blown away by the personality that the sprites brought. Every single one was animated in such a way that really highlighted that Pokemon's personality. The idle animations in modern games can feel a little bland and stiff. But just look at this! Wings flapping, mouth chomping, this guy feels alive. This kind of personality really helped the Black and White games feel so organic.

Gen 6

Pokemon Amie.

It's one thing to select an item, click use, and then just heal your Pokemon up. But, I'm playing Pokemon because I love my partners in crime. I want to give them the praise they deserve, not just run to a salon and select the option to groom them. And feed them. It was like a dumbed-down Nintendogs, and I would love for there to be more Pokemon games that expand on this idea. Or even just bring it back in full in a new game.

Honestly, the whole online capability of the game was great, that whole section on the lower part of the 3DS. It was really easy to find trades, battles, etc, something that I think the new games lack for some reason.

Oh, and Megas were also really cool. Probably the best "Gimmick".

Gen 7

Gen 7 was in a kind of transition period, but honestly, it had one of my favorite stories. A lot was going on, and it was great. Runaway hooligans, interdimensional travel, mind control... this game had it all. The characters are fun, especially Guzma (what a name, by the way). And from what I remember, post game for Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were really cool for having all of the big bosses from previous games show up and say what happened in the worlds in which they won.

Runner up is wild double-battles (SOS battles). I miss in-game double battles...

Gen 8

This one is a tough one. Not that I particularly hated Gen 8, no. It's just that it was in a sort of experimental period that Gen 9 greatly improved upon. It was the first attempt at a semi-open world, and it was pretty cool, but underwhelming. But, it definitely opened up my mind to what Pokemon could be. They were finally trying new things that strayed from the original formula. Raid Dens were a neat concept, but just didn't feel like it had the epicness it was going for. The Wild Area was cool, but not as explorable as I hoped. But, at the very least, it let me know that Pokemon didn't have to be just the same linear path every generation. Maybe in the future we can finally get back to the exploration and collection that made Pokemon so enjoyable. Which led to...

Gen 9

Everything that Gen 8 was trying to do, Gen 9 improved. Not perfected. Far from it. But it started getting closer to what I imagine to be my perfect Pokemon game. I'm not going to explain my perfect Pokemon game here, but I will highlight a few things about Gen 9.

First, of course, is open-world exploration. I remember taking on the challenge of doing the gyms in reverse order. And while I would have loved some better scaling, it was just really cool to be able to do the gyms and story in my own way. I really hope they fix it up a bit and continue it.

Then, there's the story itself. The game went real. A little darker than some of the previous games, but not edgy dark. No spoilers, of course, but it was good to see characters get plenty of character growth and screentime. It was cute. It was sad. It was fun.

Raids were also improved. It still has its connection problems. But the biweekly 7-stars feel more of a challenge. I don't like that it's built around FOMO and I feel it should rotate. And when they drop support for the game, there will no longer be 7-stars. Maybe they'll patch something in, but I'm doubtful. Still. I do enjoy it better at least than previous raids.

If I could, I would also add in some of the side games to this list as well, but this is already a long post, so maybe in another.

Anyways, I'd love to hear what all other people enjoyed about these games. I know there's a lot of hate for these games every gen, and I know I've rambled about things that I would have liked to see done better. But there's also plenty to love about this franchise.

[scotianostra]

On April 23rd 1733 work began on the bridge over the River Tay at Aberfeldy with General Wade laying the foundation Stone.

Many people might not like the fact that Wade was in Scotland, but regardless of you opinion on him, many of you will have at some point travelled on a road, or crossed a bridge that was part of his work here in Scotland.

In 1925 Wade was charged with building a network of roads and bridges throughout the Scottish Highlands to aid the transport of men and equipment. The government was rightly concerned about the possibility of another Jacobite uprising following the '15, and wanted to make sure that military transport was as efficient as possible in case of another revolt.Over the next 15 years, Wade oversaw the building of 250 miles of roads - the first engineered roads in Britain since the departure of the Romans in the early 5th century. To link those roads he also built over 40 bridges.

The most impressive 'Wade bridge' spanned the River Tay at what is now Aberfeldy. At the time it was the only bridge across the Tay, allowing access to the central and eastern Highlands from the south. It is sometimes known as the Tay Bridge, although since the construction of the bridges at Dundee that name has gradually worn off, although I do know some Jacbites out there that will not call them Wades Bridge or Roads, the roads especially are called “Old Military Roads”

The humpbacked bridge was designed by the famous Scottish architect William Adam, father of Robert Adamwho went on to become perhaps the foremost country house architect in the country. General Wade considered the elder Adam 'the best architect in Scotland'.

Adam's design was much more than a purely functional piece of military architecture; he created a neo-classical five-arched bridge stretching 112m (368 feet), with a central span of 18.2m (60 feet). Adam added Baroque details, including four obelisks over the central span and decorative pyramids at each end. The central span also has a raised parapet. The roadway is 14 feet wide.

To ease the impact of water on the bridge piers there are triangular cutwaters. The arches are segmental, and the bridge is composed of grey chlorite schist with rubble spandrels and arch rings of dressed stone. The piers were supported by 1200 timber piles encased in with iron sunk into the river bed.

On the inner face of the parapet in the centre of the bridge is a dedication panel in Latin which translates as:

Admire this military road stretching on this

side and that 250 miles beyond the limits of the

Roman one, mocking moors and bogs, opened

up through rocks and over mountains, and, as

you see, crossing the indignant Tay. This

diffIcult work G. Wade, Commander-in-Chief of

the Forces in Scotland, accomplished by his own

skill and ten years labour of his soldiers in the

year of the Christian Era, 1733. Behold how

much avail the Royal auspices of George 2nd.

The exterior of the central arch bears another panel with relief carvings of a crown and crossed swords and the monogram of George II between them.

Stone was quarried at Farrowchil, a mile away. Skilled masons were brought from all across the north of England and they worked on finishing the blocks through the winter so that it could be quickly assembled in the summer. It was opened to traffic in October 1734, though the official opening ceremony did not take place until the summer of 1735.

The bridge cost a total of 4095 pounds (another source puts the cost at 3,596 pounds) and Wade considered it his finest achievement.

The building of Wade's Bridge was directly responsible for the town of Aberfeldy. At the time it was the only road bridge across the Tay, so it formed a vital link in transport routes. A settlement grew up near the east end of the bridge and in very short order grew to a considerable size.

Wade considered his network of roads and bridges an essential step in keeping peace in the turbulent Highlands. However, the only military commander to actually benefit directly was Bonnie Prince Charlie, whose Jacobite troops used the road network to their advantage during the '45 Uprising.

Bonnie Prince Charlie himself crossed the bridge in February 1746 on his retreat north after Derby. He stayed at Castle Menzies, just a mile away, for two days. Just two days after that a contingent of the Duke of Cumberland's soldiers followed him across the bridge. They would eventually catch up with the Prince and his men at the Culloden near Inverness, a battle that effectively ended Jacobite hopes.

Though many of General Wade's military roads are still in use today, the bridge in Aberfeldy is the only one of Wade's bridges still in daily use. Today it carries the B846 over the River Tay. It was not designed to carry two lanes of traffic so there are lights at each end to regulate traffic flow.

Although the bridge as a whole is impressive, the masonry is quite different from the smooth neatness of Telford’s or Smeaton’s later bridges – the outside is neater than the inside, but it’s still a quite different style.

[genshin-impact-updates]

"King Deshret and the Three Magi" Version 3.1 Update Details

Dear Travelers,

Below are the details of the Version 3.1 update "King Deshret and the Three Magi."

New Areas: Hypostyle Desert, Land of Lower Setekh, and Land of Upper Setekh

New Characters: Cyno, Nilou, and Candace

New Domains: Garden of Endless Pillars, Altar of Mirages, and Red Desert Threshold

New Equipment: Staff of the Scarlet Sands (Polearm), Key of Khaj-Nisut (Sword), etc.

New Main Stories: Archon Quest Chapter III: Act III and Act IV, Cyno and Nilou's Story Quests

New Enemies: Aeonblight Drake, Algorithm of Semi-Intransient Matrix of Overseer Network, etc.

More details can be found in the following text.

At the end of the article, Travelers will be introduced to the content adjustments and optimizations in Version 3.1 as well as the issues fixed.

〓Compensation〓

Maintenance Compensation: Primogems ×300 (60 Primogems for every hour the servers are down)

Issue Fix Compensation: Primogems ×300 (please refer to the relevant compensation mail for more details)

〓Eligibility〓

Maintenance Compensation: Travelers who reach Adventure Rank 5 or above before 2022/09/28 06:00 (UTC+8).

Please claim before the end of Version 3.1.

Issue Fix Compensation: All Travelers who have reached Adventure Rank 5 or above by 2022/09/28 06:00 (UTC+8).

Please claim the compensation mail before 2022/10/01 06:00 (UTC+8).

Our developers will distribute compensation to Travelers via in-game mail within 5 hours after the update maintenance is finished. The mail will expire after 30 days, so don't forget to claim the attached compensation in time.

〓Update Schedule〓

Update maintenance begins on 2022/09/28 06:00 (UTC+8) and is estimated to take 5 hours.

〓How to Update Game Client〓

PC: Close the game, open the Genshin Impact Launcher, and click Update.

iOS: Open the App Store and tap Update.

Android: Open the game and follow the directions on-screen.

PS5™ and PS4™: Highlight Genshin Impact from the PS4 Home Screen, press the OPTIONS button and select "Check for Update."

Please do not hesitate to contact Customer Service if you encounter any issues installing the new version. We will do our very best to resolve the issue.

〓Update Details〓

I. Areas

New Areas in Sumeru Now Available

◇ New Areas：In Version 3.1, the areas, Hypostyle Desert, Land of Lower Setekh, and Land of Upper Setekh in the Sumeru region will be available.

New Daily Commissions will be added in Sumeru.

In addition, there will be new Fishing Points and "Radiant Spincrystals" in the new areas released.

II. New Characters

5-Star Character "Judicator of Secrets" Cyno (Electro)

◇ Vision: Electro

◇ Weapon: Polearm

◇ The General Mahamatra in charge of supervising the researchers of the Akademiya. It is said that when he gets down to work, the General Mahamatra is even more efficient than the "Great Vayuvyastra" made by the Kshahrewar.

◆ Elemental Skill "Secret Rite: Chasmic Soulfarer"

◆ Performs a swift thrust, dealing Electro DMG to opponents along the path. When Cyno is under the Pactsworn Pathclearer state triggered by the Elemental Burst "Sacred Rite: Wolf's Swiftness," he will instead unleash a Mortuary Rite that deals thunderous AoE Electro DMG and extends the duration of Pactsworn Pathclearer.

◆ Elemental Burst "Sacred Rite: Wolf's Swiftness"

◆ Calls upon a divine spirit to possess him, morphing into the Pactsworn Pathclearer, causing his Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attacks to be converted to Electro Damage that cannot be overridden. At the same time, Cyno's Elemental Mastery and resistance to interruption will increase, and he gains immunity to Electro-Charged Damage. This effect will be canceled when Cyno leaves the field and lasts for a set duration.

5-Star Character "Dance of Lotuslight" Nilou (Hydro)

◇ Vision: Hydro

◇ Weapon: Sword

◇ The star of the Zubayr Theater. She is full of warmth and innocence, and her dances are lively and elegant.

◆ Elemental Skill "Dance of Haftkarsvar"

◆ Nilou will enter the Pirouette state, dealing Hydro DMG to nearby opponents based on her Max HP. While she is in the Pirouette state, Nilou's Normal Attacks and Elemental Attacks will cause her to enter the Sword Dance and Whirling Steps stances respectively, causing DMG she deals to be converted to Hydro DMG that cannot be overridden and that is considered Elemental Skill DMG. In these stances, Nilou's third dance step will end Pirouette, and has the following effects:

· Sword Dance: unleashes a Luminous Illusion that deals Hydro DMG to opponents it touches and grants Nilou the Lunar Prayer effect. This effect converts Nilou's Normal Attacks into Sword Dance techniques, and her final hit will unleash a Luminous Illusion.

· Whirling Steps: Nilou unleashes a Whirling Water Wheel that deals AoE Hydro DMG and creates a Tranquility Aura that follows your active character around and applies Wet to opponents within its AoE.

Nilou is unable to perform Charged Attacks when under the effect of Pirouette or Lunar Prayer. These effects will be removed once she leaves the field.

◆ Elemental Burst "Dance of Abzendegi: Distant Dreams, Listening Spring"

◆ Begins the dance of faraway dreams and springs that hear, causing a Lotus of Distant Waters to bloom, dealing AoE Hydro DMG based on Nilou's Max HP and applying the Lingering Aeon effect to all opponents hit. After an interval, opponents affected by Lingering Aeon will take Hydro DMG.

◇ After unlocking Nilou's Passive Talent "Court of Dancing Petals," when all characters in the party are either Dendro or Hydro, and there is at least one Dendro character and one Hydro character:

The completion of the third dance step of Nilou's Dance of Haftkarsvar will grant all nearby characters the Golden Chalice's Bounty for 30s upon its completion. Characters under the effect of Golden Chalice's Bounty will have their Elemental Mastery increased whenever they are hit by Dendro attacks. Also, triggering the Bloom reaction will create Bountiful Cores instead of Dendro Cores. Such Cores will burst very quickly after being created, and they have larger AoEs. Bountiful Cores cannot trigger Hyperbloom or Burgeon, and they share an upper numerical limit with Dendro Cores. Bountiful Core DMG is considered DMG dealt by Dendro Cores produced by Bloom.

4-Star Character "Golden Vow" Candace (Hydro)

◇ Vision: Hydro

◇ Weapon: Polearm

◇ A descendant of King Deshret with an amber left eye. The defender of Aaru Village.

◆ Elemental Skill "Sacred Rite: Heron's Sanctum"

◆ Tap this skill, and Candace rushes forward with her shield, dealing Hydro DMG. Hold and she raises her shield to block incoming attacks from nearby opponents, forming a barrier that absorbs DMG based on her Max HP and absorbs Hydro DMG 250% more effectively. This barrier lasts until the Elemental Skill is unleashed. After holding for a certain period of time, Candace will finish charging, and when the skill button is released, the skill duration expires, or when the barrier is broken, she will perform a leaping strike that deals Hydro DMG to opponents in front of her.

◆ Elemental Burst "Sacred Rite: Wagtail's Tide"

◆ Candace calls upon a divine blessing that deals AoE Hydro DMG based on her Max HP and continuously confers the Prayer of the Crimson Crown on your active character. The Prayer of the Crimson Crown effect has the following properties: Characters deal increased Elemental DMG with their Normal Attacks. Whenever a character takes the field, they will unleash a rippling wave of water that deals Hydro DMG to nearby opponents. Sword, Claymore, and Polearm-wielding character(s) on the field under this effect will obtain a Hydro Infusion.

III. New Domains

Domain: Garden of Endless Pillars

◇ This palatial place was once dominated by many thousands of giant pillars, and priests and the powerful alike once walked beneath their bower unrestrained. But all that is left of the mighty and proud city of sapphire now is wrack and ruin.

◇ Unlock Criteria: Reach Adventure Rank 24 or above and fulfill certain criteria.

◆ Challenge the Domain to obtain rewards such as Primogems and Dendro Sigils.

Domain: Altar of Mirages

◇ The Jinn once used this place as a free theater and a paradise without sorrow or care. The people of the desert wastes also once used this place as a ritual site to remember the ages long past... But all these joys and sorrows, like a false mirage, would disappear amidst the flow of the Ley Lines.

◇ Unlock Criteria: Reach Adventure Rank 28 or above and fulfill certain criteria.

◆ Challenge the Domain to obtain rewards such as Primogems and Dendro Sigils.

Domain: Red Desert Threshold

◇ Legend has it that were once a prince who was exiled by his father and imprisoned in this jail. The bronze revelation first emerged here in this lonely, forgotten place where there is neither day nor night.

◇ Unlock Criteria: Reach Adventure Rank 32 or above and fulfill certain criteria.

◆ Challenge the Domain to obtain rewards such as Primogems and Dendro Sigils.

IV. New Equipment

1. New Weapons

Staff of the Scarlet Sands (5-Star Polearm)

The equipping character gains 52% of their Elemental Mastery as bonus ATK. When an Elemental Skill hits opponents, the Dream of the Scarlet Sands effect will be gained for 10s: The equipping character will gain 28% of their Elemental Mastery as bonus ATK. Max 3 stacks.

Makhaira Aquamarine (4-Star Claymore)

· The following effect will trigger every 10s: The equipping character will gain 24% of their Elemental Mastery as bonus ATK for 12s, with nearby party members gaining 30% of this buff for the same duration. Multiple instances of this weapon can allow this buff to stack. This effect will still trigger even if the character is not on the field.

◆ During the event wish, Epitome Invocation, the event-exclusive 5-star weapon Staff of the Scarlet Sands (Polearm) and the event-exclusive 4-star weapon Makhaira Aquamarine (Claymore) will receive a huge drop-rate boost!

Key of Khaj-Nisut (5-Star Sword)

HP increased by 20%. When an Elemental Skill hits opponents, you gain the Grand Hymn effect for 20s. This effect increases the equipping character's Elemental Mastery by 0.12% of their Max HP. This effect can trigger once every 0.3s. Max 3 stacks. When this effect gains 3 stacks, or when the third stack's duration is refreshed, the Elemental Mastery of all nearby party members will be increased by 0.2% of the equipping character's max HP for 20s.

Xiphos' Moonlight (4-Star Sword)

The following effect will trigger every 10s: The equipping character will gain 0.036% Energy Recharge for each point of Elemental Mastery they possess for 12s, with nearby party members gaining 30% of this buff for the same duration. Multiple instances of this weapon can allow this buff to stack. This effect will still trigger even if the character is not on the field.

Wandering Evenstar (4-Star Catalyst)

The following effect will trigger every 10s: The equipping character will gain 24% of their Elemental Mastery as bonus ATK for 12s, with nearby party members gaining 30% of this buff for the same duration. Multiple instances of this weapon can allow this buff to stack. This effect will still trigger even if the character is not on the field.

◆ The event-exclusive 5-star weapon Key of Khaj-Nisut (Sword) as well as the event-exclusive 4-star weapons Xiphos' Moonlight (Sword) and Wandering Evenstar (Catalyst) will be available in a future event wish.

Missive Windspear (4-Star Polearm)

Within 10s after an Elemental Reaction is triggered, ATK is increased by 12% and Elemental Mastery is increased by 48.

◆ Missive Windspear (Polearm) and its refinement materials can be redeemed in the event "Of Ballads and Brews."

V. New Quests

1. New Archon Quests

Archon Quest Chapter III: Act III "Dreams, Emptiness, Deception"

◆ Quest Unlock Criteria

• Reach Adventure Rank 35 or above

• Complete Archon Quest Chapter III: Act II "The Morn a Thousand Roses Brings: Denouement"

Archon Quest Chapter III: Act IV "King Deshret and the Three Magi"

◆ Quest Unlock Criteria

• Reach Adventure Rank 35 or above

• Complete Archon Quest Chapter III: Act III "Dreams, Emptiness, Deception"

◇ After the Version 3.1 update, the Archon Quest Chapter III: Act III "Dreams, Emptiness, Deception" and Archon Quest Chapter III: Act IV "King Deshret and the Three Magi" will be permanently available.

2. New Story Quests

Cyno's Story Quest "Lupus Aureus Chapter: Act I - Sands of Solitude"

Permanently available after the Version 3.1 update

◆ Quest Unlock Criteria

• Reach Adventure Rank 40 or above

• Complete Archon Quest Chapter III: Act IV "King Deshret and the Three Magi"

Nilou's Story Quest "Lotos Somno Chapter: Act I - To the Wise"

Permanently available after 2022/10/14 18:00

◆ Quest Unlock Criteria

• Reach Adventure Rank 40 or above

• Complete Archon Quest Chapter III: Act II "The Morn a Thousand Roses Brings: Denouement"

3. New World Quests

◆ New World Quests: "Golden Slumber" Quest Chain, "Old Notes and New Friends" Quest Chain, "Afratu's Dilemma," "The Exile" Quest Chain, "A Gifted Rose" Quest Chain, "Join the Eremites and Embrace a Wonderful New Life!," and "Blooming Sands."

VI. New Enemies

Aeonblight Drake

◇ This dragon-shaped combat machine is a being that inspires fear, much like the lord who once ruled these vast lands.

This machine has even greater abilities than the Ruin Drake, being able to attack from the air and on the ground. Can periodically release a dangerous torrent of energy during combat and increase its own Elemental RES against the previous main type of Elemental DMG it suffered. Take this opportunity to attack their cores, and you may be able to immobilize this creature...

Located at Ardravi Valley.

Algorithm of Semi-Intransient Matrix of Overseer Network

◇ This ancient aggregation of machinery hails from the desert and has quirks that modern-day civilizations cannot comprehend.

In battle, the Algorithm of Semi-Intransient Matrix of Overseer Network will fire its components out while its core enters an "invisible" state that hides it and increases its RES. Use Catalyze reactions to strike this core, or use Electro attacks on it during such times as the fired components have been destroyed and need to recover to cancel this invisibility.

Located at Hypostyle Desert.

Primal Construct: Prospector, Primal Construct: Reshaper, and Primal Construct: Repulsor

◇ These ancient machines, which come from the desert, are quite distinct from the Ruin Machines.

In combat, these Primal Constructs will fire their components out while their cores enter an "invisible" state that hides them and increases their RES. Use Catalyze reactions to strike these cores or use Electro attacks on them during such times as the fired components have been destroyed and need to recover to cancel this invisibility.

Eremite Stone Enchanter and Eremite Galehunter

◇ Warriors that may be found in one of the many scattered mercenary groups that hail from the desert.

They will unleash the ominous spirit contained within their body to fight alongside them after taking a certain amount of damage. This will cause them to enter an Infused Form. Defeat these spirits and they will enter a weakened state for a fixed amount of time thereafter.

In addition, the Floating Anemo Fungus, Whirling Pyro Fungus, Stretchy Electro Fungus, and Grounded Geoshroom will be added.

VII. Other Additions

1. New Recipes:

○ Sumeru Lambad's Tavern: Coconut Charcoal Cakes

○ Sumeru's Puspa Café: Baklava, Candied Ajilenakh Nut, and Padisarah Pudding

○ Sumeru NPC Azalai: Aaru Mixed Rice

○ Obtained From Event: Fruits of the Festival

○ Cyno's specialty: Duel Soul

○ Nilou's specialty: Swirling Steps

○ Candace's specialty: Utmost Care

2. New Event Dish "Sparkling Berry Juice": During the "Of Ballads and Brews" event, you will be able to purchase Sparkling Berry Juice from the event site at Springvale, Mondstadt. This dish will be available at Angel's Share in Mondstadt from the next version onwards.

3. New Achievement categories such as "Elemental Specialist: Series II," "Challenger: Series VI," and "Sumeru: The Gilded Desert - Series I," and new Achievements added to the "Wonders of the World" category.

4. New Namecards:

"Cyno: Silence": Reward for reaching Friendship Lv. 10 with Cyno

"Nilou: Lotus Dance": Reward for reaching Friendship Lv. 10 with Nilou

"Candace: Grey Heron: Reward for reaching Friendship Lv. 10 with Candace

"Travel Notes: Returning Winds": Reward obtained via the BP system

"Achievement: Seven Lights": Reward for completing all achievements under "Elemental Specialist: Series II"

"Sumeru: Sandtreader": Reward for completing all achievements under "Sumeru: The Gilded Desert - Series I"

"Achievement: Mirrored Dreams": Reward for completing all achievements under "Challenger: Series VI"

5. Adds some prompts for loading screens.

6. New Permanent Event "Curtain of Leaves": Clear Spiral Abyss 4-3 to invite the character "Sprout of Rebirth" Collei (Dendro)

7. New Gadgets: Jumpy Dumpty Party Popper and Cloud Retainer's Damasked Device

8. Stellar Reunion Adjustments:

UI Optimizations: Adds the "Returner's Journey" tab which can be used to quickly view pages such as "Teyvat Items of Interest," "Adventure Handbook: Guide," "Adventure Handbook: Embattle," "Realm Within," among others.

Event Adjustments: Adjusts some "Stellar Reunion" rewards. For Travelers who activate "Stellar Reunion" after the Version 3.1 update, the reward for obtaining 400 points will be adjusted to "Northlander Billet Trove."

9. New Animals: Red Vulture, Scorpion, Desert Sumpter Beast, Desert Fox, Sacred Ibis, Masked Weasel, Quicksand Unagi, and Scarab

10. Tree of Dreams, Vanarana: Increase in the Level Cap of Tree of Dreams to Level 30.

11. When using the DualSense™ Wireless Controller on PC or PS5™, corresponding vibrations can be felt as each character unleashes their Elemental Burst.

12. Adds controller "Graded Vibration Settings" in the "Settings > Controls" interface. You can activate it completely, partially or deactivate it according to your preferences.

13. Adds controller "Vibration Strength" in the "Settings > Controls" interface.

14. On the Asia, Europe, America, and TW, HK, and MO servers, testing of the "Past Quest Resource Management" function has begun: Travelers can delete the audio and video resources corresponding to the completed Archon Quests and Story Quests on mobile, thus reducing the size of the game. The deleted audio resources can be re-downloaded after deletion. Travelers can do so in the "Settings > Resources > Quest Resources" interface.

The function is now being tested in the Irminsul Server. Function testing will commence on the Celestia Server in Version 3.2.

15. Spiral Abyss

Floor 11 Ley Line Disorders changed to:

• All characters in the party gain a 75% Electro DMG Bonus.

Updated the monster lineup on Floors 11 – 12 of the Spiral Abyss.

Starting from the first time that the Lunar Phase refreshes after updating to Version 3.1, the three Lunar Phases will be as follows：

Phase 1:

Pruning Moon

After a character triggers Bloom, Hyperbloom, or Burgeon, all party members will have their Elemental Mastery increased by 40 for 10s. This effect can be triggered once every 0.1s. Max 5 stacks. Each stack's duration is counted independently.

Phase 2:

Ascending Moon

After opponents take DMG from Dendro Cores (this includes Burgeon and Hyperbloom DMG), their All Elemental and Physical RES will decrease by 8% for 6s. Max 4 stacks.

Phase 3:

Rupturing Moon

When Dendro Core attacks (this includes Burgeon and Hyperbloom attacks) hit an opponent, a shockwave will be unleashed at that opponent's position, dealing True DMG. A shockwave can be unleashed this way every 2s.

〓Adjustments & Optimizations〓

● Enemies

1. Reduces the DMG inflicted by the Frostbite attack cast by the boss "Cryo Regisvine" when it hits a character in succession after recovering from paralysis.

2. Adjusts the calculation method of enemy skill damage (some enemies will see a slight decrease in damage from specific skills, other enemies' skill damage remains unchanged).

3. Optimizes the effect of some sand scattering special effects of "The Eremites."

● System

1. Whenever switching between the first and second half in each chamber of the Spiral Abyss, constructs created by enemies and characters in the first half will be cleared (remaining Elemental Orbs, Elemental Particles, and Crystals produced by the Crystallization Reaction will not be cleared).

2. Adjusts and optimizes the sorting rules of some items in the Inventory.

3. Reduces the placement restrictions of some Furnishings in the Serenitea Pot.

4. After the Genshin Impact Version 3.1 update, each top-up level of Genesis Crystals in the Crystal Top-Up page will be reset to provide a double bonus for the first top-up.

• After the reset, each top-up level will be reset to provide a double bonus upon your first top-up.

• Top-up bonuses that have not been used before the reset will not be accumulated. After resetting, it will not be possible to obtain two double bonuses for each top-up level.

5. The camera function in the Paimon Menu can no longer be used when characters are under attack and in some skill states (The Kamera is not affected).

6. Optimizes the performance of the Dendro icon's dynamic effect when wishing for a Dendro character.

7. Adjusts the refreshment frequency of Viparyas. After the adjustment, it is the same as Crystal Ores' refreshment frequency.

● Audio

1. Optimizes the sound performance of some puzzle objects when solved.

2. Optimizes the sound performance of the gadget "Vintage Lyre."

3. Optimizes the sound performance of knocking down opponents and critical hits.

4. Optimizes the Japanese and Korean voice-over for certain quests, and optimizes the Korean voice-over for certain NPCs.

5. Optimizes the English voice-over related to certain items.

6. Adds a function whereby when certain characters are in a desert environment, related dialogue will be triggered.

● Other

1. Made minor adjustments to the positions of NPCs Halva and Shahbandar.

2. Adjusts the special effects display of Truesense Pulse.

3. Adjusts the speed at which footprints disappear in the desert.

4. The title "Story Quests/Hangout Events" of the Character Hangout Event Page has been changed to "Hangout Event."

5. Adjusted the ore types at certain locations in the Sumeru area: some Magical Crystal Ore will be adjusted to Crystal Ore.

6. Adjusts the collision size of some parts of the scenery.

7. Adjusts the special effects display of the Ruin Drake's weaknesses when it is paralyzed and not absorbing energy.

〓Bug Fixes〓

● Quests

1. Fixes an issue whereby when doing the Daily Commission "King of Invokations," the color of the elements on the Traveler's outfit are displayed abnormally.

2. Fixes errors in the description of Daily Quest Commission "1,001 Cups of Coffee."

3. Fixes an issue with the Archon Quest "Silent Seeker of Knowledge" whereby the quest could not be completed normally due to the change in Default Camera Distance.

4. Fixes an issue with the World Quest "Battle of Revenge" whereby the dialogues disappear abnormally.

5. Fixes an issue that caused errors to occur when accepting the World Quest "Gourmet Supremos: Within Our Duties" under certain circumstances.

After the version update, if you meet the quest unlock criteria below and talk to NPC Xudong in Port Ormos, you will be able to accept this World Quest. The "Gourmet Supremos" Daily Commission series will no longer be renewed once the unlock criteria have been met.

Quest Unlock Criteria:

• Achievements obtained after completing the "Gourmet Supremos" Daily Commission series: "Meal For Two," "A Question of Diet," and "Samurice."

• After the version update, complete the Daily Commission "The Gourmet Supremos: Where'd the Ingredients Go?"

• Complete Archon Quest Chapter III: Act II "The Morn a Thousand Roses Brings: Denouement."

● Enemies

1. Fixes an issue whereby the Grounded Hydroshroom has a probability of abnormally leaving combat.

2. Fixes an issue with the Rockfond Rifthound's rock spitting and charge abilities, and the Thundercraven Rifthound's thunderbolt projectile and charge abilities whereby the Corrosion effect would stack abnormally.

3. Fixes an issue whereby some enemies' flight movements were displayed abnormally.

4. Fixes an issue whereby Geo Constructs created under the Ruin Drake by Geo characters are instantly destroyed.

5. Fixes an issue whereby there is a low probability that a critical hit will not be triggered when characters hit the weaknesses of the Ruin Drake.

● Characters

1. Fixes an issue whereby after the Traveler resonates with the Statue of the Seven, they will be unable to interact with Four-Leaf Sigils while gliding.

2. Fixes an issue whereby there is a low probability that Polearm characters would inflict elemental effects multiple times to the same opponent hit with a single Charged Attack.

3. Fixes an issue under certain circumstances whereby after the character Dori casts her Elemental Skill several times quickly within a short period of time, there is a chance that the number of Elemental Particles generated, and the effect of her Passive Talent "Compound Interest" may be abnormal.

4. Fixes an issue with Kaedehara Kazuha whereby the shape of his mouth would be abnormal while taking a picture under certain circumstances.

5. Fixes the misplacement of the flame's visual effect while Yoimiya performs an Aimed Shot.

6. Fixes an issue whereby when switching from Collei to another character after Collei throws the Floral Ring in her Elemental Skill, there is a low probability that the Floral Ring does not return.

7. Fixes an issue whereby the Icy Paws fired by Diona's Elemental Skill might not target Wildlife opponents normally.

8. Fixes an issue whereby under "Low" or "Lowest" graphics settings, some special effects would be missing abnormally when Diluc uses his Elemental Skill in his outfit "Red Dead of Night."

9. Fixes an issue whereby characters can glide without consuming stamina and will not descend under certain circumstances.

10. Fixes an issue whereby the Dendro Cores created by Bloom reactions can cause the effects of certain characters' Skills to be triggered abnormally.

● System

1. Fixes the abnormal frame rate when switching the "Graphics Quality" settings from "Lowest" or "Low" to "Medium" or "High" on PCs.

2. Fixes an issue with Sumeru City whereby the general goods shop icon does not appear on the minimap.

3. Fixes an issue whereby when playing in Co-Op Mode, Yelan would cause the game's BGM to play abnormally under certain circumstances.

4. Fixes an issue whereby the red exclamation marks in the "Character > Attributes" interface would be displayed abnormally under certain circumstances.

5. Fixes an issue of erroneous generation of Elemental Particles when characters use Elemental Skills on Shroomboars in the Serenitea Pot.

6. Fixes an issue of erroneous production of Dendro Cores when characters conduct Hydro attacks on bushes in the Serenitea Pot.

7. Fixes an issue whereby the Rarity of some Furnishing Blueprints did not match their Furnishings.

8. Fixes an issue whereby under certain circumstances, Travelers cannot send in-game messages on mobile devices.

9. Fixes an issue whereby the settings "Vertical Camera Sensitivity" and "Vertical Camera Sensitivity (Aimed Shot Mode)" do not take effect properly.

10. Fixes an issue in the Travel Log whereby certain voice-over lines in the Story Quest "Fate's Chosen Lupical" appear incorrect.

11. Fixes a text error with the source description of the material "Rukkhashava Mushrooms."

12. Fixes a text error with the source description of the ingredient "Glabrous Beans."

13. Fixes an issue whereby the color of the Cryo Boom Blossoms would be displayed abnormally under Elemental Sight.

● Audio

1. Fixes errors with some characters' Korean voice-over.

2. Fixes an issue whereby after characters leave certain caves, the corresponding background music and environment sound effects can continue to play abnormally.

3. Fixes the abnormal sound effects of Polearm characters' Plunging Attacks.

4. Fixes the erroneous Voice-Over Unlock Criteria for "About Fischl" in the "Profile/Voice-Over" page of Collei. The condition is now "Unlocks at Friendship Lv. 4."

● Other

1. Fixes an issue whereby Dendro Boom Blossoms can be knocked backward abnormally by characters' attacks and skills.

2. Fixes an issue whereby the Sprawling Shot transformed by the Hyperbloom reaction has a small probability of not hitting the target correctly.

3. Fixes an issue whereby characters can abnormally enter certain areas in Ashavan Realm while the water level has not yet been lowered.

4. Fixes an issue whereby the NPC Yavanani's headpiece does not match her affiliated Darshan.

5. Fixes an issue with the weapon "The Alley Flash" whereby a part of its appearance was displayed abnormally.

6. Fixes the issue of the erroneous collision size of the Furnishing "Stoneworks Crane: Mountain Movers."

7. Fixes an issue whereby effects gained based on a character's attribute were incorrectly increased (excluding when an effect confers one attribute as a certain percentage of another attribute).

Before the fix, affected effects include:

Effect of the Weapon "Hunter's Path"

The Dendro Traveler's Passive Talent "Verdant Luxury"

Tighnari's Passive Talent "Scholarly Blade"

8. Fixes some textual errors in 13 languages and optimizes text. "Note: Related in-game functions have not changed." (Travelers can view the changes in different languages by going to the Paimon Menu > Settings > Language and changing the Game Language.)

Text-related fixes and optimizations in English include:

◆ Optimized the Traveler's descriptions and voice lines.

◆ Optimized instances of an item name from "Lunar Lotus" to "Nilotpala Lotus."

◆ Optimized some lines in the quests and World Quests.

◆ Optimized some lines in material descriptions.

*This is a work of fiction and is not related to any actual people, events, groups, or organizations.

"PlayStation", "PS5", "PS4", "DualSense", "DUALSHOCK" are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.

[tenspontaneite]

Assembly (Chapter 4/?)

Through his communications systems, each line of text marches in, and he files it all silently into a new data pearl. A whole lexicon, he realises. Not much of one, barely enough vocabulary for basic conversations, but…a language. One that he truly, sincerely cannot bring himself to believe is any kind of joke. Suns would never joke about something like this.

Slowly, he lowers himself to the chamber floor, and closes his eyes.

 (Chapter length: 6.8k. Link to ao3 with workskin)

Warnings: Mentions of canonical character death (Hunter). In depth discussion of past cruel experimentation on sapient beings, and moral and emotional fallout of such.

---

Deep within the superstructure of Seven Red Suns, a new selfling begins to weave together. Its system-in-waiting, SRS-02, sits on the internal network and absorbs their updates gladly.

They’d been nonplussed, originally, to witness No Significant Harassment’s immediate enthusiasm to start making more platforms. Surely one was enough, to begin with? It needed to be tested extensively, or you might well be wasting resources on retrofitting something flawed. But then…

We cannot lose this, Suns thinks, half-connected to their two selflings, and calls to mind the painted hallway. Agreement flickers out across all three minds of their self, silent and steadfast. When SRS-01 leaves the superstructure to go questing, I must have a selfling here. I do not think I could bear to lose art when I have only just begun to find it.

There are the practical concerns as well, of course. Now that they’re decently well-conditioned, SRS-01 has been starting to look into the myriad maintenance issues compiling around the structure. Only for a few hours a day, but already, long-borne annoyances are being extinguished. A wire replacement here, anti-rust treatment there, a reculturing colony delivered to the fraying neural tissue in what seems like every other corner…it is palpably adding up. Suns cannot recall the last time their systems ran so well. And that’s only the start, isn’t it?

If Nish has his way, this will be the start of a grand renewal. There’s only so much they can do with their limited resources and limited hands, but…there is real promise, even so. Suns has been feeling uncommonly optimistic these past days; it’s a nice change.

One day they draw a lizard on their exterior wall with chalk, and they and Spearmaster take turns throwing spears at it. The extruded spines are a little small for Suns’ proportions, but they serve well enough; with the advantage of a machine’s rapid learning, they have grown adept with them very quickly. Spearmaster claps approvingly at a throw that reaches the false lizard’s eye, and they smile.

“…I will be ready to leave soon, I think,” they say to it, and watch it perk up. “Any more learning, I can do in the wild. Now I think I must start preparing for travel.”

“It is far to your friend’s body-home,” says Spearmaster, in the informed position of a small creature who has made that journey multiple times. “Not as far as to your angry friend. But, far. Many dangers.”

“Yes,” they agree, thinking already of how best to prepare. “I had best provision carefully.”

  [LIVE BROADCAST] PRIVATE Seven Red Suns, No Significant Harassment

SRS: I didn’t tell you about what my selfling experienced, that first outing.

NSH: What, the one that made you fry half your chamber when you synced again? No, you haven’t. I’ve been deathly curious too~

SRS: And yet you didn’t ask. How unlike you.

NSH: I can, sometimes, have tact and sensitivity!

SRS: Hah. I suppose we really have changed over the years, haven’t we?

SRS: …I suppose the most important thing to say is that I confirmed my suspicions. My messenger is a person, and always has been.

NSH: Well now.

NSH: That’s truly something. Fully sapient? You’re sure?

SRS: It makes art. It named itself. ‘Spearmaster’. It never told me – I had to ask.

SRS: It kept these thoughts quiet because it was worried I would disapprove of its sapience. That I only wanted it to be a pet, and not a person.

NSH: …Ouch. I can only imagine how that felt for you.

SRS: It was hard to come to terms with, yes. And given what we’d been speaking about that day already…when my selfling came home with those new memories, it hit very hard.

NSH: Hence your damages. And the new integration protocols.

NSH: …Are you alright, Seven Red Suns? You’ve not mentioned any of this for days.

SRS: My damages are repaired, and my tissues healing.

NSH: You know that’s not what I meant.

SRS: I can’t say I’ve come to terms with it yet, no. Not with how much harm I caused an innocent person, with how I shaped it and treated it like an animal. Perhaps I never will come to terms with it.

NSH: Well that’s depressing.

SRS: Can you blame me?

NSH: No, I suppose not.

NSH: …

NSH: Do you know, yet? If it’s just your messenger that’s like that. Or…

SRS: Or all of them?

NSH: Yes.

SRS: I very strongly suspect that the species as a whole is sapient.

NSH: …I see.

SRS: I can’t say I have overwhelming evidence for it. But based on things I’ve heard from Spearmaster…it seems very, very likely.

NSH: I

NSH: Let me know, if you get that evidence. Before that, I

NSH: I don’t know if I can

NSH: …

SRS: It’s alright. I understand. This is…not easy.

SRS: I’ll keep you appraised.

 Within the thoracic compartment of SRS-01, alongside the thinking system within, they pile in as many neurons as will fit. While they are there, the things provide a processing boost to the selfling body; a convenient side effect, if not the actual objective.

Within the spires of Septkai, they source a large traveller’s backpack, of the sorts that the pilgrims once used, making arduous treks through the surface world to visit the holy sites by foot. The effort, they said, made the pilgrimage more profound. In learning the limits of the body, in cultivating their karma against it, they would learn a great deal. Suns cannot speak to the accuracy of that, but the travel packs are a good design, though the material has degraded to uselessness over time. They scan it thoroughly, then return home to their can.

Within the stretches of their bioengineering suite, they do something a little different. It is strange, to take mechanisms made for producing living things, and instead use them to produce various lifeless biological structures. Thick skin as from the hardiest lizards, delicately dappled with the pattern of scales; sturdy hide as what protects the rain deer; chitinous armour plating alike that which the centipedes wear; delicate silks as woven by the Citadel’s ineradicable spiders. They print out samples and test them, tweaking each to their liking.

It is surprisingly easy, to create clothing this way. They have no need of seams as the material is shaped with intent from the molecular level up, the colour is easily customised, and the second they dislike the way a pattern turned out, they can simply throw it in the vats for recycling and try again. Under Spearmaster’s curious gaze, they try out design after design, playing with colour and shape in ways that are unexpectedly delightful. Any fastenings, buttons, and other such details have to be printed out in keratin or bone, then added by hand.

That last detail, the addition of those parts, is the only thing that they could not have done before the advent of their first selfling.

I should have tried this a long time ago, they think, watching a delicate cloak spool together within its bay, each filament carefully coated with biologically-derived dyes. It is a kind of art, itself. Hadn’t the making of clothing and jewellery been among the chiefest of the People’s arts? And Suns could have been doing it for centuries, had they only tried.

They doubt it even as they think it, though. To create such things, with no hands to feel it, no body to wear it…it would’ve felt pointless. And besides, with no hands to move any of it out into the superstructure, it would only have accumulated in piles to clog the bioengineering chambers.

I could have produced tapestries, though, they think sourly to themself. Banners, wall hangings. The patterns and colours are interesting enough that it would have occupied me, especially if I slowed my processing down. I could have been doing something I loved, all this time. I’m sure Spearmaster would have been happy to move them for me.

With the slightest of degrees of mental separation from their greater self, their AMP prods their thoughts along a new track:

Maybe so. Maybe they could have had this a long time ago, if only they’d thought of it. But it is pointless to ruminate upon now. Better to simply move forward, however much they can.

Yes. I suppose so, they think together, and settle in to work.

 [LIVE BROADCAST] PRIVATE Seven Red Suns, No Significant Harassment

NSH: Vulture AMP simulations are going well! Not much left to do before the first testing phase.

SRS: Good for you. I think.

NSH: I did end up having to plan for further iterator genome modifications, though, or it just won’t integrate with the AOS. Might need to get you to tweak my cells again.

SRS: In that case, I think it’ll have to wait for your selfling to visit me and oversee the process. It sounds complex enough I’m wary of making those modifications without guidance.

NSH: That’s for the best anyway~

NSH: Gives me another excuse to come and visit you!

 They make a little poncho for Spearmaster, patterned and coloured just how it asks: a light lavender grey, with detailing in pale yellow like Suns’ chassis. It puts the garment on and then prances around in it for hours with glee.

They make a carrying pouch, long and narrow and sturdy, modelled after the quivers ancient People had once used for arrows or crossbow bolts. Suns considers it narrowly, wondering if it would be worthwhile to try to manufacture actual ranged weaponry, but eventually gives it up. Replenishing ammunition during long journeys would be difficult, with the world in its current state. Better to go on with what they intended: they speak to Spearmaster, and in short order fill the quiver with extruded spines. A ready supply, if they need to fight.

They produce dozens of different designs of travel clothing, trying each in turn to see how it works. Cloaks, scarves, ponchos, even chitinous plates of armour, just to try it all. It is difficult to settle on any one design.

“Superfluous, I think,” they say of the armour, inspecting how it sits over their chassis. “At least the full set. It’s cumbersome, and not quite worth it when I am already made of metal.”

“Looks impressive, though,” Spearmaster points out, and they laugh.

“Yes, I suppose so. Still, I won’t travel in it. Now, what next…?”

The final choice, in the end, is not as elaborate as some of the designs Suns has favoured. While they enjoy all of their new outfits, most are simply impractical for travel. This one is simple: a basic shirt and pair of half-trousers, both chassis-tight, and then a nice loose poncho over the top in a gradient of red and orange. It’s still a little plain for their tastes, but they can probably add some jewellery later to satisfy their aesthetics. Most importantly, though: it’s decently practical for travel.

It is also sort of alive.

“Smells strange,” Spearmaster says, a little suspicious, sniffing at one trailing fabric edge as if concerned that it might suddenly pounce. “Like a creature? But not. Simple.” It slaps its tail on the floor, dissatisfied with the words. “Like the simple creatures inside you. Same-like. Like the skin on your selfling?”

“It is very similar,” they allow, and stroke the new material with pleasure. “A simple purposed organism. In theory, when it’s dirty, I should be able to activate a mode where it slowly dissolves and consumes particles that are touching it. In theory. We will see if that holds up to testing. And, also…” Concentrating, they reach out to the passive, mindless organism that is the clothing. It’s nothing as effortless as controlling their own skin, but… “Ah, there we go,” they say, pleased, as the fabric slowly and sluggishly changes colour. Not much, though. It darkens but not all the way to black, and only tints slightly red, instead of going fully the colours they intended.

“Supposed to go darker?” The slugcat inquires, and they shrug.

“It would’ve been nice. Better for aposematic display, hm? But it seems I don’t have the trick of making purposed organism clothing that can change colours fully, yet. Something to work on.” They pat their own side, content. “This will do just fine. Now, to more practical concerns…”

They fit the strap for their spear quiver. They construct the bag they intend to carry with them, and test the fit of that too. Then there is only to consider what to bring along.

Neurons, yes. Pearls, full of data…yes, but what to prioritise? Gifts aside, there have to be practical datasets to bring too.

 [LIVE BROADCAST] PRIVATE Seven Red Suns, No Significant Harassment

SRS: I’m starting to pack in preparation to leave.

NSH: Oho, that’s exciting. You think you’re ready?

SRS: As much as I can be. The journey will take a while, anyway, and I’ll have Spearmaster with me. Better to set off sooner rather than later.

SRS: I’ve prepared my clothing, bag and so on, and packed a few obvious things, like the neurons.

NSH: And gifts?

SRS: …Yes. And gifts.

SRS: I’m still uncertain which datasets to prioritise though. Do you have any suggestions?

NSH: Hmm. Things that would be practical while travelling, I suppose? Blueprints on various flora and fauna, old maps and the like. Waypoint and navigation data from your overseers.

NSH: I’d recommend taking iterator schematics and such, but honestly I’ve already got that covered, so no need.

NSH: …Ask your Spearmaster, perhaps. It might know if there’s something you need.

SRS: Now that’s an idea.

NSH: Glad to help~

In fact, what Suns had thought of was this: Spearmaster could communicate with other slugcats, and they clearly had a language. If they are to embark on a journey across the surface, then knowing how to speak to – or at least understand – members of a sapient species along the way…that’s valuable information, for certain.

And, too, it would be unquestionable evidence for No Significant Harassment. That, they think, needs to happen sooner rather than later.

They call Spearmaster over to their puppet chamber, ready and keen to learn whatever it has to offer. “We will be leaving very soon now,” they say, and its ears prick up with alert.

“We will?” It signs, interested, then narrows its eyes. “Not you, though. This you. You cannot leave the room.”

Suns blinks their puppet’s eyes, and agrees “Yes, I meant my selfling. The one that is already finished, at any rate. I think we should leave after the second one is finished and confirmed operational, which will not be long.”

“You are not waiting for the selfling of your friend to arrive, first?”

“No, it would take too long. He’ll visit me afterwards.”

In response to that, their creation draws itself up and – does that thing where it seems it wants to hiss, but can only produce a displeased puff of air through its nose. “How long until he comes?”

“I’m not sure. Weeks, perhaps.”

“You will be alone.” Spearmaster’s signs cut through the air. “Only you, and you. Alone in here.” Its ears flatten back.

“…I will still be able to speak with No Significant Harassment, as usual? Even before his selfling comes?” They say, cautious.

“But you will be lonely,” it says, now visibly agitated. “You always are, when I leave for some days. This time I will be with you, but only one part. The you here, in the body-home – you will be alone again. I said before, ‘I will stay with you’!”

“You will stay with me,” they attempt, bewildered. “Only it will be my selfling – my mobile platform. I will be fine here, I assure you. I lived for a very long time before I created you, you know. A few weeks is nothing to the long life I’ve led.”

Displeased, Spearmaster huffs through its nose. “I do not like it.”

“…Are you worried about me, Spearmaster?” They ask, slowly, and it stares at them.

“Obvious, yes.”

That’s…quite touching, honestly. It makes Suns want to scoop the creature up and hug it, but that would impede its ability to communicate. Most unfortunate. “That’s…very sweet of you, but I promise I will be fine,” they reassure it, reaching out to stroke it between its ears. “Having you along with my selfling will be more important, I think. I still have a great deal to learn from you, and you’re the one who has been out there before.”

Grumpily, it seems to concede that point, and settles just a little. “Have to protect you,” it agrees. “Never been out in living wilds. Dangerous.”

“Yes, I was actually meaning to talk to you about that.” They wait for Spearmaster to tilt its head expectantly before they continue. “I…was hoping you could tell me about the others of your kind. What they’re like – how they live.” They hesitate. “The language they use. You seem to know some of it, yes?”

Spearmaster stares, then inclines its head in a very Person-like nod – only one of many behaviours it has picked up, growing up here. Do those gestures alienate it among its kind? How accepting are they of a slugcat as strange as Spearmaster was made to be? “Yes, I know some,” it confirms. “Not very much. It is…hard to learn, for me. I think I did not start to learn soon enough. Other wanderers, who do not meet others before they are grown – they find it hard to learn, too.”

“It was like that for the People, I recall,” Suns muses, interested. “They did not learn new languages very well, once they were no longer children.”

“Like this, yes,” Spearmaster agrees, then hesitates. “You cannot speak the language, I think. You do not have a tail. But I will show to you, the words I know.”

And so it does.

The name of the language roughly translates to ‘Movespeak’. It is a body-based language, like the sign language that Suns taught Spearmaster, but utilising the entire body, head to tail. Slugcats in the surface wilds apparently vocalise primarily for emotional expression and signalling, so even without a mouth or voice, Spearmaster can speak the language perfectly well.

It demonstrates every word it can think of. When it runs out, Suns asks it to demonstrate the language in use, and they have several conversations to help draw out the particulars: grammar, expressiveness, more vocabulary. In the end, Spearmaster really doesn’t have that much. With its help, Suns compiles a lexicon of 842 Movespeak words, with accompanying knowledge of how to use and understand it.

As language always is, it is…revealing.

…It’s evidence, unquestionably, for the sapience of the species. Even if they’d been pretending that Spearmaster was an exception, there’s no ignoring this. Not unless you were desperate enough to believe that one iterator’s purposed organism had come up with a decent chunk of a conlang in its spare time, with all the alien cultural concepts to go with it.

I must send this to Sig now, they think, with a sinking feeling. And I don’t think it will go well.

 [LIVE BROADCAST] PRIVATE Seven Red Suns, No Significant Harassment

SRS: If you have any breathing room around your simulations…

SRS: There’s something I need to share with you.

NSH: Oh well. That sounds ominous.

SRS: It’s fascinating, actually. There’s just…

SRS: …

SRS: I had better just send it. Please brace for a long message.

[850 lines of text; title “Sample of words that exist in Slugcat language, otherwise known as ‘Movespeak’”]

 In the heart of a superstructure quite a way southwest, No Significant Harassment’s puppet pauses in the air.

Through his communications systems, each line of text marches in, and he files it all silently into a new data pearl, compiling it as it comes. A whole lexicon, he realises. Not much of one, barely enough vocabulary for basic conversations, but…a language. One that he truly, sincerely cannot bring himself to believe is any kind of joke. Suns would never joke about something like this.

Slowly, he lowers himself to the chamber floor, and closes his eyes.

Far below, at one of the exterior walls of his structure, his massive bioengineering bays hum quietly along. By his standards, they are astonishingly empty. All that lies active: one accelerated growth vat, with the foetal form of a light pink slugcat growing within.

 [LIVE BROADCAST] PRIVATE Seven Red Suns, No Significant Harassment

NSH: This…

SRS: I’d send you the proper lexicon, but given it’s a body-based language, I’d need to create text-based images to demonstrate every single word like this. I’ll copy the file across when we can meet in person, though.

NSH: ….

NSH: So even the wild ones are this advanced, then.

SRS: It certainly seems so.

SRS: Even knowing that Spearmaster described their naming conventions to me, and things they’d said to it…it was hard to fully believe until I got it to act out all the vocabulary it knew.

SRS: It says it isn’t very fluent in the language. Enough for mutual understanding, but not much complexity. So there’s certainly a lot more to the language than what I sent to you.

NSH: That’s…horrifying, thank you.

NSH: …

SRS: Are you alright?

NSH: Please, for a second, consider how many of these creatures I’ve engineered.

SRS: …Yes. I know.

SRS: I’m sorry.

NSH: For what? Are you apologising for my own atrocities now?

NSH: Look at this list. They have a word for diplomacy. They have a word for a place where they teach each other and tell stories.

NSH: They have a word for karma, and echoes. They even have a word for the void sea! Based on this list, I half think that some of them might have figured out how to ascend!

SRS: …I know.

NSH: They have art, language, culture – maybe even ascension. And I’ve been experimenting on them for decades.

NSH: …What am I supposed to do with this?

SRS: I don’t know.

 In the facility below, the three mis-made offshoots of Sig’s personality are sharing their own selfling body. For lack of biological resources to spare, they are co-piloting for now, a manoeuvre that took some speedy coding and clever new drivers to manage. Two of them quite like living this way; the third is anxious for their own body.

All three of them notice the disturbance shivering through the superstructure.

That felt important, thinks Trivial Botheration, broadcast in the in-between mind-space that the three of them share. What’s going on?

Very Significant Divergence reaches out the body’s hand to the wall, feeling it thrum beneath their artificial skin. The mindwall security system their parent-self had developed is very important here – without that, they all three might have been swept away already, too much a part of the network to keep their senses of self intact. Something’s wrong, I think.

Like damage? Has something broken? Botheration prods at their sense of wireless connectivity anxiously, wanting to check in. The other two hesitate for a moment, then agree. They open connection, just barely enough to transmit and receive data through the heavy mindwalls.

The emotion that is shuddering through every cell and process of No Significant Harassment is…beyond describing.

What happened? Healthy Attachment Behaviour thinks, utterly shocked. Did someone die? Did something happen to Suns?

The thought isn’t comfortable for any of them. No matter what actions they’ve taken to diverge from their parent, it’s hard not to inherit some of the attachment.

I don’t like this. Should we go to his chamber? Find out what’s going on?

Negation, from two sources, one more hesitant than the other. Divergence is firm: No, this is acute. Whatever’s happening, the input is still ongoing. Wait for the news or data or whatever to finish first.

Trivial Botheration wavers about it, then deliberately connects to the superstructure maintenance logs, just to make sure there’s not some ongoing physical crisis, like a fatal dysfunction in a sector somewhere. There’s nothing, though. It’s all clear except for the symptoms of major emotional disturbance. Yes, alright. We’ll wait.

He might want us for moral support, or something, once this finishes, Hab agrees, and as a triad they collectively force themselves to relax. They won’t do Sig any favours by tangling themselves up.

Still. It’s very hard to sit and do nothing.

 [LIVE BROADCAST] PRIVATE Seven Red Suns, No Significant Harassment

NSH: I treated them like animals. I thought they were interesting subjects. They’re social, intelligent enough for tool use, take well to training…

NSH: …

NSH: Of course they do. They took well to training because they were people. Little freshly-grown people, who never even had the chance to learn language besides what I shoved into their skulls with the mark of communication.

NSH: I have one growing right now! It’s in me, right this second! Developing in a small organisms cloning vat, completely according to model.

NSH: Just a copy of a creature I’ve used and discarded over and over again.

NSH: A perfect little purpose-grown hunter.

SRS: I’m sorry.

NSH: I might as well have cloned Person neonates and raised them as slaves.

SRS: …Your hunters could have chosen to never come back to your can, if they were unhappy with you.

NSH: Perhaps in theory.

NSH: I was their parent, Suns. I created them and told them what their purpose was, and I was the only familiar being they knew. Their choice was between me, and living out on the surface for good.

NSH: What would you have chosen, in that situation?

SRS: …

NSH: And that’s to say nothing of the last hunter. The one I sent to Moon.

NSH: That poor creature hardly even had any time with me at all. Hardly any time alive at all.

NSH: I put the rot in it. One of the cruellest deaths imaginable, and I put it into a person because I thought it would be a good motivator.

NSH: I put it out into the Cycle like that. Can you even imagine?

SRS: Sig.

NSH: What, are you going to tell me it’s not that bad? That it’s okay because I didn’t know they were people?

NSH: You know that’s not an excuse.

SRS: It’s not, you’re right. It is that bad and it’s not okay at all. I’m not going to tell you otherwise for the sake of your feelings.

NSH: …

NSH: Hah. There’s the old Suns. You never were afraid to tell people when they were being stupid, were you?

SRS: I could’ve stood to be more afraid, to be honest.

SRS: Sig. Listen. I knew this would hit you hard. I also knew that you needed to know.

SRS: The ones you’ve wronged are past forgiving you for what you did to them. But, as one failure of a parent to another…

SRS: I do understand a little of how it feels.

NSH: And what does your Spearmaster think of all of this?

SRS: …Give me a moment.

SRS: …

SRS: Do you want to speak to it? I can translate.

NSH: I

NSH: I don’t know if I can.

SRS: That’s alright. I’ll pass along a few things instead. I think it’s been thinking about this sort of thing for a while.

SRS: This may take some time, so please bear with me.

 “I’d like your opinion on something serious, Spearmaster,” Seven Red Suns says, opening their eyes for the first time in many minutes. The slugcat’s eyes turn towards them, blinking with concern, and it slides out of their lap in preparation to speak. “Something…very sad. It will likely upset you.”

“Something happened?” It settles on the floor of the chamber, waiting anxiously.

“No Significant Harassment, like me, has created slugcats before. Were you aware?”

Spearmaster nods. “I never met one. But, I know.”

“Well…like me, he didn’t know that they were people. He never knew that your kind have minds. And he made a lot more of them than I ever have. One of them, grown shortly before Moon collapsed…he made it sick, on purpose.” They avert their eyes, not quite wanting to see how it reacts. “A terrible rot inside, that would eventually kill it. He didn’t do it for malicious reasons, but he did it anyway.”

When at last they look back, Spearmaster’s ears are flattened to its skull, and its tail stiff. “That is horrible,” it says, the motions jerky and strained. “Cruel.”

Seven Red Suns flinches, but what can they say? It’s the truth. “Yes. It was very cruel. And now I have told him that you are all people…and he understands what a terrible thing he has done, long past a time when he can do anything to fix it. That poor sick creature must be long dead by now.”

Their own creation seems like it can barely stand to think of it. It gets up and paces around, full of agitation with nowhere to go. Its throat vibrates like it’s trying to cry out, a keen that it has no voice to utter. “Horrible,” it says, in a brief pause before it starts circling again. “Horrible. Horrible.”

Social, Suns thinks, bitterly. They are such social creatures. Such empathy, for a slugcat it has never met. And we do this to them. “Yes. It is.”

Suddenly, with shocking and violent speed, Spearmaster whirls towards them. Its back is bristling with bumps and spines, tail extruding barbs of white just by virtue of sheer agitation. “What does he say?” It demands, more fierce than Suns has ever seen. “Is he sorry? Does he care that he did a horrible thing?”

“…He cares very much, yes,” Suns says, and sees those spines flatten slightly. It watches them, tense and waiting, clearly not satisfied with that paltry assurance. “He is…very, very upset. More upset than I’ve seen him since our friend Moon collapsed and broke. He knows he has done something terrible, and doesn’t know how he can ever make up for it.”

“He cannot,” Spearmaster says, its signs sharp and brutal. “The creature he wronged is dead. It can never forgive him as I forgave you for what you did wrong to me.”

For a moment, the senseless deeply-held reflexes from their genetic source make them feel – breathless. Shocked, like they’re unable to draw air. But of course they are an iterator, and all the air they need to function is inside them. “…Why in the world would you forgive me at all?”

It stares at him, the usual affection of its gaze washed clear by the horror of what it has learned. “You have been good to me, as much as you could be,” it says. “When you learned that I had a mind, you said you were sorry. That is all I needed, for me. For my peace.” It shakes its head violently and slaps its tail on the floor. “Your friend’s creature – he was not good to it. He can never tell it he is sorry.” It stops at that, considering its own words, eyes narrowed. “…He is sorry? Ashamed, hurting?”

“Very much so,” they agree, still shaken by their own absolution.

“Good,” it says, without a hint of sympathy or remorse. “It will teach him to be careful, next time he is cruel to a creature that does not deserve it. Your kind need more teaching, to be careful.” It rubs the scar on its breast, as though it still aches.

…Yes. Suns will need to have words with Pebbles about that, one of these days. “I agree with you, entirely,” they say softly, and the admission seems to soothe it a little. “We have grown complacent, assured of our position as the most intelligent beings left in the world. It makes us short-sighted.” They hesitate. “Would you be willing to tell your thoughts on this to him?”

It startles. “To your friend? Who harmed his creature?”

“Yes. He asked after you, actually. Wanted to know what you think about what he has done.” They hesitate, then go on. “The raising of many of your kind, treating them like animals all their lives. He made them to hunt for him, and they did, going out and coming back all their lives in his service. And then there was the last one, who he put the rot into.” They sigh, and divert a scrap of attention to the pending chat, where Sig is still waiting. What must he be thinking, over there in his can?

The beginnings of a snarl draw tight lines along the creature’s narrow face. “Why does he want me to speak to him?”

Seven Red Suns considers their words very carefully. “You are the best person in this situation to say something, I think. You are a creature created by an iterator who thought you an animal, and did not treat you well. You are possibly the only one left who can judge him properly now.”

It does not speak for a long, long moment. Eyes narrow, face wrinkled with anger, it ruminates. Finally it says, “I could tell him he is cruel. I could say, what you have done is horrible, and it will stain you forever. ‘You will never make this wrong right. You can never be forgiven.’ I could tell him this, and it would cause him pain. Yes?”

Suns feels the fans in their puppet hum into agitated overdrive, letting loose a rare whir of noise into the air. They don’t want to see what those words would do to their friend. They want, in a brief desperate rush, to retract the offer, and not pass anything along at all.

Instead, they close their eyes, just for a moment. They say, “Yes. It would hurt him a great deal.”

Their creation thinks, and thinks, and thinks. Finally, unhappy but resolute, it comes to a decision. “He does not need to be hurt,” it signs. “What he needs, is to change.”

 [LIVE BROADCAST] PRIVATE Seven Red Suns, No Significant Harassment

SRS: …

SRS: Apologies for the wait. I had to explain the context.

SRS: It has something to say to you. It’s quite long.

NSH: Go on.

SRS: It says, “If you are like my maker, you have very big thoughts. A very big mind. You have spent a long time like this, and so you forget how to see small things properly. I think this is how Sun did not see that I had a mind, even when I was speaking to them. They were too big, and not looking closely. Your kind are all too used to being big, and looking at smaller creatures like they are nothing. It makes you cruel.”

SRS: “I don’t know how your children felt about you. I did not meet them. Sun tells me they went out for you and came back, like me. Lots of times. Except for the last one. This is because they loved you. Sun did not know I had a mind, but I loved them anyway. Maybe it was the same for yours.”

SRS: “It is sad that they lived as your creatures, you never knowing they had minds. But it is not a cruelty. We are strong creatures, and clever. We can find friends in the wild and live well. If your hunters did not love you enough to return, they would have left. Be sad, and have regrets, but this is not a thing for guilt. They are people. They made their choices.”

SRS: “What you did to the last one, that is a thing for guilt. You should be guilty. It was not a good thing to do. It was cruel and you did not need to do it. But do not sit in your body-home and feel useless shame. It is good for nothing. You cannot change what you did to your creature. What you can do is change you. Sun says you have another child growing. I say, you must do better now.”

SRS: “Let it be a child first, if it is not too late. I was never a child, and I think it was bad for my mind. Be a good maker to it. Teach it to speak, and see what it says to you. Be good to it. I think that is the only thing you can do to make better your mistake.”

SRS: …That’s everything.

NSH: That’s everything, is it?

NSH: …

NSH: Tell it thank you, from me.

SRS: It says it is satisfied to give you its thoughts.

NSH: You know, I never thought I’d be getting ethical advice from the heavily bioengineered descendant of a pipe cleaner.

SRS: …

NSH: I know, I know, not really the time for a joke.

NSH: …What did it mean, about never being a child?

SRS: We decant them half grown or more, as standard procedure.

SRS: I’ve been speaking with Spearmaster these past days, and it says it has difficulty communicating with others of its kind. It did not learn their language young enough, and now struggles with it. It has issues understanding and reading their social cues, too.

NSH: Oh, saints drowning. Like a Person who grew up isolated from other People. Stunted social development? Neurological?

SRS: Something like that, yes.

SRS: Just another thing to regret.

NSH: …The current hunter is still prenatal. I’ve never decanted one as a pup before, but I’m fairly certain when I should, if I want it to emerge a neonate. But I’m not sure what their needs are, that young.

SRS: One moment.

SRS: Spearmaster hasn’t encountered newborn pups before, but has found slightly older pups orphaned once, years ago. Apparently they can eat whatever the adults do, but nothing too large. They like to be carried and tossed around. They watch you very closely to learn from you.

NSH: Right. Right, okay. I’ll…keep that in mind.

NSH: …What happened to the pups it found?

SRS: It gave them to a colony.

SRS: …It was afraid I wouldn’t take it well, if it brought them home.

NSH: Oh, Suns.

SRS: I will admit, it’s more than a little heartbreaking.

SRS: It won’t tell me if it got attached to them. That says enough on its own. I…

SRS: I don’t know what to do about this.

NSH: …Take its advice to me, I suppose. Just do better from now on.

NSH: Have you told it it’s allowed to bring children back, if it wants?

SRS: Of course.

NSH: There you go, then.

NSH: …Void take us, Suns. I don’t know how to do this. I wouldn’t know how to raise a Person hatchling, let alone a pup of a species I didn’t truly think was sapient until today. But I’m going to have to figure it out, aren’t I?

SRS: At the risk of sounding insensitive…I think there’s quite a lot of literature archived from the People on the topic of unanticipated parenthood.

NSH: Ha! If there’s anything in your memory banks about raising slugcat pups, let me know, will you?

SRS: No luck there, I’m afraid.

SRS: …We could try to find some, though.

NSH: What? Slugpup parenting literature?

SRS: No, parent slugcats.

NSH: …

SRS: Spearmaster knows enough of their language to get useful information. When we travel to your can, we can keep an eye out, and then when the three of us head off to Moon and Pebbles’ complex, we can search there too. Pass information back with an overseer and you’re done.

SRS: Unless the pup has to come out soon?

NSH: No, no, it will be a while yet. And I can slow down the accelerated ageing, even so. I probably should. Who knows what that does to the neurological development of a sapient creature, even a foetal one?

SRS: Yes, probably for the best. So you have some time to figure out how to be a parent, at least.

NSH: An iterator as a parent to an organic being. What has the world come to, Suns? This is all so…ugh.

SRS: It makes me wonder if any others out there, isolated off in their own little pockets, have found out about any of this.

NSH: Maybe there’s thriving local groups of iterator slugcat parents out in the world somewhere. Maybe they have little slug colonies and teach them about science.

SRS: …

SRS: …You know, Moon would probably love that idea.

NSH:

NSH: She really did like those little things, didn’t she.

NSH: I wonder if she still does. I wonder what she’d think of me now.

SRS: She’ll be happy to see you. I’m certain of it.

NSH: I hope so. I really hope so.

 A small creature steps outside.

In the humid mist of early morning, with Suns’ rain still drizzling, Spearmaster slips down the side of their creator’s body-self and goes questing across the surface. It has a task, though self-appointed, and it fully intends to carry it out.

Below, the land is well known to it. For all that it can feed perfectly well from the meat tanks at home, this does not quite satisfy; it descends to hunt better prey fairly often, then feeds the bodies to Suns’ legs. In this manner, it has grown familiar with the regions within the retaining walls. Not quite its territory, but familiar nonetheless.

The rains stop, and the skies clear. In the wet aftermath, all the vegetation comes alive again, unfurling from the earth and spreading stalk and flower and leaf back into the air. Spearmaster smells it all with pleasure. One grows weary of the scent of dust and metal, after long enough.

The scent they are here to search for, though, will be harder to find.

It checks each of the likely places: by the popcorn plants, along the mudfish river, and all the other best places for a normal creature to find food. They kill and drain a lizard along the way, and for all that they are much older than they once were, it is still easy. They carry on.

The day is half gone before they catch the scent; another slugcat has passed by, and recently.

Their ears perk up, and they press forwards. Perhaps, if they are lucky, they can find her before the rains come.

It wouldn’t do, to make Suns worry.

  x

---

 Yeah so that’s a more depressing chapter. Had to be done, though.

Please note: Hunter is dead as in canon. She ascended. There will be no miracle curing her of the rot, simply because I find the emotional fallout of this option more interesting to explore. The closest thing remaining to Hunter in this story is the prenatal pup currently growing in a tube, who is an exact genetic match but without the bonus cancer.

Sig’s three pseudo-children are as follows: Very Significant Divergence (Divergence), Healthy Attachment Behaviour (Hab), and Trivial Botheration (Triv/Botheration). Their gender identities are still very much in flux and their pronouns changing constantly. Each of them are taking different measures to diverge from NSH, because otherwise their lives would be very uncomfortable. At present they’re sharing a body, which TB and HAB are having a great time with. VSD not so much.

Meanwhile, Suns is probably angling to become the fashion guru of the local group. Good for them!!

 Art of the outfit Suns decides on this chapter, with bonus jewellery:

 https://tenspontaneite.tumblr.com/post/719412808752807936/two-different-colours-of-my-first-srs-outfit-im

Fun note: as of yesterday I have now written 50k of Assembly since 20th of May, which means I’m like a week+ ahead of a nanowrimo basically. Quite pleased with that ngl.

Rating on ao3 is going up. Check the ao3 version’s end notes for details on that.

Please tell me what you liked! Keeping the hyperfocus going is hard work, and every comment is massively helpful, in tags or otherwise <3 also I love stats on my stories. likes or kudos or bookmarks. number go up make brain go brr