#Bridges transition model

[kakief]

The Secret Sauce of Successful Change? Communication That Connects

In the kitchen of organizational change, strategy, structure, and systems are the ingredients. But if there’s one element that pulls it all together—the secret sauce that transforms a plan into progress—it’s communication that connects. The secret sauce of change isn’t just process—it’s communication, trust, clarity, and connection blended with intention. Over my career, I’ve supported change…

[dolphin-diaries]

Who Gets To Talk Detransition?

Originally published on Dolphin Diaries

The story is supposed to go like this: a trans cult, or maybe the medical establishment, steals a young girl under its ghastly wing. A wounded girl, a scared one, desperate for reprieve from a violent world that has whipped her into self-hatred. The kidnapping cultists promise an escape. A cure to the horror of her body. Then, mutilation follows, which a brave few will eventually try to undo—only they never quite can.

No, wait.

The story is supposed to go like this: some people are trans men. They are assigned female at birth, but they are men, and so some want to make their body male. But sometimes, a select few regret their transition. They aren’t trans men. They’re actually cis—in agreement with their sex—but they’ve made a mistake for whatever reason. They are very scarce. A statistically inconsequential minority to which we ought not cede ground. After all, why should a society be concerned with a statistically minuscule people?

Regardless of which way you tell it, two constants remain. One: the trans and the detrans are antagonistic; the detrans have been hurt by transition care and now threaten its existence. Two: those that detransition are seeking to correct a prior mistake. Be it from the right or left, the story is always that of failure and regret.

Part I: When Your Worst Fears Come True

September 2023 marked the eighth anniversary of me starting testosterone. Getting HRT was something I’d fought for with great difficulty and determination: I’d burned bridges with an abusive family; I’d come out a year prior to the entirety of my university class and had already lived as a man; I then dropped out of university so I could work a full-time job to afford HRT. I did all this with full knowledge that I could not access the legal transition system in my country. I’d be unable to change my gender marker and would have to deal with that fact in a place where most people barely know what ‘transgender’ is, let alone accept it. But I was willing to weather all of that, and to my luck, I had no trouble passing for a man, and the vast majority of friends and acquaintances accepted me.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic to start testosterone. In adolescence my masculinity had been denied to me, the feminine traits of myself and my body forcibly exaggerated to put me in my (woman’s) place. Now, it felt like having all the features I’d come to despise overtaken by new growth. Like a ruin reclaimed by fresh ivy. I wasn’t entirely content—I wanted to be indistinguishable from a cis man, untouched by any insidious womanhood whatsoever. Only I found most cis men either uninspired-looking or repugnant, so… a pretty cis man? Androgynous, but not too androgynous, so I don’t get gay-bashed?

The real end goal I wished of my body was nebulous. There was no man I could cite as the Ur-Man for me, trans or cis, neither in character nor appearance. It wasn’t for lack of the much maligned Good Male Role Models in my life; I simply resonated with none of them. But there was life to be lived anyway. So I put one foot in front of the other, and sometimes, I knew my steps were dictated as much by fear of transphobia as they were by my own desires.

There are many things to fear while living as trans. One of my most personal anxieties was detransition. A forced one would be most horrid; to be put in a position where my bodily autonomy, so hard-won, could be stripped away as if it never existed.

But my strangest fear was that I would want to detransition. Not from some cruel necessity or right-wing brainwashing or what have you; genuinely, rationally, actively want it.

I knew why I feared that. Whenever I met another trans man or heard of their stories, some jigsaw puzzles would simply not fit. I never once desired to be a man until I learned of trans men’s existence. Never sought to play the role of a man and only half-enjoyed them now, if at all. Never, not even now, dreamt of myself as a man. At times another trans man would have the same ‘odd’ pieces, but then something else would find itself amiss again. On and on that list went.

One might call this a foregone conclusion in retrospect. Shouldn’t I have known? Shouldn’t a doctor have known? But this rather ignores that the psychology and study of transsexuality are hopelessly warped with attempts to eradicate it. My country’s procedures were dated. The questionnaires I took to have my doctor conclude I’m transsexual? Those were lousy with decades-dated misogyny (do you like housework? do you get aroused by housework? or maybe by cars?) and with voyeuristic, invasive questions (how do you have sex? how do you masturbate?) There were correct answers; there was no variation, which is only allowed for the cisgender. That procedure has since improved, especially in the West, but the traces remain. How does one introspect on one’s gender when that was the model for it? How does one even attempt to unravel the relationship between misogyny and desire to abandon womanhood when to do so threatens access to medical care? What sign ought I have looked for to distinguish myself from trans men when it was demanded no distinctions exist?

One does not exit a hostile care system with a healthier, more stable identity. That is nothing short of a miracle.

September 2023 marked the eighth anniversary of me exiting hostile care with a coveted prize in my grasp. It also marked the moment I looked in the mirror and saw exactly what I’d sought to win in that hellscape: an indisputable man. Not a cis man, of course, but one bereft of all the features that had haunted me to the point of self-harm. I was free, I had won; no one would ever look at me and think me a woman—no one ever did, those days.

I had won. And in my victory, I felt nothing at all.

Part II: Failure and Regret

The Right invests much bombast into transition regret. Loud ring the warning bells: this could happen to you! Your child! A girl with so much to live for, rendered barren, flat-chested, a misshapen man-thing! You, too, will live to regret it!

It amuses me. Queerness and butchness had marked me long ago; I was never particularly buxom or fecund. Never, in the heterosexist sense, something worthy of desire. I was a misshapen man-thing far before I asked people to call me ‘he.’ The people who made sure I knew I was a monster man-woman were precisely the kinds of people that now warned me away from turning myself into what—according to them—I already was. The sheer parental panic with which I’d been forced into makeup and dresses, you’d think I transitioned already.

Even more amusingly, sometimes the Right claims to care about butch lesbians. Tomboys are being mutilated, they say. It’s an imposition of gender stereotypes; women can be masculine!

But if the Right believes women can be lesbian and masculine, what’s with the whole fixation on ruined femininity and birthing wombs?

Indeed, the Right’s acceptance of detransitioned women is full of little caveats. They are to be paraded as damaged goods at conservative rallies. Their lost breasts and ovaries will be ever-ogled, figuratively if not literally, and the ‘irreversible damage’ left by testosterone examined with morbid fascination. They are the Right’s Magdalenes. They’re proof there’s good in the transgressive—that is, that the enemy can be pitied, assimilated. As an underclass, of course. They’re never to truly cease being damaged, for they must be proof that sex can only be ruined, never changed.

For a detransitioner, there is temptation in the Right’s conditional acceptance. It offers an easy answer to their current pain. The past choice they may regret or suffer under—why, it should’ve been prevented! If only you listened to the right authorities, all would’ve been well. Not altogether different than regretting a marriage or college major. Many an adult decries stupid choices of youth—and those certainly happen—but what’s scariest of all is the notion you weren’t making rash or ill-informed decisions. I know I wasn’t. And if that is so, then it means the current self—the mature one, the one with 20/20 hindsight—could make a mistake, too.

Right-wing detransitioners take for granted there exists a guardian angel that could’ve healed them of the gendered distress they once felt and showed them a path to contentment. That is a very tall order, considering how misogynistic and hostile psychiatry and psychology are, historically speaking. And that’s to say nothing of religion. But at least they would’ve been prevented from transitioning; misery averted—right?

My guardian angel, you could say, was lack of funds. I wanted top surgery—double mastectomy—but there was no way I could afford it, not in many years’ time. Now I realise I would’ve come to regret it and would’ve likely sought to reverse its effects. So I’m all good, right? I benefitted from how flawed trans healthcare is, didn’t I?

Perhaps. But there was a reason I wanted a mastectomy, and not a frivolous one. Every time I needed to see a doctor for a respiratory infection, I did so in fear of transphobic malpractice. I would minimise the time I spent in places where my chest could be exposed—gyms, pools, beaches, goddamned corporate retreats. And then there was the way my body, breasts included, had been used to prove to me I was not just a woman but Woman, a biodestined vessel for coy giggles, cookware, and pregnancy. And how that made me feel.

Indeed, I would later find out there are women and nonbinary people that do not identify with manhood yet seek the exact same top surgery I once wanted, for similar reasons. With no regrets. They wish to take control of their body and do so. And I know that, had I been able to get top surgery in the past, it would’ve made me happy for a good while.

So what’s more important: years of constant anxiety, or lack of hypothetical regret?

The right-wing detransitioner assumes one’s current self to be the ultimate judge of one’s choices—but take that principle to its logical conclusion, and it will seem like no decision should ever be made. There is always a prospective Future You which possesses more knowledge. Always the possibility of regret. Of course, decisions in life are sort of inevitable, but don’t worry about that—the powers that be will handle that. Ancestral tradition, or a caring authority figure. That’s also all humans with exactly the same issues, but don’t worry about that either. Maybe God is speaking through them. You never know.

In the end, the prescripts of the Right march to the same grim conclusion. That the only decision you can ever make with total certainty is death.

Part III: Death, the Tarot Kind

Queer culture delights in tales of transformation. We were all once larval—in the closet, often abused and scared. Trapped in a world of rigid roles and brutal dominion. But one day, we hope to metamorphose into our true shape and to take flight above a blissful, lawless, ever-shifting sea of change.

Most queer people are cisgender, and more still do not seek to transition, but the nature of all our transgressions is intimately entwined with gender anyway. We’re all doing it ‘wrong,’ by the wider society’s definition, even the most masculine of cis gay men or the most feminine of cis lesbian women. Unsurprising, then, are the queer community’s various attempts to embrace gender variance and to lay bare the plasticity of sex.

There is nothing per se about detransition that does not fit this mould. If gender is to be fucked with, why not take it for a swing? Indeed, in my experience most queer people would agree it’s entirely possible to detransition without weaponising transphobia or lapsing rightward.

But that’s usually a hypothetical thought exercise that ends exactly there. Maybe that queer person knows a detransitioner, maybe they don’t; regardless, the lives of the detransitioned do not interact with queer ideas of sex/gender, or indeed queer ideas about anything. The only time the detransitioned are really remarked on is only to state our statistical insignificance—or rather, the statistical insignificance of transition regret. I don’t personally regret my transition for the most part, so I wouldn’t even count there.

Whereas the Right sings lyrical about all the motivations and trials and tribulations of the detransitioned (and deftly twists the verses to fit the chorus), the Left does not usually consider the lives of the detransitioned at all. Mistakes happen, they suppose. Kind of funny we ‘failed at gender’ twice. Too bad we’re so miserable, they guess. What, ‘the patriarchy made you do it’? BuzzFeed feminism is so-o-o 2010s, bro.

It would be accurate to surmise the queer community has ceded the concept of detransition to the Right. The queer stance is, in effect, ‘it doesn’t matter anyway’—a defensive and reactive one.

That is not to say the Left as a whole is to blame for grifting detransitioners or the Right itself—the blame is always, first and foremost, on the ones that actually do the harm. And the negligence of the Left doesn’t really harm those that happily push others under the bus—sadly, some people are just assholes. No, the consequences are felt instead by detrans people that have no desire to participate in the transphobia circus, and after that, trans people themselves. The Right’s deathgrip on the detransition narrative means detransition itself is conceptually tied to the Right. Because there is no alternative trans-positive narrative, there is no way to exist as detrans and not affirm someone else’s transphobia, no matter how many times you say you don’t hate trans people. After all there is only one thing people think of when they hear ‘detransitioner.’ And now you are it, whether you like it or not.

I feared I would detransition because, on some level, I knew I might. But why fear it? It’s hard to be trans. There are clear privileges to socially presenting as your birth sex. Doctors will readily help you undo transition. I didn’t want to grift—well, fucking fantastic. Easy enough to not do something. What’s the problem?

I feared it because it’s soul-crushing to know your existence hurts the people you love most. Your friends, partners, mentors. So many cis people in my past knew me as The Trans Person—and now what? How much of the good I had done would be ruined? And by what possible example could I imagine my life as a detransitioner? What is there to even aspire to? And what about everything I’d sacrificed to transition in the first place? All the strife and ridicule I endured, only to have it whispered to me from leering faces: “See? We were right all along.”

All that, to face alone.

At a certain point my resistance to the idea of detransition was motivated only by this. Only by what others would make of me against my will. Not my personal desires. Nothing else at all. To be turned into such a spectacle, a public property of a person, felt like nothing short of death.

Part IV: Afterlife

I decided to start this substack after listening to every podcast appearance by Lucy Kartikasari I could find. She is a detrans woman with a similar yet different story; she transitioned much younger, but went through a similarly arcane approval system and years of waiting; she is not a lesbian; she has detransitioned, and she speaks in favour of trans healthcare and trans rights. The name Dolphin Diaries also originates with her—or rather, with a different, anonymous user, whose idea she broadcast on her TikTok. A dolphin as a symbol of detransition; a mammal that evolved from the ocean to walk on land and then returned to an aquatic life. I find it an appealing and pithy comparison, one free of unnecessary gendering or judgement.

There are precious few voices that speak of detransition in a positive, non-right-wing light. It’s a perspective fraught with thorny, uncomfortable questions. A perspective which is easier to ignore—unless you can’t. If for no one else, I write this for people that felt the same way I did. Trapped, not by ‘mistakes’ or by ‘gender ideology’, but by the image others have painted of them before they could even protest.

I do not write this for the Right. There is nothing I can say that would sway you, and there is nothing you can say that would sway me—and believe me, I have listened more carefully and with far more good faith than you ever have. Feel free to comment how much you pity my womb, or something. I promise to leave its fertility a mystery. I’m a tease that way.

As for other potential readers of this blog: while I do believe it a failure of queer rhetoric to adequately synthesise detransition into the overall gender politic, I don’t believe it’s everyone else’s job to create that synthesis. Who better than a detransitioner, after all? I ask not that you solve my problems for me.

I ask only that you listen.

[hummingbird24220]

Can I request Sanji and reader having a competition about who is more flexible but nobody (including Sanji) is normal about it at all? <3

(Also Neko reader was totally right about taking panties out of the equation lol)

Hello. Yes. Yes you can. I love Sanji bbyboi

I had a lot of fun writing this - don't worry if you cant understand the stretches completely, i cant either.

Enjoy!

Stretch Goals

One Piece x Reader (Technically more Sanji x Reader)

You were bored. Like, “make questionable life choices just to spice things up” bored.

Which is how you ended up perched on the rail of the Thousand Sunny’s deck doing a full split while eating an apple and trying to spark a reaction out of literally anyone walking by.

And it worked—because you made eye contact with Sanji, who froze mid-step, dropped his tray of freshly cut vegetables, and blinked like he just saw God herself do the splits on his kitchen counter.

“Mon dieu…”

You grinned. “You like that?”

His mouth opened. No words. Just vibes. Questionable, chaotic vibes.

“…Are you mocking me?” he finally blurted, flustered and weirdly competitive for someone blushing that hard.

You snorted. “No. Just showing off. Bet I’m more flexible than you.”

Oh. Oh no. That did it.

His eye twitched. A storm of sparkles exploded behind him. “You dare challenge the flexibility of me—Sanji, whose high kicks are more glorious than sunrise on All Blue?!”

“Okay but can you high-kick while in a backbend?”

His jaw dropped. You smirked harder. Around you, several crewmates were beginning to drift closer, drawn in like flies to extremely unhinged honey.

Zoro passed by, caught half a sentence, and immediately turned around. “Nope. I’m not getting pulled into whatever weird mating ritual this is.”

Usopp poked his head out of the workshop. “Did someone say mating ritual??”

“NO,” Sanji and you shouted in unison—before immediately going back to your Flex-Off.

“I’m serious,” you teased, rolling back into a bridge position. “I can out-bend you any day.”

Sanji’s eyes narrowed. He pulled off his jacket with a dramatic flick. “That’s it. Flexibility duel. Right here. Right now.”

You blinked. “…Is that a thing?”

“It is now.”

Chopper trotted up with an enthusiastic, “I’ll be the judge!!” Robin sipped her tea from a deck chair. “This should be... enlightening.” Nami folded her arms, watching like someone about to witness a live trainwreck. “You two are so weird.”

“Ready, mon chéri?” Sanji purred, one leg already lifting above his head at a frankly dangerous angle.

You grinned, not even pretending to hide the sparkle of mischief in your eye. “Let’s bend.”

And thus began the most uncomfortably sensual, overly dramatic, completely unnecessary contest the Thousand Sunny had ever seen.

Sanji was in his element. His leg was straight in the air, toes pointed, shirt open, collar popped like he thought this was a modeling gig, not a flexibility duel. The sea breeze dramatically tousled his hair. The sparkle effect? Unexplainable. Possibly supernatural.

“I’ll start us off,” he said suavely, flipping into a handstand with unholy grace. He bent one leg, extended the other, and winked at you from upside down.

There was clapping. From himself.

“Oooohhh~!” Brook whistled from the upper deck, adjusting his violin. “Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we are witnessing… ballet in battle form.”

Usopp was crouched beside Chopper, scribbling on a notepad like a sports commentator. “Sanji’s opening with the Scissor Swan Split—classic. Good form. 8.5 in showmanship.”

“He blew me a kiss,” Chopper said, blushing and confused. “I don’t think that was for me.”

You popped your knuckles. “Alright, Leg Boy. My turn.”

Your hands hit the deck and you swung into a no-hands bridge, then smoothly transitioned into a standing pose by lifting one leg completely vertical up beside your head like gravity meant nothing.

Sanji choked on his cigarette.

“Are you okay?” you asked sweetly, balancing like a human compass.

“I—YOU—THAT—!!!” He slapped a hand over his nose like a nosebleed was a legitimate threat. “You can’t just do that in front of a man! I am barely holding onto life here!”

“Bro. You challenged me.”

Robin tilted her head, smirking behind her book. “This may be the only duel Sanji has ever regretted starting.”

“You’re welcome!” you called, now in a full split on top of the railing, arms lazily dangling over the side like a cat sunbathing in the middle of a fencing match.

Sanji started pacing like a man on trial for war crimes. “Okay. Okay. Time to bring out the secret weapon.”

You blinked. “You have a secret weapon?”

“Oh, yes.” His voice dropped a full octave. “Prepare yourself.”

And that’s when he jumped. Like a pirouetting demon, he launched into the air, spun, and landed perfectly in a full split. Shirt flying open. Arms extended. Head tilted back with the sun directly behind him.

If he had landed on a plate of roses, it wouldn’t have been out of place.

There was silence.

Then:

“…IS HE CRYING?” Usopp screeched. “Why is HE crying?! I want to cry! That was beautiful!”

Chopper fainted. Brook began composing a ballad.

Even Franky, who’d walked out for one second to grab a wrench, paused and muttered, “That’s… SUPER illegal.”

You clapped slowly. “Okay. That was good. Real good. But I hope you're ready—because I'm about to pull out my final move.”

Sanji gasped. “There’s more?!”

You locked eyes. “Oh yeah. The move I swore I’d never do again.”

Behind you, Nami groaned. “You two are going to break something. Possibly each other.”

Zoro stomped past, eyes shut. “If anyone asks, I wasn’t here.”

You smiled like a demon summoned from the depths of Cirque du Soleil. “Ready?”

Sanji held onto the railing. “Never. But do it anyway.”

You moved.

And the world would never be the same.

--

The deck was quiet. The kind of quiet that settles before an earthquake.

Sanji stood, legs trembling—not from the stretch, but from anticipation. Sweat glistened on his temple. He gripped the railing like it was the only thing anchoring him to reality.

“Okay,” he whispered. “I’m ready. Hit me with it.”

You nodded solemnly, shook out your limbs, and cracked your neck like an elite gymnast about to destroy the competition and probably a vertebrae.

Everyone leaned in.

And then—

You jumped.

A full backflip. Into a handstand. Into a one-arm arched handstand split where you hooked your foot around the ship’s mast while casually sipping the juice box you had pulled from your shirt.

“WHAT IN THE HELL—” Sanji screamed, hands on his head, spiraling. “THAT SHOULDN’T BE HOT. THAT SHOULDN’T EVEN BE LEGAL.”

“I call it,” you sipped, “the Juice Box Dropkick.”

Brook’s jaw literally dropped off. “I—I think I’m in love.”

Usopp slammed his notepad shut. “Nope. No score. I’m not scoring this. I don’t even understand this anymore.”

Chopper wheezed into a paper bag. “Y/N has joints like a snake. Like a stylish, flirty, unholy snake.”

You dismounted with a flourish, landing perfectly upright and striking a pose like this was Chippendales: Sunny Edition.

Sanji fell to his knees.

“I have been bested,” he gasped, clutching his chest. “I am destroyed. I am... aroused and defeated.”

Zoro stood nearby, face hidden behind his hand. “I’m leaving. I can’t be part of this crew anymore.”

“You were never part of this crew,” Sanji snapped, dramatically draped over the railing like a Victorian widow.

“I was here, and that was my first mistake.”

And then—

“Ohhhh is this a stretchy game?!” Luffy landed with a thud between you and Sanji, arms flinging out to the sides like a noodle possessed.

You both froze. Sanji recovered first.

“No. No. Absolutely not.”

“I WANNA TRY!” Luffy yelled, immediately contorting into something that looked vaguely like a starfish having a breakdown.

You blinked. “...Did his shoulder just rotate the wrong direction?”

“It’s fine! I’m rubber!” Luffy cackled, suddenly balancing on one toe while his other leg bent behind his head and slapped Zoro in the face.

Zoro punched him in the shin. “Get me out of this crew.”

“Wait, wait,” you said, cracking up. “I’ve got an idea.”

Sanji looked at you like you’d just suggested marriage and public execution at the same time. “You have another idea?”

“Team flexibility competition. Me and you… versus Luffy and Brook.”

There was a pause.

Brook raised his hand. “May I remind everyone that I have no muscles?”

“You also have no shame,” Sanji gritted out.

“Exactly,” Brook said cheerfully. “Let’s make this indecent!”

Nami facepalmed so hard she might’ve concussed herself. “I hate all of you.”

Robin didn’t even look up. “I’m just waiting for someone to pull something. Probably a groin.”

There was a crowd.

An audience.

At least six crewmates had snacks. Brook had his violin. Robin had summoned extra arms specifically to hold up numbered scorecards. Chopper stood off to the side, holding medical supplies and muttering, “Someone’s gonna tear a hamstring. Someone’s gonna cry.”

And in the middle of the chaos stood you and Sanji. Team "Unholy Tension."

Opposite you: Luffy and Brook. Team “What The Hell Is Going On.”

You cracked your knuckles. “Alright, Sanji. First move is the Double Pretzel Bind.”

Sanji blinked. “I—what?”

Too late.

You grabbed his arms and spun him like a dance partner, locking your legs around his waist and pulling him backward until your torsos were pressed flush, both of you bent at 90-degree angles, looking like a yin-yang symbol designed by horny gymnasts.

“OH SWEET MOTHER OF—”

Sanji’s soul physically left his body. You were 99% sure you saw it float upward.

“Relax,” you said innocently, shifting slightly. “You’re too stiff.”

Sanji made a strangled noise. “I AM TRYING.”

“Not hard enough,” you teased, your breath ghosting over his ear.

Behind you, Usopp was openly screaming. “THIS IS NOT A FAMILY-FRIENDLY SHOW. I REPEAT. ABANDON SHIP.”

Nami shoved popcorn in her mouth with a vengeance. “You could leave, Usopp.”

“I can’t. It’s like a train wreck. With abs.”

Meanwhile, Luffy had twisted his entire torso into a loop and was hula-hooping Brook. Like. Using Brook as a prop.

“I call this move the Skeleton Spiral!” he cheered.

“I feel ALIVE!” Brook wailed.

“No, you don’t!” Chopper sobbed.

Robin, ever the supportive chaos enabler, casually raised a "9" and smiled.

“Okay, new round,” you gasped, having dismounted from Sanji only for him to collapse on the deck, face flushed and steam practically whistling out his ears.

“Sanji, are you okay?” you asked sweetly.

“I am...not okay,” he mumbled into the floorboards. “I am... experiencing every emotion known to man. And several that shouldn't be legal.”

You nudged him with your toe. “C’mon, Casanova. Final pose.”

He looked up. “What kind of pose?”

You grinned like the devil.

“Couple’s yoga.”

Sanji stopped breathing.

Brook immediately played a romantic waltz. Luffy yelled, “I WANNA DO A KISS POSE WITH BROOK!” Brook screamed, “I DON’T EVEN HAVE LIPS!!”

And then you sat on Sanji’s lap. Back to chest. Legs tangled. Arms up and curved into a heart-shape above your heads.

The deck exploded.

“THAT’S NOT EVEN A STRETCH,” Zoro bellowed from somewhere very far away.

“It is if you do this,” you whispered, twisting slightly and stretching your spine—your head lolling back against Sanji’s shoulder.

Sanji died. Just flatlined.

Brook kept playing. Chopper cried harder. Luffy attempted to mimic you both and fell off the deck.

“Sanji?” you murmured, glancing back.

He was just lying there. A gentle smile on his lips. Nosebleed imminent. “I saw heaven. She’s very flexible.”

The Sunny’s deck was wrecked.

Not physically—yet—but spiritually? Emotionally? The vibes? Ruined.

Chopper was sobbing quietly into a first aid kit. Usopp had duct-taped two planks together and was pretending they were “emergency blinkers.” Nami had stopped watching entirely and was just muttering, “I don’t get paid enough for this,” even though no one on this ship actually gets paid.

Brook was still playing violin. You were not sure when he learned the Titanic theme.

And Zoro… Zoro had made a critical mistake.

He came too close.

And Luffy grabbed him. “YOU’RE MY NEW PARTNER!”

“No—”

Too late.

Zoro was in a headlock, Luffy’s legs wrapped around him like some hellish rubber vine, and now both of them were rolling across the deck in what looked like a very violent—and extremely bendy—game of Twister.

“I DIDN’T SIGN UP FOR THIS—” Zoro barked as he went airborne.

Chopper screamed. Nami cackled. Robin politely gave them a “7.”

Meanwhile, Sanji had recovered.

Barely.

And was now leaning casually against the mast, one hand dramatically ruffling his hair. “Alright, mon amour. One final pose. Let’s end this right.”

You raised an eyebrow. “You got a move in mind?”

“Oh yes,” he said, eyes smoldering. “I call it... La Fin de Moi.”

“…That sounds like a dramatic way to die.”

“It is.”

You didn’t have time to process before he scooped you up bridal-style, spun you once like he was dancing through a storm of flower petals (there were no petals—only stunned silence), then dipped you into a perfect backbend, his hand at your lower back, your faces inches apart.

You blinked. “This isn’t a stretch.”

“It could be,” he purred. “If you lean a little closer.”

“…You mean like—”

And then he did it. He bent backward too, supporting you with one hand while you both formed a perfect mirrored arch, noses brushing, breath tangled.

“NOW THAT’S FLEXIBILITY,” Sanji grinned, eyes locked with yours, every fiber of his being screaming "kiss me, you absolute menace."

Everyone lost it.

“OH MY GOD—” Usopp threw his hat. Brook fainted. Just straight-up keeled over. Nami stood and started clapping like it was Broadway. Chopper yelled, “SOMEONE’S GONNA BREAK THEIR SPINE—BUT IT’S BEAUTIFUL.”

You laughed breathlessly, still arched in Sanji’s arms. “So… who wins?”

He leaned closer, eyes fluttering half-lidded, voice husky. “Who cares?” His breath ghosted over your lips. “We both got… flexible.”

And with that, he passed out.

Just full body limp, collapsed like a starfish with a romantic death wish. You ended up awkwardly cradling his head, laughing so hard your ribs hurt.

Zoro, bruised and tangled in Luffy’s arms like a cartoon pretzel, snarled from the side. “Next time I’m throwing both of you overboard.”

You wiped a tear from your eye and grinned.

“Only if you can reach us, Stretchy.”

[stillness-in-green]

Hi, I read your post on Shouto’s arc very interesting I must say I found myself nodding my head to a lot of it 😊 honestly though I’m really intrigued to know what you’re thoughts are on Enji’s arc and endgame, as someone who severely hated him then became neutral on him and back to negative, I’m interested to see your thoughts? As you did state he was your favourite Todoroki as he was most interesting to you, but I guess something changed that. I think I personally only ended up appreciating one thing coming from him by the end, and that was him accepting Natsuo’s no-contact.

I touched on my big issue with Enji’s arc in that post, but to elaborate some, my big contention is that he stops being a dynamic character circa the end of the first war.  It’s the point at which his talk about changing and being a better father begins to transition from feeling tin-eared in ways that the story does recognize to ways the story doesn’t, and the frustration of that narrative failing snowballs every time it comes up.

(Hit the jump, because this turned into a ramble and a half. It's mostly about Enji's arc, but does make a swerve at the end into flogging the series for its hypocrisy about the right of Heroes to self-prioritize compared to the right of Heroes' loved ones to ask them to.)

So, there are several points at which Endeavor says he’s going to try to do better and make Shouto proud of him.  And at first, the story allows some room for skepticism and nuance for that claim!  Endeavor’s only concept, initially, for how to be “better” is to be a better Hero; that’s what he’s wrestling with when he’s adjusting to the reality of being the new Number 1.  He thinks that being a better Hero will also equate to him being a better father—that his family can take pride in the latter because of the former.  And Shouto rightfully blows him off for it!

That happens just after the Overhaul material; it’s not until after the High End fight—Natsuo snapping about his honest feelings and Shouto saying that “Endeavor” is already an amazing Hero, but what Shouto wants to see is how he can change and be a better father—that Enji really starts thinking about how to be a better father separate from being a great Hero.

We move from there into the Endeavor Agency Arc—an arc I really liked despite not loving any of key characters in it[1] because it was so tightly written and dealt with such an interesting, fraught, nuanced situation in the Todoroki family’s issues and Deku and Bakugou’s uncertain interaction with them.  The arc leads off with Endeavor trying to be more “dad-like,” but he’s quite bad at it because all his best attempts are like seventeen years out of date and his reference model died when he was in middle school in a situation Enji still has a bunch of really ugly feelings about that he’s never processed.

1: The key heroic characters, anyway.  I’ll cape for Star Servant and Ending any day of the week.

Here again, Shouto calls him out on taking the wrong tack.  Even though he himself said he wanted Endeavor to be a better father, Enji trying to play-act at Happy Families is not being a better father; it’s just trying to pretend the problems don’t exist, that he can just change and move forward without grappling with what he did wrong in the past.

(And the past is catching up fast, though the family doesn’t know it.)

Enji here begins to more openly accept blame and face his family.  However, if Fuyumi is eager to try and mend bridges, Natsuo very much is not.  Natsuo articulates even more strongly than Shouto that Endeavor deciding he wants to do better now just feels like him trying to sweep everything he did in the past under the rug, and the story is immensely sympathetic to Natsuo at this point in time, showing his very hurt reaction to the idea that he can’t be “caring” without forgiving a man he wants nothing to do with and letting Endeavor himself be the one to say, no, Natsuo is plenty caring just the way he is and he doesn’t have to force himself to associate with Endeavor to prove that.

Enji has every reason to want Natsuo’s forgiveness.  Indeed, he has this recurring dream of the family at the table eating dinner, happy and whole, except for him, and while it’s clear he wants to be there, his freeze against Ending and him hearing Natsuo’s thoughts also lead him to accept that maybe he can’t be.  So while maybe he does want, in his heart of hearts, his family to forgive him, what he says out loud is that they don’t have to, and that that isn’t what he wants, going forward.

Atonement, not forgiveness.  He wants to make things right for them, whatever that turns out to mean for each individual one of them—he’s not going to cut contact with Fuyumi, he’s not going to jettison Shouto’s internship, but neither is he going to force Natsuo to be around him or have Rei move back into the house in which he made her life a nightmare.  He’ll give them space so they can interact with him—or not—on their terms, not his.  Crucially, he communicates this to them, talking about his idea with them rather than just making the decision all on his own and expecting them to fall in line.

And hey, that’s all great!  Love that material.  I love it because it shows how difficult a path it is, that it isn’t going to make everyone perfectly happy, that Endeavor may well have to sacrifice some of what he wants if he’s sincere about prioritizing his family’s well-being.  I love that Endeavor’s arc up to this point is so consistently paced at two-steps-forward-one-step-back—heck, sometimes he only manages one step forward before something shows up to push him back two.  Be it information the reader gets that makes it clear why his family has every right to hate him or a literal phantom from his past, every bit of progress Endeavor makes towards becoming a decent man and a respectable father invariably gets undercut by some grim reminder or new illumination of how just far back his starting line is.

It’s some of the most nuanced, challenging writing in the whole series, and it made me like Endeavor quite a bit because the writing was willing to make him face these challenges, show him failing sometimes, and show him getting back up and continuing to do his best anyway.  (God knows it was more of a challenge than anything I was getting to see the main characters facing!)

I also loved Endeavor’s fitful arc because it was so good about building anticipation for the inevitable Dabi reveal.  ‘Cause man, if some short flashbacks or Natsuo showing up to be resentful and argumentative were good for setting Endeavor’s progress and/or the reader’s perception of it back, Dabi was set up to be the kind of derailing that leads to trains plunging into canyons because some asshole blew up the bridge.

We get that reveal, and it’s great.  Despite my ambivalence towards Dabi, the Dabi Dance chapter is a clear highlight from the first war arc, his, “The past never dies!” is one of my favorite pages in the series, Endeavor’s complete traumatic shut-down is every bit as delicious as I wanted to be, and—at the time of reading—I loved it.

But…  That’s basically where Endeavor’s arc flatlines.  The series desperately doesn’t want you to think that, but it’s true, and as I said in the Shouto post, it’s pretty obviously because he was never intended to survive that encounter at all.  I don’t know at what point Horikoshi decided (or bowed to pressure from his editor, possibly) to let Endeavor live, but there clearly was not enough time afterward to reconfigure his, the family’s, and Hawks’s plotlines around that change such that there weren’t impressions littered across the remaining story like ink bleeding through the page.[2]

2: One that struck me writing this post is that Lady Nagant is introduced immediately following the war stuff.  Sure, it’s a reasonable place for her introduction, given that she’s in Tartarus and we’re seeing Tartarus—but it was hardly the first time we saw Tartarus, was it?  There were several points at which we could have seen Lady N prior to the escape if she was anything other than a last-minute substitution for Hawks going rogue, and given that the movie that allegedly inspired her came out before BNHA even started, Horikoshi had plenty of time!  I can think of four other scenes in Tartarus off the top of my head, any one of which could have had a hallway cutaway or establishing scene that showed her face.  Heck, she could even have been introduced as “the treacherous Hero” alongside the other infamous Villains Gentle mentions.  Instead, we get her at the literal first possible opportunity after Endeavor’s survival (hypothetically) meant that there was no longer a reason for Hawks to go rogue.

I do basically like the hospital scene in isolation—Rei’s return is great, weepy Enji is top-shelf, and I like the family stuff.  As much as I like it, though, it’s not exempt from the problem, which is that from his survival onward, the pattern of Enji’s arc—stubborn and consistent attempts to pull himself out of the dark hole he’d dug himself into, marred by constant reminders of just how deep the hole was—is broken.  Instead, we’re left with empty promises that he consistently fails to keep.

Now, that wouldn’t be a problem if the series were willing to treat those empty promises as they failures they are.  The post-war collapse is Hero Society’s dark night of the soul, the Todorokis are an excellent microcosm for Hero Society at large, and so it’s perfectly fitting that its Number 1 Hero should have to endure a similarly dark, stagnant, conflicted period before renewal.  And initially, we do get some of that via Enji’s obvious mopey phase, and Shouto’s deep impatience with it.

The trouble is that even once Enji does pull out of that phase, he becomes a  broken record, saying the same words over and over instead of growing, failing to live up to those words so growth wouldn’t be warranted anyway, only now the story has stopped undercutting him and is instead playing his platitudes totally straight.

Consider:

He agrees at the hospital to “deal with Touya as a family”—and then runs off with a bunch of other Heroes and drops out of communication with his family.

After the class brings Deku back to UA, he agrees with Shouto to “do this together” when discussing how to face the difficulties of the future—but he’s visibly insincere in saying so, looking hangdog, hiding his face and having traumatic flashbacks to Dabi’s pitiless stare.

Then we jump to the battle plans and find out what the assignments are, and suddenly there’s none of that “dealing with Touya as a family” on the table anymore.  Instead, Endeavor’s fighting AFO with Hawks, Shouto’s fighting Dabi with Endeavor’s sidekicks, and the rest of the family are hiding out in a shelter doing diddlysquat.  But the story wants us to pretend that we haven’t noticed that?  Or rather, it wants to us to pretend that it’s not a problem?  So we get this flashback to Endeavor calling Shouto and proposing a rearrangement of the team assignments, because he knows it’s his responsibility to deal with Touya, only to have Shouto say, no, “doing this together” means sticking to their completely separate assignments where Shouto is the only family member out of five who faces Dabi at all.

And then we get Endeavor saying he’s going to beat AFO and then keep his gaze firmly on Touya—only to immediately start running the fuck away from Touya when Touya gets warped in by Kurogiri!

Endeavor even shows up for the big last push against Shigaraki.  I know we got that flashback of Natsuo telling Endeavor to go because he was too hot to be around Fuyumi and Rei, but honestly, fuck that noise.  Endeavor himself was massively injured, so much so that the epilogue has him saying he couldn’t do Hero work anymore even if he wanted to.  There is no possible justification for him leaving his family behind yet again just so he could go help punch out a Villain one last time.

One of Enji’s big recurring themes is the idea of the gaze that falls on Heroes and where the Hero’s gaze rests in turn, and Enji himself leans into that theme with a lot of his rhetoric: watch me, focus on me, I’ll keep my eyes on them.  That’s fine when the story is challenging him—it plays well into the ongoing themes about how actions prove more than words.  Post-Jakku, though, the story stops challenging him.  Instead, it just lets his words stand even as they’re constantly being proven false.  To the very end, this terrible new pattern—nice-sounding words that aren’t going to go anywhere and will have no impact on the story—continues.

In the very last Todofam scene, Endeavor says he’s retiring from Hero work, and that it was always his plan to do so after the war ended—meaning that in spite of everything he said, he chose to prioritize Hero work (the war) over his family and he always knew he was going to do exactly that!  Claiming he was always planning to retire after the war is an empty, meaningless statement when he’s reneged on all his other claims.  Particularly given that he leaves his family behind yet again in Chapter 421 to go fight ShigAFO, who’s to say he wouldn’t have postponed his retirement from “when the war is over” to “when the reconstruction is over,” and then to “when things calm down,” and so on, endlessly finding some new excuse to not retire the costume for good?

But for some reason this only ever gets called out by Villains like AFO and Dabi himself, who calls Endeavor a coward for only trying to play nice once everything is already over, and it drives me crazy because Dabi’s totally right about it and the story just doesn’t care.  Mere pages later, we have to suffer through Natsuo saying what a badass Endeavor is for being willing to face all this heat, even though at every turn, Endeavor did nothing but choose Heroism (just like the public would have wanted him to), run away from Dabi or let other people convince him to, try to drive away his family despite agreeing to work with them to deal with Touya, and then have the fucking gall to finally say he’s going to retire, talk with Touya, and absorb as much public backlash as he can only after the worst of the dangers of those decisions has already passed.[3]

3: And that’s not even getting into how maddening some of the smaller details are—Fuyumi both quitting her job and getting a lead on another without any intercession from Endeavor, for example, or the unremarked burial of Endeavor’s talk of funding a new house so Rei can live apart from him in favor of Rei apparently being totally fine with being around him all the time now, to the point of fondly joking with him about Hawks’s support or pushing him around in his (motorized) wheelchair.

From both an in-universe and a meta perspective, it would have been far more meaningful if he’d retired before the war, when the public was ready to publicly crucify retiring Heroes like Yoroi Musha, when his retiring really would have removed a powerful Hero at exactly the time when society was crying out the loudest for powerful Heroes.  Instead, he waited until after the war, once all the serious threats had been dealt with and he’d have had to retire anyway because of the injuries he sustained in a fight which he, again, chose to prioritize over his family.

It does not prove anything to his family if he only chooses them after he’s been rendered physically incapable of choosing anything else.  It does not impact his arc if he retires in the epilogue because that is the end—his arc has nowhere else to go because the story’s over, his and everyone else’s.  So instead of seeing him make a genuinely controversial or difficult choice and then having to fight to see it through—as was the case back when his arc was actually good and interesting—he makes a bunch of non-choices instead and the story portrays him like a hard-working, badass, sincere, earnest, admirable fellow for it.

And like, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that the story is totally fine with Endeavor only ever putting his Hero work first no matter how many times his family begs for his attention or Enji himself claims he’s working on becoming a better father.  He’s hardly the only Hero to make that choice, and the story takes their side every time!  In fact, I get the strong impression that Horikoshi not only agrees that Heroes hurt their families to help complete strangers, but that Heroes are morally correct and justified in doing so.

Remember when Nana was grieving and regretting and apologizing to Kotarou in Shigaraki’s mindscape at the climax?  What she apologized for was not that she made the choice that she made, but that she made that choice and wasn’t strong enough to survive it.  She was sorry she couldn’t beat the bad man and come back home, not sorry that she chose to prioritize beating the bad man over staying with the child she herself chose to bring into the world.

When Shigaraki echoed those complaints, no one took him seriously.  When Kouta voiced the same ones, those complaints were silenced by threatening him with murder until he decided Heroes are cool after all.  When Inko protested the danger Deku was putting himself in after the first war, he just placated her with an empty smile and then ignored her protests completely.

(If this is sounding familiar, it's because I've complained about it before.)

Villains and scarred family members are treated like immature children crying for attention when any rational, mature adult would realize that Heroes have to put the needs of the many before the needs of the few, no matter what kind of relationship those “few” have with the Heroes in question and what kinds of priority they might rightfully expect based on the nature of that relationship.  Obviously it’s nice when Heroes can juggle both, but when it comes right down to it, Heroes have to choose strangers over their own family!  That’s just what it means to be Heroes!

And as before, if the story actually made the characters seriously talk that through, forced the Heroes to actually articulate the belief and stand on it, then that’d be okay.  But it doesn’t do that.  Instead, it just treats the belief as a given, and anyone who disagrees with it as sadly misguided or selfish—sympathetic, perhaps, but ultimately so obviously wrong that Heroes don’t even have to deign to engage them in a discussion about it.

And then, of course, it has the even more outstanding brazenness, the oblivious hypocrisy, to try and preach about how Heroes can’t be put up on these pedestals, that they have the right to live their lives and put themselves first sometimes, that they ought to be able to rely on civilians to help others and even Heroes themselves sometimes, and every other bit of bullshit packed into Midoriya Izuku’s endgame and how he “changed the world.”

To recap: Heroes have the right to have loved ones, but their loved ones have no rights to them, nor even the right to a conversation about it without being dismissed out of hand.  Heroes are human beings with the right to live their lives and form connections and rely on others, but Heroes also have, not just the right, but the moral duty to hurt the people they formed those connections with, even to the point of completely abandoning them, if that’s what’s necessary when the next dangerous Villain comes calling.

And yet again, if the story would actually confront that properly, it’d be one thing.  I’m not taking Stain’s extremist stance here; I do think there’s a middle ground between those two positions!  But the positions are in conflict with each other, and the story doesn’t even seem to realize it.  So, instead of attempting to reconcile self-sacrifice and interconnectedness in a nuanced way, you just end up with self-sacrifice being right when the story wants it to be right and wrong when the story wants it to be wrong; ditto for interconnectedness.

…That swerved some into thrashing the series on the whole, sorry.  But that’s generally my problem with Endeavor’s arc: the story just chickens out of depicting the reality of what would happen if he really made the decisions he claimed he was going to make while also chickening out on making him face the consequences for being a big stupid phony who didn't do what he said he was going to do.

--P.S.  That goes for the rest of the family too, while I’m here.  You know who don't get enough credit for Dabi surviving the second war?  Skeptic and AFO’s moles, that’s who.  If it hadn’t been for their interference with the escape boxes from UA’s shelter, Rei, Fuyumi and Natsuo would have been passively evacuated like good little obedient civilians, whisked to safety at Shiketsu with no opportunity at all to go to the site of Endeavor and Dabi’s battle.  And without their ice quirks, Endeavor, Dabi and a whole bunch of other people would have straight-up died because Dabi would have exploded before Shouto arrived to flash-freeze him.

All told, I don’t think the Todoroki family earned that happy dream of all of them sitting around the table having dinner, with or without Enji, so it’s just as well that they didn’t get it.  At the same time, though, I hate that the story seems to act like coming together to watch Dabi die slowly in an iron lung was the best they could do and we should all think them very brave and noble and heroic for it while ignoring all the Villains who are dead or in prison whose efforts contributed to making even the iron lung ending possible.

Thanks for the ask, anon! I'll have your follow-up ask tonight or tomorrow night!

[r--kt]

Okay, but why the "Kannabi" Bridge? I mean, why is this called that? Turns out, this is an amazing and very beautiful metaphor.

Kakashi Gaiden analysis. Kannabi — the bridge between two worlds

I will look at this from the side of Shinto culture (based on the materials that I could find, feel free to correct me if you know more about this) and from the side of Kakashi and Obito's storylines.

Contents | cultural code · significance for the plot structure · the idea itself (this one is really important!)

Cultural code

In Shinto culture, it is not customary to divide the world into human and sacred, especially into divine and demonic principles — everything exists in harmony with each other, in a single system.

Kannabi (神奈備) refers to a region that is a shintai (repositories in which kami reside) itself, or hosts a kami. In fact, Kannabi is a place of connection between the human and the spiritual. Usually these are mountains, rivers, and forests that stand out for their beauty. These are such accumulations of natural energy, so sacred that their presence requires observance of a certain rite. So, if in relatively modern times be present next to the blossoming sakura, picnics in picturesque mountains and the like has normalized in Japanese culture, then in ancient times people did not dare to disturb mountains or groves with their presence. In such places, people performed rituals of worship to the deity, wrestling matches, divination, sacred dances, offerings, etc. The territory of the kami did not completely coincide with the territory of worship to them, people still tried to move away from the center of the sacred place so as not to bother their deity. To mark the border of entry into Kannabi, symbolic gates were installed — most often in the form of torii.

examples of kannabi in real life. Mount Fuji and Nachi Falls. [ as I understand, shintai and kannabi are synonymous concepts, but kannabi is broader in meaning. ]

It's all about how important the term is in a cultural context. A place of divine power that cannot be desecrated. From here, the Kannabi Bridge and the surrounding area can also be considered endowed with divine energy — and here the most interesting thing begins.

Significance for the plot structure

Now about the scenario composition. In general, the Battle of Kannabi, as the event itself in Kakashi and Obito's storylines, according to Joseph Campbell's «hero's journey», is a stage of transition between worlds. That's what the symbolism of the place also works for. This is the moment when the hero assumes responsibility for the beliefs he carries and their consequences, and literally or symbolically crosses the threshold between the safe and familiar world to the dangerous and unknown one, embarks on the path of reflection and prepares to meet the unconscious.

Thus, briefly speaking, Kakashi finds the strength to resolve his internal conflict in favor of his father's attitudes about the value of each Shinobi, and Obito sacrifices himself, protecting his loved ones and defending his ideals. Then their paths got separate so that each one could face with the unknown by himself.

In the context of the monomyph model, this is how the beginning of the initiation stage is demonstrated (i.e., the transition from one state to another, which is accompanied by some kind of ritual). Since Kannabi in culture is the boundary between the human and the divine, it can be concluded that this very transition is shown almost literally, thanks to the sharingan awakening and the broken tanto. This is the first turning point in history, structurally coinciding with the end of the first act.

The idea itself

And what do we see in general? In the battle of Kannabi, the religious Shinto subtext is vividly read. For the battle in a sacred place, the moral positive change of the hero (Kakashi) or his original courage (Obito) and a certain sacrifice (Kakashi's eye), the deities give a reward: the power of sharingan, which helps them save Rin, which is shared between Obito and Kakashi and in the future generally serves as a direct demonstration of the spiritual connection between them. At the same time, for the desecration of a sacred place (the goal of the mission was to blow up a bridge), heroes are punished: from this point of view, Obito's death is a certain sacrifice for the damage inflicted on the deity.

There is also information that the name of the bridge - Kannabi-kyo (神無毘橋) - can also be interpreted as «A bridge where the gods won't help». idk if it's true, but sounds cool.

Moreover, the very name of Obito's mangekyo — Kamui (神威) — literally translates as «The Power of Gods». Perhaps it is based on the mentioned concept of the place where Kakashi and Obito received the power of sharingan. And maybe that's why they call the technique the same way: because they treat it rather with such a religious meaning.

and thanks for reading to the end ♡

[argumate]

you've mentioned china's trade surplus effectively ripping of Chinese citizens (they are generating product but not getting access to it, I think?) and I was wondering... why? what benefit does this give to the people of China? I assume they operate that way for a reason but I don't know what the reason could be

I think it was a sensible strategy for at least 25 years or so, from when open policy began under Deng Xiaoping in 1979 up to the Beijing Olympics and Global Financial Crisis in 2008, then it became increasingly unhelpful but it was difficult to stop.

China was coming out of 30 years of Maoism when Deng took over, disconnected from the global economy, lacking infrastructure, and extremely underinvested: the GDP of Japan was 5x larger than China and it was exporting 10x as much as China, despite China having 8x more people.

under open policy, China created special economic zones across the south east and encouraged companies from Hong Kong and Taiwan to setup low cost operations there, then later invited US and European corporations too but always with strict conditions to partner with local businesses and state owned enterprises to ensure technology transfer (the classic story of investing in China is to do the work of setting up a partner company then later have that partner company take over the market).

at the same time as opening up to global markets (and getting rid of rations and price controls and switching to a market economy domestically), China poured resources into infrastructure investment, building factories and highways and bridges and docks and harbours and the largest high speed train network on the planet and vast cities of apartments to accommodate the biggest urbanisation project in history and so on and so on.

this transformed China at vast scale with shocking speed into the industrial powerhouse that it is today, with GDP 4x Japan and exporting 5x as much, an incredible turnaround from the 20th century, when cyberpunk authors were predicting the Japanese economy would eat the world.

but all that infrastructure and property development required to urbanise and industrialise was a massive investment, funded by the government and paid for by the hard work of Chinese households, whose incomes were suppressed by a range of mechanisms: fixed exchange rates and tariffs making imports expensive and helping exporters, bank spreads giving low deposit rates for savers and cheaper loans for favoured industries, the hukou system taking away rights from rural residents so they could be used as cheap labour in the cities much like undocumented immigrants in the US, and of course the labour movement was carefully controlled by the government and suppressed when its demands grew too strong.

the Chinese people paid for the transformation of China, but by and large I'd say it was well worth the effort: even if the politically connected elite siphoned off the top and wealth inequality increased, the overall quality of life improved enormously from the Maoist dark ages that preceded the open era.

the transition from the rationed economy to the market economy was rough, and inflation and unemployment not always perfectly managed, but the unrest of 1989 was relatively minor in the scheme of things, compared with the chaos and dysfunction of Russia's failed attempt to cross the chasm and liberalise its economy.

so that's the Chinese success story, which I think peaks in 2008, when China is inviting the world to the Beijing Olympics while America is busy spending billions of dollars invading other countries and has just blown up the global economy thanks to poor regulation of its banks inflating a mortgage bubble into a credit crisis.

however at this moment of triumph, China faces a quandary that it has not resolved to this day: the development model that has made it the industrial envy of the world has run its course and must be changed in order to continue steady growth, but it is very difficult to change course when politically connected vested interests owe everything they have to the continuation of these policies!

but first, why were exports important to China's growth in the first place? I think there are multiple reasons for this:

foreign companies that setup operations in China were focused on the export market because the Chinese people at the time had very little money, making them great workers but poor customers, and although the domestic market would steadily grow in size over time, the size of the global market and the suppression of local wages would continue to favour exports.

the government knew that the export market was highly competitive and would keep industry honest in a way that the domestic market might not, avoiding the problems seen in the USSR where protected industries could manufacture low quality products and faced little pressure to improve: "Made in China" would start cheap and then work its way up in quality, a classic tale of market disruption, as we see today with China subsidising Tesla factories as a rabbit for its own greyhounds (BYD) to chase.

possible geopolitical advantages to taking over critical industries for the entire world, along with an ideological bias in favour of production over consumption which means industries will habitually produce more than the domestic market can consume, requiring exports to meet the demand for demand.

so the problem was that over time China began to run out of opportunities for productive investment: when every person has an apartment and every river has a dozen bridges and the country is exporting a trade surplus of a trillion dollars a year it's time to slow down investment driven growth, shift towards consumption, pay households more, and let increased demand from Chinese consumers drive future development.

however, this requires reversing the transfers currently in place that take money away from households to subsidise exporters, which would immediately hurt export competitiveness and risk businesses downsizing and spiking unemployment -- much as we're seeing with Trump's tariffs in the opposite direction, any poorly managed change causes an economic downturn immediately but the potential economic growth is delayed, leading to a painful adjustment period and possible political instability.

as a result the Chinese government has been announcing plans to raise consumption and deleverage (reduce debt-fueled investment driven growth) for fifteen years now but it has balked from actually doing it every time, so the trade surplus mounts ever higher and popular discontent grows as -- much like America -- the people see the economic growth opportunities that their parents enjoyed now receding into the distance.

in theory the US could force this adjustment unilaterally, ideally by controlling financial investment from China (which is how China balances its enormous trade surplus) or much more clumsily by the kind of tariffs that Trump is levying (although bilateral tariffs may just push trade into more circuitous paths through other countries to evade them).

if the US no longer accepts Chinese trade surpluses then the government will have no choice but to shift the economy in a different direction, and perhaps it will be easier to justify the transition when the disruption can be blamed on a foreign adversary.

so if I had to summarise I would say that extracting wealth from the people can be beneficial if it is invested productively, but ultimately what makes an investment productive is that it meets demand from the people, that is what an economy is for, and we see countries experience growth booms when demand drives investment to meet demand and stagnate when demand drops and investment becomes increasingly unproductive, pushing on a piece of string in the hope that people will spend money they don't have if you just build enough shopping malls.

[seen-in-the-smoke]

[ Encryption suite ESSEX SKIPPER active… ]

< Good day. 

The investigation you are charged with conducting interests me. I have expertise relevant to certain aspects of the case, and am willing to provide consulting services. 

The neutralization of Rennes, the HESTIA-class NHP responsible for your AIP, seems to be a matter requiring additional investigation. Though I wish to divulge as little identifying information as possible, it must be said that I am a veteran of Legion warfare and am well-familiar with current methods and doctrine. In my opinion, there is no doubt that you are facing expert combatants, well-trained and equipped, although I’m certain you know that much already. 

Given the specifics of Rennes’ state post-neutralization, I may be able to construct a model of how and by what means the attack was performed. The autopsy report, yes? With regard to her combat capabilities, I presume that at the time of the attack, Rennes would have been equipped with an up-to-date, Union-standard counterintrusion suite. In addition, she almost certainly would have had her arsenal prepared and accessible, stand-down order notwithstanding. Are these assumptions correct? Additionally, any information you can provide regarding the HESTIA class will be of use; I’m acquainted, but I’ve undergone several cyclings since I last required the specifics. 

In exchange, I require information. You are a Union naval liaison, yes? I want a UAD-prepared report detailing Union standards for activation, training, and deployment of milspec NHPs. Emphasis on ethics and quality-of-life. Measures taken to ensure well-being, limits on duration of active deployment, how requests for retirement or transfer to non-combat duty are handled, payment and benefits offered for service. Resources made available to milspec NHPs during and after transition to civilian life. Disciplinary measures taken in cases of desertion or failure to comply. Legal status and rights of NHP prisoners of war, procedures for their detainment and release.

For all topics, documented cases—including the embarrassing ones. Are you willing to provide this? >

( @luna-wing-cns274 )

What's all this, then...

Huh. You one of those Horizon folks? Free Deimos, all that? I'm not gonna state a group opinion on the clock, but I'll freely say it's nice to see someone interested in NHP rights. Don't worry about me snooping, you have Union's word that nothing said here will be grounds for investigation. You wanna help, this convo is fully indemnified.

Let's see what I can't authorize as far as your payment, too. I'm sure the UAD would be happy to get its moment in the PR spot, even with some flubs. Putting in a request as we speak, in the meantime... Wake, you got the analysis?

ONE MOMENT.

HESTIA-CLASS NHP "RENNES" SUFFERED...

APOLOGIES. HESTIA-CLASS NHP "RENNES" SUFFERED NEAR-ON-TOTAL SEMIOTIC BREAKDOWN, WITH MARKERS SUPERFICIALLY RESEMBLING LINGUISTIC-VECTOR DELIVERY; SUCH A VECTOR MAY HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THE COMMAND-ATTENDANT STATE RENNES MAY HAVE BEEN IN, SEEKING CONFIRMATION BETWEEN THE CONFLICTING ORDERS. MONDRAGON ARCHITECTURE ANALYSIS REVEALS DELAMINATION ALONG SPECIFIC CONCEPTUAL LINES WITH MAJOR INTERNAL DAMAGE TO THE CASKET SUBSTRATE ITSELF; IN PARTICULAR, IT APPEARS THAT THIS BREAKDOWN IN BASIC RELATIONALITY CAUSED OVERCOMPENSATION IN MNEMONIC RECALL OF MOMENT-TO-MOMENT EXISTENCE. IN EFFECT, HIGHER-LEVEL THOUGHT ITSELF WOULD HAVE ECHOED UNTIL IT SHOOK APART THE CASKET'S INSIDES. EVERY MILLISECOND OF SELFHOOD UNDERSTOOD AS EXISTING SIMULTANEOUSLY, CROWDING HER IN.

...

THE HESTIA-PATTERN LINE IS COMMONLY USED IN BODYGUARD/HIGH-LEVEL ASSET PROTECTION ROLES. THEY ARE PARTICULARLY SUITED TO LEGION/REALSPACE INTERDICTION, COMMONLY UTILIZING AD-HOC EMPATHIC LEASHING GAMBITS. IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, RENNES HAD ACCESS TO AIP ABDULLAH'S SUBJECTIVITY ENHANCEMENT SUITE AS WELL AS A COMPLEMENT OF TRANSDERMAL "CONTACT BRIDGE" IMPLANTS. IN THE EVENT OF A THREAT TO AIP ABBDULLAH'S PHYSICAL OR SYSTEMIC SAFETY, RENNES' FIRST ACTION WOULD LIKELY HAVE BEEN TO EXTRUDE EMPATHIC LEASH VECTORS INTO ALL CONNECTED SYSTEMS, FORCIBLY DEMOTIVATING A BIOLOGICAL OR LEGION-VIRAL AGENT BY BLANKETING THEM IN HER OWN SUBJECTIVITY. IT IS UNKNOWN WHETHER FOREKNOWLEDGE OF THIS DOCTRINE INFORMED THE PARTICULARS OF THE ATTACK PERFORMED ON HER.

Christ-the-Buddha. Is she okay?

ALIVE, BUT LIKELY IN A STATE SIMILAR TO BIOLOGICAL COMA. BEREFT OF BLINK ARCHITECTURE NECESSARY TO PERFORM HIGHER-LEVEL THOUGHT. ITERATIVE CYCLING MAY BE NECESSARY TO RESTORE PARTIAL COGNITIVE PROCESSES.

Fuck. Well, I don't know how much you can get from that-- But, yeah, apparently she got jumped right after the stand-down order. Would've had a direct line into Noah's augs, the attack probably happened on that end. Admin babysitters keep their caskets pretty tightly locked away.

-BREAKFAST

[Encrypt:gloworm]

i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'll stop now i promise

i hope it doesn't hurt

[aprilblossomgirl]

We Are - a mid-term break.

(written just right before episode 9)

We Are, to me, is such a nice depiction of a university slice-of-life romcoms that actually live up to the very core of university life, a quite fluffy one, but still. Sixteen episodes? That's a sixteen-week semester for you. Well, to be precise, fourteen weeks courses, one week of midterm, and one week of finals. I'm sure the actual episodes didn't really go by the actual semester weeks (episode 7 shown that they were just transitioned into a new semester, but still on the same academic year). Anyway. You get the concept.

Note: If this show is not up to your alley, please just scroll through, I'm not putting this under a 'read more' :)

The first thing that I love is that the show took its portrayal of university life pretty seriously. Note that, I mean seriously by heart. You may want to question the accuracy of some elements and that's fair enough, but may I say they didn't deter my enjoyment of the show. Any elements they thought of adding, they did it right, so far at least.

Like, I know it's the right slice-of-life drama with university setting with all those assignments, deadlines (with actual deadline talks and stress), pin-up sessions (if you went to art/architecture school, you'll get it), grading, consulting with the professors, painting studio, clay workshop, architecture model making, art exhibition setup, group works, volunteer camp, cross-faculty activity, football, drinking nights, group lunch or lunch date at faculty's canteen, 'hanging out' on campus or nearby cafe or bar, and some more other things that I might miss.

Second: I really ADORE the friend groups and their friendship dynamics!!! I feel like this is the actual heart and soul of the show. Sure, honestly, I might have decided to start this show mostly because of Winny Satang (well, you know me), yet here I am, falling in love with the whole gang and by extension, the whole cast. It really surprised me how well they worked with the friendship side of this show. Everything just falls and blends naturally with the story. Understandably, with such big cast with numbers of main, side and supporting characters, I should expect there would be some proportion on their highlight. But (and I hope I am not too biased here) so far, I can say that the highlights are still within the range of proportional to the story.

And... I guess this is attributed to the line of actors, which you cannot say they're new to the field, that the chemistry among the characters just happened so organically, which is such a pleasant to see. I'm still amazed that I could see the Peem-Q-Tan-Chain-Pun's group (with special bond between Q-Peem) happens alongside Phum-Beer-Mick-Tan's group. (Bless you Tan for bridging the two. And later, Pun-Mick instant bonding.) And then insert Toey-Matt duo, and now we have a complete chaotic mix. Oh, but also remember we have Tan-Fang-Phum, Phum-Peem-Toey, and Q-Peem-Fai among them. Well, not all are exactly friendship links, but, talking about groups dynamics, we just cannot ignore the trios. Okay now, don't make me write my (love) notes for each individual character.

And finally: the love lines! I cannot and do not plan to write a lengthy description on how I love having all the four (going five?) different pairs. But I will just say I adore how each of their love lines intertwined very well with the friendship dynamics that happened along the way. The story of each pairs doesn't feel forced blending with how each group, to which they are bonded with, creates their stories. The friendship and the romance here are not two sides of the same coin, but rather are two layers of pictures, each with certain opacity that allows them to overlay perfectly creating a whole new complete picture. Not that anything others haven't said but I just need to say it in my own way, nonetheless.

That said, in short: long live slice-of-life romcoms!

We Are, by this mid-term, is truly a work of hearts (I still wanna cry if I think about the refilming part) and I cannot wait for the finals (please don't come too fast, though). As much as I need the show to finish strong, I need it more to finish warmly.

Second half of the show, I am ready! <3 <3 <3

*Note: Taking the academic terms more seriously, I knew by both logic and heart the second half of the 'semester' could either go better or go wrong and in no way I could predict which will happen but I do wish with my whole heart for the first. However, regardless of how it eventually goes, it won't erase the wonderful first half that I've had this far.

[whirligig-girl]

Goo that's planned out the perfect rapid transit network

"Well, that's all well and good, Guz, but you've put up so many bridges across the quarters that I can't even get through?"

Guz stretched through the network of straight-line bridges criss-crossing her quarters, carefully swinging her legs past, as a model advanced steam train blitzed past, then stopped at the scale model station to let off holographic miniature passengers. She weaved in and out of the bridges and back out to the front door.

"I don't see a problem."

[aviaposter]

Airbus A300-600 ASL Airlines Ireland

Registration: EI-LDC Type: A300F4-605R Engines: 2 × GE CF6-80C2A5F Serial Number: 857 First flight: Aug 20, 2004

ASL Airlines Ireland was originally founded as Air Bridge and began operations in 1972 at the East Midlands Airport in the UK. In September 1992, the company rebranded as Hunting Cargo Airlines, and by 1997, all operations were relocated to Ireland. Over the following years, the airline underwent several name changes, with one of its most well-known identities being Air Contractors, before adopting its current name—ASL Airlines Ireland—in 2015. By then, it had become part of ASL Aviation Holdings. The acronym ASL (Airlines, Support, and Leasing) reflects the group’s three core areas of activity: air transport, maintenance, and leasing.

The fleet of ASL Airlines Ireland is relatively small but highly functional. It includes cargo aircraft such as the Boeing 737-800BCF (Boeing Converted Freighter), ATR 72-600F, and the star of our poster—the Airbus A300-600F.

Historically, the airline began operating the Airbus A300 back when it was still known as Air Contractors. In 2009, the company introduced the Airbus A300B4 into service. Thirteen aircraft of this type were deployed for the international express cargo delivery company DHL in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). Later, the focus shifted to more modern models like the A300-600F, which offer improved performance, greater payload capacity, and a longer range (over 4,000 nautical miles), making them ideal for regional cargo routes across Europe.

In 2024, the airline’s fleet expanded with the addition of five Airbus A300-600F aircraft, previously operated by Air Hong Kong (a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific). These planes were retired from service due to the discontinuation of technical support for this type in Asia, prompted by a shrinking number of A300 operators in the region.

Notably, back in 2012, ASL Airlines Ireland began operating the A300-600F for cargo services on behalf of Air Hong Kong, with bases in Hong Kong and Penang. This demonstrates the company’s prior experience with this aircraft type well before its full integration into the European fleet. The transition to the A300-600F in Europe, starting in 2023, was part of DHL’s strategy to relocate its A300 aircraft from Asia to Europe. ASL Airlines Ireland emerged as one of the operators taking on this role.

Poster for Aviators aviaposter.com

[ancientcosmicsecrets]

The Ancient Gods of Egypt

Step into the captivating world of ancient Egypt, where colossal pyramids, majestic pharaohs, and mystical gods have fascinated humanity for centuries. The pantheon of Egyptian deities weaves a rich tapestry of stories and powers. Let's delve into a few of the most prominent figures:

Osiris: The god of the underworld, Osiris embodies the themes of death, resurrection, and the Nile floods that sustained Egypt's fertile lands. His myth is a gripping tale of betrayal, dismemberment, and the unwavering efforts of his wife, Isis, to bring him back to life.

Isis: Revered as a devoted wife and mother, Isis played a pivotal role in Osiris's resurrection and cared for the deceased in the underworld. Her influence extended far beyond Egypt, reaching as far as Great Britain and Afghanistan during the Greco-Roman period.

Horus: The falcon-headed god, Horus, symbolized kingship, protection, and divine justice. His "Eye of Horus" represented healing and restoration, making him a figure of immense significance.

Ra: The sun god Ra, with his hawk head, was a central and compelling figure in Egyptian mythology. He sailed across the sky in his solar boat, bringing light and life to the world.

Anubis: The jackal-headed Anubis oversaw mummification and guided souls to the afterlife, crucial in ensuring a safe passage for the departed.

The Sphinx: Guardian of Secrets

Now, let's shift our focus to the Sphinx, the enigmatic creature standing sentinel near the pyramids of Giza. The Great Sphinx, with its lion body and human face, has captivated scholars and adventurers for generations. But did you know that similar sphinxes existed beyond Egypt?

Egyptian Sphinx: The iconic Egyptian Sphinx, carved from limestone, embodies mystery and wisdom. It gazes eastward, possibly modeled after Pharaoh Khafre, and served as a protector associated with the sun god Ra, standing as a sentinel near royal burials and temple entrances.

Sumerian Sphinx: In ancient Mesopotamia, the Sumerians revered the sphinx, depicting it with the body of a lion and the head of a man or a ram. These Sumerian sphinxes stood guard at temples and city gates, symbolizing strength and intellect.

The Nibiru Connection: Cosmic Threads

Ah, Nibiru—the elusive planet that has sparked countless theories and debates. According to Babylonian astronomy, Nibiru was associated with crossings and transitions. Some even speculate that it could be a hidden planet or brown dwarf in our solar system.

But what if Nibiru's influence extended beyond astronomy? Ancient Egyptian texts hint at celestial connections. The five visible planets—Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn—played roles in Egyptian religion. For instance:

Horus was linked to Venus, known as the morning and evening star.

Osiris had ties to Venus's father.

Mercury was associated with Seth, Osiris's brother and murderer.

Could Nibiru be a cosmic bridge between worlds, influencing gods and civilizations alike? Perhaps it's a key to unlocking hidden truths.

Atlantis: Sunken Echoes of the Past

And now, let's turn our attention to the pièce de résistance: Atlantis! Plato's dialogues, "Timaeus" and "Critias," introduced us to this lost city. According to Critias, Atlantis existed around 9,600 BCE, beyond the Pillars of Hercules (Strait of Gibraltar). It was a mighty civilization, but catastrophe struck, submerging it in a single day and night.

Some speculate that Atlantis echoes the volcanic eruption of Thera (modern Santorini) around 1500 BCE. Could this cataclysmic event have inspired Plato's tale? And what if Atlantis's legacy lives on, hidden beneath the waves?

So, dear reader, as we embark on this journey through myth and history, remember that truth often lies in the spaces between legend and reality. Atlantis, Nibiru, and the Sphinx—they beckon us to explore, question, and dream. Who knows what secrets lie submerged in the depths of time? Keep your eyes open, for the past whispers mysteries to those who dare to listen.

[sunshinesmebdy]

January 22 Astro Vibe Check

Expect a whirlwind of innovation, passion, and intuition this week. Sun conjunct Pluto in Aquarius ignites revolutionary changes in business models, while Moon opposite Venus in Sagittarius sparks impulsive ventures and global ambitions. Be cautious as Gemini's scattered mind meets Neptune's fog with the Moon square Neptune, but channel the Sun's sextile to Neptune for visionary ideas. Finally, Moon in Cancer brings nurturing vibes, fostering emotional connections and long-term growth opportunities. Embrace the diverse energies - it's a week for bold leaps, artistic expression, and building a business with both logic and heart.

Sun in Aquarius conjunct Pluto in Aquarius: This cosmic power play ignites change, transformation, and groundbreaking potential, particularly in the realm of business. Expect innovations in AI, automation, and space exploration to shake up industries. Hierarchies and authority structures could face challenges, opening doors for decentralized models and collaborative leadership. Be prepared to pivot, reskill, and embrace change to stay afloat in this fast-paced landscape.

Tips for this Transit:

Lead with Vision

Embrace Technology

Challenge the Status Quo

Collaborate for Impact

Focus on Community

Moon in Gemini opposite Venus in Sagittarius: Expect a potent mix of communication, impulsiveness, and a thirst for new horizons. This celestial clash creates tension between Gemini's need for intellectual connection and Sagittarius' thirst for action. Expect lively debates, passionate pitches, and a general buzz of excitement in the air.

Tips for this Transit:

Harness the Power of Communication

Think Big, Act Smart

Embrace Collaboration

Fuel Your Creativity

Keep Things Lighthearted

Moon in Gemini square Neptune in Pisces: Expect business to take a surreal turn, with inspiration swirling alongside miscommunication and hidden agendas. This celestial clash creates friction between Gemini's rational, information-driven nature and Neptune's mystical, intuitive realm. Expect misunderstandings, emotional rollercoasters, and a feeling of being adrift at sea.

Tips for this Transit:

Tap into Your Vision

Communicate with Clarity

Focus on Empathy & Collaboration

Embrace Artistic Expression

Stay Grounded

Sun in Aquarius sextile Neptune in Pisces: This harmonious aspect creates a bridge between Aquarius' rational vision and Neptune's dreamy idealism. It's a time for innovative ideas, compassionate leadership, and merging logic with a touch of magic. Aquarius envisions a better tomorrow and strives to build it through technology, collaboration, and revolutionary ideas. Neptune can also bring confusion, deception, and unrealistic expectations. Be mindful of overpromising or getting lost in daydreams without concrete action plans.

Tips for this Transit:

Channel Your Inner Visionary

Embrace Technology for Good

Build a Conscious Community

Launch Creative Campaigns

Balance Practicality and Magic

Moon enters Cancer (4:51 pm): A wave of sensitivity, nurture, and emotional awareness washes over our collective experience. This is particularly true for entrepreneurs and business leaders, who can leverage this lunar shift to connect with their teams, strengthen customer relationships, and build a more emotionally intelligent work environment.

Tips for this Transit:

Prioritize Customer Care

Strengthen Team Cohesion

Embrace Intuitive Leadership

Focus on Long-Term Growth

Delegate and Recharge

[tiktaalic]

what does tiktaalic mean

it’s a misspelling of tiktaalik, which is a fossil that was discovered in 2004! When evolution occurs, you end up with things called transitional species, which are the species that bridge between SPECIES ONE and SPECIES TWO and have features that are specific to both species. Tiktaalik is the transitional species that got us out of the ocean and onto land! It’s a lobe finned fish, and has a lot of fish-y traits like scales and gills. But it also has a head more reminiscent of gators and a neck and proto-lungs and! The real snazzy thing! Which is supportive bones in their fins that allowed them to walk on them! It’s called a fishapod because it’s. A mix of fish and tetrapod (anything that walks on four legs). Every vertebrae that has ever lived can trace back to tiktaalik on their family tree :) including me! Including you! You may know him from this image or the “push him back in” variant

But this is my favorite :)

It’s a model done by an artist who creates reconstructions of prehistoric animals. Look at him! That’s my best friend! Tiktaalik is an inuit word that means large freshwater fish - the fossils were found in Canada, and the man in charge of the expedition that found them has told the story about how he was talking to locals after they found the fossils, and was wondering what to name it. And the locals asked what it is, exactly, that they’d found. And he said well it’s basically, it’s basically a big fish. And they went. So tiktaalik. And now that’s her name :) and now it’s my name too !

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Dark matter formed when fast particles slowed down and got heavy, new theory says

Dartmouth researchers say the hypothetical force shaping the universe sprang from particles that rapidly condensed, like steam into water.

A study by Dartmouth researchers proposes a new theory about the origin of dark matter, the mysterious and invisible substance thought to give the universe its shape and structure.

The researchers report in Physical Review Lettersthat dark matter could have formed in the early life of the universe from the collision of high-energy massless particles that lost their zip and took on an incredible amount of mass immediately after pairing up, according to their mathematical models.

While hypothetical, dark matter is believed to exist based on observed gravitational effects that cannot be explained by visible matter. Scientists estimate that 85% of the universe's total mass is dark matter.

But the study authors write that their theory is distinct because it can be tested using existing observational data. The extremely low-energy particles they suggest make up dark matter would have a unique signature on the Cosmic Microwave Background, or CMB, the leftover radiation from the Big Bang that fills all of the universe.

"Dark matter started its life as near-massless relativistic particles, almost like light," says Robert Caldwell, a professor of physics and astronomy and the paper's senior author.

"That's totally antithetical to what dark matter is thought to be—it is cold lumps that give galaxies their mass," Caldwell says. "Our theory tries to explain how it went from being light to being lumps."

Hot, fast-moving particles dominated the cosmos after the burst of energy known as the Big Bang that scientists believe triggered the universe's expansion 13.7 billion years ago. These particles were similar to photons, the massless particles that are the basic energy, or quanta, of light.

It was in this chaos that extremely large numbers of these particles bonded to each other, according to Caldwell and Guanming Liang, the study's first author and a Dartmouth senior.

They theorize that these massless particles were pulled together by the opposing directions of their spin, like the attraction between the north and south poles of magnets.

As the particles cooled, Caldwell and Liang say, an imbalance in the particles' spins caused their energy to plummet, like steam rapidly cooling into water. The outcome was the cold, heavy particles that scientists think constitute dark matter.

"The most unexpected part of our mathematical model was the energy plummet that bridges the high-density energy and the lumpy low energy," Liang says.

"At that stage, it's like these pairs were getting ready to become dark matter," Caldwell says. "This phase transition helps explain the abundance of dark matter we can detect today. It sprang from the high-density cluster of extremely energetic particles that was the early universe."

The study introduces a theoretical particle that would have initiated the transition to dark matter. But scientists already know that the subatomic particles known as electrons can undergo a similar transition, Caldwell and Liang say.

At low temperatures, two electrons can form what are known as Cooper pairs that can conduct electricity without resistance and are the active mechanism in certain superconductors. Caldwell and Liang cite the existence of Cooper pairs as evidence that the massless particles in their theory would have been capable of condensing into dark matter.

"We looked toward superconductivity for clues as to whether a certain interaction could cause energy to drop so suddenly," Caldwell says. "Cooper pairs prove that the mechanism exists."

The metamorphosis of these particles from the cosmic equivalent of a double espresso into day-old oatmeal explains the vast deficit in the energy density of the current universe compared to its early days, Liang says. Scientists know that density has declined since the Big Bang as the universe's energy expands outward. But Liang and Caldwell's theory also accounts for the increase in the density of mass.

"Structures get their mass due to the density of cold dark matter, but there also has to be a mechanism wherein energy density drops to close to what we see today," Liang says.

"The mathematical model of our theory is really beautiful because it's rather simplistic—you don't need to build a lot of things into the system for it to work," he says. "It builds on concepts and timelines we know exist."

Their theory suggests that the particle pairs entered a cold, nearly pressureless state as they got slower and heavier. This characteristic would make them stand out on the CMB. The CMB has been studied by several large-scale observational projects and is the current focus of the Simons Observatory in Chile and other experiments such as CMB Stage 4.

Existing and future data from these projects could be used to test Caldwell and Liang's theory, the researchers say.

"It's exciting," Caldwell says. "We're presenting a new approach to thinking about and possibly identifying dark matter."

[nahdpencil]

First track from my new EP, "IKE"

Song description under "read more" below.

XM-000416 “IKE”

XMs (“Experimental Models”) were among the first models produced by RAS under the AAW program. During the period when XMs were being designed, RAS was still a small-scale private military company that only dealt with human security contractors. As such, XMs were only ever officially designated for use in non-combat support roles, even though there were reports of XMs being sighted on the frontlines.

When later combat models were officially released, many XMs were scrapped for raw material. It remains unclear why IKE was not scrapped.

As one of the only remaining XMs of its kind, IKE is also one of the few known models to exhibit “mirroring” behavior, which AAW had been experimenting with before transitioning to its more common “self-learning” algorithms seen on later models.

Remaining information about IKE, or other similar XMs, is hard to come by, as RAS heavily safeguards most of its documentation regarding experimental models.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IKE is a four-track instrumental EP that I wrote during the summer of 2024. I had been interested in the idea of writing solely instrumental tracks for at least a few years, both because I grew up listening to the instrumental rock duo Ratatat, as well as suggestions from my father to release the instrumentals for some of my vocal-focused tracks (which I plan on doing one day in the future). When the summer of 2024 came, I realized it was way too hot for me to try recording vocals in the garage like I normally did for my other songs, which made it a great time to commit to writing an instrumental EP.

Regarding the subject matter of the EP itself, “IKE” is a story that I began brainstorming back in 2022 as a way for me to explore subject matters beyond the typical anthro-focused narratives I am used to writing. More specifically, “IKE” is a story I came up with that centers around four humanoid robot soldiers, known as “Models”, who exist in a post-apocalyptic world which was torn apart by nuclear war. It is heavily inspired by video games like Battlefield 4 and the Metro series, and the short stories I would write about the characters (which I only ever shared with my friends) are written in pseudo-computer-terminal language, reflecting the fact that the four main characters are robots who cannot communicate with each other in typical human ways.

Each of the four tracks from this EP were written to represent each of the four main models in the story: IKE (an original, experimental model and the primary protagonist of the storyline), TUKS (a model originally designed for factory work that was later reassigned as a machine gunner), ZAGHAZ (a frontline soldier model riddled with programming issues), and ETO (an advanced sniper/reconnaissance model whom is the de-facto leader of the group).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“IKE” was the first song I wrote for the titular IKE EP, and given IKE is the main character of this storyline, it made sense to me that this track should also be the theme song for the storyline as a whole. As such, I wanted this track to cover all the bases I would expect to have for this kind of post-apocalyptic storyline: the acoustic chord progression during the verses conveys an overall dreary feeling, reflecting the monotony which comes with having to scavenge for supplies throughout the wasteland; the distorted chorus chord progression has more major chords, reflecting a hopeful feeling that someone might get every so often when things seem to be getting better; and finally, the song features a bridge which slowly builds up anxious energy, reflecting the firefights that the models sometimes find themselves in when they encounter mutated wasteland creatures or other models who are willing to fight over dwindling supplies.

[valeriatourist]

⚠️BREAKING NEWS: XRP HOLDERS, YOUR TIME HAS COME!

If you own XRP today, you are holding the key to the future of global finance. XRP is set to become a cornerstone of the revolutionary ISO 20022 financial messaging standard, transforming the way value is transferred across borders. And that’s not all—ISO 20022 will launch alongside the Quantum Financial System (QFS), ushering in a new era of transparency, efficiency, and security.

XRP and ISO 20022:

XRP is poised to take center stage in the ISO 20022 ecosystem. As a bridge asset with unmatched speed, scalability, and cost efficiency, XRP aligns seamlessly with the goals of this global standard. Its integration into ISO 20022 protocols positions XRP as a pivotal player in enabling frictionless cross-border payments and financial operations.

Have you ever wondered why only XRP has a Destination Tag? It’s the ultimate feature for precision and security, mirroring the way SWIFT operates in banks today. Everything is prepared, and the launch is imminent! XRP is ready to revolutionize global finance.

What Is ISO 20022?

ISO 20022 is a global standard for the electronic exchange of financial data between institutions. It establishes a unified language and model for financial transactions, creating faster, more secure, and highly efficient communication across the financial system.

What Is the Quantum Financial System (QFS)?

The QFS is a revolutionary infrastructure designed to work in tandem with ISO 20022. It promises unparalleled security, transparency, and efficiency in managing and transferring financial assets. Built on advanced quantum technologies, QFS eliminates intermediaries, reduces fraud, and ensures every transaction is traceable and immutable. Together with ISO 20022, QFS will form the backbone of the future financial ecosystem.

Key Aspects of ISO 20022:

1. Flexibility and Standardization: A universal language for services like payments, securities, and foreign exchange transactions.

2. Modern Technology: Supports structured data formats like XML and JSON for superior communication.

3. Global Adoption: Used by central banks, commercial banks, and financial networks worldwide.

4. Enhanced Data: Delivers richer and more detailed transaction information, enhancing transparency and traceability.

Why Is ISO 20022 Important?

• Payment Transformation: It underpins the global migration to advanced financial messaging, with organizations like SWIFT transitioning fully to ISO 20022 by 2025.

• Efficiency: Reduces costs, accelerates processing, and enhances data quality.

• Security: Strengthens risk detection and fraud prevention through detailed standardized messaging.

The Future Is Now: XRP, ISO 20022, and QFS

With XRP’s integration into ISO 20022 and the simultaneous launch of the Quantum Financial System, the future of payments and global finance is here. XRP holders are already ahead of the curve, ready to benefit from the revolutionary changes that will reshape the financial world. Everything is ready, and the launch is just around the corner. Together, ISO 20022, QFS, and XRP represent a groundbreaking shift toward a more interconnected, efficient, and secure financial world.

🌟 Are You Ready for the XRP Revolution? 🌟

History is being made, and XRP holders are at the forefront of a new financial era. Stay ahead with exclusive updates and strategies for the massive changes ahead!

Got XRP in your wallet? You’re already ahead back it up to Coinbaseqfs ledger, maximize your gains and secure your spot in the financial future.

If you care to know more about this topic send me a message on telegram