#how to network with founders

[olivergisttv]

Startups at VivaTech: Opportunities for Tech Talent

VivaTech 2025 is one of the best places to discover promising startups and connect with hiring teams before they go mainstream. Whether you’re seeking a role in AI, fintech, robotics, or sustainability, these startup-focused areas offer unique opportunities. 1. Startup Pavilion & Pitch Sessions The Startup Pavilion hosts more than 2,000 early-stage companies showcasing their innovations.…

[entrepreneurial1era]

How to Find Entrepreneurs Looking for Business Partners

Why the Right Business Partner Changes Everything

Starting a business is exciting, but doing it alone can be overwhelming. That’s why smart entrepreneurs seek co-founders or business partners who complement their skills and share their vision. If you're one of those searching for entrepreneurs looking for business partners, you're already ahead of most. But finding the right partner isn’t about luck-it’s about strategy, alignment, and exposure to the right communities.

This blog reveals actionable strategies and platforms to help you connect with the right entrepreneurial minds.

1. Join Entrepreneurial Communities Online

One of the fastest ways to meet entrepreneurs is by joining niche business communities. These include:

Facebook & LinkedIn Groups like “Startup Founder Connect” and “Business Partners & Entrepreneurs India”

Slack & Discord groups for startup founders

Local WhatsApp or Telegram business groups

These spaces are full of driven entrepreneurs actively looking for partners, collaborators, and growth hacks.

2. Use Co-Founder Matchmaking Platforms

Websites built specifically for entrepreneurs looking for business partners include:

CoFoundersLab

StartHawk

FoundersNation

These platforms allow you to filter potential partners based on industry, experience, skillset, and location. Many founders have found their long-term cofounders through these channels.

3. Network at Startup Events & Pitch Nights

Attend meetups, pitch events, and demo days organized by:

Startup India

TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs)

NASSCOM 10,000 Startups

Entrepreneurial Era-hosted virtual meetups

These events are goldmines for finding entrepreneurs who are not only looking to partner up but are also actively working on innovative ideas.

Pro Tip: Don’t just show up. Come prepared with a clear value proposition what you bring to the table and what you’re seeking.

4. Publish on Platforms Like Entrepreneurial Era

Many founders underestimate the power of content. When you publish insights, founder stories, or business development articles on platforms like Entrepreneurial Era Magazine, you attract like-minded readers and potential co-founders.

Whether you're sharing your journey or commenting on growth strategies, content creates visibility. It positions you as a serious entrepreneur not just someone fishing for ideas.

5. Tap into University Incubators & Startup Accelerators

Many incubators and accelerators (IITs, IIMs, NSRCEL, etc.) host open calls or allow external collaborators. Reach out to them and explore open innovation programs. Many entrepreneurs seek technical, financial, or marketing partners to co-build with.

6. Don’t Skip Traditional Platforms

While modern tech is helpful, word-of-mouth and referrals are still powerful. Talk to:

Your LinkedIn network

Alumni groups

Local business communities

Family and friends in business

Let people know what you’re looking for often, the best opportunities come from unexpected introductions.

7. Follow Founders on LinkedIn

Identify emerging entrepreneurs in your space and engage with their posts. Comment thoughtfully, share your views, and start a conversation in DMs. Many founders openly discuss needing a co-founder or strategic partner; you just need to be visible and authentic.

Final Thoughts: Be the Partner You Want to Find

Finding the right business partner starts with clarity, communication, and credibility. Know your own strengths and the gaps you want to fill. Whether you're a tech expert looking for a marketer, or a finance pro seeking a visionary, thousands of entrepreneurs are searching for you too.

If you’re serious about this journey, subscribing to trusted business resources like Entrepreneurial Era Magazine can give you an edge. Each issue offers strategies, founder interviews, and networking opportunities designed for entrepreneurs who are ready to build something real together.

FAQs

Where can I find entrepreneurs actively looking for business partners?

You can find entrepreneurs through platforms like CoFoundersLab, StartHawk, and FoundersNation, which are designed specifically for co-founder matchmaking. Additionally, business-focused Facebook and LinkedIn groups, Slack communities, and startup meetups provide access to like-minded entrepreneurs.

How do I know if an entrepreneur is the right business partner for me?

The right partner shares your vision, values, and work ethic while complementing your skill set. Look for traits like accountability, openness to feedback, resilience, and a similar long-term vision. It's also crucial to align on business goals and expectations from the beginning. Start small, perhaps a project or pilot together before fully committing. Resources like Entrepreneurial Era Magazine offer guidance and case studies on forming strong entrepreneurial partnerships.

Are there any free tools or websites to connect with startup founders?

Yes, several platforms are either free or offer freemium models, including CoFoundersLab, FoundersBeta, and LinkedIn groups focused on startups and co-founding. Websites like EntrepreneurialEra.com often feature founder stories, interviews, and even networking opportunities for subscribers. Additionally, startup-focused communities on Discord or Reddit can connect you with early-stage entrepreneurs looking for collaborators.

How can I approach someone to become my business partner?

Approach with clarity and value. Start by introducing yourself, your vision, and the specific role you’re looking to fill. Avoid generic messages highlighting why you think the partnership makes sense and what you bring to the table. Build trust gradually by collaborating on small tasks or brainstorming together. Sharing content or mutual interests through platforms like Entrepreneurial Era Magazine can also open doors to meaningful conversations.

What are some red flags to watch for in a potential business partner?

Watch out for lack of accountability, inconsistent communication, vastly different goals, or no financial or time commitment. If someone is unwilling to define responsibilities, equity splits, or timelines early on, proceed cautiously. Read real-world co-founder case studies and startup stories in trusted resources like Entrepreneurial Era Magazine to understand how others navigated partnership decisions.

Can reading business magazines help me find business partners?

Absolutely. Magazines like the Entrepreneurial Era are not just information sources, they're networks. By publishing your thoughts, engaging with articles, and participating in community events, you gain visibility among like-minded entrepreneurs. Many readers are startup founders or decision-makers themselves ideal contacts for strategic partnerships.

Is it better to partner with someone I know or someone new?

Both options have pros and cons. A known partner brings trust, but could also lead to personal conflicts. A new partner brings fresh ideas and perspectives, but trust takes time to build. Regardless, focus on clear communication, trial collaborations, and legal documentation. Business magazines like Entrepreneurial Era regularly feature stories from entrepreneurs on both sides of this dilemma, offering real-world insight.

How can I verify if someone is serious about being a business partner?

Look for consistency in communication, willingness to commit time and resources, and alignment in goals. Ask questions about their past projects, failures, and what they expect from the partnership. A serious partner will have clarity and show initiative. Reading founder interviews in Entrepreneurial Era Magazine can also help you learn how seasoned entrepreneurs qualify potential co-founders.

Can international entrepreneurs also be considered as partners?

Yes. In today’s remote-first world, geography is no longer a barrier. Many startups are co-founded by individuals in different countries. Use tools like Zoom, Notion, Slack, and legal platforms to streamline remote collaboration. Platforms such as Entrepreneurial Era offer global business insights and case studies of international partnerships that worked exceptionally well.

How does subscribing to a magazine help me in finding partners?

A business magazine subscription like Entrepreneurial Era keeps you in the loop with trends, founder stories, and opportunities others miss. You gain access to expert interviews, business development strategies, and exclusive content that sparks conversation. Plus, engaging with the content builds your reputation, making it easier for like-minded partners to notice and reach out to you.

[directsellingnow]

Network Marketing: “सफलता के लिए सिर्फ Discussion नहीं, Decision जरूरी”: Ujjawal Kumar

Network Marketing: “Discuss करने से नहीं, बल्कि Decision लेने से मिलती है सफलता।” यह शब्द Direct Selling Industry के प्रख्यात Leader और ARL Team Emperor’s के founder, Mr. Ujjawal Kumar ने कहे। इस दौरान वो एक Direct Selling इवेंट को संबोधित कर रहे थे। Network Marketing News In Hindi बाधाओं को अवसर में कैसे बदलें? इस दौरान बात करते हुए उन्होंने हाइलाइट किया कि कैसे हम अपनी जिंदगी में आने वाली…

[reasonsforhope]

"Businesses like to talk about the concept of a closed loop or circular economy, but often they’re trying to close small loops. Releaf Paper takes dead leaves from city trees and turns them into paper for bags, office supplies, and more—which is to say they are striving to close one heck of a big loop.

How big? Six billion trees are cut down every year for paper products according to the WWF, producing everything from toilet paper to Amazon boxes to the latest best-selling novels. Meanwhile, the average city produces 8,000 metric tons of leaves every year which clog gutters and sewers, and have to be collected, composted, burned, or dumped in landfills.

In other words, huge supply and huge demand, but Releaf Paper is making cracking progress. They already produce 3 million paper carrier bags per year from 5,000 metric tons of leaves from their headquarters in Paris.

Joining forces with landscapers in sites across Europe, thousands of tonnes of leaves arrive at their facility where a low-water, zero-sulfur/chlorine production process sees the company create paper with much smaller water and carbon footprints...

“In a city, it’s a green waste that should be collected. Really, it’s a good solution because we are keeping the balance—we get fiber for making paper and return lignin as a semi-fertilizer for the cities to fertilize the gardens or the trees. So it’s like a win-win model,” [Valentyn] Frechka, co-founder and CTO of Releaf Paper, told Euronews.

Releaf is already selling products to LVMH, BNP Paribas, Logitech, Samsung, and various other big companies. In the coming years, Frechka and Sobolenka also plan to further increase their production capacity by opening more plants in other countries. If the process is cost-efficient, there’s no reason there shouldn’t be a paper mill of this kind in every city.

“We want to expand this idea all around the world. At the end, our vision is that the technology of making paper from fallen leaves should be accessible on all continents,” Sobolenka notes, according to ZME Science."

-via Good News Network, August 15, 2024

[achorusofnonsense]

The Pre-Timeline of Dimension 20

Just because I've seen a lot of confusion about this following the release of The Roll of a Lifetime: How Dimension 20 Sold Out Madison Square Garden, in which the story of how Dimension 20 got started is edited in such a way that viewers come away with an odd impression about the timeline, I thought I'd put together as clear and annotated a timeline as I can of how and when the Intrepid Heroes met, got into D&D, and got cast in Dimension 20, plus some of the greater context they were operating in. All of this is publicly available information, gleaned mostly from years of interviews, Adventuring Parties, NADDPod Short Rests, and social media posts.

1998: Noted science-fiction author Elaine Lee signs her ten-year-old son Brennan up for a Dungeons & Dragons game at October Country, a local comics and gaming shop, in order to provide him with a social and creative outlet after having to start homeschooling him due to pervasive bullying at school. Within weeks, he begins running his own games for fellow children.

December 1999: CollegeHumor.com launches, posting user-submitted funny and/or titillating content from around the web. Within a few years, banner ad revenue and merch sales have made its founders young tech millionaires. By 2004 they are hiring writers to produce original content.

August 2006: CollegeHumor is acquired by InterActive Corp. Shortly thereafter, Sam Reich is hired to produce video content on the strength of videos he'd posted online of his improv team Dutch West.

April 2007: CollegeHumor staff writers Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld begin posting videos of themselves performing absurdist sketches in their downtime at work; this inspires the long-running Hardly Working series, in which CollegeHumor staff appear as heightened versions of themselves in the office.

2008: Brian Murphy is hired to answer phones at the CollegeHumor offices. He soon begins writing for the website and appearing in videos, striking up a nerdy friendship with staff artist Caldwell Tanner.

2011: Emily Axford is hired by CollegeHumor as part of a wave of new talent as the original CollegeHumor cast moves on to bigger opportunities. She and Murph are memorably cast as romantic interests in Jake & Amir videos; some time later, they begin dating.

Early 2014: CollegeHumor's video team relocates to Los Angeles in order to establish themselves as a traditional TV production house, including shows like Adam Ruins Everything and the Jake and Amir series Lonely and Horny. Murph and Emily are among the cast who make the move. They marry in September and begin developing the TV sketch show Hot Date.

Early 2015: Siobhan Thompson, Zac Oyama, and Grant O'Brien are hired to write and act in sketches for CollegeHumor as cast turnover continues. Emily and Siobhan become close friends, and Zac bonds with Murph and Emily over anime.

August 2015: Jake and Amir, having quit CollegeHumor earlier that year, start the podcast network Headgum, whose initial slate of podcasts is shows by other CollegeHumor alums.

November 2015: Brennan Lee Mulligan wins $50,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, pays back a loan for medical expenses, and begins the process of relocating to Los Angeles to pursue more opportunities in production and development.

July 2016: Siobhan throws herself a birthday party, inviting people she knows from doing comedy in New York and Los Angeles. At the party, Emily overhears Brennan talking about D&D and corners him to ask him to run a game for her and her friends. During the conversation, Zac turns around, asking what they're talking about, and gets invited too. Siobhan, Zac, Emily, Murph, and Adam Ruins Everything producers Jon Wolf and Travis Helwig start playing in a home game with Brennan DMing. Murph plays a paladin, Emily a druid, Siobhan a ranger, and Zac a monk.

Around the same time: Lou Wilson meets Brennan through Upright Citizens Brigade (where Brennan coaches improv) and begins playing in a different home game as a barbarian. Both of these games are played in 3.5, Brennan's preferred edition of Dungeons & Dragons at the time.

September 2016: Murph, Emily and Caldwell start 8 Bit Book Club, a podcast about video game adaptations, on the Headgum network.

April 2017: Ally Beardsley is hired (along with Raphael Chestang and Rekha Shankar) to join the CollegeHumor sketch-video cast, as Siobhan has left to pursue other opportunities and Murph and Emily are busy with Adam Ruins Everything and Hot Date. During this round of hiring, Brennan is considered but doesn't make the cut, although a few months later he is hired part-time to write questions for Um, Actually. Ally and Zac become close friends and perform improv together.

Summer 2017: Zac leaves CollegeHumor to write on a new season of Adam Ruins Everything. Rather than go through another round of auditions and hires, Sam bumps Brennan up to main cast.

Fall 2017: Wanting more of a return out of their investment, IAC insists on CollegeHumor starting its own streaming service. Existing staff are required to pitch original shows. Brennan is halfway through writing a pitch document for a TTRPG actual play, citing the success of The Adventure Zone and Critical Role, when he is called into a meeting and asked how he would feel about DMing an actual play.

October 2017: Brian Murphy guests on If I Were You, Jake and Amir's flagship podcast, and explains Dungeons & Dragons. Jake is intrigued, Amir not so much.

November 2017: Dimension 20 begins the planning stages. For the next three months, Brennan works with producer David Kerns, coordinator Ebony Hardin, director Michael Schaubach and designer Rick Perry to develop a unique set, feel, and pace for the show. After some chemistry test games, the initial cast is set as Brian Murphy, Emily Axford, Siobhan Thompson, Zac Oyama, Lou Wilson, and Rekha Shankar, who has never played before.

December 2017: At a Headgum Christmas party, Jake Hurwitz corners Murph and suggests that they start a D&D podcast so that Jake can play.

January 18, 2018: Murph, Emily, Caldwell and Jake announce Not Another D&D Podcast on an episode of 8 Bit Book Club.

February 7, 2018: The first shooting day of Fantasy High, which will be the first season of Dimension 20. Only a few weeks before shooting, Rekha has a scheduling conflict and can't fit Dimension 20 in between her duties as head writer of CollegeHumor's sketches and developing other shows for Dropout; Ally Beardsley becomes her replacement at the Dimension 20 table. It is Ally's first time playing D&D at all; it is Brennan, Zac, Siobhan, and Lou's first time playing 5th edition. Earlier that day, Brennan shoots the first CEO video, which will net him viral notoriety and a vocal fanbase within the CollegeHumor audience, with an undercurrent of "finally, a straight white man" to the praise.

February 8, 2018: The first campaign episode of Not Another D&D Podcast is released. It releases weekly thereafter, and they are 32 episodes in and have done their first live show before Dimension 20 premieres.

September 26, 2018: The first two episodes of Fantasy High are available when Dropout goes live. It is the immediate breakout hit of the platform, so much so that the second season, The Unsleeping City, goes into production while Fantasy High is airing; but because it will take so long to edit before it's ready to air, a short "sidequest" is filmed in a weekend with Matt Mercer, Erika Ishii, Amy Vorpahl and Ify Nwadiwe from the online gaming world and Mike Trapp and Rekha from CollegeHumor to tide the audience over, establishing D20's production rhythms for the next several years.

[batsandbirdbrains]

So Damian in the comics currently like wants to be a doctor or smth right? I want every single member of the Batfamily to find out and immediately start lobbying for him to become a physical therapist

“Dami, my favorite baby brother, it’s such a noble profession!”

“Go away, Richard, I have no interest in physical therapy”

“But Dami, please!” Dick whines, actually folding his hands and pleading, “I need someone to just like pop my pelvis back into place every so often. It’s so fucking annoying Damian, please.”

“Well maybe don’t contort yourself like a pretzel every time you sit down, and your pelvis won’t pop out so much!”

“But it’s so comfortable!”

“Clearly not, if it’s, and I quote, so fucking annoying to deal with.”

You have Tim following him around one day like, “But it would be so good to have a PT in the family, think of all the good you could do!”

“I can do more good in a field of medicine I’m actually interested in.”

“But my carpal tunnel-”

“Wouldn’t be so bad if you actually put your phone down for longer than ten minutes at a time and didn’t sit like a goblin at your computer 24/7.”

“I do not sit like a goblin-”

“Your posture is terrible. Your wrists are always bent at horrid angles. You sit there for three hours, get up to get a Red Bull, then sit back down for three more hours.”

Tim is so offended, and a little weirded out at how accurate that is, that he just leaves.

“Come on, brat, I need someone to fix my shoulders.”

“Not my problem.”

“Not your problem? It is if my shoulder locks up and a goon gets ahold of me and your precious big brother dies again-”

“You’re not the only one who’s died, you’re not special. You’re literally the founder of the Dead Robins Club, you can’t use being dead to guilt another member into something.”

“What, since when?”

“Since right now. I’ve just made it a new rule.”

“You can’t do that!”

“Actually I can. I’m Secretary and in charge of the club’s by-laws.”

“I thought Dick was the Secretary?”

“I’m Vice President and Event Coordinator, actually,” Dick says, climbing in through the window, startling Jason. “We switched up roles like two meetings ago, remember? There was a vote! Anyway, did you convince him to become a PT yet? Because my knee is doing that thing-”

“No, he hasn’t!” Damian tells them both. Then he turns on his heel to exit the room, muttering under his breath, “I hate this fucking family.”

When Bruce actually comes into his bedroom and smiles at him, Damian rolls over on his bed and groans into his pillow.

“Not you too,” he begs.

“It’s just my back, you know, ever since Bane-”

“That’s not fair!” Damian practically whines.

“It just would be nice if we had a PT we could trust.”

“You have a whole network of them through the Justice League, use one of them!”

“It’s not the same, Damian.”

He just groans even louder, kicking his feet and whining. He will have a full on tantrum if it gets his father to leave him alone.

It does work.

Until he gets three texts in a row with schools that have good physical therapy programs.

Damian throws his phone across the room.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Tech’s benevolent-dictator-for-life to authoritarian pipeline

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

https://pluralistic.net/2024/12/10/bdfl/#high-on-your-own-supply

Silicon Valley's "authoritarian turn" is hard to miss: tech bosses have come out for autocrats like Trump, Orban, Milei, Bolsonaro, et al, and want to turn San Francisco into a militia-patrolled apartheid state operated for the benefit of tech bros:

https://newrepublic.com/article/180487/balaji-srinivasan-network-state-plutocrat

Smart people have written well about what this means, and have gotten me thinking, too:

https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/why-did-silicon-valley-turn-right

Regular readers will know that I make a kind of hobby of collecting definitions of right-wing thought:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/29/jubilance/#tolerable-racism

One of these – a hoary old cliche – is that "a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged." I don't give this one much credence, but it takes on an interesting sheen when combined with this anonymous gem: "Conservatives say they long for the simpler times of their childhood, but what they miss is that the reason they lived simpler lives back then wasn't that the times were simpler; rather, it's because they were children."

If you're a tech founder who once lived in a world where your workers were also your pals and didn't shout at you about labor relations, perhaps that's not because workers got "woke," but rather, because when you were all scrapping at a startup, you were all on an equal footing and there weren't any labor relations to speak of. And if you're a once-right-on tech founder who used to abstractly favor "social justice" but now find yourself beset by people demanding that you confront your privilege, perhaps what's changed isn't those people, but rather the amount of privilege you have.

In other words, "a reactionary tech boss is a liberal tech boss who hired a bunch of pals only to have them turn around and start a union." And also: "Tech founders say things were simpler when they were running startups, but what they miss is that the reason no one asked their startup to seriously engage with the social harms it caused is the because the startup was largely irrelevant to society, while the large company it turned into is destroying millions of peoples' lives today."

The oft-repeated reactionary excuse that "I didn't leave the progressive movement, they left me," can be both technically true and also profoundly wrong: if progressives in your circle never bothered you about your commercial affairs, perhaps that's because those affairs didn't matter when you were grinding out code in your hacker house, but they matter a lot now that you have millions of users and thousands of employees.

I've been in tech circles since before the dawn of the dotcoms; I was part of a movement of people who would come over to your house with a stack of floppies and install TCP/IP and PPP networking software on your computer and show you how to connect to a BBS or ISP, because we wanted everyone to have as much fun as we were having.

Some of us channeled that excitement into starting companies that let people get online, create digital presences of their own, and connect with other people. Some of us were more .ORG than .COM and gave our lives over to activism and nonprofits, missing out on the stock options and big paydays. But even though we ended up in different places, we mostly started in the same place, as spittle-flecked, excited kids talking a mile a minute about how cool this internet thing would be and helping you, a normie, jump into it.

Many of my peers from the .ORG and .COM worlds went on to set up institutions – both companies and nonprofits – that have since grown to be critical pieces of internet infrastructure: classified ad platforms, online encyclopedias, CMSes and personal publishing services, critical free/open source projects, standards bodies, server-to-server utilities, and more.

These all started out as benevolent autocracies: personal projects started by people who pitched in to help their virtual neighbors with the new, digital problems we were all facing. These good people, with good impulses, did good: their projects filled an important need, and grew, and grew, and became structurally important to the digital world. What started off as "Our pal's project that we all pitch in on," became, "Our pal's important mission that we help with, but that also has paid staff and important stakeholders, which they oversee as 'benevolent dictator for life.'"

Which was fine. The people who kicked off these projects had nurtured them all the way from a napkin doodle to infrastructure. They understood them better than anyone else, had sacrificed much for them, and it made sense for them to be installed as stewards.

But what they did next, how they used their powers as "BFDLs," made a huge difference. Because we are all imperfect, we are all capable of rationalizing our way into bad choices, we are all riven with insecurities that can push us to do things we later regret. When our actions are checked – by our peers' social approval or approbation; by the need to keep our volunteers happy; by the possibility of a mass exodus of our users or a fork of our code – these imperfections are balanced by consequences.

Dictators aren't necessarily any more prone to these lapses in judgment than anyone else. Benevolent dictators actually exist, people who only retain power because they genuinely want to use that power for good. Those people aren't more likely to fly off the handle or talk themselves into bad places than you or me – but to be a dictator (benevolent or otherwise) is to exist without the consequences that prevent you from giving in to those impulses. Worse: if you are the dictator – again, benevolent or otherwise – of a big, structurally important company or nonprofit that millions of people rely on, the consequences of these lapses are extremely consequential.

This is how BDFL arrangements turn sour: by removing themselves from formal constraint, the people whose screwups matter the most end up with the fewest guardrails to prevent themselves from screwing up.

No wonder people who set out to do good, to help others find safe and satisfying digital homes online, find themselves feeling furious and beset. Given those feelings, can we really be surprised when "benevolent" dictators discover that they have sympathy for real-world autocrats whose core ethos is, "I know what needs to be done and I could do it, if only the rest of you would stop nagging me about petty bullshit that you just made up 10 minutes ago but now insist is the most important thing in the world?"

That all said, it's interesting to look at the process by which some BDFLs transitioned to community-run projects with checks and balances. I often think about how Wikipedia's BDFL, the self-avowed libertarian Jimmy Wales, decided (correctly, and to his everlasting credit), that the project he raised from a weird idea into a world-historic phenomenon should not be ruled over by one guy, not even him.

(Jimmy is one of those libertarians who believes that we don't need governments to make us be kind and take care of one another because he is kind and takes care of other people – see also John Gilmore and Penn Jillette:)

https://www.cracked.com/article_40871_penn-jillette-wants-to-talk-it-all-out.html

Jimmy's handover to the Wikimedia Foundation gives me hope for our other BDFLs. He's proof that you can find yourself in the hotseat without being so overwhelmed with personal grievance that you find yourself in sympathy with actual fascists, but rather, have the maturity and self-awareness to know that the reason people are demanding so much of you is that you have – deliberately and with great effort – created a situation in which you owe the world a superhuman degree of care and attention, and the only way to resolve that situation equitably and secure your own posterity is to share that power around, not demand that you be allowed to wield it without reproach.

[cyberclouddream]

How We Gain Attention or Visibility

[ first house ] our type of charisma, what inherently or initially draws people’s attention to us

[ tenth house ] what we’re respected for by those with or in power; our achievements or reputation

[ eleventh house ] groups thats build relationships and visibility; our way of navigating networks and social contributions

Bonus: the 12th house away from the 10th house can indicate hidden challenges or sacrifices that impact the 10th house. As in, what we should avoid.

Note: for the networking part, it can represent what fields, causes, or industries can support your aspirations.

Aries Risings inherently or initially draw attention to them because of their unapologetic boldness and willingness to take risks. They’re recognized by those in power because they embody discipline and grind harder than everyone else to reach the top, willing to make sacrifices. They’re respected by the public for their no-nonsense approach to success.

Their aspirations are supported by those who challenge the status quo and embrace innovation. Networking with innovative groups or individuals, like tech disruptors or social activists, boosts their influence and aspirations by pushing them to challenge norms and drive impactful change.

Avoid: disregarding cultural sensitivities; overconfidence with no backing; impulsive travel decisions; no follow ups on discussions or meetings; ignoring deadlines or commitments

Taurus Risings inherently or initially draw attention to them because their calm presence and appreciation for beauty. They’re recognized by those in power because they come up revolutionary or humanitarian ideas that defy the norm and don’t care if anyone disagrees. They’re respected by the public for their refusal to conform.

Their aspirations are supported by those who provide emotional understanding and foster creativity. Networking with creative and empathetic individuals, like artists or holistic healers, boosts their influence and aspirations by deepening their emotional resonance and expanding their artistic vision.

Avoid: ignoring feedback; rigid attachment to ideas; working in isolation too much; neglecting networking; letting fear of failure hinder them

Gemini Risings inherently or initially draw attention to them because they’re social chameleons and their ability to adapt to situations. They’re recognized by those in power because their ability to tap into what people truly feel and their creative vision that sets them apart. They’re respected by the public for their rich imagination and amount of compassion.

Their aspirations are supported by those who push them to take risks and embrace boldness. Networking with bold and driven groups or individuals, like startup founders or competitive athletes, boosts their influence and aspirations by igniting their ambition and pushing them to take risks in high-stakes environments.

Avoid: extreme ideas that alienate others; ignoring team input; avoiding leadership roles; ignoring learning or networking opportunities

Cancer Risings inherently or initially draw attention to them because of their protective nature and ability to create a nurturing environment. They’re recognized by those in power because they dominate the room and get things done without hesitation. They’re respected by the public for their pioneering spirit.

Their aspirations are supported by those who offer security and share their values. Networking with reliable and grounded individuals, like financial advisors or sustainable business owners, boosts their influence and aspirations by providing the practical support and resources they need to achieve long-term success.

Avoid: taking criticism too personally; neglecting self-care; letting idealism cloud judgement; unclear or vague communication; escapism or distractions from responsibilities

Leo Risings inherently or initially draw attention to them because of they radiate confidence and charisma, and their flair for drama. They’re recognized by those in power because their ability to deliver consistent results and don’t crumble under pressure. They’re respected by the public for their ability to create stability.

Their aspirations are supported by those who stimulate their intellect and love lively discussions. Networking with intellectually stimulating groups or individuals, like journalists or tech innovators, boosts their influence and aspirations by keeping their ideas sharp and opening doors to fresh opportunities and collaborations.

Avoid: intimidating colleagues, opposed to diplomacy; impulsive decisions; ending relationships harshly; neglecting teamwork; skipping preparation for projects

Virgo Risings inherently or initially draw attention to them because of their keen eye for details and their ability to solve problems. They’re recognized by those in power because they have exceptional communication skills and their ability to navigate and adapt to new situations easily. They’re respected by the public for their intellectual curiosity and ability to connect diverse ideas.

Their aspirations are supported by those who nurture their emotional needs and create a safe space. Networking with nurturing and community-focused individuals, like social workers or wellness advocates, boosts their influence and aspirations by creating a strong support system that empowers them to pursue their goals with confidence.

Avoid: inflexible views, neglecting new ideas; procrastination; prioritizing money over ethics; avoiding taking risks

Libra Risings inherently or initially draw attention to them because of their ability to mediate and create harmony in interactions. They’re recognized by those in power because they know how to influence emotions and create supportive environments that foster loyalty. They’re respected by the public for their ability to inspire others to show up when it counts and make others feel truly cared for.

Their aspirations are supported by those who celebrate their talents and feed their desire for recognition. Networking with charismatic and influential groups or individuals, like entertainers or public figures, boosts their influence and aspirations by placing them in the spotlight and allowing them to showcase their talents and leadership.

Avoid: superficial communication; gossiping; inconsistent opinions, frequently changing stance on issues; leaving tasks incomplete; avoiding specialization or developing expertise

Scorpio Risings inherently or initially draw attention to them because of their intense presence or gaze, and mysterious vibes. They’re recognized by those in power because they radiate confidence, command attention, and inspire others to follow them. They’re respected by the public for their ability to inspire others to follow their lead with charisma.

Their aspirations are supported by those who appreciate their attention to detail and strong work ethic. Networking with detail-oriented and analytical individuals, like researchers or health professionals, boosts their influence and aspirations by sharpening their skills and ensuring their work meets the highest standards.

Avoid: letting feelings dictate professional interactions; being too defensive over ideas; bringing personal issues to work; isolating from colleagues; avoiding tough conversations

Sagittarius Risings inherently or initially draw attention to them because of their adventurous spirit and honest perspective. They’re recognized by those in power because they have exceptional organizational and analytical skills, and ensure things run smoothly and efficiently. They’re respected by the public for their commitment to excellence and ability to deliver high-quality results.

Their aspirations are supported by those who bring balance and harmony to their relationships. Networking with diplomatic and socially aware groups or individuals, like lawyers or designers, boosts their influence and aspirations by helping them navigate complex social dynamics and create meaningful partnerships.

Avoid: making every discussion about yourself; prioritizing personal success over collective achievements; taking on too many projects at once without completing; seeking constant external validation; refusing constructive criticism

Capricorn Risings inherently or initially draw attention to them because of their serious demeanor and air of authority. They’re recognized by those in power because they know how to skillfully navigate conflicts and create a sense of fairness. They’re respected by the public for their diplomatic finesse and ability to make everyone feel heard, even when things are chaotic.

Their aspirations are supported by those who respect their intensity and offer loyalty. Networking with intense and transformative individuals, like psychologists or personal development coaches, boosts their influence and aspirations by allowing them to explore deep connections and drive significant change in themselves and others.

Avoid: setting unrealistically high standards; micromanaging, trying to control every aspect of projects; overanalyzing details or aspects; neglecting personal well-being; being overly critical

Aquarius Risings inherently or initially draw attention to them because of their rebellious spirit and unique perspectives. They’re recognized by those in power because by their resourcefulness and exceptional ability to read people and situations given their keen insight in human nature. They’re respected by the public for their ability to demand accountability, uncover hidden truths, and foster transformation in both individuals and organizations.

Their aspirations are supported by those who embrace adventure and encourage exploration. Networking with adventurous and open-minded groups or individuals, like travelers or educators, boosts their influence and aspirations by expanding their worldview and fueling their quest for knowledge and new experiences.

Avoid: hesitation to make decisions; downplaying personal contributions; compromising values for external approval; avoiding conflict or discussing disagreements

Pisces Risings inherently or initially draw attention to them because of their dreamy and creative vibes, along with their empathetic nature. They’re recognized by those in power because of their ability to motivate and inspire others with their optimism and embrace change. They’re respected by the public for their refusal to accept anything less than the truth, along with their ability to push past boundaries.

Their aspirations are supported by those who share their ambition and respect their drive for success. Networking with ambitious and driven individuals, like corporate leaders or entrepreneurs, boosts their influence and aspirations by challenging them to elevate their standards and relentlessly pursue their goals.

Avoid: micromanaging; holding back important information, not having transparency; letting intense feelings dictate reactions; isolating from group efforts; using manipulation or underhanded tactics

[mikashisus]

❛ ── BETWIXT TIRESOME WAR ❜

⤷ synopsis. it was a poet's job to string tales of heroes, yet you weren't quite expecting for kremnos' crown prince to be your muse.

mydei x gn!reader. 2k. ( contents : silly goobers being silly, that's it ) ╱ taglist. @wystiix @pneumosia @st6rly @luvether @kazuinvocation @pixelcafe-network ( art creds : quinii09 )

The off-key note rang in the hurried air of Marmoreal Market as you sat on a street corner, tuning your lute. The overpopulated holy city was bustling at this time of day. You watched carefully as men and women roamed the streets, carrying baskets of fruits and bread. 

A smile pulled at your lips as you hopped to your feet— your lute now fully tuned and ready to be played —and strummed a chord.

The heads of passersby turned at the sound, their curiosity piqued. You strummed another chord, slowly falling into a familiar rhythm that you’ve played countless times all over the lands. 

“Gather ‘round, for I shall string you the tale of the almighty Huntress— they who tore down the banners of Kremnos and slayed a beast with naught but their own bare hands!” 

The people flocked like birds, gathering around at the sound of your voice and the prospect of a divine tale. Fixing your footing, you let the winds caress your form. Your eyes fell closed and you exhaled softly, letting the music guide you as the lyrics to a song you’ve sung countless times flowed from your mouth. 

“The Dissembled Poet of Okhema” was a title known throughout the entirety of the holy city. You’ve paraded the streets of Marmoreal Market an indefinite amount of times, carrying nothing on your person except for the lute in your hands. 

As far as anyone was concerned, you had always been present in the holy city. There were numerous bards throughout the land. However, those with keen eyes had seen through your innocent act. They knew you showed up one day out of nowhere, acting as if you had always resided in Okhema. 

That was the case with the Crown Prince of Kremnos, Mydeimos. This hadn’t been your first meeting, nor was it the first time he’d seen you lingering on street corners. Bards were flamboyant and harmless, singing the tales of heroes and gods alike. He paid no mind to them, but when it came to you— the Dissembled Poet —he couldn’t help but watch your every move. Like a lion stalking its prey, he watched from afar. 

Twirling a cup of pomegranate juice in his palm, he listened to the tale you were entertaining your crowd with. It was the infamous tale of a Huntress from Kremnos, a warrior who was feared by both the people of Kremnos and the gods alike. With their bare hands, they had slain a gigantic beast— just like the founder of Kremnos had done all those years ago. The Huntress was a renowned figure, worshipped by all Kremnoans before the city fell to the black tide. 

Now, their tale was no more than a legend. Rumors had spread years ago when the Huntress mysteriously disappeared. A few rumors told of how the Huntress was displeased with the royal family and therefore made the choice to leave Kremnos. Another told of how they angered Nikador in some way, and were banished from the city-state. The most popular rumor had been that they had given up living the life of a warrior and fled to a land unknown and untouched, away from mortal eyes. 

They were nothing but brainless rumors, dishonoring the life the warrior had once lived. Why focus so much on something so insignificant instead of focusing on the legacy they left behind? 

All warriors with reasonable hearts and tenacious spirits were respected in Mydei’s eyes. Good warriors were those who upheld their ideals and fought justly instead of blindly. Tarnishing one’s legacy with imprudent rumors was a crime of the highest degree. 

The song ended, and you took a dramatic bow as the crowd roared with praise and applause. Your cheeks burned as the rush of adrenaline fled your body. It dissipated slowly, your heart hammering in your chest as your fingers tingled. You’d never get tired of the thrill that accompanied your performances. 

Performing for others was your passion. The care you put into your songs and your poems was the kind of care a loving mother showed her children. With another, less dramatic bow, you spilled your thanks and eagerly took the money the crowd tossed you. 

With a tip of your hat, you bid them all farewell. Some lingered, singing your praises as they complimented your work. You chatted idly with them, acutely aware of the piercing honey eyes staring at you from afar. 

You noticed his presence a while ago. You’ve sensed it at every one of your performances. It was a weight that pressed down on your shoulders, pushing you towards the earth. A sort of wrath swirled underneath the surface, like a predator waiting for the perfect chance to pounce on its prey. However, you were far from prey. 

The last person left, bidding you farewell with a bright smile. As soon as they left your field of vision, your easygoing smile dropped, and you turned your attention to the prince who had made it his mission to stalk you the last few weeks. 

With a playful smirk, you met him halfway, slipping into an alley. Swinging your lute onto your back with a certain flair you knew he was incapable of, you leaned against the hard stone wall. 

“You know, if you were so impressed by my performances, you could’ve just said so,” you began, gauging his reaction, “a prince so enthralled by my poetic charm is a great honor, Your Highness—” 

You took a bow, and he held up a hand to stop you. His eyes were calculating, never leaving your form for a moment. 

“We both know you’re not a mere bard.” He said coolly. 

“Whatever could you mean? I’m ‘fraid I don’t quite follow.” 

“Don’t play dumb. Your songs are from eons ago. The others may be blind, but I see right through you.” 

A soft laugh escaped your lips. You sent him a tight-lipped smile. “My, do you have a fascination for music, dear Prince. To know all my songs, you must be a connoisseur! Tell you what, I’ll string you your own tale! One that tells of an Undying Prince who’s legacy lies in the blood of his enemies.” 

His eye twitched, and you knew you had successfully gotten under his skin. Whatever it was that irked him, you didn’t know. You grabbed the end of your cape and tossed it in a flourish, leaving the alley before he could say anything else. 

“It’ll be an epic for the ages! Murals painted in honor of my works, a tale passed down generations!” 

You laughed as you ran down the streets, ignoring the yells of shopkeepers as you parkoured over their stalls and made your escape from the fierce lion chasing you down. 

Although writing a song for the infamous Prince of Kremnos had been a joke in the moment, you considered after long hours of deliberation that you had to make it a reality. A song that described the Prince’s feats in war, his loyalty to his homeland, and his deep rooted care for others was going to be a challenge. 

You’ve written countless songs about heroes. You wrote one dedicated to another Chrysos Heir, Phainon. The man himself had found out quite quickly, and you got to chat with him once after performing it in the marketplace. The shine in his eyes as he gushed over the song was comparable to that of a thousand suns. 

How would Kremnos’ Prince react to his own epic? Flattered? Humored, perhaps? Resigned? 

The excitement of seeing his reaction was great, and you got straight to work. You put everything aside, shoving scrolls off your desk and making room for the first draft of your new project. A fire of determination coursed through you. The words seemed to come naturally, as if they had appeared on the parchment themselves. 

Your hand had cramped up, but you paid no mind. You spent days and nights working on the song, tugging at your hair in frustration or smiling subconsciously because of a witty line. 

For hours, you’d stay hunched over the parchment on your desk, fighting the urge to give in to sleep. The marketplace lay uncharacteristically silent those days, mourning the absence of the poet they revered so much. 

It was only when an attack from Nikador’s titankin breached the holy city that you finally finished the song you had spent one long and grueling week over. Usually, it’d take you much longer to write such a tale, but the Prince of Kremnos had given you a burst of inspiration you never knew you needed. 

Scrambling to fix yourself up, you hummed a tune under your breath. You’d return to the marketplace today with your new song ready to be sung and a new thrill coursing through your veins that you’ve never felt before. 

The markets were bustling just like any other day, even though the recent attack on the city had garnered a widespread panic. With purpose in your steps and the desire to rouse the hearts of the people in your veins, you found an empty spot on the street. Without uttering a word to them, people stopped to listen to your magnificent voice. 

You took a deep breath and began to strum the upbeat tune. The music stole you away, drifting you along in the wind to days of yore— a time before you had decided to endlessly wander the world. 

The lyrics took you back to the past when you had been a warrior revered by the people of Kremnos. You had been held in such high regard, you were worshipped among the people. Not only as a warrior, but as a Huntress. 

The familiar sensation of burning in your cheeks returned as your heart thrummed loudly in your chest. Your fingers tingled, on the brink of going numb from your passionate strumming. The ringing in your ears drowned out anything else, trapping you in the feverish memories of a past life you wished you could forget. 

There was a reason you fled Kremnos.

The song ended with a rasp scream. Your shoulders heaved as you huffed. Your whole body felt numb, and you slowly returned to the present— the ringing in your ears ceasing, revealing the tense silence of the square. 

You hesitantly looked up, measuring the expressions of the crowd. In an instant, they bellowed with cheers. Among the piercing yells and tightly packed crowd, you spotted the very person you had written the song for. 

He was watching you carefully, like he always did, except now he was clapping along with the rest of the people around him. Pride welled within you as you took a bow. 

You entertained the citizens who approached you, excitedly telling them the details of your new song. When they all dispersed, you tipped your hat to the Prince, who sauntered up to you with his arms crossed over his chest.

“That… wasn’t half bad.” He told you. 

You hummed. “Well, I spent a whole week slumped over my desk working on it. I sure hope I—” 

“I know you’re from Kremnos, you can drop the innocent act.” 

Ah… so he did catch on. You knew your act of innocence would come to an end eventually. You sighed heavily. “Indeed. What gave it away?”

The way you had written his feats in the song were from a glorified standpoint. Only someone from Kremnos would describe battle in such a celebratory way. You might’ve fooled everyone around you, but you couldn’t fool the Crown Prince of Kremnos. 

Your question was left unanswered, though you didn’t mind. He let out a soft sigh. “Thank you… for the glory you brought Kremnos in your words.” 

You certainly weren’t expecting a ‘thank you,’ nor a compliment, but the Prince— although appearing apathetic —was grateful and honored to be your muse. You could see it in the way his expression softened. 

With a smile, you bowed. “Of course, my Prince—”

“Enough with that. It’s Mydei.” 

“Hm. Well then, the honor is mine, Mydei.”

notes. this fic is very dear to me bc it's self indulgent, like the mc is LITERALLY my s/i LMAO. i had sm fun writing the mc cause they're such a goober. also, they're supposed to be pretty masc in appearance, while their title of 'huntress' is feminine! androgynous king <3 i struggled a lot with mydei’s dialogue so im sorry if he sounded off TT also the title of this is the name of the song the mc wrote for mydei !!

© 2025 mikashisus.

[feminist-space]

"Artists have finally had enough with Meta’s predatory AI policies, but Meta’s loss is Cara’s gain. An artist-run, anti-AI social platform, Cara has grown from 40,000 to 650,000 users within the last week, catapulting it to the top of the App Store charts.

Instagram is a necessity for many artists, who use the platform to promote their work and solicit paying clients. But Meta is using public posts to train its generative AI systems, and only European users can opt out, since they’re protected by GDPR laws. Generative AI has become so front-and-center on Meta’s apps that artists reached their breaking point.

“When you put [AI] so much in their face, and then give them the option to opt out, but then increase the friction to opt out… I think that increases their anger level — like, okay now I’ve really had enough,” Jingna Zhang, a renowned photographer and founder of Cara, told TechCrunch.

Cara, which has both a web and mobile app, is like a combination of Instagram and X, but built specifically for artists. On your profile, you can host a portfolio of work, but you can also post updates to your feed like any other microblogging site.

Zhang is perfectly positioned to helm an artist-centric social network, where they can post without the risk of becoming part of a training dataset for AI. Zhang has fought on behalf of artists, recently winning an appeal in a Luxembourg court over a painter who copied one of her photographs, which she shot for Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam.

“Using a different medium was irrelevant. My work being ‘available online’ was irrelevant. Consent was necessary,” Zhang wrote on X.

Zhang and three other artists are also suing Google for allegedly using their copyrighted work to train Imagen, an AI image generator. She’s also a plaintiff in a similar lawsuit against Stability AI, Midjourney, DeviantArt and Runway AI.

“Words can’t describe how dehumanizing it is to see my name used 20,000+ times in MidJourney,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “My life’s work and who I am—reduced to meaningless fodder for a commercial image slot machine.”

Artists are so resistant to AI because the training data behind many of these image generators includes their work without their consent. These models amass such a large swath of artwork by scraping the internet for images, without regard for whether or not those images are copyrighted. It’s a slap in the face for artists – not only are their jobs endangered by AI, but that same AI is often powered by their work.

“When it comes to art, unfortunately, we just come from a fundamentally different perspective and point of view, because on the tech side, you have this strong history of open source, and people are just thinking like, well, you put it out there, so it’s for people to use,” Zhang said. “For artists, it’s a part of our selves and our identity. I would not want my best friend to make a manipulation of my work without asking me. There’s a nuance to how we see things, but I don’t think people understand that the art we do is not a product.”

This commitment to protecting artists from copyright infringement extends to Cara, which partners with the University of Chicago’s Glaze project. By using Glaze, artists who manually apply Glaze to their work on Cara have an added layer of protection against being scraped for AI.

Other projects have also stepped up to defend artists. Spawning AI, an artist-led company, has created an API that allows artists to remove their work from popular datasets. But that opt-out only works if the companies that use those datasets honor artists’ requests. So far, HuggingFace and Stability have agreed to respect Spawning’s Do Not Train registry, but artists’ work cannot be retroactively removed from models that have already been trained.

“I think there is this clash between backgrounds and expectations on what we put on the internet,” Zhang said. “For artists, we want to share our work with the world. We put it online, and we don’t charge people to view this piece of work, but it doesn’t mean that we give up our copyright, or any ownership of our work.”"

Read the rest of the article here:

https://techcrunch.com/2024/06/06/a-social-app-for-creatives-cara-grew-from-40k-to-650k-users-in-a-week-because-artists-are-fed-up-with-metas-ai-policies/

[solifloris]

≡;-꒰ 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐒𝐎𝐍 ꒱₊˚ ପ⊹ I  𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝑴𝒆

╰┈➤ ❝ greyson x afab!reader | smut nsfw 18+ mdni | kinktober '24 day 5

tags : pwp (without plot), hunter!reader but NOT mc!, facesitting, oral (f rec.), couch shenanigans, dry humping, kissing, slight hair pulling, praise, use of pet names "baby" "love" "darling". lmk if i missed any tags!

wc : 1.3k

an : this was SO FUN to write, i absolutely love writing this goofball and i hope you enjoy reading this as well <3 might be a little more based on my interpretation of his character (given we know so little...), but inherently this is a gift fic for @dawnbreakersgaze my beloved wife whom i love dearly and the president and founder of greyson nation !!!!!! kay i hope that whenever you’re able to read this you can find some comfort in it hehe <3

taglist : @interstellar-inn @pixelcafe-network @hunters-association @darlingdummycassandra @milkandstarlight @thoupenguinman @valyvinny @rafayelsheart @jellyroom2 @chemiru @ywnzn @pepprrmint @angel-jupiter (SIGN UP HERE)

KINKTOBER MASTERLIST / KO-FI JAR / COMMISSIONS

You’ve been tense lately, and Greyson knows just how to help you relax.

“Oh— haah—” 

His head fell back against the couch, eyes a little hazy as you rolled your hips more insistently against his erection. “H—wai— B- baby, love… s’everything okay?”

The groans that he couldn’t seem to hold back only sent jolts straight through your body, and you almost couldn’t find it in yourself to answer him. Instead, with a quiet whine, you leaned back down against him, burying your face into his neck.

Your hips didn’t stop, rutting into him despite the frustrating barrier of clothing between you two—and his response to that was practically immediate. A shaky sigh, he rested his chin over your head, hands moving over to rub gentle circles into your back. With every grind against his bulge, you could feel him slowly apply more pressure—steady, as if guiding you, encouraging you to get your fill.

But at the sound of your whimper, he tapped on your head.

“Love… Love, nnh— look at me…”

His voice, so close to you, so deep, your favorite sound in the world—

You let out a slow breath as you raised your head, and he took the immediate opportunity to meet your lips for a kiss.

Soft. Sweet. Tender.

Greyson tended to be like that with you.

Even now, he would let you hump needily over his slacks, arousal seeping through your panties and already leaving a mess—even if you never really said why.

There was a gentle smile on his face, even as his lips parted in pants. His ears were red, the only other indication of how affected he was. But he would look into your eyes, almost as if getting lost in them, moving your hips to slide over him a little easier.

“Darling…” he mumbled against your lips. “What is this about? Did you miss me?”

Did you miss me.

He wasn’t wrong.

As fate would have it, the two of you lead busy lives. Your profession as a hunter was unpredictable at best, and missions were often assigned sporadically. A protector of the city scarcely got regular holidays.

Yet, the same could be said about him.

At certain times, your schedules never lined up—Greyson was busy with hospital work, and you knew without fail that his own profession demanded much of him.

But it wasn’t that, not really. You had come to terms with your busy schedules early on; it wasn’t something that bothered you too much.

It was only that…

You sighed into another kiss, almost never wanting to part, savoring the feeling of his lips moving against yours.

“S’been a day…”

You mumbled, voice slightly muffled.

And when he pulled back from you next, there was a glimmer of understanding in his eyes.

His hands moved from your hips, tracing up your spine before moving up to tuck your hair behind your ear.

Light touches, precise in the way he knew you liked just perfectly.

“Stressed?” he murmured.

With a pout, you could only manage to nod.

“And, you… don’t want to talk about it?”

This time, you shook your head.

Your eyes locked, blue eyes searching your own, and then your hand reached out to run through those favorite brown locks of his. “It’s not really that I have anything to talk about…” you sighed. “I just… wanna de-stress a little, that's all. Is that okay? Are you tired? I’m sorry… I know it’s been a long day for you too, and you mentioned you have a surgery tomorrow morning, and you probably want to get some sleep instead of—”

“Baby, baby.” There was a slight laugh to his voice. “That’s not it at all, you know I can never get enough of you. I’m happy you’re being needy today.”

Immediately he cupped your cheeks, forcing you to stop, forcing you to look at him—

His hips bucked up into yours, and he raised an eyebrow. The gasp that fell from your lips was enough for you to realize what he meant.

“You feel that, right? I mean… Darling, you’ve been at it for a while now, you feel so good. I want this just as much as you do.”

His gaze softened, and he leaned in for a peck on the tip of your nose.

“But… let’s not do that today.”

Immediately, your face fell.

For all the sweet words he’d just said, the end result was the same—maybe he was too tired. Maybe something like this was best reserved for another day, another time when both of you were actually free, another time when both of you had no other obligations waiting for you in the morning—

He let out a soft laugh.

“I just mean, I want to give you a treat.”

Effectively, his words made you pause.

His hand moved lower, lifting your nightgown up a little bit and caressing over the small of your back

“Grey—!”

“Listen. You like it when I go down on you, right? So…”

His smile seemed to widen as a look of both shock and embarrassment spread across your features, but before you could react further, he nuzzled against your nose and stole another quick kiss. “How about you sit on my face tonight?”

You sucked in a breath.

“But Grey, we’ve never… I’ve never…”

“I know. But I’ve eaten you out plenty of times… And this way, you get to control how you like it best. Don’t you want that?”

Tempting.

Greyson had a way with words when it counted the most, and you had to admit that the image he was painting had you leaking almost embarrassingly fast.

“You like that, right, love?” He was smiling again, like he just knew you were caving.

And how could you say no to that face?

With a relenting smile and a shake of your head, a small laugh fell from your lips. “Okay, you big teddy bear. Fine, I’ll do it. But… tell me if I’m doing too much, okay? I don’t…”

“You don’t want to hurt me.”

He finished your sentence for you, and leaned up to give you another kiss. “I know, baby. I’ll tell you, I promise.”

It was enough.

He made quick work of your panties as they slid down your thighs, neatly placed on the edge of the couch as you hovered over him.

He was right; you were too needy. Just the mere feeling of his hot breath so close to your cunt made you shiver, that it was almost too difficult for you to lower yourself onto him. He would rub his thumb over your thigh; patient, yet still wanting.

The first touch of his lips against you had you gasping.

They parted, moving mouth closer to lick a stripe up your slit. The slight action had you gripping the couch to steady yourself, thighs tensing. You felt a tap on your up, as if telling you to relax, yet he didn’t so much as relent.

It started with small, teasing licks. Tongue barely poking out, almost as if to have a little taste of you before he started… and then you felt it. The tip of his nose brushed against your clit as his head shifted slightly, and his tongue began to lick fervently at your arousal.

“G-Grey—s-s— Grey—!”

You cried out, hands falling down from the couch to root into his hair.

He smiled against you, pushing you further down onto him to bury his tongue into your pussy. That wet, slick feeling wasn’t new to you, but the position made it more intense. You tugged at his hair, gripping it tightly, and your face twisted in pure, unbridled pleasure.

“H- Holy shit!” you gasped.

Your hips rolled, putting more pressure onto his mouth, needy little humps against his face.

His nose would bump into your clit with every movement, tongue moving precisely with every thrust. His hands stayed at your hips, rubbing little circles into your skin, wordless encouragement that let you know he was enjoying it just as much as you were.

You were gone.

The grip on his hair tightened, and you nearly cried when he tilted to mouth at your clit. Trapping your sensitive nub between his lips, he sucked, teeth grazing ever so slightly, flicking it from side to side with the tip of his tongue.

And he groaned.

Ever lost in the way that you tasted, an air of desperation seemed to cloud the two of you, the haze of lust nearly making your vision go blurry.

Eyes rolling back into your head, hips moving faster, harder, more purposefully—

“M’gonna cum! Gonna—!”

One final cry, before you lurched forward to grab onto the couch, desperate to steady yourself as your toes curled and a loud, drawn-out moan escaped your lips. He lapped up every little leak, dipping his tongue into your folds to coax out more as you slowly felt yourself relax.

Panting, eyelids heavy, you slid yourself off of him to catch your breath.

“Oh my god,” you breathed out. You placed a hand to your chest and glanced beside you, eyes widening at the mere sight of him—eyes half-lidded, glistening with your slick, hair all a mess and in disarray.

He looked ruined, and you almost could have felt guilty.

Almost.

Almost.

He wiped your juices off of his mouth with the back of his hand, before leaning in for a quick peck on the lips, nearly laughing at the squeal you let out. “That was nice, right?” he mused. “You were so good for me, love…"

His gaze raked over your body all the way down to your pussy, and he smiled this cute, satisfied little smile.

“We should do that more often.”

You thought that he would truly be the death of you one day, and you glanced away from him.

“ … I think I’d allow that.”

© rose-tinted-kalopsia. all rights reserved. do not: steal, copy, repost, reupload, modify, or claim any of my works as your own, regardless of credit given. absolutely do not use my works for AI training and other related purposes.

[watchersleuth]

I didn't think I'd use this blog to make a post like this, but I'm seeing more and more comments and posts criticizing Watcher for their recent decision to layoff their production staff, and I want to try to explain some things. I also have experience working in film and television production so I hope that's helpful in this case.

For background, on March 17, 2025 people discovered via LinkedIn that Katie LeBlanc had ended her employment with Watcher. This, of course, caused some alarm.

I'm not in the habit of sharing things posted in the Wiscord, but Shane did let everyone know an important detail that I think is getting overlooked

I want to point out the part where he said that they were taking some "full-time positions and converting them to freelance"

Note: Almost every US television show that you watch from a major network runs on a freelance model

Yes, that one that you're thinking of right now. Also that one. Most exceptions to this would be a show like a news program or talk show that runs year-round and doesn't only film for a few months out of the year. When a crew member is freelance and one job ends, they use their networking connections to find another job. That's the way it's been done for over a hundred years in Hollywood.

This isn't ideal for everyone, for many reasons. And of course it would be preferable to live in a society where we valued creative work and people could get steady employment and benefits from being in this, or any artistic, field.

That's why Watcher hired folks on full-time as soon as they could. Remember in the 2022 Making Watcher when Steven talked about how they doubled their staff from 10 to 21 and how they were reinvesting into their own company? That was by design to try to give as many creative folks a shot at a regular full-time gig and I'm so proud of them for that!

Knowing this, I would bet that Watcher didn't WANT to convert anyone to freelance positions. People need to stop talking about the layoffs like this is something they wanted to do. They told us last year that they were launching the streamer to stay afloat, because YouTube isn't as beneficial as it used to be for creators.

Not to sound parasocial, but if you think that any of the Watcher Founders wanted to layoff the staff that they've worked with for years - people that have been with them since Worth It and Unsolved - then you don't know them at all.

Even if you think that they laid off everyone just for fun, consider that now when Watcher wants to film a new season of say Puppet History they will need to ask their previous staff if their schedule aligns with their filming time so they can be hired on to work the shoot. If not, they will have to advertise or go word of mouth, to find crew. That's more time and resources spent to staff a shoot than pulling from their regular crew.

TLDR; There's no controversy behind this news. This is normal for many media companies and is what Watcher had to do to remain in business.

It's not ideal, and I wish the streamer would have been so successful that they could've went the other direction like they planned all along - to bring on new hosts and make the diverse shows they've wanted to since 2019.

If you want to help Watcher:

-Subscribe to Watcher TV if you can. They've been running constant promo deals for the past year so if you do get an annual subscription make sure you use the discount code. The banner is always on top of the site.

-Subscribe to their main and podcast channels on YouTube

-Watch the videos as they get uploaded to YouTube, even if you're already a Watcher TV subscriber. Try to watch within the first day or two of uploading to push it up the algorithm. Make sure you "like" it and leave a positive/friendly/funny comment too! YT is looking for engagement and watch time, so the likes and comments help. And so does watching the video all the way through. (Bonus: Watcher has been using audience comments from videos on their social posts and it's fun to see what they choose!)

-If you're short on time or don't want to rewatch a video you already saw on the streamer you can always put it on a separate tab on your browser and mute it. Let the new videos or your favorite playlist stream in the background while you surf the web!

-Share their videos with friends, family, co-workers, etc. The more people that watch them the better! The Watcher channel is one of the more diverse that I've seen on YouTube so there's something for everyone.

-Make posts about what you enjoy about their shows and you'll find more friends that way.

Thanks for everyone who read this far. Comments are open if anyone wants to ask general production questions and I'll try to answer. Probably can't speak for Watcher specifically but maybe I'll know the answer from a Making Watcher video I can point you to.

And if you read all of this and still feel like you want to choose chaos (ie. harassing Watcher via their social media posts with accusations about the economy that they can't control) then I would urge you to direct that energy at your elected officials no matter what country you're in, find a fandom you enjoy engaging with instead, and maybe go touch some grass.

[endcant]

Crossposted from my Tumblr Community: The Trans South

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The Trans South Monthly Bulletin Board

. * ❄ . ❅ * { Our pinned post for January 2025. } * ❅ . ❄ * .

in this issue: direct mutual aid opportunities, LGBTQ+ good news, southern events, job board, fun links, resources

comment anything you want to add, and i'll add what fits in this month's post. i'll be making a new post each month, so you may need to resubmit any links that are applicable for multiple months. i'll update this if i get new info in a timely way, but still check the comments for anything i missed!

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[UPDATED 1/24!] Direct Mutual Aid Opportunities:

Actually help a trans southerner today!

Requests in this section are submitted by TTS members.

Cecilpedia needs to eat!

Catgirl-smash needs help getting somewhere safe!

Turing-tested needs help with his grandmother's funerary expenses!

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the bright side:

the fact that you're alive is good news to me!

Good-enough news for LGBTQ+ Southerners.

The First Trans Community Center Opens in Arkansas | "'We declare that Arkansas Can’t Erase Trans People!' said Rumba Yambú, founder and director of Intransitive. 'We are here to stay, and we will keep fighting for our rights to ensure Trans people can build a future in Arkansas'."

Nashville Notary Battles Marriage Discrimination by Marrying Queer Couples | "Huff says... 'If you don’t have a family that’s gonna support you, there are so many other people that will. It’s really inspired me to keep the love going.'"

"Zebra Youth is expanding its short-term housing for LGBTQ+ youth" | "ORLANDO | Zebra Youth, a local nonprofit focused on providing services to LGBTQ+ youth, is expanding its short-term housing for queer youth this month thanks to a grant from the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida through its Brighter Days initiative."

"An Alabama city banned an LGBTQ+ Pride float from its Christmas parade. It marched anyways " | "Prattville Pride was able to march in the city's Christmas parade despite being banned the day prior after swift action from a federal judge."

[Bitter-sweet] Plans for Pulse Nightclub Memorial Move Forward | "ORLANDO | The Pulse nightclub building will be torn down as part of the future memorial design, the Pulse Memorial advisory committee said during its meeting Dec. 12."

More News

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[UPDATED 1/24!] southern events:

no affiliation, just interesting finds

Virtual/Twitch. Mon, Jan 27th. Nashville-based streamer Joe Hills welcomes special guest: trans activist Allison Chapman | "There's a lot of work to do, so let's chat about how each of us can help." Allison will talk about her work, and we can learn more about doing activist work in our own communities. 8:30 PM US Central Time.

Virtual/Zoom. Thurs, Jan 30th. Pre-register. Autistic Self-Advocacy Network Policy Seminar | "Are you interested in public policy and how it affects your community? Do you want to get involved in policy advocacy, but are unsure where to start? Join us for Policy Advocacy: What we do and how we do it on January 30 at 4-5:30pm ET!"

[event complete]Virtual.January 9.Beyond the Ballot: LGBTQ+ Equality and Legislative Trends for 2025 | A public event by Funders for LGBTQ issues: Attend for an overview on policy expectations for 2025.

Are you a member of The Trans South and you want me to find events in your area? DM me and tell me what you need me to know, so I can focus on the neighborhoods and budget ranges of people within our community <3

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[NEW SECTION!] opportunities:

Work, Volunteer, and Make Change in the South!

[closed] Disabled Artists, Tennessee. due [unknown time next week], unpaid. Submit Your Work for Breaking Ground Arts Issue

Black & Latino Gay & Bisexual Men Age 18-35, Middle Tennessee. due ASAP, earn $375 Southern TENNacity | "We are a team of Yale-affiliated LGBTQ+ scholars of color... We are now currently recruiting for the TENNacity trial, a 11-week group therapy treatment created by and for Black and Latino/x gay, bisexual, and queer men (inclusive of cisgender men, trans men, and nonbinary individuals assigned male at birth)."

Community Organizers, 1-2 Years Experience, Alabama. due date unknown, $23-$26/hr. Hometown Organizing Project/Hometown Action is hiring Lead Community Organizer for Gender Justice | "Hometown Action is an affiliated 501c4 nonprofit advocacy organization building a multiracial, working class, trans/queer-affirming movement for racial, gender, economic, and climate justice in rural and small town communities across Alabama."

Experienced Marketers, Texas and Georgia. due date unknown. Lambda Legal is Hiring Remotely for Director of Integrated Marketing Position | "Lambda Legal is a national advocacy organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights for the LGBTQ+ community and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work."

[closed] Regularatory Activism, Nationaldue Jan 17Comment on Fair Standards Labor Act Changes

[closed] Subject Matter Experts, Nationaldue Jan 11You Can Make a Difference by Serving on an HHS National Advisory Board/Committees

Are you a member of The Trans South and you want me to find opportunities in your area? DM me and tell me what you need me to know, so I can focus on the neighborhoods and goals of people within our community <3

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fun links:

media, literature, and games keeping me going this month

Read "Love Letter From A Poet Under Empire" by Mónica Teresa Ortiz | "The South isn't just a site of burials... but also of refusals: a list of those speaking out against the brutality that the state imposes."

Watch Black in Appalachia on PBS.org | Black in Appalachia explores the roots of African-American influence on the history and culture of Appalachia through documentaries, research, local narratives, public engagement and exhibition.

CSS Diner | Learn about CSS with this diner-themed game. Knowing CSS can help you learn to publish indie websites outside of social media!

More Fun

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useful links:

interesting resources and organizations you should know about

Repro Legal Defense Fund | The Repro Legal Defense Fund provides financial support for people investigated or fighting charges related to their pregnancy or abortion.

Trans in the South: A Directory of Trans-Affirming Health & Legal Service Providers | "Trans in the South is dedicated to every trans Southerner who persists in growing in this rocky clay soil."

More Resources

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If you're an adult trans person in the U.S. South, join my Tumblr Community: The Trans South.

If you're a teen trans person in the U.S. South and you create a youth community for trans southerners, let me know and I'll link to it in The Trans South.

[scarletskiesinthepaths]

One Timeline, One Fate: How Eren’s Will Shaped the 80% Rumbling in Attack on Titan

Okay, so I’ve seen tons of confusion surrounding the nature of “time travel” in Attack on Titan: Why couldn’t Eren just change the future once he saw it? Are there multiple timelines at play? And if so, did Eren ever really have a choice, or was he locked into carrying out the Rumbling? I decided to make a comprehensive post to help clear things up.

“Time travel” in Attack on Titan is actually more about memory transmission than literal hopping between timelines. Basically, I’ll be explaining the Attack Titan’s ability to see future inheritors’ memories, the Founding Titan’s role in uniting all Subjects of Ymir through the Paths, and how these powers combine to form what looks like a loop of inevitability. By the end, you’ll see why Eren couldn’t—or rather, wouldn’t—alter the course he’d foreseen, and why there’s really only one timeline holding it all together. In essence, Eren chose the future he saw, even if he couldn't alter it.

How does “time travel” work in Attack on Titan?

Attack on Titan does not portray multiple realities or divergent timelines. Rather, the story unfolds along a single timeline, wherein past, present, and future events can influence one another through Titan memories. 

In Attack on Titan, “time travel” is really a byproduct of two intertwined abilities:

The Founding Titan’s power (Ymir Fritz’s power):

Connects all Subjects of Ymir through the Paths.

Can alter memories, bodies, and even pass mental images across time if the Founder is involved.

The Attack Titan’s power:

Possesses the ability to view the memories of its future inheritors (not just past ones).

This means the Attack Titan can see glimpses of events that haven’t happened yet—at least to the Titan’s current holder.

When Eren acquires both the Attack Titan and gains partial (and later full) access to the Founding Titan’s abilities (through contact with royal blood, notably via Zeke, and earlier interactions with Historia and Dina), these powers merge, enabling memories to move both forward and backward along a single, unbroken timeline.

How Memories “Move” Through Time

Because of these powers:

Eren can send memories from his future self to past inheritors of the Attack Titan.

These transmissions are selective; Eren chooses which memories to send and to whom.

The Founding Titan’s power effectively creates a network (the Paths) that spans all time. It’s not traditional time-travel ; it’s more akin to a single timeline threaded through everyone connected by Ymir’s bloodline.

It is important to note: The future that is transmitted back is the future that will occur; there are no alternate versions of reality. Once Eren perceives a future or sends a memory of it, the timeline has effectively “locked in” that eventuality.

Key Evidence from the Manga:

The Attack Titan’s Power (Chapter 89)

Eren Kruger demonstrates knowledge of Mikasa and Armin long before they are born, a clear example of glimpsing future inheritors’ memories.

Founding Titan & the Paths (Chapters 120–122)

These chapters illustrate how the Founding Titan’s influence spans all Subjects of Ymir within the Coordinate, enabling far-reaching manipulations of time, memory, and physical forms.

Influencing the Past (Chapter 121)

Eren effectively spurs Grisha Yeager to carry out the attack on the Reiss family. This provides a direct example of Eren influencing the past. Grisha also explicitly reacts to something Eren is showing him—memories from Eren's future, beamed back through the Paths.

Why Eren Couldn’t (or Wouldn’t) Change the Future

A central question arises: if Eren perceives destructive events on the horizon, why not prevent them? The best way to understand this is recognizing that Eren’s will, his personal desires, and the single, closed loop timeline all lock him into a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Attack Titan does not expose random potential scenarios; it reveals a future shaped by Eren’s own resolve and desires. Once Eren observes (and transmits) a specific future, that future becomes embedded in the timeline. Attempting to deviate would negate the very memories he sent back. Moreover, Eren doesn’t want to negate the memories he sent back. Eren transmits those memories precisely because he wants his past self to strive toward that future. The image of the Rumbling’s destruction (think of the “this is freedom” panel) is what Eren wants to see.

Crucially, he shows this willingness and longing by diverting the path of Dina’s titan away from Bertolt—a decision that ensures certain events unfold exactly as needed (including the death of his own mother) to see a future where he carries out the Rumbling.

When Did Eren Know He’d Be Stopped at 80% Destruction?

Eren’s early glimpses of the future, derived solely from the Attack Titan, were incomplete. As a result, he initially believed the Rumbling would annihilate the entire world. Not until physical contact with Ymir Fritz in the Paths (Chapters 120–122) did he acquire comprehensive knowledge of the ultimate outcome—namely, that the destruction would halt at roughly 80%, not 100%. Before this full disclosure, his partial insights led him to anticipate total obliteration.

What’s the evidence for this?:

Up until Chapter 120, Eren never had full control of the Founding Titan. It was only when he and Zeke converged in the Paths that Eren finally reached Ymir directly. Until that point, he had only seen glimpses of the future via the Attack Titan’s ability—the most notable example being when he made contact with Historia in Chapter 90.

The glimpses of the future Eren sent to himself in the past only showed him the future he wanted to see. As a result, Eren fixated on the outcome he’d been driving toward (total destruction) without realizing there was a point in which he’d be forced to stop. The glimpses he saw led him to think that total annihilation was the endgame; he never saw (or understood) the moment in which the Alliance would intervene and halt the Rumbling. Eren’s mindset pre-contact with Ymir is also important to understand. In the flashbacks with Floch shown in Chapters 130-131, Eren shows no intention of leaving survivors outside the island.

Throughout Chapters 130-131, Eren is also shown deliberating the atrocity he’s about to commit. He fully believes it will erase civilization beyond Paradis.

Why didn’t Eren pivot when he learned that 100% annihilation wasn’t in the cards?:

Bringing all of the points together—there’s only one chain of events. The moment Eren sees how it concludes, it’s set—because that’s the future he himself instigates. Even though Eren’s rational mind grasps that the Rumbling will “fail” to achieve total destruction, he’s already committed to forging that horrific reality. This drive, tied to his longing for absolute freedom and a human-free landscape, renders him incapable (or unwilling) to step back. In Chapter 122, Ymir’s choice to grant Eren the full Founding Titan power ensures the unstoppable path forward. The Rumbling commences, and the single timeline proceeds as “destined.” Chapter 139 finalizes the point: Eren outright confesses to Armin that he moved forward with the Rumbling partly because he couldn’t stop himself. His dream of freedom—the same dream that made him wage war on the entire world—also chained him to the future he saw.

Conclusion

Ultimately, Attack on Titan’s depiction of “time travel” is less about traversing alternate timelines and more about transmitting memories within a single, closed timeline. The Attack Titan sees future events (shaped by the wielder’s own will), and the Founding Titan’s Paths allow those events to anchor themselves in the past. This cycle forms an unbreakable loop, ensuring that the fate Eren glimpses is the fate he brings to life—no matter how horrifying.

So, while it might look like Eren is helpless in the face of destiny, the truth is more bittersweet: he’s trapped by his own desires and the single timeline’s rules. He chooses to walk the path he’s shown, effectively binding himself to the 80% Rumbling outcome. In this way, Eren Yeager’s tragedy lies not in having no choice—but in having a singular, unwavering conviction that makes him want the future he sees, ensuring it can’t unfold any other way.

If you're interested in more of my thoughts on the subject of Eren and whether he had a choice, here's another post I wrote on the topic:

[reasonsforhope]

"One of the least respected but most important ecosystems on Earth are seagrass meadows, and a pioneering robotic solution is helping marine scientists restore these underwater gardens.

The ReefGen Grasshopper can plant dozens of seagrass seeds per minute. Not only is this faster than a human diver, but much safer as well.

It works by injecting a tiny slurry of sediment wrapped around the seagrass seed into the seafloor. After covering a growing plot of four seeds, the robot ‘hops’ about 30 centimeters away and starts again.

Despite covering a minuscule portion of the seafloor, seagrass meadows are estimated to hold 35-times more carbon than terrestrial forests—amounting to around 18% of the total carbon stock of the world’s oceans.

ReefGen’s founder Tom Chi dreamed up the idea after watching the degradation of coral reefs on his home island in Hawaii. The first iteration of the robot set coral ‘plugs’ onto existing reefs to help regrow them, but the technology was prohibitively expensive for wide-scale use.

Now however, broader selections of off-the-shelf parts have driven down the costs of manufacturing and maintaining underwater robots, according to Chris Oakes, CEO of ReefGen.

“Manual planting works, but robots are really good when things are dull, dirty, dangerous, or distant—the four Ds,” Oakes told CNN, adding that at the moment, Grasshopper is piloted with a controller by a human on the surface.

“Right now, we’re focused on the planting, the biology, and the mechanical aspects, once we’re confident that that’s all designed the right way, we will overlay more semi-autonomous features like navigation, so you don’t actually have to pilot it,” he said.

ReefGen has been able to not only expand into restoration of seagrass meadows, but also see its robots used in oceans around the world. This July, Grasshopper planted 25,000 seeds in Wales. In October, ReefGen teamed up with the University of North Carolina (UNC) Institute of Marine Sciences to test various seed replanting methods out on the state’s declining seagrass meadows.

Oakes says that as cool and “flashy” as a robotic solution might seem, the most important factor in its success will be the long-term monitoring of the fields it’s replanting. Are they growing to maturity, are the seedlings dying off before then, will they live long enough to seed and germinate fields of their own, how do fields it plants compare to fields planted by hand??"

-via Good News Network, December 24, 2024

[gossamerufansubs]

Why do I fansub these movies?

After watching the hazel video on indie tokusatsu fighting girls, I did what I’m sure everyone else also felt compelled to do: immediately started fansubbing the videos she referenced. In the process of doing so, I continually asked myself - who were these people making these low-budget, impassioned, and extremely otaku films? My usual areas of Japanese media knowledge - self-published comics/doujinshi and anime production - weren’t a lot of help in this Japanese indie film world, although given the otaku overlap in consumers I did make some useful connections between creators, conventions, and genres.

The deeper I dove into research on these indie production companies and watched their behind-the-scenes footage, the more I got a vision of what the network surrounding the very specific snapshot of time in this particular industry. For example, early Eiyu Club was a group of passionate people self-funding to make movies until they began to earn that money back to go onto bigger productions. The founder of Center Island, Hironobu Nakajima, self-funded many of the projects, even with the knowledge that they’d not make a profit. This sort of do-it-yourself, passion-fueled, community-minded mentality taps into my own roots in self-published comics, fanfic writing, and various other non-professional artistic pursuits.

After doing all of these fansubs and research, I feel something of a kinship with Eiyu Club, Center Island, and the other very indie production companies. Seeing a masked heroine do kick flips above an ugly demon man wearing tights while homemade midi music blasts over their fight scene has started to feel… well, like seeing a friend. Watching the behind-the-scenes footage where the actors are sprinting around moving props and carrying pieces of a tokusatsu costume reminds me that every film, no matter how cheesy or poorly edited they can get, is a miracle. It reminds me of beta reading a friend’s fanfic for a fandom I don’t even know, or sitting in a recording studio while my friend belts out songs that I’ll later clumsily mix with karaoke backing instrumentals. Throw some passionate amateurs together and hey, magic happens.

So that’s why I focus on this genre, and have a soft spot for behind-the-scenes footage in particular. For a few minutes, I get to watch someone be absolutely exhausted and enormously excited about something they’re making, even if it won’t make a huge profit, or even be seen by a ton of people. I watch it and think, damn, you guys made a movie, and you’re still so excited to make another after.