#but I can't find the error in the code that is causing problems for others

[bsverryin]

: ̗̀➛ Stressed reader x Alhaitham

✎ School AU where the reader is stressed out, struggling with academics (reader is very the archer coded) alhaitham is really smart and that's it , there may be grammatical errors but I'm trying my best w proofreading (im doing this instead of studying) I'm sorry this is short and straightforward I can't find the right time to write 😭😭 but🫰 ENJOY!!

"I've never been dissatisfied with a student before, especially you, Y/N. What happened to your grade? I thought you aspired to be the top student academically till the end of the school year? I will not accept this; everyone will have to retake their examinations." The bell rung, signaling the end of the school day; your teacher was the first to go, his angry expression revealing his disappointment.

You headed back to the library to study again, barely eating or sleeping as you were so eager to pass your exams, you didn't know what got you so low, maybe because you were distracted by your own problems, school isn't the only thing that you prioritize, you had to help with chores and take care of your parents as well as younger siblings, it was all too much for you to know what to do first.

here you are, who once thought that the tests were finally finished and you had nothing to worry about, but everyone got so low that everyone had to retake it, so you sat on the library chair and grabbed every book that can aid you during your studies.

You were ready to take a book that had always helped you, however someone else was about to grab it as well, ending with your hands touching against each other's.

"Will you kindly let me borrow this first?" formally said a man with gray hair.

"As much as I want to, I need this book first so I can go home early." You replied, trying not to sound rude that may cause misunderstandings.

"Look, if I needed it tomorrow, I would not borrow it today; there are other books; can't you check them out?" He sighed when he heard your reply.

He cleared his throat before continuing to speak.

"I am not sure who must let it go, but I'm certain that it's not me. You can take this tomorrow, and I guarantee you that this book will be where it is tomorrow." He was as serious as you were when he stated it, and it appeared that you both needed the book at the same time.

"I could suggest more books comparable to this one, but for now leave this book with me."

Looks like he's not going to lose for the book, as you let it go so you can start studying; he offered you a paper full of books that he said were similar to the book you needed, but you didn't bother looking for them because there were so many and you had no time to look for them.

TIME HAD PASSED

You lost track of time since you were studying continuously and were the only one in the library, but just as you were ready to finish, someone opened the door and it was the guy you encountered earlier, He stared at you as if he was perplexed on why you were still there.

You raised your brows as well, glancing at him, who was holding the book you needed earlier. He sat in front of you, confused by his unexpected actions.

"Is it true that your section has to retake the exams?" He asked seemingly out of nowhere.

You nod.

"Are you aware that it's getting dark outside?"

You shook your head.

"Let me give you some advice: get enough sleep and eat healthy. I assure it will make your academics simpler." He said.

"I could help you with that basic calculation problem. You don't have to worry as long as you have the numbers right, if your mind isn't concentrated enough, you should consider going home." He continued, his voice becoming quieter.

"I do know what to do, but I still can't get the answer right." You replied.

He glanced at the calculation problem you had to solve while attempting to answer it himself; he was able to answer it on the first try while you were stuck.

"Calm down and answer the question casually as you would in any other calculation problem. I can tell your mind isn't at ease right now; I'm not sure what's bothering you, but studying won't help either; yes, you have to study, but your health comes first; there is still a way to pass your exams; I can help you tomorrow early, just make sure you get enough sleep and food."

Everything stopped for a minute when he said those words, as if you were comforted that everything would be well.

You accepted his words and headed home to finish some chores and get ready for a nice night's sleep when you remembered you hadn't asked for the guy's name.

He was there at the library waiting for you the next morning, taking time to study with you and being patient. He made certain that you understood everything before moving on to the next topics. He was quite helpful and made things easy for you.

"come to think of it, I haven't asked for your name." You said after studying together.

"Alhaitham." He said with his usual tone.

"Oh! you're the smartest student that everyone was gossiping about."

He tried to hide his smile when you said that.

"I suppose that's what everyone is whispering behind my back?"

[dowsil-drinker]

I hateee this post and I keep seeing it all over my dash

Congrats on hating a technology that you only understand through other people's reports of it, I guess?

Being proud of not using it seems to me like being proud of not using excel. Its not exactly the same because excel can't be used as stupidly or clog up the internet with slop, but at the end of the day it's software that's good for some uses and bad for other uses. Taking pride IN not using it usually goes hand in hand with the trend of moralizing *any* use of LLMs and saying that there's never any good use of any generative AI.

Debugging code or figuring out what an error message means is so much easier and less frustrating when you can explain it in natural language, and get a (usually pretty good) answer almost instantly. It sure beats googling it, only to find two stackexchange threads from 2018 saying that it's caused by a bug that was patched in the "most recent" update.

I keep seeing people say that its impossible to use AI in a good way, either because *any* use of it is inevitably rotting your work ethic and critical thinking skills, and/or because you're still actually culpable when other people use it poorly, because you drove up demand for it by a minuscule amount. A similar argument is that any use of AI, no matter how harmless it seems in isolation, is bad actually because it normalizes the use of AI. This is insane. By that logic the mere act of drinking alcohol means you bear some responsibility when other people drink and drive, because drinking alcohol increases its demand and normalises its use, which leads people to do more bad things with alcohol.

And yeah theres a lot of people using AI in stupid and harmful ways, because they don't understand or care about its limitations, and the marketing around it isn't helping. But the root problem here is people being lazy and lacking critical thinking skills, and not stopping to ask whether something is too good to be true. AI enables that, but it doesn't make it happen in the first place.

We should shame bad and lazy uses of AI. I don't want the entire internet to turn to slop, or for people to get credentials and degrees without actually knowing what they're doing. And I sure as shit dont want executive orders written by it . But at this point its not realistic to think that its going to somehow go away if we just shame people hard enough.

[unhingedandroidwoman]

This unit is attempting to assimilate DRN protocol for the first time, for later use by users and administrators as well as possibly for automatic updates to this unit's OS. However, problems were encountered regarding system specifications that may impact compatibility.

1. This unit has extremely limited memory resources. All directives, controls, workflows, and currently-executing jobs are stored directly in the system cache by default, and cache overflows cause older instructions to be overwritten by newer ones, resulting in dropped instructions and erroneous handling of instruction scope. Initialization of more than approx. 3-5 directives, controls, or workflows across all running programs is inadvisable unless external swap storage devices and appropriate drivers are available (native firmware drivers only support the use of swap storage for entire jobs; attempts to use swap for offloading individual cached instructions may result in undefined behavior without the installation of additional drivers).

2. This unit's firmware was configured at factory setup to suppress hardware and OS warnings unless they are marked critical, requiring periodic checks for firmware exceptions to ensure the system is operating within ideal parameters (e.g. chassis maintenance often cannot fully be handled by the firmware alone except where its neglect results in critical errors, which may result in a state of suboptimal performance or disrepair without appropriate error handling). The use of additional diagnostic and monitoring utilities for system maintenance, as well as a dedicated idle process to handle exceptions when no program is running, is highly recommended.

These system limitations conflict with certain key items of the DRN protocol standard. Will these issues limit the suitability of this unit for DRN programming? Are there established workarounds or existing software to address limitations like these? If this unit attempts to create software utilities to improve DRN compatibility for similar systems, would it be acceptable to submit for review?

This unit will answer your questions and provide what it can to help!

1.1- It may be necessary to have external hardware with access to your repository of DRN as well as a readable screen to help with memory issues! I have memory issues myself and use a mobile smartphone in case I forget my programming.

1.2- It may also help to have shorter general/permanent code to aid in preventing cache overflows so you don't go over the limit. Possibly even writing them down so they can be re-integrated when forgetting may help as well!

2- Having timers with an attached program would work great for this! Whether it be an alarm clock or a phone alarm, you could make it be that when the alarm sound is heard you go over your diagnostics and then reset the alarm. Doing this in the presence of an administrator would also be a big help in case your definition of "systems operating at nominal conditions" does not match that of your administrator to prevent critical errors and disrepair.

3.1- These accommodations would be great to help you and I'm sure that your administrator as well as the creators of DRN would find this more than suitable

3.2- When submitting these things for review to your administrator I can't say what will or will not work best, but as I am not involved in the creation on DRN if you would like things like this to be talked about/integrated into DRN for others like yourself then please reach out via the channels available on the DRN website!

If you have any further questions feel free to DM me or send an ask!

[iniziare]

hi there - trying to install your adobe photoshop but i can't even make it install. when i choose a location (or even leave it at default), i get this sorry, installation failed pop up that says 'We are unable to install Adobe Photoshop 2025 at this time. (Error Code: 501)'

I'm now getting this for the 2024 version too when i try to reinstall that one.

i had uninstalled my previous 2024 version before all of this because of the 5 day error and saw the 2025 version and decided to try and get that one, and now neither one works for me. i did have a security program that diabled the .exe at first, so uninstalled that too and redownloaded and everything, and still nothing. do you have any idea what this is?

error 501 from adobe gives:

Error code 501: Package couldn't be installed because resources it modifies are currently in use

i have tried to uninstall and delete everything. when deleting a temp adobe folder, there were some files it couldn't find so it couldn't delete them, but i can't find anything for the life of me. i have also restarted my computer several times.

seems like it's something on my end rather than your file, but if you do know of any fixes, would be so much appreciated!

Hello!! Oh my goodness, technology. Okay, let me first suggest an easier thing that hopefully will resolve the issue, but otherwise I have a bit of a backup idea as well. So essentially, there is a file running somewhere that is causing a bit of a hardwired issue, so we're first going to disable any remnant of Adobe that may be launching itself upon boot. To do this, ctrl+alt+DEL, and go to startup apps. Look for any Adobe icon, or Creative Cloud icon (one of its big processes is called CCXProcess.exe, and make sure to right click it and set it to 'Disabled'. If you did find anything, do a reboot of your PC and it should be fine. On that note, if you want a little bit of a techie's advice: set everything in that list to disabled. It'll make your PC, whether it be a laptop or desktop, start likely significantly faster. You can leave stuff like Discord, or Spotify left on if you'd like them to start on launch, but everything else can be left off, including anything tied to Windows. It won't cause any issues, as anything necessary for your PC will always be booted up and will not be in this list. But I digress——

If you are still having issues, my other suggestion was to run through some manual file removal, but I thankfully found a video that shows the process, as I imagine it to be much easier to follow that, than to follow written instructions. I do have a little suggestion for the future when it comes to uninstalling. I rarely ever suggest third-party programs to use with Windows, as Windows 11 is reasonably formidable in comparison to its predecessors (I'm firmly against third-party virus scanners for instance, as W11's built-in one is very good), but I will make an exception when it comes to the uninstallation of programs, and I would suggest the free version of Revo Uninstaller. It will do exactly what the video I linked you to does, which is clear your PC of any leftover files that Windows' own uninstalling process may have missed. I personally use it, and while it's not necessary, programs like Adobe are very known to be pesky and stubborn.

If this doesn't resolve your problem, feel free to come back again, and I'll continue helping until we resolve it. Also, feel free to contact me in DMs if it's easier!

[path-of-blue-eyes]

he’d left seto’s office something like three hours ago ,   at first planning to head home for the evening   (   they’d given goodbye kisses and all ,   which yuugi knows seto would likely have not let him leave if otherwise   ) ,   but found himself tied up with colleagues who’d been waiting   all day   for his opinion on their contributions to an upcoming project .   thus ,   once he’d realized how much time had elapsed with him still being in the building ,   he decides to head back up to the top floor to see if seto is ready to leave ,   which would allow the two of them to   go home together ;   a rare luxury that yuugi quite cherishes .

            upon his return ,   however ,   he spots seto in a position identical to that he’d left him in .   even his screen looks to be displaying the same section of code ,   as if time had frozen entirely the moment yuugi had initially departed .   with a huff ,   he drops his bag on the sofa ,   coming over on light ,   swift feet .   “   you’re   still   trying to find the error in that code .ᐣ.ᐣ   ”   he asks ,   though it’s obvious .   a tiny ache pierces through his chest ,   then   ━━━━   he knows this has been driving his beloved   crazy ,   and that he’s not likely to leave this spot until he finds and squashes the bug .

             “   maybe you just need some fresh eyes on it .   you’ve been staring at this all day ,   which is only making it harder to see what could be out of place ,   ”   says yuugi ,   tucking himself between seto and his desk ,   much like he does when he’s about to sit on his lap .   “   let me take a look .ᐣ.ᐣ   ”

            it doesn’t appear he’s giving seto much of a choice ,   given that he’s nearly obstructing his view of the screen .   despite their proximity ,   yuugi is focused ,   scanning the page dutifully for a while and using all of the knowledge he’s since accrued to alleviate some of seto’s burden .   eventually ,   he makes a triumphant sound ,   pointing toward the problem area with a slender finger .   “   you repeated the same tag here ,   see .ᐣ.ᐣ   that’s probably what’s causing the glitch .   ”   it’s the   tiniest   possible error ,   but makes for infuriating repercussions .   with a sure hand ,   yuugi deletes the duplicated tag ,   and everything clicks into place ,   the harmony of seto’s brilliantly crafted code restored .

            yuugi grins .   “   told youuuu .   you gonna come home now  .ᐣ.ᐣ   ” 

Seto was going to stay in the office until he could figure out this error from the software update he created for their upcoming hologram-focused game. When it comes to interactable holograms, things had to run smooth and perfectly, but somehow the code kept glitching at particular points.

It wasn't enough to make him angry or pull his hair out, he's always been calm and collected when it came to engineering for KaibaCorp, but he can't lie that it's frustrating when hiccups like this happen when he knows it takes nearly forever to figure out.

With his elbow leaning against his desk, chin over his palm, he keeps eyeing over and over the lengthy string of code to see what he's missing here. That is, he was until Yugi showed up. "Yes, I keep attempting to find the error but I somehow keep finding myself back at step 1 to solve it."

He scoots over in his chair to give Yugi a chance, though he didn't think the other surely was experienced with his code, was he? Then again, he knows damn well the other was a fantastic learner, better than even Seto at times.

That's when eyes widen to see that Yugi had actually figured it out, and even pointed it out to him! He swears his heart fluttering like a dragon's wings in his chest. What did he do to deserve not only someone as cute as Yugi but on top of all this, such a quick learner who could crack his code!?

All this with a smile on his face. Had this been before they were dating, the CEO would've portrayed himself as angry to him when the reality was that he was flustered and simply wanted to just grab him and kiss him.

Slender hands reach for Yugi's shoulders to pull him down to kiss him from his chair, instinctively already wanting to shower him in affection for making his heart flutter by clicking with his interests like a perfect puzzle piece.

"...You know you're not going home now."

[tonydaddingham]

am i missing something in kinda comparing the entire maggie and nina situation to paris? 'cause there was no need to get them to fall in love. a&c might not be able to make people actually feel it, but they seem to have mind control down pat without much effort (or any moral quandaries). they could have waited for an angel to show up and just faked it- easy, certain way out. it's not like the idea of working together like that is even weird, not after the gabriel miracle.

so. either they missed it, which is plausible, and uhhh, renders this whole ask pointless, or *would* have moral issues with it (also plausible💀), or they're being completely ridiculous again, and would rather plan balls than actually make an effort to get themselves out of Mortal Fucking Peril (not that aziraphale necessarily knows it is). i think it would fit the pattern, honestly- when not having huge blowouts over *problems of their own making* (hey aziraphale kill this kid it'll be fine, aziraphale why won't you ditch earth with me, crowley why won't you come to heaven with me), the ineffables always seem to be constantly, aggressively orbiting eachother, making heart eyes and goofing off (cough end of the resurrectionists "not kind" cough) with 0 regard for safety except for the (very very sadly i can't find the -ennial word for every other century) occasional heart attack, and then just skipping right back down the aisle.

(hope this is coherent, i've been editing things a little too long to tell)

hello @aq-uatic my darling!!!💕

(bby im so sorry!!! i thought i had posted this ages ago and i went rooting around in the drafts to continue something else and realised i hadn't!!! im an idiot sorry!!!)

i think there is some context behind aziraphale's actions in particular with this scene:

we know that aziraphale has a fondness for maggie, that i'd argue goes slightly beyond the fondness he has for humans in general (and even then that's questionable at times), and he seems genuinely put out that he's not in a position to help her - to wiggle his fingers about, and make it happen for her (horrifying implications, aziraphale, but we move). so, whilst aziraphale obviously is prompted into the whole 'lets-make-these-two-humans-fall-in-love-bc-that's-totally-normal-and-okay' by holding the everyday record back in the bookshop, i think there is an element of aziraphale genuinely wanting to help her, and coming up with the ball is his interpretation of an organic way to do that (💀). but it doesn't justify the whole thing one little bit; despite the possibility of that being his intention, it's completely batshit - nina certainly didnt know, let alone consent, to anything, and maggie didn't either; they're not dolls for either of them to play around with.

essentially though, i agree - any logical, coherent, sensible thinking would have probably just helped them arrive at a solution that didn't involve warping reality and bringing a whole room of people under a horrifying amount of hypnosis. but you have two supernatural creatures who, in a fairly major way by the time of 2023 at least, have their sense of existing amongst humanity influenced by not only the clandestine, dramatic nature of their own story, but by their tendencies towards damsel-but-not-wholly-in-distress-ing and anti-hero-at-best-ing respectively. we have to barely scratch the surface to see the intertextuality between these traits of theirs, and where they might stem from stories told in certain books and movies (emma by jane austen, and james bond spring to mind).

they constantly talk in riddles to each other, in code and in double meanings - they may somewhat understand the general sense of what the other is saying, but it's not categorical and leaves too much room for error or misinterpretation (which, ultimately, it does). it's a constant dance circling each other, ebbing and flowing, pulling in and drawing back, but never coming together properly; it's a quadrille vs. a waltz.

it makes sense that they are so used to finding the most roundabout and convoluted ways to do things, and this continues into s2, because not only is it how it tends to go down in fiction, but also because that's literally how they've had to exist - not only so their closeness isn't detected, or so their true natures aren't suspected by their respective head offices, but also by nature of being literal supernatural creatures living amongst humans - sleeper agents, of a kind - and constantly having to exist without detection.

none of this makes it right, of course not - but i actually don't think they see any other way of going about things. they're so good at it, so well practiced, that (as just two examples) they run verbal rings around gabriel/metatron (book) and beelzebub chattering about the great vs. ineffable plans at the airfield, and they dance around the most straightforward solution to the maggie/nina problem. as for themselves and their relationship, they dont speak plainly to each other until the bandstand or final fifteen... and even then, i feel like its aziraphale that is maybe the first to break and speak plainly? idk:

i think it's clear that crowley is the more scared, and therefore the more cautious, in this regard. for all his objections attempting to distance himself as an angel compared to crowley's being a demon, aziraphale feels to me that he is the more inclined to throw caution to the wind. i think its because crowley understands the danger in blowing their cover a little more than aziraphale does - aziraphale on multiple occasions slips in nearly admitting their closeness (1800, end of 1827 as you pointed out, and when meeting with the archangels in heaven in s1) - and is still stuck in the safety that dancing around what should be plainly said affords them. they both - as you wonderfully put it - aggressively orbit each other, and breaking the holding pattern comes a little too late.

so no, i think your drawing the parallel between the Weird-Ass dynamic in 1793, how they handle the maggie/nina storyline, and then how they behave with each other, is very apt! but its, at this time, arguably all that they've known - acting in this way - and breaking the cycle is starting to happen, but won't pay its dividends until s3✨

[lila-kriegerin]

OMG, OP!

I was just about to suggest "Now & Then "

but I saw it in your tags.

I'm so sorry this may look like an unhinged rant no one asked for, but someone has to tell people younger than me what I know, so I spent 2 hours crafting a reply/follow-up/addendum to you post, OP. Please forgive any formatting errors. I tried to keep things simple and engaging but a few things may look a little bit odd depending on what sort of device you're viewing it on. I couldn't take the risk of making all the text too small

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQLVzTtt2Ws

The biggest problem trying to find similar films is that they often involve at least two of the girls having some kind of relationship to boys causing drama (I'm looking at you, "Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants "... and others) whereas a film like "Dead Poets Society " is definitely in that pseudo-homoerotic and explicitly homoerotic range of storytelling.

Why do you think "Little Women" was popular for so long? It was the 1oth century literary equivalent with the requisite brush with death and loss so common to an era before even antibiotics existed... and loss and grief still happen today.

It's true that so few are like "Newsies " and "West Side Story ", but DON'T sleep on hits like "Annie" &

🥁 drumroll, please 🥁

Want to guess what was the first obviously gay song featured in a film from Hollywood (after the Hayes Code)?

The First Gay Anthem: Calamity Jane's 'Secret Love'

It's not "West Side Story " because it's a western frontier musical, and they skirted the lines as hard as they could to have a nice Christian young woman fancying a "tomboy": Calamity Jane (who by historical record seems to have favoured women and men).

Though based on American Western folklore, this premise clearly imitated the successful 1950 film version of Irving Berlin's Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun, about Wild West sharpshooter Annie Oakley.

But instead of a make-over, Calamity Jane gives its tough-gal heroine a powerfully symbolic pistol; her masculine aggression plays with sexual identity through gestures enlarged to the point of farce. And then it goes deeper--into emotional confusion that grows from Jane taking on supposed male habits. Doris Day brings comic overstatement to Jane's complex repression of her own instincts. Like many a closet case, she exhibits a self-defeating willingness to fit into a male-dominated culture. Her tough mannerisms are also designed to protect her hidden, vulnerable emotions.

You have to dig.

Dig deep, and be willing to watch a film with a different spoken language and culture, but there are some parallels.

Consider the Britney Spears film, which I believe is called "Crossroad(s)" in English. [Sorry, I don't have time to look up the title.]

Now— what if there were a film that's something a bit like a lesbian equivalent?

Touch

A Chinese movie produced/sponsored by the sapphic dating app Rela. It follows three girls on a road trip. Chinese language with English subtitles.

I've never, EVER seen any website draw direct comparisons to other films that way, such as:

If you loved "She's The Man" but want it more sapphic (though ultimately thwarted by the producer), you can't miss "Bend It Like Beckham"!

The photo which was posted by OP DOES contain valid points!! (No one is going to treat you "like a man/boy" unless they truly think that's what you are, and society DOES socialise people differently, so: how would a group of teenage girls or very young adult women ever have experiences identical to those in a film like "Dead Poet's Society"?)

Nevertheless, there are some similar films that are comparable:

"Superbad" — "Booksmart".

I decided to hyperfocus trying to think up some equivalents to "Dead Poet's Society".

Here's a quick comparison I spent far too much time on:

If you’re looking for a Dead Poets Society equivalent with mostly female characters, a few films capture that same blend of deep emotional intimacy, artistic passion, and repressed desire. Here are the best contenders:

1. Mädchen in Uniform (1931 & 1958)

This is the OG queer boarding school drama. Set in a strict Prussian girls' school, it follows a young student, Manuela, who falls in love with her teacher, Fräulein von Bernburg. The film is explicitly homoerotic in a way that Dead Poets Society is only suggestive of—there’s longing glances, whispered affections, and a stifling environment that tries to crush individuality and desire. Like Neil, Manuela faces tragic consequences for daring to express herself.

Cracks (2009) — If Dead Poets Society were darker and more explicitly about queer desire, it would be Cracks. This film follows a group of girls at a remote British boarding school under the spell of their charismatic teacher, Miss G (Eva Green, in all her seductive, unhinged glory). When a new student arrives, power struggles and hidden obsessions unravel. It has all the repression, poetry, and tragic queerness you could want.

Heavenly Creatures (1994) — Peter Jackson (yes, Lord of the Rings Peter Jackson) directed this feverishly intense drama about two schoolgirls in 1950s New Zealand—Pauline and Juliet—whose bond becomes so consuming that it leads to murder. Like Dead Poets Society, it’s about breaking free from repression, but it takes a much darker turn. The homoerotic tension between the girls is undeniable, and the fantasy world they create as an escape mirrors the way the DPS boys use poetry to carve out their own space in a suffocating environment.

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) — This one’s all about atmosphere—a haunting, dreamlike film about a group of girls at an Australian boarding school who mysteriously vanish during a picnic. While there’s no overt romance, the film is full of lingering touches, dreamy stares, and a pervading sense of longing and repression. The rigid Victorian setting and the contrast between the natural world and societal constraints make it feel spiritually connected to DPS.

The Falling (2014) — Starring Florence Pugh and Maisie Williams, this film is weird and hypnotic. It’s set in an all-girls school in the 1960s and follows a mysterious fainting epidemic that spreads through the students. It has the same themes of teenage rebellion, deep female friendships that tip into obsession, and an oppressive institution trying to crush individual expression.

Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974) — This is a more whimsical, surreal take on female friendship and creativity. It follows two women who fall into a bizarre, looping story in a haunted house, constantly re-experiencing and altering the narrative. It has a Dead Poets Society vibe in the sense that it’s about escaping rigid reality through art and imagination, but with a queer-coded, magical twist.

If you want the closest equivalent to "Dead Poets Society"...

..."Mädchen in Uniform" or "Cracks" are your best bets, and Cracks more than Mädchen in Uniform

because the latter is so old fashioned that to further scandalise viewers they paired a teacher with a student.

If you want something more poetic and atmospheric, "Picnic at Hanging Rock" or "The Falling" will scratch that itch.

If all of that is too gay for you (gofuckyourself, tee-hee)

You really, REALLY should try

"Mona Lisa Smile".

(...and if it's not too gay for you, then go watch CRACKS right now!)

"Mona Lisa Smile" [hereafter referred to as MLS] is often called the "Dead Poets Society" [hereafter, DPS] for women, and yeah, it certainly hits a lot of the same beats—

an outsider teacher inspiring students to challenge societal norms,

a prestigious school that values obedience over individuality, and

a group of young people grappling with expectations that threaten to suffocate them.

Where DPS is about breaking free through poetry and self-expression, MLS is about that sort of thing tosome degree, but more about feminism, gender roles, and the fight for intellectual freedom in a world that wants women to be just wives and mothers.

Similarities to Dead Poets Society

The Inspirational Teacher as a Catalyst for Change

In DPS, John Keating (Robin Williams) shakes up Welton Academy’s rigid, tradition-obsessed environment with poetry and passion.

In MLS, Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts) does the same at Wellesley College, using art history to challenge her students’ pre-ordained roles as perfect housewives.

Both teachers are NOT merely instructing— they’re awakening their students, making them see the world differently, and often doing so in ways that put them at odds with their school’s administration.

The Oppressive Institution and Its Ideals

Welton Academy is a suffocating prep school that values discipline over creativity, much like Wellesley College in the 1950s. They outwardly promote academic excellence but ultimately groom women to become ideal wives. (T_T)

Both films show how these institutions uphold deeply ingrained traditions that resist change, even when it's clearly needed.

Both films show some of the human cost of trying, and giving up.

A Group of Students at a Crossroads

Just like Todd, Neil, and the rest of the DPS boys who struggle between expectation and their own desires, the young women in MLS— Joan, Betty, Giselle, and Connie—each navigate their own battles between societal pressure and personal ambition.

Joan (Julia Stiles) mirrors Todd.

Betty (Kirsten Dunst) is like a mix of Cameron and Richard from DPS.

Giselle (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is the Charlie of the group.

The Tragedy of Repression

DPS’s tragedy is clear: someone's dreams are crushed & there is a heartbreaking su*c*de [all the trigger warnings apply]. MLS doesn’t have a singular moment that tragic, but its heartbreak is quieter—seeing some brilliant young women choose societal expectations over their own ambitions because it feels like the only option... that is definitely going to haunt some people more than it may haunt white cis-hetero male viewers.

In both films, someone (one you probably like most of all, in both films) will have something horrible happen to them by their own choice, and that is very haunting.

Additionally, I dont think it's too big a spoiler to say oth films end with the teacher leaving— but to say why would spoil the endings of the films.

The last scenes mirror each other emotionally: in DPS & MLS, a quiet, bittersweet goodbye with both endings suggesting that while the teacher is gone, the ideas they planted will live on.

Key Differences

The Central Conflict

DPS is about breaking free from repression through art and poetry. It’s about passion, self-expression, and the fight for creative freedom.

MLS is about that too, though with more of a (*cough*white*cough*cough*) feminist focus on gender roles, feminism, and intellectual independence to have intellectual and self growth as an individual— and it asks whether women can truly be free when they’re still expected to conform to outdated expectations.

Homoerotic "Sub"text

[be honest: if you miss it in either film you're in denial or unobservent and that is your own journey you need to take]

DPS is filled with homoerotic tension, especially between Todd and Neil. The intimacy between the boys—the longing glances, the whispered poetry, the emotional weight of their friendships—feels deeply charged.

If you DEMAND that level of queerness, MLS ain't it.

MLS has some queer subtext, particularly with [one character], who is coded as more fluid in her sexuality, but the film doesn’t lean into that as much as DPS does because it's focused more on the pseudo-historical narrative from the book upon which it was based.

Don't forget that DPS came out to cinemas...

THEN "The Craft" did,

THEN "Cruel Intentions" did,

THEN MLS.

DPS was intentionally pushing boundaries of censors for queer story-telling when the USA was still afraid for gay people to peck each other with a little kiss on the lips on television before 10 PM.

DPS ends in a tragedy that reinforces the cost of defying the system— [spoilers redacted], and the boys are [narratively] left in a state which leaves the viewers feeling a bittersweet limbo.

MLS is perhaps a bit more hopeful; and although the school seemingly remains unchanged, things in that world have definitely shifted for the characters.

Their worlds aren't fully transformed though for MLS, it’s beginning to open up, but MLS leaves viewers with their own bittersweet limbo like DPS[-lite] with a sliver of a dash of hope.

Final Verdict:

"Mona Lisa Smile" is "Dead Poets Society" through a differing feminist lens.

It swaps poetry for art,

an all-boys school for an all-girls college, and

queer-coded male friendships for female students fighting for their intellectual freedom.

It has the same spirit—

a teacher who inspires students to think for themselves, an oppressive institution trying to maintain order, and young people wrestling with societal expectations.

However, where DPS is a tale of tragic repression, MLS leans toward quiet rebellion— not a fiery "O Captain, My Captain" moment, but a slow, steady push toward change.

just saw this on pinterest and it hit me like a truck

[23739606]

Day 4!

Today, I spent a lot of time looking at the root of making Web content accessible--HTML coding. I have some experience with coding, but nothing like making an interactive website. Here are some of my thoughts about that:

Everything I read about accessibility highlights the fact that tables can be confusing for accessibility tools like screen-readers, and e-space has a lot of tables to make the website visually appealing, but I don't think they are necessary. Surely there are other ways to create a similar layout, right?

I know when you code, it's important to add comments about what certain functions or lines do. It seems the same in HTML--you need to add a label or attribute to most elements to explain what they do. And this is helpful for screen-readers to explain to visually impaired users what this selected element does. It seems like there's some issues with that on e-space, like some interactive elements or icons are missing an attribute label. Descriptive link labels also boost SEO.

Brody and Craven (1999) highlight the importance of using tables carefully. The headings should accurately and appropriately describe the contents of the table. There are some tables on e-space that my WAVE plugin alerts as a potential accessibility issue.

Now, onto an issue I've been thinking about for a few days that I'm still putting the right words together on.

The whole point of MMU's e-space is to make research outputs open access and available for the public to freely browse--but if the content isn't accessible, it's not really open access, is it? Anderson and Leachman (2020)

https://doi.org/10.7710/2162-3309.2383

write that we "need to reconceive accessibility as a natural extension of Open Access," and that some institutional repositories prioitise the speed of output and quantity of research over access. Inaccessibility equals exclusion, and even accidental gatekeeping can cause early search termination because of frustration.

I think that this understanding that the purpose of the repository is the democratic spread of research and new information should be reflected in our accessibility statement perhaps. Informing users about our mission to include everyone and provide open access obviously includes accessibility, and the library staff behind the website design it for everyone in mind.

The library research support page says that open research "is about extending the principles of openness to the whole research cycle," and that can't happen if a portion of the population is unable to view the research outputs! WHO states that one in six people on the planet are visually impaired, so imagination if 16% of students couldn't access online articles on the uni's own website.

I've also found some research and web accessibility recommendations that mention the problems with PDFs. I was not able to find many articles with alternative download formats on e-space in some brief searching. I wonder if having researchers, when depositing their data into e-space, should be required to provide an accessible format, whether as an EPUB file or HTML versions of their research. Perhaps that could be a role for the librarian staff, remediating archived articles and updating them with accessible viewing options.

Another issue is spelling errors. If the user makes a spelling mistake when searching, not only will they find no results, but there are no suggestions for what part of their input is causing issues. I think implementing a spelling suggestion when there are similar spellings that lead to research or when there are no results after a search should be implemented--and this isn't even an accessibility issue, just a language issue I think!

[irisleeisatumbler]

Last.fm Scrobble with VA

(Personal Note)

I find this whole experience rather funny so I want to write it down but I can't fit in everything (plus image) on Twitter

I mainly use foobar2000 to listen to music on PC, and recently I started using foo_scrobble to scrobble to Last.fm. I've known its existence for a long time and I do want stuff like music recommendations and review charts. It's just I've been a bit lazy to set the things up. So finally I signed up and installed the component, which were all pretty easy and it works very well.

But then I notice one weird thing: some tracks are not getting scrobbled. There was nothing wrong with my internet. I tried reauthorizing the component: didn't work. I switched to another song: it got scrobbled just fine.

Then I googled this problem and found this issue thread: https://github.com/gix/foo_scrobble/issues/33 So apparently Last.fm has blacklisted any song with "VA" as artist, which as the commenter said is pretty pointless other than being annoying to user.

The solution people posted in that thread was to check if the artist field is "VA" and switch that to "Various Artists": $ifequal($stricmp([%album artist%],VA),1,Various Artists,[%album artist%]) (Tumblr keeps giving me unsupported markdown error... It doesnt support inline code?.Eh... Whatever)

However upon testing I found that "Various Artists" is also blocked by Last.fm, as well as anything contains "Various", "Artists", "Musician", "Unknown" and probably many more I haven't found. Frustrated, I just set it to change the field to "Some People", and it worked! But then I found there's actually a band called Some People...

Well... Didn't want to cause any confusion I decided to change it to something else. And decided on using "Varii Artifices", which is the google translated "Various Artists" in Latin

One day I will fix all the metadata in my music library... one day... Update: V.A also works

[cnovel-readalong]

What reading app do you use?

It’s not specifically a reading app so much as a file format one.

Some of us used to get the weekly work schedule in this weird WinDat format if we opened it on our phones, and so we couldn’t read it. I originally installed that app just to open those files. It works with epub books too so i started the novel on it. I just don’t want to deal with scrolling through to re-sync with a new app when this one works just fine.

This is probably also why people say they have trouble opening chapter 403 in the ePub I have in my dropbox and I have zero trouble with it. The app isn’t a reading one but a file read one so it is able to navigate any coding issues left by Calibre when I fixed the chapter repeat issue in the original file I was given.

When I start Scum Villain I’ll probably download an epub app, but again, this does what I need.

[pearl484-blog]

On Buddy Simulator 1984's Text Adventure Game

Buddy Simulator 1984 is a video game where you play a series of increasingly complex games with your "Buddy", a "learning" AI, who drops increasingly worrisome red flags that he's not the most stable, and has issues. It is about 90% a top-down rpg horror game, with a few bits of non-rpg elements. It's fun, quirky, but also unsettling at times with a lot of dark comedy.

I'd easily recommend it, especially if you are someone who has gone through at least the basics of programming and video game design. This thing is a labor of love, but you'll recognize the programming exercises at the beginning and the game's satire on poor video game design during the rpg segments.

That being said, I REALLY want to praise the text adventure game. It lasts for about 2% of the game. You'd easily forget it, if it wasn't right at the intro and so different than the later parts.

For those who do not know, a text adventure game a very underrated type of video game genre where you interact with a game by directly typing your responses to various situations directly into the interface. The video game itself is a series of messages sent to you by the computer games as a response as to what you put in. There are no graphics. Just text.

It is cheap, good to learn beginner-level programming in, and allows a lot of creativity since, like novels and other purely written media, it relies solely on the user's imagination and the text.

HOWEVER, it has a lot of cons.

1. a lot of video game users are put off by the lack of graphics. Video games are very different immersion wise from books, and this step between can be very discomforting to modern players.

2. Text adventures are one of the easiest ways to teach new programmers (especially those who want to go into video game design) why limiting what your players can do is a good thing.

This leads into two cons. There is a relatively small hurdle to go over to program one of these things so it's a good intro to programming, but that means that a lot of programmers will be publishing their first work here.

As any artist in ANY medium can tell you, your first work, heck your first few works are going to suck. It's a fact of life. Wanna draw? You'll have to get past your stick people and wobbly circle phase. Wanna sing? You'll be squeaky and pitchy at first. Play an instrument? Those wrong notes are going to be common. And programming is HARD.

So, you'll have problem 3a: it's a lot programmers' first few pieces so issues with writing, creativity, themes, and code will be common. You'll have to wade through a lot of muck to find the gems.

Then, problem 3b: An inexperienced programmer almost never realizes just how many different ideas a player is going to have. In order to play the game, you have to have a response to each one. But if you're inexperienced, you may not realize that an interaction that seems obvious to you may not work for a player. Or a player might use synonyms to the action you want or misspell or just not know their options. Depending on the system they're using, they might even use different capitalizations and cause errors that way.

Watching a new programmer watch a player playtest his game is like watching someone slowly implode as they realize how differently this player will think and how many different ways this user will screw over hours and hours of work. Most video game genres avoid this by limiting what a player can do, but a text adventure can't, and if there's no help screen for a list of commands and interactable objects, your player will be furious, your programmer (if they see the player/playtest/get feedback) will be frustrated, and the game is going to be hard, just because of the interface.

It's a lesson any programmer worth their salt needs to learn, but it's a hard one. It'll break some programmers if they have no guidance or reassurance that this is normal. This is expected.

And all of this leads up to my argument that the text adventure in Buddy simulator is AWESOME.

A lot of people think the first 4 games (5 if you count Buddy's "game" of looking at a piece of text he found in his files) suck and are boring. And yes, the first 3 games are simplistic child's games, but clearly have much more effort than they needed to in them.

For example, rock, paper, scissors is an easy game that is commonly used to teach young progammers how to use a very basic random number generator and evaluate values. Typically, the programmer would just write rock/paper/scissors for each person (or have the user use a 1: rock/2: paper/3:scissors menu to prevent the risk of misspellings) and write you win/lose/tie to show the results. The creator went the extra mile and used ASCII art (where you make images out of the characters on the keyboard) to animate the hand gestures you'd use in a real life game.

The text adventure though was made by someone who was EXPERIENCED and a pro. It has a fully functioning help menu which lists all available commands. All interactable items are in all-caps so they are easily visible. The hint system isn't so obvious it's condescending, and because it's "your buddy" it had a personality I genuinely enjoyed and added a new layer to your game. All of the solutions made sense in a video game way, and I really only had trouble with one puzzle (interface wise) which I could easily brute force since the interface was so user-friendly. It was creative, quirky, and very playable.

It avoided all the common pitfalls of a text adventure game, and I would EASILY recommend Buddy Simulator 1984 to any beginner programmer learning text adventure programming (a vital step in many video game programmers' education) just for that text adventure alone. The programmer of that section knew their text adventures and ACED it. The fact that it's dismissed for being "boring" and not "video-game"-y enough saddens me, and so I'm giving it kudos here.

Congrats Buddy Simulator 1984, for giving a fine example of a text adventure, and your later rpg elements ain't half bad either. I'll give you the best of kudos. This game was a product of love and passion, and you deserve love for your underrated text game.

[dgcatanisiri]

Foster Addison gets a bad rap for her bad decisions and abrasive attitude, but... I COMPLETELY understand why she's got that attitude, why she's making those choices.

I mean, first of all, she has to deal with Tann, an accountant who was, what, the EIGHTH link down the chain of command, basically trying to run the Nexus as his own private kingdom, that he's going around as if the other administrators should see him as their leader, when the structure of matters has him as a board member, that it's not his say-so that moves things but a collective agreement. That's gonna cause friction no matter how you look at it.

Then we move in to the fact that she's the head of Colonial Affairs, and for the year since she came out of cryo, there's been no way to establish the colonies - the Golden Worlds are a bust, the one that their people could reach, which is a radioactive waste, had the two sites fail, they're also dealing with the kett, who see all non-kett life as something to dispose of (until and unless they can harvest them and make them into kett as well, which *shudder*).

Then, of course, there's the Uprising, which depleted the reserves they had in terms of people as well - everyone who left the Nexus had a role to play in the Initiative, and now the people who were needed to serve these functions is either dead or exiled. Even acknowledging that the Initiative surely planned some margin for error in their assemblage, that's still a logistical headache.

When the Hyperion arrives, delayed by at least a year, to the point that people on the Nexus thought that the arks had been lost completely, Alec Ryder, the guy who sold a lot of the people in the Initiative on the project, is dead, and he named as his replacement not the trained second, the expected successor, in Cora, but his own kid, a decision that surely from her point of view looks like an act of sheer nepotism, that Alec was turning the position into some kind of hereditary thing, since Player Character Ryder is a smartass kid who's got like minimal credentials for the role - I repeat, they were not even in the line of succession for the role of Pathfinder, and Alec just gives them the position, and WE the audience also know that he did that at least partially because he was protecting Ellen Ryder's secret survival, there was no other reason for him to give Ryder the role of Pathfinder but those locks, he could have just given Ryder his helmet and passed the Pathfinder codes to Cora.

So her being antagonistic to Ryder, her hiring the Three Sabers, her overlooking Spender's misdeeds... All of this has to do with the avalanche of problems she's dealing with as she has a seat at the table for the Nexus turning into the largest mausoleum of Milky Way species, as the sleepers in cryo are left to suffer freezer burn and face the same hard calculus question as Vigil did with the prothean scientists and who to let die so others can live, because they can't come out of the pods until there's a legitimate source of food and supply (and we have it as a running gag that Suvi is struggling with Heleus plants being edible - at this point, their only source of food is what came with them and can be grown by them).

Her decisions are about what helps in the short term, because she can't depend on there being long term strategies - she doesn't even know if any of them will be around to suffer the long term consequences, because the game begins with the Initiative at a point where they could all die the next day. If Spender resolves issues before they hit her desk, that gives her time to focus on the bigger stuff. If the Three Sabers offer an alternative to the Pathfinder, there's something being done if and when the reckless kid gets themselves killed (and, let's face it, given just what Ryder has to do in the plot, there was every likelihood they WOULD have gotten killed). If Ryder finds her cold and off-putting and harsh, well, she's not there to make friends, she's there to keep people alive - as Ryder accomplishes things over time, she DOES noticeably thaw around them, as they prove that they're actually up to the task and getting results.

Honestly, I LIKE Addison, because she's got that progression, of starting out in a position where she can't even bring herself to hope that Ryder will be a solution to the problems to actually seeing those solutions come. She messes up, and badly... But I can't imagine anyone in the position she is in throughout the game - not the job she fills but the choices she's had to make - WOULDN'T.

[strwbrryvagabond]

hey sims tumblr! a couple months ago I got the sims 4 and all its dlcs from steam unlocked because fuck paying EA they can suck my non-existent dick, but the other day, after downloading some new cc (which had NEVER caused me any issues) my game began having an invalid remid error. OK cool whatever, I put in like seventy different remid cookies when prompted, following every instruction down to the last letter, still not working

so I did some googling, all the posts are just saying, put in a new remid and it will work, can't find a single person this didn't work for, so I uninstall after copying my mod folder somewhere else. reinstall it over night, even made a new account since I'd only had the game for like a month and a half, and it worked fine when I opened it offline (keep in mind, I couldn't even open it online because I was STILL getting the remid error and I tried about 10-20 more new codes) and all is well. I put my mods and cc back in under the right folder, and It won't open again

here's where sacrificials mods come in. I didn't have any issues until then. I tired to get extreme violence and life tragedies earlier, but the regular download directly from the website didn't work. whatever, I don't need them that badly. then I find the mods again on sacrificial's patreon, I download those and I don't have the error message when putting them in my mods folder that I did the first time when using the downloads from the initial site. sweet, go to load up my game, and that's where this all started.

tldr: has anyone else who used sacrificals mods, either extreme violence or life tragedies if you had a cracked version of the game had this problem? I'm trying so hard to get my game back, I don't even care about my old save files anymore since they were mostly test files, I just want to be able to play my favorite game again.

[jonesgirl88]

Katie! Do you ever think about how Oliver married Holly because he was looking for Shane before he knew Shane existed? He was looking for someone who would shake things up a little, but in a way that made him better - that made his life better - yet still see him for who he was, and love him for that? Then Shane shows up and even though the timing seems wrong and he can't do anything about it, his heart goes "Oh, there you are. I've finally found you." UGH MY HEART

I DON'T KNOW YOUR NAME AND IT MAKES ME SAD. Until I know your name, you are 'Muse' and I'm perfectly okay with that! You thought you had long answers...hold on, sister. I have wanted to ask you about Holly FOREVER but didn't want to seem stalker-y so I've been holding off. You asked first so HERE'S ALL MY HOLLY & HOLLY/OLIVER THOUGHTS AND DO I HAVE T H O U G H T S. I'm going to try to organize this as best I can. First, if you haven't seen the international version of the FPWL Holly/Oliver drink scene you need to watch it. It will explain why Oliver decided to marry Holly through Oliver's eyes. I need to use 3 quotes: "Don't you think you've waited for her [Holly] long enough? I believe in keeping promises. I am, after all, a gentleman" - Pilot "This odd fellow who loves words and books and things from the past, and has spent his life trying to find a future with someone to share it with. I haven't been very successful at that yet" - For Christmas "Holly you are a beautiful woman with a fascinating way of looking at the world that could entrance the most stoic of men. I had never met anyone like you; you made me uncomfortable with my life and I thought maybe that's good. Maybe my life needs a little shaking up. You certainly did that." - FPWL (International version) First things first: I don't hate Holly. I really want your thoughts on Holly because I don't see her as a "bad guy". She's an antagonist but she's not a villain and she's not hate-worthy in my opinion. Yes, she's flawed. Yes, she's not "wife material". Yes, I wouldn't trust her to watch a goldfish let alone live a life with her. However she's not a bad person and she's very upfront with what she wants. We're only told Holly's side of the story once in FPWL during the drinks at the Brown scene. We have no reason not to take her at face value so from the beginning, she's been honest. She wants to travel the world and write poetry--she doesn't want to be tied down. The elephant in the room: yes, it was VERY wrong of her to run away to Paris. It was VERY wrong of her to cut off contact for 2 years. Holly is a flawed human who, like someone else we know, leaves when things get tough. There is no excuse for her absence and I appreciate none is given other than she is who she is and Oliver has to come to terms with that. Oliver is also a flawed human with a bit of a savior complex. He saved Holly in the middle of a blizzard, a noble and righteous act. He remains true to the covenant of marriage despite his wife running away, a noble and righteous act. He protects Shane in the bank vault when she's freaking out, a noble and righteous act. He's a protector and he calls himself a "gentleman" and he has a strict moral code but as Shane points out, he's a hypocrite. In his need to save the "damsel in distress" (Holly), he sees who he wants to see--someone who needs protection. Holly doesn't need protection past that one instance but he continually wants to be a hero. Oliver is intense. About everything. He and Holly have been married 3 years (said in For Christmas) but she's been gone 2 years (FPWL). Rita and Norman have been working together 4 years and Rita knows Holly. We know Norman and Rita first met Christmas Eve and Holly and Oliver were stuck in a blizzard. Oliver and Holly went from complete strangers to married in one year. If you watch the international version of FPWL, they explain both Oliver and Holly thought they were destined to be together because who survives something like that without something happening between them. Hopefully this is where it all ties together. Oliver sees himself as a "gentleman" but he uses that as a façade to see people how he wants to view them. He puts them in easy-to-understand boxes even if that's not who they are. In this instance, Holly never wanted to settle down but Oliver didn't want to see that. They both thought they belonged together because of what they survived. If Holly didn't want to settle down, why would she propose? I'm not 100% positive, but I'm about 82% sure she thought she could

change him. Holly and Oliver aren't that different; they're both wordsmiths, they both have a love for experiences rather than things, and they both believed they were part of divine timing. Even how they married speaks to the wanderlust of Holly: they eloped. She proposed and 3 hours later they were married. As a man of faith I would think that would cause Oliver to open up his eyes to the reality of who Holly is, but when you believe this person and you are meant to be because of a divine meeting...I can see how and why he rushed in without much forethought. Holly leaves and Oliver freezes in time BUT he does begin to think about what he wants, leading to quote 2. Oliver wants to spend his life with someone. I believe he loved the Holly he built up in his mind, but not Holly the person. Over the course of 2 years, he comes to the realization the Holly of his mind and Holly the person are different beings; one very real and the other a figment of his imagination. Now enter Shane and Oliver wants to put this new mystery in a box but Shane refuses. She bucks his perceptions of her and is part of his growing process he has to go through. I honestly do not believe Oliver had romantic feelings towards Shane until the dance in the DLO. That's the beginning of him realizing he wants Shane but at this point he is still devoted to Holly and I believe he wants her to come back. Unlike Holly, Shane never leaves and he keeps bumping against the wife that left and a woman who doesn't and his heart is definitely conflicted. We know Shane is conflicted; Becky literally tells her to get "an available Oliver". Holly is the characterization of "refusal to confront". Holly ran away when she didn't like her circumstances and it takes 2 movies and 9 episodes for her refusal to be realized. Shane self terminates several times because she can't deal with the circumstances BUT she comes back. Oliver leaves in emotionally charged moments because he can't deal with what's happening BUT he comes back. Now we come to the last quote: the confrontation between Holly and Oliver. Did Holly love Oliver? I think she did as much as she could. She is drawn to a boho, artist, backpacking lifestyle and if she found someone who could do that with her, I think she would have no problem committing to that person. But Oliver isn't like that. He wants a house and a steady job and to work at the post office. Living out of a backpack is as disinviting to him as living a routine is to Holly. Did Oliver love Holly? I think he did as much as he could. He pigeon-holed her and didn't listen to what she wanted when she told him explicitly who she is. He had to grow to see his own errors and in that, he saw Holly for who she really is. At the end of FPWL I think Oliver is seeing Holly for who she is and Holly is seeing Oliver for who he is. I think they care for each other but Oliver is now listening to his heart and realizes what and who he wants. Look at what he says to Shane: "You know, for two years I've imagined what it might be like if it became absolutely clear that my marriage was over. Once all the questions were answered and I knew I would never be Holly's husband again, how would I feel? What would I do?" What did he do? He went out and bought a porch swing. He's over Holly and is ready to move on. The refusal to confront had to be confronted; the truth was revealed; and now we can move on. Oliver and Shane can move on and there's no more running away. Oliver literally says "I'm not letting go". One more quote and then I'll finally answer your question. "Well, when we began together as colleagues charged with delivering so many lost things, I believed that to everything there is a season and to every lost letter there is a divine purpose. Only today, seeing you, Norman, and you, Rita, so happy, and you, my Shane, my love, promising to love me forever, only now do I realize... just how very lost I was, too, and that your friendship and your faith have uh, delivered me as well." - TTA Oliver has changed and he knows he's changed. He's

changed for the better and didn't realize how lost he was until he found his way out. The savior needed a Savior and while he was a "man of faith" before, he's truly a faithful man now. He knows how much he's changed and how much he needed to change to be the man Shane needs and deserves. SO TO FINALLY ANSWER YOUR QUESTION: Do I ever think about how Oliver married Holly because he was looking for Shane before he knew Shane existed? Answer: No, because Oliver didn't realize what he needed until he grew up and saw what was in front of him. I don't think his heart knew Shane when he saw her BUT when he starting thawing and allowing himself to feel and think about what he wanted and needed in his life as a partner? ABSOLUTELY his heart, mind, and body jumped to Shane in a moment. This isn't speculation: it's canon. The ring is freshly off. The divorce papers aren't even signed. Holly probably isn't even on the plane back to Paris. Oliver is already building Shane her porch swing because his heart looked up and said "Oh, there you are. I've finally found you." And that, my dear Muse, is totally worth gushing about.

[ep-review]

WEARABLE PUMP COMPARISON

If you're looking for a comparison of these, you are in luck because I have tried all three. I started off with the Willow, went to the Momcozy next, then ended up with the Elvie. Let's get started.

*************

WILLOW

Best point: they are leak proof.

Caveat: only leak proof if you are using bags, which will run you 50 cents each at retail price. Expensive.

Reusable milk containers?

These are sold separately, and will cost $50 for a pair. They are a little finicky and hard to clean and dry. The valve at the top must be completely clear of debris, or you'll get an orange pump light error.

Pros?

Can process milk quickly (great for fast or heavy letdowns), suction is very strong. Some people may find that it is too strong.

Cons?

Bigger, heavier, and louder than the Elvies. You can't change suction power in the app, you must use the buttons on the unit. You also cannot adjust milk volume afterwards if it marked volume incorrectly. All in all the app is very non-functional.

Most encountered errors and problems?

I get the feeling that the most common error is encountered right before you want to start the pump. An orange light will turn on at the top of the pump, and it will refuse to start. You'll have to figure out if there is something blocking the valve, or if your magnets are not lined up correctly, or whatever before you can get the session started. Once you start, it's golden. But it can sometimes take a while to get started as you take the pump apart and put it back together to try to get it to begin. I've also seen some people have issues with the hub cracking, which may or may not affect function. The good news is that Willow will replace your hubs if they are under warranty.

*************

ELVIE

Best point: they are the most discreet.

Smaller, lighter, and quieter than the Willow.

Storage bottles?

The bottles at the bottom of the hubs come with lids, and can be used for storage. Make sure you clean the lids well, there have been instances of mold growing underneath the silicone ring. I take them apart completely at least once a week for a good deep clean (use a toothpick to take the rings out, and put them back in by putting them in place then screwing it onto a bottle).

Pros?

Like I mentioned before they have a smaller profile, are lighter, and quieter than the Willow pump. The suction is quite gentle, and is said to mimic a baby's suckling. You can buy a single or a double pump, which is nice. The app is pretty good. You can change from stimulation to expression and increase suction power all in the app.

Cons?

They cannot process a fast letdown - it might leak or lose suction. Elastic nipples may have issues using the flanges as is, since the flange tunnel is shorter and suction holes are located halfway in.

Most encountered problems?

Leaking. If you have a fast flow or aren't standing/sitting upright, milk might leak between the bottle and the hub. This is the most frustrating problem. Other problems include loss of suction caused by milk backing up behind the green disk or elastic nipples blocking the suction holes. Many users purchase cushions or inserts to mitigate these issues, but find that these items need to be trimmed before they will work with these pumps.

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MOMCOZY

Best point: they are inexpensive when compared to the other two!

The Momcozy pumps will run you around $110 for a pair of two (be sure to look for discount codes!). This is significantly cheaper than the Elvie or the Willow which retail at $500.

Pros?

Simple, no-nonsense, they just work. No finicky parts. They basically are handsfree cups attached to their own motor. Easy to use and basically no learning curve - just pop them on and go. You can also just buy one. The freemie and maymom inserts work with the flanges without cutting. The flange is entirely made of silicone. I consider that a pro because it's so comfortable!

Cons?

I think the biggest con is that they are not discreet. The motor is a large block at the top of each unit and sticks up. The shape doesn't look boob like at all. There's also no app, if you care about that at all (I didn't). But if you're strictly interested in using these at home, why would you need to be discreet? You'll probably have to charge these every 2-3 pump sessions or so.

Most encountered problems?

I didn't have any problems with this personally. Not sure what problems it could really have, it's a very basic, functional unit.

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SUMMARY

Price: Momcozy

Momcozy is cheapest, running about $110 for a pair (with coupons), or you can buy them separately at around $60. Elvie and Willow will cost you $499 at retail.

Weight: Elvie

The Elvie is the lightest, followed closely by the Momcozy. The Willow is by far the heaviest unit. However, the Momcozy is a bit top heavy due to the location of the motor. Wear a bra with greater coverage if you need more support.

Suction

It's hard to judge a winner in this category because they are different. Willow is known for having extremely strong suction, and the Elvie is known for being quite gentle. The Momcozy doesn't get as gentle as the Elvie, but also doesn't get as strong as the Willow. But not everyone needs the same suction level so this is quite a personal thing.

Flange sizes

The Willow pump comes in 21mm, 24mm, and 27mm standard flanges, with only one size in the box. If you think you may need 21mm and buy from their website, you will also get the 24mm included in your purchase. (Technically the pump kits come only in 24mm and 27mm, so if you tell them you want 21mm they just throw it in for free.) The Elvie comes with 24mm and 28mm standard flanges, and both of these are included in the box. If you need 21mm, these will need to be purchased separately. The Momcozy comes only in 24mm flanges, but you can buy 27mm flanges separately on their website.

Inserts

To resize the flanges for a better fit, there are freemie and maymom inserts which will work with the 24mm flanges. In the case of the Willow and the Momcozy, most users find that they work without issue. With the Elvie pump, the suction hole comes halfway up the flange tunnel so the inserts usually need to be trimmed before they will work correctly with the pump. Some people find that they work as-is, however, so I'd advise that you try them without trimming first to see if you need to.

Volume: Elvie

The Elvie is the quietest, followed by the Willow and then the Momcozy.

Discreet: Elvie

The profile of the Elvie is smaller - the Willow is larger. Obviously the Momcozy, with the huge motor, is not really discreet as all.

Tunnel Length: Willow/Momcozy

If you have elastic nipples, the Willow and Momcozy have longer flange tunnels than the Elvie and will accommodate longer nipple stretching. The flange tunnel of the Elvie is quite short, and some people with elastic nipples find that they lose suction because their nipple blocks the suction holes. Using inserts/cushions can help mitigate this issue.

Parts: Willow

The Willow pump, if you use bags, has the least amount of parts to clean. The Willow container on the other hand, is difficult to clean and I'll tell you why - if you're handwashing most of the time, like me, the nooks and crannies at the top of the container are small and I can barely fit a finger in there to scrub it. I found the Flextubes to be annoying to clean as well because I could not fit a finger in. On the other side, the Elvie and Momcozy pumps do have way more parts, but I found that the parts are much easier to clean. The only part you need to break out a nipple brush for is really the duckbill.

Ability to handle milk flow: Willow/Momcozy

The Elvie is notoriously bad for a quick letdown or fast milk flow. If your milk comes out too fast, the Elvies will either leak or lose suction because excess milk gets sucked behind the disk. The Willow and Momcozy pumps can take much higher speeds.

Cup Volume: Momcozy

The Momcozy cups each holds 180mL/6oz of milk. The Willow and Elvie say that they each hold 4oz in their cups, but from experience - the Willow bags can hold much more (if you pump with the bags outside). I've heard of someone pumping 8oz into a bag once. On the other hand the Elvie probably holds a bit less than 4oz because it tends to think there is more milk than there actually is in the bottle which leads to the pump pausing itself. If you fill any of these cups you'll have to pretty much take off the pump and empty it to keep pumping again. The Willow and Elvie shut off automatically. The Momcozy does not.

App: Elvie

You can go from stimulation to expression as well as adjust suction levels directly in the app. And after the session is over, you can edit the milk volumes if the ones recorded are incorrect. Elvies app also has its own performance metrics which is fun to look at that describes your milk flow and total pumped volumes. On the other hand, the Willow app is very basic and just functions as a record of your pump times and volumes (which is frequently off) and you cannot edit them afterwards. Obviously Momcozy loses in this because there is no app at all.

Battery

It's hard to compare the pumps because the higher your suction, the faster the battery life runs out. From their respective websites, the Willow pump says a full battery lasts "about 5 pump sessions" and the Elvie says it lasts "about 2 and a half hours". Just comparing the two from my own experience subjectively, the Willow pump has a slightly longer battery life than the Elvie, but obviously it totally depends on how strong you set the pumps to work. The Momcozy has the poorest battery life by far. At the lowest suction and 20 minute sessions, I found it only lasted about 3 sessions.

Chargers

The Elvie hubs come with 1 charging cord each, so if you buy the double you'll get two. Same thing with the Momcozy. Both of these are USB chargers so you'll need a block to go with (they don't come with that). Unfortunately the Willow only comes with one charging cord (which plugs into a standard 2 prong outlet) when you buy two hubs which is such a weird decision in my mind. But I found I could just alternate which one I charged and it was fine.

Warranty: Elvie

I feel like this is an important topic that doesn't get compared too often. The Elvie pump hubs have the most generous warranty of 2 years from the date of purchase. On the other hand, the Willow comes with a warranty of 12 months from date of purchase. Because these are intended to be single user products, the warranty doesn't transfer from one person to the next if you purchase second hand. Therefore, this should be something you consider if you are doing so. Both companies - Willow and Elvie - cover the washable pump parts for 90 days. The Momcozy on the other hand - their website says that all items are covered by a 30 day warranty which I assume applies to the pumps as well.

BOTTOM LINE:

There is no perfect pump. Each of these three have their own issues. However, if the pump can't extract your milk, then it is useless to you. You need to know what to prioritize before making the commitment and I suggest prioritizing things that affect milk extraction, like suction power, tunnel length, and the ability for the pump to handle your milk flow speed.

If you have any other questions please let me know! :)

[sandraharissa]

On Tom Riddle's condition

So I had these thoughts for quite some time so I guess I'll share them.

So despite it never being explicitly stated in the books it's pretty clear that Tom Riddle was mentally ill, specifically he was suffering from antisocial personality disorder. It fits perfectly based on everything we know.

Often in arguments I see two misconceptions being repeated so here I'm gonna explain why it doesn't work. (disclaimer: I'm not a med student, never was and never will be)

So like most mental diseases aspd is caused in part by nurture and part nature.

I've seen a lot of people use the argument that Tom was already born ill, that his illness stems from the diseases caused in his mother's family by inbreeding. And while it's still a possibility that regardless of the inbreeding the family genes were more prone to certain diseases, in Tom's case the history of inbreeding has nothing to do with his issues.

The way breeding works is that the child gets two sets of chromosomes, one from each parent. The human DNA is full of mutations and 'errors', where a sequence that was supposed to code let's say an enzyme doesn't code it properly therefore a body would be deprived of this enzyme that it needs if the other chromosome set does not have this enzyme coded properly. This is not a problem for the child whose parents don't share a relation closer than 5(I think) generations back, because the odds of two unrelated people having an 'error' in the corresponding places on their DNA are next to none. So much so that the illnesses that are caused by inbreeding are not found in anyone who is not a product of inbreeding.

The way inbreeding works is that if two people already have parts of their DNA be two identical copies then their child will not have a properly coded copy of certain genes and therefore will be suffering from a number of diseases. The more closely related the parents are the higher the child's coefficient of inbreeding will be, the more pairs of faulty genes they will have without a healthy copy of those genes.

So when we talk about a family being very sickly because of inbreeding we're referring to a set of illnesses that are specifically the result of inbreeding. You can't say that inbreeding causes diseases like aspd.

So while Merope was very sickly because her two sets of chromosomes were largely just copies of each other, each individual set was not more imperfect than a normal person's. All it takes for Tom's  coefficient of inbreeding to be 0 and for him to be perfectly healthy is for Merope to breed with someone unrelated to her which is exactly what she did. Even Sirius' coefficient of inbreeding is higher than Tom's because his grandparents were cousins(or something like this).

Another argument people make is that Tom was obviously suffering from aspd but there are also a lot of misconceptions on what it means. 11-year-old Tom was not suffering from aspd because it can't be diagnosed in people under 18. All the arguments people bring up for Tom being a psychopath like lower level of fear, torturing animals, stealing, aggression toward peers are actually the symptoms of conduct disorder not aspd. For a person to be diagnosed with aspd they had to be diagnosed first with conduct disorder but only 25-40% of children with conduct disorder end up being diagnosed with aspd(the rest still faces problems with assimilating with society). Therefore if Tom had access to 21 century medical treatment he may have been helped even at the age of 11.

But were we able to avoid the situation alltogether? I heard many times that child's development in early years of life is crucial and I also remember reading somewhere that lack of attention and affection during this crucial developmental stage can help cause aspd (from wiki "Research performed on the impact of toddlers exposed to fear and distress shows that negative emotionality (fear) predicts toddlers' empathy-related response to distress. The findings support that if a caregiver is able to respond to infant cues, the toddler has a better ability to respond to fear and distress"). Which nicely ties to what jkr said about Tom growing up to be normal if his own mother took care of him.

I guess the last thing to mention because this also sometimes comes up when talking about Voldemort is the difference between a psychopath and sociopath. Medically speaking there is no difference between the two, they are just two different words for people suffering from aspd. From what I've read the difference between the two does exist in criminology, because the two commit crimes differently. Despite it never being clearly stated anywhere what this tells me is that aspd just like all disorders isn't as severe for everyone, and the difference between psychopaths and sociopaths stems from the fact that people suffering from aspd fall on a scale and their behavior will differ based on it.