#Pros and cons of using the device

[babystudentcomputer-world-blog]

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[cits-kirby-brainrot]

So what's the deal with galactic nova in your point of view?

(Love your art btw!!)

Galactic Nova Headcanons:

- As a clockwork star, Galactic Nova was created by the Ancients, during a time of peace between both the Physicists and the Mages. It is one in many stars constructed, and are one of the few that saw completion.

- Nova has no soul. It is not a person, but a machine given the vaugest semblance of life. It is unable to have any emotions of its own, physical or emotional, and it's only purpose is to grant wishes to the people that sought it out.

- Galactic Nova is much more magical then it is mechanical. Despite its metallic exterior and the cogs and screws in its interior, the star is run by an ever replenishing source of magic, which keeps it powered on ever after centries. It very well could exist far past the end of time itself.

- Each clockwork star is tied to its one set of keys, which it directly tied to the "life" of the stars. This is why, even when Kirby destroyed Nova when he defeated Marx, can still be summoned ever after being seemingly annihilated. Unless those keys are destroyed, the Nova will continue to exist and can be resummoned as if nothing had happened.

- When Galactic Nova was first created, it sole purpose was to aid in the imprisonment of Galacta Knight. The Ancients were growing increasingly paranoid of the warriors boundless power and needed to contain it as soon as possible. The plan was to wish for Galactic Nova to seal away Galacta Knight and then appointed itself as the then imprisoned hero's warden, to ensure that no one could ever break that seal. Ever.

- Without a soul, however, Nova's vow to the Ancient held little meaning, as it had no sense of obligation. It follows the the orders, still, when ever Galacta Knight is summoned to fight. The most it does is lift the imprisonment spell off temporarily, and then fullfills the wish once more by dragging Galacta Knight back into their prison. Even then, the spell can be broken if the right wish is made.

[godsperfectprincess]

do you know what inconsequential and unrealistic thing i want to be able to do. walk at disneyland. for context i can’t walk for more than a couple hours and i can’t stand for more than like. half an hour MAX and it’s even less in the heat and it’s always hot when i go so i Have to take my wheelchair. but it’s such a pain in the ass and nobody can ever see my outfits

[springismss]

ᱬ⛧ heaven ~ i. midoriya

sum: after years of not seeing him, he finally shows up, asked to join the agency you work at. you remembered him, but did remember you?

pairing: pro hero! izuku midoriya x female pro hero! reader

content: 18+ - mdni. p in v, slight teasing, dirty talk, marking, multiple/implied multiple orgasms, fingering, reader gets called princess/baby/good girl, general NSFW content, aftercare.

a/n: slight spoiler ahead - set in an au where the end events of the manga didn’t happen, where izuku doesn’t lose one for all, still finishes u.a and is currently the world's number one pro. this has been rotting in my drafts for a while, but i didn’t have a chance to edit it. as always, likes, comments and re-blogs are deeply appreciated!

word count: 1.9k

links: bnha/mha masterlist | masterlist

Looking around the semi-crowded street, you let a soft hum of annoyance pass your lips as you continued forward. Due to there being hardly any criminals for the past few days now, you had found yourself, yet again, on patrol on a slow day. Not only were you patrolling, but you also caught glimpses of three other pro heroes who were in the area, looking as bored as you were.

A sudden chime in your ear made you stop as you looked at the other heroes, noticing they were still patrolling and talking to citizens. How odd. Lifting your finger, you tapped on the device and placed your free hand on your hip as you continued to scan the area out of habit. "What’s up?".

"(h/n), can you come back to the office? We have someone coming and we want our best hero here when they arrive". Furrowing your brows, you glanced in the direction of the voice, opening your mouth to question the communication when they spoke again, seemingly reading your mind.

"And yes, it's been cleared. We've heard it's another slow day, so there's no need for you all to be out there".

Letting out a hum, you turned on your heel and began to make your way back to the agency you were working at. "Sure you're not trying to butter me up there? I'll be there in ten".

Walking through the doors, you stretched and sighed softly, the cool air of the air con lapping against your skin felt refreshing. You had a few spare moments before heading to the meeting room, so you opted to grab a drink, making your way to the meeting room not long after.

Opening the door with a click, you noticed quite a few of the other heroes you worked alongside already there. A sea of murmurs greeted you as you greeted them back, taking your place at the side while you all waited for whoever they had made you come back for.

Up front, you saw the owner of the agency standing there with another figure by their side, most likely their assistant, who called you back. "Ahh, (h/n), now that you're here, I can introduce you to the newest hero to join us~". Your boss lifted a hand and motioned to the door as eyes followed, looking at the door that was clicking open again.

Green was the only colour you could focus on as your eyes widened. You had to be seeing things, this couldn't be real, right? You had to be in some sort of dream. Yeah, that's right, a stupid dream. You and the rest of your classmates thought he'd disappeared, seemingly moving away to the other end of the country or beyond.

No one had heard from him in years. Yet there he was, walking past you as everyone followed with their gaze. "~The number one pro hero, Deku". A confident wave and bright smile replaced the once timid and shy movements of the young boy you remembered.

As you tried to wrap your head around what you had just seen, a group began to form around the hero with words of excitement buzzing in the air. By the time you had managed to somewhat comprehend things, the group had disappeared, giving you the perfect time to go over and say hello to an old friend. Would he recognise you? You'd doubted it, but it didn’t hurt to see. "Well, if it isn't Izuku Midoriya in the flesh".

The sudden intrusion of your words, and the fact that his name had been used, seemed to take him by surprise as he took a closer look at your face. It took him a moment longer than usual to put the pieces together, but he got there, eyes widening as you smiled brightly at him. "(y/n)? Is that you?".

Ever since that day when you had both been reunited, the two of you had been virtually inseparable. Spending more time together, be that on missions or in general, had resulted in the two of you becoming close again. Closer than what you both had been before.

Then came the rumours that surrounded you both, some sweet and innocent and others downright dirty. Of course, the latter made Midoriya blush. He couldn't imagine people saying those things, and yet there they were, plain as day. You were nothing more than a friend to him.

Sure, it had been a good few years since he last saw you and the rest of your friends, but he couldn't deny it even if he tried; you had become a beautiful young woman. Foreign feelings stirred deep inside of him, feelings that caused his body and mind to react in ways he hadn’t had since he was a teen. Sure, he'd had partners, but none of them fired him up the way you did.

Feelings he thought he had buried were starting to resurface all over again. Starting to increase each time he was with you until he couldn't handle them any more, the way he felt became too much to bear. Doing the only thing he could think of at that time, acting on how he felt around you, something he should have done back when you were both younger.

Everything seemed to move in a bit of a blur. One minute, you were sitting on the couch in Midoriya's house with him, TV on in the background as you both sat talking about various things. The next minute, you were on your back, pinned to the cushions as you both shared a hot kiss. The feelings that poured out between you both during that kiss had been pent up for some time.

A dark blush covered his face as he pulled back, trying to catch his breath, frame hovering over your panting form. "I-I can't take it anymore, (y/n), I-I need to do s-something~".

In what felt like mere seconds to you, articles of clothing had been scattered all over the floor before thick digits thrusted into your wet cunt, walls stretching deliciously making you whine out at the burning desire you felt again. "Hah, Izuku, p-please. I need you".

His fingers disappeared, causing you to whine out from the sudden emptiness before his stout cock began to press deep within you. Pressing past the ring of resistance, as desperate moans sounded. The overwhelming feeling of Midoriya stretching you made your back arch, hips wriggling as he buried himself deep inside. The pro hero took a moment to savour the feeling of your walls pulsating tightly around his cock, your needy cunt desperately trying to keep him there.

“Shit, you’re gripping me so good princess. Like that pretty pussy was made for me”. Those words alone had you moaning out, hands grabbing any part of him you could. You had to keep yourself sane.

With the slow pull back of his hips, you gasped slightly as the emptying feeling until you felt him thrust hard back into you. You swear if your eyes could roll any further back than they were already, they would. Bringing your legs up, you wrapped them around his waist, ankles locking behind his back as you pulled him closer to you. Your fingers dug into his forearms, nails leaving crescent moon marks as you tried to ground yourself.

Green eyes glanced at the fucked out look on your face, before dragging down your body, watching the way your tits jiggled with each desperate thrust. Watching the way your body bounced in time with his movements, the small sheen starting to cover your body. He was eager to show you how much he needed and wanted you, even after all these years. "F-Fuck, why did I wait this long to get in this cunt of yours?".

The words caught you off guard as a loud mewl slipped past your lips, hands flying to his back before you dragged your nails down, red marks being left against pale skin as you arched further into his body.

You could feel that knot in the pit of your gut tighten, and you knew, knew it wouldn’t be too long before you were crying out from the pleasure. You could already hear how wet you were, messy sloshing noises only added to the way you were feeling. "Izu, fuck, I-I'm gonna~".

His rough thrusts never ceased as he reached between you both, pad of his thumb rubbing circles on your clit as his fingers pressed against the small bump he was creating inside you. “Come on, baby, let go for me, want to feel you all over”.

All it took was a few more harsh thrusts to have you lose your sanity, to have your back arch beautifully as you gasped out. Broken cry of Midoriya’s name sounded from your throat as your vision blurred. You were almost sure you felt some of your slick squirt out, no doubt coating not only his cock and thighs, but the sofa beneath you.

The overwhelming feeling of feeling full took over your now overly sensitive cunt, breathy moans sounding louder. “That’s a good girl, but I'm far from done, princess".

Before long, you’d lost all sense of time as you continued to be fucked senseless by the man above you.

Your legs were numb, your clit and cunt were overly stimulated and your body began to grow tired. Despite that, you felt another wave of euphoria nearing, gripping Midoriya's arm as you anchored yourself, a strangled sob left your throat as tears slipped from your eyes. Your nails were sure to leave more marks, marks that would no doubt bleed, not that the pro seemed to mind.

Deep moans sounded from above you as you turned your watery, glassy stare to the man responsible for the state you were in. You could tell he was close as his thrusts became sloppy, desperately rutting into you as he chanced his own euphoria. After a few more sloppy thrusts, Midoriya let out a guttural moan, hips stalling as he filled your cunt with his cum. “F-Fuck, that’s it (y/n), take it all. Going to fill you so full you’ll be dripping me for days”. The hot fluid seeping deep within you as sparks of his quirk flashed around you both.

Lifting your arm, you brought a hand up to his face and cupped it, guiding him down to your lips as you held him close. You took a moment to press a soft kiss to the corner of his lips, humming softly as you mumbled against the skin. “I love you, Izuku”.

The words took him by surprise, green eyes widening as they looked down at you, face still flushed as hair clung to you, offering his own sweet smile a moment after. “I know you do, and I love you too, (y/n)”.

Wrapping his arms around you as best he could, he pulled his cock out of you. A moan of loss sounded from you before you felt yourself being moved, held close against his chest as he carried your sore body to the bathroom, helping clean you up once you were settled in the hot water.

A thumb rubbed the small of your back in a comforting manner. No words needed to be spoken, but at that point, you both knew what you were to each other. The feelings you both held were finally shared for the other to feel.

Although you had both been caught up in the throes of pleasure a few minutes ago, nothing could have prepared you for the words that were uttered next.

"Next time, I’ll show you that blackwhip is good for something other than restraining villains".

© springismss 2025 - don’t repost, copy, translate, steal or modify.

[effinbirds]

Your pal Effin' Birds did a cover for issue #5 of Sweet Paprika: Open For Business, out June 4th from Image. Tell your local comic book shop that you want Cover D, aka the Dog In Heaven cover, order code 0425IM410. https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/mirka-andolfos-sweet-paprika-open-for-business-5-of-5

Huge thanks to Steve Orlando for wanting me on this project, and to Mostafa Moussa for his inks that pulled the whole thing together.

Here's me 'n Mos at Dragon Con last year, when he delivered the finished inks. Feel free to identify my excellent cosplay.

Here's the lucky Effin' Birds fan (whose name I do not remember and I feel really bad about it) who snagged the original just hours hours after I saw it for the first time.

And here's a photo from last summer at Freddy Beach Fan Fest in New Brunswick, Canada, where, if you look closely, you can see me figuring out the dog.

computer, enhance

TECH NERD SHIT: Someone is gonna ask, so that's a ReMarkable 2 with a Staedtler Mars Lumograph Digital stylus. This was my go-to combo for both writing and drawing until recently when I upgraded to a ReMarkable Paper Pro. It's an upgrade in almost every way: colour, storage, speed, battery life. I'm a little bummed that the Paper Pro uses a proprietary stylus, though, because one of the joys of the 2 was this wide world of input devices that have different feels in the hand and different tactile feedback (harder and softer tips, different barrels, etc). The combo of the Staedtler barrel, a hard Mitsubishi / WACOM tip (stolen from the Mitsubishi Hi-Uni Digital stylus, my second-favourite, just a little too short for my big hands), and the pebbled glass of the ReMarkable 2 convinced my body that I was working with a pencil on paper and made me instantly comfortable.

[kaciidubs]

Confiscated

❣ Summary: He was going a little too crazy on the new Fans app, and you would swiftly reign that energy back in. ❣  ❣ Word Count: 791 ❣ Warnings: Slice of life, fluff, humor, sexual innuendos, implied smut, mention of Bubble and Fans messages, Chris is a flirt and menace to stays, Reader teaches him the 'fuck around and find out' clause ❣  ❣ Female! Reader [No use of Y/N] | You/Your pronouns ❣  ❣ Additional Tags: Chan is referred to as Chris, Christopher Bahng, Bahng, and Baby, Reader is referred to as Baby, this was a wild time for stayville, lightly edited ❣ Stray Kids Masterlist ❣ General Masterlist

Tap tap tap. Send. Switch. Tap tap tap tap. Send.

He was having too much fun with making stays go wild - something about making them have the same reaction as he did, simply pushing him to continue on with his extravagant behavior. 

From Bubble to the new - and arguably buggy - Fans app, he was giggling up a storm in his bed as he watched various reactions begin to pour in from his not-so-subtle flirtatious comments and innuendos.

However, what he failed to remember was one stay was considerably close by, and her reaction wasn’t contained behind the screen of his phone.

“Christopher Bahng!”

His heart nearly jumped out of his chest as he narrowly avoided dropping his phone on his face, eyes shooting to the slightly cracked door of the bedroom.

The sound of footsteps swiftly followed suit before the door swung open to reveal your flustered, astonishingly enraged face as you held your phone up.

“What the fuck are you doing?!”

“Um…” He squinted, unsure what he was supposed to garner from the black screen, “Talking to stay?”

“Oh, I know you’re talking to stay, mister ‘you know what’s sweeter than Dango Pudding’!”

The same heart that almost jumped out of his chest now fell to his ass - he could feel the heat of blush beginning to take over his face and ears.

“You still have my bubble?!”

You scoffed incredulously, “I- That- This isn’t about me! This is about you! You and your three addresses!”

His hands flew to his face, covering his eyes with an embarrassed groan, “No, no, no, please!”

“Nuh uh, it’s too late for begging, Bahng. Now, what’s this about some,” you paused, and he could hear the barely held back giggle threatening to break through your angered facade, “‘think you can handle it?’, huh? Or, ‘replying won’t be the only thing’, eh?”

Chris let out a shocked gasp as he scrambled to sit up, “You got Fans?! Baby, really?!”

“Baby? So I’m just ‘baby’? Not your-” A small snort escaped you, trying your best to keep a straight face, “-precious little Dango Pudding cup? Is that why you decided to stay on Bubble after wreaking havoc?”

“This can’t be happening - this cannot be happening right now.” Falling back onto the mattress, he stared up at the ceiling as he contemplated the pros and cons of simply disappearing off the face of the earth.

The bed dipped at the presence of new weight, hooking your leg over his hips to delightfully settle on his lap with ease.

“I’m confiscating your phone.” You hummed gleefully, leaning over him to grab the device currently abandoned beside his head.

“You’re what?” Angling his head, he caught your eyes with a pout, “You can’t do that!”

“Baby, you’re being extremely horny on main - trust me, I’m doing everyone a favor. Besides, aren’t you allegedly ‘cleaning your room’?” Looking around the bedroom pointedly, there was barely a hint of anything out of place, “Doesn’t look too dirty in here, but I’m sure we can make a mess to clean up.”

Your words had him choking on air, gasping and spluttering for words while a warm blush settled over him like a blanket.

“I- What- That’s- And you’re saying I’m the horny one?!”

Gasping in mock shock, you pressed your finger into his bare chest, “I’m like this because of you! Do you know how hard it is to try and watch a movie while your significant other is boldly sharing double entendres? How he’d do more than reply to his ‘favorite snack’?” Slowly trailing your index down the valley of his pecs, your tone softened as you tilted your head to the side, “Saying he’s not a flirt, then lamenting on how he needs them…” Honey dripped from your words as your eyes took on a sultry gaze, “Goading about whether or not they could handle it.”

The path of your finger stopped just above his navel, rising and falling with each bated breath he took - the air thick with lust and allure.

“Do you think I can handle it, baby?”

A chill ran down his spine, goosebumps rising along his skin as he blinked slowly, completely and utterly swept up in you.

He swallowed thickly, somehow managing to find his voice, “Can you?”

A smirk curled your lips, fire dancing behind your irises, “Guess there’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?”

Phones discarded on the nightstand, it wasn’t long until the bedroom truly had to be cleaned - and with a fresh pair of sheets and a clean pair of clothes, he made a quick excuse for accidentally ghosting on Bubble; the true reason remaining in the form of hickeys on his skin and scratches on his back.

✧. ┊Tagged lovelies: @having-an-internal-crisis-rn, @midnightfrog625, @anyhow-everything, @bangchanbabygirlx, @sweetracha, @j-onedrabbles, @nightimescapes, @caitlyn98s, @ch4nn13luv, @ihrtlix, @sometimesleeknows, @jeonjungkookenthusiast1997, @maximumkillshot, @y-ur--i, @acker-night, @dreamescapeswriting, @specialstay, @broken-glowsticks, @s00buwu, @junglyric, @tinyelfperson, @jj-stay, @katsukis1wife, @inlovewithmusician, @keen-li, @armystay89, @main-character0, @vampcharxter, @ddyskz, @prettymiye0n, @bbgnyx, @ivyisnotokay, @bahng-chrizz, @milknhoneyracha, @hann1bee, @palindrome969, @newhope8, @softkissfelix, @luvyev, @luminouskalopsia, @kpopsstuffs, @luvyev

✧. ┊If your username is in bold italics that means tumblr won't let me tag you. If you’d like to be added to the taglist, fill out this form!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

How Google’s trial secrecy lets it control the coverage

I'm coming to Minneapolis! Oct 15: Presenting The Internet Con at Moon Palace Books. Oct 16: Keynoting the 26th ACM Conference On Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing.

"Corporate crime" is practically an oxymoron in America. While it's true that the single most consequential and profligate theft in America is wage theft, its mechanisms are so obscure and, well, dull that it's easy to sell us on the false impression that the real problem is shoplifting:

https://newrepublic.com/post/175343/wage-theft-versus-shoplifting-crime

Corporate crime is often hidden behind Dana Clare's Shield Of Boringness, cloaked in euphemisms like "risk and compliance" or that old favorite, "white collar crime":

https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/07/solar-panel-for-a-sex-machine/#a-single-proposition

And corporate crime has a kind of performative complexity. The crimes come to us wreathed in specialized jargon and technical terminology that make them hard to discern. Which is wild, because corporate crimes occur on a scale that other crimes – even those committed by organized crime – can't hope to match:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/12/no-criminals-no-crimes/#get-out-of-jail-free-card

But anything that can't go on forever eventually stops. After decades of official tolerance (and even encouragement), corporate criminals are finally in the crosshairs of federal enforcers. Take National Labor Relations Board general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo's ruling in Cemex: when a company takes an illegal action to affect the outcome of a union election, the consequence is now automatic recognition of the union:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/06/goons-ginks-and-company-finks/#if-blood-be-the-price-of-your-cursed-wealth

That's a huge deal. Before, a boss could fire union organizers and intimidate workers, scuttle the union election, and then, months or years later, pay a fine and some back-wages…and the union would be smashed.

The scale of corporate crime is directly proportional to the scale of corporations themselves. Big companies aren't (necessarily) led by worse people, but even small sins committed by the very largest companies can affect millions of lives.

That's why antitrust is so key to fighting corporate crime. To make corporate crimes less harmful, we must keep companies from attaining harmful scale. Big companies aren't just too big to fail and too big to jail – they're also too big for peaceful coexistence with a society of laws.

The revival of antitrust enforcement is such a breath of fresh air, but it's also fighting headwinds. For one thing, there's 40 years of bad precedent from the nightmare years of pro-monopoly Reaganomics to overturn:

https://pluralistic.net/ApexPredator

It's not just precedents in the outcomes of trials, either. Trial procedure has also been remade to favor corporations, with judges helping companies stack the deck in their own favor. The biggest factor here is secrecy: blocking recording devices from courts, refusing to livestream the proceedings, allowing accused corporate criminals to clear the courtroom when their executives take the stand, and redacting or suppressing the exhibits:

https://prospect.org/power/2023-09-27-redacted-case-against-amazon/

When a corporation can hide evidence and testimony from the public and the press, it gains broad latitude to dispute critics, including government enforcers, based on evidence that no one is allowed to see, or, in many cases, even describe. Take Project Nessie, the program that the FTC claims Amazon used to compel third-party sellers to hike prices across many categories of goods:

https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/amazon-used-secret-project-nessie-algorithm-to-raise-prices-6c593706

Amazon told the press that the FTC has "grossly mischaracterize[d]" Project Nessie. The DoJ disagrees, but it can't say why, because the Project Nessie files it based its accusations on have been redacted, at Amazon's insistence. Rather than rebutting Amazon's claim, FTC spokesman Douglas Farrar could only say "We once again call on Amazon to move swiftly to remove the redactions and allow the American public to see the full scope of what we allege are their illegal monopolistic practices."

It's quite a devastating gambit: when critics and prosecutors make specific allegations about corporate crimes, the corporation gets to tell journalists, "No, that's wrong, but you're not allowed to see the reason we say it's wrong."

It's a way to work the refs, to get journalists – or their editors – to wreathe bold claims in endless hedging language, or to avoid reporting on the most shocking allegations altogether. This, in turn, keeps corporate trials out of the public eye, which reassures judges that they can defer to further corporate demands for opacity without facing an outcry.

That's a tactic that serves Google well. When the company was dragged into court by the DoJ Antitrust Division, it demanded – and received – a veil of secrecy that is especially ironic given the company's promise "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful":

https://usvgoogle.org/trial-update-9-22

While this veil has parted somewhat, it is still intact enough to allow the company to work the refs and kill disfavorable reporting from the trial. Last week, Megan Gray – ex-FTC, ex-DuckDuckGo – published an editorial in Wired reporting on her impression of an explosive moment in the Google trial:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/03/not-feeling-lucky/#fundamental-laws-of-economics

According to Gray, Google had run a program to mess with the "semantic matching" on queries, silently appending terms to users' searches that caused them to return more ads – and worse results. This generated more revenue for Google, at the expense of advertisers who got billed to serve ads that didn't even match user queries.

Google forcefully disputed this claim:

https://twitter.com/searchliaison/status/1709726778170786297

They contacted Gray's editors at Wired, but declined to release all the exhibits and testimony that Gray used to form her conclusions about Google's conduct; instead, they provided a subset of the relevant materials, which cast doubt on Gray's accusations.

Wired removed Gray's piece, with an unsigned notice that "WIRED editorial leadership has determined that the story does not meet our editorial standards. It has been removed":

https://www.wired.com/story/google-antitrust-lawsuit-search-results/

But Gray stands by her piece. She admits that she might have gotten some of the fine details wrong, but that these were not material to the overall point of her story, that Google manipulated search queries to serve more ads at the expense of the quality of the results:

https://twitter.com/megangrA/status/1711035354134794529

She says that the piece could and should have been amended to reflect these fine-grained corrections, but that in the absence of a full record of the testimony and exhibits, it was impossible for her to prove to her editors that her piece was substantively correct.

I reviewed the limited evidence that Google permitted to be released and I find her defense compelling. Perhaps you don't. But the only way we can factually resolve this dispute is for Google to release the materials that they claim will exonerate them. And they won't, though this is fully within their power.

I've seen this playbook before. During the early months of the pandemic, a billionaire who owned a notorious cyberwarfare company used UK libel threats to erase this fact from the internet – including my own reporting – on the grounds that the underlying research made small, non-material errors in characterizing a hellishly complex financial Rube Goldberg machine that was, in my opinion, deliberately designed to confuse investigators.

Like the corporate crimes revealed in the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers, the gambit is complicated, but it's not sophisticated:

Make everything as complicated as possible;

Make everything as secret as possible;

Dismiss any accusations by claiming errors in the account of the deliberately complex arrangements, which can't be rectified because the relevant materials are a secret.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/09/working-the-refs/#but-id-have-to-kill-you

My next novel is The Lost Cause, a hopeful novel of the climate emergency. Amazon won't sell the audiobook, so I made my own and I'm pre-selling it on Kickstarter!

Image: Jason Rosenberg (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/underpants/12069086054/

CC BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

--

Japanexperterna.se (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/japanexperterna/15251188384/

CC BY-SA 2.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

[kimakento]

you’re here

synopsis: your boyfriend has always been clingy when jealous, and you were never one to be against it if being honest. ⌙ 1.8k

pairing: wang yixiang x interviewer!fem!reader

genre: fluff

warnings: mentions of a scandal/rude fans, jealousy

tags: established (but secret) relationship, flirty!nicholas, a couple just doing lovey dovey things, reader usually interviews many famous groups

a/n: oh how no one will ever know how much i giggled while writing this…. jokes aside, &team fluff fic debut on kimakento, we all cheered!!!!!

never in your life would you have thought that you’d be asked to interview &team by your boss. though, when analysing the task at hand, there were some serious ups and downs.

a pro would be that you would get to see and talk one of your favourite groups, but the con was that being in a secret relationship with a member of said group meant that you couldn’t necessarily be too friendly or overbearing.

after receiving the news, you quickly shot nicholas a few texts, to which he responded eagerly to before calling you. answering the phone, you put the device to your ear; just barely missing the low chuckle that emitted from your speaker.

“so, you’re finally interviewing us?” there was a knowing tone to his voice. “i was wondering when my interviewer girlfriend would finally do it.”

“baby, this isn’t good. what if people find out about us?” you huffed in clear frustration.

“some fans are ruthless, i’d be out of work before i know it! and you’d also be caught in a scandal.“

“it’d be fine. i make enough to provide for the both of us.” the man took a short pause, anticipating your reaction.

“wang yixiang.” you snapped, cupping the speaker and moving to a secluded corner of your workplace.

he cleared his throat. “i was kidding… sorry! no one will find out, i’m sure. don’t worry yourself over it, they’ll love you. they’ll love us.”

“thank you. i think i feel a bit better now,” you rested the back of your head on the wall behind you. “i gotta go, ba—“ loud footsteps boomed not far from you as you blurted out a parting. “bye, dad!”

“dad? huh, wha—“ you heard your boyfriend question before fumbling to hang up.

breathing out a sigh of relief, you jolted off the wall hearing your name being called. a team manager walked towards you before speaking curtly.

“you’re being called into the office. boss wants to brief you on the interview with that japanese group or whatever.” his voice sounded disinterested and rude. internally, you judged the man before nodding and making your way to the office.

when there you were ran through all the formalities; how you would address the members and such, and the questions to be asked. you were told that it would be in a week. and the stress of the expectations already started to catch up whilst in the meeting. your boss was adamant on everything being prim and perfect; stressing that there was absolutely no room for any mistakes. big or small. this only added to the pressure that you felt.

in the coming days before the interview, you had practiced the hell out of your script. your boss had given you the creative liberty of constructing your very own questions — as long as they were appropriate and relevant to the theme, of course — to ask the four eldest members attending.

but what made everything better was that nicholas had been coming over to watch you practice and also willingly became the victim of your endless questions. you’d sit there opposite him, hours on end, running through the paper in your hands.

with his help, you started to feel slightly more collected about the nearing event.

even though you had met the &team members before, you weren’t really acquainted with them as much as you would like which only added to your discomfort. you hoped that they would take nicely to you and enjoy the session to the fullest.

you were certain you’d evolved into a robot by the way the script had been in your face all day. and it only got worse. the night before, while doing your skin routine, you found yourself again repeating the words over and over. almost mantra-like. in your head, you imagined physically sitting there opposite the group and indulging in light conversation.

nicholas had even told you he believed you’d start asking those question even in your sleep, at this rate — to which you laughed at and then dismissed. you flopped onto your bed, tucking yourself in and the nerves seemed to fade the more you slipped deep into slumber.

in the morning, waking up felt as if a ton of bricks had hit you. still, you got up, showered after brushing your teeth and then scarfed down your breakfast. as you buttoned up your blouse, you stared into the mirror and began practicing your lines again.

your workplace was even worse. when you arrived, it was total chaos, your colleagues had been rushing all around, fixing the set, or briefing each other and setting roles. immediately, you were brought in for your makeup. the stylists all surrounded you, touching everything up; making sure you looked stunning.

whilst you watched yourself in the mirror, your phone buzzed.

a text from nicholas.

baby :D!

good luck, pretty!!!!! you’re going to be amazing, i know. make sure to pay extra attention to me too ;)

quickly after reading the message, a small smile adorned your face as you chuckled softly. he was always so thoughtful. in the midst of replying, the door flew open, revealing your boss. you turned over your phone before greeting him swiftly.

“you’re up in ten minutes,” he raised his hands, “give it your all!“

determination swelled in your chest as you nodded excitedly. the colour had returned to your cheeks, and you’d become much more relaxed.

the interview room was your forte, it was where you’d always excel. you were sat in front of the four eldest &team members with cue cards nestled comfortably on your lap. before the cameras started rolling, you exchanged light conversations with them, ensuring that you never interacted with nicholas too much.

once you were notified about the start of the interview, the room went silent as yudai, euijoo, fuma and nicholas went ahead to greet the cameras.

“one, two! we link! hello, we’re &team!“ they began in unison, bowing at the camera.

one by one, the four members had all finished their self introductions.

peering down at your first card, you spoke. “today, we are with some of the renowned members of &team! we will be asking them a few questions.” you continued on, oblivious to the fact that nicholas had been watching you lovingly.

your gaze scanned the room, accidentally landing on your boyfriend and locking eyes with him. frantically, you moved your attention to fuma.

you cleared your throat. “our first question is for fuma,” as he nodded, you smiled. “is it hard being a sub-leader? we know that you’re often dubbed as the ‘responsible one’, so how is it taking care of everyone, along with euijoo?”

“i do believe it is hard. most of us are very mischievous as you can tell, but we all make it work. though, sometimes i’m never given a break, especially by the younger members.” that part caused you to giggle before humming approvingly. “there are times where i just stop to think, ‘what have i gotten myself into?’ many times. for euijoo, it’s even more difficult.”

satisfied with his answer, you looked over to the leader as he nodded along.

the rest of the interview ran smoothly, with you asking each of them questions. though, you kept interactions with a certain red-haired man brief and short, focusing on the other members. no words could express how much you desired to feel the warmth of your boyfriend. you missed him so much despite being in the same room.

the fear of making a mistake made you unable to act on those feelings.

shortly after the interview, you shot a text to nicholas, informing him you were about to return to your apartment before leaving your work building and driving home. lazily turning the key in the lock, you rushed in and flopped face-first right onto the couch dramatically. fatigue washed over your whole body as lay there mindlessly.

moments later, you decided to wash up and change out of your work clothes. freshly out the shower and in your pyjamas, you padded your way softly to the kitchen. that was until you heard a light knock.

peering through the peephole, nicholas stood outside with glasses and a black cap on his head. he looked straight out of a cartoon, which made you fight the urge to guffaw at his choice of accessories. a while after letting him in, your boyfriend had made himself at home on the sofa while you stood at the kitchen counter.

“want some ramen?” you asked him.

“sure.”

humming softly, you got to work bringing two ramen packs from the drawer and opening them. but two arms snaking around your waist and a chin nestled right on your shoulder hindered you from finishing. and if that wasn’t enough to drive you crazy, your boyfriend even called your name softly.

“yeah?” by the tone of his voice, you could tell it was something serious.

“do you like fuma?”

“what on earth?”

the warmth of his figure slowly dissipated as his arms retracted from yours. “you can tell the truth, i won’t be mad.”

“baby...” turning around, his body caged you against the counter as you brought his hands to rest on your hips once again. “what makes you think that?” his touch on you just felt right. like you both were jigsaw puzzle pieces meant for each other.

“‘cause you were focusing on him during the whole interview. like i wasn’t there. like i wasn’t ever yours.” the adorable pout on his face only urged you to tuck a strand of hair out his eyes before your hands found their way to the base of his neck as you held your gaze on him.

nicholas’s face looked so... perfect.

just like him.

“that’s just my job, nicho. wanna know the real reason i actually didn’t pay attention to you that much?” you paused until he nodded eagerly in response. “it’s just that every single time i look at you, i get so nervous. my heart beats so fast and i was afraid that i would stutter or slip up,” the grin that slowly turned at his lips only grew at your every breath. “that’s why.“

“yeah? you’re nervous whenever you look at me?” there was a light and teasing side to his tone. of course that was what he would take from it, you mentally facepalmed.

“mhm.” you sighed at his relentless flirty remarks.

“okay, so if you had to choose. would you pick me or fuma?”

“if you keep this up, i might really end up choosing him, nicholas.” armed with slight irritation, you tilted your head to the side, breaking eye contact with the red haired, which prompted him to lean down and press a light kiss to your cheek.

“c’mon, baby,” it was almost as if you could hear the small pout that adorned his lips. “look at me. please.”

but when your name left his lips so sweetly, it felt like you could melt at that spot. fingers lightly gripped your jaw, making you face him once again, flustered at his previous actions.

“that’s my girl.” his hands moved up to cup your warm cheeks.

“you’re cute when you’re jealous.” you remarked in retaliation, even surprising your own self at the boldness of your words.

“come on, i wasn’t jealous.”

“you sure was. don’t try to lie out of this.”

the man sighed heavily, “fine. i was. happy?”

“definitely!” your cheery tone only prompted him to grumble in response to your teasing.

reblogs are appreciated!!

[the-badger-mole]

So we all know that that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, and to a certain extent, we have to acknowledge that our way of life is dependent on the suffering of others. Fortunately, it seems there are people who are pushing against that. If you're in the market for a new phone, I urge you to check out the Fairphone 4. It's made using ethically sourced materials and designed to be modular, so you can make repairs at home- which means if you crack your screen, or the battery stops working, you don't have to buy a whole new phone. I know the world is becoming more and more aware of the horrific conditions being suffered by people in places like DRC to make our smart devices. You can use your buying power to make a change.

I am personally not in the market for a new phone just yet, but if you are looking to get a new phone, I encourage you to look into ethically sourced phones and other tech. If you already have a Fairphone, please reblog this and talk about your experience. Be honest. Give the pros and cons so people can make informed decisions. We can't immediately stop all of the horrors that capitalism has brought on the world, but we have the power to make smaller choices where we can to mitigate the harm done.

Fairphone's main company seems to operate in Europe (website here), but if you are looking to buy in the US and Canada, check out their partner site, Murena (website here).

[ghosttrolls]

I checked line spacing, it was set to default (1.15) and moving it to single spacing didn't affect it, either. Paragraph settings don't have anything about space between paragraphs, so I dunno. In the replies someone recommended holding shift while pressing enter, which does work for it! I am such a boomer about this specific thing though, it bugs me that I have to do that. I can't find settings yet on how to adjust the keybindings (maybe that would help?) but we persist I guess (although I didn't last night, I just went to bed instead of getting more frustrated)

im trying to use google docs for the first time in like over a year on my computer and i had to turn off autocorrect again (i dont like a computer "fixing" my words, google docs is especially bad with their guesswork), it's lagging every time i scroll the page by A LOT, every time i hit enter it goes two lines down. can i stop this from happening i cant figure out the setting for the "enter = two lines now" thing

[books-and-strawberry-tea]

I don’t normally comment about booktube here. But I’ve just seen a video and I have to get some comments off my chest.

This video was about e-readers. And while the person has a huge collection of books behind them, goes on to explain that e-readers are so unnecessary, cause they are expensive. And if you are going to buy an e-reader, just buy an iPad cause they are similar in price….

I’m sorry but in what world is an iPad and an e-reader the same price?? (Or yk other tablets of a similar nature).

This person goes on to talk about how e-readers can’t install apps like Libby etc…are we just going to ignore the e-readers that run on android?? That function like a regular phone just with an e-ink screen??

I honestly gave up watching this video cause this person just sounded like they were pretty single minded on the topic. So here’s my two cents.

Pro’s for an ereader: (at least in my case)

1. E-reader’s are amazing for portability. Physical books can get very heavy, and although I love them, I hate taking physical books out with me cause I’m terrified of damaging them.

2. Books in my country, are incredibly expensive. You can go to the bookstore, and end up spending $50 AUD and get 1-2 books depending on what you get. Hard covers are usually $40+! Paperbacks can range between $17-$40 also. And if it doesn’t get printed in Australia?? Good luck. The only way I could get Hunting Adeline was to pay $65. Because whenever I ordered it from Amazon at $35, from America, it would come absolutely obliterated because they don’t package it in anything but a basic plastic mailer bag. No protection at all.

3. E-readers are much better for your eyes and don’t have constant distracting notifications and people trying to ring you. I have weak eye muscles. Always have. I wear glasses for this. And I used to read on my phone cause it’s what I have with me while I was out. But once I got an e-reader, I realised just how bad my eye strain was from my phone. E-readers have seriously improved my reading stamina especially since mine has the orange light feature. It’s not like we all don’t have an internet or phone addiction anyway. At least according to statistics I’ve seen in the past. Majority of us are trying to spend less time on our phones and more time doing what we love. And e-readers absolutely help with that. (Much better for my ADHD too honestly.)

4. I live with roommates, I have very limited space. So big book collections is just not something that’s possible for me. I’d love to, but again, space and money.

5. E-readers have given me the opportunity to read books that I’d never be able to get. Because of space reasons, money reasons, and the fact that Australia just does not get the wide selection of books that other countries do. We miss out so much. Some books, we have to wait YEARS for, while everyone else gets them on release dates. My e-reader has been such a huge investment for me, as well as an opportunity maker to give me the option to read books I’d never be able to get other wise.

I will clarify this by saying yes, I do have an iPad. But that was a gift. I didn’t buy it for myself. My mother very graciously bought it for me with her inheritance money. She went out of her way to make sure I had a good working device for university. That iPad was over $2,000 aud. My e-reader?? $250!!! HUGE price difference. And it has helped me save so much money in the process. Cause if I read the ebook, and don’t like it, that’s okay, refund. If I do??? Then I can absolutely go out and hopefully track down a physical copy. If that’s not possible?? I still have the digital version. That I can enjoy over and over.

No, I’m not ignoring the cons to do with DRM, and companies censoring ebooks, not at all. But I feel like either way there is still more pros then what this person was giving e-readers credit for. She sounded privileged honestly, she may not have a use for e-readers. But to be saying that you don’t need one, and that they are completely unnecessary….its just incorrect.

I haven’t even touched on how e-readers help others with disabilities to be able to access books. I have a friend for example that has been very unwell for many years now. And because of this, she has fatigue and strength issues. She at one stage could barely hold a book. But once she got her kindle, she was so over joyed cause she could finally enjoy books again. Kindles are so light, they have stands etc. It honestly reminds me of the people that say audiobooks arnt counted as reading and you shouldn’t do it. Sure, let’s just alienate all the people that can’t read or have vision impairment right? (For clarity, I’m being sarcastic.) Or how about all the cultures that past on the culture, history, legends etc all by word of mouth?? For centuries, way before anyone invented written script. But that’s a whole other tangent I can go off about later.

If e-readers arnt for you, that’s totally fine. But to say no one has a need for them, because physical books exist, is just closed minded. Just because you have the privilege of a huge book library and may not have use of an e-reader, doesn’t not mean that other people don’t have a great use for them.

Anyway, that’s my rant. I don’t like ranting online. But this just frustrated me so much. No hate to this person personally, I just think they weren’t open to the possibilities of how these devices are used and fulfil needs for other people that live differently.

If you read this, cool! I hope you have a good day. And enjoy reading what you are currently 💝

[wowbright]

Transferring your Kindle library to calibre: The Easiest Way

For people who are trying to get their Amazon Kindle libraries imported into calibre, this is the easiest method I have found.

Pros:

easy if your entire library fits on your Kindle

Faster and less clicking than manually downloading each book onto your computer from the Amazon website and then importing it into calibre

It allows you to import "Docs" from your Amazon Digital Content as well as "Books"

Does not require you to understand coding language or how to use scripts

This method should continue to work after February 26th (when Amazon will no longer allow manual downloads from its website to your computer)

Cons:

you have to use whispersync (only a con if you can't use or are opposed to using whispersync)

Doesn't work if you don't own a Kindle

These instructions are for the latest edition of calibre in Windows, but it works similarly on Mac (typos ahead because I am dictating this and my dictation does not spell calibre nor many other things correctly):

On your Kindle:

Download every Book and Doc you have stored in the Kindle cloud. You have to do this one at a time so it's boring, I did it while watching TV and listening to podcasts.

On your desktop:

Download and install calibre

Open caliber

Click on preferences from the top menu, roll down to add plugins

Install the KFX input plugin

Do an internet search for "NoDRM" caliber plug in. The latest version is 10.0.9. download and unzip the file folder. There are zipped files inside that folder. Leave those zipped files alone.

Go back to caliber, go to preferences, select advanced, select tags. You have the option of importing plugins from your desktop. Choose that option. Through that option, go to the folder you just unzipped and click on the "NoDRM" or "DeDRM" zip file. It should install.

IMPORTANT: click on customize plugin. A screen will appear where you can enter the serial number from your Kindle. You must enter a serial number or this plugin will not work.

Connect your kindle to your computer using a USB cable. A device icon should show up on the menu at the top of your caliber window. Click on the device icon.

A list of all the books and documents you have downloaded onto your Kindle should appear in the library window. Select all of them using the ctrl-A keyboard shortcut. Right click and choose "add to library".

Wait until caliber says you are done importing. Then you can disconnect your Kindle.

You've done it! If you want to convert everything to a more universal file type like EPUB, go to your library, select all, right click, choose Convert Books > bulk convert, choose EPUB as your output format in the top right corner of the window, then hit okay in the bottom right corner of the window. Wait for the process to complete before quitting caliber!

If you get a message saying that you cannot open your Kindle books or that they cannot be converted, it's probably because you did not enter your serial number, you did not save it, or you entered it incorrectly. Go back to the plug-in settings and check on them. Other than that, I can't give you any tips because I only figured all of this stuff out yesterday!

[wheelie-sick]

So you just got diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis....

A guide to coping with inflammatory arthritis written by someone who has been living with it for years

1. Warmth helps with pain and stiffness

Take a hot bath or shower

Use a rice bag to heat your most stiff and painful joints - How to make a warm rice bag (no sew) How to make a warm rice bag (sew) Adorable heated stuffed animals

Heating pads can also be good for heating specific joints (I don't like either of the ones I've had so I'm not dropping a recommendation)

2. Compression helps with stiffness

Compression gloves work really well in particular - Really cool compression gloves

Compression for other joints works well too

3. NSAIDs help reduce inflammation in your joints

Topical diclofenac is my personal favorite, it works wonders

Meloxicam is only available by prescription but has fewer negative side effects than over the counter NSAIDs do

Ibuprofen and Aleve/Naproxen are both OTC NSAIDs

Here's a full list of NSAIDs

4. Steroids reduce inflammation but are usually only used for flares. If OTC remedies are not working for your arthritis it may be worth asking about steroids to manage flares

5. Use adaptive devices

Note that I haven't tried all of these!

In the kitchen - Jar opener, pull tab opener, arthritis friendly silverware, ergonomic knife, another ergonomic knife

In the bathroom - My favorite shower chair, long handle bath sponge, shower grab bar

Dressing - Many button and zipper aids, magnetic jewelry clasps, sock aid

Standing assists - Bed rail, couch stand assist, cane with stand assist

Office - Pencil grips, book stand, vertical mouse

Other - Arthritis friendly gardening tools, so many grips adapters and holders

.... and many many more

6. Use mobility aids - I'd strongly recommend talking to a doctor before deciding to use mobility aids. mobility aids cause damage to your body so it's important to weigh the pros and cons of using them. Anyways my personal recommendations:

Canes - NOVA T cane, Carex ergonomic offset cane

Crutches - Millennial In-Motion Forearm crutches

Other people with inflammatory arthritis are welcome to add on!

[sealofarchives]

Hello, could you create a headcanon for ROTTMNT about what it would be like to date Leo, Raph, Mikey, and Donnie (separately) and what the pros and cons of a relationship with them would be?

Headcanon: GN!Reader dating the Rise!Turtles (Separate) (Requested prompt with established relationship)

A/N: This was really fun to work on and ended up surprising myself with how this turned out!!!

Donnie

Pros:

Since you take the time to listen to whatever he says, he'll do the same for you.

Even before you started dating him, he took some notes on what you liked and disliked. (He used to have a tablet for that said purpose but eventually, retooled as a backup photo album storage between the two of you)

- I personally think he's not one for the usual icebreaker conversations with stuff like "how's your day and etc"

So most conversations start with some tangent on his mind or about your favorite things then eventually discussing daily stuff that happened within the day.

Even though he struggles trying to cheer people up, but he's not gonna ignore your well-being when you happened to have a bad day.

- Like he makes sure you had something to eat or drink. And if talking about the problem makes it worse, already noted and tries to pull you towards light stress free activities. (Letting you borrow one of his headphones to listen to your music, sort and try out a box of fidget toys, or setting up a small space in the lair as the designated chill zone)

While there might be some technical mishaps, he always has good intentions trying to fix your phone or other electronic devices you have trouble with.

Cons:

Imo I feel like during the first few weeks in the relationship, he'll be awkward towards pda. (don't constantly pester him about it)

- He'll eventually come to it maybe near the end of the first month of dating. (With his personal quota of handholding and hugs that last a few seconds)

Until realizing your needs are just as important to maintain that special relationship.

- However, If some creep doesn't get the message you're already taken, its one of the rare times he'll force himself into initiating pda for your own safety.

Easily gets jealous and refuses to admit it with some snarky remark.

When he refuses to take breaks, you probably have to step in so he doesn't accidentally hurt himself or gets sick.

- When you do so, it often ends with him passing out on you.

(And tiny bit of scolding from his brothers [namely Raph and Dr Delicate Touch] after Donnie recovered from overworking himself on a large scale project)

Can be very passive aggressive and it could lead to some unpleasant arguments towards something very trivial.

- He's definitely the most stubborn out of his brothers and probably won't hear you out until your feelings get hurt.

It might take him a few days to think up of a proper apology. And during those days, he slowly regrets yelling at you along with letting his anger get the best of him.

Leo

Pros:

He won't admit it but, your level of honesty around him really puts him at ease whenever he's lost in thought about something.

- The leader can name a least few things about his brothers' special talents but during a few nights where he can't sleep, because of a nightmare from a past enemy. (either Shredder or the Krang)

He didn't have the energy for one of his usual portals but, really wanted give you a hug for saying such kind words through a phone call.

He'll instantly back off if he accidentally made a joke that offended you.

- The last thing he wants is to upset you. So he really tries working some type of compromise between the two of you, so it doesn't happen again.

He has a strong memory sometimes, like remembering the little details. It will usually happen when you least expect it.

- Casually bringing up a past event from one of the photos saved on your phone. Often being one of the early hang out sessions, before you started dating him. He'll lightly tease you about it but, mostly grateful that you took a chance to build up that relationship with him.

If you happened to have a case of bad luck, he's very determined to end that streak's rein of terror by his own hands.

- And if you can't visit the lair, he'll let you borrow his lucky rock as a good luck charm.

Cons:

He still has a bit of that competitive energy in him and can be a sore loser when he doesn't win.

- It could take him a while to realize that the playful showboating upseted you and to why you're refusing to give him any attention.

This also adds on to that he's not the best at genuine apologies.

- Like the first sorry has no feeling to it until the guilt weighes down on him.

I don't think he could last a few days with you giving him the cold shoulder + silent treatment (Imo, he has the type of desperate embarrassment that would be hard to watch)

Sometimes his "surprise planning" ends up in a panic since he waits until the last minute to get you something.

- Given how some of his strategies usually works towards his advantage. (Often not telling the others about it and another similar manner along those lines)

His ego can 100% break the relationship.

- Like there's only certain amount of patience you can handle with his nonsense and his brothers will absolutely not stand for that kind of behavior. The moment he realizes he was in the wrong, he scrambles trying to avoid a potential break up.

Raph

Pros:

Almost has the same level of patience as Mikey's. (Also a result of being the oldest brother and dealing with some of Splinter's shenanigans)

Will often ask if you need help with the heavy lifting. (Even towards small stuff like when you can't reach for something on the top shelf. He will immediately grab said item for you.)

Gives the best teddy bear hugs

- Not too tight or too close to his spiky scales. Just right enough where it can easily put you at ease, stopping any stressful thought plaguing your mind.

Can easily motivate you into short exercise routines.

- It doesn't even have to be the daily recommended 30 minutes. Often being close to under 5 minutes is still worth it.

When both of you were done following that one morning aerobics exercise from animal crossing, his brothers immediately teased him about it. But he doesn't care, he was just happy you got to stay up for a little bit before lazily resting your head near his plastron.

Cons:

While the big guy means well, he can be a bit overbearing.

- Especially if you got a small injury, after a brief night patrol fight from an unexpecting bad guy attack.

He will absolutely be a mother hen if you end up getting sick. Drops whatever he was doing and rushes over to make sure you're okay. Which often results in him getting sick after you fully recovered because he forgot to bring the protective gear for his own safety.

(This is a personal headcanon of mine) but he's definitely close to a morning kind of guy. Light stretches to start the day before he eats breakfast.

- So if you have a similar night owl schedule like Donnie or Leo, he won't say much but, he will judge you for it unless its related to some medical reasons.

If you decide on borrowing clothes from him, a lot of the shirts he has, will have a few holes because of his spiky shell. So pack some extra clothes (like a spare tank top or something similar) if you're not into the torn up clothing look.

You're bound to see Savage Raph at least a few times.

- Please approach with caution and take Leo's advice seriously. However, still be gentle around Raph and comfort him by the time he returns back to his usual self.

Mikey:

Pros:

The fact he knows how to cook is already best boyfriend material.

- He can probably cook up your favorite food if you ask for it.

Another plus is proper communication skills.

- Dr Feelings will always be there to help and will accommodate what's best suited to your needs.

Can be your personal cheerleader when you happened to be stuck at starting something.

- After all, he is the best hype man for a reason. But, can easily tone down the energy if you start to feel overwhelmed.

There will always be a lot of creative thought in whatever gift he makes for you.

- Very heartfelt and he will be a blushing mess if you ended up displaying it in a place where he can see it. (either in your room or a place in your house where there's a lot of care in preserving it)

Cons:

Imo I feel like the Dr Delicate Touch persona leans towards some of that passive aggressive energy.

- Namely the anger tone, (which might have some influence from a certain purple turtle) so Mikey still needs to be careful about that.

It won't happen all the time but, if you forgot to eat breakfast. (or any of the other important 3 meals of the day)

- Mikey will pester you into eating some food he made. He usually does this to Donnie and the box shell turtle won't budge until you finish the meal. Or at least half of it, so it can be saved for later as leftovers.

The sad puppy eyes trick is present in all the turtles but, Mikey's more dangerous since he's a master at it. So try your best not to give in to the temptation. (If you can help it)

He's the second turtle to make a beeline into danger. (and him being commited to be the bait as a distraction [like dressing up in a hippo costume with a cologne that attracts said animal or the time he wore a cucumber suit to tease Repo Mantis' mutant pet cat for one of Donnie's vlogs])

- Be prepared to patch him up as result of his rowdy energy.

[cripplecharacters]

I've read the post about how arm prostheses are often more trouble than they're worth and it makes sense. My special interest fandom doesn't have robotics or magic anyway, so a prosthetic there would more or less amount to a stick with possibly a hook on the end, and I'm not trying to argue in favour of making anything more advanced than that here. What I would like to know is if the same practical considerations apply with someone who's lost BOTH hands or analogous gripping appendages. Is it worth it to go for the lightest and least clunky prosthetic possible or is it still easier to do everything with the mouth and/or feet? Does it vary depending on what one is doing, or how much of the arm is lost?

Hello!

[Please note, we don't currently have mods who are amputees; you can try checking with some of our recommended blogs from our navigation post, but I'm not familiar with any bilateral arm amputees doing writing advice on Tumblr.]

There are a lot of factors that would go into this, and the two you mentioned are absolutely important, but I'd say that age plays the biggest role. What I mean is how old the person was where they had their arms amputated, since that's where I generally see the biggest difference in prosthetic use.

For the following sections I'll presume a scenario where the person is financially able to buy prosthetics that would suit their body in the technical aspect and potential assistive devices to get them on etc. aren't a problem to acquire for them.

If someone loses their arms at 70, they're almost certainly going to be using prosthetics, at least part-time. They spent decades doing everything with their hands and probably have close to zero coordination necessary to do these tasks with their feet now, not to mention being in worse condition in general due to their age. Even if their prosthetics are the simplest hooks, they will probably give them more independence since at an older age and with no practice, using their legs would be out of the question and using stumps could be much harder for someone whose way less flexible and strong. This doesn't mean that all the cons of an arm prosthetic disappear, because they don't - in this scenario, it just means that the possible pros outweigh the cons.

If someone is born without their arms or loses them as a younger child, they're probably gonna wear prosthetics at first because their parents will want them to and will stop just as fast. Have you tried to put a shirt on a toddler? Now imagine trying to put two arms on them that they can't fully control. For someone younger they will just instinctively do things however they can, whether that would be by using residual limbs (more common if it's below the elbow) or feet (more common if above the elbow). There might be some tasks that might be impossible or very difficult to do without a prosthetic, and then the person might get a specialized one - Bebe Vio is a wheelchair fencer who uses an arm prosthetic to hold her foil because you can't really do that without one. Some instruments might also require the use of a prosthetic, but children generally tend to figure to do almost everything out with what they got. There are armless drummers and guitarists who play with their feet.

You can check this video out, it's by Isabelle Weall where she talks about why she chooses to not use prosthetics arms. Jessica Cox is one of the most famous people with no arms, and she can do more or less everything - fly a plane, do karate, drive a car. Matt Stutzman is one of the best compound archers in the world, and he doesn't use prosthetics either. All these people lost their arms young or were born without them.

Obviously a lot of people will be in the middle. That's where length of residual limbs will play a major role, but also people's lifestyle or what they do on the daily basis. If someone needs the tactile sensation to be able to do their job, they will probably prefer using their arm stumps or feet if the stumps are too short.

But if someone's stumps are too short, and they don't want or can't use their feet (it's not as easy as just starting to do stuff with your toes, it requires a ton of practice, flexibility, and patience) then they might go for prosthetics or a prosthetic, singular. Some people might find it easier to adapt to a body-powered prosthesis because to them the pros of one are more significant than the cons. I mean, not that many people have the flexibility alone needed to write with a pen with your foot, let alone coordination. They could wear a prosthesis when they know they'll be doing a lot of grabbing work because it's awkward for them to try doing it with their residual forearms and take it off to play with their dog because it feels nicer to pet it when you can feel it's fur on your skin.

There is of course the situation where regardless of factors, neither option really works for someone. They might have minimal to no ability to actually use prosthetics (weakness, other disability), while their legs might be atrophied from the bedrest caused by the illness that required their arms to be amputated (or anything else that prevents them from using their legs). This person might rely on caregivers instead for a lot of tasks, and these people absolutely do exist. Sometimes it's a situation that happens right after the amputation and they later find something that works for them, but sometimes they might not. This is a possibility as well.

All these factors should be considered for a character, and then of course you have to factor in the character themselves - can they afford prosthetics? Do they have a way to learn how to use them effectively? Get them fixed and adjusted? If the learning process of using a prosthetic is frustrating to them, they might not want to use it at all, and if it comes easily to them they might be more inclined to actually wear it.

Of course even if the pros-to-cons analysis decides that using prosthetics would be beneficial, the cons are still very much there. They're still heavy, with not the greatest dexterity, sometimes causing skin issues or muscle soreness. It takes a lot of work in occupational therapy to be proficient in using them. As long as you do research on the reality of using bilateral prosthetics (both negative and positive sides, which will be different for different people so you should get as many perspectives as you can) it's definitely okay to include them. There's no point in painting them as either magical tools that are just like regular arms or making them seem like they're completely useless pieces of junk - though they can be that for many, but for others they can also be what helps them live their life more fully, makes bringing groceries in easier, or just allows them to participate in that one hobby they do once a week.

And of course: when in doubt, have a range of disabled characters.

I hope this helps,

mod Sasza

[frostbytemyrik]

You've heard of "Danny Phantom Corpse AUs," right? Where every time Danny goes ghost, he dies, leaving behind a body he has to worry about hiding or destroying (and creating a new one every time he turns human again)?

I propose a similar concept: ASTRAL PROJECTION AU! Same concept, but the body Danny leaves behind is alive and he has to go back in to "change back."

Pros (for Danny):

Go ghost almost anywhere! With family? In class? On a roller coaster? Just invisibly slip out! Hit da bricks!

No need to worry about changing back and revealing himself to a ghost or hunter if he's defeated! Sorry, Reality Trip.

Cons (pros for writers who love drama/humor):

Now we gotta find a safe place to put the living body so it doesn't die

Danny passing out in the middle of class even more often than usual, and if he's in ghost form he isn't actually technically getting restful sleep, so he appears to sleep all day yet is always tired

Being knocked out in ghost form doesn't automatically send his soul back to his body

Living bodies without souls are sitting ducks for being overshadowed, and if nobody's in the body and caring for it for too long, uh...Danny would be a ghost full-time. Thankfully that would take days, but then there's the problem of his body being unresponsive when concerned family/acquaintances/etc. discover him.

Depending on how 'alive' he still is (as in whether he's fully living and can leave, or the portal accident left him braindead so he's just possessing his own body), he may not be able to return instantly, feel what his body feels while outside it, or even be able to locate it if it's moved (or he forgets where he left it)

Additional thoughts:

He can still use powers while in his body, but things like flying, intangibility, or invisibility are more draining since he's using those powers on a body. It's akin to turning someone else invisible/intangible or carrying them while flying.

If he can still experience his body's senses, Tucker and Sam can use his body as a communication device with him when he's out. The Danno Phone™️

If he's possessing his own body rather than still being connected to it, devices such as ghost shields could not let him in (or just rip him from his own body), adding an extra thing to juggle when keeping his powers and identity secret.

Feel free to use/modify this idea as desired. Honestly I'd love to see stuff on this.