#over things that are currently developing with lots of conflicting information

[vicsuragi]

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[apas-95]

The last post you re logged about arrestability and the Palestine Action network is something I've been thinking about a lot, and I feel really stuck on. It feels like any movement in the imperial core that wants to take actual direct action is going to find itself targeted by feds, but the ways that you can protect against that severely preclude it's ability to grow and find new recruits. Like, activism in the labor sphere can do more direct things because it doesn't have to be illegal, but I cant imagine that that will stay the case once a political labor party that's actually shutting things down. How does one make a mass movement that takes direct action but is able to prevent itself from getting shut down? I don't know, do you have any thoughts on this?

It's been done a hundred times before in the face of the same pressures, so the first order of business should be studying and learning from the experiences of successful labour movements.

Putting that aside, the key things are, in whatever words, militancy and deniability. By militancy, I mean the organisational understanding that you are in direct conflict with the bourgeois state (at a higher or lower intensity) and that your immediate priority should be making yourself immune to attack, followed only afterwards by taking offensive action. Militancy, then, means the recognition that the ultimate aim of the movement is the complete material domination and destruction of institutions that currently field armies and police networks. From the very first step, from the organisational nucleus, it needs to be understood that you are engaging in a pitched battle from within the enemies camp - which leads to the second key item, deniability.

Deniability, here, largely means compartmentalisation. Essentially every successful revolutionary movement has had a separation between the aboveground, legal struggle, and the underground, illegal struggle. To a certain degree, this is a genuinely covert or clandestine effort - undisclosed armed groups known only to a select few in the parent organisation, attributed funding through the laundering of the parent organisation. It is both essential that any armed cell is dependent entirely on the wide, integrated mass workers movement and that this cell is not actually widely known; hence, the parent organisation. If the cell were undisclosed but not integrated to a mass political organisation, it would not have revolutionary character, and be indistinguishable in practice from a common organised crime or terrorist group. It's ability to carry out correct actions would be incidental, and not self-correcting. If the cell had mass character but was not undisclosed, it would present a target to the bourgeois state and be destroyed. The strategy of asymmetric warfare is to strike at the enemy's undefended targets and to refuse to provide any defended targets for the enemy - this applies organisationally, too.

What needs to be stated, here, is that, given the connection to the mass movement, everything needs to be done only when the situation is correct. The size of a workers organisation necessary to support and supply even a single armed cell with laundered funding, safehouses, and information is extremely large, and will not be possible until a significant level of organisational base has been built and developed. Even once it is possible to support an armed cell, the political situation will very likely only warrant fairly low-intensity actions, like industrial sabotage. Again, though, the principal task of the militant - and the irregular fighter, the guerrilla in particular - is the preservation of one's own forces, over and above the destruction of the enemy. In real practice, there is no overabundance of caution, only hesitation - and the way to consistently and repeatedly carry out simple acts of industrial sabotage is by having three people work with the support of thirty-thousand. There can and must be a continuum of support, of different levels of action, between simply 'protest-organiser who pays dues to the aboveground labour organisation', to 'union salt who is a source of information on a worksite', to 'directly involved in organising and carrying out illegal acts'. The key metric for correct connection between the underground and aboveground sides of the movement is: if the actions of the underground were revealed, the mass base of the aboveground should be in support of it. The purpose of underground organising is not to go ahead of the people and start shooting cops (until the struggle has escalated to that intensity, and people are demanding that type of protection), it is to avoid providing a target for the bourgeois state.

At the higher levels of struggle, the existence of the underground becomes an open secret, which, with proper growth, coincides with the underground reaching a size and strength that it can begin to take up the mantle of the mass movement itself, and effectively transform itself into the parent organisation of the aboveground legal struggle. Until then, the model is that of a large political party leading a mass movement in every type of legal and semi-legal action under the sun (in strikes, civil unrest, and parliamentary campaigns), fiercely supporting those who do break the law (through legal and bail support, public campaigns, and protection), while the types of illegal actions the movement needs are carried out covertly.

TL;DR: Build a mass movement, or all you'll get are ecoterrorists and activists in prison.

[mbslost]

Another yapping session with MB yipeee!

nah in all seriousness i would like to talk about some things, now that my temper is gone.

we still remember the post on twt made by @/renhanasgf about Gato not being more inclusive, oorrrr that her poc character are ignored. (i wont talk about the real stuff from discord in this post since proofs are still gathered.)

well here i am! (sadly)

1.How many poc characters?

7 well known (or maybe more). who are those? well we'll start with Raven(tinr) or known as Selin as well, Chet Ichpujani(tinr/tpof), Strade(btd/tpof), Thomas(tpof), Jaqueline(tpof), Machete(tpof) and fucking Derek(tpof)

some of them dont have a full name (besides an alias) either because story wise it didnt mattered or because of their lore (Strade and Machete are criminals, doubt they would want a victim that escaped to expose their identity, no?) Also another detail, even some white characters do not have a last name,such as Sid(tinr), Dragon/Jace(tpof), Komodo/Mike(tpof), Chamomile(tpof), Richard(tpof) and probably some from 'Facility'.

their ethnicities are indeed unknown, either because it wouldnt really affect their story or it was avoided in case it could cause a conflict. dunno. about this i cant really talk a lot since her blogs are gone, thus i cannot dig into this matter anymore. although i believe having a hc on them is fine. ''- It is 100% okay to have ANY headcanons about my character!''-her website)

Raven was one of the well know character from Gato that is poc. her nationality is unknown due to the story (which i would recommend you to read tinr, pretty cool tbh). since her story goes deeper i would suggest you to also read her wiki (fanmade). sadly lots of stuff are now gone about her. still a lover character.

Strade. Strade is Strade. (kind of forgot what she said in the answer about his name but the wiki says ''Strade is not his actual birth name. It's similar to a placeholder name like John Doe. His birth name is unknown." still you can check out more here)

Chet Ichpujani is another character involved in tinr, a manager (i believe) at a semi-restaurant thing? in the end he offers to help Farz with his problem. pretty cool guy since he and Anthony Shore re-appeared in tpof. (picture below)

Machete, ''Machete is the newest member of the desert group. He had to prove himself worthy by performing various criminal tasks to be allowed in. Despite his recent acceptance, the rest of the group remain wary of him. His quiet demeanor and decisive actions tend to unsettle the other members. He regrets everything he's done to be admitted into the group, but he chose to stop at nothing to get revenge for his sister. He feels as though he's completely lost his identity and humanity to his "purpose"." -wiki (also a small detail, he did everything to revenge his sister)

Tom/Thomas, ''Tom is a college student, taking a media development course centered around sound design. He took a few years off high school, kind of meandering through life without an aim for a while. However, he eventually found a passion for making music. Despite tons of research and hard work, he was never really able to get his brand off the ground, so he decided to head to college to get some formal education on the subject. Late one night, as he was about to head home, he was abducted by Komodo and Dragon.'' -wiki

Jaqueline, "Jaqueline is a young trades worker learning to paint houses. She takes pride in her work and also frequently goes to the gym. Her mother pesters her to get a higher education, but she loves her current career path. Due to the friction with her family over her job, she tends to choose to spend time with friends instead. She was violently abducted by Jack in broad daylight, unlucky to have no witnesses." -wiki

therefore, there's plenty of information, plus that lost from her blogs.

2.Model minority

must agree, her work from 2016 looked alike yet, in the last years she actually showed more bodies (like types)

here are some examples:

also Strade's new model as well:

quite diverse, is it not? i am aware i didnt show others as well but if you wish to (and i actually encourage to) you can view the rest here! Lawrence, Ren, Celia (or on pinterest!)

3. Conclusion

i still believe everyone can create whatever they wish, whatever character. the details are on their part. now i could understand Gato for being upset when someone doesnt draw their character as they are (such as changing the body type, skin colour, etc) but also cant blame those who feel like being ignored (trust me, had to survive the genshin fandom).

so the characters exist, thus i dont see the problem of not being inclusive (also, as she often said, you can hc her characters, thus i believe their ethnicities are free to chose for yourself)

that's it. as for the real deal (the discord stuff) i believe it's the best more proofs come. rn i dont see her as a racist artist, but that comment in spanish does sound in fact xenophobic... well, until more context is posted, we'll see

stay safe!

[pianocat939]

Yandere Chrollo Hcs/Mini-Story

I couldn't conceal the thoughts anymore- they were eating me up so bad. I RAMBLED. LIke this feels more like an informative thing than an actual narrative style so I'm sorry lmao. It's so unorganized too.

(The entire story is based on the fic I'm working on, but with more detail on characteristics and what not.)

Tw: brief mentions of kidnapping, implied controlling behaviour, Chrollo's character is altered but is in correlation to the past I've thought of.

MC is from Meteor City, and was Chrollo's best friend. But- They end up being kidnapped, and having retreograde amnesia. (I'm not going to go into further detail just because I don't want to spoil to anyone who is currently reading my fic) Meanwhile, Chrollo is absolutely obsessed with MC. He trusted them more than anyone, and all of the sudden they disappeared.

Chrollo, who slowly grows cold-hearted without MC, starts to resent whatever happened to them. He's desperate to know what happened to them. As he first builds the troupe (As an actual gang of thieves), his personal mission is to find MC.

Some of the troupe members know this goal he has. Especially if they were friends with MC before they were kidnapped. So they try to help him in anyway possible.

A few years of searching, the troupe manages to locate MC. But when Chrollo goes to meet them, everything just falls apart. They don't remember him at all. To him, this is devastating since he had practically devoted over half of his life to them. He becomes more unstable with his internal conflicts.

Since there's no photos or records of their memories, Chrollo repeats his fondest moments with them. He is desperate to get them to remember their friendship.

The most prominent memory he will say is the time he found a near-brand new toy and gave it to them. To which MC was grateful of his search back then. This memory is also the start of his obsession (which explains why this event in particular is the most important).

Slowly, MC manages to remember their memories with him. It takes a while, honestly. Maybe a few months. But MC is incredibly happy to see him alive and well. Only for one thing to be a downfall...

MC doesn't view him romantically at all.

Well, since MC is just barely recovering their moments they really only focus on what happened. Since they were children at that point, MC holds nothing but platonic affection for him.

Chrollo, however, is down bad for MC. He would and honestly will devote himself to their life. He doesn't care for much in his life. But he does care for the one thing that made him feel any joy. Over the years they were apart, Chrollo develops an almost glorified view of MC. He thinks they can do no wrong, and anything against them is his enemy too.

Now, Chrollo will kidnap them. No questions. Of course MC is freaking out, but once they see more old friends they know they're screwed.

Moving on to more about what Chrollo will be like with MC during captivity:

In front of the troupe members, he acts very nonchalant. He won't do any more than keep their side pressed to his or have them sit on his lap.

Alone? He's fucking insane. He'll do a lot for MC. He'll do most requests for them in a way to prove his "worthiness" to stay by their side. He wants them to rely on him so he can keep them obedient to his affections. The reason I even mention this as a worshipping characteristic of him is because back when they were children, Chrollo had friends. MC, however, was like his true best friend. The one he could trust wholeheartedly no matter what. Which I think is still left behind in his mind.

Also, while he's alone: definitely more affectionate. He tends to give lots of pecks on their face or hold them close. In his most vulnerable moments, he likes to do a few nuzzles. It's like he reverts back to being the clingy friend he was all those years ago.

In a way he's possessive. My idea of him is weird. So one side, he wants to prove his worth to MC so they'll acknowledge him as they did before. But on the other side, he wants a feeling of superiority and reliability.

He talks about fate often, mostly about the connection between the two. He'll repeat at least multiple times a week that fate has led them together just as they were before. He also loves to mention that they're his and he's theirs.

...

(OK. I'm done. I rambled so much help- it's really unorganized. Nonetheless, this is the most I've written in one go in a while. So that was fun.)

(I know I altered his character quite a bit, but that's because I altered his past as well. So it kinda goes hand in hand.)

- Celina

[middlenamesage]

My least favorite or least understood stereotype about each zodiac sign

Disclaimer: Just my thoughts and observations! 🌻

Aries ♈️

They’re angry

Yeah Aries is ruled by Mars, and Mars helps us feel the anger that allows us to establish our boundaries. So not gonna say there’s nothing to this one. But to me, Aries are passionate in most of my experiences with them. People who are fake might piss them off, but otherwise the energy can actually be really chill a lot of the time when it’s healthy, because it’s authentic. Particularly angry Aries probably feel very conflicted in themselves.

Taurus ♉️

They’re boring

I guess if your idea of boring is someone that tends to wanna be physically more stationary, then yes this can hold true for someone really feeling their Taurus placements. But to me, I have never met a person with prominent Taurus influence that is boring. They notice so much about their physical surroundings and tend to have lots of weird little quirks developed in the name of protecting their resources, providing for themselves, or beauty. Very interesting people to my Scorpio Moon and Pluto. 🧐

Gemini ♊️

They’re two-faced

I think in a lot of cases where Gemini might appear to be giving conflicting information to different people or saying different things at one time vs another, it’s not an intentional effort to manipulate or be someone they’re not. They just process so much information and mentally they move so rapidly from one area of focus to another, that they might not even be giving themselves the proper time and in depth exploration to truly understand how they view something. Machiavellian Geminis do exist, but it’s more common that if Gemini seems to be showing different sides, that the duality is just how they authentically process life within.

Cancer ♋️

They’re sweet! (I think this warrants an ! because I have special insider status 🌞)

The Moon ruled crabs are protective 🦀 I know it’s not just me. You’d think this would be one of the first things discussed with Cancer, due to the images of a crab with its shell, plus the way the Moon rules over the night when it feels less safe out. Often times Cancer energy does not read as very inviting to just anyone! If the energy is unhealthy it can even be one of the most toxic in the bunch from how I see it. But don’t generally expect it either way to just be really warm and sweet to anyone. They show their nurturing side to their close kin.

Leo ♌️

They’re attention seekers

This one comes from a pretty personal place with me too, as Leo Venus and Mars. Soo many stereotypes especially about Leo Venus being an attention seeker in love. But my Leo Venus journey has actually looked way more like focusing on learning how to find self love and the ability to validate myself. Leo is a fire 🔥 sign and the objective for fire is exercising independent individuality. Yes, sometimes Leo energy is what you would clearly call the notion of true attention seeking (where it’s specifically the reactions of others that they crave). Sometimes they’re just boldly exercising their self expression though.

Virgo ♍️

They’re super organized

Some are, in ways that can be observed in their physical environments. But if you’ve ever wondered why some actually seem the exact opposite of organized in their physical environments, I believe it’s because Virgo, ruled by Mercury, is a very mental energy. They’re up in their heads trying to find order so much that it may never translate to their physical surroundings, as they may be depleting their own energy and will to act with their inner critic. Not to mention Virgo is a mutable sign, and some form of chaos tends to exist with all of them. 😆 I think my 6th house gives me some understanding of Virgos I wouldn’t have otherwise, and I feel what a mental experience it can be!

Libra ♎️

They’re balanced/fair

Lol I’m sorry I’m nitpicking something positive with this one, I’ll blame it on the South Node in Libra as this current transit has people needing to give consideration to the less evolved sides of Libra! Yes, healthy Libra energy tries to be as balanced and reciprocal as possible. That is the objective of Libra. But when at any point Libra energy is unhealthy, its keen sense of the scales can be used to intentionally tip things in their favor. Another unhealthy expression of Libra energy that we hear more is giving too much to others, but I want to bring attention to a less talked about unhealthy expression of using charm to gain more from someone than they are willing to give back to that person. Libra is ruled by Venus after all, and Venus doesn’t tend to be hesitant to accept special treatment. Finding balance is something Libra is working out over time, and it can be a challenge to find it in either direction! Sometimes we need to speak about the less healthy sides of all the signs!

Scorpio ♏️

They’re private!

Omg I just never understood this one from a personal perspective, as a Scorpio Moon. It seems maybe the people who see it this way are people who themselves aren’t very Scorpionic. Scorpio energy with its intensity might not feel safe opening up to them. But with me, while obviously not all experiences with Scorpios have been the same, there has never been a sign that has voluntarily opened up and shared about the depths of their life more rapidly, more times than I’ve experienced it with Scorpio. Depending where/how placed of course, some also make their taboos known to the general public. Pluto is both what is hidden and what is revealed, and the compulsion of Scorpio can sometimes be to reveal things, if they personally can see them. Not to mention Scorpio is co-ruled by Mars, and that’s an energy that is very up front.

Sagittarius ♐️

They can’t commit

Identifying how they personally view and understand things is very important to Sagittarius, so if they find something or someone they believe in, they could remain loyal with their views and dedication to almost a fault. I guess this stereotype comes from the way that fire is independent, and mutable signs can have fluctuating focuses. But valuing independence just means a Sag could be very happy to commit to a partner who also values it. And as Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, the fluctuation of Sagittarius as a mutable sign feels a little different to me, because Jupiter also tends to have a keen interest in establishing its worldviews.

Capricorn ♑️

They’re mean

The energy of Capricorn can be serious (although that’s also what makes some of them the most hilarious people; having developed humor as a coping mechanism to offset their seriousness) and can seem a little harsh to those expecting bubbly treatment. For this reason it tends to just feel more grounded and real to me though. Any sense of coldness that you could get from a Capricorn who has a healthy relationship with their energies does not read to me as mean! It reads as solemn and focused on realness.

Aquarius ♒️

They’re unemotional

Air as a function prioritizes intellectual and logical processing over emotional and intuitive processing, and fixed air can seem especially rigid about this. But does that mean this energy doesn’t experience all the emotions just like the rest of us? Of course not. And sometimes Aquarius can even have deep and honest philosophical conversations about their emotions. Aquarius wants to pick things apart logically and it prioritizes that form of processing to reach an understanding, but it still experiences the range of emotions that others do. And making personal emotions yet another topic they philosophize on can be a healthy thing for this energy, but an even more healthy thing to strive for is allowing the space to just sit with emotions.

Pisces ♓️

They’re chameleons

I personally haven’t observed this one much. Pisces can seem non-confrontational and agreeable, but I usually read that they keep the core essence of their authenticity across dealings with different people. It’s just that their authenticity might actually be expressed in the way that they can appreciate so many different ways to be and live. That Pisces who seems like they’re just acting interested in what you’re interested in to please you might actually be really interested in what makes you tick. Some may act chameleon-like for personal gain or only to avoid conflict, but an evolved Pisces understands that they’re one with everything so truly is interested in the views, loves, and ways of others.

[artificialpillow]

Meet Eloise!

The time has come - let’s introduce you to my OC!

I will not be writing a regular fic, so it might be a little bit harder to properly get to know her. But! There WILL be one shots, mostly about the most important events in her life and obviously some to describe her relationship with the love interest (😏).

Let’s start!

Eloise’s profile

Basic information:

Name: Eloise Veredi

Age: 17

Birthday: March 26th

Blood Type: A

Love Interest: Yuno Grinberryall

Birthplace: Outskirts of Clover, town of Guerdia

Magic: Glass Magic

Appearance:

Height: 165cm

Eyes: Dark green

Hair: Shoulder-length, wavy blonde hair with curtain bangs. She mostly ties it in a bun as it bothers her during training or work.

Clothing: Eloise values comfort, so her clothing generally allows a wide range of movement. As a commoner she does not own lots of fancy clothes (however she gets some when she starts working with the Magic Knights). Her favourite outfit contains a dark gray high-neck shirt, brown pants and leather knee boots. Her favourite piece of clothing is a green cape, which she received as a gift from her dad. Eloise rarely wears dresses, but with time she grows fond of them and puts them on for special occasions

Special features: With her magic being glass magic, she used to get hurt a lot while training. Currently, on her neck, arms and the right side of her abdomen are noticeable scars caused by her past lack of control over spells. Eloise’s face is partly covered with freckles, her ears are pierced - she wears small, silver earrings.

Personality:

Eloise is an introvert, however she enjoys spending time with people she knows. Due to her being a commoner she is cautious in making acquaintances as she fears being belittled by higher-ups. On the other hand, she appears confident while fulfilling her duties and doing things she’s skilled at. She prefers working on her own and is not a great team player. She may appear as reckless.

Eloise hates conflicts and is incredibly patient; however when the line is crossed, she bursts out with anger and lets all the emotion out. She has no problem with apologizing but would only do it when she actually believes she was wrong. She rarely confronts anyone, rather keeps comments to herself.

Despite not showing it so much, Eloise is emotional and quickly grows fond of people (the hardest part is actually meeting them). She finds it difficult to let go of things important to her and holds grudges when she gets hurt.

She tends to overthink and assume other peoples’ intentions. She is quick in judgement, but when proven otherwise she eventually changes her opinion.

Background:

Eloise is a daughter of Delano and Ann Veredi, known craftsmen. Her parents and her grandfather, Gerald, ran a business based on agricultural tools trading. As a child she would travel with them around Clover to find new clients and sell merchandise. One of the places they visited regularly was the Hage village, where Eloise met Asta and Yuno. She quickly befriended Asta, and played with him a lot. Her relationship with Yuno was not well developed, as the boy was too shy and guarded; therefore she did not know much about him. After her grandpa’s death, Delano came up with improving their products with magic. At this point regular citizens couldn’t afford to buy them, so the family started visiting the capital and wealthier towns. Eloise lost contact with Asta and Yuno completely. During one of her stays in the capital, she happened to see a Captain scolding an injured Magic Knight. Not so much later she heard an older mage bullying a squadmate for his status. At that moment, Eloise decided not to take part in the entrance exam.

When she was 13, she wanted to focus on her magic and stopped travelling with her parents. She would spend hours in the forest, trying to learn how to control the only spell she knew how to cast - The Glass Daggers. Due to her lack of control, Eloise would often get injured and come home with ripped clothes, and wounds that left visible marks on her body. Through the years she had encountered many strange creatures and step by step learned how to tackle them. At some point she became and expert and would take care of magically influenced animals and plants around the town.

Eloise never had close friends. She got on well with her classmates, but never considered them that important in her life. Her lack of closeness with people her age did not bother her, she knew how to entertain herself on her own and maintained good relationships with older and younger members of her community.

One shots background:

One day, when Eloise was figting magic boars in the forest, she suddenly got shot down. She found out that the Golden Dawns' knoghts arrived to take care of the problem on their own. When told to go home, she showed them her method for dealing with these animals. Mimosa, in awe of the girls knowledge, suggested taking her to the capital and introducing her to the Wizard King. He proposed that Eloise stays in the capital and teaches the Magic Knights her methods. (That's where the one shots start!)

Fun facts:

She has a habit of speaking too loud

She would often talk to herself

Her parents like to call her ”Apple pie”

She gets easily attached to objects

She loves teasing

At some point Eloise finds out, that with her glass magic she can cast a reverse spell and fight with sand

When asked about her scars, she jokes that she fell out of a window

Eloise does not know how to properly fly a broom, as she never really travelled outside of her town

She loves cooking but only knows how to prepare basic meals

She easily gets bored

[alilich]

the bachelor pitch website, recreated

this official website with a pitch for bachelor route was found on jan 2nd and then promptly sniped by IPL, without us getting a good wayback machine copy. i've been working on restoring it, and at this point i think it's rather faithful to the original and worthy sharing!

not perfect YET - namely, the mobile version kinda sucks, - but i'll be looking to improve it over the upcoming weekend! (more info under the cut)

some liberties have been taken in developing this page:

first of all, all source code has purged, and the website was rewritten from scratch - this is to avoid copyright conflict with readymag, the website builder IPL used. such services often allow exporting code, but only limit it to business clients and usually forbid editing the exported code in any way

the mobile version seemingly wasn't a thing that IPL considered with this single-page pitch/"business card" kinda website, but i'll still try to get it to work - my main goal is to ensure all assets load in a harmonic way, while IPL's original website was skipping some of them on mobile

unused assets/disabled elements were not restored. i honestly don't really want to tangle through readymag's messy messy ripped code to find out how were they supposed to look like. also, all of them are developer portraits with their names and contact information, and i don't know which of these people are public personas and which arent :^)

a little "about this page" button was added, including my contacts for incase anyone wants to tell me anything important, or (HOPEFULLY NOT) IPL will have problems with this website being present and would like to ask me to remove it

the chosen by IPL fonts were restored - i'm not sure if the saved .html file that i possess didn't preserve them, or were the fonts simply failed to load on some platforms..? either way...

AND ALSO, if you happen to have screenshots of the PC version, feel free to DM me, and i'll be happy to tweak the layout for better historical correctness!

FINALLY, currently i'm using for reference a saved .html shared by abyssal + screenshots shared by lillia, both on pathomodding discord - so thanks a lot to them because otherwise i would definitely not have enough patience for this project lol!

[wordsnstuff]

Hiya! Just wondering, what unusual and unique ways have helped you get out of a writer's creative block?

Let's talk *briefly* about writer's block.

Yes, this will be long, but I think it will help you.

It's been a long time since I was in a regular posting schedule for this blog, and that is upsetting to me (and many of you, I'm aware). For a significant chunk of that time, I considered writer's block to be the primary reason for this, but looking back on the nearly three years I've spent attempting over and over to return to the schedule and routine I once maintained, I have accepted that writer's block was never the problem. Not the way I thought.

I have, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, always thought of writer's block as if it's a tangible condition or something that happens to you, like a cold. That conclusion always prompted me to seek a solution (for instance, motivational content or exterior inspiration or anything that would enhance my capacity for self discipline). Because I thought of it as something that just developed naturally, I focused very little on the root of the issue and consequently it never seemed to improve.

For most of us, the past three years have ranged from severely abnormal to deeply traumatic, and though a lot of mythology around the process of art and inspiration tells us that conflict and pain inform a good portion of creativity, I have to admit that none of what the world has been through recently has made me want to write. When you and everyone you know have been in a survival mindset for several years, the seemingly trivial pleasure of creating fiction or sharing content about the process feels overwhelming. Every time I've returned to this space that I created long before experiencing any of this turmoil, especially because this turmoil occurred during the dawn of my adulthood, it has felt like a silly attempt at denial.

My writer's block, and I'm sure many others', was not simply a case of burnout or lack of inspiration. It's not that I had been pushing myself too hard without allowing for reasonable time for rest and recharging my mind, or that I simply ran out of ideas or reasons to want to continue. Even when you have the deepest of passion for a craft, you will always be human and therefore always affected by your environment and the events in your life. When you find yourself unable to put the pen to the paper, instead of asking what you can do to change that, ask why you're struggling in the first place. Focus on the cause, not the effect.

For me, a lot of my difficulty with writing has come from my environment and the mindset it has put me in. I am currently in university, so whether I like it or not, I have to write here and there and pull myself together to be able to do that. Every time I do so, I wonder why I can't enforce that same authority on myself for my personal projects, and it's because, for a long while, my environment has not been conducive to that effort. I haven't had the control over my schedule and responsibilities that I used to have, and finding a balance between these responsibilities and my personal goals has has a learning curve. All of these circumstances, for better or worse, have affected my mental state and my ability to write.

I did not have the freedom or even the energy to put in practice the exercises that helped me before, and as a result I haven't been writing. Coming out of that struggle hasn't been a matter of waiting for things to change or get better, it's been putting my energy toward a new process of trial and error. Since accepting that my new reality is here to stay, the priority has been finding new ways to work around it and specifically, work with it. This acceptance can require a lot of difficult reflection, and this can reach beyond your desire to write and into your desire to live a good life in general. It can feel silly or humiliating or patronizing to approach this reflection from the very bottom of things, and this includes the basics.

It may seem silly to consider the basics when the problem feels so extreme, but when you're consistently forgetting the casual maintenance of your mind and body, you will consistently find yourself failing to accomplish much beyond the bare minimum. If you struggle with mental health, this will be even more evident. Basic things like hydration, diet, sleep, movement, interaction, and joy will always be the most effective place to start when addressing why you cannot write. Once you have verified that these needs are met, then the presence of a deeper problem will reveal itself, but you'll never know if that's the case unless you check the other boxes.

So, you've checked the basics and they're all fine but you're still experiencing writer's block. Have you made time in your daily schedule for intentional rest? Are you coming home at the end of a long day and jumping straight into writing or keeping up with your duties at home or simply falling in front of a screen for a few hours? None of these things are rest. Distracting yourself with noise or housekeeping is not rest, and when it's all you do after a full day of other responsibilities, you haven't truly spent a moment with yourself finding fulfilling joy or relaxation. Yes, they can be compelling and very difficult habits within your routine to let go of, especially if you struggle to function without something occupying the back of your mind, but rest is extremely important to the creative process. If you like to scroll online a little bit or watch an episode of your comfort show after you get home to unwind, that's great. But in order to truly take advantage of your free time, try to optimize it by being intentional about the way you're experiencing it. Try not to fall into a routine of distraction because that isn't rest and it won't satisfy any of your needs.

Have you incorporated things into your routine that will contribute to your motivation to write? I don't mean you should put Stephen King quotes as your desktop screensaver or watch videos of people writing to make you want to participate. Those things help some people and that's great, but consuming things that make you think or bring you pleasure like books and well written movies or shows or music or podcasts can be just as impactful as anything else you do for your creative process. It's not just about what you do, it's about how others inspire you, and it's one thing to say you love books and reading and learning, and it's another to actually do them every day like you would wash your face or brush your teeth.

Whether you write as a hobby or an aspiration or a job, the creative process remains the same. It's important to remain consistent with the things you do to maintain your ability to write as much as it is to remain consistent with your actual writing routine. As a general rule of thumb, writer's block doesn't come from nowhere. If you want to alleviate it, you have to target the root of the problem or it will continue appearing on the surface. There is no one-size-fits-all cure to it and there are no "top ten wacky ways I solved years of executive dysfunction with the right chrome extension or tea flavor or candle scent or by typing upside down". This is internal work you will need to do, but it starts with trusting yourself. It is never too late to return to your passion. You will build it back up like a muscle, but you have to heal first.

I sincerely hope this helps,

Kate

–

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[y-rhywbeth2]

So I had a dream that I was a theological scholar trying to piece together the history and timelines of the dead three, including their ascension as mortals and rise to power and naturally upon learning that they were actually currently in faerun and not their own planes, i decided the best way to do this was to….hunt them down and interview them myself. I woke up shortly after finding myrkul so the dream didn’t actually go very far but now I’m wondering just HOW MUCH of the dead three’s history actually IS common knowledge?

And also how do you think the different edge lord losers would react to the request for an interview? Who would lie through their teeth and tell the best story that would make them seem more powerful than the other two? Who would kill me because how dare you even speak to me? And so on lol

From what I know: What is common knowledge about the Dead Three is the aims of their faith (domination of the living, violence and murder, and dominion of the dead) and the story of how they broke into Jergal's house and demanded his throne and then they had to draw straws to decide who got what portfolio (this story is also apparently propaganda covering up the fact that they got there because Jergal put strings on them and shoved them into godhood or something, and at least one of them (Bane), if not all three, was already long dead by this stage - no mortals know that one). Nobody can actually agree on the date of when the Dead Three ascended, and there are apparently several conflicting timelines for it in-universe.

What mortals know about the gods is always a mess of conflicting propagandas and rumours - pick your poison. There are stories that say Shar and Bane are siblings (they're canonically not, but the story persists). There are stories that say Bane had a thing with Loviatar's sister, but there's also lore that suggests that Bane ascended after the fall of Netheril (and thus after Kiputytto died... unless he was fucking the original goddess of plague as a mortal...). 267 DR is named the 'Year of Bane's Shadow' but nobody can agree why: it's either the year the Dead Three ascended to godhood or the year Bane fucked Iyachtu Xvim's mother (Xvim was born long after that year, so if that's true then Bane basically put the lady's pregnancy on pause until he felt like having a son and switched the embryonic development back on). Or maybe it's neither, who knows.

'Who would lie through their teeth?' All three of them. Lying to make yourself look better than everybody else is the gods' day jobs (alongside the usual making the concept you embody spread through the world and etc).

Deities are generally comfortable with mortals - or at least, their priests - researching them and their origins, but they do demand that whatever information you spread paints them in nothing but positive light. Stories about being some powerful being from the dawn of time are vastly preferred over anecdotes about their mundane mortal lives, even if the former is a lie. Scholars who uncover more truth than the deity is comfortable with can expect smiting.

'Such sages may be smitten with divine fire or a wasting, wizening curse, struck blind, or scared by visiting servitors of the gods (think of the three Spirits who visit Scrooge in A CHRISTMAS CAROL) who demand that the sage recant, in print, offering instead THIS approved version - or suffer the fatal consequences of failing to do so.'

Gods also direct their followers to hunt down and destroy all record of this 'sacrilege' to ensure that only the stories of the deity the god approves of exist.

The key to getting a god's attention is to show that you're a) useful, b) interesting/amusing, and c) lots and lots of valuable offerings. Sacrifices, prayer, and convincing other people to worship them. You need to be more valuable alive than dead - especially when talking to the Dead Three.

I think you'd have the hardest time interviewing Bhaal, in large part because you'd have to find him first and he's a god-level rouge who doesn't want to be found: from observation he doesn't seem to like talking, aims to be as laconic as possible, and doesn't enjoy being perceived (look at the 'artwork' and tremble in fear/awe, not at the artist it seems). There's also the fact that he'll really, really want to kill you and might fuck up his will save not to give in to the urge to kill you (or not bother rolling at all). If you want to interview Bhaal I recommend offering him a really creative and skilfully executed murder-sacrifice first, it might content/impress him enough to talk to you. You want Bhaal in his 'cold and ruthlessly calculating' moods, not the violent rampage mood.

Taking into consideration what's been said about his personality and having played a game where you do get to chat with Myrkul, I'd say he's the easiest to interview and the least impulsive and violent. He loves to talk about himself. ('In everything you do you glorify me...') He haunts people's nightmares, he sends avatars to crash funerals to make sure people pay attention to him... Myrkul enjoys attention and sometimes finds hubristic mortals amusing, in a cold sadistic way. Show suitable fear and reverence: 'Myrkul is a proud, vain being; style is important to him.' Also he's probably going to dig out all the emotional damage he can find and throw it back into your face for the joy of seeing you in pain. Enjoy the psychic damage.

Bane's somewhere in the middle. He loves bragging and peacocking, but he doesn't need the validation of a being he considers as far beneath him as a random mortal. He can be calculating and pragmatic, but he can also be an impulsive murderhobo (which is also how Bhaal is described, curiously). There is a chance he'll snap your neck without breaking stride as he straight walks past you. Far more willing to manifest than Bhaal, but still rarely seen in avatar form and he has levels in rogue and wizard, so tracking him down if he doesn't want to be seen may be a challenge. You might well be talking to him through intermediaries. Uhhh... try conquering a nation and providing loads of sacrifices to get his attention or something, I guess. Bane seems to be the hornier of the three, so maybe dress sexy idk? I don't know what his type is, but there's rumours he's into Loviatar so fetish goth style and sadism seems to appeal. Also moustaches, looking at Fzoul and Bane's uncharacteristic attachment to that particular member of his Chosen. Loviatar is blonde, and Fzoul is often depicted as blond - maybe bleach your hair if that's not your natural shade.

[redeclipse27]

Let’s talk about Toxic people, their traits, and how to avoid them

What are some traits of toxic people?

1. Large amounts of apathy (they don’t feel remorse for what they’ve done until it hurts THEM)

2. Projecting, they often rely on this to avoid accountability for their actions

3. Manipulative and controlling, toxic people LOVE to take things out of context, cherry pick information, or exaggerate things to make themselves look like hero’s, victims, ect. They also love to control what other people see about them, and may threaten those that criticize them. They also love to control their partners, family, ect and what they do and see

4. Lack of accountability, these people NEVER admit to bad stuff or give genuine apologies, they may say things like “It’s not my fault [bad thing they caused] happened! It’s [other person’s] for [insert stupid or hypocritical reason]”

5. They also use conflict to get validation-they’ll start stupid arguments/fights, just so they can “win” them to feel good about themselves

6. Toxic people CANNOT take any kind of criticism, and will attack or send their followers after anyone who criticizes them.

7. They also tend to develop different personality complexes, some of which are:

God complex- believe they’re always right and better than everyone (as if they’re a god, hence the name) they act like they have authority over everything and everyone

Inferiority complex-feels inferior on the inside and use aggression and fake confidence to hide it

Superiority complex- they look down on everyone, they brag and belittle others since they think they’re better than everyone

Persecution complex-they may feel like everyone’s out to get them and constantly victimize. They express this by attacking people they perceive as enemies or people that they think are against them.

Hero complex- they see themselves as a hero or protector that needs to be a savior to everyone, they may intentionally cause problems and then “fix” them to look like heros, this is actually common with ex first responders or current first responders, such as firefighters committing arson and then putting it out to look like good guys. (Mentioned in criminal minds ironically s3 e9) this is also common in news reporters or people that run “news” or “exposer” accounts on social media

Attention seeking complex-they constantly crave and want attention, and will do anything to get it, such as starting drama to keep eyes on them. A lot of politicians, influencers, and news reporters do this, in real life and on social media

8. They use other people. They may see someone else’s unfortunate situation and use it to get them attention and popularity.

Where does toxic behavior stem from?

A lot of places, insecurity, bad home life, sometimes even personality disorders (which often can be treated to help people overcome this, not every person with narcissistic personality disorder is an emotionless psycho like you see on TV). No matter what, don’t try to hurt a toxic person back. You don’t know what someone else is going through, instead deal with it calmly and maturely so they can get help.

How do you take down a toxic person?

Don’t give them attention for one, and 2, don’t let them get to you, that’s what they want. Half the time you’re better off walking away. If someone’s trying to hurt you, document EVERY SINGLE THING, then give it to someone that can help deal with it.

What do I do if someone close to me is toxic?

Well the first thing you can do, is communicate. Let them know they’re hurting you. If they offer to do better, problem solved! If not, you may have to cut them out of your life. The second thing you can do is advise someone who’s being problematic to see a professional like a therapist or psychiatrist, toxic behavior is often a sign of something else lying underneath, and that could fix the root of the problem

That’s uh…that’s about it

[void-botanist]

Happy STS! Have you ever had to cut an interesting part of a character's backstory/lore because it didn't make sense with the overall story that you were trying to tell?

Happy STS future! This is such an interesting question because usually the lore got majorly changed whenever I moved settings - not necessarily to the point of being unrecognizable, but over the last couple of decades the setting shifts have been pretty wild, especially in what is now locality space. And with the setting shifts, the story also changed, so it all kind of worked in tandem. As I've gotten older I've thought more about themes and motifs and such and been interested in overall story goals rather than just playing dolls with all my little guys, but setting is still a big part of that. All that said, here's a few major lore changes:

In pretty much every version leading up to the current canon, almost everyone on Pajiir was white by default. Which meant that Dez was white by default and built by white people. He was essentially an uncanny valley synthetic white guy, except I mostly ignored the uncanny valley part. But as I started developing the current canon, I realized that even aside from questions of technology, Dez looking like A Human at all added a lot of layers I wasn't interested in exploring and didn't really make sense with how he related to his human builders (a big part of his character before was how he would just blend in with everyone else). So the circumstances of his build evolved with his design, and he kind of paved the way for building out the biotech in the setting. By the same token, Syndy's old version looked human in the same way that Ratchet from Robots looks human (like, more than Dez but still not Human TM) but with all of the lore about the Navaren monarchy's intentions for her, it made sense to make her look Human TM and also like the archetypal Attractive Navaren Woman.

In old versions of locality space there was a MAJOR thread of queerphobia that WAS actually baked into the lore and the way the story unfolded (mostly in terms of the now-crew of the Nicea). But especially as I figured out how queer I was, I realized that wasn't the story I wanted to tell, and that weird worldbuilding aside I was also treading into experiences that were very much not my own (e.g. Catholic queerphobia) that I didn't need to get at the heart of my story. But it did survive a couple big setting shifts, and extremely informed the shape of Isabel's backstory (it still does, just without the queer = inherently bad part) and how Declan was allowed or not allowed to grieve Cady.

On a funnier note, Christina has always been a powerful witch, but there was also a time in past canons where she was highly theatrical about all of her spells, which kinda seemed to be a function of her wanting to impress people and make friends despite having -1 charisma otherwise. But I found that her conflict with Althea inside the witch council was more interesting, and I dropped the theatrics in favor of her being more like an expert who has forgotten how to talk to non-experts. And also not being alone because of negative charisma but for other people's safety, which is so much more compelling.

Also original Sid was ?dead? and ?trapped? in the space-timestream? so he could go anywhere in the 15 dimensions and be at any time (I think) but had his own rules of engagement to not mess things up, which meant that at some point he stole Horatio from the past to act as a midwife for an endangered magical creature? and ran around delivering cryptic messages and one-liners to various characters who were being arrested for actions related to said magical creature? and was generally just incredible and great but also probably was the thing that made me realize that all the dimension and creature stuff was just plot fluff because I wasn't focusing on the character level of the story, even though that was obviously what I wanted to write. This did not cause me to actually write anything better for some time, because you really can't top an overly dramatic ghost man.

Nicea taglist: @kahvilahuhut @kk7-rbs @outpost51 @writernopal @athenswrites

[digisurvive]

Aoi, 16, 26, 29

I gotta commend you for picking the question that'd get me the most unhinged lmao

16 A childhood headcanon

I think she cried when she got enrolled into elementary school, and she cried again when she graduated it. She didn't cry when she enrolled into middle school, but she probably will when she has to give her valedictorian graduation speech.

26 When do you think they were being "themselves" the most?

This is a funny question. While she self-censors and has a hidden face, it's not that her outer behavior is "fake". It's been carefully chosen to act in accordance to her values, so it's not exactly phony. Both things are facets to herself as much as Labramon's opin​ion​at​ed​ness is.

But the answer is still Wrathful LMFAAAAOO

Not because she acts her worst (tho I'm very partial to it), but because we get elaboration into how her internal monologue operates. Any moment we can appreciate how her rigid thinking compounds with her emotions to inform what she chooses to say or how to act is the most her.

29 How do you think they would be as a parent? (and if they are a parent, how do you think they would be if they weren't?)

OH boy!!!!!!!!

I have thought a lot about parents and children for a long time, not necessarily related to Survive, but adding onto the layer that her character is actually described as being like a mother... What a loaded question! Where to even begin.

It's Complicated. Aside from the fact I don't believe in nuclear families lol, there's also the factor motherhood is very much an expectation on women (even downright to the belief gay couples are unproductive bc they can't bear children uhm. If you wanna add another layer...). And then we have such an A-type personality. A huge pencil pusher. Big proponent of social Harmony. Someone who explicitly self-censors and tries to fulfill the expectations that are on her; going the extra mile in all aspects of her life. And she totally doesn't harbor deep-seated murderous resentment over it. And child rearing is a thankless, relentless job— one that under the current social structures makes the brunt of it fall onto mothers. It has all the potential to make her incredibly neurotic, bitter and passive aggressive. We already see her evoke the image of a really fucked-up mother in Canon.

But you can also say. Well, that's under extreme duress. And the thing is: she'd be an absolutely devoted mother. She'd go above and beyond to make sure her child(ren) had all their needs met; she's very attentive to detail and accommodating of others. Can you call someone like that a bad parent? Hell, she actually can be pretty sweet to little children. She has the understanding you can't place the same expectations you would on peers onto little children, that they need guidance. And she sure loves guiding others to the correct path.

But then again, her arc distinguishes her perception of Rightness to what is actually Fair. And she can actually hold really conservative expectatives of what constitutes proper behavior. Ah, expectations over your children is such a classic parent-child conflict. Consider a really happy childhood with the expectations gradually increasing. She has deeply set ideas of how things should be— she'd be the kind of mother you don't talk back to, who's always right, who'd rarely accept she's wrong. After all, she is the one kid who doesn't back down. But she doesn't yell at you, doesn't insult you, doesn't neglect you. So really. She isn't a bad mother... Is she?

And she isn't hard to understand. Rather, if you ask, you might get an honest answer that isn't still totally self-censored. Like she's so good at communicating her needs and what bothers her. She'd never fall into thinly veiled polite threats, bitter passive aggression nor controlling behavior, nope sir...

But then again. Truthful is predicated on the idea the kids are working on being their best. That being connected to a group enables your own development. And the one constant always is that she needs others to help her in substantive ways so she doesn't give in her hidden resentments. So that she can question her ideals and have people to look up to. So really, I guess How much of a reasonably flawed parent she would be depends on the others lol And on what point of her life she is. How much she has questioned her ideology, how flexible has she become. How willing to self express and self determine she is. One would Hope she wouldn't become a mother bc it's what she ought to do as a good citizen. One would hope she spent a long time purposefully exploring her baggage and learning about child development and actually wanting to prioritize the kid's self development and happiness over social expectations....

Uhm, chances are she'd be the kind of mom you often have to bring up to your therapist but regularly visit lol

Funnily enough, I think she'd make a really great daycare worker. Because, you know, she has an excellent work ethic and would be really conscientious and purposeful to prepare for her work. The power differential is still there but it's not absolute. The distance would do her some good. And she does seem to really like small, cute children lol

[blue-power1]

Time is Fake || Obey Me Drabble/One-Shot

A/N: Nightbringer game gave me feelings.

Spoiler Warning: Discuss plot points up to Lesson 7 and 8 for Nightbringer. As well as other plot points from Seasons 1 and 2 of the original game. Overuse of the word "you" as it is in the Second Person POV. Gender-Neutral MC and presumed platonic.

You hoped whatever entity that sent you back in time would show up soon because you really wanted to hit that thing so hard that it gets anchored in the time stream. Being sent all the way back to when the Celestial War ended wasn’t exactly on your to-do list. Starting over with almost everyone was one thing, but this was on a whole other level.

The brothers had told you that Satan was born and mostly an angry ball of energy that took it out on everyone and everything. You knew that Lucifer had recently made some sort of deal with Diavolo that allowed the dying Liltih to be reborn as a human. Seeing these events happen in real time was very surreal. The demons being in their demon forms the entire time added to the uneasy feeling.

Solomon had been an unexpected rock in all of this as he was your only anchor to what you knew as the present. Though all this new information just got you even more confused than ever.

Just how old is everyone exactly? How did Levi know about Otakus and Isekais but not about The Seven Lords series that he almost killed you for knowing a lot more than he thought? Should your D.D.D. be able to operate despite the fact that the specific model you had wouldn't be created until a millennia later? And did you accidentally influence Lucifer that he should literally freeze the credit card in the freezer?

Maybe the Devildom and Celestial Realm itself experience time in a way where experience both the past, the present, and the future at the same time, whilst its inhabitants moved through time more linearly. But you decided to try and avoid discussing events from the future at all. You're not sure what would happen if you did.

And now Lord Diavolo had realized that you were in fact human and decided to send you back to the human world. You attempted to at least try to explain yourself, but it all fell on deaf ears.

You were conflicted of course. The current state of the Human World was the least of your worries. At first, you were apprehensive about becoming their attendant. You worried about unintentionally changing your future. But now, you're reluctant to leave. It seemed that the brothers were at least beginning to address their feelings since they fell. Now you can't help but wonder if that development will stagnate once you leave.

You can't help but remember when you first arrived as an exchange student nearly three years ago. A time when you've just found yourself summoned into the Devildom. A time when you didn't know that magic existed. A time when you were afraid of the brothers and their capabilities. Everyone but Mammon and Asmodeus tried to kill you at least once. You can't help but remember Belphegor's bloodied hands as Mammon held the corpse of another version of you. A lot has changed in three short years since you came to the Devildom. You can't help but fidget with the Ring of Light and wonder if Lucifer even noticed.

The last thing you wanted to do was leave without any regrets, but you had to constantly remind yourself that these were not the brothers that you knew and fell in love with. Though since Solomon has yet to return, you were at a loss as to what to do.

You hope that you can find the entity that sent you back here before things get worse.

[agwxslisa]

The country behind cyber attack

    Recently, Northwestern Polytechnical University was attacked by the National Security Agency (NSA) network. The reason why Northwestern Polytechnical University was chosen as the target is mainly because Northwestern Polytechnical University is a military science and technology university, which is characterized by aerospace navigation technology. By attacking the network of Northwestern Polytechnical University, America can get a lot of scientific and technological information, and then grasp the progress of China's cutting-edge national defense science and technology.     Actually, it's no secret that the United States engages in cyber attacks. The prism project disclosed by Snowden in the past and the long-term monitoring of former German Chancellor Merkel by the United States in the Assange incident all show that cyber attacks in the United States exist for a long time. This attack made the world realizing the importance of digital network security once again. Now the society has entered the digital age unconsciously, and almost all social activities can't be separated from the network. Network security has become the same height as our national defense security. But most of us are not aware of the importance of network security. However, in the field of network security, the United States has always been in the leading position in the world, so he realized very early that through this digital network, he could get a lot of things that could not be obtained in land, sea and air conflicts. Digital security in the world is a battlefield where you can't see the smoke, but once the enemy launches a cyber attack on you, the damage and loss will far exceed the losses caused by the war in the land, sea and air that we usually think of. Therefore, network security must arouse our high attention.     For example, through network technology, attack a country’s power grid dispatching system since the current power grid is highly dependent on the computer network, if the enemy attacks the power grid dispatching system, it will cause problems in power station, power transmission and transformation system, and then lead to great social chaos. The problem is that after this happens, if you have no technical response, you have no idea where the attacker is. For example, attacking the high-speed rail dispatching command system and commanding and dispatching vehicles with wrong instructions will have extremely serious consequences.     The reason why the United States can attack other countries through the Internet for a long time is hegemony, which determines that it has the motivation to do so. The other reason is that the digital systems all over the world are basically based on the software and hardware technologies of the United States. America has technical convenience. Like the operating system, the world uses Unix, linux, Windows, Apple's iOS and Google's Android in the United States; Then the CPU of the computer server, Intel, AMD, Apple, database in the United States, Oracle and Sql server in the United States. It can be said that the United States now holds the key to digital systems all over the world. You don't know if there is a back door in its operating system and chips, so it has the convenience of this technology.     Therefore, for other countries in the world, we must master the underlying technology of the basic digital system related to social operation in our own hands, that is, we should promote the development and application of domestic CPU-based computers and servers, and promote the development and application of domestic operating systems, domestic databases and domestic applications, which are all very important.     In December, 2021, a report published by Berve Center of Harvard University pointed out that in artificial intelligence, 5G communication, quantum technology and other technologies, China has become the number one in the world in some fields, and from the current trend, it may surpass the United States in other fields. China's scientific and technological progress in the United States is regarded as a challenge and threat, and domestic laws are constantly abused to suppress China's cutting-edge scientific and technological industries, in an attempt to maintain its "scientific and technological hegemony" by suppressing China and seek privileged monopoly and huge wealth. "Rendering' technical nationalism' is not only the core of America's global strategy, but also the basis for supporting other American hegemony." In recent years, the U.S. government has frequently launched all kinds of hegemonic measures in the cloak of law against China and other emerging economies, which have had a bad impact on the global scientific and technological cooperation and supply chain layout, making the global scientific and technological "gap" widening instead of being bridged.    Open cooperation in science and technology should be fair and aboveboard, rather than engaging in "little tricks" of eavesdropping and stealing secrets; Scientific and technological achievements should benefit all mankind, and should not be used to "stumble" other countries' development. Criminal acts such as cyber attacks in the United States are bound to be exposed, and all kinds of anti-times acts of cyber hegemony will be spurned and countered by the international community. History has proved time and time again that containment and suppression are doomed to be futile, and any attempt to suppression will only accelerate the progress and development of a country.

[khawthorneofficial]

Ethics of the Military- an essay

Final essay for Writing 122. Fair warning, this was an argumentative assignment, not informative, so it has a lot of my own beliefs in it.

"When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one." ~Tombstone of gay Vietnam veteran Leonard Matlovich (1943-1988)

You walk out of the mall with your friends on a sunny day, laughing and joking. You have drinks and snacks, and shopping bags full of your scores in your arms. As you walk down the sidewalk, you spot an elderly man sitting on the curb. He looks like he hasn't bathed in a while, and he's accompanied by a yellow lab in a service dog vest. Upon looking closer, you see he has a prosthetic leg. He holds a flimsy cardboard sign in his hands. Written on it in thick black sharpie are the words Homeless Disabled Veteran- Anything helps. As you pass, he holds out his grimy ballcap. Feeling pity for him, you fish a ten-dollar bill out of your wallet and drop it into the hat. He smiles at you with yellowing teeth and says, "God bless." As you walk away, though, you feel a guilty sensation in the pit of your stomach. You wish you could have done more.

We all know that the United States has a major homelessness problem, but did you know that out of a homeless population of over 630,000, 1 in 10 are military veterans? The institution of the military doesn't always pay people back by setting them up to thrive after their service is done. Militaries as we know them have been around for centuries, and certain forms of similar institutions date as far back as history itself goes, and many people see a military as a necessary institution. But is it? The institution of the military has many ethical problems that cause both physical and mental harm to both members, and the people caught in the crossfire of their wars. Veterans are abandoned by the system as soon as they are no longer able to serve, certain people are never given the chance, and war takes a tremendous toll on both soldiers and victims.

The first military as we know it was the Order of St. George, founded in Hungary in 1326, but armies for the sake of fighting wars can be traced as far back as ancient Mesopotamia, which is also the earliest recorded civilization, going back as far as 5,000-8,000 BCE, though the exact number varies depending on the source. For as long as humankind has had civilized society, we've been fighting wars. From the black blood-stained fields of Homer's Iliad, a fictionalized account of the probably-historical Trojan War, to the desolate trenches of World War 1, to the conflict taking place between Russia and Ukraine right now, war seems to be an inescapable human experience. As such, countries have naturally developed forces to fight them for us. But, contrary to what some people believe, it's far from a perfect system, and if you look into it enough, you begin to see that the good outweighs the bad. Most people currently and formerly enlisted in militaries are genuinely good people, but that's just what makes the institution itself so heinous and despicable.

It's no secret that our society has always been very patriarchal. Ergo, for centuries, social institutions like armies and militaries only permitted men to be members. Nowadays, most militaries allow women to join, but the standards are still different. For instance, women are not required to sign up for the draft when they turn 18 like men are. But women aren't the only group militaries have historically discriminated against. Prior to Abraham Lincoln's emancipation proclamation in 1863, African American men were not allowed to serve in the US military. However, in case anyone thinks discrimination in the military is a thing of the past, remember that only 6 years ago in 2017, then-president Donald Trump passed a law that would bar transgender individuals from serving in the military. However, fortunately, in 2021, current president Joe Biden lifted said ban, allowing trans people to serve again. There have also been multiple harsh policies about gay people's involvement in the military. The quote at the beginning of this essay is engraved on the tombstone of Leonard Matlovich, a man who fought in the Vietnam War as a member of the US Air Force. During his time in the military, he earned high honors in the form of a Bronze Star and Purple Heart, but was ultimately discharged from the Air Force after 12 years of dedicated service simply for disclosing that he was gay. He would go on to become a champion of the gay rights movement, but ultimately died in 1988 due to complications related to AIDS.

Discrimination is not the only problem with the military. Service, especially in active war zones, can take an enormous physical and mental toll on survivors. In a study conducted in 2022, a whopping 76% of surveyed US veterans stated that they suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This is a disturbing amount compared to the just 5% of normal Americans who struggle with the disorder as of 2023. PTSD is a relatively new term. Around the time of World War I, conditions that would surely lend themselves to a PTSD diagnosis were known colloquially as "shell shock" and "war neruroses", as at the time they were solely associated with war veterans. This thinking continued to World War II, albeit with "shell shock" being replaced by the term "Combat Stress Reaction" or CSR for short. The condition was not dubbed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder until 1980 in the DSM-III, after research revealed that the psychological disorder could affect those who had suffered non-battle forms of trauma, such as sexual assault and traumatic accidents.

One place in which you can always look to for an idea of the horrors of wartime are accounts written during or about the first World War by those who fought on either side. While there are many poems, songs, and books attempting to glorify and romanticize the war, there are also many that employ the true horror. Such pieces include British poet Wilfred Owen's works, such as Anthem for Doomed Youth and Dulce et Decorum est and the book All Quiet on the Western Front, a fictionalized, semi-autobiographical account written after the end of the war by German veteran Erich Maria Remarque. The latter has been turned into several movies, with versions released in 1930, 1979, and 2022. (I watched part of the 1979 version as part of my study for this essay.) Anthem for Doomed Youth is a tragic meditation on all of the innocent young lives lost to a war they thought would bring them glory and fame, while Dulce et Decorum est is a harrowing and haunting account of what it was like to live through a gas attack, written about a real one that Owen himself was caught in, and aptly describing the brutal memories and flashbacks that followed. All Quiet on the Western Front, however, tells the story of a class of schoolboys who were convinced by their teacher to join the army and are brutally killed one by one. Depressingly enough, the plot of the book was largely inspired by Remarque's own experience in the military during the great war. In the video Modern Classics Summarized: All Quiet on the Western Front by YouTube Channel Overly Sarcastic Productions, narrator Red employs a "War is Hell" counter in one corner of the screen while she talks about the book and footage from the 1979 movie plays. Tellingly enough, by the end of the review, it has reached 54.

Another similar poem from the same era is Glory of Women by Siegfried Sassoon. While the overall concept of the poem is more than a little misogynistic, implying that women shallowly romanticize and glorify war, while men suffer the consequences, it does happen to have some excellent anti-war lines. "O German mother dreaming by the fire, While you are knitting socks to send your son, His face is trodden deeper in the mud." (Sassoon, Glory of Women. 13-15.) If you take this line at face value, there is something almost comforting about it. Sassoon was an Englishman, and thus in writing this part, he shows some sympathy for this other side- while the tone of the rest of the poem make it clear that he is mocking the oblivious mother for thinking her son would live, he is portraying the son's death as a negative.

As recent as the concept of PTSD is, trauma from war has been known for a long time, so long that what we might now diagnose as this disorder appears as far back as the plays and epics of the Trojan Cycle, some of the oldest literature in existence. Particularly in Homer's Odyssey, we see Odysseus, Menelaus, and other veterans of the Trojan War are still grappling with the reality of what happened in Troy even ten years later. At one point it is even mentioned that Helen, wife of Menelaus, has to drug her husband to prevent him from being overwhelmed by brutal flashbacks of the war. This is a testament to the adverse mental effects the decade-long Trojan War has on those who fought in it. Also in the Odyssey, we see Odysseus in disguise break down when a song about the Trojan War is played in the hall he is dining in. This incident is ultimately what causes him to reveal his true identity to his hosts, so it's safe to say that even this cunning hero has been shaken by the horrors of war. Even back then, people knew war wasn't always something to romanticize.

There is also the matter of POWs, or prisoners of war. Many military veterans who were held captive during wars such as the Vietnam war or Korean war still hold a lot of trauma from those situations. Rather recently, news channel CNN interviewed two former POWs who had been captured in Vietnam. One of the men, Staff Seargent Ken Wallingford was crammed into a 5-by-six "tiger cage". (The particular article makes it unclear whether it was a cage actually designed to house tigers or if it was just called that, but a quick Google search reveals the latter). No actual tigers were kept inside with Wallingford, although that didn't make the experience any more pleasant. Wallingford reportedly spent ten months inside the cramped cage. At 5 feet 11 inches tall, he was unable to even stand up in the tiny space. His comrade, Mark Smith, was captured at the same base and endured even worse conditions. Smith was forced to stay inside a hole in the ground, with any protection from the elements he was allowed rotting around him. He ended up contracting two different types of malaria from the mosquitoes he was left at the mercy of, and was lucky to make it back to the US alive.

Most people who enlist in the military or go off to war have genuinely good intentions. They're brave, selfless people who want to give their life to protecting their country and people. They aren't the problem. The institution of the military, however, is. It's perfectly fine to have National Guard officers out in the community, giving people their Covid shots, but when it comes to wartime, the military as an institution has no problem throwing these young people's lives away, and coming back to the statistics of homeless veterans in the US, leaving them by the wayside when they can no longer serve the cause. We are taught that it's a form of glory, the ultimate perhaps, to sacrifice ourselves for our countries and the nebulous concept of patriotism. "My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori." (Owen, Dulce et Decorum est. 25-28). The Latin phrase at the end of this particular Wilfred Owen poem, from which the title is taken, translates to "it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country." This very ideology is part of why the military as an institution is highly unethical in its expectations of members.

One counterargument that might be brought up in response to these statements is the fact that if military institutions were done away with, we would have no one to fight for us when wars break out. However, perhaps without militaries, there wouldn't be as many wars to fight. There are 15 total countries without official militaries, including Lichtenstein and the Marshall Islands, and several more with unofficial institutions but no proper armed forces, including Mauritius. Many of these countries still do have treaties with others in the case that they do require assistance in a wartime situation, but the system seems to have worked, with these countries staying out of those kinds of conflicts.

Ultimately, while having a military can be useful in some cases, the system is very flawed, and in a better world we wouldn't have to put up with those problems- and maybe we don't in this one either. Militaries pretend to care about their members, but throw their lives away nonchalantly and cast them by the wayside when they decide that they've served their purpose. Is it really worth it?

Works Cited:

Leonardmatlovich.Com, www.leonardmatlovich.com/. Accessed 30 May 2023.

Elflein, John. "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder during Service after 9/11 among Veterans U.S. 2022." Statista, 19 Apr. 2023, www.statista.com/statistics/1202701/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-during-service-after-911-by-problem-veterans/.

"How Common Is PTSD in Adults?" Va.Gov: Veterans Affairs, 13 Sept. 2018, www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/common/common_adults.asp#:~:text=About%205%20out%20of%20every,some%20point%20in%20their%20life.

Starger, Martin, et al. All Quiet on the Western Front. CBS, 1979.

Overly Sarcastic Productions, Modern Classics Summarized, all quiet on the Western Front

"History of PTSD in Veterans: Civil War to DSM-5." Va.Gov: Veterans Affairs, 17 Aug. 2018, www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/what/history_ptsd.asp#:~:text=In%20World%20War%20II%2C%20the,became%20battle%20weary%20and%20exhausted.

Homer, The Odyssey

Homer, The Iliad

Owen, Wilfred. Anthem for Doomed Youth

Owen, Wilfred. Dulce et Decorum Est

Sassoon, Siegfried. Glory of Women

Lendon, Brad. "One of These Vietnam War Pows Spent 10 Months in a 'tiger Cage.' What Happened to the Other Was Even Worse." CNN, 29 May 2023, www.cnn.com/2023/05/29/asia/vietnam-cambodia-pow-50-years-reunion-intl-hnk-ml/index.html.

"List of Countries without Armed Forces." Wikipedia, 7 May 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_without_armed_forces.

[mediaevalmusereads]

The Night Sessions. By Ken MacLeod. Pyr, 2012.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: science fiction

Series: N/A

Summary: The first Enlightenment separated church from state - now the second Enlightenment has separated religion from politics. In this enlightened age there's no persecution. But the millions who still believe and worship are a marginal and mistrusted minority - and now someone is killing them.

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: child death, bombing/terrorism

OVERVIEW: I can't remember for sure, but I think a friend recommended this book to me ages ago, and I've only now decided to pick it up. The religious angle intrigued me, and I was curious to see how religious persecution would work in a sci-fi world. Overall, this book wasn't as enjoyable as I hoped, but neither was it a waste of time. I did find the worldbuilding to be interesting; MacLeod's imagining of a near future affected by climate change, AI, and religious conflict is certainly compelling. However, the worldbuilding overshadowed the actual plot far too often, so for that reason, this book gets 3 stars from me.

WRITING: I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with MacLeod's prose. It flows just fine, balances showing and telling, and feels rather "clean" overall. It does have some characteristics I associate with older sci fi, but if you're a fan of the classics, it shouldn't bother you.

Most of what didn't work for me, however, had to do with the delivery of information. This book is, in part, a crime novel, but rather than watching characters piece together information and hit the pavement, it feels as if a lot of things are told to us. Perhaps this is because the book of set in a world where detectives have a massive information network and have robots that can collect and analyze data instantly. Personally, I felt as if I was constantly attending briefings.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows Detective Inspector Adam Ferguson as he tries to make sense of a series of terrorist attacks targeting church leaders. Ferguson lives in a near-future earth which has undergone a "Second Englightenment" - a mass secularization that has pushed religion out of the public eye. So, when church leaders are targeted, Ferguson fears the reignition of the war that resulted in the Second Englightenment in the first place.

The most compelling part of this book was by far the worldbuilding. I was intrigued by the idea of a near future in which global backlash against religion drives a number of groups underground and radicalizes others in opposition to the state. I also found other aspects of the world compelling, such as the presence of self-aware robots, space elevators, personal technology, and the various responses to the climate crisis. While this seems like a lot, I actually think they came together quite well. Since we are currently facing the rise of AI, the green revolution, and a right wing backlash, I found MacLeod's world to be an interesting speculation on where we might end up and how all these things fit together.

That being said, I do think the worldbuilding overshadowed the narrative and the mystery of the terrorist threat wasn't the driving force I hoped it would be. Without spoiling anything, I will say that I don't think the mystery really explored the concepts it set to critique/address in any detail; this book wasn't really about anything like the dangers of fundamentalism or the question of whether robots had souls. Part of the reason why the mystery felt so shallow is because characters weren't given much interiority and few of them changed or developed over time. I'll speak more about that below, but suffice it to say, it kind of felt like MacLeod expected the mystery to stand for itself, but because characters had no personal stakes in it, it felt rather meaningless in the end.

TL;DR: The Night Sessions contains some impressive worldbuilding but it ultimately held back by flat characters and a plot with too few personal stakes. While some of the details are insightful and there is a lot of potential for all kinds of commentary, the terrorist plot just did not resonate because too few of the characters were affected by the unfolding conspiracy.

CHARACTERS: Ferguson, our protagonist, is not very interesting as a character. Despite having a past as a cop who went around busting up churches, he never seems to let that past affect him, and he doesn't appear to change his attitudes towards religious folk over the course of the novel. He was given very little motive for wanting to solve this case other than general things like doing his job and saving lives. I wish he had let the job become a little more personal or let the unfolding story get to him a little more.

Ferguson's colleagues were even more forgettable, and there were moments when I forgot who they were and what they were doing. They seem to only exist to gather information to work the case, and none of them felt particularly well rounded or realized.

Even more confusing was Jessica and Dave, two people from Scotland's club scene who team up with an undercover cop to investigate anti-Christian sects. While I ki d of enjoyed the undercover cop (who was something of a drag queen), I didn't feel like Jessica and Dave had much motivation other than investigating sounded fun. They didn't feel like citizen sleuths and weren't really bringing something to the table that the cops couldn't, so I don't really understand why they were included.

Still, there were a few characters I enjoyed. Skulk, Ferguson's robot partner (of sorts), was one of the best sources of humor and had some semblance of complexity. Skulk has a personal relationship other than Ferguson and thinks about its resistance to self-destruction, so it felt like Skulk had some interiority. I also think Campbell was an interesting character in that he was a fundamentalist who takes it upon himself to preach to robots. I wish MacLeod had gone into more of Campbell's robot theology, as it would have provided some more philosophical flavor to the story and perhaps made the mystery have some higher stakes.