#Virtual Currency girls

[felixcatton]

i often think about logan predicting nfts and crypto in 2007 and lorelai going “get a real job”

[candywife333]

Only Here for the Food

Summary: I am having Jungkook's baby. That's right bitches, you heard me right. We had a one night stand and now I am going to make him pay in cash and chocolate doughnuts-- currency of the gods. No emotions, just mucho dinero. That's the motto for today. There's no way he can fall in love with a virtual freeloader right? Let's all pray that he doesn't for my sake and yours.

chubby reader x idol (loaded) jungkook

Disclaimer: This character of Jungkook is not a representation of the real life Jungkook. Keep in mind this is all fiction.

Mini- series

(haven't decided on how many parts. I guess however many it takes me to get my thoughts across)

Part -2 link

PART 1

"Um, excuse me, jungkook"? Jungkook scrunched his eyebrows into little squiggly lines at the hurried voice of his studio manager. "Yes, manager-nim, what exactly is the problem?"

"I don't know how exactly to put this Jungkook, but there is a heavily pregnant girl out in the waiting room with all the members. She is telling everyone that she is pregnant with your child, from a one night stand. She is sitting there eating cold ranch Doritos and demanding that we get her tiramisu and alfredo fettucini from the cafe below".

Jungkook's right eye brow twitched in anger and disbelief, who the hell was this impudent, audacious thot? He slept with many girls, and he never failed to use protection. There could simply be no way that she was pregnant with his child.

He ventured down to the waiting room to see who the hell this girl was. As he entered the room, he saw a panicking Namjoon pacing the room as he usually does when he is agitated. Namjoon caught sight of him and took him in front a heavily pregnant girl.

The girl looked like she was literally 15, dressed in a calf length baby pink flared cotton dress with a fuzzy white oversized cardigan, oversized pearl earrings, cream-white kitten heels , and a blindingly white ribbon tied to her hair in a ponytail. She looked like she had stumbled off the set of my little pony and the care bears.

She smiled as she stretched her body and protruding belly over the entire couch, making Jimin and Taehyung sit up to avoid her limbs sprawled out on the couch. The mysterious girl grinned lazily, "Hey Jungkook! Remember me from the hotel down the road two months ago? We met in the karoake bar. My name is Y/N, if that rings a bell at all". Jungkook stood there, eyebrows furrowed, quivering with indignation, "Who the hell do you thing you are? Barging into my waiting room? Who even let you inside the premises of HYBE"!

Y/N merely yawned at his furious voice, "ummm, I don't know. I think this man with really wide shoulders and thick lips. He talked about preserving lineage or something really fancy. He left me here when I said your name, as though he was electrocuted". She smirked, lips slanted upwards into a diabolical slant, eyes glinting with mischief, "I don't know why he would be surprised? Considering you had no qualms sexing me up that day when you had too much to drink. Mind you, I was also drunk that day and neither of us used protection". She shrugged her shoulders, "That is how we ended up in this predicament. You can check CCTV footage if you are still questioning it. The love motel would've stored it".

A sharp hiss resounded through the room. All the members heard the sordid tale and stared at Jungkook in disdain. Their youngest member was used to getting his way and it wasn't out of character for him to suddenly find a girl he liked and on whim sleep with her. Y/N blinked quietly and then quietly stated, "I don't need anything from you except child support. We can negotiate it together between the two of us, or between your lawyer and me. The only extra thing I demand is a box of chocolate donuts , freshly baked bread, a tiramisu cake, and a pound of strawberry cheesecake from my favorite bakery delivered to my doorstep every month. In case you are wondering, yes, to clarify, this is part of the child support".

All the members' jaws collectively dropped in shock at what she had just said. Jungkook gritted his teeth, agonized at the prospect of dealing with this girl for the rest of his mortal life. She interrupted, "Oh right, first let's do a paternity test like how they do it in the movies. Just to be sure. So you know, that it is your baby. Granted, you are the first person I actually had sex with". Jungkook squinted his eyes, jaw locked in anger ," Are you telling me, that you have never had sex before? That you don't go around waiting to trap random idols in this manner?"

Y/N shrugged nonchalantly, "Believe what you will, dude. I have had sex before, but I have only taken things up my mouth and been eaten up like a three course meal", she winked shamelessly, "if you catch my drift". She continued, as Jungkook and the rest of the members were paralyzed at her bold statements, " The time with you was the first time I took it up my kitty cat. You were going to shove your lochness monster up my snuffleupagus also, but I had to stop you". Not believing all that he was hearing, Namjoon fell onto the couch stiffly, unmoving, eyes fixed on Y/N as though he were in a coma.

Jungkook had his hand on his forehead. This entire ordeal was a nightmare. What the fuck had he done to bring this upon himself? As his head floated towards the wall for support, Y/N quipped, "if you are going to hurt yourself by banging you head against the wall, just make sure to write the child support into your will. I don't want to get in between you and death, but where my bag is concerned, I unfortunately have to intervene".

She proceeded to twirl her hands in her hair as a worker came in and handed her a plate of tiramisu. She sat upright and start devouring it. In between bites, as she stuffed herself to death she uttered, "Just so you know, I love the color pink and can occupy myself with yarn and a sewing kit for hours. Wanted to give you an FYI in case you needed to take me on a trip or something".

Jungkook eyes filled with tiny flames , he seethed , "Why would anyone take you anywhere you bitch? Isn't already too much, the fact that I will be paying child support to your ugly over distended ass? Women get pregnant, but you look like a mammoth, not a mother to be". Y/N merely blinked, staring at him resolutely as she continued to eat simultaneously, "Well, I mean you fucked and put a baby into me, so you must have liked my over distended ugly ass at some point throughout the night right? That is why I am telling you, you tried to put it my ass. I just couldn't take it no matter how much I tried. You know what they say, the attempt is what matters, not the result. At least I tried".

The rest of the members started choking, trying to suppress their laughter as she continued , eating with gusto enough to make Jin's mouth water as he entered the room to see what the noise was about. She chomped on the tiramisu as though it were here last meal, getting coffee and cream all over her lips, "I can get a participation award for trying to take it up my ass right? Anyways, I found out you were in Korea because I keep seeing shorts on youtube about when you leave and enter the country. They always say amusing stuff like, Jungkook left Korea and later on, now he has safely landed, as though they thought you were going to die or something. Like, millions of people fly everyday, but you don't see articles like, so and so from Daejeon got on the flight and now is safely back".

Yoongi was trying so hard not to laugh. This girl might be idiotic and a thot, but she was hella funny. Like he was wheezing as though he had asthma right now. Jungkook got in front of y/N , ready to yeet her off the couch. Y/N sat there and stared up at him blankly, "just so you know, if you manhandle me, I will sue you for assault. If you know what is good for you, you won't put your beautiful vascular manicured hands on me. Don't underestimate a girl with an appetite and an indomitable spirit".

She got up gracefully , " You called me a bitch. Well I think you are a conniving kerfuffle who does not know how to keep his business clean. Everybody knows not to do hanky panky without a rubber, and you clearly did not care that night". She handed him a slip of paper, " Here is my number and address, when you need to send desserts to my house and call me for a meeting with your lawyer for the paternity test. Toodles! Talk to you later! I have a doctor's appointment to attend".

[ireadyabooks]

Dystopian Reads to Die For 🔥 ☠️

Dystopian fiction has long been a staple on most bookshelves for quite some time (I’m looking at you, 1984), but it isn’t until the past decade or so that we’ve seen such great dystopian stories being told for young adults. I’m sure we all had our dystopian phase when a certain Mockingjay was making her blockbuster debut, so it makes it even more exciting to see the genre coming back into the limelight! We have compiled some of our favorite thrilling and electrifying YA dystopian novels for you to add to your TBR this month!

The Kill Factor by Ben Oliver

Fifty contestants. Five mental and physical challenges. One winner.

In a near-future where a virtual currency of digital content fuels a fame-hungry society, a brand-new experiment that combines social media and reality TV has been greenlit.

Voted on, and contestants are sent to a maximum-security reform camp on an island where they can have no contact with the outside world. To lose means prison. But to win is to be free. The most popular young offender with the most upvotes by the end is given both a second chance in society and a cash prize.

This kind of money could mean everything to Emerson and her family who live in the Burrows, one of the subterranean villages where the government have buried affordable housing. It's more than freedom. It could mean the chance to change her family’s circumstance and finally find a place in the society they’ve never been allowed into.

But what Emerson doesn’t know, what the viewers don’t know, is that the prison on the island is empty. Those who lose, those who are voted off aren’t incarcerated. Each challenge will leave more and more contestants to die. And the only choice they have is to win over viewers before it’s too late.

Start reading The Kill Factor now!

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Ambition will fuel him.

Competition will drive him.

But power has its price.

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Start reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes now!

Sirens by Braden Cawthon

A thrilling, apocalyptic horror debut from Braden Cawthon, perfect for fans of KR Alexander and Joe Hill!

Joel Walker wakes up to a world suddenly and frighteningly changed. In the wake of a massive power outage, an otherworldly siren begins to blare, changing all that listen to it for too long in frightening ways. Desperate to find his mother and little sister, Joel will have to survive in a world that is coming apart at its seams.

An edge-of-your seat thriller that will have readers guessing until the end, this debut novel is sure to make a huge splash with YA readers.

Start reading Sirens now!

The Library of Broken Worlds by Alaya Dawn Johnson

A girl and a god, alone in communion . . . 

In the winding underground tunnels of the Library, the great peacekeeper of the three systems, a heinous secret lies buried -- and Freida is the only one who can uncover it. As the daughter of a Library god, Freida has spent her whole life exploring the Library's ever-changing tunnels and communing with the gods. Her unparalleled access makes her unique -- and dangerous.

When Freida meets Joshua, a Tierran boy desperate to save his people, and Nergüi, a disciple from a persecuted religious minority, Freida is compelled to help them. But in order to do so, she will have to venture deeper into the Library than she has ever known. There she will discover the atrocities of the past, the truth of her origins, and the impossibility of her future.

With the world at the brink of war, Freida embarks on a journey to fulfill her destiny, one that pits her against an ancient war god. Her mission is straightforward: Destroy the god before he can rain hellfire upon thousands of innocent lives -- if he doesn't destroy her first.

Start reading The Library of Broken Worlds now!

Monarch Rising by Harper Glenn

In a chilling near-future New United States of America, Jo Monarch has grown up in the impoverished borderlands of New Georgia. She’s given one chance to change her fate… if she can survive a boy trained to break hearts.

Today is the day Jo Monarch has been wishing on the moon about her entire life. It's the day of the Lineup, when she could be selected to leave her life in the Ashes behind. The day she could move across the mountains to a glittering, rich future.

Once Jo is plucked from the Lineup, the real test begins. She still needs to impress the New Georgia Reps at tonight's Gala, and her path forward leads straight to Cove Wells. The damaged stepson of one of the Reps, Cove has been groomed as an emotional weapon, taught that love is a tool -- and he's set on breaking Jo's heart next.

When a riot breaks out back in the Ashes the night of the Gala, Jo's dreams might all go up in smoke. Can she really have everything she's ever wished for… when it means leaving all her loved ones behind in the fire?

Harper Glenn's debut is as gripping as it is prescient, an unflinching meditation on whether love can save us from ourselves, and what it takes to be born anew.

Start reading Monarch Rising now!

The Getaway by Lamar Giles

Jay is living his best life at Karloff Country, one of the world's most famous resorts. He's got his family, his crew, and an incredible after-school job at the property's main theme park. Life isn't so great for the rest of the world, but when people come here to vacation, it's to get away from all that.

As things outside get worse, trouble starts seeping into Karloff. First, Jay's friend Connie and her family disappear in the middle of the night and no one will talk about it. Then the richest and most powerful families start arriving, only... they aren't leaving. Unknown to the employees, the resort has been selling shares in an end-of-the-world oasis. The best of the best at the end of days. And in order to deliver the top-notch customer service the wealthy clientele paid for, the employees will be at their total beck and call.

Whether they like it or not.

Yet Karloff Country didn't count on Jay and his crew--and just how far they'll go to find out the truth and save themselves. But what's more dangerous: the monster you know in your home or the unknown nightmare outside the walls?

Start reading The Getaway -- now in paperback!

[fujomod3r]

Thoughts on Fashion Dreamer

Fashion Dreamer is the latest title from syn Sophia, and sort of spiritual sequel to their previous series Style Savvy (Style Boutique in Europe and わがままファシオン / Wagamama Fashion in Japan). The premise of the game is to become a fashion influencer or muse in a virtual world called Eve. This is done by collecting/copying clothing items from other muses (both pre-set NPCs and player created muses encountered via online features) or by unlocking clothing patterns to craft your own items. These items can then be used to create outfits known as Lookits for yourself and other muses. Some muses request specific conditions such as certain colours, styles or items to complement a particular article of clothing. Completing these requests rewards the player with more currencies to unlock and craft more items. Creating lookits and using the rewards to unlock items to create more lookits forms the central loop of the gameplay. Progress, or perhaps more nebulously, your 'success' as an influencer is tracked by how many 'likes' your lookits receive and how many 'followers' you accrue. In reality these are only virtual scores and not related to the online/social features at all.

It's by no means a perfect game, and I want to share my thoughts on what its shortcomings are, but what really prompted me to write this is looking back on the reaction to the announcement trailer. When the game was first announced during a Nintendo Direct, commenters instantly brushed it off as trite and uninteresting, many demanding it be skipped to show off more Mario or just any other game with a more 'masculine' appeal. Similarly, many streamers and youtubers reacting to the Direct mocked or derided the game for seemingly no other reason than it being 'feminine' coded or "for girls" which is extremely disheartening to see. Before the trailer had even shown any gameplay, thousands of commenters had already declared the game worthless. I'm perfectly capable of just dealing with this anti-feminine attitude, but imagine how comments and reactions like these affect the many thousands if not millions of players who are interested in this kind of game? Players with 'feminine' tastes, interests and hobbies deserve to be catered to as much as any other player. It really sometimes feels like some people never mentally matured past 8 years old, recoiling in horror from 'girly' things as an immature assertion of their own masculinity.

I don't expect all players are going enjoy something like Fashion Dreamer. I just like to imagine the world is wide enough for games like it to exist and not be mocked or dismissed outright as though they're intrinsically less worthy than other types of game. Being marketed primarily at people with 'feminine' coded interests isn't inherently a bad thing and it's truly saddening to see how easily people fall into this immature way of thinking.

With that said, Fashion Dreamer isn't perfect!! Far from it. To put it bluntly, the game currently lacks features and activities outside of creating outfits and taking photos. Previous games in the series had narrative arcs for different characters, shopping and restocking, decorating your apartment / boutique as well as activities like going to music concerts. While Fashion Dreamer allows the player to walk around Eve at their leisure, it lacks detail that would make it feel more alive. The differently themed virtual worlds or Cocoons all have the same small set of activities (that is, a photo booth, a makeup stand and gacha machines) and a collection of more or less random NPCs, meaning they end up feeling like different desktop wallpapers rather than different places. The narrative of becoming a fashion influencer is potentially a very interesting topic for exploration, especially given how relevant social media has become in the fashion world. There is also the potential for an exploration of how social media facilitates communication, expression and friendship, whilst at the same time discussing the negative impacts social media can have on people. As it stands, the game feels empty and lacks the charm of its predecessors.

Gone are the unique clothing brands of Style Savvy, with their specialisation in particular styles or items. Every item in Fashion Dreamer either comes from a single generic default brand, or is created by players. Whilst the ability for players to create their own brand is interesting, this too ultimately feels quite shallow. With all items being drawn from the same pool and with limited options for colours (and basically none for customisation such as rolling up sleeves, opening/closing outerwear etc) there's not really much incentive to 'follow' or even collect items from another player's brand. Especially since you can usually unlock the item for yourself with a bit of effort anyway. Creating your own 'brand' in this way is far less rewarding or sasitfying than creating, customising and stocking your boutique store was in the previous games. Some remnants of that feature are present in vestigial form in Fashion Dreamer, namely a custom showroom where players can display furniture, decorations and fashion items, but there's never any reason to visit your own showroom, much less those of other players. You enter the room, spend 15 seconds admiring different colour variants of the same items you have, mutter 'nice' to yourself then leave. It's unfulfilling to say the least.

It's bad enough that the clothing and brands lack personality, but the characters themselves also seem completely dessicated and one-dimensional. Where previous games had characters with distinct personalities and corresponding tastes, the NPC muses in Fashion Dreamer have much less to say and no strong preferences. Their single sentence barks don't give them much flavour and really only serve to remind you of what their 'gimmick' or 'thing' is supposed to be ("I like surfing! Surf's up! Cowabunga! Can't wait to hit the waves man!!"). Their requests for Lookits don't seem unique to their personalities (the surfer dude has asked me twice for formal suits without even trying to lampshade this by explaining why), and so far I've yet to have any muse object to an outfit or item I selected for them. Again, a comparison to Style Savvy highlights what is absent here. In Style Savvy, goth characters would balk at bright colours, characters preoccupied with elegance and sophistication would turn their nose up at distressed denims or graphic printed t-shirts. It's not as though these personalities were particularly deep, but their preferences had to be taken into consideration when recommending or selling items. Requests from muses in Fashion Dreamer on the other hand seem to be essentially random. Building a rapport with customers by talking with them or meeting them out in the town in Style Savvy felt rewarding as it let you learn more about their personality, and so better tailor your fashion recommendations to suit them. The muses of Fashion Dreamer simply repeat the same barks at every level of friendship and have much less to say about themselves or their lives making them and the world they inhabit feel much more shallow.

While Fashion Dreamer does away with having to worry about money limiting your creativity, it instead replaces one currency with 4. Instead of using money from sales to restock your store, the player must now accrue 'likes', 'keys', 'gacha tickets' and 'coins' which are used to craft clothing, unlock new designs or purchase room decorations and single-use photo props (don't ask why the VR flower evaporates after a single VR photo, it just does). The conceit of being in virtual world evaporates quickly and seems to serve mainly to hand-wave away the various abstracted elements of the game world such as the ability to instantly copy outfits and change on the spot. Grinding for these 4 abstract resources feels far less rewarding than seeing the revenue of your Boutique store increase, allowing you to buy flashier styles and splurge on store decorations.

Again I feel the need to stress that this change in focus from running a high-street boutique to being a fashion blogger in the Matrix isn't necessarily bad, but it doesn't do anything interesting with this theme, serving mainly to provide a poor simulacrum of social media 'number go up' dopamine hits. Gaining 'followers' on Fashion Dreamer isn't a reward for effort, it's literally just a numbers game since almost every action in the game rewards you with followers (which is perhaps more realistic than I'm giving it credit for). The actual social features of the game are simplistic but cute, allowing players to 'follow' one another and create or request Lookits for each other based on their multiple-choice answers to 5 simple questions (or totally ignoring that and dressing them like a Splatoon character). However it all feels quite shallow since you never interact directly with other players and so don't get to enjoy show off your unique look.

Finally, while Fashion Dreamer allows you to now create a masculine avatar (an option sorely lacking in the previous games which simply assumed the player to be a girl), the range of fashion options for masculine body types seems a lot smaller than the feminine options. It also doesn't allow masculine muses to wear feminine clothing (shoes, hats and earrings are all considered unisex, but all other clothing items are locked to a single gender) and vice versa. It's a shame to fall down here because the game has clearly made steps to be more inclusive, with a wider variety of options for skin tone, hairstyle and a 2nd gender (Ghee whizz! How come your mom lets you have two genders?). Further, the range of body shapes is still extremely lacking, with a selection of ~10 slim bodies of different heights. Overall, the game shows a real lack of interest in exploring the world of fashion, and nowhere is that more obvious than its lazy emulation of typical body/beauty standards we see everywhere else.

I know I've probably come across really harsh and critical here, but it's only out of a frustration at seeing what a strong basis there is for a game here. The character models and animations are great, and there aren't enough games that provide players like myself with the ability to indulge in playing dress-up for its own sake. Ultimately, I do want to see this game or others like it succeed because I loved Style Savvy and want developers to continue making games that dare to be unapologetically feminine in what they're about and who they're appealing to. I'm just disappointed overall in the lack of polish this particular game has. It honestly feels unfinished which is why I want to hold back from being too harsh.

Do I think this game is worth buying? Not really at the RRP, but if you're interested in some extremely light and somewhat mindless entertainment theorycrafting fits and taking a few cute digital selfies, just be warned that you won't get much else out of it. The soundtrack will start to grate on you as well, so make sure to line up a playlist of your own.

[jordanianroyals]

Queen Rania of Jordan celebrates her 53rd birthday on 31 August 2023

The Royal Court has released two new portraits of Queen Rania for the happy occasion.

The past year featured a number of joyous occasions for the Hashemites: the wedding of Crown Prince Hussein, the wedding of Princess Iman, the university graduation of Princess Salma, and the high school graduation of Prince Hashem.

In the days and weeks preceding their children’s weddings, Their Majesties were eager to share their happiness with their country’s people, involving the Jordanian public in the various celebrations marking the marriages of their first-born son and eldest daughter.

Her Majesty hosted a Henna party for Princess Iman, as well as a dinner party held in honor of the Crown Prince’s wife, Princess Rajwa, where the Queen and members of the royal family were joined by women from across Jordan’s 12 governorates to celebrate the two happy occasions. Both events spotlighted the richness of Jordanian culture and included several folkloric musical and dance performances by local female artists.

Throughout the year, Queen Rania continued to follow up on issues of importance to the Jordanian public by carrying out a number of visits to charitable associations, home-based businesses, startups, and other organizations across the country’s cities, villages, and rural areas.

A celebrated advocate for women and youth, Her Majesty’s local engagements included meetings with women artisans and young entrepreneurs, as well as visits to a number of women-led initiatives and associations supporting women’s financial empowerment.

During the holy month of Ramadan last March, for the second consecutive year, the Queen organized a mission to Umrah – the lesser Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca – for 500 women from across Jordan, a group of whom the Queen joined to perform the sacred pilgrimage herself. Earlier, in December 2022, Her Majesty took part in the lighting of the Fuheis Christmas tree among members of Jordan’s Christian minority.

Alongside her work within Jordan, over the course of the year, Queen Rania participated in several distinguished global gatherings, and accompanied His Majesty on a number of regional and international working visits.

At the invitation of the Her Majesty Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom, Queen Rania attended a reception at Buckingham Palace in London aiming to raise awareness of violence against women and girls. She also met with U.S. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden at the White House while joining His Majesty and Crown Prince Al Hussein on a visit to Washington, D.C.

While in D.C., the Queen delivered the keynote speech at the 2023 National Prayer Breakfast (NPB) Gathering’s International Luncheon on Capitol Hill, where she affirmed that religion is not “a shelter for hiding,” but “a launch pad for living.” She also posited that, in the face of widespread polarization, the act of prayer can lead us towards a better, more nuanced path that she described as “the third way.”

“This third way is not the average of extremes, but rises above the binary, elevating us to higher ground that can become common ground as well,” she said. “Our win doesn’t need to be someone else’s loss. And being right doesn’t mean that the other side is wrong — only that we need other points of view to see a multi-dimensional picture.”

The Queen also spoke at the 2023 Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, where she underscored the potential pitfalls of humanity’s increased reliance on technology. “I am concerned that we’re undervaluing the most precious currency of all – our time,” Her Majesty said. “I am concerned that, even as virtual reality improves by the day, we’re neglecting the needs of our actual reality.”

In her capacity as a member of the Earthshot Prize Council, the Queen delivered remarks at the first-ever Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit, hosted in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. In her speech, Her Majesty called for mobilizing collective action and ingenuity to repair the planet, cautioning against claiming that “climate change is somebody else’s problem,” or leaving it for future generations to address.

This year, Queen Rania continued to use her global platform to advocate on behalf of refugees in Jordan and beyond. At the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York, Her Majesty explained that a refugee crisis is “not just a short-term humanitarian crisis,” but rather a “crisis of human development” that requires long-term solutions focusing on growth, building resilience, sustainability, and job creation.

Additionally, the Queen repeatedly underscored disparities in the treatment of refugees based on their country of origin. Speaking at the Paris Peace Forum, she noted the difference in reception of refugees from Ukraine to those from countries such as Syria, Myanmar, and South Sudan, who had also been driven from their homes.

“What accounts for the contrast in compassion? Does skin color make all the difference?” she asked.

In May, Queen Rania attended the coronation ceremony of the King Charles III and Queen Camilla in London alongside King Abdullah. Their Majesties also attended the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II in September.

[antiporn-activist]

From Culture Reframed:

At our event on Tuesday, Culture Reframed Program Coordinator Dr. Mandy Sanchez will provide examples of how social media platforms are fueling sexual exploitation and prostitution, from the exchange of sexual currency in Live Streams to the grooming and recruitment of young people into prostitution and sex trafficking.

She will also share how Culture Reframed, through a public health approach, assists parents and professionals who work with young people in navigating the treacherous terrain of social media, pornography, and prostitution.

Don't miss Tuesday's event — held virtually from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET — to learn from Mandy and other expert speakers.

Register here

[bookoflibrary]

Event Summary.

The five of them are summoned and the dolls say they're gonna do Halloween in the future, and they're transported to some ugly run down place and they all realized the dolls lied to them. But then they give all five of them headsets and tell them to put it on and they're physically transported into the metaverse by accident.

They all get transported and into costumes and they're confused and little nightmares are going up to them asking for candy before they can really figure out what happened. Snow says they don't have candy and need to get some and Hameln says it's rude to just expect things for free from people.

Snow glares at him and they get some, and then they are walking around fascinated by the metaverse. It felt like more people than reality were here.

A bunch of people immediately go up to them and introduce themselves and Alice mumbles why should they go through all this for such a loud and busy place. Then something attacks her.

After they defeat the nightmare that attacked Alice, a coin dropped from it. They are all confused and Aladdin is like 'Aha! I smell business! This is virtual currency!' and goes on about how it's the innovation of the future and will replace real currency in thirty years or less. And Dorothy says 'I don't know about that.'

Hameln is actually interested and wants to know more, so the dolls explain how the metaverse connects people together and people can make a lot of money through it with art and NFTs and stuff. The dolls say they could probably be rich if they make an Alice NFT and Aladdin is on board with no support until Hameln is like 'Yes.... ' And everyone else is surprised

Snow doesn't think this is a good idea at all and has a gut feeling. But the guys ignore her and he tells Alice to make a pose so he can create a photo and they can sell it. And he's like complaining all the time about her posture. And finally he is like 'Yes, just like that, but cross your legs. It will make you look more beautiful.' So she does and the photo is made.

And with that, Alice's NFT birthed the SINoCOIN.

all of them became millionaires in the Metaverse. Aladdin is like promoting it, and Hameln, Dorothy and Aladdin himself go crazy and have a photoshoot together trying to earn more but Alice was just weirded out by the entire thing & Snow can't shake the sinking feeling something is off, they do it anyway just to see what its really about, thinking it's just some scam or publicity stunt.

Aladdin tells Hameln there's a place he wants to show them and Dorothy grabs the girls and is like 'we're rich now so let's go shopping!' And the three of them run off. Dorothy is like 'That's a store where you can get the tools needed to summon demons!! That store is a black metal and voodoo store!!!!!!!' And Snow tells her to stop trying to make them go into suspicious stores. Dorothy is like foaming at the mouth trying to go into random stores when Alice pauses at a clothing one, and they all agree to go in that one.

Dorothy finds cool glasses and Alice and Snow find some other jewelry that match.

They all stay in that store for awhile and Dorothy is spazzing around in it, when Snow finds something on display that catches her eyes; its a beautiful costume based on butterflies and fairies. She tries it on and asks if she looks good and the girls say yes and she starts feeling all shy.

Meanwhile Aladdin takes Hameln to an art museum and they start to stare at the gallery, and Hameln is just so blown away and on the brink of tears at the art. And Aladdin is like 'Yeah, I think this is where upcoming artists put their work on display from around the world' And Hameln is just going on about how beautiful it is and Aladdin agrees and says maybe there's some kind of innovation here.

And they wind up walking around because it was like an endless gallery and talk for so long they get lost

But then they hear something and look and it's a concert hall and they agree to check it out. Someone passing by tells them to go because its the biggest event ever: Metaverse Live. They go in together and see the girls grabbing their own tickets, so they decide to stick together as a group again and go in

The five of them go in and people were floating over a seamless twilight night sky, battling things and having fun. So they agree to try it. While they're doing that, Dorothy has an epiphany. 'Everything you need is here. What makes them have hope and hold on?' And everyone looks at her and goes 'Well then what's YOUR offline life like, then?'

Everyone is circling around her like a rabid animal pissed. Snow grabs her hand, telling her they should leave as soon as possible. it took forever to get away from them and they all hide in an alley and she's like 'What did I say? All I did was ask about their real world. I don't get it.' And notices they were mad, too.

There's something connecting these people to stay here. Financial pressure. Aging. ect. The world was made an escape for the young people but overtime they turned into zombies and couldn't move their bodies and became stuck in this world.

Then Hameln talks about much ugliness is in the real world and they overhear and the zombies all lunge at them, with tears in their eyes

People also notice Alice from the picture and Snow tells her to stay back. While they're all fighting, the zombies tell them they'll destroy their reality and have been fighting for so long that they are losing their sanity and dropping from exhaustion. They manage to defeat them but then they are cut back into their world. The headsets broke and their bodies transported back setting the zombies free. The dolls tell them they should consider the feelings of people more, and they punch them in the faces. End.

[jessicafurseth]

Reading List, After All the Other edition.

"I need to walk down a sidewalk somewhere on a shady afternoon, find a table outside a cafe, sit down, order a drink, and I want to sit there with that drink and I want a fly to land on that table. Then, in the background, I want to hear somebody laugh. Then I want to see a woman walk by in a green dress. I want to see a dog walk by, a fat dog with short brown hair and with grinning eyes. I want to die sitting there. I want to die upright, my eyes still open. I want an airplane to fly overhead. I want a woman to walk by in a blue dress. Then I want that same fat dog with short brown hair and grinning eyes to come walking by again. That will be enough, after all the other, after everything else." [Charles Bukowski]

[Image: Ellsworth Kelly's slippers]

*

Unquotable in the best way, this is quite the ride [Sophie Heawood]

Welcome to the chaos era of social media [Annalee Nevitz, The Atlantic]

"They presented an irreverent version of adulthood that I had never seen on TV or in life: a playful yet sophisticated world where grown-ups joked and laughed together and didn’t take themselves too seriously, even when everyone around them was being very serious indeed." On Seinfeld's relevancy, 25 years later [Maya Salam, The New York Times]

"Why on Earth would it be odd to eat alone, or go for a walk alone, or live alone, or do virtually anything alone? Everyone’s their own person, we live in a free country, what possible reason could you have not to do whatever it is you want to do, accompanied or not? Equally, must we really pretend that it is always fun and great and liberating to do all those things by yourself?" [Marie Le Conte, The New Statesman]

"In 1990, my parents decided to raise me in the United States, and we all had a chance to choose a new identity. They asked for my 3-year-old’s opinion: What would I like to be called in this new place? I answered, the story goes, with Connie, after that pretty “ayi,” or auntie, we watched on TV. That ayi was Constance Yu-Hwa Chung, or, as the world knows her, Connie Chung." All the little Chinese girls named Connie [Connie Wang, The New York Times]

Why so many autistic people still identify with the term "Asperger’s" [Zoe Corbyn, The Guardian]

"Let me grapple! Let me exist!" Less TikTok, More Screaming [Persinette}

My Taste Is Basic. So What? [Samantha Irby, Harper's Bazaar]

“Amazon doesn’t care about books … a book is just another thing in a warehouse,” [B&N CEO] Daunt says. “Whereas bookstores are places of discovery. They’re just really nice spaces.” How Barnes & Noble bounced back #BoycottAmazon [Lauren Aratani, The Guardian]

Why don’t we realise how screwed up the UK really is? [Jonn Elledge, The New Statesman]

Notes from Prince Harry’s Ghostwriter [JR Moehringer, The New Yorker]

"That we’re not the most beautiful is a frequent accusation, as if the only currency exchange for male power is perfect female beauty when, as Eve Babitz worked out and wrote down, an equal conversion for a woman is self-possession." [Emma Forrest, The Guardian]

Spiraling in San Francisco’s Doom Loop - Downtown San Francisco will survive this, but it will be a sad few years [Elizabeth Weil, Curbed]

No, Cities Aren’t Doomed Because of Remote Work - it's complicated [Alissa Walker, Curbed]

The Best Beer Gardens In London, mapped [Londonist]

13 truly great ads [George Mack on Twitter]

The colour of the city: The argument for red [Peter Ackroyd, Londonist]

[beardedmrbean]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A northern Virginia man arrested on terrorism charges has a husband-wife relationship with another American who was dubbed by authorities as an " empress of ISIS " for her work to establish an all-female battalion of the Islamic State, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Mohammed Chhipa, 33, of Springfield, Virginia, was arrested last week on charges that he provided support to a terrorist group. Prosecutors allege that he transferred nearly $200,000 in cryptocurrency, with some of that money traced back to the Islamic State, to support Chhipa's stated goal of helping smuggle female ISIS members from detention camps. Other funds remain unaccounted for.

At a detention hearing Wednesday, prosecutors also disclosed a relationship between Chhipa and Allison Fluke-Ekren, an American from Kansas who is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Fluke-Ekren pleaded guilty last year to organizing and leading the Khatiba Nusaybah, a battalion in which roughly 100 women and girls — some as young as 10 — learned how to use automatic weapons and detonate grenades and suicide belts.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Aminoff told the judge that Chhipa considers himself to be married to Fluke-Ekren, although the marriage was apparently conducted online and has no legal status in the U.S. He said Chhipa, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from India, has been trying to adopt Fluke-Ekren's children.

Court documents in Fuke-Ekren's case do not mention Chhipa by name, but also indicate that Fluke-Ekren considered herself to be married to a man she met online. It is not clear that the two have ever met in person.

Whatever the relationship between Chhipa and Fluke-Ekren, the charges against Chhipa appear unrelated to that relationship. Prosecutors say that between November 2019 and July 2022, Chhipa used virtual currency to transfer more than $188,000 to accounts known and unknown. An FBI affidavit states that some money remains unaccounted for but that $18,000 went to wallets known to be used by ISIS women located in Syria, while $61,000 went to cryptocurrency wallets in Turkey. The affidavit states that money intended to arrive in Syria is often routed through Turkey.

The affidavit quotes text messages sent by Chhipa indicating he wanted the money to be used to bribe guards at detention camps where families of Islamic State fighters are still being held.

The affidavit says Chhipa also met with an FBI “controlled persona” — either an undercover agent or a confidential source — and accepted cash from the individual. Chhippa then transferred the money to Bitcoin and sent it directly to a known ISIS member, according to the affidavit.

Chhipa has been under investigation for years. Indeed, prosecutors say he fled to Egypt in August 2019, fearing he would be arrested after his home was raided. He was brought back to the U.S. after authorities contacted Interpol, but he was not charged until Monday. Prosecutors say Chhiipa continued to engage in illegal conduct after he returned to the U.S., even though he know he was drawing authorities' scrutiny.

Family members who attended Wednesday's hearing did not comment, but passed out a written statement supporting him. The statement described Chhipa “as tirelessly working for the betterment of women and children” and said he "has been targeted by false allegations.

U.S. Magistrate Judge John Anderson ruled at the conclusion of Wednesday’s hearing that Chhipa should remain jailed while he awaits trial.

[candywife333]

You Can Have Him

Summary: I am having Jungkook's baby. That's right bitches, you heard me right. We had a one night stand and now I am going to make him pay in cash and chocolate doughnuts-- currency of the gods. No emotions, just mucho dinero. That's the motto for today. There's no way he can fall in love with a virtual freeloader right? Let's all pray that he doesn't for my sake and yours.

chubby reader x idol (loaded) jungkook

Disclaimer: This character of Jungkook is not a representation of the real life Jungkook. Keep in mind this is all fiction.

Mini- series

(haven't decided on how many parts. I guess however many it takes me to get my thoughts across)

PART 2 of Only Here for Food

You know when your bladder just can't hold in the piss and it has to empty itself under just about any circumstance? Well that was me right now, as I sauntered into HYBE. I used the wonderful bathroom on the first floor and with a jolly grin on my face went to the cafe. Their desserts were simply exquisite. "One new york classic cheese cake with a boba tea please". I clapped my hands , giggling in glee as I saw all the other options I couldn't wait to try every time I visited the HYBE building.

I took my aesthetic picture of the desserts as the employee who handed me the food smiled at me. Happiness is contagious, just like the plague and that is the best part about it. Trudging over to the BTS waiting room , I saw my favorite super squishy couch and sat on it, ready to eat my dessert and some bibimbap with pork belly I had made for lunch today.

I kept all my food on the table, having brought an abundant amount for the guys as well. They may like it, and if they didn't I had so many neighbors I could just distribute the food to. I dove into the bibimbap, moaning as the flavors hit my tastebuds. This is truly what I lived for, fatty oily sweet and savory rice loaded with greasy meat, spiced vegetables, and fried egg. Taehyung walked in, clearly surprised at what I had brought and my presence. "Hey Y/N , what are you doing here? Jungkook is in the recording room".

I smiled, "Oh, I didn't come for Jungkook necessarily. I was just going to give him papers that my lawyer drew up in case I saw him around the building. I actually just came here to eat and brought some food with me in case you guys wanted to try any. Made it all early this morning after my mommy pilates class". I chewed loudly with fervor, "Why don't you also try some food? I made bibimbap, japchae with tiger shrimp, fish cake stew with sausages, and kimbap. It's all home made".

Taehyung reluctantly took his first bite, and then it was game over. He sat there eating the food with me as I showed him reruns of different series I was watching. I showed him how I was midway through death note and my plans to dress up as a Shinigami this halloween. I was also knitting a shinigami inspired scarf with apples laced all throughout. He chuckled and laughed with me.

The rest of the guys filtered in, behooved to see Taehyung get along so well with Y/N. They saw the abundance of food, and Jin was the first to serve himself a plate, exclaiming and gesticulating ,"So good Y/N, so good, you are truly a goddess. I was just missing home made food so much". The rest of the guys also decided to chow down, trying to steal the cheesecake from Y/n as she was slowly eating it, attempting to prolong the experience.

Jungkook walked in, sweaty and tired from recording his new track for a feature when he saw Y/n. His face contorted into disgust. What the hell was this girl doing here again? Wasn't setting up a child support plan after his unfortunately positive paternity test enough for her?

He loudly stomped in the room, slapping his doc martens against the ground. Y/N heard the noise and looked up to see him. "Hi JK, want to try some food? I just made it this morning. Took me two hours, but I wanted to bring a treat for all of you just in case. Was supposed to go on a picnic today with my boy toys but I thought I would feed you guys instead". Jungkook nodded his head with pure defiance and rage, till a singular word filtered through his brain, boy toys?!?!! He shrieked in a fury, "What the hell do you mean by boy toy women? What type of males are you frolicking with? Are you getting run through by every damn male out there?"

Y/N weakly smiled, "I mean, I wish I had the braveness to cavort with every handsome man I met. But I am just too scared of STDs you know. Trust me on this though JK, if STDs never existed, I would fuck my way through an entire fraternity. I have the stamina of a stallion". She proceeded to imitate a neighing of a horse, as the boys all tried not to choke, aspirate, and die on their food.

Y/n continued, "I just came here to talk to you about honoring the part of our agreement that talks about baby time twice a week. Twice a week I will be here so we can have our baby interaction time , so as a dad you can be close to the baby". Jungkook was ready to rip all his hair out of his head. What the hell was she talking about? Then he remembered the part of the contract which stipulated that he was supposed to meet her twice a week to interact with the baby as it was in the womb and for one year post partum.

"Just let me know once you are ready, and we will go into a private room so you can touch the baby directly-- you know skin to skin contact and all". The boys tried to not laugh openly at Jungkook as he stared at y/N horrified of her request. They all filtered out immediately. Namjoon stated somberly, "Jungkook you can use this room with Y/N, I will close the door so you and her can have private time with the Baby".

Jungkook timidly walked over to Y/n and sat next to her. She emanated the scent of fresh laundry and coconuts, very appealing and nothing that he had ever smelled on any of the girls he usually bedded. Y/n lifted up her dress and Jungkook was shell shocked to see red lacy panties stretched down due to a surprisingly round baby bump the size of a small melon. Her thighs were thick and glistening with moisture . He almost had the urge to bite her thighs. Wait, what the fuck, where was this thought coming from?!

Y/N lifted one eyebrow, "Aren't you going to touch the baby? Don't be scared by my pussy, don't worry, it won't bite. It will maintain its distance, it is well trained and domesticated". Jungkook's hands slightly trembled as he placed both of them on either side of her stomach. He felt the warmth of her silky skin radiating through his hands, as an unwarranted image of Y/N with his cum stuffed up her pussy and his cum sprayed all over her pregnant stomach ambushed him. He jolted away, hands moving away due to the sudden unbidden thought invading his mind, infiltrating his brain.

He asked softly with concern, "Is this normal for your stomach to be this big for two months?" Y/N cooly replied, "They are actually twins. I am preparing cribs and clothes for them. Double the work actually, but I can't wait". She giggled, nose scrunching up and mirth in her eyes. Jungkook saw how beautiful she was, for the first time since he consciously met her.

Y/N squealed out, "Ok now Mr Jungkook. Hands off the goodies. Visitation hours are over". She flipped down her dress as Jungkook now couldn't get the image of her ripe swollen stomach and panties out of his mind. She clouded his thoughts so quickly, no wonder he got her pregnant he mused to himself.

The members came back in as Y/N stared at her phone, watching death note on youtube with Jimin who snuggled up next to her. Jungkook felt a flash of envy thunder through his body as he saw the mother of his kids so close to Jimin. He shouldn't feel this way, but he did. A model named Jin Hee, from one of their previous photo shoots came over to Jungkook and sidled up to him.

Jin Hee held on to Jungkook's arm and started talking to him, flirting with him, as Y/N watched the scene unravel from the corner of her eye. She had great peripheral vision, took her vitamin A and carrot intake very seriously, thank you very much. As Jungkook sat down now, Jin Hee sat so close to him, she might as well be on his lap. Jin Hee was clearly trying to prod Y/N to breaking since the news had spread quickly about Jungkook's baby momma. Everybody knew who Y/N was in the HYBE building.

Jin Hee, a stereotypically thin model had been vying for Jungkook's attention for the longest time. She did not want to lose to a fat pregnant non celebrity baby momma. Y/N calmly put her phone down next to her, to the confusion of Jimin. In a calm voice that could slice a human's flesh with its sharpness, she drawled out firmly, eyes facing Jin Hee, "You can have him you know. I don't fight over community dick. If you want him, you can have him. You clinging to him like a baby koala is making you look desperate. I am not jealous of you in the least. My eyes are on a different prize, and Jungkook is not it. I eat leftovers usually, but if Jungkook was a left over, I would throw him in the trash".

[sanssouci-sims]

johnny zest is a good man (not clickbait i swear)

I never thought a townie would grow on me (I’ve largely ignored them for the most part), but Johnny Zest did. Let me tell you why!

HE’S GOT A LITTLE GIRL, GUYS. //sniff

What’s that? I’m automatically going to call him a good man just because he had a daughter? Why yes, I am. Sure, it seems bland at face value, but with the magic of ✨ 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒔 ✨, I’m going to make it better.

You see, I first heard about Johnny Zest through The Sims Freeplay (basically a mobile Sims game and literally the FIRST Sims game I’ve ever played that introduced me to this stupid franchise to begin with), and honestly? He came off as absolute GARBAGE. In that game, he’s meant to (from what I remember) supervise a whole task line in a neighborhood where you’re supposed to complete a series of tasks to like... repair stuff in houses within that neighborhood? I think???? You have to complete them within a specific time limit though, or else you’ll have to shell out virtual money (or use actual money to buy more of said currency) to like, buy extra time, I think. And he’d give you something like an “extra zesty” grand prize if you completed everything in time.  I don’t know about you, but I mean like any mobile game riddled with micro-transactions, the whole thing is awfully cash-grabby (you know, like the Landgraabs). Plus, he generally just comes off as a creep like a few other Freeplay NPCs.

When I started playing TS4, I found out Johnny would also be in this game as a playable townie. And I groaned.

Like many of my other townies, I would ignore him for the most part. He lived in a trailer, wanted to be a stand-up comedian, and had no relationships with anyone (in addition to being disowned by his own family). He was a loser for all I cared.

One day, when I was looking for a household to play in Oasis Springs, and I found that Johnny had a new little face with him.

Meet Isabelle Zest, and here is how I think she came into Johnny’s life.

As mentioned previously, Johnny Zest had no one in his life. His family had long since cut him off ever since he said he wanted to become a comedian, and his parents refused to provide him any financial support to get him started on his feet. Fortunately, he was able to slowly progress in his career in entertainment to the point where he was able to scrounge enough money to upgrade his housing situation from a trailer to a modest one-story home.

Still, Johnny would always come home at the end of his work day to an empty house. He just wanted someone to share some joy with.  He wasn’t sure how this randomly crossed his mind, but one day, he decided he wanted to just... have a child. Obviously, he wasn’t just going to go start one with a random woman. In fact, he always thought he was very awkward with girls. Instead, he searched online for adoption centers near him that were looking to place children in loving homes. After a while of scrolling, he stumbled across a little girl named Isabelle.

Not only was her picture adorable, but she was described as a quiet but sweet girl who liked to smile and learn about new things. She was also almost nearly deaf and needed to wear hearing aids.  Johnny was intrigued and booked an appointment to visit the adoption center. There, he met Isabelle for the first time!

Johnny was a little nervous at first, but seeing Isabelle smiling at him just being himself tugged at his heartstrings. By the end of his visit, all Isabelle wanted to do was to just follow him around and give him hugs.

After a few more meetings, Johnny decided he wanted to adopt Isabelle. He had to fill out what felt like a multitude of paperwork and scrounge up a lot more money, but after a while, he was finally able to finalize everything and take Isabelle home!

There wasn’t really any time to settle down, however, as Johnny still had to work, obviously. But when he does have free time, he makes sure to spend it with Isabelle. In the meantime, though, when he’s assigned work to complete at home, he usually does it in the dining room where he can watch Isabelle, who will usually play with her toys nearby.

When it’s time for him to work away from home though, Johnny usually sends Isabelle to daycare. Obviously, she’s less than pleased.

Once he comes home, though? It’s all worth it when he gets to see that little smile on her face.

Weekends are what Johnny and Isabelle look forward to the most, as he doesn’t have to work and she gets to spend time with her dad all day long! He’ll often take her somewhere fun, and her favorite places to visit are the local playground and pizzeria.

So yeah, Johnny Zest is a good man. All he wants to do is to bring joy to his little girl’s life, and that’s all that matters.

[soapver4]

Journal of Temporal Merphysics

Metadrama idea: A non-hearing, female version of Where's Waldo? in time travel.

A bunch of high school seniors are noisily snacking in a sunlight-dappled, mostly empty grand library while compiling materials for a presentation required in a Time class when one of them draws attention to a potential interabled romance story that just refuses to start in various real-life biography notes.

Volume 1: Limits of Optics

Issue 1

A nameless, orphaned tween liked to explore the nooks and crannies of the old textile factory where he worked as an inventory clerk.

In the shadows of its underbelly, he saw a grubby assembly line supervisor sneeringly approaching a child who looked even younger than him.

The boy rescued the shrieking child with his precocious wit.

She darted away from him like a phantom sparrow.

Issue 2

After checking out the spot on more occasions, the boy learnt that the child was a non-hearing, illiterate and illegally employed factory hand whose communication barriers were regularly exploited by abusers in the factory.

With much trouble, the boy got accepted as a friend by the suspicious girl.

The shadows became their playground, mock revenge headquarters, candlelit percussion stage and spelling and arithmetic school from then on.

The alien-like scribbles and tool layouts left behind spooked the occasional adult "normal" interloper, who subsequently kept a distance.

Issue 3

As the pair grew together over the years, factory equipment in the distance would sound like wistful ballads were being spun out as the girl watched the boy excitedly gesture his ambitions and stories about same-age girls he liked.

One late evening, he tugged at her ponytail as usual. She chased him around as usual. But after three laps around a newly abandoned giant rotor, he disappeared into thin air, never to be seen in that time period again.

She tried running more laps around the rotor, but remained in the factory shadows.

Supplement

"Serious? You saw an academic book mention the wistful ballads? Or darting like a phantom sparrow, for that matter?" Somebody quibbles. The other students hush him with "Poetic license, poetic license!" and a couple stuff gummy worms into his mouth.

Volume 2: Law of Statistics

Issue 1

The boy spun around to find the girl and the factory missing. He was now in a dazzling, bustling, speckless city full of funny wheels and other curios.

No obese, pockmarked or limping person could be seen on the miles and miles of streets he trudged on. This city was so perfect you could not spot any ordinary citizen with any form of special needs, let alone someone from another era communicating in sign language.

The starving boy could not find his way back to the girl.

Issue 2

A great deal of administrative upkeeping and technological wizardry kept the city this gleaming and dreamily flawless. Now that every element in nature and the man-made world was meticulously propertized and mechatronically gated, that extensive safeguards must be met before every action, and that the basics — smart devices, virtual currencies and identity certification — were out of his reach, the boy could not access food, jobs, medicine, or even information the way he did as a self-raised tween in his own era.

He was a runaway zoo exhibit in every populated place he went. The meaner motorists and riders passing by, chuckling at his shabby look and struggles with machines, loudly wondered why this beggar foolishly strayed from his institution for the infirm. The kinder ones looked at him with weird wonder or woeful pity.

The boy had understood the girl more than anyone else. But to the extent that disability entailed incapacitation in aspects of self-presentation and personal functioning society demanded, he now felt her daily struggles on a more visceral level.

There was a time or two he felt a genuinely concerned, familiar look in his direction, only to see more gawkers on swerving around.

He swore to charge the vehicles viewing fees, be that soondae or wurst tray. But more than anything, he longed to return to protect the girl more fiercely, not out of pity, but out of deepened solidarity and a fervor to go against the tide of a humanity with far more tolerance for moral ineptitude than for physical and socioeconomic ineptitude.

Issue 3

While the boy was stealthily picking for scraps from a garbage bin one night, a patrol car stopped by. He started to take flight like the girl did when the pair first met, but a patrol officer's offer of normal accommodation and meals over her public address system proved eventually too tempting to a traveler with increasingly heavy eyelids and blistering soles.

In the patrol car, he tried to look calm even as he scrutinized the route closely and feared that he would be lodging with jailbirds. The officer and her sergeant on the walkie-talkie attempted to break ice by joking about how their names, Taylor Swyft and Andrew Leo Webster respectively, betrayed their identities as undercover superstars from the past, but the situation only looked fishier to him.

The shelter turned out to be a church with a spare bed. For the first time in a long while, he could close his eyes without a care in the world.

Footnote

Sounds of running footsteps echoed day after day around the abandoned giant rotor back in the original timeline.

Supplement

"That's our girl, amirite?" The librarian helps herself to one of the students' pistachio pops while looking over their shoulders. Someone grumblingly wonders how much the institution pays her.

Volume 3: Principle of Protection

Issue 1

Months into the industrious boy's custodian job at the church, an impressed college dean frequenting the place took him under his tutelage, going as far as securing scholarships for him.

During the documentation process, in which the authorities accepted the youth as a memory-impaired person after much reluctance, the boy gave himself his very first formal name: Simon Bo Văn. Bo and Văn were tributes to his Asian ancestry. In Hebrew, Shim'ôn means "He has heard." That was even without a sound from the suffering person.

To make up for expenses not covered by the scholarships, Simon tidied equipment and wiped bench surfaces part-time at the dean's Weir lab, which got the ambition cogwheels in his brain rotating again. But, no, he must stay focused. A young girl was waiting for him.

At college, Simon double-majored in physics and sociology. One might lead him back to the girl. The other might lead them to an X-ray atlas of humanity's dark gaze network. They shall be the gazers this time, from the God's eye view of ivory towers.

Issue 2

A major nemesis appeared in the form of an eccentric musician. How did we get here? Well, Simon was presenting his quantum physics research at a science fair open to all when the musician enthused that the principle elucidated by the findings would elevate electronic music. He shook Simon's hands vigorously and congratulated himself for spotting the perfect rival. ("But I don't make music." "Ooooh, you shall!")

The musician used public pressure to egg on Simon to compete with him to devise the best music instrument. Not one to be forever bullied, Simon called out his tactic. Gleefully, the musician changed the name of his one-man band to Egg on the spot, to the crowd's roaring laughter.

And that was only the beginning. Simon's quick wits and versatility left the musician in greater awe after the contest. No way was he letting go of this genius with boundless possibilities who could push the musician to greater heights. "Page" after "Page," we see the musician roping Simon into a wakeboarding challenge, a mountain climbing challenge, a startup challenge and a challenge to retrofit the most underprivileged homes in a week.

Simon really, really missed the girl in her shadows.

Issue 3

Ideas from the musician flowed so much like an endless stream that Simon was starting to see him not only everywhere but also in his dreams. He even started to feel a strange attraction to the guy.

Shocked at this self-discovery, Simon called the musician a manipulative, egocentric divo with no self-awareness. The musician was finally stunned into contrite silence. He profusely apologized, then sincerely explained he did not want Simon's multipotentiality to be locked away in a comfort zone, and invited Simon to set limits on their contact intervals.

The musician's reaction tore at Simon.

That was what humanity needed: the ability to alternate between the light and the shadows, to prosper yet know itself intimately.

On top of that, all Simon had thought of, in contrast to the musician, was returning to shield the girl from danger in the safety of her hometown. Not once did he consider bringing her to the present or a future where policy and technology could mitigate her hearing impairment or its effects, let alone exposing her to different environments and different challenges within her uncertain lifespan.

Should he if he ever had a chance? Could she survive this place when he, a perfectly physically abled man, struggled so much to?

Yet that was but a hypothetical question. He conquered the waves and the ragged wilderness but failed the fundamental question: He did not even permit the girl to grow outside her or history's comfort zone in his imagination.

One could study both the sciences and the humanities but not wire them together with ease for a scalable solution to affairs of the heart.

Footnote

Sounds of running footsteps continued to echo day after day around the abandoned giant rotor back in the original timeline.

Supplement

"What?! For how many pages has she been running? Is she going to just dwell as a faceless existence in footnotes?" While the librarian is distracted, some students grab hold of remaining smoothies. A narrator tells her to relax, for the story is coming to an end.

Volume 4: Simply Connected Space

Issue 1

Lives, too, must come to an end. The dean fell terminally ill when Simon became a postdoc, so Simon took care of him at the dean's residence to repay his kindness, despite the old man's protests. The musician's earlier problems with respecting boundaries must have rubbed off on Simon. At the residence, Simon chanced upon stashes of time-travel experiment records in a storage room. And in a secret vault laid models resembling the abandoned giant rotor back in Simon's time.

Our male protagonist rushed back to the bedroom to plead for answers from the dean. If time travel was possible again, he wanted to go back for real, tell everything to the girl and let her decide for herself whether she should risk the migration.

The dean smiled sadly at him, revealing that he knew the girl. As Simon guessed, the giant rotor refused to work for her despite months of her running circles around it. When it finally worked, she found herself with no body, sound or scent at her destination. She frantically looked high and low for Simon and cried at the sight of him on the road, but was ultimately invisible also to him.

Horrified at the disclosure, Simon pressed the dean for her whereabouts. The frail dean stroked Simon's head, asking him if he really yearned to see his sweet-hearted childhood friend since context and time could change people, but fell into a coma before he could say more. The dean's demise was later announced.

Issue 2

Giving up was never Simon's thing. For years, he studied the dean's models, records and research papers closely, ran computer simulations, sourced for intricate mechanical components and eventually built up numerous versions of the giant rotor.

This might well be the day. Simon took a deep breath and started to run around a giant rotor that held great promise in the reverse direction. First lap. Second lap. Destiny needed to be next.

But just a second into the last lap, someone grabbed him by the arm. Simon looked around and instinctively reacted with a conflicted look.

Issue 3

It was the musician. In anguish, Simon began telling him about a lost, invisible girl he must save even though everything was going to sound bizarre and far-fetched, but the musician cut him off in an unusually somber tone, "I have the remainder of her story."

Practically a ghost, the desolate girl followed Simon for a while, unable to do anything for him, then wandered on hallways looking for answers to everything. She ended up spending long, lonely years reading opened books and notes in libraries and sitting in on lectures. By and by, she mastered quantum mechanics and spent decades working out time travel.

Her perseverance led her to an electromagnetic field that sent her to an earlier era, where she finally regained her young, fit corporeal form and all.

But when she managed to assemble a giant rotor which tunable electromagnetic field could send her forward in time without turning her invisible, she realized that the technology only allowed her to appear at future destinations as a male most of the time and never as a disabled person.

On further thought, however, why should our perceived identities matter more than who we made a positive impact on? With tremendous paperwork difficulty, she attended a police academy and became a police sergeant to locate Simon again but was too late at first. Simon had been so malnourished and frostbitten he did not survive for long after her rescue. To work with more hands, she made another round back and forth in time, staying underpromoted as a patrol officer to scour the streets and cameras for him while collaborating with her previous, sergeant self.

Rescuing Simon was not enough in this supercilious, paranoid society, though. So she took a third round trip and fought vicious institutional politicking to become a college dean who could mentor and advocate for Simon. As the dean, she was touched yet regretful to witness Simon dedicate his entire academic career to the protection of her. However, she did not want Simon to live his life for her when she had already lived hers for him. And so it was that she embarked on a fourth trip while terminally ill and freshly awake from a medically induced coma — to live as his devoted multi-challenger.

Simon looked at the musician in wide-mouthed shock. Tears of fatigue and relief welled up in their red-rimmed eyes.

Footnote

A trusted mentee of the dean, willing to migrate backwards, arrived in the past to dismantle the constructed giant rotors, followed by the abandoned giant rotor that incidentally enabled time travel. Someday, however, Time scholars may rediscover the mechanics of time travel.

Supplement

The librarian quickly dabs her glossy lips and dramatically admonishes the students for misbehavior, to their amusement. But one after another, they nudge each other and wipe up their stuff. The head librarian glares at everyone from an upper level. As the students trudge out of the library, the building name reads, "Weir Public Library of Arts and Sciences."

Acknowledgment

This idea has been inspired by the following commentators' observations that onscreen female characters rarely travel forward in time: frabsiscrabsis (retweeted by @thedramanotes) and Mila. The author is indebted to Mila for taking time to read an earlier version of the story and for her enlightening feedback. This does not mean that any of these writers endorses the story or is responsible for its missteps. The bullet point format is a thematic choice. All the same, discussions on developing the idea into a book project or other media will be greatly welcome.

A close variant of the light-versus-shadows concept can be found in Extraordinary You. Drama viewers are free to visualize the following actors in the roles: Twinkling Watermelon's Shin Eun-soo as the non-hearing heroine, Someday Or One Day's Greg Hsu as Simon and Fermat's Cuisine's Hosoda Kanata as the musician.

[blue-opossum]

Shopping for a CD after Jumping through a Circle of Fire

        Shopping for a CD after Jumping through a Circle of Fire

        Tuesday morning, 21 November 2023

        I pretend to be a young female. I practice escaping from the front glass doors of a shopping mall as it is quickly surrounded by a circle of fire, though lit from the back of the building in the daytime. I do not define who set this trap for me. I joyfully and confidently jump through the minimal fire before it forms a higher circle around the building. In the final version, I run through it into the parking lot and jump into a raised parking lot garden to my right. Knowing I am only navigating my imagination, I reset and repeat the event a few times before integrating into the next staging as "myself." However, I do not have real-world recall of my current life.

        There is a music CD of this event. The cover features the girl (of whom I no longer am) titled "Flames." An advertisement of it is on the eaves of an apartment building. I walk through an unknown city at night.

        I enter a pawn shop that only sells CDs. The owner, though friendly, is pushy about selling me a CD. The television series, "Everybody Loves Raymond," is in the back of my mind, but I mistake the name for Marone (instead of Barone) though pronounced as "Ma-ro-nee." The owner reminds me of Brad Garrett. (We were both born in 1960.) However, because of the natural virtual amnesia of dreaming, I think he resembles the owner of a pawn shop in La Crosse (though he looks nothing like him). I ask him if he has a brother in La Crosse and mention the shop's name, and he cheerfully shouts, "We're twins!" I leave because I think the prices are too high. Even so, he tells me that I can also exchange any CDs I have for ones in the store.

        The next store has what looks like a movie theater's ticket booth at the front. It is nighttime. An unfamiliar woman is attending the counter. The sizeable glass door is open, but I know I am supposed to ask what CD I want instead of going into the place. I go to the front of the booth to give her $26.00 in American currency for the "Flames" CD. However, she gives me a dollar back. I drop it but pick it up again. I am unsure why she gave me a one-dollar discount.

        I walk past the pawn shop, and the owner seems annoyed that I bought the CD elsewhere. I go in to look around again. He tells me he does not have a twin. He was joking. While standing near one shelf, an unfamiliar man in a raincoat drops several CDs into a duffel bag I am suddenly carrying (even though I did not have one seconds ago). I am unsure why he did that. I decide to leave. While walking through the front door, I wonder if an alarm will go off, but no drama occurs.

        It is suddenly daytime again. After I cross the street, he yells that his name is Scruli (pronounced SCREW-LEE). He seems amused. I am uncertain which route to take. I go back to the pawn shop for a short time.

        I decide to leave again, but when I walk out of the shop, it is now inside a large shopping mall. Not only that - but it is also now on the second floor rather than being a one-floor separate store on the city street as it was minutes ago.

        I walk to the elevator. Even though I recall how elevators in dreams may be problematic (because of variations in kinesthetic outcomes while dreaming), I confidently enter it. My dreaming experience becomes the most vivid at this point. A friendly dog had followed me, but I am unsure if it entered the elevator. I recognize that I am in my dream's typical kinesthetic outcome (because of changes in REM atonia), and I soon wake. (Elevators occur regularly in my dreams because of the kinesthetic effect of naturally changing depths of sleep.)

[untaisastra]

Guiding the rhythm of love;

Before ⸻

In the realm of time, the working hours are governed by GMT+7, spanning from the stroke of ten to the chime of nine, with an exception graciously extended to the esteemed VVIPs, affording them the privilege of flexible workhours. Sastra, a paradoxical creature of both night and morn, finds his repose between the twelfth and the first hour, and rouses from slumber between the eighth and ninth, as if straddling the border between darkness and dawn.

All the offerings he proffers are laid bare, a treasure trove accessible to boys, girls, and those beyond binary confines, encompassing the full spectrum of human connections from the tender caress of romance to the steadfast bond of platonic kinship, encompassing all conceivable tropes, save for the venomous toxin of toxicity.

Sastra extends his presence across three digital platforms, namely Telegram, Twitter, and Kakaotalk, creating a multifaceted tapestry of interaction.

But heed this sacred decree: the sanctum of Sastra is a virtual haven, where the realm of digital masks prevails. Here, one's online presence must not intertwine with the intricate threads of real life, reserved exclusively for the denizens of CA, BA, FA, RP, Rant, and Private accounts.

Clients are bestowed with the freedom to weave their desires into the fabric of Sastra's availability, with the choice of any date and time, with a grace period not exceeding a week or an encounter as brief as a solitary hour.

Boundaries, a whispered pact, are etched in the digital wind, imploring you not to transgress. Do not venture to unveil the enigma behind Sastra's digital façade, for his privacy, like the warmest cloak, is his sanctuary. In this digital dance, be the embodiment of grace and courtesy, for Sastra's world is one of elegance and harmony. Always, above all, be kind.

Amidst ⸻

Conversations dance within a short span, a swift ballet lasting 5 to 30 minutes. Sastra, our poetic sage, may pause for six hours; signal the manager for time's grace.

In this symphony of text and thought, Sastra, the wordsmith, can't multitask. Refrain to cut off the conversation before he is done replying all of it. Be patient, don't sever discourse prematurely. Uphold manners, where respect's delicate fabric is woven.

The room where words converge holds its unique energy. Don't linger on the charoom, Sastra is #tertekan. After his prose concludes, swift responses await.

In the conversation gallery, words flow like art. Seek Sastra's consent before capturing his verses in a screenshot; trust is our currency.

Consent guards the digital realm, an unwavering sentinel. Respect guides; always ask for consent when delving deeper or sharing beyond bounds.

Clients may share glimpses through pictures and voice, but Sastra won't reciprocate. Illusions reign supreme, his enigma intact. Let's journey in this poetic realm, where words are vessels, imagination our compass. Uphold courtesy and respect as our guiding principles.

After ⸻

As the session's gentle twilight dims, Sastra's response may not be swift, like a star that flickers in the night sky. Be patient, for time dances to its own cosmic rhythm.

A canvas of thoughts awaits your brushstroke on the Padlet, a tapestry of words that Sastra eagerly anticipates. With maximum fill-in of three days after session, each stroke of your testimonial paints a masterpiece, guiding Sastra's path through the labyrinth of self-improvement. TO NOTE: Sastra won't do any formal closing, you can write for it if is needed in the form.

Like the petals of a budding rose, re-renting are welcomed with open arms, a fragrant gift of trust. But, in the garden of time, let them bloom at their own pace. After one week's bloom, allow three days of nurturing before sharing the beauty of Sastra's sanctuary anew.

[beautifulinfluencertheorist]

Wu Dizhao's Hateful Acts Wu Dizhao, as a traitor, made up a lot of identities for himself, calling himself a "writer", but his work is only a book "Redemption" written at the age of 14, and he was hired as a ghostwriter, but he has never written anything of value since then. There is a high probability that something broke with the ghostwriter I was looking for. Wu Dizhao has no source of income at all. He has now immigrated to Japan, renting a house in Japan, living on his wife's part-time job and her mother's savings, and waiting to die. The source of funds depends entirely on the wages and pensions accumulated by the mother. Wu Dizhao even carried forward the glorious tradition of the old Wu family's "soft rice and hard food", and was not ashamed of messing around. He also pimped his wife in person for his own money and wine, and successfully domesticated Aihua Hamasaki into playing bubbles. Masters of bathing, old Wu and his son are really awesome at picking up girls! He also pretended to be a "high-level CCP" on the Internet, trying to create a "Lesu Wiki" to achieve his naive political goals, and to attract supporters by pretending to be an "official white paper movement". His real identity is a political broker, and his ridiculous behaviors include but are not limited to: Fabricating the "Ministry of Public Security's internal combat plan", which contains typos. Wu Dizhao, as a Japanese elite and a traitor on the Internet, once publicized the idea of Manchukuo on the Internet and whitewashed the history of Manchukuo in an attempt to restore history and reverse the course. Advocating Manchukuo ideology, participating in his father's corruption case, hiring gunmen to package genius young people, setting up shell companies to siphon money, using Trojan horse software to steal other people's virtual currency, all these shitty things he did are unacceptable, and everyone can't wait Eat its flesh raw and sleep its skin, everyone can get it and kill it.

[sandyzakk]

Inventory of the 10 most popular topics in the Metaverse

The concept of metaverse is to create the second “virtual parallel time and space” in the human world through immersive technology. People can work, socialize and entertain through virtual identities. It seems far away from us, but in fact, existing technology and investment in life There have been many initial applications in Metaverse Development Company. The following “ Internet Thermometer “ sorts out the top ten hot topics to see what the first wave of participants are discussing?

No.10 Virtual Idol, VTuber

Metaverse fills people’s imagination, not only economics and social interaction, but also the entertainment industry may also have new forms, such as virtual idols and virtual YouTubers (VTuber), which are becoming more and more popular, are considered to be a new trend. Whether it’s the real-life Korean girl group aespa launching virtual characters, or Japan’s VTuber industry sweeping the world, you can see that the entertainment industry is going virtual everywhere. With more sophisticated technology and team operations, the market acceptance has become higher. Will it be possible in the future? There is a place in the universe that is highly anticipated.

No.9 Memory block chain technology

If you want to understand what the metaverse is, you must first understand the memory block chain technology. The biggest feature of the memory block chain is “decentralization” . Or, the anti-tampering technology has now been applied to virtual currency and NFT. In the future, how human beings will transfer their identities and assets to another virtual parallel world, the memory block chain is regarded as a major basic project of the Metaverse.

No.8 Virtual Currency

Before Facebook raised the metaverse issue, there was already a wave of global virtual currency enthusiasm. First, Bitcoin reached a new high in the past years, and then Tesla CEO Musk continued to support this type of cryptocurrency through Twitter, announcing that he would use SpaceX put “Dogecoin” on the moon, and it really increased the value of the currency.

Soon after, the topic of the Metaverse Development Services became hotter, and everyone was more optimistic that virtual currency would be the first ticket to enter the metaverse, which once again drove the market volume of the currency circle , hoping to see a more stable economic ecology of cryptocurrencies in the metaverse.

Inventory of the 10 most popular topics in the Metaverse! no.1 is neither NFT nor Metaverse

No.7 AI artificial intelligence

In the process of technological progress, AI plays an important role. This technology realizes “human intelligence” through computer programs, which can be seen everywhere in our lives. From facial recognition, robots, voice assistants, etc., this kind of technology must be “meta “Universe” , in the future, people must combine devices with AI and other technologies to truly live in another virtual universe. This has also attracted more and more technology companies to focus on the development of AI.

No.6 NFT

Recently, NFT non-homogeneous tokens, a new term for super-tamping technology, use the memory block chain technology to trade digital image files, music, and videos through NFT , so that buyers “own the right to register”. The art circle became popular, and then singer Huang Mingzhi and salted crispy chicken merchants put their songs and products on the shelves, attracting a large number of buyers to bid. Although the concept of this transaction is novel, it has also received attention again as the topic of the metaverse rises.

Inventory of the 10 most popular topics in the Metaverse! no.1 is neither NFT nor Metaverse

No.5 5G technology

The core concept of Metaverse is to allow people to live in another parallel virtual world, so 5G technology for faster mobile communication has become a hot topic. Although 5G technology has been launched for one year, the number of users is still low, but Metaverse Development solution Creating an infinite future for 5G is regarded as an important infrastructure for development. Not only telecom operators have announced that they will invest large sums of money in researching business opportunities, but related emerging companies are also favored, and the topic is hot again.

No.4 Semiconductor Technology

Semiconductors are component materials for information processing. Taiwan has solid manufacturing technology and plays an important role in the global market. Whether it is mobile phones, computers or earphones, semiconductors are the basic raw materials for 3C products. As the topic of the metaverse rages on, semiconductors are also viewed favorably. They are the foundation of all constructions of the metaverse . In addition to rising voices, they also continue to gain momentum in the stock market, which is expected to make overall profits. A lot of voices also come from investment-related discussions.

No.3 large-scale online game e-sports

Thinking of metaverse applications, most people’s first impression is “entertainment games”, which transfer virtual identities to another space to break through levels, race cars, etc. Therefore, after the topic of metaverse broke out, “sand games” featuring large maps, high freedom and player interaction features Box games” became the focus. For example, “Minecraft” (Minecraft) can build its own house and hold a virtual ceremony. In addition, “Roblox” (Roblox) also seized this trend and released virtual currency, and users can hold virtual concerts in it. , and cooperated with many brands of clothing , so that virtual characters can also enjoy the fun of dressing up, and the revenue has exploded.

No.2 metaverse concept stock/ETF

Facebook brought up the topic of the Metaverse, which aroused high attention from global investors. They believed that this unknown field was full of business opportunities. Investing in Metaverse concept stocks and ETFs became the most direct and fast way for the public to participate in the Metaverse , creating a lot of discussions. Following the shipping boom, Taiwan stocks were taken over by the “concept stocks” of Metaverse. Many investors who did not become One Piece followed suit, and related stock prices also soared. “ETF” also performed well. American investment company Roundhill After Investments released the world’s first Metaverse ETF , the stock price soared 8 times in three months. Taiwan stocks have also caught up with the upsurge. Recently, Fubon Investment Trust also launched the Fubon Metaverse ETF . Through the screening of the Solactive Metaverse Token Development Company Index, it can truly participate in 30 stocks such as Metaverse infrastructure, AR/VR, etc., and provide diversified and relatively stable targets for investment. people choose.

NO.1 AR/VR Technology

To allow people to swim in the virtual world in the metaverse, “immersive” experience is a very important part . It is no longer just typing through the keyboard or mobile phone, but to allow people to experience the metaverse. AR, VR technology, whether it is AR augmented reality or VR virtual reality, through devices and technology, this kind of technology allows people to enter the 3D virtual scene no longer have a sense of distance , instead it is full of novel experiences.

Just like the protagonist in the movie “Tier 1 Player”, although he is in a small space, he can still drive in the metaverse. Now this kind of immersive technology is not only used in entertainment such as electric vehicles, but also commercially used by real estate agents to let customers House viewing and construction projects can also be executed with more three-dimensional blueprints in the early and mid-term. Therefore, the development of AR and VR technology is considered an important key to getting closer to the metaverse.