#operator use in java

[foone]

So a cool thing my granddad* Alan Turing figured out is Turing Equivalence:

Basically he designed a super simple hypothetical computer, and proved mathematically that it can do everything a more complicated computer can do, just maybe slower or faster.

This is normally brought up for the factoid that could run Doom on Xty Million Crabs, but it also applies to programming languages, not just computers.

See, it means that every programming language is equally "powerful", assuming it's Turing Complete (which is basically just "can do the things this minimal computer can do", which is basically every language except a couple simple theming languages and macro scripting systems), it's just easier or harder to do specific things in a given language. But they can still be done.

So this means the C/C++ your OS and browser was written in is just as powerful as everything else. The Java used for Minecraft and Android phones, the Javascript used for webpages, the C# used Unity, the BASIC used on 80s computers, and DickCode, the joke programming language I made as a university student which had only eight operators, but all eight were different ascii penises a la "8==D".

All equally powerful. You could write an OS, video game, or AI bot in any of these. It just might be a little slower or faster and easier or harder to do (especially DickCode, that one is very Hard).

Aren't computers neat?

*not my actual granddad but I am named Turing

[bonefall]

Update + Reply Bundle

Heyo all, it's been a while with some radio static and I've got a bundle of bits to reply to here!

If you're wondering where I've been, it's actually that things got MEGA busy on my end. Between the new year, a small promotion at work, getting a license to operate an X-ray machine for extremities (i have no idea how this happened man i have an applied science degree in dead people), learning some Java, and making travel plans to visit my partner overseas, it's been hectic but good.

But I ain't gonna pay it no mind, because every 6 months in queensland a man is torn apart by a crocodile the Warrior Cats never stops. I have also been passively ruminating on the Family Tree and keeping up with checking the inbox. Before I get to ShadowClan and the Glitch Warriors, I'll tackle all the other things.

SO reply time;

Changing Skies Reactions (On Moonpaw's sister being stillborn, the ShellFern cheating situation, etc)

The Flipclaw/Myrtlebloom Family Tree Fix plumthrift is soooo back

Other Fun Stuff (Which character should be allowed to say fuck. Names I'd like to use in other Clans.)

(NOTE; not addressing anything submitted about BB!ASC just yet, I want to put all my plans together first)

CHANGING SKIES REACTIONS

My honest feeling is that they don't know what a chimera is, BUT, I'm actually glad about that.

I would 100% rather they go with having her be possessed by a dead stillborn rather than them making her rare, ultimately harmless genetic quirk "the reason" why she's haunted. The stillborn haunting is the sort of concept I've come to accept in the setting (though I do have my critiques and reservations about another Evil Voice plotline, especially given the shitshow that was Splashstar in the last book of ASC), but there are DEEP layers to how messed up the implication of "zygote souls" would be.

Others have been joining into the convo in the meanwhile, tho. In essence, I agree with @mothdapple's thoughts on the subject. I hope the voice isn't wholly evil, and I hope that the haunting doesn't stem from her chimerism.

I'm betting that she gets a weird shipping moment with one of her cousins tbh. Especially if she survives this arc and doesn't become a medcat. You just know they'll open up the next arc with her and Sunkit being mates with 400 babies if you ship her with a girl too hard lmaooo

@dawn-sunlight

MANNNNN. You CANNOT convince me that I'm not correct about this at this point. The first 4 times it might have been coincidence, but they seem to have pinpoint accuracy for sinking popular LGBT headcanons and hetconning straight romance into old material.

That's Riverstar, Blossomfall, Ivypool, Leopardstar, Onestar (they replaced a firestar scene man), and now Thriftear and Flipclaw in one fell swoop?

Not to mention how everyone was joking around about "Old Woman Yuri" with Tawnypelt and Leafstar and then BAM, Sudden Crowfeather.

Like idk. Watch Barley get a super edition called Barley's Boo where it's revealed he once fell in love with a beautiful BloodClan she-cat who he had to leave behind, until it's revealed she's in WarriorClan now, so he leaves the barn to get her pregnant before dying. And also she's his first cousin.

That's a joke but if Apollo hits me with the dodgeball I hope he kills me in 1 hit

THE FLIPCLAW/MYRTLEBLOOM FAMILY TREE FIX

thank god. This is actually an extremely easy fix for me, now. All the pre-emptive cleaning I've done for the BB!ThunderClan family tree has paid off.

I Don't Rewrite Arcs Until They're Done, BUT, I have discussed the previous options at length before and how I intend to fix it. If you're reading along but need to catch up on the convo and context, follow these links in order,

Summary and Intro: BB!ThunderClan and the Propositions (ShellFern, StormCherry, FlipBay, or PlumThrift)

Anon ShellFern argument

Anon StormCherry argument

Hypokit Moonpaw Designs for All Four Options

Phantom of the Opera FlipBay Moonpaw

StormCherry Voter who changed their mind for FlipBay or PlumThrift

All caught up? Nice.

PlumThrift is sooooo back. It's basically what they've shown in the first book of CS. Soccer moms and their weird ass kid who they're desperately pushing to be an overachiever LET'S GOO. The most likely thing that will happen is that Moonpaw is a PlumThrift kitten-- unless something big changes.

(Though I am a little bit saddened that I can't do the cool Phantom of the Opera mask thing which came from Bayshine... unless Moon was honor sired, of course. Or maybe adopted. Hmm...)

For Oakkit, Sunkit, and Hazelkit though, I'm leaning towards what anon mentioned. Their canon parents are Myrtlebloom/Flipclaw, so it would be very easy for me to change to FlipBay because of my pre-emptive fixes. It'll match canon, and I have also grown fond of the idea of the two silly dads.

(plus then it's extra easy to have Moonpaw come from the first surrogated litter which was for PlumThrift to raise, and the second litter is for FlipBay. Biologically full siblings, socially cousins.)

That said, there's still a small chance they get shuffled over to ShellFern. Or, more radically, I might end up sending them over to StormCherry. If that doesn't happen though, don't worry, I'm still keeping Honeyfur and Leafshade in my back pocket in case there's no other opportunities to give them kids.

I will say this for certain though-- PlumThrift BB!Moonpaw would never have full siblings. She will be the only child they ever raise. If the canon parents ever have another litter, they would immediately get shuffled to FlipBay or someone else.

Sunbeam's kittens are, of course, Finchlight's. im punting that other thing into RiverClan. GIT.

OTHER FUN STUFF

I do actually want more mushroom names broadly, because sapient cats would actually be REALLY interested in fungi. I'd even say they'd be more interested in them than flowers. A lot of edible fungi have a chemical compound that makes them smell and taste like meat, so imo, they should be kind of like natural snacks or treats you can find while out and about.

Kinda like how humans have fruit, a culture of cats would have mushrooms. I plan on researching and writing a VERY elaborate mushroom guide at some point explaining this all in-depth (which I will be going thru my little "rolladex" of artists to illustrate it, when it's time), so I don't want to dive into the details just yet.

But in terms of names...

Something I wish I'd been able to do more of is weird, hard-to-translate prefixes. Scents that humans overlook, more time-related names about seasons or crepuscular events, categories of birds and invertebrates, etc.

Petricorfur, Prey-scent-tail, Arionbelly (a particularly large slug for eating), Rascalheart (a particularly feisty bit of prey that gives you a good chase), Thermalhawk (a thermal is a rising wind that allows birds of prey to soar more easily) etc.

If I was going back and scrounging up Glitch Warriors for other Clans, or just generally shaking up the prefixes, I would add names with these "themes" into each Clan;

Thunder: Sweet things and more wood-related terms Nectar, Drupe, Sap, Pith, Grain, bark textures like Fissure, Scale, Tessel.

River: More aquatic animal terms, poetic imagery, and "beautiful" things Caddis, Cray, Salmon, Roe, Mussel, Pearl, Dazzle, Twirl, Dance, Sway, Mirror (for the state of water when it's absolutely calm).

Wind: Sounds, events around the time of birth Bellow, Hiss, Roar, Crackle, Swale (if born around the time of a muirburn), Journey (if born out of camp), Drowsy (for a long birth)

Shadow: Mushrooms, wetland terms, fermentation effects, names that might otherwise sound like insults to other Clans Cake, Candle, Jelly, Parasol, Elf, Sphagnum, Gas, Drake (male duck), Muck, Peat, Bog, Fizzle, Bubble, Rot, Blight, Gnat, etc.

Sky: Cars and Suburban Terms Truck, Bike, Cycle, Wheel, Asphalt, Lawn, Fence, Board, Shingle, etc.

I also really want to put Vetch in someplace. It's a pretty normal and common kind of flower, I just think the name is neat.

@angelinelitalady

Firestar's Quest Chapter 5: "ARE YOU TELLING ME SKYCLAN HAD TO LEAVE BECAUSE THERE WEREN'T ENOUGH FUCKING TREES????"

Canon? I will never not answer Bumble, you're going to have to give me two guns to ask this kind of question because there isn't a version of me in any nearby timelines that would say anyone except Bumble. It should be a rocket launcher, actually. We need to give her the nuclear codes. In BB I'd give it to Spotty. It would be REALLY funny. 25% of the story is preventing the rise of TigerClan and the other 75% of the story is taking the gun away from her.

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR ALSO! IT'S SNAKE TIME BABEYYYY

@magewolf-the-artist

Do it! Go ahead! I can put it over in the Fan-Fanart post if you'd like. I should really make a section there for written art, too.

Everything about BB and everything WC-related I put on this blog is open source, from Clanmew, to plot threads, to Clan Culture, etc. PLEASE reference what you'd like if you're inspired by anything you see here!

The only thing I ask is that you keep that spirit of mutual collaboration alive. If you add onto Clanmew, allow others to reference it too. Talk about your thought processes. Encourage people to be inspired by what you did and make versions of their own. That's the beauty of fandom.

My end-game goal is for BB to result in a "skeleton" of chapter-by-chapter notes, the sort of thing you would hand to a ghost writer, so that it's essentially bones that anyone could take and write out themselves. This will take a looooong time because it's more about me having fun along the way, so if you want to write something, go ahead!

Never, never worry about "getting something wrong." You can change things, you can grow as a writer with time, wisdom, and practice. The worst piece of art is a piece that is never made.

[redrose10]

Part 2 of three… Thank you for all the comments and messages!

CEO Yoongi x Female Barista/College Student Reader

Title: Cold Brewed Love

Summary: When you begged the owner of Jin’s Java House to hire more employees you didn’t mean for him to stick you with the cold, rude, arrogant CEO Min Yoongi. Over time something begins to brew between you both and you end up forced to make decisions way above the pay grade of a cafe barista.

Warnings: Angst, swearing, hints of smut(nothing explicit), Yoongi is mean but we all know he’ll turn fluffy later, violence, kidnapping, mention of a gun, drug references, gang activity, murder, overdose

Word Count: 3,824

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You woke up confused and alone in a room you didn’t recognize. Your throat hurt, but your head hurt worse. You looked around trying to make out your surroundings to get some idea of where you were. The room was empty except for an armchair in the corner with a small side table next to it. The only light in the room came from a small space between the curtains of what you assumed was a window. It seemed like you had been out for quite some time judging by the amount of sunlight.

You tried to stand up, but you felt too weak immediately falling to the ground. You tried once again, but froze when you heard the door handle begin to jiggle. The door swung open and a light was turned on making you squint from the change in brightness.

“Good morning Y/N, good to see you’re finally awake. Can I get you something to eat or maybe a coffee?”, a deep unfamiliar voice spoke.

“Who are you and how the fuck do you know my name?”, you spat not in the mood for pleasantries.

The man walked in and took a seat in the chair across the room. You took noticed of his expensive looking suit that was tailored to fit him perfectly. His hair was slicked back. A strong cologne followed after him. He reminded you a lot of Yoongi.

“Is that anyway to speak to the man that saved your life and took you away from that monster?”, he said while lighting a cigar.

You scoffed, “You saved my life? My life was just fine until you kidnapped me and threw me in this room.”

“Oh dear Y/N. You really are too good and naive for Yoongi.”, the man chuckled.

The mention of Yoongi made your breath hitch.

“How do you know Yoongi?”

“Well Y/N…I am glad you asked. You see me and Yoongi go way back. We met when we were just children. We used to be very good friends, actually like brothers. We ran a little side business together. The largest drug manufacturing and distribution organization since the 80’s, you know… nothing too extreme. Then one day Yoongi’s parents decided to finally give him the reigns to control the business and suddenly he didn’t need me or our organization any more. I agreed to let him walk away because he was my brother and I loved him as such. I wanted him to have a good life either way.”

The man paused to take a long draw of his cigar before continuing, “But it turns out that wasn’t good enough for Yoongi. He was selfish. He wanted to take everything we had worked for while also making sure his past life would never get out to the public. He lied to me. He deceived me because he knew I trusted him. He took all of our assets, every cent. He destroyed any evidence that could be linked to him. And then to top it all off he went to the police to get the whole operation shut down to make sure this could never come back on him. But..unfortunately for him I’ve been able to build back most of what we had even though it’s nowhere near what we once had. It took a lot of time and cost me a lot of money and many of my men all while I’ve had to watch him live the life of luxury in his comfy office, going to galas, being praised and awed by strangers around the world that don’t know how evil he really is behind the facade of expensive suits and sultry looks. I vowed that I would get my revenge against him and make him pay for what he did to me…to us. I was starting to loose hope that I would ever get my chance.”

The man suddenly stood up and took a few long strides to kneel down in front of you. You pushed yourself back against the wall as far as you could while trying to conceal your whimpers.

The man poked his finger against your forehead, “And then I saw the photos of your little date. I could see it in his eyes…just how in love with you he is. I knew this wasn’t some random hookup like the others. And I knew that my time had finally come. Min Yoongi took everything from me and now I will take everything from him.”

“So what are you going to do? Just kill me to get back at him?”, you scoffed.

“Oh no no no Y/N. Not yet at least. I’m going to have some fun first. I want him to suffer for a while. I want him to worry about you until he’s sick to his stomach. For him to know your pain is all his fault. Then I want to kill him.”

You watched as the man walked over to the door before he turned to look back at you, “At the end of the day Yoongi doesn’t care about anyone or anything except himself, his image, and his money. You’re going to learn real soon about the real Min Yoongi.” The man stood up and left you speechless as you watched the door slam shut behind him.

“Fuck fuck fuck”, Yoongi chanted as he drove around trying to figure out his next move. He knew he never should’ve asked you out. He scolded himself for being weak for you.

He thought back to the first time he saw you and how he developed an immediate crush on you. Something he’d never experienced before. He saw you behind the counter of the coffee shop. You were definitely new. You kept eyeing him before quickly turning away every time he’d try and make eye contact with you. He knew you liked him. He wasn’t stupid.

Unfortunately he liked you too. Your cheeks flushed from nervousness and the heat of running around in behind the counter. Your hair wet from sweat and plastered to your forehead. You bit your lip in concentration as you poured the coffee. You looked so cute to him and he wanted to get to know you. To date you and make you his.

Then you shakily handed him his coffee only to knock it down on the counter spilling all over his favorite custom made shoes. Sure he had three other pairs so it really wasn’t a big deal, but he took it as the opportunity to scold you hoping to make you hate him. Selfishly hoping it would keep you away from him so he wouldn’t fall for you even more.

But it didn’t work as he had hoped and he quickly fell more madly in love with you every time he saw you. Then his parents made him get a job at Jin’s Java House. He knew it was a bad idea from the start. He tried to argue with them, pleaded for another option but to no avail. He thought he was strong enough. He started off trying to be rude while working together to make you hate him even more then he already knew you did, but it only made him feel guilty and left him wanting to make it up to you any way he could.

Then he tried distracting himself with other women, sometimes as close even ten minutes before he came down for his shift at the coffee shop with you. But even when his secretary was topless and moaning underneath him as he thrusted into her on his office couch all he could think about was you and your beautiful smile and how he wished it was you below him instead. As he was burrowed deep inside someone else he fantasized about how he would take his time and do everything possible to pleasure you until it was you screaming his name over and over. He knew it was a lost cause at that point because he was a man in love. And now here he was driving around the city while you were God knows where because of him and his weaknesses.

Yoongi regretted his past life. He wasn’t proud of what he did. He had gotten in a little trouble at school so his parents had told him he was a failure and they would sell the company before allowing him to take control. He felt hurt and useless and desperate to prove them wrong.

So as a teenager he turned to crime. Him and his best friend started dealing drugs. It started small with just some weed or pills here and there to other friends and their acquaintances. Then it got bigger and bigger until next the thing he knew they were moving thousands of kilos of various drugs every year worth hundreds of millions of dollars. They had bases in Seoul, LA, New York, Tijuana, London, Rio, Moscow, and Beijing as well as dozens of smaller ones he couldn’t even remember any more. Money was rolling in like he’d never seen even though he already grew up wealthy. He had a new woman every night and said goodbye to them before the morning with no strings attached. He was on top of the world and the best part was he was doing it all with his best friend.

Then he got a call. His dads health was deteriorating. The generational family company was falling apart. His mom was coping by drinking and popping pills, probably from his own supply unbeknownst to her. They were proud of him for becoming so successful in his “pharmaceutical business”, a lie he told when people started questioning his job or where his money came from. His parents had changed their minds and wanted him to take over the company. Become the ceo and bring profitability and success back to the family name and business.

At first Yoongi told them to fuck off. He wasn’t going to give up what he had worked hard for after they tossed him aside like he wasn’t their own flesh and blood.

Then days later he got another call from one of the few people in the world that he respected, his grandmother. She asked Yoongi to take over the company that her and his grandfather had fought so hard to build and turn into an empire. She didn’t want to see it given to someone outside of the family or worse have it shut down completely.

Yoongi tried to politely decline, but then solemnly she begged him. She begged him to take over not only to save the company, but so that he could escape his life of crime before he ended up in prison or worse. She cried reminiscing about how many times she stayed up all night worried about him and what he was doing out in the world. How every phone call made her heart skip a beat fearing the worst. How she saw families being torn apart thanks to him and his business’s product. She begged him, even referring to him as her little dumpling, a nickname she had often used for him growing up that he hadn’t heard in years.

Yoongi didn’t ask how she knew about his secret life. He didn’t want to know to be honest, but he knew he didn’t want to be the reason for her tears any longer. So he called his parents the next day to accept the position.

His friend had been kind and understanding, offering to let Yoongi just walk away from everything and leave him in charge.

At first that was fine. Then one night on his way home he found out that his neighbors daughter overdosed. She was just sixteen. A star student and respected ballerina already being scouted by some of the biggest dance companies from all over the world. Yoongi knew the drugs were from his prior organization. There were no others around at the time.

He watched the girls parents standing in the pouring rain until their knees gave out and they hit the concrete and sobbed as the stretcher carrying their daughter was wheeled into the back of a waiting van. After that night his grandmothers voice started playing over and over in his head often keeping him up along with the screams of the parents he heard that night.

Yoongi decided he wanted to erase that part of his life like it never happened.

Because he was still trusted by his friend he had access to the bank accounts which he wiped clean. He destroyed every document he could find that would tie him to the organization. Anonymously he contacted police in every city he could think of and helped them to track down all of their operations getting them all shut down. Multiple people were arrested and a few even killed. He did his best to convince himself that their blood was not on his hands.

And when the few that were arrested tried to snitch and implicate Yoongi there was no significant evidence and the little the police could find was quickly swept under the rug thanks to a little cash swung their way.

Yoongi was able to walk away without anyone knowing of his past life. His friend left to pick up the pieces of a once great empire. And now here Yoongi was paying the price for something he thought was long behind him and could no longer keep him from happiness.

You walked around the room as you looked for an escape. The window had bars around it. Of course the door was securely locked. There was nowhere to go. You didn’t have your phone any longer. You resigned to taking a seat back on the floor trying to come up with a plan.

You weren’t sure how much time had gone by but at some point later in the day a woman appeared with a tray carrying a bowl of soup and some toast as well as an apple and a bottle of water. You thanked her even though you had no appetite at all.

As you sat under the window staring up at the little bit of the sky you could see you wondered what was happening in the outside world. What happened at the coffee shop when you didn’t show up for work? Did they call looking for you? You were going to fall behind in your classes if that even mattered any more. Was Yoongi even looking for you or was he worried this would get out in the public and ruin his image? It was all becoming too much and you began to cry fearing the future and the unknown.

After a while of crying and dozing off you decided you were getting a little hungry. Remembering the tray from earlier you decided against the soup which was now cold and gelatinous, but the toast still seemed okay so you picked it up taking a bite.

It was slightly stale but passable. As you mindlessly chewed you noticed a small piece of paper on the plate where the bread had been.

With your brows furrowed you unfolded the paper finding a hand written note. The writing was barely legible as it appeared quickly scratched down and was written in some kind of lipstick.

“I’ll come back tonight. When you hear three knocks at the door be prepared to run.”

Your mouth went dry. Your heart began to race. Quickly you chugged down the bottle of water as you contemplated if running was worth the risk. Surely if they caught you then you would be killed. And who is this woman and why is she helping you? What if it was a test?

You had a million different thoughts going through your mind, but they were cut short.

*Knock…Knock…Knock*

Slowly the door creaked open and the same woman from earlier peaked in the room. She motioned for you to follow her. What did you have to loose you thought so you did.

The two of you tiptoed down the hall and some stairs before you heard shouting after you.

“Run!”, the woman shouted so you sprinted not far behind her. You ran down hallways and and stairs. Looking for any exit door.

Just when you saw your hope, a door with a large window facing the outside world just down the hall from you, you were grabbed and harshly thrown down on the ground. You looked up seeing Yoongi’s friend breathing heavily.

“This is what I get huh? I tried to let you stay upstairs in a warm room. I gave you food. Yoongi always said I was the soft one out of the two of us. I guess he was right, but not any more.”, he spat dragging you down the hall by your arm.

Frantically you searched for the woman from earlier who tried to help you. You hoped she got out or was at least safe, but you quickly realized that was not true. A blood curdling scream rang through the air followed by a single gunshot. Your eyes widened in horror.

“Don’t worry sweetheart. I’m not gonna kill you just yet. Not before you’ve gone on a final date with your Yoongi.”

You swallowed down the lump in your throat as the man threw you in a cell, the iron gates loudly clanking shut. It looked like you were in a dungeon. It was cold and there was zero light coming through.

Without speaking the man tossed you an old dirty towel to use as a blanket before heading back upstairs leaving you down there alone.

Days went by. You were barely fed and barely slept. You had accepted your fate at that point. Unsure if it was the delirium setting in or what but you often found yourself chuckling at your situation.

You missed the days of going to college. You missed your friends. You missed the smell of coffee and the warmth it brought. You couldn’t believe how your life had turned around in the matter of hours all thanks to you falling in love with a lier, con artist, the devil? You weren’t really sure how to view Yoongi right now. He was probably leading a meeting right now without a care in the world. He’s probably going out to dinner later with some woman he met on his way to work with the sole intention to get in her pants by the end of the night. A small part of you hoped he was worried about you. Looking for you. Doing anything to help. Because a small part of you still loved him.

You hadn’t heard anyone walk in until you heard the iron gate slide open ending in a loud clank.

“Put this on. And use these wipes to clean yourself up.”, an unfamiliar voice said.

You sat staring at the items in front of you not moving.

“Bosses orders”, the man growled.

Slowly you grabbed the wipes and began wiping down your face and arms. It actually felt kind of nice.

You reached for the other items, a black cocktail dress and hair brush. You took the brush and ran through your hair a few times until the knots were out.

You looked at the dress and then at the man in front of you. He rolled his eyes and sighed before turning around and facing the wall. Quickly you removed your clothes and put the dress on before the man could turn around.

Just as you finished, the familiar smell of cigars entered the air and not long after Yoongi’s friend appeared.

“Wow don’t you look nice. I can see why Yoongi likes you. I think he’ll appreciate that you dressed up just for him.”, he said before blowing a cloud smoke through your cell.

“Now go ahead and stand up against that wall.”, he pointed towards the other side of the cell.

You crossed your arms in defiance refusing to move.

He chuckled, “I like you Y/N. I really do. Too bad I’m only giving you twenty four hours to live.” Your face dropped in realization at his statement.

A bright flash lit up the cell for just a moment before you realized your photo had been taken.

“Thanks sweetheart. I’m sure Yoongi will love it.”, he laughed before leaving you alone once again.

Yoongi was back at his place pacing back and forth. He’d ignored call after call from Hobi. He’s sure he’s wondering where he and/or you are and he doesn’t have the brain power right now to come up with a believable lie.

As he stared out at the river below his apartment he heard a new notification on his phone. A text message from an unknown number came through showing the preview of a photo.

Clicking on the message he instantly dry heaved sure he would’ve fully vomited had he consumed anything today.

A photo of you in a black dress. Your hair frazzled. Immediately Yoongi noticed the bruising on your body. The cut on your lip and welt on your forehead. What killed him the most was the look on your face. The look of fear, of despair. He could see you were holding back tears and it was all thanks to him.

Seconds later another message came through, “Y/N’s a beauty Yoongi. I always did think you had good taste when it came to women and it seems like even after all these years nothing has changed. You have 24 hours to find us. If you involve the police I’ll kill her instantly. If you even care…”

You had changed back into your old clothes giving yourself a little more coverage from the cold. The floor was made of stone but you were so exhausted you were able to drift off to sleep quite quickly.

You fell into dreamland. Dreaming that you were on a beach. The warm sun shone down on you as a breeze rippled through the air. The ocean waves crashed gently against the sand next to you as you walked along the edge. Looking up you saw Yoongi just down the beach waiting for you. He flashed you a gummy smile showing you the two drinks he had in his hands. Just as you began to walk towards him the sky turned dark and a giant wave came crashing down on you dragging you out to sea. You screamed for help unable to get yourself out of the current as the waves kept you down. Running out of fight you felt yourself slowly drifting under water father and rather. The last thing you remembered was hearing Yoongi screaming your name.

You jerked awake sweaty and out of breath with your hand clutching to your chest.

Sitting up you did your best to try and calm yourself down taking deep slow breaths.

Faintly from a distance you swore you heard your name shouted. You brushed it off thinking it was just a residual memory from your dream.

Then you heard it again, a little clearer this time and you were a little more certain.

“Yoongi?”, you whispered to yourself hearing a familiar sound as the door slammed open.

[possibly-j]

I was browsing UnixPorn on Reddit and was reminded how opinionated people get about Linux. Sure I have my opinions, but I by no means believe my opinions extend outside personal preference.

I feel like it's a tell-tale sign between Linux as a hobby, and Linux as a tool. Hating SystemD is great and all, I personally prefer OpenRC, but if I actually need to use the system I'm going to want the init system that has the best online support.

There is no singular "right" way to use Linux. I fully understand both wanting to use Linux for its benefits as an operating system as well as using Linux because it's fun to customize. I do both. But I think people, specifically those who like more fringe systems, can tend to forget that some people just want an out of the box Linux experience that will work for as long as they need it to.

This mentality is by no means unique to Linux, I see it in many tech spaces. Yes Rust is objectively better designed than Java, but Java is easier to learn and hire for. I feel like many newcomers to these things can get pressured into making their life harder than it needs to be to meet other people's standards.

I suppose the moral of this post is; remember everyone has different needs, and your opinions do not trump those needs.

I always somehow manage to turn my commentary on the Linux community philosophical. Humanity reveals itself to be consistent in many strange ways.

[zadle]

How to replace Microsoft and support the BDS boycott

reach out to your tech friends about replacing windows with an alternative operating system, such as linux or a *BSD OS. if you decide to do this on your own, make sure to back up your hard drive first. windows profits off your usage data (even if you never paid for it) and can use it to train their AI, which is arming israel.

if your work or school requires you to acquire windows, look up massgrave (it's very simple to activate windows).

duckduckgo is just microsoft's bing in a trench coat. they have made a secret exception for microsoft's tracking services in the past. check out Searx instances, or try alternative indie web search engines such as Marginalia or Wiby.

if you're using microsoft's outlook for email, consider Tuta or Disroot (avoid proton; it's all privacy theatre that's only somewhat better than other email providers, and the CEO has voiced support for trump).

don't pay to watch the minecraft movie that's coming out. i've heard it's incredibly underwhelming anyway.

insist on playing minecraft but don't want to give microsoft money? avoid bedrock edition. check out UltimMC if you need a way to acquire java edition and you don't own it. if you're a server operator, you can set your server to offline mode in server.properties which allows people who acquire minecraft the cool way to connect, but this should be paired with a server-side authentication plugin/mod for safety reasons (in offline mode, anyone can log in with any username, including a whitelisted or operator username, and there are bots scanning for servers to grief). don't use realms. disable telemetry with mods if you can.

get a vpn (i recommend airvpn for p2p connections) and download qBittorrent. in case you're interested in media published by microsoft. or just in general. learn to torrent, and make sure all your torrent traffic goes through your vpn service.

if you're using microsoft edge, consider switching to an alternative browser such as LibreWolf (basically firefox with better privacy and security out of the box; mozilla is not the innocent robin hood figure they're made out to be) or Ungoogled-Chromium (chromium without the google spyware; unfortunately lacks auto-update in most cases).

if you're using microsoft's AI for anything, consider getting a library card instead.

[proud-leech-dad]

Comprehensive leech care guide: Updated as of 6/19/25

There's not a lot of public information on the domestic care of leeches outside of their medical uses and niche forums and facebook groups, so I wanted to create as comprehensive a guide as I can for proper leech care, referencing scientific papers whenever possible. This guide is open to corrections and input from other keepers and will be updated regularly as new information comes to light. If found in a reblog, always check to make sure you have the most updated version of this post. This guide pertains to the Hirudo verbana leech SPECIFICALLY but pulls from what information we know from Hirudo medicinalis due to their similar morphology and classification that only split in 2013. This guide will be operating under the assumption that bare minimums are not enough to thrive and has been written accordingly.

There are a lot of citations needed at the moment.

Tank specs

Size and Equipment Requirements

• For ideal leech care in display tanks, tanks should be at least 2 times the size of your leech tall, and have enough room to fit their body when stretched out at least 3 times length wise. This allows for swimming, the ability for leeches to escape each other, better water quality and the observation of various leech behaviors.

• 5-10 gallon fish tanks are great for a leech tank, with larger ones being good for groups. Bowls are suitable according to some keepers if your leech is solitary or small, but not recommended as studies have shown a tank without corners can stress fishes and aquatic life.

• Tanks should have dedicated land area in the form of exposed logs, cork bark, tank shelfs, etc. Preferably, these areas should have moss for leeches to deposit eggs. Tanks are able to be kept completely aquatic according to some keepers, but it is of my own personal opinion and is proven by researchers that this, and making your leeches breed late. can increase mortality in your leeches.

• Leeches thrive in low oxygen environments and typically produce very little waste, as such, tanks do not need a dedicated filter, especially if planted. If more oxygen is preferred, a bubbler on a low setting or high oxygen producing plants can be added. Large amounts of water movement should be avoided.

• Your tank must possess a tight lid of some kind as leeches will gladly squeeze through cracks to escape and explore. This lid can be a tight mesh, cheese cloth or some similarly breathable but secure fabric. This can be fastened with elastic to keep it secure over your tank or secured over a terrarium style snake lid.

Light Requirements

• Leeches should be kept out of direct sunlight and prefer dim or dark areas, though will still benefit from a regular light cycle.

Substrate

• Leeches require gravel/small rocks to dig through. Small lava rocks are highly recommended for their light weight and rough surface that encourages leech shed. In addition, lava rocks have shapes that provide large gaps for your leeches to hide in.

• Other substrates such as sand, soil, or clay balls may be added for planted tanks, and small clay balls work well to fill the bigger gaps between lava rocks if you don't want your leeches to burrow too far.

Plants and decor

• Plants are highly recommended for leeches, both as an area to breed, hide, and for general enrichment. Plants should be low light to match the light requirements of your leeches.

• An aquatic moss of some kind doesn't hurt for adding a little extra oxygen to the aquarium and acting as a hide. Prioritize mosses that have a lower temperature range, such as java moss, which is commonly cultivated, readily available, and is able to live in temperatures from 15-28⁰C.

• A land moss should be planted/attached to a surface above the water and maintained where your leeches can crawl onto it. This should be kept at varying levels of dampness for cocoon depositation. Please note that some mosses are illegally harvested, and you should do your best to get ones that have been cultivated instead. Sphagnum Moss is great for this purpose

• Anubias varieties of plants, good for their low light requirements and low maintenance needs, can add a visual interest to your tank.

• Leeches should have dedicated hides to provide a dark, safe place and reduce stress. Hides do not have to be large, and rough areas of the hides do not have the same concerns that exist with fish (ie. Fins getting caught), so are fine for your leeches. Thickly piled driftwood can provide great natural looking spaces for leeches to hide.

• Adding wood can be beneficial as it leeches helpful tanins into the water and can provide a land area for your leeches. If wood is collected from outside sources, it can be boiled for 1 hr to kill any outside bacteria or funguses. For wood gathered this way, it should be a hard, dry wood. Wood can be soaked in water for a few days before adding it to the tank to assist with sinking if desired.

• Cork bark makes a good floating platform, though it shouldn't be kept free floating to let the leeches get on easily. This cork bark can be used to hold mosses if properly supported.

• Plastic plants can be a welcome addition to provide places to hide or shed extra skin, but be cautious of sharp edges that may harm the soft bodies of your leeches. Plastic plants should be periodically taken out to clean to prevent algae build-up.

Water specs

• Leeches prefer colder waters and can survive in freezing temperatures. The survivable range of temperature to keep them at can range from 0-34⁰C (32-93⁰F) at the Absolute Extremes but ideally, your tank should be kept in the lower middle range of that 10-20°C (50-70°F) with only minimal or very gradual temperature changes. Leeches can survive being briefly frozen, but obviously, ideally will not be.

• Leeches should be in dechlorinated water, either through treating tap water, rain water, or spring water properly remineralized. Though pond water is suitable, the risk of adding parasites, unknown contaminates, or harmful bacteria means that it is not recommended.

• The total hardness of your water should be in the 50-100 ppm range to match freshwater sources. If your water has less, aquarium salts should be added to prevent the water from leeching minerals out of your leech.

• Distilled water should typically be avoided being used as-is as it's "dead" and all minerals have been removed. Distilled water can be made suitable by remineralization with appropriate leech salts.

Water changes

• Water changes should be performed roughly once a week, with the leech's low waste meaning that a planted, maintained tank may only need a water change monthly depending on water quality. You should be replacing about 20-30% of your water during water changes to remove dead skin and reduce the build-up of nitrates.

• Additional water changes should be done when leeches deficate after feeding, usually denoted by a brown or red tint to the water, and the water should be monitored for a few weeks after for ammonia spikes and changed as needed.

• During water changes, it can be helpful to take a moment to clean the glass of the tank, or to manually skim any excess protiens off the surface of the water if not in possession of a filter or skimmer. Snails can be added to your tank to reduce algae build up.

Number of leeches

• Leeches can be kept solitarily or in groups. As previously mentioned, a larger tank size is obviously recommended to show a full range of behaviors and allow for a more visually interesting experience.

• Though able to be kept solitary, leeches are best kept in groups of 3 or more, according to some keepers. Personal research to follow.

Leech behaviors and care:

Leech anatomy and lifespan

• Leeches are soft bodied worms, meaning their skin can be punctured by hard tools and caution should be used with damaging their bodies.

• Leeches possess 2 suckers, one posterior (Rear), and one anterior (mouth). These suckers are used to ambulate or latch onto surfaces.

• Leeches are hermaphroditic and possess both male and female sex organs that are only plainly visible during their mating season. Leeches can self fertilize.

• Leeches breathe through their skin like other worms, and this skin sheds off them periodically throughout the day by rubbing up against rough surfaces.

• Leeches possess small 'teeth' and separate jaws that leave a three pointed star mark behind when feeding.

• Leeches keep blood in their blood crop, where symbiotic bacteria keeps the blood fresh as they slowly digest.

• Hirudo Leeches have a lifespan of up to 8 years

Basics of leech behavior

• Leeches will remain at rest with their heads above the water, and will do so either folded in half or stretched out with both their suckers attached to the glass.

• Leeches love to hang out under the water when tank conditions are suitable, and will attach their posterior sucker to a surface, occasionally undulating to move water over their skin.

• Leeches will swim from one end of the tank to the other through anguilliform swimming similar to an eel but vertically.

• Sudden, dark shadows or changes in light can invoke a prey response in leeches and will cause them to hide until they feel safe.

•Leeches will often "sniff" the air or water around them.

• Leeches become overly active when hungry, showing an increased responsiveness to movement and shadow, and will swim to heat sources such as hands

• When feeding or reproducing, all of these normal behaviors halt in favor of the new ones, and leeches stop responding to stimulus at all, to the point that they could be cut in half and not stop their actions. (Though obviously, avoid actually cutting your leeches)

Reproduction

• Hirudo Leeches reach sexual maturity after about 1-2 years on average

• In the case of Hirudo leeches, mating season naturally takes place in summer, spanning June through August where your leeches female genitalia known as the clitellum will appear as a ring around the body, simalar to an earthworm.

• Breeding can be artifically induced by gradually warming up your tank, but is not reccomended so as not to stress your leech

• Mating takes place in the water, and while many keepers use a lack of land space as an effective form of egg deposition prevention, it should be noted that research shows that this is harmful and potentially deadly to your leech.

• Leeches will not show signs of pregnancy. Any lumps are sickness and you should refer to the proper section.

• Cocoons are commonly laid in damp land areas, either moss or soil in the wild, and take from 2 to 4 weeks to hatch as ~6 fully formed nymphs. (Conflicting information found. Citation TBA)

• Cocoons are soft when laid and proceed to harden over the next hour. Avoid puncturing or moving these cocoons while still soft.

• Termination of cocoons can be performed by freezing them and cutting them in half. Please note that freezing alone will not necessarily kill the eggs

• As previously mentioned, leeches can self fertilize, meaning you may have a cocoon even with one leech. Keepers should be prepared to terminate a cocoon in these cases.

• Unlike other leeches that die after mating, Hirudo leeches can reproduce for the duration of their lifespan.

Feeding

• Hirudo Verbana leeches feed once every 3-4 months with some suggesting more like 4-6. (Citation TBA) Feeding more often than this is likely to harm your leech by causing it to grow too quickly or cause it to vomit blood back up.

• The medically recommended way to feed your leeches is to get a sausage casing and fill it with animal blood (usually beef) warmed to body temp for your leeches to latch onto. This animal blood should be free of antibiotics and bloodthinners and can be collected from your local butcher.

• Please note that pig and raccoon blood should NOT be used, as they will kill your leech.

• Many leech owners will choose instead to feed off themselves for an easier, cheaper option. This comes with its own medical risks and care should be taken to avoid infection of the bite. You should ask your doctor before feeding your leeches off yourself. Once again, your blood should be free of antibiotics as they will kill your leeches.

⚠️ Note that sterile medical leeches kept in non-sterile environments like this will cease to be sterile

Now that I've legally covered my ass, assuming you are feeding off yourself, the following is important information to have.

◇ Materials: Antibacterial soap, isopropyl alcohol, sterile surgical pads (available cheaply at pharmacys), medical tape or masking tape if not available, liquid bandage (optional) and a pill bottle (optional)

◇ Skin should be cleaned before feeding to avoid risk of infection.

◇ Leeches should be fed on thinner skin, but avoid feeding directly over veins. Common bite locations for keepers are feet or the arm due to the thinner skin there.

◇ From personal experience, try to keep your leeches far enough away from each other that they can't touch the other's bite wound when they eventually fall off.

◇ To have your leech bite in a specific area, avoid veins, or encourage biting, your leech can be placed in an empty pill bottle and held to your desired bite location.

◇ Leeches will inject an anesthetic similar into the bloodstream, which may cause feelings of mild euphoria or lightheadedness, in addition to the injection of a powerful blood thinner. You should not self feed if you are on any combination of blood thinners. The bite will range from painless to feeling like a small prickling similar to a shot or gentle tattoo.

◇ Feeding takes up to an hour, and after feeding, your leeches will simply drop off of you. The blood thinners will mean that you will bleed constantly for up to ~10 hours afterwards.

◇ After your leech has fed, hold pressure to the location, move to the sink, and thoroughly clean your wound(s) with your antibacterial soap and alcohol before bandaging properly and applying pressure with a surgical pad and medical tape

◇ Liquid bandage on the wound will quickly stop the bleeding but has been reported by some to increase risk of infection. Risk of infection COULD possibly be lowered by letting yourself bleed to flush out bacteria from the wound for an hour or so, but this is a hypothesis and has not been proven.

◇ You should be prepared to bleed a LOT. Pads should be changed every 2 hours or when bled through to the point of being soaked.

• Baby leeches are often too small to penetrate skin and, in the wild, would bite through the thin skin of frogs. In captivity, baby leeches will feed off their parents or can be helped during self feeding by pricking with a sterile diabetic needle to help break the skin.

• NEVER try and pull a leech off your skin without first breaking suction. Doing so will cause the leech to possibly vomit up blood and bacteria into the wound, greatly increasing the risk of infection, or harm the leech itself.

•If your leech bites when you don't want it to and you Absolutely need to remove it, slide a nail under the anterior sucker to break suction. Note, though, that it's easy for this to harm hirudo leeches by damaging their skin and jaws. It should be avoided when possible.

⚠️Signs of Infection⚠️

If self-feeding, you must be EXTREMELY aware of what the signs of infection look like. These may include:

• Spreading Redness

• Swelling

• Excessive pain or itching sensation

• Wound feeling hot to the touch

• Discharge from wound such as puss

If you suspect at all that you may have an infection, IMMEDIATELY go to your closest urgent care to recieve medical care. If they ask you how you got it, specify that they are leech bites.

Handling of leeches

• Leeches should not be handled after feeding for at least 2 weeks as it can cause digestive issues.

• In order to not over stress your leech, keep handling to a minimum.

• Gloves recommended during handling to prevent accidental bites

On the care of sick leeches

• Leeches when sick will have a lumpy appearance to their body, often caused by an internal twisting of their blood crops. Inexperienced leech keepers will oftem mistake this for "pregnancy". This can sometimes be healed typically by adding extra tannins to the water via betta leaves or Adler pine cones. Your leech should NOT feed until all lumps are gone.

• It's possible if not given enough to rub against that your leech's shed may get stuck, giving them a pinched appearance. This can usually be solved by gently rubbing the leech between your fingers in the effective area until shed loosens.

• "Air taken in during a feed can be potentially life threatening. (C. Peters, pers. comm.) The leech should be held between finger and thumb, and both digits run along the length of the body, expressing as much air and blood meal from the animal as possible" (Spencer and Jones, 2007) Please note that this is outdated information and needs verification.

How to aquire leeches

⚠️Do not buy from leech.com!!!⚠️

We recommend you buy from reputable bio pharmas or leech breeders

Conservation

• Hirudo medicalis leech populations have declined in their natural habitat spanning across Europe and parts of Asia due to over harvesting of leeches for medical purposes in the 19th century, drainage of wetlands, and the reduction of horse use.

• Hirudo Medicalis leeches are currently considered near threatened in the wild and are protected from wild harvesting

• Most leeches for purchase will be Hirudo Verbana, a seperate species of medical leech from areas of the Mediterranean and turkey.

• Any leeches should be bought from a reputable breeder

• NEVER release your leeches into a non-native environment

Helpful Groups

(Please note that not all advice will align with the one given in this guide. I try to use the most recent scientific articles but this is still largely unstudied as a hobby)

r/Leeches on Reddit

Leech Gang on facebook

References

Spencer, W. & Jones, G. (2007): The captive breeding and educational display of the Medicinal Leech Hirudo medicinalis (Linnaeus 1758) at Bristol Zoo Gardens NOTE. OUTDADED AND NEEDS CORRECTION

TBA. So many TBA. Adding pics in the meantime until I cite the articles in mla

Search Engine Terms. Ignore if using guide

leech care leech care guide hirudo leeches hirudo leech care leech tank requirements leech tank needs leech tank setup hirudo verbana leeches Hirudo verbana care Hirudo verbana care guide pet leech care guide medical leech care guide

[vintage-tech]

useful information: How to get a USB Blu-Ray player to work on your computer

Not a post about vintage technology, just an explanation of what you think might be simple to do but isn't: There are Blu-Ray players that plug into your computer by USB, and you discover that just plugging it in doesn't make it work* in the same manner that CD-RWs or DVD-RWs are automatically recognised and function. You will see "BR Drive" in My Computer and the name of whatever movie you have inserted, but that's as far as you're able to go.

*There is software you can buy to make a Blu-Ray (internal or external) function, sure, and if an internal came with your computer it's likely already installed -- but if you're like me you don't have that software, you're cheap and won't pay for software, and you want to use what you have installed already or find free solutions.

Looking in the Blu-Ray drive's package, there's not a lot of info about what you're supposed to do. The above no-name Blu-Ray player cost $40 from a popular website; name-brand ones can set you back $120 or so. Looking around online for those instructions, I never saw the whole set of directions in one place, I had to cobble them together from 2 or 3 sites. And so here I share that list. To keep out of trouble, I'm not linking any files -- Google will help you.

Get VLC, the free video player available for pretty much any operating system. Thing is, it doesn't come with the internals to make it work with Blu-Ray even if when you go to the Play Media menu there is a radio button for selecting Blu-Ray.

Get MakeMKV, a decoder for reading Blu-Ray disks. This had been totally free during the beta testing period but it's come out and has a month or two trial period you can work in.

Get Java if you don't already have it. Reason for this is, the menu systems on Blu-Ray disks uses this... technically it's not required, however it does mean you don't have options such as special features, language and sound changes, or scene selection if you don't have Java installed; insert a disk, it can only play the movie.

Get the file libaacs.dll online so you have AACS decoding. I am told it hasn't been updated in awhile so there may be disks produced after 2013 that won't work right, but you won't know until you try.

There's a set of keys you will also want to have so that the player knows how to work with specific disks, and so do a search online for the "FindVUK Online Database". There will be a regularly-updated keydb.cfg archive file on that page to pick up.

Got those three programs installed and the other two files obtained? Okay, here are your instructions for assembly...

In VLC: go to Tools, Prefs, click "show all"… under the Input/Codecs heading is Access Modules then Blu-Ray: Select your region, A through C. You can change this if you need to for foreign disks. Next related action: go to My Computer and C:, click into Program Files and VLC, and this is where you copy the libaacs.dll file to.

In MakeMKV: click View, then Preferences, and under Integration - add VLC.

Confirm that Java is set up to work with VLC by going to the computer's Control Panel, going to System Properties, and into Environment Variables. Click System Variables, and click New to create this key if it doesn't already exist: … Name: Java … Value: [the location of the Java 'jre#.##' folder... use Browse to find it in C:\Program Files\Java]

Let's go back into My Computer and C:, this time go to Program Data, and then do a right-click in the window and select New and Folder. Rename this folder "aacs" (without the quotes), and then you click into it and copy the keydb.cfg file here.

REBOOT.

And now you should be able to recognise Blu-Ray disks in your player and play them. Three troubleshooting notes to offer in VLC:

"Disk corrupt" -- this means MakeMKV has not decoded and parsed the disk yet, or that you don't have the libaacs.dll in place so that it can decode the disk. ...After checking the VLC folder for the DLL to make sure, launch MakeMKV, then go to File, Play Disk, and select the Blu-Ray drive. Now it will grind a bit and figure out the disk's contents.

A note appears when a movie starts saying there will be no menus, but the movie plays fine -- Java isn't running. ...Invoke Java by going to the Java Settings in Start: Programs. You don't have to change anything here, so Exit, then eject the disk and put it back in to see if the movie's menu now appears.

Buffering between chapters, making the movie pause for a few seconds? There is a setting for this but I need to find that info page again for where that is. (If you find it, tell me where it is!)

I don't claim to know a lot but if you have any questions I might have some answers or suggestions. So far I've watched "Office Space" and Disney's "Coco" without any issues beside occasional buffering.

[chlorophylliccoyote]

RooOOOoo

yeeee I carved another lino block :>. Look at this drunk ouppy and their favorite fox bartender in the very early morning of Stellar Java and Spirits' operating hours.

Hopefully I can watercolor over these prints, but Im not entirely sure if I can because I don't know much about the Speedball oil ink that I used.

I should actually try and draw out a floor plan of Stellar Java and Spirits.

[wojenka]

i need more mutuals who are into coding and engineering!! more info under the cut!!

I planned to become an electrical engineer like my stepdad but then I decided to change my path to programming. I'm currently studying at technikum (<- wikipedia link so I don't have to explain the whole polish learning system), programmer major.

this year I have exams from web development (10th Jan - theory, 16th Jan - practical exams) and next year I have exams from App development (both mobile and desktop).

I know C family languages, Java, Python and those ones I am currently using. I also know a bit of Kotlin and I think I will continue learning it.

For web dev I know HTML and CSS ofc but also PHP and JS.

Planning on learning more languages I can use for App and operating system development as well as just to know them cause I want to after this year's exams!

my learning list:

Lua (I heard it's easy but I can't really get myself to read anything about this atm idk why)

Ruby

Assembly

Rust

As for electrical engineering I don't know much tbh but I would like to learn! I just used CAD programs for technical drawings (dad taught me some basic things when I was still thinking about going his path) helped my dad fix things on his Solar farm, houses of our neighbors and I made a few very simple circuits for fun a few years ago. Now I'm mostly focused on programming but since I learned most of the things I need for exams I have more time to do whatever I want now!

I'd like to get to know more people so I can share and mostly learn new things since even though I'm coding for years I consider myself a beginner and I am a total beginner when it comes to electrical engineering.

I'm willing to be friends or at least mutuals with anyone who codes or makes websites or is in STEM! no matter what your specialty/interest is exactly and no matter if you are a total beginner or a professional ^__^

I'd also like to have some mutuals who are into old web development and retro computing!!!!!!!!

edit: I forgot but I'm also interested in physics and quantum physics

[arkipelagic]

Iron Age links between central Vietnam, the Philippines, and Southeast Asia

When discussing Southeast Asian trading networks, the Sa Huynh-Kalanay Interaction Sphere exemplifies the kind of cross-regional social-economic system that operated during the Iron Age. In the years approximately 500 BC through AD 100, a remarkable continuity is witnessed in decorated pottery, specific forms of earring, and other specialized goods found on both sides of the central South China Sea. Other interaction spheres operated contemporaneously, and some can be traced to earlier origins.

[…] At least two large-scale cross-regional networks simultaneously linked different shores around the South China Sea. The world-famous Dong Son culture of northern Vietnam generated far-reaching spectacular impact via export of ornate kettle-drums into Mainland Southeast Asia and the southern islands of Indonesia, including Sumatra, Java, Bali, and Nusa Tenggara. Dong Son, however, lacked any clear presence in the northern and central reaches of the South China Sea in Taiwan, the Philippines, and most of Borneo. The contemporary but very distinct Sa Huynh-Kalanay network served these latter regions and was one of the main catalysts for their cultural transition into metallurgy.

Unlike China and the countries of Mainland Southeast Asia, the island regions such as Taiwan and the Philippines lacked a separate Bronze Age prior to the appearance of iron. Between 500 and 300 BC, these regions received a sudden influx of new types of artifacts and new materials that were imposed directly on a Neolithic cultural background. These included Indo-Pacific glass beads, siliceous stone beads, iron and cupreous metal (copper and bronze), and moulds of stone or baked clay for casting small cupreous items such as socketed adzes and spearheads.

[…] Our studies have revealed that the nephrite used for making many of these ear ornaments, especially those of green jade, originated from the Fengtian nephrite source in eastern Taiwan. The interesting fact is that the raw material itself came from Taiwan, while the ear ornaments themselves were often produced locally in the Philippines, southern Vietnam and southern Thailand, using Taiwan raw materials, especially sawn square tablets of Fengtien nephrite. We conjecture that these were blanks, carried by sea from Taiwan to local workshops in other regions of Southeast Asia.

Excerpt from “Coastal Connectivity: Long-Term Trading Networks Across the South China Sea” (2013) by Hsiao-chun Hung et. al.

[collegelifediary]

☆ 02.10.2023 ☆

Today was the first day of school; we officially started.

I had 2 lectures.

The first one was about operating systems, and we talked about all that happens when you turn on your computer and then turn it off, which was so interesting. The teacher was amazing; honestly, I really liked him. I'll study later today and make a post about it on @codingquill.

The second one was just a little introduction: the professor, again, seemed so cool and well-educated. In this class, we're going to study JAVA JEE for creating web applications. He already gave us an assignment to make the little snake game to check our JAVA skills.

Normally, this evening we would have 2 labs for these exact same classes, but the teachers decided not to do them because we just started.

How was I feeling today?

I honestly did not feel good leaving home. I've been having a depressive episode lately, and once I got to school, I saw my friends, laughed with them, had a nice time, liked the lectures I had, and felt SO MUCH better coming back home.

Which gave the conclusion that uni is actually a place that makes me really happy, and I am so excited for this year to be a good one.

Things I am grateful for?

My good health,

my intelligent mind,

my not giving up mindset,

my friends,

the privilege to study in this field, and the school I am in.

[warningsine]

All right, since I bombarded a poor mutual yesterday...

Privacy is not security and security is not privacy. These terms are not interchangeable, but they are intrinsically linked.

While we're at this, anonymity =/= security either. For example, Tor provides the former, but not necessarily the latter, hence using Https is always essential.

It is impossible to have privacy without security, but you can have security without privacy.

A case in point is administrators being able to view any data they want due to their full-access rights to a system. That being said, there are ethics and policies that usually prevent such behavior.

Some general tips:

Operating System: Switch to Linux. Ubuntu and Linux Mint are widely used for a reason. Fedora too. And don't worry! You can keep your current operating system, apps and data. If you're on a Mac computer, you can easily partition your hard drive or SSD by using Disk Utility. If you're on Windows, you can follow this guide.

You want to go a step further? Go with Whonix or Tails. They're Linux distributions as well, but they're both aiming for security, not beauty so the interface might not be ideal for everyone. Many political activists and journalists use them.

You want anonymity? Then you need to familiarize yourself with Tor. Also, Tor and HTTPS and Tor’s weaknesses. When you're using it, don't log in to sites like Google, Facebook, Twitter etc. and make sure to stay away from Java and Javascript, because those things make you traceable.

Alternatives for dealing with censorship? i2p and Freenet.

Is ^ too much? Welp. All right. Let's see. The first step is to degoogle.

Switch to a user-friendly browser like Firefox (or better yet LibreWolf), Brave or Vivaldi. There are plenty of hardened browsers, but they can be overwhelming for a beginner.

Get an ad blocker like Ublock Origin.

Search Engine? StartPage or Duckduckgo. SearXNG too. Like I said degoogle.

Get a PGP encrypted e-mail. Check Protonmail out.

There's also Tutamail that doesn't cover PGP, but uses hybrid encryption that avoids some of the cons of PGP.

Skiff mail is also a decent option.

Use an e-mail aliasing service such as SimpleLogin or AnonAddy.

Check OpenPGP out. Claws Mail is a good e-mail client for Windows and Linux, Thunderbird for Mac OS.

Gpg4win is free and easy to use for anyone that wants to encrypt/decrypt e-mails.

Instead of Whatsapp, Facebook messenger, Telegram etc. use Signal for your encrypted insant messaging, voice and video calls.

Get a metadata cleaner.

Get a firewall like Opensnitch, Portmaster or Netguard which can block Internet for trackers.

Alternatively, go with a private DNS that blocks these trackers. NextDNS is a good paid service. Rethink a good free option.

Replace as many of your applications as you can with FOSS (free and open source) ones. Alternativeto can help you.

Always have automatic updates on. They are annoying af, I know, but they are necessary.

Keep your distance from outdated software.

Always have two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled.

Do not use your administrator account for casual stuff. If you're on Linux, you probably know you can be sudo, but not root.

On Linux distributions use AppArmor, but stay away from random antivirus scanners. Other distributions default to SELinux, which is less suited to a beginner.

Never repeat your passwords. If you can't remember them all, use a password manager like KeePass.

Encrypt your drive.

Honestly, VPNs have their uses and ProtonVPN, Mullvad and Windscribe are decent, but eh. If you don't trust your ISP, why would you trust the VPN provider that claims they don't log you when you can't verify such a thing?

[mitigatedchaos]

Okay, I'm not generally one for dogwhistle-based thinking, but why is your favorite rap song by "a Dutch drum and bass group" called "Black Sun Empire"? On further Googling the official explanation is that it is a Star Wars reference, but this seems dubious to me at best

Dawn of a Dark Day feat. UK hip hop group Foreign Beggars is an excellent example of something that's quite rare: cyberpunk rap that's actually good.

descend to synapse chill factor sixty microverse entered so black, it's slipstream dip both the headlights melt into background

I've never found another track like it.

I'm going to assume that you're not a long-term reader, or it would be obvious why someone who posted fake discourse about parents cryogenically freezing their children would like this song.

Probably the best cyberpunk/post-cyberpunk anime is 2002's Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex. Some songs from that series have rap segments, but they don't really add to the music, such as with Origa feat. Heartsdales - Player.

Origa sounds amazing, but everyone who has ever heard one of the tracks featuring her already knows that.

The problem for Heartsdales is that it's usually much easier for a man to pose as tough and intimidating than it is for a woman, and even then, proper intimidation is subtle and depends on a connection to a background of power, or the ability to convincingly fake that connection.

What makes Dawn of a Dark Day so unique is that it's clearly from the perspective of a team of cyborg combat operatives, or following them very closely. It's also abstract enough that it doesn't fall into Ren Faire/Steampunk dorkiness. That's a fine line to tread, and it takes actual talent.

In real life, we don't sing songs about computer hacking, even though computer hacking is one of the most sci-fi elements of the current era.

Imagine a song about a combat cyborg team in the style of a whaling song, talking about cleaning ports and hacking mainframes. This would be much more understandable to contemporary outsider audiences than a line like, "cyberbrain circus - brace for the kickback."

In the cyberpunk world, the cyborg combat team would talk using the actual professional jargon from their field, which would be more specific to their time and place. For example, contemporary computer programmers would complain about Java, a specific programming language, about which they would have specific complaints (such as preferring dynamic typing, or Java being too verbose).

Thus, a whaling-style song, "dust the ports and hack the servers," which doesn't require knowing the specifics, would be something either written from an outsider's perspective, probably as a joke, or written from an insider's perspective, also probably as a joke.

To hit the right band, then, requires writing something from the perspective of an insider (even though insiders would not tend to write songs), that's intelligible to people from our world with some background knowledge of genre, that hits on the sci-fi elements related to the genre (rather than just being a generic love song), without making them overpowering, by baking them into the assumptions of the text.

To use a non-musical example, the original special collector's edition Mass Effect hoodie (left) is subtle and was popular for a while, while some subsequent designs by third parties (right) were much louder.

The design on the left is appropriate for a wide variety of social environments, while the design on the right would require a higher degree of social aptitude to get away with wearing wear in many social environments, and would be more suitable for a video game club or anime convention.

This is part of the general thing where being "cool" is about making things look effortless, and not looking like a tryhard.

Particularly, for the hoodie on the right, there's a mismatch between style and substance, in which it is trying to "borrow" power from a fictional suit of armor from a video game. (This mismatch is the general reason that trying to lean too hard on fiction is cringe; there's not enough substance relative to what someone is trying to do with it.)

Some of you may remember an Indiegogo campaign for a samurai armor hoodie. I'm not saying that everything should be understated. Sometimes, artistically, you're better off committing to the bit.

Now, back to music.

The band Gunship are not a rap outfit, but seem to have been quite successful with a lot of their sci-fi-themed content, such as this video with 3.9 million views:

They do a good job at finding the balance.

Another musical act, Perturbator, got 5.4 million views with a music video about rogue sentient androids (Perturbator - Sentient, which contains nudity).

The successor series for Standalone Complex, SAC_2045, has the song Millennium Parade - Fly With Me, which is better as rap music than the rap segment of Origa - Player, but isn't cyberpunk-themed directly.

Cyberpunk 2077 has, for example, Konrad OldMoney feat. Taelor Yung - Day of Dead, which is great for an action scene, but also isn't directly cyberpunk:

No Save Point, also from 2077, has a great line, "When a fortune cookie tells me I'm fucked, I just shrug," and ain't that Night City for you? They put some work in on this one, but I don't vibe with it as much musically.

Anyhow, that's why Dawn of a Dark Day is my favorite.

If you'd like, I can explain some of the recent politics of dog-whistles tomorrow or the day after.

[superheroauthor]

I’m Alive!

Sparky The Superhero’s Story

Chapter Three – Hunting the Vampyre

(Part 2 The Very Bad Dog)

Jack Sprat could eat no fat. His wife could eat no lean. But, together both, They licked the platter clean

            Historical, Great Earth

   The cab pulled up outside the railway station, the horses in a lather. Even in the late morning the steam from the trains was making the fog denser. You could hardly see five feet in front of you. The sun was battling the smog and losing.

   “That will be five shillings, guvnor.”

   I got out of the cab. I could see the hopeful look on his face. It was a try on. I did not use cabs often, they were expensive. On the other hand, they were quick and anonymous too. The driver would not remember me. Unless I made it so.

   “Huh, here is half a crown and a sixpenny tip,” I told him, offering up three shillings instead of the five.

   He winked at me.

   “Had to try it on. You could have been one of those rich accountants.”

   I don’t think he was looking at me. Just my clothes. He had sized up the price of the fare from the looks of me, not how far we had travelled.

   I walked into the station, a truly massive building that once might have been beautiful. It was said to have been the first railway station ever on the planet of Clock.

   Marble pillars, a grand archway, waiting rooms for the different sorts of peoples. All now though were black with smut and smoke from the steam engines. Even the train tracks were covered in smut. Those I could see through the smog.

   I counted to twenty and walked out. There were cabs here but he was gone. Whether he had caught an immediate fare or was going back to the Bankside for richer pickings I did not care. He was gone and that was all that mattered.

   I came out of the station and I went into the café. It hid in a midst of a street of soot black houses. It was half full.

   There, her arse gloriously overhanging her seat was the lady who I would dream of tonight. My partner in crime. She was singing a bawdy song about a woman and several sailors.

   I went up to the counter. Tucus saw me and light came to his eyes and a little smile.

   “What is going on with her?” I nodded backwards.

   “Oh, you mean the great big fat lady . . .” I stared at him and he knew he had misspoken. “I mean the lady with the curves? She came in wanting a Roo pie and booze. I keep a bottle under the counter.”

   He showed it to me. Ogre Strength gin. That stuff was evil. Drink the whole bottle and you would not get your sight back for two days. Drink two and maybe go blind.

   It was back streets gin. The makers would get five stills that worked by clockwork magic and put them in a house. All you had to do was pipe water in and then fill the tray above with the ingredients. After an hour the machine would be ready for you to turn the tap and fill the bottles.

   There were two problems, though. The first was you had to take good care of the machines. They operated at intense pressure, being a still of sorts. Also you had to let the steam off or the pressure would built up even higher. If you didn’t maintain the machine or let off the steam, the machine blew up. One of those machines could wreck a whole room when they blew and would could serious injury to anyone in it.

   The second problem was the gin was near enough pure alcohol with any flavourings you added to the ingredients. It was strong enough to be dangerous to imbibe.

   However, there was a massive demand for it and it was incredibly cheap to make. A bottle would be sold for tuppence. That is ten good shots of gin for two pennies. Down the public house it was a penny a shot for gin that was only slightly better in quality. Slightly better flavour covering the fact it was watered down back streets gin.

   Apart from one or two in the café, the lady’s rendition of ‘All The Sailors In The Port’ was going down well. Half the customers were singing along with her.

   Tucus pushed a cup of strong java over to me as I watched her. From the house I had the silver stake and the collar. I remembered the information about the tram ticket so did not need that.

   “Hey! There he is . . .” and the singing stopped. Hers did anyway, some of the rest of the customers chorused on for a few bars and then stopped. All eyes were on me now. “My tiny little baby doll.”

   Me? A tiny little baby doll? A huge eruption of laughter went through the room, maybe at the expression on my face.

   “I would fuck you but you are so skinny I think you would snap!” she cried out, way too loudly.

   I flicked a gold sovereign up through the air and, as it span, the eyes of the café went to that. A whole sovereign, twenty shillings. This was Whitechapter, a poor area. A man could work weeks, maybe months for a golden pound coin.

   A hush had descended over the room so closely that you could heard a washer drop.

   “So, you don’t want to come back to my place then?” I asked and whispers started.

   She looked at me once, squinting. Some recollection must have come back to her as she let out a giggle.

   “You just want to bone me. Make the beast with the two backs.”

   Maybe no recollection, just drunken lust.

   “Not tonight.”

   “You don’t fancy me? You think I’m too fat.” Her fists bunched, her whole body went taut, ready to fight.

   “I don’t even know your name but to me you are the most gorgeous creature in the world. Who would want a skinny woman compared to a woman with curves?”

   It took a second, maybe a few seconds. I had not said it succinctly enough for her. She was pissed, it took those seconds to catch up.

   “Really?”

   “You don’t know you are luscious and desirable?” I asked, keeping it short.

   “I know! It is just the rest of this world who don’t!”

   “I am going back to my room.” I paused. “I like you.” Another pause. “I just want to talk.” Silence. “Tonight.” The whole café was staring right at me again, some shaking their heads. “If you want to talk more, you will have to know where I live.”

   She thought it out but now all of the café was getting involved, some urging her to go with me, others warning her it was a trap. A couple of the customers saying sex before marriage was just wrong.

   “Just talk,” I told her and left the café.

   She caught up with me twenty paces outside, huffing and puffing as she hurried to keep up with me.

   “Keep walking. We’ll be followed. Take the alley down here and to the right.”

   “Why?”

   “I am going to be mugged. I showed hard cash in the wrong place.”

   “Don’t worry, this girl can fight. Fuck me gently, you should see my speciality move.”

   I wish she had not said that. In this life, I was a virgin. I had only been alive about a year and had no real interest in women, just getting back at the Creators and destroying their minions and abominations.

   It was not like when I was a virgin in my real life, when I was an inventor helping out the mechaniks. That had been a raw feeling. I had hated being a virgin. Desperate to have sex. Frantic to know what lovemaking was like. Feeling ashamed for being a virgin when all my friends were not. Not realising they were lying about their conquests and that they were virgins too.

   This time it was different. Yes, I did want her. Sex. Maybe. However I wanted that to be just the start. I wanted everything with this woman. With this luscious female, I wanted to fall in love and live happily ever after and I had only met her this day.

   Sex without romance, you ask?

   I am not a person, see. Actually, I am lots of people, men and women. That is not the point, though. There is no romance in my soul. I feel less than a normal human does.

   Some may call me a monster and I might just be that.

   “When we get to the alley you go out in front, get to the other end as fast as possible. That will be the safest place to be.”

   She did as bid. I heard a low whistle as she passed the half way mark. It was Shunt, a street rat. He sometimes foraged the bins in the alleys. He was warning me he saw something. He was going through a bin right now but was totally aware of what was going on around him

   All too soon it became clear. An attacker at either end of the alley.

   The attacker my end looked around, he could not see me. He could see the street rat, he could see the lady engaging the other mugger but he could not see me. He raced for the street rat. They are the eyes of the city. He would know where I was at and with a little persuasion, he would give me up.

   As he passed me, I came out of the shadows. The cosh hit him in the back of the head, sparks flying. I had not hit him too hard. This was not a professional mugger. This was a local on the lookout for the main chance. A way of maybe getting out of the slums.

   He would not be getting up for five minutes. The cosh was like that. Knocked someone unconscious or stunned them. With the magic added it would knock them out every time.

   I was expecting the lady to be in trouble but she was not. She laying on top of her opponent and her left hand was slamming the wooden stake into his side, time after time.

   As I passed the street urchin I dropped a shilling, one, two, three. Three shillings would be enough to feed him for a while, maybe get him board and lodgings if he wanted it. I could have dropped him a sovereign but that would have only got him killed.

   “Thanks, Sparky,” came the whisper.

   When I got to her, my lady, I stopped her hand and gave her a hand to get up.

   “Oh, I have killed him!” She burst into tears.

   I took his hand and felt for a pulse.

   “No, he is alive. You beat him up bad but he will survive.”

   She looked so grateful to me for finding this out, even though I was lying. Humans find killing difficult. It messes with their heads. Better for this buxom beauty not to know she had just savagely topped a man.

   I got her a street away and looked her up and down. Beautiful yes, but with blood on her dress. Could not do much about that. My clothes might fit her but they were in my room. I told her to go to my front door and knock. “When the landlady opens the door give her this sovereign and tell her it is for Sparky’s rent. That will put her in a good mood and she will show you up to my room. Knock once every minute, so I know you are there. I will then open the door for you.”

   She asked why I was not going to go through the front door with me. I just smiled and was off.

   When I checked the room, all my security measures were in place. I heard a knock. I took the bolt out of the crossbow and fired it to loosen the tension on the string. I then opened the door.

   She gave me a little piece of paper and pushed past me into the room, looking at everything with great curiously. I examined the bit of paper. It was a receipt for one pound from the landlady to be deducted from future rent.

   My lady, or that is what I hope for, was walking around the room picking things up, looking at my clothes. She even examined the crossbow and took it down from its hooks and sighted it, probably wanting such an item.

   I have to say, I ignored her. Just for a bit. I took out the silver stake. Looked normal to me. The silver collar though, I could not understand. It held no strings and could not be used a throwing weapon.

   I took out the tiny globe again and it radiated magic all around the collar and then fiercely at one point. There, almost imperceptible, was a tiny stud.

   “Sit down and I will tell you what I have learned.” She just stared. I think she was sobering up but maybe she did not trust me yet . . . and that was fair.

   I too, did not trust people easily.

   In my line, hunter/killer, you had to be careful. There was already a hundred-pound bounty on my head, capture only. That was a truly massive amount, you could buy a street of slum properties with that sort of money. Not a big street but you could.

   All the Creators wanted to see what made me tick, literally. Most of them thought I was alive using clockwork magic, which was not true. There was no clockwork in me. My own Creator, Doctor Gory, wanted me back to examine me. She had never made a living creature from a dead one before or since.

   “The lady who had these items was a Vampyre hunter.”

   “Like me?” The woman asked.

   “Before we go on. What is your name.”

   “You are Sparky, I am Avalonia. Most people call me Ava,” she said simply. I think she was more trusting since I said the other, the murdered woman, was a hunter of Vampryes.

   “Well, Ava, I think this woman took the drug Eternity and became in her own mind, a Goddess. She was hunting creatures as a Goddess. Normally on Eternity, the users still do mundane things from their previous life. Work, clean, eat, sleep. This is so the body of the user does not die. Like with that drug last year that the Cult of the Green Earth people were taking, Ambrosia.”

   She was still staring. I was starting to think I had done something wrong.

   “Once they took that, they were running through fields, at one with the earth, a part of the planet. Everything was beautiful in the worlds they went to, when taking that drug. It only lasted an hour though. After that they needed another fix. They would do anything for another fix. Give their body to another for sexual purpose, however depraved, steal, even kill. What they did not do is eat. The urge to get another dose overrode the body’s signals saying they needed food. Unless someone else fed them while they were tripping, they usually died.”

   “So, this drug factors that in. Makes them do the things the body needs. That is marvellous because this is a one dose drug,” she affirmed.

   “Yes, it is a synthetic drug. I think it was made by the drug barons up in Dee. It must have taken a lot of time to carefully make such a special drug.”

   “You said they normally do mundane tasks, is Zelda doing things differently?” Her voice was breathy, a single strand of her hair was straying from under her hat in a most delightful fashion.

   Zelda? Ah, that was the name of the victim.

   “From her dreamworld on the intoxicant, she has given her normal self a hobby of hunting creatures, probably the same creatures she is hunting as a Goddess. It might have given her Goddess-self more information on the creatures to be hunted and how to slay them.”

   “Or,” Ava interrupted, pushing the hair back under the hat, “or what she is doing in her dreamworld is so important to her it is bleeding into her own world, giving the body a hobby.”

   “Hey, I like that. Good thinking.” It was good thinking, a different way of thinking to mine. “The fact remains she knows the difference between creatures of the undead. She is hunting Vampyres not vampires.”

   She just stared at me as if I was pissed.

   “I must explain. There are many types of vampires. The different types come from all the myths about their kind on other worlds. In this case it is vampire spelt with a Y instead of an I. In the original myth there were half vampire and half human. The ones on this world however are made out of live humans. This type are weaker than normal vamps. What tells me that . . . Zelda was hunting this type, is the silver. Vampyres with a Y hate silver. It is one of their weaknesses.”

   “Don’t all vampires hate silver? It burns them.”

   “That is supposedly because it is a pure metal, very pure. I am not sure that is true but it does a lot of damage to this type of vampire. True vampires on this world hate gold, again supposedly the purest of metals.”

   “Ah, now I get it. What with the silver stake and collar, it must be that sort of vampire she was hunting. But how do we know that this vampire is that sort. The one who killed her and the others?”

   “Mutilation. Normal vampires bite to feed. They half drain their victim of blood and leave. They were made by almost killing them and then weaning them onto blood to bring them back to full life. The sort of vampire she was hunting has been made insane by violence until they are nearly dead and then had blood poured into their bellies by a hose through the mouth. They, like their Creators, are insane. They find a victim, mutilate them, drink half their blood and go back to their den. After committing an act of hideous violence their thoughts are calmed, at least for a while. About a week. After that the insane thoughts of carnage come back to them and they cannot help but commit another atrocity. It is a cycle of madness and brutality.”

   “It was a week between each attack . . .” She was looking at me as if I was Godlike. Her breathing was hard and heavy, her bosom rising and falling in the bodice of that dress.

   “A silver stake thrust at their chest and pushed in will bleed them to death.” I passed her the metal stake. “If it touches their heart they will explode into dust. If they are bled to death, by taking a limb, their body crumbles leaving only bones with strips of gristly flesh. Zelda had this silver collar. I thought at first you threw it at the Vampyre. Once it went around the neck of a such a creature, the neck would vanish into dust and the rest of the body would die. It is not such a device after all, not like a noose or lariat that needs skills to use. Instead, it is simply thrown and it will close around the throat of the nearest creature. It will do no harm to a human but to a werewolf or a vampire of the type we are hunting it will kill them instantly.”

   “So, we have clues now,” she said, reclining on my bed. “It is the same sort of vampire . . . but nothing more.”

   I laid the last fact out carefully for Ava: “The ticket. Why was it special? It was recent and a person on Eternity would not have special items, just mundane tasks. I think Zelda had found the creature’s lair and so she was killed.”

   My final explanation was to no avail. She was fast asleep.

   The next day we got a tram. I had slept on the floor. I did like a large lass but my bed was not broad and she had taken it all up by herself. Sleeping on the floor made no difference to me though. I had slept on the hard ground many a time, during my escape.

   It had been worth it. To see her hair in the morning, great blonde tresses, wonderful to behold.

   Our destination was to be Finch Green. When we arrived, Ava looked at me as if I knew exactly where to go. I looked around. I had never been here before although I had heard descriptions of the place.

   It was all housing, nothing more. A shop here and there to service the houses, a café every few streets.

   “Go north.” I finally understood.

   You see a Vampyre’s den or nest would be in squalor. It would have a cellar for hiding in during the day. All vampires hated sunlight, whatever the breed. In the daytime they would sleep with their halfbloods. The men and women they had turned. Another weaker form of vampire but one that would follow the traits of its master. A vampire halfblood could go out in the light but tended to stay close to the maker and act as their makers did.

   So a Vampyre halfblood would hate silver and a normal vampire halfblood would hate gold.

   There were no slums in Finch Green. They were all nice semi-detached houses. They did not have gardens. That would be an extravagance with the amount of room in the city. Only rich people had gardens and then only little ones.

   We walked north until we reached the boundary of the city.

   “What is your line?” I asked of Ava, enquiring about her employment.

   “I am a battery,” was her simple reply.

   “You are a what?”

   “A battery, a magic battery. When mechaniks use charged tools, they ask me to help. When the tools lose their power, I recharge them. The same for spells and spellcasters. I get a lot of work with the Cult of the Green Earth. They cast spells or think they do. Casting spells means using up a lot of energy in a person’s body. I recharge that energy. I also recharge items when they have run down.”

   “I use ‘tricity,” I confided in her. I thought it safe. She was hunting with me. “My hunting skills are with lightning weapons. I am an inventor too. The things I have invented need sparks or lightning or ‘tricity to make them work?”

   “Do you do sinus? Are you one of the sinus-tists?” She was breathing heavily again and I did not think it was the walk. She was getting excited.

   “At the moment I use clockwork magic and steam. I am as good as a mechanik. To do sinus I would have to see their inventions of designs and diagrams. They are lost to us now. They went down with The Ark.”

   “Some of the Creators are supposed to use sinus,” she breathed. “They can use ‘tricity like you.”

   I had heard of only one that used that. Doctor Gory, my maker. Oh, she used ‘tricity all right. It had run through my brain for months, maybe even years.

   There it was! Past the border of the city.

   The border was not a wall or a dome or anything like that. It was a simple line. Past that line, about a mile was a castle.

   “We can’t get to that. We cross the line and we are in the wilderness. That’s where the Veterans live.” She was fearful and rightfully so. The Veterans were the wild folk that had not been picked by the punkawathas for learning to be city folk.

   I could understand her nervousness. No city person wanted to risk going outside.

   The Veterans were savage hunter/gatherers. They were not scared of the wild beasts nor even the abominations like the werewolves. The Veterans had descended from the warriors of the Ark, the armed forces that were supposed to protect the sinus-tists. Or so the myth says.

   Not only were the Veterans out there, there was all manner of beasts, natural and unnatural. I had met some when fighting werewolves or zombies or gargoyles. I had met Veterans too but I was just as tough as them.

   They called me The Vampire Hunter from back when I chased down and killed Godfrey the Ancient. He was not that ancient, about two hundred years old. The first one created by Otto the Bloodthirsty.

   Godfrey had outlived his Creator master and had been hunting the villages for food, drinking deep of any females he found. Godfrey only took women’s blood, never males. He turned a few into halfbloods. Those were the first I killed. This seemed to upset Godfrey for some reason.

   After that he was hunting me and I was hunting him. It was like a dance, both of us circling the other, trying to get an advantage.

   I had killed Godfrey eventually. I had used a woman as bait.

   Don’t look at me like that!

   Godfrey did not kill women. Vampires do not drink more than half a victim’s blood. Drinking it all kills a vampire. The young greedy vampires do not last long. When a vampire drinks too deep and the victims die so does the vampire.

   He killed males that threatened him but he had never killed a woman. The worse he had done was make them, turn them into halfblood vampires.

   The woman did not mind being bait either when I explained. I gave her a sack of tung beans for doing it.

   That night, she slowly walked out of her village and sat down with her back to the tree at the cross-paths. Godfrey had descended upon her like an ogre on a goblin. He drank his fill and, all the while, the woman had not made one noise.

   When he saw me, he tried to move but he could only do so sluggishly. The woman had drunk guano juice and it was in her bloodstream when the vampire drank. He wobbled, he tried to turn and nearly fell. He raised an arm which was annoying. It got in the way of my sword play and ended up with his arm getting cut off.

   I had been going for the beheading but I found this was just as good. Blood pumping furiously out of the stump where his arm had been. I could have beheaded him right there and then but there was no need.

   In seconds he died and his flesh fell away from his body. The flesh was turning into dust as it broke away from his body. In less than a minute the only thing remaining was a bleached skeleton.

   “We cannot cross. It would be suicide,” I heard from Ava, bringing me back from my thoughts.

   The castle may only be a mile away but the second we stepped over the line we would be visible to all the birds, beasts and Veterans on the other side. More so, the monsters.

   The monsters created were often put out of the cities by their Creators. If they had no further use for them, or if the monster had not been made correctly, they were abandoned to the wilds. Creators buried their mistakes usually but some, like me, managed to escape. Others were just cast out.

   The Veterans had their villages and their warriors to guard them, hunt for them, protect them from the strangest of creatures.

   Once a monster was cast out of a city it could no longer see the city from whence it came. That was the magic of the cities, something learnt from the punkawathas, to keep the city folk safe from the Veterans.

   The air here was good, the light too. It was far enough away from the trams and the railways so the smog did not descend. Maybe they had better fuel for their fires and their cooking as well, I did not know. Smoke was coming from chimneys but it was not adding to a fog.

   The pavements were wide and clean with a strip of grass between them and the roads. Trees were planted every twenty feet on this strip of grass. Tall straight trees with pine like foliage.

   Trees in a city were strange. People normally did not trust them. They were of the wilds, something outside, something sinister. Here though they were planted beside the pavement.

   “Think it out,” I told her. “Here, there is no tram running to that castle, nor a train, not even one owned by a Creator.”

   “A tunnel. It has to be. So, the Creator can pass from the city to her castle.” I deduced.

   Nearly all the Creators were female. I did not know why. Maybe it was something to do with reproducing. Again, I did not know.

   “Yes, a tunnel. If it were an invisible passage, it would break the magic of this part of the city. It would mean this part of the city would become visible to outsiders. Magic versus magic, loss on both sides. So how do we find this tunnel?” I asked Ava, more to bounce ideas off her rather than expecting a reply.

   Ava decided jumping up and down would solve the problem. It did, sort of. It showed us that below was hollow. It also got everyone and their wives staring at us.

   I looked in a straight line. A row of houses. A tunnel could curve and wander, that is true. The most effective way of digging one though was in a straight line.

   That too was strange. A row of houses, terraced not semi-detached. I walked towards them. Puffing to keep up with me, Ava followed.

   I was nearly all the way to the terraced houses when I stopped. I could see them all but nothing was different about any. They were not slum dwellings, they were quite nice. Clean, painted, their window sills not cracked or anything like that .The glass in the windows was not smashed or covered in wood.

   “What am I missing?” I asked myself aloud.

   I often did this. I was a man who walked alone usually. So, I talked to the man who was most intelligent – me.

   “There, just under the roof on the fourth from the left. A blue marking. I have seen that mark before.”

   It was only when she pointed it out to me that I saw it. It was shadowed by the roof. A blue marking with lines that ran around each other making the whole look like a blue ball of string.

   “That is one of the markings used by the Cult of the Green Earth. It symbolises the universe being connected to all things,” I was informed by Ava.

   The Creators did not believe in anything that the Green Earth cultists believed in. Nor did the Cult of the Old Ones that made the punkawathas into gods and prophesied their return.

   I did know certain Creators had followers. To hide from sight but give the followers signs of where to go, they did use certain symbols. Could this be one of those?

   “I will go in alone,” I told Ava. “This is one of Madame Jenna’s hideouts. Who knows what sort of creatures will be hidden here as guards?”

   “But––”

   “Madame Jenna tortures people. She is a Creator. That is how she makes her abominations. With most Creators there is more than a little insanity. Jenna, on the other hand, has lost the plot. Add to that a true sadist and you have a very dangerous woman.”

   Ava did not look happy.

   “I can look after myself, you know.”

   My thoughts were different.

   I was an unstoppable force. I did not even know if I could die. Fighting was my life. Charging into battle. I was that soldier.

   And hunter and hero too, if you come to it. Or bits of me were.

   This is how I knew something about everything. I retained knowledge from every single part of me that had ever been used. This included the parts that had been used but had to be discarded as they could not revive.

   “You stay here and, when I am sure all is safe, I will put a glow ball in that window.” I pointed to a window below the glyph on the wall.

   I then walked away from her. Better this than her meeting an ogre hiding in the house. Or a wolfman. Both of those are nasty. The wolfman is a human trapped inside the body of a wolf. It took a lot skill to make those. They were like the werewolf I killed in Hex. They were upright like humans but with wolf faces and paws. They never changed back into a human form like werewolves did. A werewolf spent three nights as a wolf and the rest of the month as a normal human being. A wolfman was trapped as a man with wolf features.

   I calmly walked around to the back of the houses. With my brown bowler hat and silver topped cane I was not out of place in this area. I saw a Crusher and walked the other way for a street then took an alleyway to come back and look at the rear of the buildings.

   The Crusher had gone. Walking his beat.

   To the back of the house I went: one, two, three, four from the left, now my right. I went to the window and slid in my thin workman’s knife. It cut the sash and I pushed the window up and I was in.

   Quiet! A sound like any other. Total peace and quiet. You could not even hear a mouse fart, it was so silent.

   In stalking mode now, I checked the rooms. They all had doors leading off. That was not normal. In this sized house it should be living room, dining room, kitchen, maybe a hall. Extra doors should not be leading off the living and dining rooms. That would take them into the next houses, right and left.

   I took the left. Again, utter silence. Again, many doors. It was then I caught on.

   This was not a terrace of reasonable sized houses. This was a terrace for one long house. One person owned the whole terrace and had converted it. Yes, here was a small workshop, here a study, here a kitchen for cutting up samples and maybe human body parts.

   The upstairs would be linked rooms too. All bedrooms? I did not know. It was possible. Creators did have followers.

   Madame Jenna had her followers. Many were very unhappy people. They wanted to be something else, something better and Jenna could provide this. She showed the face of a loving, caring Creator who made simple people into creatures that could live forever.

   Handsome gentlemen vampires, dragons, powerful demons and devils.

   The truth was different, though.

   Jenna tortured all she could, twisting them from once normal people into horrific beasts.

   She made no dragons, nor demons, nor devils. She simply was not powerful enough. Werewolves that were savage she could do, rather than beasts wanting to run through the countryside. Vampires whose only desire was to mutilate in a vain attempt to rid themselves of their own memories of being tortured. Zombies who hated the living and wanted to spill their blood. Maenads who inspired orgies and when truly insane or totally intoxicated, ripped men to pieces. Wolfmen who could rip out a person’s throat with a single bite.

   There a noise! A guard maybe, come from a cellar. It was near the back of the house. Still in stalking mode I quickly made my way to where that noise occurred.

   Only to find Ava had been lock-breaking again.

   She was in the kitchen looking proud of herself so I did not berate her for not waiting for the all-clear. It would have been safer of course, my way. For her at least.

   I told her what I had found.

   She gave her take on the situation: “So, this is a small workshop area to make monsters. More below I bet. However, the main place would be the castle.”

   “Exactly. When we go below however, we might find the vampire or all manner of beasts to guard that tunnel.”

   There were a lot of doors in this long, long building but eventually we found the right one. It looked like all the others but actually opened up to stairs going down to the cellars. It was there we found him, the wolfman.

   A beast that was taller than me by a clear foot. It was built on the lines of one of the Crushers. Seven foot tall and powerfully built. Apart from a ragged pair of trousers, it was naked. Fur covered its body from the claws on its feet to the top of its head. Its paws were larger even than a Crusher’s hands and long claws extended from them.

   “Good doggy,” I said to him in the voice I used to calm animals. “Good doggy. Want to play fetch the stick?” I showed him my cane.

   The wolfman let out a fearsome growl. Doggy apparently did not want to play fetch the stick.

   “How do you kill a wolfman?” came a whispered question from Ava. “I have the silver stake.”

   “I think that is just werewolves . . .” I pulled the silver collar out of my pocket and threw it him, his elongated jaw snapped at the collar but it was already circling his throat. Nothing happened.

   It was annoying him, though. He was snapping at nothing but air. His furry face was showing no pleasure.

   “Hit him on the snout with a rolled-up newspaper,” giggled Ava. “I always did that when my dog shat on the carpet.”

   The wolfman protested this badinage by lifting his head and howling. That could be a signal, best be moving.

   I tapped my head backwards and it knocked my neck support. I pulled the sword pommel from the top of my coat. As it came free, slivers of metal dropped into place, now the handle was in place, now the first half and then it was complete. I gave it a good shake and the last sliver dutifully moved into place, locking it into being a good strong sword.

   I took up a two-handed stance. This was a big beasty. Claws flexed, the toothy snout snapped at the air. This creature was psyching himself up for battle.

   Ava advanced silver stake in her hand but I pushed her back. She had no chance in a battle like this. She knocked me aside and ran at the beast and leapt. It was a wonder of a leap, five foot she covered until she slammed her body against his, her mass hitting him high on the chest thanks to her leap. The beast stepped back and toppled under her weight.

   It was snapping its jaws trying to connect with her flesh but she was ahead of it slamming the silver stake in his side again and again. Her body was at its chest level and its snapping jaws were missing and then slowing and then gasping, blood now leaking from its mouth, its ears, its snout.

   It was dying . . . and still the silver stake was being thrust into its side.

   “You are a very bad doggy!” She was shouting at the wolfman as it expired.

   “Move!” I shouted loudly and she rolled off of it and my blade slashed down beheading it.

   “You stole my kill!” She declared angrily.

   “It was your kill,” I replied calmly, not wanting to take anything away from her. “I was making sure it never came back . . . as anything. You never know with Creators . . . they can try and cross a wolfman with a vampire and so a beast dies and comes back to life. Always behead any creature you kill.”

   “But it was a good kill? That was my special skill, Ava’s Flying Crush. When you are as cuddly as me, you better use it to your advantage.”

   “It was a very good kill. I could not have done better myself.”

© COPYRIGHT Michael Sheppard 2024

Reblog for next chapter

[countzeroor]

I've been thinking long and hard about the BDS Microsoft Boycott call. The request focused on Microsoft Games, on the basis that, in theory, that's the easiest part of the Microsoft financial ecosystem for people to disconnect from in order to send a message. This includes pushing people (including parents) to uninstall and get their kids to stop playing Minecraft.

First off, the way the game industry is now, unfortunately, is that game developers or even full divisions of larger companies that underperform - or even just indy developers who self publish and underperform, just get shut down and everyone gets fired. Even if we boycott South of Midnight as part of the BDS movement and clearly communicate that message, what's more likely to happen is the company would be shut down, everyone would be fired, and a bunch of alt-right chuds would ignore the BDS boycott and call this a triumph of "Get Woke, Go Broke". They might even try to co-opt the movement as a half alliance of convenience, half desire to redirect the movement for antisemitic ends, with no actual interest in the plight of the Palestinian people.

There was an opportunity here to point people towards alternatives outside of either abandoning the software entirely, or alternative programs people who want to boycott can use to abandon something that they didn't think they could.

First, and this feels weird to say, Minecraft is something that doesn't have a lot of alternative replacements - it's a sandbox that allows children to indulge their imagination to create large scale ambitious projects that can't be replicated the same way as, for example, Lego, because they take no space in the real world, and thus you have no real world storage concerns, both in terms of space and in terms of risk of damage. The alternative to Minecraft isn't Palworld or Ark Survival Evolved. It's Roblox. And Roblox is also a bunch of dark patterns and sexual predators stacked on top of each other in a trenchcoat.

https://youtu.be/cGAXGroHZKA?si=SNfL_seTHlLTzLh4

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-roblox-pedophile-problem/

Now, on the other hand, Microsoft will happily charge you money to host a Minecraft server through them, and that puts money in the Azure division, the part that is directly aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes. But you don't have to go through Microsoft. You can run your own Minecraft server. Microsoft even tells you how to do it.

https://help.minecraft.net/hc/en-us/articles/360058525452-How-to-Setup-a-Minecraft-Java-Edition-Server

So, cancel your Minecraft Worlds subscription, and roll your own server. You can even set it up so it stays in your network, so your kid's friends have to come over to use it (or so it stays in the family).

Next up - Microsoft pushes OneDrive hard as part of Windows 11. They also pushed it hard on Windows 10. They insist that it's the best and biggest way, and easiest way to backup your data. It's not. There are myriad alternatives, from Google Drive, to Dropbox, to the Apple iCloud (if you use iOS devices). And, OneDrive uses Azure Cloud services to host your data

So, disable OneDrive, and go somewhere else. I've listed several alternatives above, but if you're okay with the backup being on site, you can also build a NAS (Network Attached Storage) server to store files locally. This does have the disadvantage that if something damages your house, your kinda in trouble, though using something like Backblaze on the NAS can make up for that.

Then there's the whole Microsoft 365 suite. Azure is connected to the Microsoft Office part of the business, and they've been incorporating some of those services, like Copilot, into Microsoft 365. So, again, there are alternatives.

LibreOffice has been around for years, is free, and runs locally with no cloud hooks. You can replace Outlook with Thunderbird, or the BetterBird fork.

Finally, there are the hooks to Copilot, which also runs on Azure, which Microsoft runs in the operating system. Turn that shit off.

https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/software/how-disable-copilot-in-windows-11

Also, turn off the Bing websearch hooks as well, as those also connect to Azure.

https://www.howtogeek.com/826967/how-to-disable-bing-in-the-windows-11-start-menu/

Also, if you use DuckDuckGo, that links with Bing for part of their search results, so you may want to switch back to Google or find another search engine in the interim.

[yogs21134]

kind stranger on the internet, if u have the time and it is no inconvenience, a tutorial on how to make the yog world work would be amazing and immensely appreciated T^T

absolutely no problem! i'm here to serve :) i'm gonna explain this with the assumption you have no idea what you're doing, just so it's thorough.

so, first thing's first, go to the ATLauncher downloads page choose one of the options that's under your operating system (windows, mac, linux) then run the program it gives you. (if it's a setup version, you'll have some stuff to click through but that's pretty easy)

once you've got ATLauncher up and running, you'll want to log in with your minecraft/microsoft account (unsure if it makes you do that at first startup anymore but if it doesn't, it'll be in the Accounts tab) then head over to the Packs tab on the right

go to the search bar and look for Yogscast Complete Pack, it'll be the one with the blue and orange icon, then hit New Instance and Install. it'll come up with a bunch of optional mods, but i personally just select everything except the minimaps and morph

once that's done installing (it might take a while) go over to the Instances tab, and it'll be there. you'll want to mess with it a little bit before opening it, though. there's be a bunch of buttons under the description and that's we're gonna be

you'll definitely want to give it more memory/ram by going to Settings > Java/Minecraft and messing with the very first option. the number you'll want to set it to depends on how beefy your computer is, so make sure you know how much ram it has

after that you'll want to hit Edit Mods and disable Flatsigns, Obsidiplates, and Switches, as the launcher doesn't like to allow them to run anymore

if everything goes right, you'll be ready to import the world save. go to the download link in my (currently) pinned post, save that wherever, and since it's a rar file you may need to have 7zip or winrar to open it but i'm unsure. i personally use 7zip

go back to the ATLauncher and hit Open Folder, that'll open your instance in your file explorer. open the saves folder (or make one if you don't have one yet, 'saves' all lowercase) and extract your world(1).rar into there. you should be left with a folder simply called "world"

go ahead and run the pack and see if everything works! i have noticed a few other errors that come up, so:

if it's giving you an error along the lines of "two dimensions have the same id," try heading to the config folder (same directory as the saves) and find TwilightForest, open that and scroll down until you see # dimension, then change the number from 7 to 250 (or whatever else works)

if it's giving you an error along the lines of "can't connect to [whatever ip/url]" try editing the config of OpenBlocks and removing all radio stations

if it's something else entirely, try re-running/brute forcing it a couple times then come back and i'll see if i can figure it out i hope this helps you and anyone else that happens to need it!! don't hesitate to ask for clarification on anything :)