#michaels teachings in spelling and technology

[cornedbread]

Happy 4/20 Day

I didn’t have time to do lineart, so I just rendered the sketch. I think the shoddiness of the drawing is fitting for the context though… Don’t smoke guys, bad for health.

[storythesilly]

this took TEN FUCKING DAYS. but it’s finally done!! my bbau palestine + ukraine piece… oh my godddd. sigh. if you have any questions / i got something wrong PLEASE let me know. click for better quality tumblr killed it

[goldislops]

Solving the Deadliest Cancers & AI-powered Universities

Peter H. Diamandis

“Data-Driven Optimism” in action: My goal is to offer you an antidote to all the pessimistic news you’re bombarded with every day. 

Each week my team and I review dozens of science and tech advancements that are transforming the world... 

Below, I’m sharing my top four breakthroughsin tech, science, and longevity that are currently on my mind—"What It Is” and “Why It’s Important / What I Think.”

If you find this valuable, please share it with your family and friends! Remember that we are living during the most extraordinary time ever.

OpenAI & Anthropic Partner with US Government on AI Safety

What It Is: OpenAI and Anthropic have just signed a deal with the newly formed U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute, allowing unprecedented government access to AI models before public release. This collaboration marks a significant shift in AI regulation and safety efforts. The Institute will evaluate capabilities and risks of major new models from both companies. This partnership comes as AI faces increasing scrutiny, with California recently passing a sweeping regulation bill. This move could set a new global standard for responsible innovation. "We believe the Institute has a critical role to play in defining U.S. leadership in responsibly developing artificial intelligence and hope that our work together offers a framework that the rest of the world can build on," said Jason Kwon, Chief Strategy Officer of OpenAI.

Why It Matters / What I Think: AI regulation has been both a fuzzy and hotly debated topic for the past few years. Without question, strong AI, AGI or digital super intelligence is likely to be the most powerful weapon and economic driver of the decade ahead. Having some regulatory oversight is inevitable, and this appears to be the first step in that direction. In success, this not only about regulation—it's also about co-creating a future where AI augments humanity safely. Ideally, this collaboration will accelerate innovation by removing regulatory uncertainty, while also mitigating risks. It will be interesting to see how this Safety Institute plays in partnership with Europe and China as well.

ASU & OpenAI Pioneer AI in Higher Education

What It Is: Arizona State University (ASU) has partnered with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into over 200 projects across campus and prepare 181,000 students for an AI-driven future. Using ChatGPT Edu, a version tailored for universities with enhanced privacy features. ASU’s mission is to revolutionize teaching, research, and operations. The university's “AI Innovation Challenge” sparked overwhelming interest, with projects ranging from AI writing companions to an AI chatbot named Sam that supports medical student training. Other institutions like Oxford and Wharton are also following suit. ASU President Michael M. Crow proclaimed: "Essential to ASU's success is that we use technology, and now AI, to deliver lifelong learning and drive human potential."

Why It Matters / What I Think: A four-year educational degree at MIT, Harvard or Yale will run you a total of approximately $350,000. Will you pay that much if an AI-education is effectively free and far more personalized and compelling? AI spells the demonetization and democratization of higher-ed. ASU has always been at the forefront of technology adoption, starting with VR and now AI, and I commend my friend President Michael M. Crow for taking the early lead. We're witnessing the birth of hyper-personalized learning at scale, and without question, all educational institutions, by necessity, will fully adopt AI-driven education in order to survive and thrive. This isn't just about smarter classrooms. It's about reimagining the entire educational paradigm. AI assistants will soon be as common as textbooks, transforming how we teach, learn, and prepare for an AI-driven future. Such AI-based educational systems are likely to disintermediate higher education. We're talking about democratizing high-quality education globally and creating a new generation of AI-fluent innovators.

AI Supercharges Solar Panel Evolution

What It Is: Researchers at the University of Illinois have cracked the chemistry code for better solar panels, combining AI with automated synthesis to create light-harvesting molecules 4 times more stable than before. This game-changing breakthrough addresses a decades-old challenge in organic solar cell commercialization. Using AI-driven closed-loop experimentation, the team uncovered crucial stability principles, transforming the AI "black box" into a transparent process. By leveraging modular chemistry and machine learning, they've paved the way for more efficient, durable solar solutions. The future of solar energy just got a whole lot brighter!

Why It Matters / What I Think: One of the most powerful implications of AI is its ability to drive new material science breakthroughs. In a similar fashion to creating light-harvesting molecules 4 times more stable than before, AI is likely to give us room-temperature superconductors, more stable versions of perovskite, and ultimately help us get to sustainable fusion plants. Powered by AI, we're on the cusp of a clean energy revolution.

The Two Deadliest Cancers See Major Breakthroughs in the Same Week

What It Is: The two deadliest cancers, glioblastoma and pancreatic cancer, both achieved major breakthroughs this past week. Glioblastoma is a diagnosis you don’t want to get. It’s an aggressive brain cancer in which you are dead within 12-18 months after it’s found. University of Notre Dame researchers developed a tiny biochip that detects Epidermal Growth Factor Receptors (EGFRs)—proteins crucial in cancer growth—in just 100 microliters of blood, potentially revolutionizing early detection and improving survival odds.Pancreatic cancer, another deadly diagnosis you don’t want to receive, also has a new treatment in development. This cancer has a demoralizing 13% five-year survival rate. UMass researchers have developed a groundbreaking nanoparticle therapy combining immune-stimulating agents with tumor-targeting drugs, penetrating dense tumor barriers. In mice, 8 out of 9 showed tumor improvements, with 2 achieving complete eradication.

Why It Matters / What I Think: One of the greatest benefits of living today is the speed of medical innovation driven by exponential technologies. Early detection—such as the glioblastoma blood test—and new immune and nanoparticle therapeutics as demonstrated for pancreatic cancer are going to be developed at a faster and faster rate. Without question, the converging suite of technologies powered by AI, protein design, CRISPR, gene therapies, and new materials will be a game changer. As always, early detection is the key to effective treatment. Bottom line: this is a glimpse into a future where we conquer age-related diseases and extend our healthspan dramatically. Longevity Escape Velocity is gradually coming into view.

Live Abundantly, 

Peter H. Diamandis, MD 

[greyslogo]

Echoes spelling

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„Endlich dann zum Beschluß ist jedermäniglich bekant, daß welcher von dem andern weit entlegen, daß er nicht gehört werde, es sey denn, daß er starck ruffe, und schreye, und dadurch wird ein Echo gehöret. Das ist: Lob- und Ehren-Predigen, Von den Lieben Heiligen GOTTES, und Ordens-Stifftern By Franciscus Caccia, Wien (Wienn in Oesterreich), 1710, p.366: „Dieser hohe Cederbaum hat sich auf disen Streich also tieff gebogen und gedemüthiget, daß er aus seinem zerknirschten Hertzen einen lieblichen Echonem oder Widerhall gegeben, Domine, quid me vis facere.“ Mauritius Natthenhusa, Augsburg (Augspurg), 1718, p.187: Vättern verfaßte Fest- und Feyertägliche Predigen. Schrifft, mit anmuthigen Historien, schönen Gleichnussen, nutzlichen Moralien, und Sprüchen der H.H. Pronunciation NounĮcho n ‎ ( genitive Echos, plural Echos ) If you believe that any review contained on our site infringes upon your copyright, please email us.From Latin echo, from Ancient Greek ἠχώ ‎ ( ēkhṓ ).

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[the-final-sif]

For the convict childcare au, I like to imagine Michael makes up like, nicknames for his favorite adults (Dream, Ranboo, Tubbo eventually, Techno probably cause piglin buddies)

What would their nicknames all be, in that case??

I can see Dream being like, “safe-and-warm” and Ranboo maybe being like “makes-happy” (cause of everyone being happy to have Ranboo back) but I dunno

So, Michael does give people name-signs, and since it's awhile before he learns finger spelling/how reading works at all, it's mostly based on either things he associates with them. c!Dream is the only one who had a proper name sign beforehand that he taught Michael (it's just Dream lol). His nickname from Michael is 'Good' but he makes his hand wavy like when signing Dream.

c!Technoblade has a rather literal name sign as well (Technology-blade) because Dream taught him how to sign it at Michael's request so Michael could ask for specific stories back in the cell. Michael just likes to sign a very fast 'Technology' for him though.

c!Phil is the only one in the Syndicate familiar with sign language, he creates a name sign with Michael (P-wing). And he tries to help c!Tubbo do the same, but Michael ends up calling Tubbo 'Mountain' instead.

c!Niki ends up stuck with the name 'Pink' because Phil was trying to teach Michael more colors and used her hair as an example. The problem is, Michael is red-green colorblind and can't tell the difference between like, pink and blond. So his assumption was that was just Niki's name. He adds a wave onto it though, 'cause he notices it makes her smile when he does.

c!Ranboo gets the sign for "Boo" because Tubbo learns the sign and uses it to refer to him without realizing it's a negative sign, and by time he figures that out, it's too late, Michael already knows him as "Boo".

[fycarmensandiego]

1995 Animation Magazine article

After months of trying to find a library to supply this over interlibrary loan, I’ve finally managed to get a copy of the cover story from February 1995′s Animation Magazine, about Where on Earth. Aside from the truly cringetastic headline on the cover, the article itself is poorly written and just as poorly researched (for example, saying that Carmine appears on the cartoon), but it does have snippets from interviews with several execs at both Brøderbund and Dic.

A scanned copy of the article (featuring some concept art of Carmen, Ivy, Zack, and a nameless goon in regrettably low quality) is available in my online archive, or read the text (with some spelling and punctuation corrections) below the cut.

Lady in Red by Morrie Gelman, special to Animation Magazine

The commercial television version of Carmen Sandiego, the lady in the stylish red hat and shoes who steals national treasures such as all of the sushi in Japan is, surprisingly, the most successful program ever produced by DIC Entertainment. Maybe not so surprising, since with more than 4 million units sold since 1985, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, currently out in a junior version on CD-ROM, is computer software’s best-selling history and geography title ever.

Carmen is the first software character ever to make the leap to television. In addition to the DIC-produced Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? educational/entertainment series for Fox, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, a game show, is in its fourth season on PBS.

It was four years from the time Andy Heyward, president and C.E.O. of DIC, spotted Carmen as a computer game designed by Brøderbund Software to provide young people with exposure to world geography and cultures before it ever got on commercial television.

Heyward read a story about Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? in the business section of the Los Angeles Times. He went to the Northern California community of Novato, where Brøderbund Software is based, and met with company officials. He said at the time, “I would like to option the property,” and then took it over to CBS.

DIC had the property in development at CBS for three consecutive years. It was still in the running when Heyward had lunch with Margaret Loesch, president of Fox Children’s Network at the Big Boy restaurant in Burbank.

“CBS developed it and at the final bell decided that educational programming was too risky,” Heyward recalls.

At a NATPE in the early ’90s, Barbara Kriesman, the FCC attorney in charge of the Video Services Division, was the main speaker at a children’s seminar. The seminar was focused on compliance with the recently enacted Children’s Television Act requiring broadcasters to air programming that meets the educational and informational needs of children. Stations were told, in effect, they would lose their licenses if they did not comply.

It was clear that Fox had to protect itself. Margaret Loesch is a very competitive person. She was ready to take a chance.

Heyward told her of DIC’s developing Carmen Sandiego with CBS. She asked if it was picked up yet and he said, “No, it wasn’t.”

Loesch said Fox would pick up the series if it could have an exclusive.

According to Heyward, Loesch made “a big pitch” on why Fox would be a more competitive environment for Carmen Sandiego. Heyward listened and agreed, finally saying, “OK, let’s go.” The show made its debut on Fox’s Saturday morning line-up from 11:30 to noon last February as Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?

By Heyward’s evaluation, Carmen has been more successful than any “educational” show, ever, especially because “kids don’t think of it as an educational show.”

That it be highly entertaining was DIC’s hope and aspiration from the start.

“We work very hard to get a lot of stuff in there that kids learn from,” Heyward says. “The production has not only cel animation but computer graphics, source footage and live action.”

Heyward confirms that “Carmen Sandiego is far and away the most successful program we’ve ever produced.”

For Robby London, senior vice president, creative affairs at DIC, Carmen Sandiego is the company’s “flagship” program and one of his “favorite, favorite topics to talk about.”

While London admits that everybody always says that some show or another is “unique,” that label is totally valid for Carmen.

Some of the things that make Carmen unique are the many disparate production elements not often seen on Saturday morning television.

Carmen includes regular cel animation to carry the narrative forward. Silicon Graphics Inc.’s computer animation takes characters from place to place throughout the world, allowing viewers to learn about the places. Within the SGI platform, still photos are used, such as source footage of Franklin Delano Roosevelt making a speech, along all sorts of other visuals, including graphs.

Another component is “limited animation,” which is quick, little, perhaps 5-second, images of a rather silly animation that is in a completely different style from the regular cel animation. Live action appears throughout the episodes in terms of the players playing at home on the computer against Carmen Sandiego. This is the whole basis by which DIC tells the story.

Michael Maliani was executive producer and producer of Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? the first season of the show. With DIC currently working on the third season, Joe Barruso, who previously directed the show, is now producer.

Maliani, who was in at the earliest stages of development, remembers that “What we were trying to do was make something entertaining and educational. We wanted to be different. We really wanted to make it interesting to watch. That’s why we wanted to have so many elements.”

Kids like variety, Maliani contends. With that in mind, DIC decided to produce Carmen with different media, including standard cel animation, other computer graphics and some live-action added in. “We thought we could show the educational stuff without being boring,” Maliani explains. “We didn’t want to make the show a lecture. We wanted to weave the education into the plot.”

Like the computer game, the DIC series is full of visual and spoken clues about the mysteries Carmen Sandiego, her cunning cat Carmine and her gang of goofball thieves stealing such ambitious treasures as the roof off the Taj Mahal and statues from Easter Island. Viewers (players in the computer game) get help in trying to stop Carmen and her henchmen form the ACME Detective Agency. The DIC series (and now Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Junior Detective Edition on CD-ROM as well) features the young characters Zack and Ivy who report to The Chief. The plot of each episode (and the objective of the computer game) is to follow geography-based clues and “bag the bad guys, recover the stolen loot and put Carmen Sandiego and Carmine in the clink.”

Along the way, viewers learn such facts as the height and location of Mt. Everest, and that the Sphinx in Egypt has the body of a lion with the head and breast of a man.

“We knew we were going to fit right in the 6 to 11 age demographic,” explains Maliani, “but we wanted to make Carmen a little more sophisticated so we could get the older kids.”

A major difference between Carmen the computer game and the commercial TV series is in visualizing the capers. The computer game offers as a premise that the Eiffel Tower or the Taj Mahal is stolen. DIC’s production team had to estimate the weight of the Taj Mahal and then figure out what it would take to lift it.

DIC’s researchers established that four Russian helicopters could hoist the estimated weight of the Taj Mahal roof.

The next problem was how to accomplish the feat. DIC’s solution? Use a laser to cut off the roof. Add hooks to it and lift it off.

“We had to figure this stuff out,” Maliani notes. “It’s kind of fake but almost real.”

London explains that many shows on Saturday morning have had a degree of pro-social values. One of the things that is different about Carmen from all these other shows, according to London, is that Fox and DIC took the “conservative high road” that pro-social is not sufficient to fulfill the mandate of the Children’s Television Act.

“Carmen can’t just show good moral values and teach little lessons in living,” he points out. “It must have a measurable curriculum that actually teaches information, not just lessons in living.”

Among the consultants on Carmen is Dr. Peter Kovaric, a professor at UCLA in the Graduate School of Education, who is also director of the school’s educational technology unit. Kovaric is an acknowledged expert on using technology, such as television, to teach kids.

He reviews all Carmen scripts and helps DIC’s production team conceptualize shows. “It’s an exemplary relationship,” affirms Kovaric.

“One of the very good things about Carmen is that it is a commercial venture and is reasonably successful. That may help lower the reluctance of broadcasters to try something new and different,” he observes.

DIC also employs Barbara Wong, a teacher and principal of Baldwin Middle School in the Alhambra (Calif.) school district. Wong credits the DIC production team with being “very concerned” about having quality programming for kids. “They’re very in tune with people like myself and very open.”

Carmen, she points out, “has a lot of elements in it that readily apply to a teaching situation.”

Wong explains that while Carmen is not a “surrogate teacher,” the show does quality as “a nice addendum – a nice resource to have.”

Wong gets screen credit as Curriculum Consultant. Kovaric is Educational Consultant.

According to London, Carmen, in addition to gaining an educational seal of approval, invariably wins its time period. In the Sept. 1993 to July 1994 Nielsen data, Fox’s Saturday morning line-up, which includes Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, X-Men, Bobby’s World, Tiny Toons, Taz-Mania, Eek the Cat and Carmen demonstrates the last is one of the top shows not only with kids 2 to 11 but with persons 6 to 17.

It averaged a 6.0 rating with kids 2 to 11 and 5.1 with the older demo, suggesting that as an educational program it’s holding its own handily against traditional animated entertainment, including action/adventure.

Another measure of Carmen’s appeal is that in the same Nielsen measured time-span, “the lady in the red hat” has more viewers than Beekman’s World and Bill Nye combined – not only with kids 2 to 11 but with persons 2 and over.

“It’s by no means a loss leader,” emphasizes London. “It’s not even number one by default. It really holds up Fox’s ratings.”

Maliani, who is senior vice president in charge of development, knows he risks sounding hokey but points out that in his 10 years with DIC he has wanted to try “to make a difference.” In Carmen Sandiego, he says, “we have a property where you could actually learn.”

In large measure, Maliani speaks for everyone connected with the Carmen Sandiego property when he comments: “This is the one show that really meant a lot to me and I gave it my all. I gave it everything I had and everything I could think of creatively. I wanted it to be special.”

————————————

Carmen Sandiego began life as a computer game – a history, geography, educational title – by way of Brøderbund Software Inc., Novato, Calif., a diversified consumer software company. Founded by Douglas Carlston, Brøderbund is one of the hottest names in educational software publishing.

For the recent holiday season Brøderbund published Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Junior Detective Edition, an icon- and dialog-based CD-ROM product designated for 5- to 8-year-olds.

But Carmen Sandiego isn’t just a game. The software series inspired two TV shows for kids: DIC Entertainment’s animated adventure Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? On the Fox Kids Network, and the PBS game show, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? produced by WGBH Boston and WQED Pittsburgh.

Brøderbund constantly works at new ways to update the original product. Software titles include Where in the USA Is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in Space Is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in America’s Past Is Carmen Sandiego? in addition to the signature Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?

Brøderbund has creative input on every Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? script, but not necessarily every storyboard.

Ken Goldstein, publisher of Brøderbund’s Education and Entertainment Products Group, describes his company relationship with DIC Entertainment as “very healthy.”

He was deeply involved in the first season of the DIC/Fox series, establishing the working relationship and the new ground rules. Since then he’s passed on regular contact to his staff, yet still signs off on every set of script notes (drafts of every script are read by Brøderbund staff and every storyboard reviewed).

For the most part, the DIC series scripts are different from those used by Brøderbund, but there’s some synergy. Brøderbund has introduced a new character into its most recent software, Stretch the Crime Dog, described as “a lovable, clue-sniffing, crime-busting canine” who works for the ACME Detective Agency.

Reciprocally, the software is now using agents Zack and Ivy and The Chief from the DIC animated TV series.

“Carmen is a perennial for us,” notes Goldstein. “It really is an evergreen product, a premier intellectual property. I’m delighted to manage its existence.” According to Goldstein, Carmen Jr. will probably go Gold in the software business, which is 100,000 pieces, within a couple of months.

Brøderbund, Goldstein also reports, does a lot of licensing, including T-shirts, mouse pads and backpacks, among other items. Carmen is also very much an international product. Goldstein says Carmen software is “very big” in Spain and Mexico, and also especially popular in Israel.

There’s a Japanese version of Carmen, plus a cartridge version on Nintendo and Sega, which has not done as well as Brøderbund would like. “I don’t think it’s the right venue for that product,” Goldstein remarks.

Brøderbund is stepping up to a new level of international distribution on March 1, opening its own Brøderbund Europe office and publishing localized versions of new Carmen products from that time forward.

By Brøderbund’s design and demand, there are no guns or other weapons in the Carmen Sandiego TV show or software. The Carmen character does have henchmen, but, points out Goldstein, “it’s very much ‘Three Stooges.’ They botch things and they use such things as big suction cups, funny gadgets and outlandish vehicles, but there are never any guns, no bombs, no grenades, no violence. They never threaten the detectives. It’s all a game of wits.”

Brøderbund also has been very careful not to portray stereotypes, to make sure with the software that all different types of international cultures are reflected positively. DIC is equally sensitive about portraying stereotypes and respecting different cultures.

“Computers have revolutionized the teaching world, and now classrooms will never be the same,” suggests one reviewer of Carmen software.

“Programs like Carmen let students explore their own paths of learning,” points out another.

Morrie Gelman is the president of Ventures in Media, a market research, information packaging and television development firm.

[authenticcadence18]

30 Questions About Me

THANKS FOR THE TAG @bugaboo-n-bananoir ILY!!!!

(Nick)name: Cadence

gender: cis female

Star sign: Pisces

Height: uhhhhh I am not sure, it’s taller than 5ft at least

Time: night! (Well I wrote most of this last night, but now it’s the evening of the next day!)

Birthday: well I’m a Pisces, so my birthday is between Feb 19th and march 20th!

Fave band/group: Pentatonix! Or For King and Country. Or the piano guys, the vitamin string quartet, Voctave.....also Phineas and the Ferbtones👌

Fave solo artists: I really like Lauren Daigle, and Jackie Evancho used to be my FAVE. Aaand idk if this counts but Michael Giacchino! love his scores, especially the score for Inside Out. There’s also this guy called Clay Kramer on YouTube who makes KK Slider covers of popular music, his stuff gives me so much seratonin😅

Song Stuck in my Head: Well I’m listening to music rn and “I’m Me” from Phineas and Ferb is on so I’ll say that! (I’ll revisit this one when I finish the list and update it with whatever song i’m listening to/is stuck in my head then) (ok the music has since been turned off and now I have “Status Quo” from High School Musical stuck in my head so! There ya go!) (now it is the next day, and I’ve got “when the party’s over” stuck in my head...i think these three songs are an accurate reflection of my taste in music🤣)

Last Movie: uhhhhh oh yeah, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice! It was SO GREAT because Jay Baruchel plays the main character (and the main character is super awkward), so I felt like I was watching Hiccup from the How To Train Your Dragon franchise learn magic and it was GLORIOUS. And also Nicholas Cage is great. And I liked the love interest in the movie as well!! She had a role to play in the story and felt authentic and genuine, which I appreciated!

Last Show: ok well the last show I watched by myself was Phineas and Ferb! Specifically, the episode with the Mardi Gras block party and then the one where Candace and Stacy compete in an obstacle course against Isabella and Ginger (omg wAIT ginger and Stacy are sisters and Isabella and Candace are GOING to be sisters mY HEART I—AH🥺). I hadn’t watched those episodes in forever, so they were really fun to revisit! I think the last actual show I watched was Kids Baking Championship or something, lol. (Those kids are AMAZING. So skilled!)

When i created this blog: November 2019! It was riiiight after the season 3 finale of miraculous aired and absolutely wrecked my emotions. I had some fanfic written that I’d never posted and had been thinking about making a tumblr/ao3 for awhile, and seeing the finale made me finally go, “.....you know what, yeah. The finale is aired, no more spoilers.....it’s time to make a blog.” So I did! And I posted my first fic! And I’m so happy i did :)

What Do I Post: a bunch of multi fandom stuff XD. This blog started off as 90% Miraculous, 10% other fandoms I like...but now it’s just kind of a hodgepoge of my favorite fandoms (with a focus on Phineas and Ferb, lol). I reblog a lot of posts, and then I post original stuff too! I write fanfic, nowadays for Phineas and Ferb but for Miraculous in the past (and probably in the future!), I draw art (mostly Phinabella art because I’ve been drawing them since i was 11 and it feels good to return to my roots), and OCCASIONALLY I will write an analysis post (I’ve got one in the works rn actually 👀), attempt to make a meme, or dip my toe into salt just SLIGHTLY before quickly backing away, lol. If I were to list the fandoms I post about in the order of how frequently I post about them, I’d probably say: Phineas and Ferb, Miraculous....and thennnnn everything else is pretty random and depends on the day, lol.

Last thing i googled: Jay Baruchel 😂. Couldn’t remember how to spell his last name!

Other blogs: this is my only blog! Sometimes I think about making a separate blog for my art and writing, but I am not sure if I should or not....maybe I will someday, but idk. I also have an AO3 for fanfic and an Instagram for art! All are under the name “authenticcadence18.”

Do I get asks: sometimes, yeah!! Sometimes I reblog ask games/prompts and get some asks for those (I’ve got so many prompts in my inbox I want to write/draw things for...ah it’s fine, I’ll get to it eventually😅), and sometimes lovely people will leave thoughts or nice messages in my inbox🥺💕. I’ve got a specific tag for all those nice messages so I can read back over them whenever I need a boost!

Why this url: it’s a music pun! When a song/section of a piece of music ends with a dominant chord resolving to a tonic chord (if you’ve read a certain fic of mine you should know allll about dominant and tonic chords👀🤣), it’s called an authentic cadence! There are different kinds of cadences, and authentic ones are my favorite. One example of this is “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” I also use this blog to be my authentic, fandom-loving self! So I like authentic cadences, and also, I’m Cadence and using this blog to be authentic! Woo! (And 18 is just my favorite number, lol) I’m glad I ended up choosing a name that doesn’t tie to a specific fandom becaaaaaause this ended up being a multi fandom blog!

Following: 232!!

Followers: 292!!! (THANKS SO MUCH Y’ALL ILY 💕)

Average amount of sleep: wellllll for the past week and a half I was sick so I was probably getting 9ish hours a night (because I would sleep in really late, lol). but NOW? In my immediate future? I suspect my average amount of sleep is going to go down because I’m really bad about staying up late even when I have to get up early😅. Hoping to be good about getting at least 7ish hours a night!

Lucky number: 18! But y’all probably already guessed that, lol.

Instruments: my voice, piano, ukulele, viola (but it’s been a HOT minute), aaaand i used to be able to play guitar but then I got a ukulele and forgot all the guitar chords. (I also dabble in songwriting! I primarily use voice and piano when writing music.)

What I’m wearing: my favorite sweatshirt (that was last night, rn I have on a tanktop), some leggings, and socks!

Dream job: I’m currently learning to be a teacher, and I LOVE teaching and working with kids so that is definitely a job I’m really excited about!!! I would also love to portray characters at Disney or something (well, maybe not at Disney because I hear they’re strict, but like....I want to be Rapunzel or Anna or something, that would be so fun). OR, I would LOVE to work in tv animation somehow, be it voice acting, writing scripts/music, and/or story boarding. basically if I could do what Dan and Swampy did for Phineas and Ferb/Milo Murphy’s Law, I would LOVE THAT. (Especially the writing music part. Getting to write music for established characters and get PAID for it would be SO COOL.!.!.!) Also I think it would be so fun to write Disney storybooks! Like, those books that are about Cinderella baking a cake or Ariel befriending a seahorse, stuff like that. Those brought me a ton of joy as a child!

Dream trip: I want to visit alllll the Disney parks someday😅. (Not right now because, ya know, Covid...but someday!)

Fave food: uhhh i really like pizza. And popcorn. Also hummus and guacamole!

nationality: American

Fave songs: “Times” by Tenth Avenue North; “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (I made an entire playlist of just this song when I first started writing my fic of the same name, so I like the original and a ton of covers of it!), “Show Yourself” from Frozen II, “What Might Have Been” from Phineas and Ferb (and lots of other songs from that show, i made a whole post about that once but I can’t find it, oof); “Rescue” by Lauren Daigle; “Thank You” by Pentatonix; “I See the Light” from Tangled; “Your Hands” by JJ Heller; “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran.....i like a loooot of songs so this is just the tip of the iceberg, but I think that’s good for now, LOL! (As soon as I post this I’m going to remember another song I love, lol)

last book: I got the book Unbirthday for Christmas! It’s basically Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, but if she’d never gone to wonderland and things went horribly wrong there. (I think, I’m not that far into it yet, lol)

Top 3 fictional universes I’d love to live in: 1. DANVILLE, PLS. Especially as a kid, I SO would’ve loved to hang out with Isabella and Phineas and the rest of the gang! Danville is so vibrant and unique and people are always randomly breaking into song there, that’s my kind of place! 2. Fairytopia (from the Barbie movies!) because I could be a fairy OR a mermaid OR BOTH and eat seeweed to breathe underwater even if I wasn’t a mermaid. Like, that’s the dream right there. (I’ve always loved mermaids and fairies, lol!) 3. Maybe San Fransokyo from Big Hero 6? All of the technology in that universe is really cool! And I would love to eat a noodle burger, lol .

Oh! That’s the last one! Wow! This was so FUN!!!!!!! Thanks again for the tag, Maddy!!!! :)

I’ll taaaag @sketchy-panda @macaronsforchat @simplynewyorkbound @inkjackets and anyone else who’d like to do this! (And pls don’t feel pressured to play at all, or answer all of the questions! I was definitely vague with a few of my answers, lol)

[nickelkeep]

All the Femslash Fics are written by yours truly in 2019. They’re listed in chronological order, starting with the oldest. Time After Time - Jody/Donna - 600 words Jody is having a rare night alone at home. It's something that she normally enjoys, but she's finding herself rather lonely for once.

Silver and Sunset - Jody/Donna - 1,073 words Jody and Donna get to spend some time together at Donna's place, away from the girls, their jobs, and most of all hunting... right?

Fire and Brimstone - Lilith/Ruby - 1,874 words - Explicit Ruby has been captured by Lilith's Minions. How far will Lilith go to get the information she needs?

Sage and Luck - Charlie/Rowena - 553 words Charlie and Rowena are helping the brothers with a case when Charlie hits a dead end and a headache. Rowena offers her assistance.

Treble and Ink - Pamela/Charlie - 793 words A new shop has moved in across the street from Charlie's Comic Book shop. Dean convinces her to go check it out.

Cypress and Pomegranates - Rowena/Billie - 726 words Rowena has been looking for an answer to Dean's Michael problem. Frustrated at a lack of a solution, she lashes out.

Secrets and Flowers - Jody/Donna - 2,447 words Donna suggests that Jody picks up Gardening as a hobby. She agrees, but only because Donna says that she'll pick out the flowers for the garden. Donna picks out a unique grouping of flowers that Jody gets to decode.

Push and Pull - Jody/Donna - 999 words Jody and Donna take a rare girl's night out to a dance club. Jody isn't the biggest fan of dancing until Donna shows her why she should be.

Emerald and Gold - Charlie/Dorothy - 1,834 words After the War in Oz, Charlie volunteered to go capture her ID. She figured that it wouldn't be a walk in the park, but what happened was anything but expected.

Lightning and Bottles - Charlie/Dorothy - 570 words Charlie experiences her first storm in Oz, and Dorothy teaches her a little bit about the weather.

Pride and Revelation - Charlie/Dorothy - 1,311 words Charlie is in love with her roommate, Dorothy, but the feeling isn't mutual. Things get a little weird when Dorothy asks if she can tag along to Pride.

Sight and Circumstance - Tessa/Pamela - 1,320 words Every Reaper is Assigned a Medium. That Medium helps the Reaper with difficult souls that don't want to cross. In return, the Reaper protects the Medium. Pamela will always remember how she met her Reaper.

Lipstick and Liquor - Claire/Kaia - 720 words - Character Death Mention It's been almost a year since Kaia's death and Claire is still missing her and longing for her.

Leftovers and Valentines - Jody/Donna - 908 words Donna doesn't like the fact that she's alone for Valentine's Day, but won't admit it. So she covers by working a Double so others can have the day off.

Hunter and Witch - Mary/Rowena -1,615 words Mary doesn't like how close her boys are to Rowena. She doesn't understand why it gets under her skin, until the witch starts to get under hers.

Before and Always - Charlie/Dorothy/Gilda - 914 words Charlie finds out that her two best friends are dating. While they're explaining what's going on, Charlie reminisces about their past.

Poppies and Mahonia - Charlie/Dorothy - 964 words More Tales from Charlie and Dorothy's time in Oz. Dorothy finds Charlie's curiosity adorable and explains how some of things work in Oz.

Timing and Opportunites - Jody/Donna - 1,793 words Donna never realized that Jody would change her life in such a way. Donna's memories of how she and Jody went from Friends to Lovers.

Serpents and Grace - Anna/Ruby - 1,070 words Anna is approached by a demon with information that the Angels should have. The introduction to questioning her superiors is a lesson she didn't expect.

Crimson and Cracks - Charlie/Rowena - 1,247 words - Character Death Mention Rowena is holding the rift open for the Winchesters to come back from the Alternate Universe. The last thing she expects is to see the face that has been haunting her dreams.

Visits and Bribes - Pamela/Charlie - 2,036 words Dean, Sam, and Charlie have hit a roadblock on their case. Charlie suggests calling in the medium that the brothers knows. They do, but the medium needs a little persuasion to make the trip.

File and Agency - Charlie/Dana Scully (X-Files) - 2,387 words Agent Scully is stuck on desk duty when another FBI agent comes in demanding what should be an unknown file.

Judge and Executioner - Anna/Ruby - 1,052 words Anna continues to meet with the demon who provided information about the start of the apocalypse. Continuation of Serpents and Grace

Run and Gun - Jody/Donna - 647 words Jody and Donna are lounging around when Sam calls them and asks them to take on a hunt.

Stars and Wishes - Charlie/Dorothy - 657 words Charlie experiences homesickness while in Oz

Magic and Technology - Charlie/Rowena - 1,789 words Rowena is brought to the Men of Letters Bunker for help translating a spell. She meets Charlie for the first time, and they don't exactly see eye to eye.

Salt and Burn - Jody/Donna - 413 words A quick snippet into how Jody and Donna work on a hunt together.

Death and Taxes - Anna/Ruby -1,269 words Third Part of the Serpents and Grace story. Anna and the Demon continue meeting, and consequences catch up to them.

Every Little Thing - Charlie/Rowena - 6,353 words Dean gives Charlie a cassette tape that was found after clearing out a coven. When trying to play the tape, she and Rowena wind up with more than they bargained for.

Head Held High - Charle/Dorothy - 897 words - With Fan Art! When Dorothy gets a letter from her council, she and Charlie learn about Earth and Oz's politics.

Snow Globe - Charlie/Dorothy - 1,223 words Dorothy, finally able to celebrate Christmas, surprises the person who made it all happen with a gift of their own,

[misdre]

Aoki Takao website translations post #2

the second part, aoki’s notes about characters from the first season. he really doesn’t say all that much though. i skipped all the beasts that only had pictures of them (which was almost all of them), that’s why there are a few random beasts between the human characters in the text.

Anime 2001 [season 1]: Page 1

In summer 2000, there was a meeting for discussing a TV anime (starting from January 2001). The CoroCoro serialization was in the middle of the Japanese tournament. All four holy beasts had made an appearance at that point, but the planned world tournament arc was made into the main storyline of the anime.

Originally I planned that nobody but the main four had holy beasts, but because of the anime and the variety of real Beyblade toys increasing, it became so that rival bladers also had holy beasts.

I had very little time to create all the characters for the anime that would run for a year and had never done that before, so it was a real struggle. But looking back now, it was really stimulating and I consider it a valuable personal experience that I’m thankful for.

 “The Russian team”

In the original manga, and of course in the anime as well, the greatest rival needed to be very charismatic and therefore Yuriy was created.

“Yuriy Ivanov”

He’s the leader of “Borg”. The team has an army-like composition. His holy beast is a wolf.

For the CoroCoro serialization I drew him to display his strength as a cruel and cold character, but for RISING I also portrayed him with more human-like weaknesses and kindness that I didn’t get to draw earlier. By the way, for some reason his surname is spelled as “ivaanofu” everywhere except the original manga and I have no idea why it was changed. [he spells it “ivanoofu” himself in katakana. it really is pronounced ivaanofu in the anime too] The anime’s production method is very different from the manga, so perhaps it’s fine having several names.

December 22 2018 postscript: I later noticed that RISING volume 1 also misspells it as “ivaanofu”. The correct spelling is “ivanoofu”. [damn he’s really committed to how it should be spelled]

“Wolborg”

I pictured a land of extreme cold and gave it wings and ornaments of ice.

“Boris”

The subleader. He admires Yuriy. His holy beast is a falcon. I was thinking of the feathers of a bird while designing his hair and the collar of his clothes.

“Ivan”

A sarcastic sniper. He’s often picking fights, but he’s loyal to Yuriy. His holy beast is a snake.

“Sergei”

A soldier-like character with great respect for rules. He’s a muscular guy with a soft heart. His holy beast is a whale.

“Volkov”

He’s the founder of Borg, the private military school. He uses his connections from military times to send out illegal soldiers. Beyblade is part of his program of training young boys into soldiers.

When I look back now, it’s like the team composition of Borg (the way the characters are isolated) became the model for the rest of the teams as well.

 “The Chinese team”

The team of the Chinese fang clan (named Byakko clan in the anime) from Rei’s home town. The holy beasts and characters both were modeled after wild animals. In the village of the fang clan, sage Tao teaches scholarship, martial arts and bey battling to children from the near-by cities and communities who have been separated from their parents.

“Rai”

Rei’s childhood friend and eternal rival. The team leader. He’s like a reliable older brother. His holy beast is a black lion, so I also designed him with the image of a lion in mind. His name is the “rai” of “raion” [lion in katakana in Japanese].

“Mao”

Rai’s younger sister. A tomboy. Her name comes from the Chinese word for cat. Her holy beast is a lynx.

“Kiki”

A cheerful rascal. His holy beast is a monkey. His name comes from the sound that monkeys make.

“Galman”

I referenced a Chinese opera version of Sun Wukong for the ornaments.

“Gaou”

A gentle muscleman. His name comes from a bear’s roar. His holy beast is a bear.

  Anime 2001 [season 1]: Page 2

”The American Team”

The theme of the team is sports. I chose animals that live in North America as their holy beasts.

“Michael”

The team leader. He’s a baseball player. He’s a sportsman-like nice guy. I had several ideas for very elaborate gimmicks that he could shoot his beyblade with. The above sketch is an old one, so I ended up using a different one in the manga. His holy beast is the national bird of the US, the bald eagle.

“Eddy”

A basketball player. His holy beast is a scorpion.

“Steve”

An American football player. His holy beast is a bull.

“Bison”

Instead of an American bison, I used a bullfighting bull as the model.

“Emily”

Her position in the American team is similar to that of Kyouju’s. Her sport is tennis. Her holy beast is an alligator.

“Judy”

She’s American. She married the Japanese Mizuhara Tarou and had her eldest son Max with him. [that sounds like max has brothers but it prob just means ‘first child’ here] She was invited to a project team in NASA after the evaluation of a thesis she wrote while enrolled in MIT. [massachusetts institute of technology…. damn] She left her husband and Max in Japan and took up the new post away from home. She was inaugurated as the coach of a blader team formatted on a science camp organized by NASA. The rest is the same as the setting back then. She’s now living in Japan with her family after the birth of her eldest daughter Charlotte. [IS THERE GOING TO BE MORE???]

 “The European team”

A selection team representing several European countries. They were named after F1 racing drivers who were active at the time. (Germany) Ralf Schumacher, (UK) Johnny Herbert, (France) Olivier Panis, (Italy) Giancarlo Fisichella. *Their outwards appearances, personalities etc. are not based on them, only their names. Their surnames were influenced by well-known movie actors and directors from each country. I wanted each character to represent the special characteristics of his country. Their holy beasts are creatures from European folklore.

“Ralf Jürgens”

A German. He’s a stubborn person who honors tradition. I designed his outfit after bike wear. His holy beast is a griffon.

“Johnny McGregor”

An Englishman. He’s very strong-willed and has confidence in himself. I had rock style fashion in mind when making him. His holy beast is a salamander.

“Olivier Pohringer” [spelling of his surname is not up for debate FYI]

A Frenchman. He loves trendy things. I gave him a unique fashion sense. His holy beast is a unicorn.

“Giancarlo Tornatore”

A cheerful Italian. His holy beast is an amphisbaena.

[psychoblue9]

“The Vermilion Wedding”

Image by Osmar-Shotgun

In Earth-616, Norman Osborn was impaled by his own device when Peter Parker spared him following the death of Gwen Stacy.  This led to Norman being left for dead and ultimately being allowed to recover to torment Peter years later.  On Earth-21205, he was not so fortunate.  Immediately following the confirmation of Gwen’s death, Norman was unable to escape the wrath of Peter and was beaten to death by the wrathful youth.   As his berserker rage calmed, the terrifying weight of what he had done struck Peter, and he realized he had become the monster he swore to fight against as Spider-man.  He entered a deep depression, and gradually he distanced himself from his remaining friends and family.  But the urge to fight remained, and he could not ignore the call of the great responsibility that came with his power.  Spider-man’s brutal murder of the Green Goblin was a public affair, and the slander that the Daily Bugle heaped upon the hero had become reality.  As that realization set in, Peter destroyed his costume and fashioned himself a new one: rather than drag the legend of Spider-man further through the mud, he would instead try and right the path of a legacy tainted with villany.   The world had become a sick joke for Peter, so the most he could do was laugh back. Using his genius intellect to its further extent, Peter raided the late Norman’s weapon caches and rechristened himself as “the Hobgoblin.”  He would protect the innocent by punishing the guilty, and he would act as the executioner to those who thought themselves above the law.  The months that followed were marked with the smell of brimstone, charred flesh and fresh cadavers as Peter combined the lethal technology of the Goblin legacy with the powers gifted to him as a totem of the Spider.  While Peter was initially repulsed by the realization that he took Norman’s life in selfish rage, there was an odd sense of fulfilling amusement watching the limbs of criminals and murderers forcefully separate themselves from their bodies.  It was amusing enough that Peter would often find himself bursting into laughter. Despite his newfound brutal edge, Peter was empathetic for the people he cared for, and did his best to smile for them.  But his smile was not genuine, and it was clear to those around him that he was going down a bad path.  As Peter completed his prerequisite coursework necessary for graduation, he distanced himself further from his remaining friends and family and spent most of his free time planning the next mission of the Hobgoblin’s raid. Norman’s death left a significant power vacuum within the criminal underworld, as the late Green Goblin carved himself a significant chunk of New York’s arms and drug dealing.  Thanks to the journals he left behind at his hideouts, Peter gained access to the key points he would need to hit around the city to ensure the vacuum was never filled.  Even the Kingpin’s vast resources proved a minor deterrent.  On the one year anniversary of Gwen and Norman’s deaths, the Hobgoblin staged a bloody coup alongside Daredevil, Power Man, Iron Fist, Michael Morbius and the Punisher.  Wilson Fisk met his violent end, as did 523 men who stood in their way.  Fisk Tower burned into the night, a funeral pyre for New York’s criminal empire, but Peter felt only temporary satisfaction.   All that remained was the next mission, to ensure the world did not have to suffer as he agonized daily at the blood on his hands, knowing it would never be enough despite the knowledge that he had no choice.  The mutual understanding of that painful truth between the “team” assembled that night, and the tragic realization that they could be never be anything more than acquaintances, made sure Hobgoblin’s comrades would celebrate alone and leave the pyre without speaking another word to each other. There were times where Peter took it upon himself to fashion a civilian life for himself following the loss of his righteousness, but the more he tried to re-engage with his friends, the more he realized the ripple he sent by staining his hands with blood.  His best friend Harry had fallen deeper into drug abuse in his grief, and became destitute when he learned the truth of his father’s sins.  Flash had reverted to his old ways as Peter became more withdrawn, and when Peter attempted to reconcile, Flash told him that he wanted nothing to do with him.   His Aunt May attempted to console him, but Peter did not return her calls more than a simple confirmation that he was still breathing.  A modest check would be sent to her in order to ensure she could continue living comfortably, and she remained blissfully unaware of the blood money Peter pried from the fingers of dying evil.   The only one who had not given up on Peter’s happiness was Mary Jane Watson, who became immediately smitten with his purity upon being introduced by their families.  At first she kept her distance from Peter so that it didn’t appear she was trying to rebound off the death of Gwen.  But the longer she waited for Peter, the more she realized he wasn’t going to return to the man he once was...not unless she came to him first and appealed to him.  She had attempted to do so at their graduation ceremony, and while Peter told her that she shouldn’t want anything to do with him, it only made her want to help him more.   Peter did not tell her this because he wasn’t interested in her, as the time that passed following Gwen’s death only infected the wounds in his soul rather than heal it.  If anything, accepting the warmth of Mary Jane’s feelings would have been a good first step to cauterize those wounds.  Peter told her to stay away from him because he cared about her too much to let her get trapped in the tornado of his life.  Even if Norman took the truth about Peter’s double life to his grave, it didn’t change the fact that all it took was someone else to bring ruin upon the people he cared about.  It was better to continue alone: the sins were his to bear, and keeping Mary Jane out of them would be how he returned her feelings.   If he couldn’t be with her, he could at least continue to protect her from the shadows. Only one month after the destruction of Fisk Tower, May informed Mary Jane that Peter would be attending a gala at the Museum of Fine Arts.  Peter had recently begun teaching at his former high school, and his class had been invited as part of the event.  At the gala, she thought she had spotted Peter sampling one of the appetizers, but disaster struck just as his name was about to escape her lips.  One of the artifacts within the museum had been compromised, and within that artifact was the soul of the ancient sorcerer Kulan Gath.  With a spell and an inhale, Kulan Gath began absorbing the souls of the patrons of the gala, withering their bodies to husks and trapping his victims with magic barriers.   As Mary Jane attempted to flee, she spotted Peter and chased after him to ensure their safety.  But when he turned a corner in the shadows, it was the Hobgoblin who emerged from them, and Mary Jane finally realized the full effects that Gwen’s death had upon him.  It was all clear to her now: he had already lost his Uncle Ben due to his selfishness, and then lost Gwen due to carelessness, and his innocence to the poison of vengeance.  All he knew how to do now was fight back, push everyone he loved out of the way, and do his best to ensure no one else had to feel his pain. “But is that so bad?  What if I want to feel his pain?  What if I want to share his pain?  Peter...why not let me take some of your burden?  You shouldn’t have to do this alone!” Mary Jane decided that as men and women were leeched of their life force around her that she would go down fighting on behalf of the man she wished to love.  She searched the room for something that would aid her last assault, even as the Hobgoblin engaged Kulan Gath in brutal combat, and found a sword that had broken free of its casing.  Deciding it would be sufficient, Mary Jane grabbed the sword’s hilt, and in a flash of fire, her existence became a vessel to punish the guilty. Within the blade awakened the memories and mission of Mary Jane’s distant ancestor, whose stake in this battle closely mirrored her own.  The soul within the blade surged through her body and brought forth a new wrinkle to the battle, and with that wrinkle came a flicker that shifted the woman’s attire and made her hair as wild as her eyes.  The soul heard the name “Kulan Gath” echo through Mary Jane’s mind, and it hastened her transformation into her more familiar form.  Kulan Gath, the man who ordered the slaughter of her family.  Kulan Gath, who encouraged her brutal rape.  Kulan Gath, who existed solely to be cut down by her vengeful sword.  Kulan Gath, who now stood before her in an age long after their time.   “Kulan Gath, you who shall soon be vanquished, look alive and bare witness to thine executioner!” The sorcerer called her “Red Sonja” and cursed her existence.  The Hobgoblin, who had caught Mary Jane pick up the sword a moment before she grasped its hilt, immediately protected her from Gath’s assault and swore that his last stand would be one marked with her standing triumphant in blood the the guilty.  Whoever Mary Jane turned into answered to the name the sorcerer bestowed upon her, and with that confirmation came a slew of deplorable accusations that made the Hobgoblin thirst for retribution along with her. His hesitance had already cost him the love of his life.  Peter would have much rather have Mary Jane suffer the death of her true love.  She was so much stronger than him in that regard: over time she would find another suitor.  To that prospect, Peter cackled in fatalistic glee as he brandished his incendiaries to start one more funeral pyre. With no more victims left to leech from, the revitalized Kulan Gath summoned his demonic legion through portals that reeked of rot and sulfur, and he laughed preemptively at what he felt was a surefire incoming victory.  Too bad for him, his foes had abandoned mercy for people like him and his ilk.  In their minds, they were already dead for the atrocities they lived for.  The only mercy the Hobgoblin and Red Sonja granted them were swift, gory ends.     With all of his strength and technology, coupled with the woman’s battle fury, the Hobgoblin succeeded with Mary Jane where he had failed with Gwen Stacy.  Kulan Gath was dismembered shortly before the Hobgoblin set him ablaze with grenades.  But the thrill of victory was not immediately evident to Red Sonja.  The taste of the blood of her most hated enemy had whipped her into a frenzy, and when the Hobgoblin called out to her, she had lost the ability to recognize friend and foe. The Hobgoblin was offered no respite, and Red Sonja attacked him under the pretense of being a foul demon.  At first, he only attempted to calm her.  He told her that they had won, and that the innocent souls Kulan Gath fed upon in the museum had been avenged and freed to their destined afterlife.  But the more she swung at him, the more the Hobgoblin lost patience.  It was kill or be killed, just as it had been since the night Spider-Man cut down his web and instead adopted the arsenal of the Goblin legacy.   The two of them fought for an undetermined amount of time, the eerily empty halls of the museum echoing with the clash of their weapons.  Red Sonja delivered a crushing knee to the Hobgoblin when he caught the blade of her sword, but a screaming voice within her stayed her decapitating stroke.   “He needs us!  Please!  Don’t hurt him...because…” Seeing his opportunity, the Hobgoblin wrapped his hand around the warrior’s neck and with his other hand preparing to melt her flesh with a gauntlet ray.  But as he looked into her eyes rapidly softening to something gentler than a moment prior, he found himself crying with a maddened laughter of despair.  The world had played another cruel joke upon him: the damage to his soul was so extensive that he was only seconds away from ending Mary Jane’s life. What was more important, the life he needed to protect the innocent, or the woman who loved him that also demanded his head?  Why couldn’t he have both?  There was nothing but death in this museum. The withered husks of his friends, co-workers, and his students littered the floor.  Why was the Hobgoblin laughing louder, crying harder, when this cruel joke was on him? As he dropped the woman, the Hobgoblin looked at the sword she dropped and contemplated taking his own life with it.  But arms wrapped around him once more, not to strangle him, but to embrace him.  He turned as the woman pulled off his mask and dropped it next to the sword, and she cooed, “You are worthy...let us share your pain...she needs you to share your pain with us…” The entity Red Sonja had answered the maiden Mary Jane’s call to protect and avenge, awoken by her enemy Kulan Gath’s revival.  Red Sonja, as per the vows bestowed upon her on the day she took up arms, was forbidden to lay with a man unless he defeated her in fair combat.  In her berserker fury, her vessel spelled out to her the overwhelming passion and emotion she felt for the “demon” that risked his life to protect the innocent, and that her only wish was to act as the breakwater for the fever of madness and grief that threatened to consume him.  It was a mission that Red Sonja gladly accepted, and thus she decided that the exception to her vow had been confirmed. Peter was speechless as he pondered the words of the entity that had possessed Mary Jane...no, maybe not just an entity anymore.  In that moment, Mary Jane had become whoever she had turned into, and he noticed that she was soaked in blood just as he was.  The hell Peter had lived in for the past fourteen months was marked with death upon grisly death, both from the people he cared about and the people who sought to hurt them.  At first, he thought the worst part about that hell was his loss of innocence, but staring into this goddess’ eyes, Peter became aware of the truth. The worst part about his personal hell was the overwhelming loneliness.  This woman, whatever amalgamation of Mary Jane and Red Sonja thought of herself as, offered Peter salvation through companionship.  They would accept their sins together, share their pain of loss together...and cleanse themselves with their addiction to each other when the time was right.  For the Hobgoblin, in his darkest hour of desperation, he accepted her light with open arms and reciprocated her kiss. There would come a time where Peter knew that the spell placed upon Mary Jane would need to be undone.  There would come a time where Mary Jane would need to return to the life she was supposed to lead without magical intervention.  There would come a time where Peter knew she would be safest away from him.  But in that moment, Peter allowed her to indulge herself, and in turn she allowed him a chance to indulge himself with her.  Just for that night, in the blood of the guilty, the two of them allowed whatever was left of their purity to flourish with love.

[emmazworld69420]

I drew Bestboy from Michael's Teachings in Spelling and Technology! I think this mod is really underrated and I would love to see it get more love.

[storythesilly]

I'll add more when I feel like it, happy pride month (it's 12 am here)

[xtruss]

ARGUMENT

Want to Learn How the Pentagon Works? Then Play This Board Game.

A new game meant to help the U.S. government write the 2018 National Defense Strategy shows what happens when resources and commitments collide.

— By Michael Peck | September 25, 2020 | Foreign Policy

The Hedgemony game board. Rand Corporation

If you are someone who’d like to learn how to create a defense policy that balances strategic goals, military means, and a tight defense budget, there’s a board game for that.

The ink drawing of the Pentagon—surrounded by little tanks and planes—on the game box is the first clue that Hedgemony: A Game of Strategic Choices is no ordinary tabletop game. It’s published by Rand Corp., the federally funded think tank known for wonkish policy papers and mathematical analyses. “Rand has been making games since the 1950s,” said Michael Spirtas, a Rand scientist and one of Hedgemony’s designers. “But we’ve never made one for sale to the general public until now.”

In fact, Hedgemony wasn’t initially meant for the public either. Instead, the U.S. Defense Department used it to help write the 2018 National Defense Strategy. But the designers at Rand had a bright idea: Why not repackage it as a teaching tool for aspiring defense professionals at graduate schools of public policy and the military staff colleges? “There are very few places where people who are interested in defense policy can see the Department of Defense writ large,” Spirtas said. “Usually people stay in just one silo, like working on readiness or defense posture. It’s very rare to get a broader view of the DoD.”

Hedgemony is a strange beast and not just because its title is spelled with a “d.” (“The game forces players to adopt hedging strategies that trade off between different priorities,” Spirtas explained.) It’s part family game like Risk, part paper wargame of the type favored by military history buffs, and tinged with a bit of Dungeons & Dragons-ish role-playing.

There is a Blue team (the United States and the European Union/NATO) and a Red team (perennial Pentagon nemeses China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea). Players are assigned specific roles, with the most important being the U.S. defense secretary and the secretary’s staff of assistants and intelligence briefers. The game focuses on Blue, with Red there just to make the game educational and challenging.

Further proof that this is a Pentagon-focused game is the map. Hedgemony may be the only nonclassified board game that divides the world not by political or geographic boundaries but rather by the U.S. military’s regionally based combatant commands, such as Indo-Pacific Command, European Command, and Central Command.

Blue deploys its military forces between these commands using small cardboard tokens. There are also Event Cards drawn randomly to simulate global and domestic developments, from coups and civil wars to terrorist attacks and technological breakthroughs.

Victory is determined by Influence Points that players gain and lose depending on the actions they and their opponents take. (Those familiar with the popular Cold War board game Twilight Struggle will notice the resemblance.) To gain these rewards, each nation has a pool of Resource Points that it can spend building and maintaining military forces, redeploying troops between the combatant commands, and investing in researching various capabilities such as long-range missiles, missile defense, and special operations forces.

Sound simple? If Hedgemony were simple, it probably wouldn’t be a very realistic simulation of how the Pentagon works. For starters, every nation—even those on the same team—has its own goals. This means that even though the United States is mostly aligned against the Red nations, it is also competing with Blue Europe. There can be multiple winners, but somebody has to lose: For example, Europe loses if Russia achieves its goals, and the United States and China both lose if North Korea wins. Which means that while the United States and China may be adversaries in this game, they also have reason to cooperate on some issues.

The United States starts with a much larger pool of Resource Points to spend than the other nations, but most of that budget is consumed by maintenance of existing forces. To research new technologies or modernize its military means giving up something else. The other nations have far fewer resources (North Korea has one-eighth the U.S. total), but they also have no global commitments.

To give the flavor of the game, consider a single turn in a demo game that Rand conducted. (I had a minor role as an intelligence briefer for the Red team.) The Blue team must formulate a defense policy at the outset: In this game, Blue announced that it would focus on maintaining the United States’ technological edge and on creating a small rapid reaction force to deal with global crises, even if doing so came at the expense of existing forces. Small numbers of troops would be based in Europe, Korea, and the Indo-Pacific region, but U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Centcom to save money and create a reserve based in the United States.

The Red team then drew several Event Cards and could play one this turn: China, for example, could choose to invest in anti-ship ballistic missiles or take a more aggressive stance in the South China Sea. In Hedgemony, the Red team must function as both adversary and mentor to Blue. Red has to brief Blue on its intentions and reveal what cards it drew, but it doesn’t have to disclose which card it is going to pick. The United States, in other words, has an inkling of what its adversary is capable of but not what it would do. It’s the classic dilemma between assessing an opponent’s capabilities and figuring out its intentions, something every Pentagon decision-maker faces.

— Michael Peck is a defense writer. Twitter: @Mipeck1

[gigsoupmusic]

Y△CHT (Colours Hoxton, London - 13 Feb 2020)

Last night we were absolutely privileged to see one of the most innovative bands of the day perform at the lovely Hoxton venue that is Colours. YACHT (or, to be more exact, Y△CHT) are a band hailing from Portland, Oregon, though now are based in Los Angeles. They have been going strong since 2002; the spelling of their name is not a typo (the A is stylised as a triangle, and evokes the sail of a yacht). The name itself comes from a rather strange science course (no longer in existence) that keyboardist Jona Bechtolt attended at age 16 called "Young Americans Challenging High Technology".

Comprised of Claire L. Evans on lead vocals, the aforementioned Jona on keyboards (and guitar), and Rob Kieswetter (aka Bobby Birdman) on bass and keyboards, Y△CHT have, according to Claire, finally found 'the holy trinity' following a number of permutations.

Y△CHT have been making headlines lately for all the right reasons: they have created a fantastic new album called Chain Tripping, for which both the music and the lyrics were composed via Artificial Intelligence. Last night was, mainly, about showcasing this new album. Yes, you heard that right. A variety of different AI processes were used to write not just the lyrics but the music as well. It should come as no surprise that Claire has a science background. Author of a recent book called Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet, she has been very much at the forefront of science-tech, with her own blog Universe (hosted by National Geographic), as well as regular science columns in The Guardian, Wired and many other publications, plus Futures Editor of Vice's 'Motherland' science website. Y△CHT have, therefore, been pushing the boundaries of AI and musical composition to its limits.

The first thing we noticed was that the band decided, for reasons unexplained at the time, to perform the entire Chain Tripping album backwards. By backwards, we mean starting with track 10 ("Little Instant") and finishing with track 1 ("(Downtown) Dancing"), though we wouldn't put it past them to decide to play the actual music backwards one evening as an experiment! Claire has a tremendous amount of energy on stage. She is constantly throwing shapes (think: cover of David Bowie's Heroes album, and vogue it up a bit), so much so that half the photographs we took ended up having to be discarded, as she was a blurry mess. Even Jona and Rob failed to keep still for long, often interchanging mid-song two or three times with one another's keyboards, which were located at opposite ends of the stage.

So, the stage was pretty busy, and the crowd were soon screaming with pleasure. Although a band should of course mainly be about the music, there is nothing more boring than seeing static band-members. We enjoyed the first three songs (the last three on the album), in particular the very cheerful "Stick it to the Station". Our first stand-out song, however, had to be song 4, "Sad Money", which was quite different, and a lot more trancey. We asked Claire later which songs from the album were likely to remain in the repertoire when they perform a Greatest Hits concert rather than an album showcase like we heard last night. We were delighted to hear that "Sad Money" is one of their favourites and therefore likely to make the cut. Following that came a much slower song, called "Death" – which just so happened to be the first track that their software churned out when they started with this AI experiment. This was quite dark, and included some rather violent lyrics, including 'stab, stab, stab a cop' repeated a number of times. We asked Claire later about this, and whether the fact that software coming up with controversial lyrics means that the lyricist can be exonerated, therefore implying that self-censorship is no longer necessary in this future world. She agreed it was a good point, and there would certainly be some plausible deniability. However, at the end of the day, the band were still involved in the selection process of the lyrics from those that were generated. The actual lyrics, nonetheless, were not something they would have come up with themselves, but the band thought it rather delightful that the AI process should decide to suggest such strange phrases.

In between tracks, Claire would often address her audience. This again made the gig appear to be much more intimate (in spite of the fact that the venue was heaving with bodies). What was most obvious was how different each of these new songs actually are, from the very 80s sound of "Loud Light" to the quite bonkers track "SCATTERHEAD". On the latter, we loved the use of the cowbell and great guitar effects, which were also evident on "Hey Hey", another 80s-influenced uplifting track which includes quite a dirty deep-house synth on top of a Kim Dealesque bass-line. The strobes came on for "(Downtown) Dancing", the first track on the album. This was the longest song thus far, and included a funky dance bit that was evocative of the famous section in the middle of Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Again, we loved the cowbell. Claire got the entire auditorium clapping at one point, adding to the party atmosphere.

Hearing the album back-to-front, it now made sense why it should be performed that way, as it meant there was a real build-up to that final moment. Of course, this was not the end of the gig. Even with albums as good as Chain Tripping, a lot of people would have felt short-changed had some of the older songs not been performed as well. Y△CHT went on to perform six non-AI songs in total, starting with two from their 2015 album, I Thought the Future Would be Cooler: firstly the track which shares the aforementioned album's name, and then "Hologram". This was followed by "Hard World" from their 2017 Strawberry Moon album, a song about animal rights which was accompanied by the projection of their trippy video featuring a happy foot and a sad foot. This was another song during which the two male components of the band were swapping sides and instruments throughout the song. We share the video in question below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D-Z9rUvlqM Following this came one of our favourite tracks, their cover of Brigitte Fontaine's 1969 utterly surreal French-language song, "Le Goudron". This cover appeared as an online single in 2012 and is well worth downloading. We actually first came across it while watching a superb Italian comedy directed by Paolo Sorrentino about Berlusconi called Loro, in a scene where a rich young scam-artist is trying to entice Berlusconi to an orgiastic party in a villa overlooking the politician's garden. This tune featured in the scene below, and it was a Shazam moment. Thanks to both technology and serendipity, we learnt of this fantastic track, which led us to the band's back catalogue and, ultimately, reviewing them for GIGsoup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJiiVWFozs0 "Le Goudron" really is a splendid tune, and is probably the most psychedelic of the ones they played last night. The irony is, when you translate the French lyrics into English, they are as bizarre as some of the ones that AI has thrown up for their new album! Following one of those pseudo-encores we wish weren't a thing (we can't remember the last time we heard a genuine encore that the band had not already orchestrated), Y△CHT returned with what was probably their loudest (and certainly most new-wave) track, "Dystopia (The Earth is on Fire)" from their 2011 album Shangri-La, and then ended with the pure pop funness of "Psychic City" from their 2009 album See Mystery Lights, which was coincidentally the first of their albums to feature Claire.

So, will Y△CHT use this process to make another AI album?, we ask Claire after the gig. 'Yeah, I think some variation upon it. But by the time we sit down to make another record the technology will probably have evolved by leaps and bounds. It already has. Since releasing the album, the tools that we used are obsolete. So, I'm excited to try to find some other cobbled-together mix of futuristic tools for the next record that challenges us in the same way that this one did. I don't want to get stuck in a rut.' We were interested to find out whether, by using AI, they felt that some of the creative process of songwriting was taken away from them, but Claire was adamant that she did not feel that way at all. The process allowed them to end up with tons of song lyrics, from which a small percentage was useful. These would then be rearranged (or 'cut up') following a method which has its origins in Dadaist poetry, was famously used by the author William S. Burroughs, and also employed by David Bowie on some of his greatest and most-loved albums.

These single lines of subsequently rearranged lyrics were generated by inputting into the software not just the lyrics from Y△CHT's entire back-catalogue (to give the process an identity closer to the band's original style), but also lyrics from some of their favourite artists, such as Patti Smith or Bowie himself. We asked Claire whether they had to remove some of the generated lyrics because they appeared to be too close to something Bowie or Smith would have themselves written. 'No, the amount of data that you need to train a machine-running algorithm is so significant. I mean, it's literally like seven-hundred thousand pages of text. So the nuances get lost. It's more like you're teaching a machine English based on only song lyrics.' Last night really was a fantastic show, and when Claire addressed the audience in her effervescent manner it seemed especially intimate. We referred earlier to how Y△CHT are now making headlines for all the right reasons. It wasn't always thus: in 2016 they suffered what amounted to a PR disaster when they pretended that they were trying to stop a sex tape they had made from being leaked on the adult website Pornhub, which generated a lot of negative publicity. We personally found the video to be quite innovative – it has a disturbing sci-fi ending – but the band are very remorseful about the stunt and acknowledge that it was in bad taste and should never have been done.

Now, however, it is all about the future, in more ways than one. Thanks to their scientific knowledge, we know that using AI is really just the start of it. It is marvellous to have innovative standard-bearers in modern music today. We have felt that in recent years, there has been nothing new any more. Previous generations had Kraftwerk, Frippertronics, Phil Spector's Wall of Sound... there seemed to be very little new to be coming out of the studios for the current generation. This is now changing. Thank you, Y△CHT, for making the future of music a little more exciting and a little more cute. Read the full article

[our-legacy-rp-blog]

JAYLIE has been accepted for the character DELANEY ALLAWAY

An outstanding application, Jaylie! You really captured Delaney, and the amount of thought you’ve put into her character really shows. You’ve got a great eye for character detail, and we can’t wait to see where you go from here. Welcome to OL, and be sure you fill out the checklist HERE.

OOC name & pronouns: Jaylie (she/her)

Age:23

Timezone: GMT+8

IC INFORMATION:

Character’s name: Delaney Allaway

FC: Lily Collins

Position request: Seeker on the Gryffindor team (if not already filled)

Birthday: June 17. Gemini are known to represent dual natures in one. They are expressive and sociable, but also tend to suddenly get serious, thoughtful and restless. They are fascinated with the world itself, extremely curious, with a constant feeling that there is not enough time to experience everything they want to see. I think this describes Delaney very well – she’s always on the move, wanting to experience as much as she can, although at times she can also be prone to sullen moods and sudden bouts of thoughtfulness.

Wand: 11½”, Sycamore and unicorn tail hair core. A sycamore wand is always eager for new experiences and tends to lose its brilliance when engaged in mundane activities – much like its owner. Delaney is a curious witch and makes a good partner for her wand, especially since she is always challenging herself with spells that are past her level of competency (even if the results aren’t always good). Along with a unicorn tail hair core, Delaney’s wand is extremely faithful to her and enables her to produce consistent magic, although she discovered that it tends to perform better when she brings it along with her whenever she is breaking the rules or trying something new.

Patronus: Delaney has obviously tried casting the patronus charm on more than one occasion, but has never succeeded in casting a corporeal patronus. If she could, it would be a dolphin. There is an adventurous and carefree nature to the dolphin, one that is reflected in those with it as their patronus. They are often social and loved by most. They are strong and like to explore new things and meet new people. These traits are mirrored in Delaney, who is communicative and enjoys experiencing and learning new things. Dolphins also symbolise freedom and if there is one thing Delaney values, it is her freedom.

Boggart: Herself, being trapped within glass walls.

Delaney is always up for an adventure so when a few of her fellow Gryffindors asked her along to go boggart-hunting in her second year, she agreed in a heartbeat. It wasn’t as fun as she thought it would be, though, and till now she still remembers what she saw when she faced the boggart.

It was as if the boggart could sense her fear beneath her suppressed memories, ones that even she could hardly remember.  She saw herself surrounded by glass walls which were so high that they never seemed to end. She – or rather, the image of herself – pounded her fists on the walls but there wasn’t so much as a crack. Her mouth opened her mouth to cry for help, but no sound came out.

The reason is still unclear to Delaney now, but she has a subconscious fear of being trapped and unable to free herself, stemming from her younger years of being locked up in the Kinney household. Unlike now, she wasn’t allowed to make any noise or do what she wanted. One of the things she enjoys most about life is being free; having the freedom to do what she wanted, the freedom to speak her mind and express herself. Taking this away from her would be worse than asking her to run around Hogwarts in nothing but a towel (not that she has tried). She just hadn’t known how much she really feared that until she faced a boggart for the first time.

Headcanons:

When Delaney was first put into the foster care system, she couldn’t read or write. While she wasn’t underfed or physically abused, her parents didn’t teach her anything either. They spent as little time as possible with her. Being in the same room as her made them uncomfortable, therefore they avoided doing anything that would mean them being in her presence for an extended period of time and this, unfortunately, included teaching her the alphabets and numbers – things that a four-year-old would usually know by then. A kind matron acting as the temporary caretaker of the kids in the foster care system taught her how to write her own name on the fourth day she was there, and from then on, she learned something new every day, be it from the matron or the older kids. By the time the Ministry confirmed the Allaway’s adoption of Delaney, the girl could pretty much hold up her own end of the conversation, read and write basic sentences, and do simple counting.

Although Delaney loves all things dragons, her first love is, and always will be, the Antipodean Opaleyes. From the moment she laid eyes on the baby Opaleye for the first time, she knew she was in love. When its iridescent scales caught the sunlight, the then five-year-old girl had gasped involuntarily, drawing the smiles of her parents. It was the most beautiful creature she has ever seen. For the next few weeks, she spent almost every waking moment with the Opaleye until it stopped breathing fire every time she got closer and instead greeted her with a smoky snort.

Delaney wants very much to become closer to her brother, Lowry. The girl is easily satisfied and doesn’t want for much. However, if there was something she was envious of, it was her cousins’ relationships with each other. The Allaways were a big family, with aunts and uncles and cousins all living together in a communal environment. During her first day at Clarity Park, after meeting her new parents, she was told by the witch from the Ministry to stay outside and play with her cousins while the adults settle the paperwork. Still shy and reserved, Delaney sat under a tree while watching the other children. Seeing how her cousins played and protected each other in team games made her excited to have someone like that in her life as well. Afterwards, when Mimi and Sam told her that she had a brother, Delaney couldn’t keep her heart still. Even though she looked impassive on the outside, her mind was turning furiously. Would he be her protector, or she his?  It didn’t matter either way – she simply wanted someone she could play with like the cousins she saw earlier. Someone who was willing to accept her, despite the suddenness of her appearance. She didn’t understand what was it she felt then, but it broke her heart when Lowry refused to shake her hand or introduce himself that day. It broke her heart when he wouldn’t look her in the eye at breakfast the next morning, or in the days that followed. At one point in time, Delaney even thought to herself that she wouldn’t mind changing parts of her personality if it meant that Lowry would grow fonder of her. There was, however, one thing she knew she wouldn’t be able to change, even if it was to get her brother to like her…

She hates the quiet. While Lowry excels when working in silence, Delaney finds it too overwhelming and her brain always refuses to cooperate when she must do so. She always feels a need to fill in the silence and has therefore developed a habit of talking to herself whenever she’s alone. She doesn’t care much for what others think of her when they overhear her mumbling to herself; after all, it’s a free world, surely everyone is entitled to their own methods of focusing.

History:

The Kinney family were a muggle family living on the outskirts of Belfast and paying their way through honest and earnest means. Julia worked as a school teacher for younger children, while Michael was an electrician in the local neighbourhood, fixing appliances or light fixtures. They lived modestly, scrimping and saving where possible in order to have a treat every now and then - a nice dinner out, a trip to the city for the day. Julia and Michael, who had met not long after leaving school themselves, were not boastful or idealistic people: they were in love, but they also believed in the practicality of a good marriage. They could support one another and whatever family they created, and that meant something. Their first child was a boy named Caleb - healthy and happy, the young couple were overwhelmed with the pressures of first time parenthood, scrambling to understand how to take care of a baby and give it everything it needed. Though Caleb was a handful, the pair were flushed with success and quickly got pregnant a second time soon after. This time round, they were prepared – armed with experience and the know-hows of taking care of a child now, they were excited to have a second child join the family.

However, bizarre incidents followed. From the moment of her conception, Delaney was… strange. Meetings with the doctor resulted in the technology failing or the scan photos to come up blurred, distorted, or simply black. Her birth caused a power surge in the hospital, and the back-up generators were forced to kick in. Julia noticed that her pregnancy was much more tumultuous and restless than it had been with Caleb, and at one point wondered if there was something wrong, but none of it mattered when Delaney was born - a healthy girl delivered in the waiting arms of her parents, who were happy she was alright. The strange occurrences faded from the minds of her parents as the throws of parenthood began all over again - Julia and Michael were too busy to notice the signs of early magic that were happening with Delaney until it was too late. Shocked by what they saw - their baby girl making lights flicker, objects move, and on one memorable occasion, making her toy dragon shoot flames from its mouth. They were scared, and rightfully so - raised devoutly Catholic, Julia and Michael were terrified of their own daughter, and quickly fell into a pattern of neglect and fear that dominated the first few years of Delaney’s life.

She was kept away from her brother and instead forced to stay in her room under lock and key. Though only a baby and, soon, a toddler, Delaney was given little time with her parents - though fed, washed, and changed, she was largely left on her own. The girl spent most of her days by herself, locked in her room, with no one to play with or talk to. She used to cry when she was younger but as she grew older, she begun to comprehend that her parents only grew angrier and more scared of her whenever she did so, and therefore stopped. Julia and Michael feared bringing in a priest and having him confirm the worst, not to mention the unwanted attention and notoriety that a modern day possession might bring them. They were simple people; they didn’t want to create waves. So Delaney grew up a lonely but not uncared for little girl, her magic coming in spurts over the years and only serving to continue scaring her parents. It was only when Delaney left the house to receive her vaccinations that others became aware of what was happening inside the Kinney house. Delaney accidentally used magic in front of a muggle that alerted the Irish branch of the Ministry of Magic to her case - and when they came to the house to alert her family, they found her locked in her room. The conditions were terrible, and though Julia and Michael made excuses, the Ministry couldn’t sit by and let it continue.

Delaney was removed at the age of four from her family and put into the foster system for witches and wizards. Because she was so young, the Ministry actively searched for a home that would take her permanently - and that was when the name of the Allaway’s cropped up. Known for running Clarity Park, a sanctuary for magical creatures and beasts, the Allaway’s were reclusive and isolated from most of the wizarding world, but they kept a few old contacts within the Ministry for situations involving creatures. In passing, Delaney’s case was mentioned, and very quickly the Allaway’s decided to take her in. She was, after all, much like the other cases they took, albeit a human one but no less of a troubled cause. For the first time in her life, Delaney was allowed to be a child - and quickly she adapted to her new surroundings. Wild, free, and talkative, Delaney shed her old skin and became a young girl who was loud and active - traits that she had learned to suppress in order to keep her parents happy. Clarity Park was her home, and she spent days running among the pens and enclosures of the animals, learning their names and qualities.

But the one creature that captured Delaney’s attention the strongest was dragons. Clarity Park had rescued and rehabilitated several abused dragons, but Delaney’s favourite were the Antipodean Opaleye breed. Friendly, beautiful, and easy to train, Delaney handled several of the baby Opaleye’s before they were shipped off to dragon reserves, which had more space. Delaney found that she had a knack for dragon rearing and was encouraged by her parents, Mimi and Sam, to continue developing her skills with the dragons that passed through Clarity Park. For them, there was no danger in Delaney or her gifts, and they raised her like their own alongside their biological son Lowry. Mimi and Sam were hesitant to tell Delaney about her past the older she got, especially as they witnessed the changes she’d made since arriving - they didn’t want to ruin her childhood by bringing up the bad, and possibly repressed, memories from life as a Kinney. But for Delaney, these were times that she could hardly remember; she knew that the Allaway’s were not her biological family, but it didn’t matter so much when she was loved and cared for by their communal way of taking care of each other. The thought of looking for or even finding out more information about her biological family has never crossed Delaney’s mind – to her, the Allaway’s were and always will be her family.

There was, however, a downside. Delaney and Lowry did not get along, and it was, to Delaney at least, almost a one-sided competition that she wanted no part of. Though she loved Mimi and Sam and called them mother and father, she knew that Lowry came first to them and was not envious of that position. She understood that she was the intruder in Lowry’s life and gave him a wide berth, hoping that, with time, they might become friends. But Lowry never softened, and instead seemed to only grow colder toward Delaney over the years. When the time came to head to Hogwarts together, Delaney thought that it would bond them - but it didn’t. Gryffindor called to both of them, and Lowry seemed angry that they were once more stuck together. She watched as he made friends with other people and pretended like they weren’t family - a blow that stung and left her to make friends with others in his absence. Although it wasn’t all bad for Delaney as Hogwarts allowed her to focus her magic, the wild thing inside of her that had caused so much trouble, she also knew that she would never stop trying to bridge the distance between her and Lowry.

Taking to her subjects eagerly, Delaney found her stride in subjects like Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, and Transfiguration - things that tapped into her strengths or allowed her to challenge herself. And it became clearer over the years that her direction in life lay with dragons, and that one day she might be a dragon trainer herself at a reserve. But the time between the present and that dream was a long one, and Delaney set about working hard and proving herself a strong witch. A dedicated student, an active and athletic person, as well as someone who always seeks to better themselves, Delaney is a proactive Gryffindor who embodies the traits of her house. Talkative, friendly, and with a wicked sense of humour, Delaney is type of person to be at the forefront of social events, conversation, and extra curriculars. She wants to be bold and live without fear, learning from her early years with her family - she never wants to feel as though she can’t be herself, and freely encourages others to do the same. For Delaney, each day is important, and she tackles it with a fierce heart and a steadfast belief that anything is possible.

Now:

If someone were to bring up the topic of werewolves in a conversation with her, Delaney would refuse to take sides. For some reason, they always remind Delaney of dragons – the same words used to describe the dragons once upon a time are now also being used to label the werewolves. They are beasts – too fierce, unpredictable, dangerous, and uncontrollable. The solution to that were the dragon reserves. Dragons kept in captivity and studied. If the werewolves and wizarding community cannot find peace with each other, is it going to end in the same way? Only it would be worse, because werewolves are not beasts, at least not in Delaney’s eyes. They feel, they think, they talk – in a common language with wizards and witches alike. Some of them are born a werewolf, some are made, but not all are happy with their circumstance, not all hold the same extremist views as the culprits who have been making headlines of late. It is frustrating, to say the least, hearing all the negative press about the current state of the wizarding world.

Not one to remain fixed for long, Delaney chooses not to dwell on it and instead focus on other things like getting out of detention, quidditch, and getting those grades which she needs to pursue a future as a dragon keeper. Throwing herself into schoolwork and extra curriculars, Delaney strives to live each day without regret. She simply wishes to experience as many things as she can while she is still able to. Straightforward with her feelings (though some would call her tactless) and with an inability to turn down a challenge, the Gryffindor often finds trouble following her even if she doesn’t mean to cause any. However, she has no time for anything that slows her down or anyone who would stop her from achieving her goals. Ultimately, family and friends will always be her priority, and she will protect them no matter what it takes.

[littlechickenluver-blog]

Mutual Attraction chapter 2

Hi! I've been busy this week so it's not much longer than the first.:( Either way I figured it was better to post a shorter chapter than not post because I have a trip for three days starting tomorrow and I can't bring technology. Thanks to those who read and liked! You are the reason I will finish this. Ok enough of me now. Enjoy! ___________________________________________ I made it to the library without incident. When I stepped in I inhaled the familiar and relaxing scent of old books and parchment. Not even pausing to think, I headed directly to the section on color-changing charms and hexes. There it was. The perfect book to help me. I’d read it before. It contained an extensive range of spells and was really very helpful. I reached out to grab the book but a pale long-fingered hand beat me to it. I glanced at Malfoy then back to the book. He hadn’t pulled it off the shelf yet but as a watched he gave his wrist a tiny twitch and the book shifted partially off the shelf. “Do you exist just to spite me?” I asked exasperatedly. “You know what, don’t answer that.” I added when he opened his mouth. He smirked slightly. “Granger, I sincerely hope there is more to my life than that.” I wasn’t sure if that was an insult or not so I settled for an annoyed look. “I need this.” He added, plucking it from the shelf and tucking it under his arm. “What for? We learned these years ago.” I demanded. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist Granger.” A mischievous smile appeared. “It’s bad for lace to be all knotted up like that.” I opened and closed my mouth a few times like a fish. I’m sure I was bright red. His silver-grey eyes widened almost imperceptibly. “Oh Merlin. You really are, aren’t you? Wearing lace?” I hadn’t thought it was possible to blush anymore but I did. I expected him to make some crack about doing it for Ron, but it never came. He leaned slightly against the bookcase. It almost seemed like he was doing it to support himself. His eyes drifted shut. “Merlin Granger.” he murmured. A few heartbeats later he straightened up. “Either way, you do have a very short fuse. Look, I know it, you know it, but some Huffles in third year don’t.” “Huffles?” I repeated confused. “Yeah. Hufflepuffs. Not important Granger. You know why I need it. But why do you need it?” he questioned. “As you said, we already learned this and Tam isn’t ready yet.” “Tam?” He gave me a disbelieving look. “Did I send you into shock by bringing up knickers or did you just decide to be a parrot for fun? Yes, Tam. Your tutoree. Tutorette? Tutored-one? Whatever you call them - the students we tutor.” “Her name is Tam?” I asked shocked. “Yeah” he replied. His pale aristocratic eyebrows met. “What do you call her?” “Well, McGonagall said it was Tamaira, but she won’t really talk to me. She kind of just avoids me. I feel bad because i'm supposed to be helping. I feel like it's my fault she's avoiding me.-” “Granger.” he cut me off firmly but gently. “It’s not your fault. Tam doesn’t really let people in.” “Why?” I asked softly. He sighed. “Look, I would tell you but it’s not my secret.” “Oh and she let you in of course.” Because you’re a Slytherin and I’m a Gryffindor was left unspoken. “Granger I had to work to get her trust me. She needs someone. Someone other than me. I try but there’s only so much I can do for her. She needs a female influence she can confide in.” He looked into my eyes with his very serious sparkly grey ones. “I’ll help if I can. But either way, I really need this book. It’s a good one to teach a confused third year with.” “You mean help with me needing the book or help with Tam?” “Either.” “Really? Well both would be helpful.” “Do you want to look at the book with Michael and I now or have it to yourself after?” I weighed my options. Malfoy was nicer this year, and the sooner I could figure this out, the better. I hesitantly replied “Yes?” ___________________________________________ Hope you enjoyed! Btw I forgot to mention this before but I believe I will update on Tuesdays.