#Most developers simply just opt to using a different engine

[pinkprettycure]

I want to mention that Ren'Py can NOT port to consoles, by the way. Unless the console in question is the Steam Deck, because SteamOS is Linux based.

Ren'Py supports PC, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. No Switch, no Xbox, no Playstation. The only way you can get a Ren'Py build game onto consoles is through a third-party service.

And aside from that, I recommend checking out Vimi's channel if you're interested easy to follow tutorials and advice for visual novel development

as well as Zeil Learnings

🎮 HEY I WANNA MAKE A GAME! 🎮

Yeah I getcha. I was once like you. Pure and naive. Great news. I AM STILL PURE AND NAIVE, GAME DEV IS FUN! But where to start?

To start, here are a couple of entry level softwares you can use! source: I just made a game called In Stars and Time and people are asking me how to start making vidy gaems. Now, without further ado:

SOFTWARES AND ENGINES FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO CODE!!!

Ren'py (and also a link to it if you click here do it): THE visual novel software. Comic artists, look no further ✨Pros: It's free! It's simple! It has great documentation! It has a bunch of plugins and UI stuff and assets for you to buy! It can be used even if you have LITERALLY no programming experience! (You'll just need to read the doc a bunch) You can also port your game to a BUNCH of consoles! ✨Cons: None really <3 Some games to look at: Doki Doki Literature Club, Bad End Theater, Butterfly Soup

Twine: Great for text-based games! GREAT FOR WRITERS WHO DONT WANNA DRAW!!!!!!!!! (but you can draw if you want) ✨Pros: It's free! It's simple! It's versatile! It has great documentation! It can be used even if you have LITERALLY no programming experience! (You'll just need to read the doc a bunch) ✨Cons: You can add pictures, but it's a pain. Some games to look at: The Uncle Who Works For Nintendo, Queers In love At The End of The World, Escape Velocity

Bitsy: Little topdown games! ✨Pros: It's free! It's simple! It's (somewhat) intuitive! It has great documentation! It can be used even if you have LITERALLY no programming experience! You can make everything in it, from text to sprites to code! Those games sure are small! ✨Cons: Those games sure are small. This is to make THE simplest game. Barely any animation for your sprites, can barely fit a line of text in there. But honestly, the restrictions are refreshing! Some games to look at: honestly I haven't played that many bitsy games because i am a fake gamer. The picture above is from Under A Star Called Sun though and that looks so pretty

RPGMaker: To make RPGs! LIKE ME!!!!! NOTE: I recommend getting the latest version if you can, but all have their pros and cons. You can get a better idea by looking at this post. ✨Pros: Literally everything you need to make an RPG. Has a tutorial inside the software itself that will teach you the basics. Pretty simple to understand, even if you have no coding experience! Also I made a post helping you out with RPGMaker right here! ✨Cons: Some stuff can be hard to figure out. Also, the latest version is expensive. Get it on sale! Some games to look at: Ib, Hylics, In Stars and Time (hehe. I made it)

engine.lol: collage worlds! it is relatively new so I don't know much about it, but it seems fascinating. picture is from Garden! NOTE: There's a bunch of smaller engines to find out there. Just yesterday I found out there's an Idle Game Maker made by the Cookie Clicker creator. Isn't life wonderful?

✨more advice under the cut. this is Long ok✨

ENGINES I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT AND THEY SEEM HARD BUT ALSO GIVE IT A TRY I GUESS!!!! :

Unity and Unreal: I don't know anything about those! That looks hard to learn! But indie devs use them! It seems expensive! Follow your dreams though! Don't ask me how!

GameMaker: Wuh I just don't know anything about it either! I just know it's now free if your game is non-commercial (aka, you're not selling it), and Undertale was made on it! It seems good! You probably need some coding experience though!!!

Godot: Man I know even less about this one. Heard good things though!

BUNCHA RANDOM ADVICE!!!!

-Make something small first! Try making simple: a character is in a room, and exits the room. The character can look around, decide to take an item with them, can leave, and maybe the door is locked and you have to find the key. Figuring out how to code something like that, whether it is as a fully text-based game or as an RPGMaker map, should be a good start to figure out how your software of choice works!

-After that, if you have an idea, try first to make the simplest version of that idea. For my timeloop RPG, my simplest version was two rooms: first room you can walk in, second room with the King, where a cutscene automatically plays and the battle starts, you immediately die, and loop back to the first room, with the text from this point on reflecting this change. I think I also added a loop counter. This helped me figure out the most important thing: Can This Game Be Made? After that, the rest is just fun stuff. So if you want to make a dating sim, try and figure out how to add choices, and how to have affection points go up and down depending on your choices! If you want to make a platformer, figure out how to make your character move and jump and how to create a simple level! If you just want to make a kinetic visual novel with no choices, figure out how to add text, and how to add portraits! You'll be surprised at how powerful you'll feel after having figured even those simple things out.

-If you have a programming problem or just get confused, never underestimate the power of asking Google! You most likely won't be the only person asking this question, and you will learn some useful tips! If you are powerful enough, you can even… Ask people??? On forums??? Not me though.

-Yeah I know you probably want to make Your Big Idea RIGHT NOW but please. Make a smaller prototype first. You need to get that experience. Trust me.

-If you are not a womanthing of many skills like me, you might realize you need help. Maybe you need an artist, or a programmer. So! Game jams on itch.io are a great way to get to work and meet other game devs that have different strengths! Or ask around! Maybe your artist friend secretly always wanted to draw for a game. Ask! Collaborate! Have fun!!!

I hope that was useful! If it was. Maybe. You'd like to buy me a coffee. Or maybe you could check out my comics and games. Or just my new critically acclaimed game In Stars and Time. If you want. Ok bye

[gubbles-owo]

When whipping up Railgun in two weeks' time for a game jam, I aimed to make the entire experience look and feel as N64-esque as I could muster in that short span. But the whole game was constructed in Godot, a modern engine, and targeted for PC. I just tried to look the part. Here is the same bedroom scene running on an actual Nintendo 64:

I cannot overstate just how fucking amazing this is.

Obviously this is not using Godot anymore, but an open source SDK for the N64 called Libdragon. The 3D support is still very much in active development, and it implements-- get this-- OpenGL 1.1 under the hood. What the heck is this sorcery...

UH OH, YOU'VE BEEN TRAPPED IN THE GEEK ZONE! NO ESCAPE NO ESCAPE NO ESCAPE EHUEHUHEUHEUHEUHUEH While there is a gltf importer for models, I didn't want to put my faith in a kinda buggy importer with an already (in my experience) kinda buggy model format. I wanted more control over how my mesh data is stored in memory, and how it gets drawn. So instead I opted for a more direct solution: converting every vertex of every triangle of every object in the scene by fucking hand.

THERE ARE NEARLY NINE HUNDRED LINES OF THIS SHIT. THIS TOOK ME MONTHS. And these are just the vertices. I had to figure out triangle drawing PER VERTEX. You have to construct each triangle counterclockwise in order for the front of the face to be, well, the front. In addition, starting the next tri with the last vertex of the previous tri is the most efficient, so I plotted out so many diagrams to determine how to most efficiently draw each mesh. And god the TEXTURES. When I painted the textures for this scene originally, I went no larger than 64 x 64 pixels for each. The N64 has an infamously minuscule texture cache of 4kb, and while there were some different formats to try and make the most of it, I previously understood this resolution to be the maximum. Guess what? I was wrong! You can go higher. Tall textures, such as the closet and hallway doors, were stored as 32 x 64 in Godot. On the actual N64, however, I chose the CI4 texture format, aka 4-bit color index. I can choose a palette of 16 colors, and in doing so bump it up to 48 x 84.

On the left, the original texture in Godot at 32 x 64px. On the right, an updated texture on the N64 at 48 x 84px. Latter screenshot taken in the Ares emulator.

The window, previously the same smaller size, is now a full 64 x 64 CI4 texture mirrored once vertically. Why I didn't think of this previously in Godot I do not know lol

Similarly, the sides of the monitors in the room? A single 32 x 8 CI4 texture. The N64 does a neat thing where you can specify the number of times a texture repeats or mirrors on each axis, and clip it afterwards. So I draw a single vent in the texture, mirror it twice horizontally and 4 times vertically, adjusting the texture coordinates so the vents sit toward the back of the monitor.

The bookshelf actually had to be split up into two textures for the top and bottom halves. Due to the colorful array of books on display, a 16 color palette wasn't enough to show it all cleanly. So instead these are two CI8 textures, an 8-bit color index so 256 colors per half!! At a slightly bumped up resolution of 42 x 42. You can now kind of sort of tell what the mysterious object on the 2nd shelf is. It's. It is a sea urchin y'all it is in the room of a character that literally goes by Urchin do ddo you get it n-

also hey do u notice anything coo,l about the color of the books on each shelf perhaps they also hjint at things about Urchin as a character teehee :3c I redid the ceiling texture anyways cause the old one was kind of garbage, (simple noise that somehow made the edges obvious when tiled). Not only is it still 64px, but it's now an I4 texture, aka 4-bit intensity. There's no color information here, it's simply a grayscale image that gets blended over the vertex color. So it's half the size in memory now! Similarly the ceiling fan shadow now has a texture on it (it was previously just a black polygon). The format is IA4, or 4-bit intensity alpha. 3 bits of intensity (b/w), 1 bit of alpha (transparency). It's super subtle but it now has some pleasing vertex colors that compliment the lighting in the room!

Left, Godot. Right, N64. All of the texture resolutions either stayed the same, or got BIGGER thanks to the different texture formats the N64 provides. Simply put:

THE SCENE LOOKS BETTER ON THE ACTUAL N64.

ALSO IT RUNS AT 60FPS. MOSTLY*. *It depends on the camera angle, as tried to order draw calls of everything in the scene to render as efficiently as I could for most common viewing angles. Even then there are STILL improvements I know I can make, particularly with disabling the Z-buffer for some parts of the room. And I still want to add more to the scene: ambient sounds, and if I can manage it, the particles of dust that swirl around the room. Optimization is wild, y'all. But more strikingly... fulfilling a childhood dream of making something that actually renders and works on the first video game console I ever played? Holy shit. Seeing this thing I made on this nearly thirty-year-old console, on this fuzzy CRT, is such a fucking trip. I will never tire of it.

[lairofdragonagelore]

Brecilian Ruins - DAO

[Remade post, originally from here] 

I don't know what to make of Brecilian Ruins. Can we truly trust DAO design with its statues? Spoiler answer: no.

[This is part of the series “Playing DA like an archaeologist”]

The following post contains

Tevinter architecture filled with Elven traps

Iconography

The Well of Sorrows: DAO version

The Tevinter Artefacts

Extra minor details

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

Tevinter architecture filled with Elven traps

The first thing we have when entering these Ruins is Morrigan telling us that, despite seeing the whole place with the same architecture we saw in the Ruins of Dalish origin, this is Tevinter. Sure, we can assume that the Dalish hunters know nothing of Elvhenan Architecture or Tevinter Architecture, so their opinion about those ruins being elven could be wrong from the first moment. They are, after all, extremely unreliable beholders of the reality. 

Anyways, let's assume Morrigan is right and we see Tevinter arquitecture with Elven traps. This is quite different of what we usually find in Thedas: which is elven structures appropriated by Tevinter humans. This makes sense when you think that the elves were the first creatures in this world, and humans came later, in addition to Tevinter always co-opting any knowledge or techniques from the Elvhenan. 

However in Brecilian forest the order of the events seems to be on the other way around. Historically speaking, it can be explained in the following way:  we know that Tevinter invaded Ferelden and built many structures with defensive purposes, like Ostagar [which was built to contain the “danger” of the Chasind in the far South]. 

We also know in the DLC: Witch Hunt, that slaved elves ran away from the North to the South years later after the fall of Arlathan. We know they hid for a while in a Thaig, but maybe some could have reached these forest and inhabit the ancient human structures, protecting themselves with elven traps to keep Tevinter slavers away from them.

Another possibility is that Tevinter simply co-opted the Elven traps and used them in their own buildings. It would not be the first time doing this.

Iconography

The Ruin corridors and chambers are filled with statues. They are the same statues we saw in Zathrian's camp: Sylaise (woman with a vessel), Andruil (woman with a sword. Why? Should not be a bow?), and Ghilan'nain (woman without head and hands). 

These are the same exact statues we find in any Chantry, Circle of Magi, or human town, so this is exactly why I never trusted DAO design in general. I don't know if the engine and its lack of resources made them reuse a lot of background details, or there is a real intention in them [I incline to the former]. Considering that DAO had almost 10 years of development, I want to believe that this is not by chance... but maybe the limitations of the engine forced them to remove most of the potential that environmental telling has to offer... I don't know.

In any case, inside the Brecilian Ruins we see a symbol or figure we also saw in the Dalish origin: a kind of dragon-head like figure, accompanied many times by one of those figures that we believe, it represents Andruil (the goddess of Hunt). This could also represent Andraste [who always has a sword or a shield in her representations] beside two figures that look like dragon heads. This would link Andraste with Dragons too, which has been a repeated association that we are not stranger to. 

In DAO we see that the dalish are deeply related to Dragons too if we pay attention to the enviromental details that are not repeated anytwhere else:  in Zathrian's clan we see many aravels with masks that are dragon-like skulls, and when you click on them, you find out it's a representation of one of their elven pantheon. 

We see the concept art of these in the credits of the game.

By now it's quite difficult to say if this is an obvious link of the Elven Pantheon with dragons or maybe Old Gods, or it's just a vestige of former slave elves whose masters may have forced them to worship the Old Gods. It is not strange that a slaved group takes the religious symbols of their slavers and worship them in the name of their own (forbidden) gods. We know that we can't trust in Dalish tales as reliable sources of History, because it's extremely fragmented and lost (thanks to DAI we are truly aware of how false they are containing barely a pinch of truth in them, twisted and romanticed).

On the other hand, I am inclined to think that this is just a representation of how the Elvhenan had, originally, a religion based on Dragons. We know that they venerated a “divine” shape that was meant for their gods and their chosen ones that implied Wings, and due to Mythal’s shape, we associate this Divine Shape with the form of a Dragon. Additional material that can support this speculation can be found in the first three comics of DA comics [The Silent Grove , Those Who Speak, Until We Sleep] where we are informed that the Dragons were the ones who controlled the skies originally, possibly had a broad power over the Fade [Dreamer-like, so from the Fade they could alter reality], and they may have been related to an original non-fragmented “song” that everythign and everyone in the world sang.  Also, Dragon Blood is “the blood of the World”, placing the Titans in a confusing position within the lore.

In these Ruins we find a codex of Falon'Din. Which is the same god that Talem told us about when we asked him if he could identify that strange winged statue. So... the confusions gets worse here: it's a Tevinter Ruin, with elven traps, and Elven God statues. 

It’s impossible to overlook the fact that this statue of Falon’Din has strong resemblance to the Old God statue of Urthemiel. As if Falon’Din wanted to have the shape of Urthemiel.

The chamber with the fire traps displays “Sylaise” and “Andruil” statues. Which in terms of Dalish Elven lore makes little sense. Andruil? Sure, she is the hunter goddess, though in these statues she is not in a aggressive stance. So is she chasing after you?. And what about Sylaise? The goddess of the domestic arts? Trying to kill you? Protecting the home of the elves? In a Tevinter structure? This makes a bit of more sense if we keep in mind what we know about Andruil from DAI and the little bit of Sylaise [read their sections in Evanuris]; Sylaise is a very agressive, envious goddes of Fire, who is described top have fire breath [like a dragon?], as powerful as Andruil’s spear [a very dangerous and brutal weapon so far we know]. Andruil is presented to us in DAI as the goddess of Sacrifice, brutal and merciless so far we can gather from the codices. So both goddesses seem to fit a bit better in a deadly trap room if we keep in mind the interpretation we had from DAI.

The Well of Sorrows: DAO version

Then we reach to our first "Well of Sorrows". Or more like "Puddle of Sorrows", lol. Once again, we find a wall covered with that Dragon-like skull statues of “Andruil” and “Sylaise” [I keep the quotation mark because we know we can’t trust little these representations]. We also find the codex of an ancient elven tablet explaining the ritual which, after DAI, makes more sense. You drink from the water of the pool, taking the knowledge left by other elves, and then you put the rest of the water in it, leaving your knowledge there [it works similar to what Abelas explained about the Well of Sorrows]. It seems to be corrupted or empty since you don’t have any whispers or sudden knowledge inside your head, and many Shades are summoned if you fail in the procedure. This chamber unlocks the following one where we find the Uthenera chamber.

Since the only Elven god codex we found in these ruins is Falon'Din’s, it could be fair to believe that this may be interpreted like a "Well of Falon'din" which gathers all the knowledge of those elves that want to stop living and go to Uthenera. 

This is consistent with the info provided in The Masked Empire, when Felassan explains that powerful mages went into Uthenera in underground tombs beneath Orlais and their servants had to take care of their bodies until they rebelled to them and slit their throats. This part of the Ruins are deep down underground. It is also reasonable in its location: Mythal’s Temple is located in the Arbor Wilds, South of Orlais, while this potential ruin in the depth of the Brecilian Forest. What’s a bit inconsistent is that some chars [Morrigan] said that this place was a Tevinter building [not an elvhenan one], but we can’t take Morrigan’s words as reliable either. She has been wrong many times along the series. 

The one thing that deeply disturbed me was that there were two spirits, a little boy and a woman, clearly humans, talking in elven. We could assume they were elf-blooded, but there is no assurance in this. I want to believe this is not a mistake, there is purpose in them being humans since this game has elven models. There is no “engine” limitations there. Now, about the meaning of it, it’s another thing entirely.

The ghost human woman is beside the altar where you find the codex of Uthenera, some elven remains, and a piece of the Juggernaut (a lot of these Ruins History can be scratched via the rare items you find, so sometimes finding a particular item in a particular place is not minor).

Another detail that annoyed me is that the platform where the elven burial lays is surrounded by Alamarri/Tevinter statues. It’s not clear the story of this building: was it originally elvhen? retaken by Tevinter and later taken by elves again? Or this was an Elvhenan ruin, taken by the Avvar or Alamarri of any tribe, and then taken by Tevinter when they invaded the South? It’s not clear neither the original construction of this building nor the succesive invations and appropiations of it, 

So the elven chamber dedicated to Uthenera is surrounded by dragon skull-like figures, there are Sylaise and Andruil statues on the outside ring and Alamarri/Tevinter statues with spears in the inner ring. Clearly this shows that we can’t truly trust much the enviromental telling of DAO due to the restriction of resources. 

The Tevinter Artefacts

Finally, when you head to the deepest bottom of the ruins, you find a big statue I can't establish to what culture belongs yet; I speculate it's Tevinter due to the places where I found it most of the time. It has a similar flavor to the ones found in Kirkwall. 

Behind it, an instrument with two tables filled with research stuff. The instrument is something that I can't decide if it is the same artefact we use in DAI to strengthen the Veil, those elven artefacts, or it's a prototype version of the Tevinter artefact to see the stars: the astrarium [which would make NO sense in the deep bottom of the Ruins, lol. What stars are you looking at?]. 

In any case, after this part you find a big chamber with a quincunx. Probably the first time we see this organisation. Which makes us remember Solas Tarot Card: the thing we find in a quincunx’s centre tends to be of great importance.

So, this disposition makes a quincunx inside another one, since each of them is also a  quincunx, but its centre must be.... a person? a sacrifice? 

 And if this symbol were not crazy enough already, the squares have a Chantry symbol in each corner. Not the Imperial Chantry (which won’t be a big fuss) but the Standard Chantry! I can’t believe this is a lack of resources... the sunburst symbol is extremelly important in DA series.

In the centre of this big chamber, once again, we found another artefact that may be an Astrarium or an Elven Artefact. We are sure it's Tevinter, since the same object can be found in the basement of the Circle of Magi. We have no idea what it does, or if it's related to any other artefact we found in DAI. (But it’s related to the one found close to the tables full of research stuff. They look the same, one only has a spherical glass around it while the other is more like the skeleton of the first one, with some missing part)

Anyway, returning to the quincunx Chamber: Here we fight an Arcane Horror. I always found these creatures with a design preeeetty close to the Sidereal Magisters. I don’t know if this means something, but in this context, it hints that a Tevinter experiment went wrong in this chamber and corrupted the mage performing it. It’s not by chance that Arcane Horrors are a product of a Pride demon taking control of a mage corpse. It has a big symbolism.

So, we can speculate that some Tevinter experiment happened here, there is no doubt. Not by chance Zathrian and the Oak tree tell us that the Brecilian Forest has a particular thin Veil, and rage demons possess the trees around. We also find a lot of revenants here (pride or desire demons bound by blood magic, explained in the codex The Black Vials). In short,  Brecilian forest has similar symptoms to Kirkwall. Tevinter made experiments here, but it’s not sure if they were performed before or after the slave elves lived here.

Extra minor details

In these ruins is where we found a soul trapped (or bound?) to a gem that will teach us the ancient arts of the Arcane Warrior. It says that it is the last of their kind, implying that if you don’t acquire this knowledge, it will be lost forever and would make no sense for Viviene to have this knowledge in DAI. 

All over the Ruins there are some rugs with a symbol that can be interpreted as an oversimplification of the Tevinter Imperium heraldry.

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore ]

[domestichelpservicesgi]

Making Life Easier with Reliable Home Maid Services in Chennai

What Are Home Maid Services?

Home maid services refer to professional assistance provided by trained domestic helpers who manage everyday household tasks like cleaning, washing, cooking, and even childcare. These services are available for part-time or full-time needs, depending on your lifestyle and schedule.

But more than just convenience, they offer peace of mind — knowing that your home is in the hands of someone dependable, while you focus on work, self-care, or spending quality time with your family.

Why Chennai Families Are Opting for Maid Services

Chennai, being a fast-developing urban hub, has seen a steady rise in dual-income households. With both partners working, hiring a maid is no longer a luxury — it’s a necessity. Let’s look at some reasons why people are increasingly choosing home maid services in Chennai:

1. Time-Saving Convenience

Household chores can take up hours every day. A reliable maid takes over tasks like sweeping, mopping, dishwashing, and laundry, giving you more time to focus on work, kids, or simply relax after a long day.

2. Professional and Trained Help

Modern maid agencies in Chennai now offer trained staff who are well-versed in cleaning techniques, kitchen hygiene, and time management. They know how to operate modern appliances and follow safety protocols.

3. Customizable Services

Whether you need someone to clean once a day, twice a week, or stay full-time, most services are flexible and customizable to suit your needs. You can even request specific tasks like baby care, elder care, or meal prep.

4. Safety and Background Checks

Trust is essential when letting someone into your home. Reputed maid service providers ensure thorough background checks, ID verification, and even police clearance, adding a strong layer of safety and reliability.

5. Post-Pandemic Hygiene Standards

Since the pandemic, cleanliness and hygiene have become more critical than ever. Trained maids are now more conscious of sanitizing surfaces, washing hands regularly, and using safe cleaning products — all to keep your family protected.

Real-Life Scenarios Where Maid Services Make a Difference

Let’s consider some real-life scenarios in Chennai where home maid services are truly a blessing:

Working Couples: Arjun and Priya, a software engineer and a teacher living in Anna Nagar, found it hard to juggle work-from-home deadlines with cleaning and cooking. Hiring a part-time maid helped them maintain a clean home without burning out.

Elderly Residents: Retired parents living alone in T. Nagar often struggle with physical tasks like cleaning and lifting. A maid visits daily to assist them, ensuring their comfort and reducing their children’s worry.

New Mothers: After childbirth, mothers need ample rest and support. Having a maid to take care of household chores and laundry can be a huge relief during recovery.

Students or Bachelors: Young professionals and college students living away from family often struggle to manage cooking and cleaning. A part-time maid helps them maintain a livable and hygienic space without affecting their work or studies.

What to Look for When Hiring Home Maid Services in Chennai

While the demand is high, it’s important to choose the right service provider. Here’s a checklist:

Experience and Training: Are the maids trained in home care and hygiene practices?

Verified and Background-Checked: Has the maid’s identity and police record been verified?

Service Flexibility: Can you choose between part-time and full-time options?

Replacement Support: If a maid is unavailable or quits, will the agency offer a quick replacement?

Reviews and Testimonials: What do other customers say about the service provider?

Choosing a reputable agency ensures not just quality but also accountability.

Why Choose Professional Services Over Independent Maids?

While hiring a local maid directly might seem cheaper, it comes with risks — unverified background, lack of commitment, and no backup in case of sudden leave. On the other hand, a professional agency offers a systematic approach, verified staff, clear service terms, and customer support.

Final Thoughts

Hiring a home maid isn’t just about reducing workload — it’s about improving your lifestyle. With growing work pressures and little time to manage household chores, more families are turning to home maid services in Chennai to bring structure, cleanliness, and peace into their homes.

Whether you’re a busy professional, an elderly couple, a new parent, or simply someone looking for help to manage a better work-life balance, the right maid service can be life-changing.

So, if you’re ready to take the stress out of your daily routine and focus on what truly matters, explore trusted and professional home maid services in Chennai today.

[fromdevcom]

Web design is a varied discipline that draws upon a diverse skill set in order to achieve the perfect balance between the aesthetically pleasing and the practical. As a result, it should be no surprise that the best web design companies take typography very seriously, even if this is an ancient practice that sounds like it would only have been relevant in bygone eras. So what is it about typography that makes it so important to good web design and is there any pitfalls to avoid if you are building your own website? Attention Retention Whenever a visitor arrives on your website, whether they have clicked through from a search engine, engaged with a post on social media, or simply entered the address manually, the chances are incredibly high that they will be there to consume some written content. For this reason alone, the way you present this content is vital and can mean the difference between convincing a casual user to stick around or putting them off in the first few seconds and never seeing them again. Typography is the art of ensuring that the words on your site are both easy to read and easy on the eye. A font that is poorly chosen, ugly, or simply bland, will contribute to a high bounce rate. A font that compliments your branding, is consistent across the site, and draws the user’s attention will bring a world of benefits along with it, boosting traffic, improving SEO, and catalyzing conversions. Size Matters Typography in a web design context is about more than just looking good and presenting a united front from a branding perspective; it must also be focused on usability and legibility. In this sense, the size of the lettering is just as vital as its styling. There is a reason that the template of having a large, bold headline followed up by a slightly smaller subheading and finally the body of the text, also broken up with headings, is such a widely used formula for typographic success on the web. It makes long sections of content simpler to digest, guides the eye down the page to keep people reading, and also ensures that visitors can indeed see what they are looking for without having to squint. This is where responsive web design is also significant since now that most visitors can be expected to be using smartphones, your typography needs to be able to adapt to suit lots of different devices, providing legible content no matter how large the screen of the handset. Communicating Personality While we have focused on the role that typography plays in making your website effective at capturing visitors’ attention and conveying relevant information concisely, it should also be noted that the fonts you choose and the ways you use them can say a lot about your business. For example, there are industry-specific expectations as to the kinds of typography that can be expected from an organization’s website. Firms involved in more straight-laced professions such as finance and law tend to opt for more conservative combinations of fonts and use subtle color palettes. Meanwhile, those in the media or other creative industries can afford to be bolder and more  experimental. Furthermore, once you have established a typographic personality for your website, you can also use this elsewhere, such as in the creation of promotional materials, the development of social media marketing campaigns, and much more besides. Thinking carefully about your website’s typography could ultimately give you a better idea of what your business is like and what it aims to achieve, which is the most valuable prize of all.

[govindhtech]

Introducing Vertex AI Prompt Optimizer’s Public Preview

Vertex AI Prompt Optimizer

One of the most approachable ways to get a Large Language Model (LLM) to provide meaningful output is through prompt design and engineering. Prompting large language models, however, might resemble negotiating a challenging maze. To get the desired result, you have to try different combinations of examples and directions. Furthermore, there is no assurance that the best prompt template you locate will still produce the best outcomes for a different LLM.

It is difficult to migrate or translate prompts from one LLM to another due to the disparities in behavior between language models. In order to produce meaningful outputs, users require an intelligent prompt optimizer, as simply recycling prompts is futile.

Google Cloud is introducing Vertex AI Prompt Optimizer in Public Preview to help alleviate “prompt fatigue” that customers encounter when developing LLM-based applications.

What is Vertex AI Prompt Optimizer?

You can obtain the ideal prompt (descriptions and instructions) for each desired model on Vertex AI with the aid of Vertex AI Prompt Optimizer. It uses an iterative LLM-based optimization algorithm, based on Google Research’s publication on automatic prompt optimization (APO) methods, which was accepted by NeurIPS 2024. The optimizer model, which generates paraphrased instructions, and the evaluator model, which assesses the chosen instruction and demonstration, collaborate to create and assess candidate prompts.

The user-selected evaluation metrics that Prompt Optimizer then chooses the optimal instructions and examples to optimize against. The prompt template’s task, context, and system instruction are all included in the instructions. The brief examples you include in your prompt to evoke a particular answer style or tone are called demonstrations.

Vertex AI Prompt Optimizer eliminates the need to manually optimize pre-existing prompts each time for a new LLM by finding the ideal prompt (instruction and demos) for the target model with just a few labeled examples and selected optimization settings. With Vertex AI, creating a new prompt for a specific activity or translating an existing prompt between models is now simple. The following are the salient features:

Simple optimization: Transfer and translate suggestions from any source model to any target Google model quickly and easily.

Versatile task handling: Supports all text-based tasks, including entity extraction, summarization, question and answer sessions, and categorization. Multimodal task support will soon be expanded.

Comprehensive assessment: To guarantee ideal rapid performance against the measures you care about, it supports a broad range of evaluation metrics, including model-based, computation-based, and custom metrics.

Versatile and adaptable: Use different notebook versions based on your skill level and requirements, and adjust the optimization procedure and latency using sophisticated options.

Vertex AI Prompt Optimizer: Why Use It?

Data-driven optimization: A lot of the prompt optimization technologies on the market now concentrate on customizing your prompts to your desired tone and style, but they frequently still need human verification. Beyond this, though, Vertex AI Prompt Optimizer optimizes your prompts according to particular assessment measures, guaranteeing optimal performance for your target model.

Designed specifically for Gemini: Vertex AI Prompt Optimizer is made with the fundamental traits of Gemini in mind if you use it. It’s made especially to adjust to the special qualities of the Gemini and other Google models. With this customized strategy, you can fully utilize Gemini’s potential and produce exceptional outcomes.

How to begin Vertex AI Prompt Optimizer?

You can use the Colab notebook, which has sample code and notebooks for Generative AI on Google Cloud, in the Google Cloud Generative AI repository on Github to begin utilizing Vertex AI Prompt Optimizer. For basic settings, see the UI version; for more complex settings, see the SDK version. In the upcoming weeks, more notebook versions that support multimodal input and configurable metrics will be added. The Vertex AI Studio console is another way for you to access it. Check the console for entry points labeled “optimizer your prompt further” or “prompt optimizer.”

Use Vertex AI Prompt Optimizer by doing the following actions to either optimize or translate prompts:

Set up the prompt template.

Enter your data (examples with labels).

Set up the parameters for your optimization (target model, evaluation metrics, etc.).

Execute the optimization task.

Examine the outcomes

Any Google models and evaluation metrics that the Generative AI Evaluation Service provides are supported by Vertex AI Prompt Optimizer.

Access points to the Vertex AI Prompt Optimizer Colab Enterprise Notebook from Vertex AI Studio

A. A new Prompt optimizer button will appear on the Saved prompts page.

B. There will be a new Optimize your prompt further button in the Prompt assist dialog pop-up.

Read more on govindhtech.com

[makmore]

Elevate Your Spaces With WPC Louvers With Leading Manufacturer

The search for materials that beautify and work is difficult in the world of this modern architecture and interior design era. Being long-lasting, multipurpose, and environmentally friendly, wood plastic composite (WPC) louvers have gained popularity with architects and constructors. This blog explores the benefits of WPC louvers in Bangalore, their most attractive features, and why Makmore is preferred over others for them.

Why Choose WPC Louvers?

Durability and Longevity :- WPC louvers stand out thanks to their great strength. They are a combination of plastic polymers and wood fibers that make them immune to rot, moisture, and termites. Hence, they are a good option for any need, whether indoors or louvers for exterior walls, since they will always remain intact looking good.

Eco-Friendly Choice :- At a point in time where paramount importance has been placed on sustainability, WPC louvers provide an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional woods. With a production process that involves the use of recycled materials then a need for new trees makes these WPC gate panels an environment-friendly choice.

Versatility in Design :- WPC louvers can be adjusted to match different design tastes. They are available in many different colors, textures, and finishes, enabling designers to create the desired aesthetic without losing focus on the theme of the whole design. Whether it be sleek modern or chocolate natural, WPC louvers will work out just fine for any design.

Low Maintenance :- WPC louvers require little to no major maintenance needs compared to traditional wood. They are a cost-effective and easy-to-use option in the long run because they do not warp, splinter, or fade easily.

Key Benefits of Makmore's WPC Service

WPC louvers from Makmore are engineered with a mixture of high-quality thermoplastics and wood fibers, such that it is possible to have a product that has the merits of both plastic and natural timber. Customers who want their construct their exterior improved or looking for interiors with unique touches can have the best WPC louvers manufacturers in Bangalore by their side.

Durable :- Our WPC louvers repel against rotting, twisting, or insect harm, which extends to a lasting solution under all circumstances, be it climatic changes or time.

Easy maintenance :- In contrast to hardwoods, using WPC outdoor wall panels requires less of your input on maintaining them. You don’t paint, stain, or alter it in any way which means you end up saving money over time.

Cost-effective :- We are WPC decking suppliers in Bangalore enabling you to save money in terms of maintenance while providing you with long-lasting elements that are both visibly appealing as well as functionally stable.

Easy Installation :- This reduces labor expenses and time needed to complete a project. They also weigh less and hence can be fixed using commonly available tools and methods.

Aesthetic Appeal :- Our WPC louvers display different designs and finishes giving architects a chance to be creative. They give the structure an elegant appearance that improves its aesthetic appeal.

Weather Resistant :- For outdoor walls, the durability of Makmore's WPC louvers has a significant advantage over tough weather conditions such as UV rays, rain, and humidity.

Conclusion

Because of being durable, eco-friendly, and versatile WPC louvers have become a must-have for contemporary architecture and design. Opting for WPC louvers in Bangalore by Makmore is a great way of improving the appearance of your rooms while maintaining high efficiency and environmental consciousness over time. No matter if it is a private house project, office development, or simply an outdoor set-up, our WPC louvers provide an elegant dependable solution for upgrading any environment. For more, you can visit our website.

[nickgerlich]

Data Driven

I have long been fascinated by how people do things, and specifically how they consume products. There’s always more ways than one to do anything. Just ask the folks who make Ziploc bags. They learned after the fact that people were using them for many applications other than just shoving a sandwich inside them.

It is in understanding the user experience that manufacturers and developers can fine-tune their offerings, as well as learn what the most important aspects of a product are. Assumptions made by managers, engineers, and new product teams are often rendered laughable once real customers are left to their devices.

The same holds true even for social media platforms. Pew Research just conducted one of how US users spend their time on TikTok, the Chinese-owned app that has drawn the ire of 34 states. In Texas, we cannot use TikTok on any state-owned device or network. Some have concluded this also means a state agency, such as a university, cannot advertise on TikTok, even though that is where their target market is hanging out. And, as conveyed in a recent email to faculty and staff at WTAMU, it extends even to personal devices that are used to do state business, such as accessing work email and the Blackboard app.

Ouch. That one may have to undergo a little legal scrutiny. I don’t use it, but I cringed when I saw what I perceive to be over-reach.

But back to the TikTok study, which included a survey of 2745 users as well as 869 more who volunteered to allow their accounts to be observed. By virtue of the study’s design, this is an opt-in sample, which, while revealing interesting findings, cannot necessarily be generalized across all 150 million US TikTok users. A random design would be needed for that.

One of the bigger takeaways—and no surprise, mind you—is that 25% of users create 98% of the content. I have observed the same phenomenon across other social media platforms. That’s another way of saying that the vast majority of users are consumers, compared to the creators in the smaller group. Furthermore, it means that most users check in to their TikTok accounts for other uses, such as information and entertainment. I have seen a funny variant of this on Facebook, when someone posts a comment to a controversial subject by saying, “I’m just here for the comments.”

There were another significant findings in that only 52% of users have ever even posted a video, and are more likely to simply watch the “For You” feature, meaning they allow TikTok to push content. This is the preferred means, as opposed to looking at accounts they follow.

This echoes the entertainment aspect of TikTok, as well as other social media sites. It fills my Facebook, Instagram, and Threads feeds. If the provider can make their site even just a little bit stickier by pulling us into content it thinks we will like, then it means they can sell more advertising. Remember, these are all advertising platforms masquerading as social media sites. Don’t believe me? Facebook’s ad revenue is estimated to be $171 billion this year.

While the study provides insights, it might be more relevant to dive into specific demographic groups, which definitely skews young. For example, 60% are between 16 and 24, while 80% are between 16 and 34. Only 25% are between 25 and 44, which, although it is an overlap of the other data, shows the drop-off by age. Narrowing the focus would provide more granular information, especially as it pertains to generational cohorts like the Millennials and Gen-Z. Even though Gen-X and Boomers are distinct minorities among TikTok users, they too should be studied to determine what usage differences, if any, exist.

The broader lesson is that we must always be in pursuit of this kind of knowledge, no matter what products or services we sell. There’s gold in the numbers. It’s up to us to mine and refine it.

Dr “Data Nerd” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[ibrinfotech]

Developing Online Store with Shopify: Six Compelling Reasons to Opt for Shopify Website Development

In the bustling world of e-commerce, where the digital marketplace continues to expand, choosing the right platform for your online store is a pivotal decision. Shopify, a renowned name in the realm of e-commerce solutions, emerges as a beacon of excellence for businesses seeking to establish a powerful online presence. With its user-friendly interface, extensive customization capabilities, and a plethora of integrated features.

Shopify offers a compelling foundation for building and growing your Shopify store development services. This guide unveils the six most compelling reasons to opt for Shopify website development services, allowing you to unlock the full potential of your e-commerce venture and provide your clients with a smooth and enjoyable purchasing experience.

The Top 6 Advantages of Shopify Which Will Make You Compel You to Use It

1. Owners Of Shopify Ecommerce Websites Can Collect Payments From Customers In A Variety Of Ways

Website creation on Shopify, like website Shopify website development services on other e-commerce platforms, is meaningless unless you can accept money from your merchant or bank account. Some systems are extremely constrained in this regard. Other ecommerce systems have no default integration with payment gateways and require the installation of add-ons to conduct financial transactions.

Shopify is an entirely different story. Online merchants can accept payments from clients using a variety of techniques, including Shopify's payment system. If you need to use another one, you have over a hundred options depending on the country.

2. A Plethora Of Themes For Simple Shopify Website Creation And Development

The availability of ready-made or saved templates is one of the most crucial components of any ecommerce platform. Shopify thrives in this area, with over 70 free and premium themes that make Shopify web design simple.

The themes can be filtered based on the amount of products, layout style, certain navigation features, and so on. If none of the ready-made templates is suited for your speciality, you may always explore custom Shopify website development services.

The cost of developing a Shopify ecommerce website will be higher in this situation. Shopify web designers and developers will also devote additional time to creating a custom Shopify theme. However, the result will suit all of your business needs while also standing out from other online retailers, attracting additional customers.

3. There Are Numerous Extra Tools For Shopify Web Creation And Customization

When it comes to launching an online quickly. Shopify is one of the greatest options. The ultimate goal of any business, large or small, is to grow and gain income. As your Shopify ecommerce site grows in size and customer base, you may require more tooling than the typical Shopify setup can provide.

For example, you might require more product selections than you now have. Not a problem! Simply go to the Shopify App Store and look for a suitable app based on customer reviews and ratings. The apps available there were created by Shopify web developers from around the world and went through a rigorous testing process.

Need to build a specific business feature but there is no app in the App Shopify store development services to do so? Then, contact our Shopify web development company for assistance, and our Shopify website development services developers will make things right for you. We are unrivalled Shopify web development and customization professionals.

4. Google Adores Shopify Ecommerce Websites

Why? This is because Shopify has all of the necessary features to propel websites to the top of search engine results pages. What's the point of using Shopify to develop an online Shopify store development service if just a few stray people see it after a few weeks?

There are numerous things that Shopify website development services owners may do to boost their stores' search engine presence. This covers things like adding keywords to content, updating the title and meta tags for blog posts and items, and so on.

If you believe that the basic Shopify features, such as robot.txt file automated production, are not producing the intended results, you can contact our Shopify web development firm.

5. You Can Work On Shopify Website Development Services Without Looking Behind The Hood

Unlike other ecommerce systems that involve locating and paying for hosting, Shopify ecommerce websites are hosted on the vendor's servers. Hence this way site owners can focus on their Shopify online design and development.

They do not need to be concerned about the security or performance of their online stores. A Shopify ecommerce website is never down and always quick, regardless of user location. Shopify merchants can also register their domains.

6. An Abundance Of Themes For Simple Shopify Website Creation And Development

Nowadays, it's nearly hard to find an ecommerce website that doesn't have a Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram button. If you build a Shopify website, you'll be surprised at how simple it is to integrate social media with your online store. Many of the Shopify themes offered on the vendor's site already include social media buttons.

Customers can use this to share blog entries or product pages with their followers or subscribers. You may also lead them to your brand's profile to increase engagement. The ability to link to major business advertising tools such as Facebook makes Shopify web development a very worthwhile solution for small enterprises.

Aside from choosing a ready-made theme with social network buttons included, you can search the Shopify App Store for a suitable app with social media functionality. Another alternative is to employ a Shopify store development services expert to create a bespoke theme.

The Final Thought

As we conclude this exploration into the realm of e-commerce and online store development, the significance of choosing the right platform stands evident. Shopify, with its versatile toolkit and array of features, stands as an exceptional choice for anyone seeking to venture into the digital marketplace. Its ability to offer customization, ease of use, secure transactions, and scalability has been outlined as six compelling reasons within this guide.

Embracing Shopify website development services isn't merely a decision; it's a strategic move to position your online store at the forefront of a competitive digital landscape. It’s a pathway to providing a seamless and delightful shopping experience for customers while empowering merchants to build and grow their businesses with confidence. With Shopify, the future of e-commerce appears vibrant and prosperous, inviting businesses to embark on this journey with the promise of success and innovation. So if you are also looking to enhance your Shopify store development services then contact IBR Infotech

[random-movie-ideas]

So, Bizarro's got a bit of that Frankenstein/Mewtwo aspect to him, so we'll lean into that:

Bizarro won't appear until a little into the second act, created by Professor Hamilton and Lex Luthor using DNA stolen by Hamilton during his and Clark's experiments with Kryptonite. He'll be designed to have all the powers of Clark but engineered in such a way as to have the opposite effects to the various forms of Kryptonite, as well as an in-built submissive gene that makes him unable to harm or disobey Lex.

His growth process doesn't quite go as planned and he comes out misshapen and deformed. When he is woken up, he immediately flies into a destructive animalistic rage, Metallo trying to keep him contained but getting ragdolled as a result, until Lex comes in and orders him to stop. Bizarro stops immediately.

Lex, Hamilton, and Metallo work with Bizarro. Over time, he starts to develop intelligence, his mind having some of the inherent qualities of Clark's personality and something more like shards of his memories cropping up as random flashes. He learns to speak but struggles to do so, and is trained to use his powers by Metallo. He starts to yearn to want to be free, to be a normal person, but Lex reprimands him when he does so. He is taught about Superman, a person he was created to destroy, and Bizarro's yearning focuses in on him and turns into jealousy.

After Metallo draws Clark out and ends up defeated by him, Bizarro is released, going after Clark just as he's been instructed. Clark tries to fight him using Kryptonite gathered from Hamilton, but Bizarro turns out to have the opposite effects, gaining enhanced strength from the green. He overpowers Clark and is about to kill him when Lois rushes to his side.

Bizarro pauses upon seeing her, her face being one of his most prominent memory shards, one tied to a powerfully strong emotional reaction. This causes Bizarro to react volatilely, grabbing her and flying away with her back to Lexcorp.

Once there, Lex reprimands him cruelly for his failure to destroy Superman and for bringing a civilian right to their headquarters. Lex and Lois then get into a heated debate, with Bizarro confused by the different messages they are feeding him, both his mental and physical state starting to deteriorate. Lois starts to see him as just a confused and lost soul with no understanding of anything and takes pity on him.

When Clark comes to attack Lexcorp, Bizarro is commanded to destroy him. Metallo stands with him and they fight Superman. Superman manages to overpower them both this time, using various forms of Kryptonite in clever ways to defeat him. Clark nearly kills Bizarro, but Lois stops him just in time.

Bizarro, angry at his loss, throws a tantrum. He is reprimanded again by Lex, who confronts Superman and tells him why he feels the way he does. Bizarro doesn't understand most of it, simply wanting to make Lex proud and not be weak to Clark anymore. He sees a chunk of blue kryptonite broken off during the battle, thinking that if it makes Clark a powerless human, it should make him nearly unstoppable. He grabs it and swallows it whole before anyone can stop him.

Instead of just making him powerful, it starts to mutate and warp him even more than before, giving him immense power but also clouding his mind and stripping him of his own self-control. He flied into an uncontrollable rage and starts destroying everything in sight, fulfilling every single one of Lex's fears about Superman. Superman and Metallo work together to stop him but he is too powerful for them. In a moment of lucidity, he pleads with them both to stop him.

Clark opts to lead him out into space and up toward the sun. Once they get there, Clark grapples with him, using the sun's light to enhance his own strength while weakening Bizarro. As one last gift of mercy, Clark presses his head against Bizarro's, sharing with him some of his happiest memories, before throwing him into the sun. As Bizarro plunges into it, he smiles for the first time, enjoying those last few happy memories.

I think this works for Bizarro, making him mostly an innocent whose entire life was doomed from the start by the actions of his creator, with his desire to please his creator and his yearning for the life denied him leading him to become the very thing his creator feared. Also, plunging him into the sun feels like one of those ways he could "come back" later if we wanted him too. (Also, absolutely sows the seeds for Hank Henshaw later if a flare goes off at the same time).

Superman Concept Movie II

CLARK'S CHARACTER ARC

This next movie would function as a sequel to Superman: Son of Krypton, which I previously laid out a plot for. As such, it would also be a piece of a larger cinematic universe, and so, between this movie and that, we would have also seen Supergirl get her own standalone movie, separating her off to her own adventures. We would also have likely seen at least one Justice League movie, preferably one that resulted in catastrophic collateral damage, for the purposes of our character arc here. Let's begin:

Clark will start out on Earth, still acting as its protector even though Kara is off on her own adventures and the Kandorians have been relocated to a new planet by the Green Lantern Corps. He still maintains his close relationship with Lois Lane and his parents. (I believe I want to start working toward Lois and Clark's marriage somewhere around here, so an early scene could be a proposal or something; I say this because it makes sense for them to be married and expecting Jon Kent by the time of the third movie facing Doomsday). Either way, Clark is in a happy state, one way or another.

He will find himself attacked by a cyborg calling himself Metallo. Clark will fight against him, but will struggle, finding that Metallo's enhancements allow him to nearly mimic Clark's strength and abilities. Metallo will open his chest and reveal a chunk of Kryptonite at his heart, which will disable Clark and cause him to lose. Confident in his victory, Metallo will fly away.

Clark will return to his home and be patched up by his parents and Lois. Clark will express concern and frustration, that more Kryptonite exists on Earth, having believed Brainiac had the full collection. He fears that with that stuff around, he will no longer to protect the Earth that he loves. He comes to the conclusion that he needs to learn everything he can about the stuff and what he can do about it.

Despite the risks, he chooses to contact a scientist, Prof. Emil Hamilton, and seek his aid in understanding Kryptonite. Hamilton proves only too eager to help Superman, which Clark brushes off. He chooses to undergo experiments.

Working together for a while, Clark and Hamilton will test Kryptonite's effects using a chunk Clark had broken off during his fight with Metallo. Bombarding it with different types of energy temporarily changes its color, each one showing different effects (you could have a fun montage here, depending on the tone). Clark and the professor will examine the effects of each and devise counter-measures for them all. Clark will also bond with Hamilton, sharing with him why he fights as a hero, causing some guilt within Hamilton.

After a short while, Metallo will return. Clark will launch into battle against him, this time prepared against the stuff. After a brief fight, Clark will break open Metallo's chest piece and rip the chunk from it. Metallo will appear unfazed by his defeat, as Clark is blindsided by an attack from a much stronger foe.

Clark will turn to see a near-clone of himself, except bigger and a bit deformed, a Bizarro version of himself. The Bizarro will fight him, matching him perfectly in strength and speed, even outmatching him in it, and proving not only immune to Kryptonite, but seeming to get an energy boost from it. Lois, having been suspicious of Hamilton the moment Clark started working with him, tries to intervene and tell Clark that Hamilton had been stealing his DNA, that he had helped create Metallo and Bizarro. The fight ends with Bizarro grabbing Lois and flying away with her.

After healing from his injuries, Clark goes to Hamilton's lab in a rage, demanding to know where Lois is. He finds only Hamilton there, all his equipment cleared out. An argument ensues between them when Hamilton reveals that he was just trying to protect the Earth too. At this point, we'd call back to the fight with Brainiac of the first movie, and the devastation that happened in the previous Justice League, with Hamilton asking Clark what happens to humanity if someday he ever snaps. What chance would humanity have? So when he was contacted by a financier wanting to create a safeguard against Superman, he agreed to do it. He'd only come to regret his actions after coming to see the good man that Clark was. He finally tells him that the man behind all this is Lex Luthor.

Clark flies to Lexcorp, finding Lex Luthor there with Metallo and Bizarro (Lois might be still captive, or she might have already caused some trouble, haven't fleshed that out yet). A fight will ensue, with Clark using his knowledge that Bizarro's responses to Kryptonite will be reversed, and uses that against him. He will be about to kill Bizarro when Lois will stop him. Lex will look at him like he had justified every fear he had ever had about him. Clark will realize what Hamilton meant about the danger he poses.

I'm not quite sure how we go from here yet. I will flesh that out as I explore Lex, Metallo, and Bizarro's character arcs in turn. I feel that this being quite a ways in to a Cinematic Universe makes the themes a little shaky without the rest of the world fleshed out yet, but I do very much like a) truly exploring the aspects of Kryptonite and actively finding countermeasures against it, and b) the most interesting dynamics people like Lex Luthor and Emil Hamilton have with Superman is them recognizing the threat he would pose if he stopped being a hero, and taking measures of varying severity against him, and it's a moral quandary that doesn't have many great answers. On the one hand, you let Superman hang around, running the risk he will snap someday and kill everyone, but on the other hand, casting others out for fear of what they could do has always been the underlying trait of the worst of humanity. And so, I am abstaining from writing a conclusion to the arc for now, as nothing quite feels satisfying yet. (And, well, the third movie featuring Doomsday supplies a real conclusion to that question, so whatever answer here just kind of has to be a fill-in).

[stupid-damn-harp]

Notes for “Rural Boys Watch the Apocalypse”

“Your hand’s in mine”

This poem doesn’t explicitly state the relationship between the two boys, and this adds to it. The two characters could be in a romantic relationship, and this choice comes with a variety of implications given the traditional christian liturgy that’s repeated throughout the poem. If this is the end of the world, where will these two gay boys end up? Are they thinking about their afterlife? Are they wondering if they can stay together? Whether they’ll be with their family? There’s so many questions that these boys might be thinking of if they’re in this sort of relationship. They could also just be very close neighbors. Later in the poem he specifies his “doomsday neighbors,” which might be a sign that the other boy and his family might be the other neighbors, or it might have just been explaining the neighbor’s behavior. Another option could be that they’re best friends that are so comfortable with each other that holding hands feels comforting, but not completely natural because the narrator thought it was important to point it out. 

“waters turnin' to blood”

The two boys obviously share the same or similar religious views, and are probably at least somewhat learned or devout in their faith. I grew up reading the scriptures and I can’t say off the top of my head what a biblical apocalypse looks like - but this boy can, and relates it to the other boy, expecting him to also understand.

“But there are only the fallin’ stars”

I’m struck that the “only” thing is the falling stars. It’s almost as if he’s saying that the rest of the world has already ended, already vanished from his view and his mind. All he can see is the stars falling, and it doesn’t matter anymore if the rest of the world or the people around him still exist. He’s somehow writing himself and the other boy off as unimportant in the face of this global catastrophe. This line also stands outside of any stanza, forcing us to pay attention to the entire phrase and inviting a degree of separation from the stanzas before and after. There are only the falling stars, and that’s important. More important than what this boy thought would happen, more important than telling where the initial warning came from. The present events hold more weight.

"'Least the weather channel warned us about it,"

I wonder why the weather channel is the one that predicted this apocalypse? He mentions falling stars, which might be under their jurisdiction, but I feel like higher-up governmental agencies would be in charge of announcing and predicting the literal end of the world. 

“are loadin' the back”

If the stars are falling, and this is the end of the world, where do these neighbors think they’re going? Where do they think that they’ll be safe?

“under large whitewashed crosses”

This line is especially striking given the religious imagery throughout the entire poem. Jesus was a middle eastern Jewish man, and that’s something that many Christians in America conveniently forget. Many people in this religion spread around views that those with darker skin are children of ham (as we see in the Poisonwood Bible) or suggest that the native american people are really the descendants of the Lamanites, so their darker skin was a curse from God. These crosses that the neighbors are taking with them embody all of these harmful beliefs. The religion itself is whitewashed. The crosses are described as large, and I’m having trouble modulating that size within my own thoughts. On one hand, they have to be small enough to fit within the back of a pickup truck. But, are these crosses large as in “human sized and could be used for their original purpose”? Large as in “larger than handheld so they seem giant, but they’re best suited for yard decorations”? Either way, I’m taking it as a symbol of how contemporary christians take up the most space in religious discussions in America and quite often interpret anything different from their blatantly obvious beliefs as an attack on their faith. Think Boomers yelling about the “war on christmas” type. These crosses are not only whitewashed but they’re large too, visibly screaming to anyone looking in their direction that the drivers of the truck belong to the Christian faith and that they’re going to be confrontational about it. Everything else is stacked under the crosses, giving them the most significance and the most visibility.

“I wanna see ‘em”

Honestly, this line slightly confused me. These women seem quite knowledgeable about the events foretold in the bible. But it’s also stated in the bible that human beings never see angels or God’s true form because we wouldn’t be able to handle it. Surely they must know that? Do they think that these rules will be lifted simply because the world is ending? Are they hoping to see these wonders even though it would have untold consequences on her own mortal form? Don’t get me wrong, I would also love to see an angel in their full and confusing glory, but I don’t have enough of a death wish to actually follow through with that.

“their calloused hands”

Interesting imagery here. Typically angels are described using delicate and ethereal words, or sometimes words that just remind us that angels are spirits and don’t have physical bodies. But the word “calloused.” Calluses imply hard work. Calluses mean rough hands, dirty feet, and tough love. Calluses mean a physical body that is growing stronger. There’s nothing delicate about calluses. There’s nothing inherently holy about calluses. The working class has calluses, and the so-called “perfect” bodies of models and influencersnever have calluses. But here these heavenly beings are, rough hands and all. Perhaps he’s envisioning someone he knows as an angel, and thus opted for the more human-feeling approach. Perhaps he’s hoping that the people of earth are fighting to stay here, fighting to continue living, and the mere act of carrying these writhing and fiery people causes so much work for the angels that they develop these human characteristics of calluses. Perhaps he’s hoping that he’ll become an angel over some darker fate. I’m not sure what implications were intended with this line, but it feels beautiful and wholly human to me, and I love it for that.

“stupid damn harp”

This is the first of two instances where the narrator uses the phrase “stupid dumb” to describe something of the archangel Gabriel’s. Both times he isn’t describing Gabriel himself, just things that he possesses in traditional stories. This could be a nervous boy making jokes in an unsure time as a coping mechanism, but it also could be the author showing his own disillusionment with the traditional christian stories and traditions. 

Additionally, the combination of “stupid” and “damn” here is pretty interesting. In Christian mythology, any deity in heaven (e.g. God, angels, Jesus, etc) possesses all the knowledge in the universe. This boy referring to the archangel’s belongings as “stupid” doesn’t reflect this. It almost feels like he wants to criticize the angel himself but he knows there might be consequences, so he settles for calling his iconic harp and tunic the words he wants to call the angel himself. He’s also using the word “damn,” which in biblical contexts typically has hellish connotations. If someone is damned, then they’ve been condemned to hell. The archangel Gabriel is the literal antithesis of that idea, so it’s interesting to see this word applied to anything involving him at all. 

“moanin’ like a sinner in hell”

This comparison continues the interesting dichotomy between heaven/hell that we find throughout the poem. The doomsday neighbors’ truck not only holds large whitewashed crosses, but also sounds like someone suffering in hell. Weirdly enough, it seems to give us a view at the sort of Christians that think they’re doing God’s work (holding the whitewashed crosses), but once they get started towards their destination, it becomes more and more obvious that they’re not being entirely truthful (sounding like a sinner in hell). 

I’m also struck by the mildness and neutrality in this sentence. Usually when someone’s talking about those in hell, the verb used is “screaming,” not “moaning.” Is this wishful thinking on the narrator’s part, or just a description of the truck’s engine using terminology he already knows? The narrator doesn’t seem to be passing judgement with this comparison either, it comes across as an observation rather than a condemnation of the neighbors’ actions. His family chose not to leave, their family is leaving right now, and those two actions aren’t compared or judged here.

*

This poem was chosen for the anthology because of the twisted biblical themes tempered by a slight homoerotic vibe. From the beginning of the Abrahamic religions to today, LGBt+ individuals have been left out of religious contexts at best and damned to hell at worst. Given the author’s experience as a gay trans man, I’m reading the narrator and the other “rural boy” as lovers. The poem contains many instances where the narrator invokes sacred and profane imagery in reference to the same objects or beings, and gives a new sort of “hot take’ on the biblical apocalypse - contributing perfectly to the theme of altered religion.

*

Bibliographical Information:

This poem was posted on Tumblr, and the original source is reblogged below. 

[rametarin]

Watched a playthrough of FF6 recently.

I guess between all the bouts of grinding and level exploring I never realized just how melancholy that game is in tone when you focus on the main story from A to Z.

It’s not depressing, but goodness gracious. Most of the character development is tragic.

Like, Terra. What is she? She’s introduced as the captive mind-slave and personality robbed war machine for an actual evil empire. She’s the bi-racial spawn of fairies and humans (Fight me on that term. I dare you. I dare you, fucker. Fight me on my classification of her father’s race as fey.) that was an unwitting attack dog. Upon heading to a neutral arctic country, she meets a frozen fey-dragon entombed in ice. Trying to interface with her causes her machine to explode and brings her into the care of a man in town that opposes the empire. He frees her mind. Now this poor little half-fairy faun has to cope with the existential terror of suddenly being a person instead of a CPU for war machine.

So she makes friends with a world traveling treasure hunter, meets a dashing young engineer and prince of a techno-kingdom, his brother the weightlifting kung-fu dude, and joins an anti-empire resistance movement, knowing just the weight of what’d happen if that empire gained control of all the fairy-magic.

Well not too long after she defends Narshe from another Imperial attack and attempt to seize the entombed fairy-dragon. Again, she interfaces with the fairy-dragon. This time, the fairy-dragon awakens the other half of her heritage.

Terra sees her own transformed body and flies into a complete dysphoric tantrum where she flies off trying to escape from her own body, burning through the sky and screaming like a pink furred, yellow eyed demon. She burns parts of entire towns just buzzing them gibbering for human contact and help and all anybody sees with her whizzing by is a screaming monster before their houses and shops catch fire or are blown apart.

The party locate her in the top room of the tallest building in a city full of liars, thieves and degenerates, but she’s bedridden. Any time she wakes up she freaks out and knocks herself out or passes out at the reality of her own transformed state. They don’t know exactly how to help her. Then another fey person appears and lays it down; she’s not human. She’s not just some garden variety experiment from the Empire to endow human beings with magic. She’s full on, real deal, offspring of a Fair Folk and a human woman that strayed too close to the Other Side. The man reveals he escaped from the Empire’s torturous mechanical fortress where they suck the magic right out of the fairy-people and reduce them to immobile, pathetic lumps of the creatures they used to be. And also that they turn into magic crystals when they pass away. Where he proceeds to just.. let himself die for the party’s benefit. They receive their first Summons and ways to learn magic from the crystals.

His only request is they find their way to the Empire’s magitek facility, free the fairy-folk, and shut the abominable site down.

Well, after a detour to get an airship, they do so. They find a whole bunch of fey-folk in glass tubes being drained of life. Among them, Terra’s father. Maduin.  But it’s too late. The Fey-Folk explain that their lives have been drained too much- there’s nothing left to save. They gift their remains to the party to help stop the Empire and become magicite/materia.

Only when you bring back  the still psychoactive remains of Terra’s father, let him interface with Terra, let him show her her origins from HIS perspective, how he met her mother, how they formed a relationship in the fey-world, show him how the Emperor and the Empire invaded the magic realm, does Terra stop seeing her existence as monstrous and relax back into her human state. Now able to transform.

After you confront the Empire and fail, causing the world to go through a reshaping apocalypse as the bad guy co-opts the god statues, your party is scattered throughout the remade world.

Terra has taken up residence in a town that was devestated by Kefka’s godlike Light of Judgement- basically a laser beam that sundered the world. Where most of the adults perished protecting the children from horrible monsters and fiends unleashed from the broken world. They call he mama, now. She’s taking care of dozens of orphans in a town ravaged by destruction.

But by the time you find her again, she’s lost her will to fight. In trying to defend the town from an ancient monster, Phunbaba. She gets beaten near to death. So, the party rescues her. It looks like Terra is never going to rejoin your party and help save the world. She has to mother hen these lost orphans.

You come back later and fight Phunbaba again. Terra emerges and goes Super Fairy Saiyan and joins your party to fight him. After defeating him, she stands there in the town, monster-up. The children approach her and recognize her as Terra- whom they just call, ‘mama.’

She explains that she loves them, but has to leave them to join the party and help save the world from monsters like that. But she’d be back for them. Rather than be afraid of the Burning Pink Monster, they praise her and wish her well on her adventure and hope she returns home before the 17-18 year old couple have their first baby.

Moving on, they finally meet Kefka in his tower. Which he has dubbed, his monument to non-existence. Kefka doesn’t want to do anything but end life itself or make it suffer. That’s his whole bag. He finds amusement and joy in the suffering and oblivion of other people.  Final fight ensues. They win.

But the tower starts falling apart. They have to escape. While fleeing, the fey-crystals start disappearing- without the goddess statues and Kefka grounding the two different worlds, the feywild and the material world, the two are separating again. Maduin contacts his daughter again and tells her she is of two worlds; there’s a risk that she may be drawn into the fey-world with them, or simply ripped apart from the genes out. Unless she has a strong attachment to this world and the people in it, then she might... MIGHT..... have a chance to survive and live in that world. If she believes hard enough.

Terra transforms again into her flying pink furry monster mode and guides the airship out of the collapsing heap of a tower/castle as it comes down, as magic starts to fade from the world. Like a big monstrous Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

She starts to fade out. Losing her magic. She reverts, and the airship catches up, where she lands on the deck in a heap. Checking to make sure she’s still alive, she’s just barely. But she’s alive. Her Fey-side forever shut off, however.

She went from personality robbed, shell of a person, to confused purposeless soul screaming into the ether not knowing where she came from or what her purpose was, to understanding who she was and where she came from, to making contact with humanity around her, to eventually saving it and attaching herself to the planet and its people strong enough to escape death and save her friends.

There’s no saving the people that died when the world went to shit, there’s only rebuilding and moving on. But, she did it.

Terra’s story is probably the longest in the game, but they’re all basically similar.

The biggest problem is if someone tried to make this game into a movie, probably the whiplash of the major plot points would just be a cryfest.

[softonicsolutions]

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[watchesreview]

Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept “Tribute to La Côte-aux-Fées”

The story of Piaget began in 1874. Georges-Édouard Piaget, just 19 years of age, felt a passionate calling to horology. He set up his original workshop on the family farm in La Côte-aux-Fées, a small village in the Swiss Jura mountains. Ever the perfectionist, Georges-Édouard crafted precision movements and watch components, working to his mantra, ‘always do better than necessary’. The company’s burgeoning reputation allowed it to prosper and before long it had grown to become a family business. Georges-Édouard’s son, Timothée, was instrumental in transforming the company’s focus from movement maker to that of luxury watchmaker.

It was the third generation Piaget’s, Gérald and Valentin, who recognised that in order to truly flourish and reach their full potential, they would need to take the company global.

The contribution of Valentin was instrumental to the creation of many of today’s collections, especially its ultra-slim timepieces. It was his vision that led to the introduction of the first Piaget ‘Altiplano’ back in 1957; a model inspired by the vast untouched plateaus within the Cordillera Andes region of South America. Equipped with the hand-wound calibre 9P, which measured just 2mm, this inaugural Altiplano was so thin that it was almost beyond the comprehension of many visitors to the 1957 Basel Watch Fair. The brand’s mastery of microengineering subsequently enabled it to launch an ultra-thin automatic calibre, the 12P, that included a micro-rotor, yet still only measured 2.3mm. Where Piaget led the way, many brands followed, often basing their ultra-thin pieces on the 9P and 12P calibres.

Piaget was not the originator of the micro-rotor, that honour is widely attributed to Universal Geneve which patented the device in 1954. However, the brand has been one of the invention’s greatest advocates, with the tiny embedded oscillating weights featuring in many of its high-end timepieces.

The Altiplano has remained at the forefront of Piaget’s collections ever since its inception, with its ageless styling standing the test of time. Numerous calibres and world-first achievements punctuate the Altiplano’s enviable timeline, demonstrating the brand’s pre-eminence within this segment. The latest ultra slim creation is the Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept “Tribute to La Côte-aux-Fées”.

Although the model’s sumptuous green tones are new, the styling upholds the design language set in place three years ago. Around this time, Piaget had unsurprisingly witnessed fierce and very credible competition, most noticeably from Italian luxury Maison, Bulgari. As a result, in 2018, Piaget showcased a seemingly unbeatable prototype, the ‘Altiplano Ultimate Concept’.

This new ‘record breaking’ prototype proved to be a breathtaking composition and the notable level of interest in the watch led to it ultimately going into full production and hitting the market in 2020. Measuring just 2mm thick, the watch took three of Piaget’s key engineers some four years to develop. However, their efforts were rewarded and model is now subject to five patents.

To achieve the seemingly impossible, the brand had to use a radically different approach. The principle at the heart of their solution was theoretically simple, to fuse the case and the movement into one entity. To execute this idea, Piaget needed to produce a case that delivered sufficient rigidity and robustness, something that was not easy to achieve given the model’s 2mm thickness. The designers knew they had to look beyond traditional metals such as steel, gold and platinum. Instead, Piaget opted for a new high-tech alloy based on the highly rigid element, Cobalt. In addition to its durability, Cobalt has excellent corrosion resistance. Furthermore, its silvery bluish hue can be polished to deliver the supreme finish demanded by Piaget’s sophisticated clientele. Perhaps the simplest looking component of the entire watch is the winding crown. Perfectly integrated into the case at the 3 o’clock position, the crown comes with its own special motorised winding and setting tool. Once fully wound, the 4Hz P900-UC calibre will run for 45 hours.

With the case effectively becoming the mainplate, Piaget had to engineer components so lithe that they would fit into the case and sit under the crystal, which in itself measures a mere 0.2mm thick. The Piaget 900P-UC calibre, featuring 13 jewels, lays its soul bare in stunning style. Just off the six o’clock position, the mainspring dominates the lower dial estate, emblazoned with the Altiplano moniker. Feeding off the mainspring, the layered cogs of the gear train snake their way to the escapement. Sitting between the 9 and 10 o’clock positions, the mesmeric regulating organ sports a balance wheel of monobloc construction. The gear train appears suspended, as does the balance, supported from behind using ceramic ball bearings. Being skeletonised, owners will fully appreciate the sublime 3D architecture of the slim model’s display.

Universally appreciated across the horological world, it is no surprise that the advent of the ‘Altiplano Ultimate Concept’ saw Piaget win the most prestigious prize in watchmaking, the Aiguille D’Or at the 2020 edition of the GPHG (Fondation du Grand Prix d’Hologerie de Genève).

One year later, Piaget has taken inspiration from the natural surroundings of its home in ‘La Côte-aux-Fées’ and produced the latest iteration of its mechanical marvel.

A rich forest green finish, combining ALD treatment and satin brushing, decorates much of the dial, the bridges and their screws. The chosen shade of green is said to symbolise the lush vegetation surrounding Piaget’s factory and headquarters.

In true Piaget fashion, the time is presented simply and elegantly, off centred at the top of the watch. The sunbrushed green dial features a silver-hued frosted centre and elongated silvery indices. Piaget has kept the hands beautifully simple, in keeping with previous Altiplano references. The hands are slender, green and baton-style. They deliver impressive legibility despite the distraction of the sumptuously appointed openworked dial elements. With green being ‘the colour’ of 2021, Piaget has, once again, proven it is always on-trend.

The Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept “Tribute to La Côte-aux-Fées” is paired with a deep green alligator strap, secured with a simple pin buckle, fashioned from cobalt alloy, matching the case. In further celebration of its heritage, the bridge above the cover of the keyless works is skeletonised to reveal ‘1847’, in reference to the date Georges-Édouard Piaget began his journey.

Such is today’s luxury market, brands such as Piaget are aware that their clients are becoming increasingly discerning, therefore, Piaget offers a bespoke service to accompany its flagship timepiece. Case finishes, including black DLC, dial colours, straps, hands and engraving – just about every aspect of the Altiplano Ultimate Concept – can be personalised to deliver the pinnacle of self-expression. Piaget can only produce a handful of these watches each year and at 408,000 CHF the Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept “Tribute to La Côte-aux-Fées” will always be the preserve of horology’s most affluent devotees.

Presently, Piaget remains the brand to beat in ultra-slim watchmaking. Any brand wishing to compete for their crown will have to delve deep into the world of material science to ‘out slim’ the remarkable Altiplano Ultimate Concept.

[theculturedmarxist]

Essay quam videri

hey, so this election is the first time I’ve been old enough to vote. im not a Democrat; I was doing work for bernies campaign and was pretty heartbroken when he suspended his campaign cause I know that biden is a rapist piece of shit and kamala is a fucking cop. but when the time came to vote in the election I voted for biden anyway cause I was told it would do more to protect people who were harmed by trumps campaign I don’t expect any sort of real change with biden and I worry that electing him will pacify civil unrest and provide people with a false sense of security,, but I felt like I wouldn’t have any right to be upset about trump being re-elected if I didn’t vote but do you think that voting for biden was fundamentally wrong? I’m trying to figure out how to navigate living in an evil system and sometimes I don’t know if it’s better to opt out or to participate and support an evil that is nominally better than another evil just wanted your opinion cause most ppl I know are on that “vote blue no matter who” shit

Hey,

I do understand how you feel. It can be really confusing, and it is a difficult question to come to grips with, trying to navigate an evil system and to minimize the damage your participation in it brings. This isn't an indictment of you personally, but an indictment of the world in which we live. One of the most horrid aspects of Capitalism is the barbarity that it makes us all ineluctably complicit in. Most people participate in the evils of this system through no real desire of their own, but because Capitalism has developed over the centuries a number of means to coerce participation. You can't have slavery without slaves, and there were always slaves because they created the profits that shackled them. That doesn't make picking master's cotton a fundamentally wrong act. You're a captive, and the captive's first duty is to survive, and secondly, to escape.

This ubiquitous coercion naturally makes any mechanism which we are invited to participate in suspicious. This recent election is a prime example: do you vote for this senile, racist, war-mongering, pedophile rapist, or that senile, racist, war-mongering, pedophile rapist? Do you vote for the man who put the people into camps, or vote for the man that built the camps? Do we bear the ills we have, or fly to others we know not of? You're right to be wary of participation. Part of its purpose is to instill a feeling of complicity in the crimes that result, either in yourself, or cast over some other party. The Democrats took advantage of this over the last four years to berate Trump for doing everything that Obama and Biden also did. They did and said the same things during Bush II's presidency. Now they exchange gifts with him and have brunch. It's theater, and they're all in the same troupe.

Do you know what constitutes bourgeois moralism? That it is pointless, epitomized in the phrase "thoughts and prayers!" It's wishing for good rather than doing good, hoping to be passed over by evil instead of working to destroy evil. Why do the bourgeoisie love philanthropy? Because it does nothing to lessen human misery. That is the essence of bourgeois moralism: seeming rather than being. The proletarian has no use for something so impractical, and you should not let yourself be fettered in this way. It will do you no good, nor anyone else. You will merely appear to be doing good, which is far worse than being nakedly evil.

Whether you decide to vote or not, and who you cast it for is entirely your prerogative. Haranguing the voter for participating or not, in a system they do not control, have no voice in, nor any real method of shaping, for people they had no hand in choosing, is nothing but vapid bourgeois moralism. It's a sleight of hand, transferring the guilt for Trump's crimes from the people that perpetrated them—Trump himself, the bourgeois that supports him, the thugs that carry out his orders, and so on, the willful perpetrators—onto you, the individual that had no part in any of it. This tactic is used to assuage the guilt of those who are willfully either complicit in a real sense or complicit in spirit. The same charlatans that try to shame you into voting want you to ignore that they've spent the last four years casually participating in the society that Trump runs, and dutifully supporting his regime with their taxes and commerce, and facilitating it with their compliance. They have nothing to offer you for your vote, because they are bankrupt themselves, bereft of the moral fortitude they fault others for not having. All they want is absolution, and the onus does not lie on you to give it.

That not casting a vote gives you no right to be upset about the outcome of that vote is another facet of this, a fallacious tactic on the part of the bourgeoisie. Not casting a vote is a vote in itself. Your assent and support is something that should be earned, not demanded, or expected, or brow-beaten out of you. If there is no candidate that you believe deserves your vote, then the only responsible choice is to not cast it. To say otherwise is to disembowel the very meaning of democracy. The compulsion of assent renders it meaningless.

With that said, is it fundamentally wrong to vote for Biden?

I think that isn't as useful a question as, what do you hope to accomplish by it? Biden as an alternative to Trump is a false choice—we have Trump _because_ of Biden. He didn't spring from nothingness, after all. Biden, and the rest of the political class at the behest of their corporate donors, have for decades shaped policy, enacted legislation, and brick by brick built the road that brought us to Trump. That is in addition to the Democrats' faux opposition to Trump, and their total collaboration in acting with him and the rest of the Republican party. The danger you want to mitigate is as much the legacy of the Democrats as it is the Republicans. They work in tandem in order to hold the people you wish to shield hostage against you. To put it simply, there is no Trump without Biden.

Yet neither is one exactly like the other. While they are both bourgeois politicians representing bourgeois cliques, they represent different factions of the plutocracy and their interests. Does the US go to war with Iran, or with Russia? Does the US continue to spread fascism in South America or in Southeast Asia? You can choose not to choose, and there is nothing fundamentally wrong with that. You can choose the person that supports bombing country A or the one wanting to sanction country B, and there is nothing fundamentally wrong with that, either. In the grand scheme, your personal, individual vote amounts to very little. You'd might as well fret over which brand of soap you buy at the store, which brand of cereal, or your search engine. If there is no ethical consumption under Capitalism, then it would seem to follow that the only ethical choice is to not consume—to commit suicide. Even if you make your own rope from your own home grown organic hemp, you are still injuring the working class by doing the work of the bourgeoisie for it. Capitalism robs us even of escape in death.

What is fundamentally wrong is casting a vote based on nothing but wishful thinking and delusion, of which "Blue No Matter Who" is a byword. The bourgeois voting for Biden at least has the virtue of voting for their own interest. "Blue No Matter Who" is an affirmation of nihilism, that not only can they do nothing, but they also expect nothing. It isn't a political strategy. It's naked resignation. The consumer society that Capitalism has shaped has induced people to believe that their desires can be bought. Buy this soap and 5% of the sale goes to preserving the rain forest. Donate 30 cents to end starvation in Africa. That is the mindset at work here. The removal of Trump is just another item to add to the cart. Vote, and all the discomfort and ugliness that Trump has made them aware of will go away. Things will go back "to normal." They are deluding themselves that think this is not normal.

Mao himself says that nothing is wholly good or wholly evil. Good may come from evil actions, and evil may result from good actions. Gavrilo Princip had no idea that when he killed two aristocrats that he was setting in motion events that would not only lead to the deaths of millions of people, but also the death of the empires he hated. Your vote is just another small piece of an ongoing, dialectical process of events and actions and decisions leading into and influencing one another, most of which is largely outside of your control. Years from now you might have reason to regret it, or to celebrate it, or maybe even both. Actively making that decision, however the outcome, at least means that you chose to be rather than to seem, and that’s the first step to doing good.