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aimeedaisies · 5 months

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The Princess Royal’s Official Engagements in November 2023

01/11 Princess Anne, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke & Duchess of Gloucester attended the Senior Serving and Retired Officers’ Briefing at the Army and Navy Club on Pall Mall in London. 🪖💼

As Chancellor of Harper Adams University, attended the launch of the University’s Strategic Plan at London Bridge Arches. 🎓

With Sir Tim As Royal Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, attended the Grand Day Choral Evensong Service at Temple Church in London. 🎶

With Sir Tim As Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Engineers, attended a Dinner to mark their 40th Anniversary at Mansion House in London. ⚙️

02/11 Held two investiture ceremonies at Buckingham Palace. 🎖️

03/11 As Patron of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, visited Citizens Advice Malvern Hills in Malvern, Worcestershire. 👩‍⚖️

Opened the Specialist Operations Centre at the Gloucestershire Constabulary and Office of Police and Crime Commissioner in Cheltenham. 👮‍♀️

07/11 Alongside King Charles & Queen Camilla, Princess Anne in her role as Gold Stick in Waiting, was present at the State Opening of Parliament. 👩‍⚖️🪶

Opened the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Museum of Scottish Fire Heritage and the McDonald Road Community Fire and Ambulance Station in Edinburgh. 👨‍🚒

The Princess Royal, As Patron of the Eric Liddell 100, attended the inaugural Lecture and Reception on board Fingal, Alexandra Dock, in Edinburgh. 🏃🏽🥂

Unofficial Sir Tim attended the memorial service for former university friend and newsreader George Alagiah at St-Martin-in-the-Fields church in London 🎓🕊️

08/11 As Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, presented Royal Medals and attended a Reception at the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 🏅

As Patron of Catch22, attended the National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum in Birmingham ✍️

As Patron of the Wooden Spoon Society, attended a Reception at the House of Lords in London. 🥄🏉🥂

As Court Member of the Fishmongers’ Company, attended a Livery Dinner at Fishmongers’ Hall in London. 🐟🍽️

09/11 As President of World Horse Welfare, attended the Annual Conference at the Royal Geographical Society. 🐴

As Patron of the Butler Trust, visited HM Prison Wandsworth in London. 🚓👮‍♂️

As Patron of the Whitley Fund for Nature, held a 30th Anniversary Dinner at St James's Palace. 🦋🍃

10/11 The Princess Royal, As President of Royal Yachting Association, chaired the Annual General Meeting and presented Awards before attending a Luncheon in London SW1. 🛥️

Unofficial Announcement that Princess Anne will take over Presidency of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, taking over from the Duke of Kent who Presided over the Commission since 1970 🌹🪦

~ Remembrance weekend ~

11/11 With Sir Tim Attended the Armistice Day Service of Remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum. 🌳 🫡

With Sir Tim Attended the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall with members of the royal family. 🌹

12/11 With Sir Tim Attended the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in London. Princess Anne laid a wreath whilst Sir Tim stood on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office balcony. 🌹

With Sir Tim Took the salute at the March Past of Ex-Servicemen and Civilian Organisations on Horse Guards Parade, London SWI. 🫡

~ End ~

14/11 As Patron of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (UK), attended the 10th Anniversary Transport and Logistics Safety Forum Conference at the National Memorial Arboretum. 🚚

Visited the new Institute of Shipbuilding course at City of Glasgow College Riverside Campus in Glasgow. ⚓️

As Patron of the Royal Celtic Society, attended a Reception at Glasgow City Chambers. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Attended Interfaith Glasgow’s Scottish Interfaith Week Forum at Glasgow City Chambers. ☪️✡️✝️🕉️🪯

Unofficial Sir Tim attended a Kent Cricket celebration dinner at Lords Cricket Ground 🏏

15/11 Visited BAE Systems Submarines' Submarine Academy and the University of Cumbria. 🤿 👨‍🎓

Visited the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in Barrow-in-Furness. ☢️

As Patron of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, visited the Barrow-in-Furness branch to mark its reopening. 🤝

As Patron of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, attended a Dinner at St George's Hall, to mark its 125th anniversary. 🦜💊

16/11 As Vice Patron of the British Horse Society, attended a Coaching Career Insight Day.

As Patron of the Butler Trust, visited HM Prison Drake Hall.

As Patron of Transaid, attended a Reception at London Transport Museum.

17/11 Not Counted Departed Heathrow Airport for Gibraltar but was diverted to Madrid, Spain and arrived in Gibraltar later than intended. ✈️🇪🇸🇬🇮

With Sir Tim As Royal Patron of the Gibraltar International Literary Festival, attended the Literary Festival Opening Dinner at the Sunborn Hotel. 📚🍽️

18/11 In Gibraltar Princess Anne;

As Patron of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, visited Gibraltar Citizens Advice Bureau to mark its 20th anniversary. 👩‍⚖️

Opened the renovated premises of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment Association. 🫡

Met representatives of the Emergency Services and members of the Armed Forces at the Convent. 🚑🪖

With Sir Tim visited specialist vehicles provider Bassadone Automotive Group. 🚗

Unofficial Sir Tim visited the Royal Navy Gibraltar Squadron, 🇬🇮⚓️

21/11 As Master of the Corporation of Trinity House, presented Merchant Navy medals for Meritorious Service at Trinity House, London. 🏅

With Sir Tim Attended the State Banquet in honour of the President and First Lady of South Korea. 🇬🇧🇰🇷🍽️

22/11 Visited Retrotec Limited near Northiam, East Sussex. ✈️

Visited Focus SB Limited in St Leonards-on-Sea. ⚙️

As Commandant-in-Chief of St John Ambulance (Youth), attended a Reception for Young Achievers at the Priory Church of the Order of St John in London. 🚑

As Chancellor of the University of London, attended Foundation Day at Senate House in London 🎓

23/11 As Commodore-in-Chief of Portsmouth Naval Base, opened Alford Schools of Military Music. 🎶

Attended a Luncheon at Spithead House, HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, for The Princess Royal's Patronages based in Hampshire. ⚓️

As President of the City and Guilds of London Institute, presented The Princess Royal Training Awards at St James's Palace. 🏆

With Sir Tim As President of the British Olympic Association, attended the Team GB Ball at the Savoy Hotel. 🏋️‍♀️

24/11 As Royal Patron of the London Scottish Football Club, attended the 10th Anniversary of the St Andrew's Day Luncheon at the Sheraton Grand London on Park Lane. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏉

28/11 Presented The Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Volunteering Awards at Fishmongers’ Hall in London. 🏆

As Chancellor of the University College of Osteopathy, attended a Graduation Ceremony. 🎓

As Royal Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, attended a New Fellows’ Dinner. ⚙️🍽️

29/11 The Princess Royal, As Royal Patron of the National Coastwatch Institution, visited Canvey Island Station and attended a Reception at the Island Yacht Club. 🔎🏝️

Opened Huntingdon Fire Station and Service Training Centre. 🚒

Opened North Cambridgeshire Training Centre. 💼

As Honorary Member of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers, attended the Annual General Meeting and Discussion Dinner. 👷🍴

30/11 As Patron of the Not Forgotten Association, held the Christmas Reception at St James’s Palace. 🎄🎅🏻🎁

Total official engagements for Anne in October: 58

2023 total so far: 458

Total official engagements accompanied by Tim in October: 11

2023 total so far: 92

#hardest working royal #a busy bee #always there to support his wife 🥰#unofficial engagement count 2023 #princess anne #princess royal #tim laurence #timothy laurence

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ao3topshipsbracket · 13 days

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Welcome to the Unofficial Top Tumblr Relationships Bracket!

Many people on Tumblr might have engaged in the practice of "shipping" in relation to "media". Some, according to legend, even have opinions on these matters.

If the above happens to apply to you, you might be eligible to vote in this bracket! We have pitted the most popular pairings of the 2023 Tumblr Year in Review against each other to see who will emerge victorious. Round 1 polls drop on Saturday, April 20th at 1PM PDT, and will run for a full week.

Check current vote counts here!

Further information is below the cut!

How was the bracket made?

This bracket was made based off Tumblr's 2023 year in review ship list, and edited to fit into a workable bracket. Matchups were seeded according to ranking on the list.

What are your stances on voter fraud, campaigning, bribing people with drabbles and/or art, etc?

Enthusiastically in favor, although we do ask that you don't DDOS Tumblr, and ideally don't commit any murders that can be traced back to us.

Why aren't there platonic relationships in this bracket? There were in the AO3 one.

The AO3 data we were working with included all kinds of relationship tags, including platonic ones. The Tumblr year in review top ship list does not.

I have an issue with [x] being included in this poll.

This poll is a celebration of fandom and fandom history; we're aware that there are certain issues with some of the listed pairings and sources, but they are a part of that history. Please do not take this as an endorsement of anything included in the bracket, and refrain from harassment.

In general, please remember that this is intended to be a fun time for the wide community which is fandom culture, and treat each other with respect!

Bracket Schedule!

#not a poll #announcement

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princesscatherinemiddleton · 4 months

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Princess of Wales - 2023 Statistics (FULL YEAR)

In 2023, the new Princess of Wales completed (by my count) 137 engagements. While this is around 30 engagements fewer than 2022, 2023 is still Catherine's second busiest year and - by far - her year with the most appearances not in the Court Circular. As well as this, she was sighted (or appeared) 17 times and appeared in a whopping 43 official (or unofficial and leaked!) photographs.

She gained three new military positions throughout the year and finished with 29 patronages. Of her 137 engagements, 76 were related to one of her patronages, averaging at one patronage visit every 2 engagements. Her most visited patronage was, of course, the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales, with 48 visits. This was followed by the Rugby Football Union and the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (with 4 visits each). She performed no engagements on behalf of Action for Children, The Air Cadet Organisation (she visited the air cadets during her visit to RAF Fairford, but this was not recorded as an official engagement), EACH, Family Action, the Maternal Mental Health Alliance, the Natural History Museum, NHS Charities Together (although she met with NHS workers to celebrate the NHS's 75th birthday), Place2Be, RAF Coningsby, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal Photographic Society, or the 1851 Trust.

Of her engagements, 70 have been solo and 41 accompanied by her husband, the Prince of Wales. Three were also with her children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, five with a range of foreign royals, as well as 16 with either the whole or most of the working British Royal Family, and two with both foreign royals and members of the BRF.

118 of her engagements physically took place in England, with all bar 3 physically occuring in the United Kingdom (with none in the Republic of Ireland). Of the 118 engagements which took place in England, 37 occured in London and 51 in Windsor. Catherine’s engagements also took her to 31 other areas of the UK. Catherine also performed engagements in Wales and Scotland. Catherine also undertook two engagements in France (for the Rugby World Cup) and one in Jordan (Crown Prince Hussein's wedding).

During the year, she performed engagements on a variety of themes. 42 of those engagements were predominantly related to her Early Years initiative, while 12 were linked to the military and 11 linked to culture, sport and diplomacy apiece. 10 engagements were specifically linked to the Coronation, while she also completed 9 engagements linked to mental health, 7 linked to children and young people, 3 linked to the outdoors, and 2 linked to the Commonwealth. Catherine also completed 19 engagements which could not otherwise be categorised.

Clotheswise, her most worn designer has been Alexander McQueen, with 28 outfits, followed by 14 outfits from Holland Cooper, while 11 items of clothing were unidentified. Her most carried bag designer was Mulberry (11), followed by Emmy London with 6, and 1 which was unidentifed. Mulberry has been her most carried bag designer in every year apart from 2020. Her most worn shoe designer continued being Gianvito Rossi (with 39 wears), followed by 8 pairs from Emmy London, and 6 from both Veja and Aquazzura. Once again, Catherine predominantly wore pieces inherited from either Diana (10) or the Queen (16). Aside from them, she also wore Daniela Draper jewellery 12 times. When it comes to accessories, her most worn item was her Anderson's belt (6 times), and she continued to return to hats made by Philip Treacy (6 times). She also wore 9 unidentified pieces. According to my (100% wrong) calculations - created from my own criteria (where items are counted each time she wears them), she wore £65,669.41 worth of new clothes this year and £267,495.29 worth of clothes in total.

#mine #kate #yearreview #statistics

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flydotnet · 7 months

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WHUMPTOBER 2023, DAY 5: “You better pray I don't get up this time around.” Debris | Pinned Down | “It's broken.”

Welcome to my annual Peregrineship fic, because every year is the same: I write them, I swear I'll write them more this year pinky promise, and then I just don't. That's my shtick. (Actually, Fly, it's your second ShuSere fic this year.) For real? Well, that's cool. Hasn't happened since 2019, I'm pretty sure! Yeehaw.

I honestly stared at the lyric, went "wow that sounds like Shun Kurosaki", and went from there. I'm not even in any shade of YGO mood atm, and I'm sure you can tell because I was very uninspired and it's short compared to what it could've been. Oh well! That's the trials and tribulations of a month-long challenge for you.

I did also do "It's broken" while I was it because, c'mon… It's Kurosaki. It's even odd I didn't break a rib like I usually do when it's him. See? I'm generous! I'm not a one-trick pony when I want to!

Speaking of always doing the same thing, just better each year. I didn't feel like writing canon divergent A5 crap again, so this time, I busted out an AU! Specifically, a Fire Emblem Engage AU, because it's light on storytelling but would allow me to easily have a character of obvious Japanese origins (thanks, Kagetsu!). So, in this one, I made Serena a wolf knight and Shun a wyvern knight because it made sense and also they're both classes I love playing in the game (thanks, Kagetsu! again).

I've also added a bunch of accents because this game bathes in stupid Baguettese-ish lore and I'm taking full advantage of it.

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Tooth and Nail

Summary: The battle rages on, someone falls from a wyvern, and it becomes another knight's problem.

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V // Fire Emblem Engage AU

Word Count: 1.3K words

AO3 version available here.

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Amidst the smoke and debris of the battle, there runs a human-sized wolf. It sneaks through the enemy hordes, a dagger taking down those who get too close in swift moves, leaving only pawprints and the ashy blood of the long-gone Corrupted behind it.

The wolf isn’t running alone, far from it. Riding it is a knight whose eyes are fixated on the sky, a dagger always in her right hand and the left on the reins of her beast. Her armour, as slim as it is, is spotted with dirt and ash, rusts and browns mixing in with the blacks and greys until the original silver can barely be spotted by the naked eye.

The enemy troops are finally dwindling after hours of sending the dead back to their graves. Good thing, because the army of the Divine Dragon is starting to get tired. She has seen so many of her allies injured and teetering, the healers tired on the sidelines and barely hanging on themselves, and so many chipped-off weapons. The Emblems help, but only up to a certain point; and they need to avoid that stage of fatigue.

She herself has just disengaged from Ephraim, which considering they’re both so silent, only changes the background noise ever so slightly. It helps focusing, she supposes, especially since she’s been sent as reinforcement.

Then a body falls from the sky and, without even a wink of hesitation, the wolf knight speeds ahead.

For a long moment, she can only hear her heartbeats inside her brain. No new scream reaches her ears, her hands move on their own to eliminate enemies and protect both her mount and herself. She doesn’t have time for any of the Corrupted, no matter their rank in the hierarchy of power unofficially established among them.

She only stops when she reaches an armoured wyvern that’s landed near the body. It’s a bit of relief to see her companion has managed to land on his legs, sparing so many organs and dangerous bones in his fall; but the damage is clear, and despite the already pitter-pattering of the Corrupted corpse in front of them all, there is little reassurance to be found amidst the poison.

She dismounts in a flash, but before she can rush, she watches her comrade rises to his feet – or at least attempts to.

Somehow still able to move his feet in a coherent manner, he pierces the chest of his enemy on shaky legs and with trembling arms, gritting his teeth and prying his eyes open, before falling back down. The Corrupted fades away from existence at last.

“You better pray that I don’t get up this time around,” he spits out with a glare of fire risen at the sky, his hand grippling onto his spare spear with such strength that his knuckles have turned white.

She decides enough and enough and finally runs to him, her beast in tow, her ears careful to the tracks of foes but her eyes now glued to her companion, her friend, perhaps something more whose nature she now cannot ponder on.

Unfortunately, the wyvern doesn’t see it that way – and so she has to stop in front of her feet, recognizing the battle scars and knowing gaze of a tired but fiercely protective beast of scale and claw, the strongest in their army, whose armour is nowhere near as solid as her own skin. This isn’t the sort of barrier you can go through unscathed, but here, no fight has to be fought.

“Étranger, it’s me, Séréna,” the puny human says. “You recognize me, do you?”

The wyvern leans towards her, stares at her for a moment, and leans back.

“Thank you.” She turns to her beloved mount. “Luna, please stay here with Étranger. I’m going to check up on Shun.”

The wolf nods her head up and down before she rolls into a ball by the wyvern’s paws, letting her cavalier finally finish running to her companion.

It’s about time she does so: her fellow knight is biting his lip in what must be terrible pain, eyes shut close with tears prickling at their corners, so she kneels to his level. Even putting her hands on his shoulders doesn’t cause a reaction, so she has to resort to words – neither of their forte.

“Hey, can you hear me?”

That gets him to open his eyes again, his gaze still sharp as a blade in spite of it all.

“Séréna…? ’s you…?”

His voice is raspy yet remains understandable.

“Yes, it’s me. Are you injured?”

“I guess,” he hardly replies. “Annoyin’ shit, but nothin’ deadly.”

“Let me check.”

He takes a long, good look at her; then sighs and, slowly, switches position as to have his legs available to her.

“Make it quick, the battle’s not over yet.”

“For you, it probably is.” He prepares a witty response; she doesn’t let him be. “Don’t move until I tell you to.”

Shun blows hot air out of his nose but chooses to remain silent.

Of course she’s never been a healer, has never been good at diagnosing any sort of problems, let alone find a solution for your physical hurt. All she knows is from experience, experience that’s just enough to know what’s wrong in some broad stroke. She doubts anyone in the Divine Army trusts her with precise diagnosis; but when someone needs help, or getting to someone else who can provide it, now it becomes her mission. That’s what she’s learned by fighting by the side of the Divine Army.

Anyway, Shun’s legs are hurting, that much is clear. He can’t use them properly anymore, not without tumbling like a newborn foal or screaming with every other part of his body. When she tries touching them, just to evaluate how bad it gets, his face distorts and he loudly curses in a language she doesn’t speak. One of them is bent in such a way that she can only describe it as a capital letter. If she wasn’t used to it, perhaps she’d have been choked shocked – but she’s used to blood, ash, and injuries.

“It’s broken,” she says as bluntly as possible, so it can register through his thick skull. “In fact, they’re most likely both broken. No doubt about your left one, at least, that thing’s bent.”

“Goddammit,” he curses under his breath.

“I can’t do anything about it on my own,” she admits, shame washing over her like pelting rain. “I need to bring you to a healer as soon as possible.”

“Sucks ass,” he swears again.

Séréna gets back to her foot and gives him her hand.

“Come on. We’re riding my wolf to Ruri, or whoever else’s the nearest cleric.”

He doesn’t want to agree, she can plainly see it.

“Étranger can still carry me.”

The wyvern in question loudly blows from her nostrils.

“How do you plan on manoeuvring a wyvern without being able to use your legs?”

He swears under his breath again but grabs her hand anyway and pushes himself up. She barely has the time to catch him before he falls over, pain all over his face. In the end, she decides she may as well carry him like her bride; it’ll be both easier and shorter.

For all of his bravado, once in her arms, he melts a little, letting his eyes close back down. Even his breathing seems to even out, much to her incomprehension, and it’s only now that she lets herself have her heart sunk by how vulnerable he is. It’s like it shouldn’t even happen, but now that she does know how bad he must be feeling, her strive to protect him has increased tenfold. His life is in her hands and it’s a blood-soaked honour.

As carefully as one can, she sets him on Luna’s back, then climbs on top of the mount in front of him.

“Hold my waist,” she tells him. “I’ll be careful, but it’ll hurt anyway.”

“Whatever it takes,” he replies as he spits out. “Let’s… not make this drag on.”

“Agreed. Luna, onwards.”

The wolf turns around and, swiftly, takes off back to their army’s core.

#whumptober 2023 #no.5 #lyric #“It's broken”#yu-gi-oh arc-v #fic #peregrineshipping #otp: blood moon

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selormohene · 7 months

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day 87 (thursday, september 28th 2023)

Writing a whole bunch of these on Monday, as the last few days have been chaotic (from the perspective of work and sleep. Also, I've had an unofficial policy that to maintain the general sense of operating this thing like an actual diary I'd limit the posts corresponding to each day to stuff I was actually reflecting on or thinking about on or before the day in question, even if I didn't write up the post that day. Idk how much that's going to count for especially if I have such a backlog. But whatever lol.

I've remarked previously about the greater sense of social serendipity I've been feeling recently. But something else that's changed is that I've become a lot more extroverted, or at any rate far less socially anxious. Like my ability to think on my feet and make spontaneous and relatively engaging small talk has emerged out of nowhere, which is really strange to me, which is funny to me (the fact that it's strange to me, I mean), considering that a lot of what I've been working on recently has been explicitly geared towards becoming more socially comfortable, among other things. I do find that I need to be relatively well-rested, anyway, and that to some extent it still feels like a bit of a performance, but it's a performance that requires a lot less energy to keep up, and which, if I'm in the right environment, translates to the possibility of genuine connection. I think it will take a while before it comes a lot more naturally to me, and before I will have fixed the underlying barriers, but even now in the changes which I see in myself which have facilitated this change in my social presentation I'm pretty happy with how things are going so far. There are still places where I have to work on stuff, but I'm getting there.

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nyahdigitalcommunities · 1 year

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Gaming Communities: Formation, Social Gaming, and Live-streaming

This week's discussion is an exploration of gaming communities, particularly how platforms and online spaces have enabled its formation. This discussion centres on the notion that gaming communities interact through multiple platforms and flow between those that best suit their present needs.

Social Gaming

Multiplayer features have become conventional in online gaming (Allen et al. 2021). Multiplayer features entail collaborative or competitive play with other users, and have shifted gaming into an activity in which users can socialise with others (Allen et al. 2021). Multiplayer games facilitate community formation in various ways, including social support and bonding over shared interests (Kelly, Magor & Wright 2021).

The Fortnite community exemplifies how gamers bond over multiplayer games and exist on other platforms when not actively playing. Fortnite is a globally popular synchronous online game, attracting over 125 million users within its first 9 months (Marlatt 2020). Despite the game's competitiveness, the Fortnite community bonds over common goals of increasing skill, status, and performance.

Outside of active gameplay, members of the Fortnite community can continue to interact through dedicated spaces on other platforms. There are currently 47.3 million posts on Instagram under '#fortnite' at the time of writing, and the official Fortnite server on Discord has over 1 million members (#fortnite 2023; Discord 2023a). These spaces are formed by users to share highlights of gameplay, memes, fan-art, and communicate with others in the community.

Below is an example of a member of the Fortnite community using Twitter to engage with others.

Platforms and Community Building

The gaming community has access to a range of platforms which fulfil specific needs. Platforms such as Steam and Discord have features ideal for community building and engagement, including discussion boards and chats (Gandolfi 2022). Services like Twitch and YouTube Gaming offer an experience aligned closer to spectatorship (Gandolfi 2022).

Community building is also facilitated by platforms through opportunities for social learning (Gandolfi 2022). In the context of gaming, users experience social learning when applying behaviours displayed by others in the community (Gandolfi 2022). Through features such as content sharing, streaming, and forums; platforms contribute to community building by creating spaces in which users can collaborate with others to extend their knowledge beyond games' provided instructions (Gandolfi 2022).

Niche Communities: Knowledge Communities

Online communities for sharing knowledge, skill, and expertise are referred to as knowledge communities. Whilst the aforementioned section discusses social learning enabled by platform features, the existence of knowledge communities differs as these are gamer-created spaces dedicated to sharing knowledge. These communities form from collaboration between users who place value on expertise.

Nookipedia is a wiki space for knowledge communities of the Animal Crossing series. It is an unofficial player-created encyclopedia in which the community documents learned knowledge from their gameplay. The Nookipedia community consists of users who share information on collectibles, in-game events, and game updates; and demonstrates how sub-communities form based on niche interests.

Streaming and Community Building

Streaming as an activity for community building originates from communal game spectatorship which has existed before the internet (Bowman et al. 2019). Streaming has shifted gameplay into a opportunity for connection in a space unlimited by proximity (Taylor 2018). Streaming communities are centred on both communal spectatorship and collaboration, often forming around streamers or genres of content.

Livestreaming, in particular, has facilitated the creation of communities as real time interactions foster both streamer-to-viewer and viewer-to-viewer relationships (Taylor 2018). The consumption of live content enables viewers to discuss what they're viewing as it happens. This communal watching forms a social activity in which gamers experience a sense of unity with other watchers.

Live-streaming and E-Sports

Professional e-sports players utilise livestreaming to expand their audience and generate revenue from training sessions (Taylor 2018). These communities are also formed upon spectatorship (Taylor 2018). Livestreaming has expanded e-sports spectatorship, enabling fans to communicate with others and watch tournaments globally (Taylor 2018).

Toxicity in Gaming Communities

Toxicity in gaming communities is normalised and commonplace (Griffiths & McLean 2019; Bergstrom 2022). The prevalence of harassment can be partially attributed to the level of anonymity that platforms afford. Sexism is an issue rife in gaming communities (Gandolfi 2022). Strategies for mitigating harassment, such as avoiding communication with others, directly hinders women's ability to gain a sense of belonging in communities (Griffiths & McLean 2019). This sexism, as well as other types of harassment, can be suggested to foster gaming communities that are exclusionary and homogenous.

In response, women and other marginalised groups have created their own spaces. Discord server Dungeons and Darlings is an example of this (Discord 2023b). A space for tabletop gaming for women and non-binary gamers, this server is an opportunity for minority gamers to freely communicate and collaborate without fear of harassment (Discord 2023b).

Other Gaming Communities: Melbourne Indie Game Scene

The Melbourne indie game scene shares similarities to the online gaming community (Keogh 2020). The Melbourne scene is a collection of sub-communities; bonding over creativity, collaboration, and innovation (Keogh 2020). Video-game creators participate in shared spaces and information sharing, creating a community from a skill rendered non-commodifiable due to saturation (Keogh 2020). However whilst online gaming communities form from leisure, the Melbourne indie game scene exists for the survival and visibility of the community in an unsustainable industry (Keogh 2020).

References

@neverthinking 2023, not yana, 6 May, viewed 6 May 2023, <https://twitter.com/neverthinkng/status/1654660580630753283?s=20>.

#fortnite 2023, viewed 5 May 2023, <https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/fortnite/>.

Allen, A, Bignill, J, De Regt, T, Kannis-Dymand, L, Mason, J, Millear, P, Raith, L, Stallman, H M, Stavropoulous, V & Wood, A 2021, 'Massively Multiplayer Online Games and Well-Being: A Systematic Literature Review', Frontiers in psychology, vol. 12, p. 698799.

Bergstrom, K 2021, 'Anti-social social gaming: community conflict in a Facebook game', Critical studies in media communication, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 61-74.

Bowman, N, Chen, Y-S, Lin, J-H & Lin, S-F 2019, 'Setting the digital stage: Defining game streaming as an entertainment experience', Entertainment computing, vol. 31, p. 100309.

Discord 2023a, Official Fortnite, Discord, viewed 5 May 2023, <https://discord.com/invite/fortnite>.

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: ‘Trump is where he is because of his appeal to racism’

The basketball legend and social activist who counted Ali and King among his contemporaries discusses Colin Kaepernick, LaVar Ball and Trumps America

Like all people my age I find the passage of time so startling, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says with a quiet smile. The 70-year-old remains the highest points-scorer in the history of the NBA and, having won six championships and been picked for a record 19 All-Star Games, he is often compared with Michael Jordan when the greatest basketball players of all time are listed. Yet no one in American sport today can match Kareems political and cultural impact over 50 years.

In the 90 minutes since he knocked on my hotel room door in Los Angeles, Abdul-Jabbar has recounted a dizzying personal history which stretches from conducting his first-ever interview with Martin Luther King in Harlem, when he was just 17, to receiving a hand-written insult from Donald Trump in 2015. We move from Colin Kaepernick calling him last week to the moment when, aged 20, Kareem was the youngest man invited to the Cleveland Summit as the leading black athletes in 1967 gathered to meet Muhammad Ali to decide whether they would support him after he had been stripped of his world title and banned from boxing for rejecting the draft during the Vietnam War.

Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who has been shut out of the NFL for his refusal to stand for the US national anthem, is engaged in a different struggle. But, after being banished unofficially from football for going down on a bended knee in protest against racism and police brutality, Kaepernick has one of his staunchest allies in Abdul-Jabbar.

At the Cleveland Summit Abdul-Jabbar was called Lew Alcindor, for he had not converted to Islam then, and he became one of Alis ardent supporters. When Ali convinced his fellow athletes he was right to stand against the US government, the young basketball star knew he needed to make his more reticent voice heard. He has stayed true to that conviction ever since.

Were talking about 50 years since the Cleveland Summit, wow, Abdul-Jabbar exclaims. We were tense about what we were going to do and Ali was the opposite. He said: Weve got to fight this in court and Im going to start a speaking tour. Ali had figured out what he had to do in order to make the dollars while fighting the case was essential to his identity. Bill Russell [the great Boston Celtics player] said: Ive got no concerns about Ali. Its the rest of us Im worried about. Ali had such conviction but he was cracking jokes and asking us if we were going to be as dumb as Wilt Chamberlain [another basketball great who played for the Philadelphia 76ers]. Wilt wanted to box Ali. Oh my God.

Abdul-Jabbars face creases with laughter before he becomes more serious again. Black Americans wanted to protect Ali because he spoke for us when we had no voice. When he said: Aint no Viet Cong ever called me the N-word, we figured that one out real quick. Ali was a winner and people supported him because of his class as a human being. But some of the things we fought against then are still happening. Each generation faces these same old problems.

The previous evening, when I had sat next to Abdul-Jabbar at the Los Angeles Press Club awards, the past echoed again. Abdul-Jabbar received two prizes the Legend Award and Columnist of the Year for his work in the Hollywood Reporter. Other award winners included Tippi Hedren, who starred in Alfred Hitchcocks thriller, The Birds, and the New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey who broke the Harvey Weinstein story two months ago. As if to prove that the past can be played over and over again in a contemporary loop, we saw footage of Hedren saying how she would not accept the sexual bullying of Hitchcock in the 1960s just before Kantor and Twohey described how they earned the trust of women who had been abused by Weinstein.

Abdul-Jabbar explained quietly to me how much of an ordeal he found such occasions. He was happiest talking about John Coltrane or Sherlock Holmes, James Baldwin or Bruce Lee, but people kept coming over to ask for a selfie or a book to be signed while, all evening, comic references were made to his height. Abdul-Jabbar is 7ft 2in and he looked two feet taller than Hedren on the red carpet.

The following morning, as he stretches out his long legs, I tell Kareem how I winced each time another wise-crack was made about his height. I can tell you I was six-foot-two, aged 12, when the questions started, Abdul-Jabbar says. Hows the weather up there? I should write down all the things people said when affected by my height. One of the funniest was at an airport and this little boy of five looked at my feet in amazement. I said: Hey, how youre doing? He just said: You must be very old because youve got very big shoes. For him the older you were, the bigger your shoes. Thats the best Ive heard.

In his simple but often beautiful and profound new book, Becoming Kareem, Abdul-Jabbar writes poignantly: My skin made me a symbol, my height made me a target.

A group of top black athletes gather to give support to Muhammad Ali give his reasons for rejecting the draft during the Vietnam War at a meeting of the Negro Industrial and Economic Union, held in Cleveland in June 1967. Seated in the front row, from left to right: Bill Russell, Ali, Jim Brown and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Standing behind them are: Carl Stokes, Walter Beach, Bobby Mitchell, Sid Williams, Curtis McClinton, Willie Davis, Jim Shorter and John Wooten. Photograph: Robert Abbott Sengstacke/Getty Images

Race has been the primary issue which Abdul-Jabbar has confronted every day. In another absorbing Abdul-Jabbar book published this year, Coach Wooden and Me, he celebrates his friendship with the man who helped him win an unprecedented three NCAA championship titles with UCLA. They lost only two games in his three years on campus as UCLA established themselves as the greatest team in the history of college basketball and Wooden, a white midwesterner, and Kareem, a black kid from New York, forged a bond that lasted a half-century. Yet, amid their shared morality and decency, race remained an unresolved issue between them.

Wooden was mortified when a little old lady stared up at the teenage Kareem and said: Ive never seen a nigger that tall. Even though he would later say that he learnt more about mans inhumanity to man by witnessing all his protg endured over the years, Woodens memory of that encounter softened the womans racial insult by saying that she had called Kareem a big black freak.

Abdul-Jabbar nods. He would never see a little grey-haired lady using such language. When it doesnt affect your life its hard for you to see. Men dont understand what attractive women go through. We dont get on a bus and have somebody squeeze our breast. We have no idea how bad it can be. For people to understand your predicament youve got to figure out how to convey that reality. It takes time.

Abdul-Jabbar made his first high-profile statement against the predicament of all African Americans when, in 1968, he boycotted the Olympic Games in Mexico. After race riots in Newark and Detroit, and the assassination of King in April 1968, he knew he could not represent his country. Dr Harry Edwards [the civil rights activist] helped me realise how much power I had. The Olympics are a great event but what happened overwhelmed any patriotism. I had to make a stand. I wanted the country to live up to the words of the founding fathers and make sure they applied to people of colour and to women. I was trying to hold America to that standard.

The athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos took another path of protest. They competed in the Olympic 200m in Mexico and, after they had won gold and bronze, raised their gloved fists in a black power salute on the podium. I was glad somebody with some political consciousness had gone to Mexico, Abdul-Jabbar says, so I was very supportive of them.

Does Kaepernicks situation mirror those same issues? Yeah. The whole issue of equal treatment under the law is still being worked out here because for so long our political and legal culture has denied black Americans equal treatment. But I was surprised Kaepernick had that awareness. It made me think: I wonder how many other NFL athletes are also aware? From there it has bloomed. This generation has a very good idea on how to confront racism. I talked to Colin a couple of days ago on the phone and Im really proud of him. Hes filed an issue with the Players Association about the owners colluding to keep him from working. Thats the best legal approach to it. I hope he prevails.

Over dinner the night before, he intimated that Kaepernick knew he would never play in the NFL again. We didnt get that deep into it, he says now, but he has an idea that is whats going down. But hes moved on. He hadnt prepared for this but he coped with different twists and turns. Some of the owners in the NFL are sympathetic, some arent. Its gone back and forth. But he appreciates the fact that kids in high school have taken an interest. So he got something done and this generations athletes are now more aware of civil rights.

Abdul-Jabbar is proud of Colin Kaepernicks stand. Photograph: Michael Zagaris/Getty Images

Kaepernick has been voted GQs Citizen of the Year, the runner-up in Time magazines Person of the Year and this week he received Sports Illustrateds Muhammad Ali Legacy Award. Considering the way Kaepernick has never wavered in his commitment, Abdul-Jabbar writes in Sports Illustrated that: I have never been prouder to be an American On November 30, it was reported that 40 NFL players and league officials had reached an agreement for the league to provide approximately $90m between now and 2023 for activism endeavors important to African American communities. Clearly, this is the result of Colins one-knee revolution and of the many players and coaches he inspired to join him. That is some serious impact Were my old friend [Ali] still alive, I know he would be proud that Colin is continuing this tradition of being a selfless warrior for social justice.

In my hotel room, Abdul-Jabbar is more specific in linking tragedy and a deepening social conscience. I dont know how anybody could not be moved by some of the things weve seen. Remember the footage of [12-year-old] Tamir Rice getting killed [in Cleveland [in 2014]. The car stops and the cop stands up and executes Tamir Rice. It took two seconds. Its so unbelievably brutal you have to do something about it.

LeBron James and other guys in the NBA all had something to say about such crimes [James and leading players wore I Cant Breathe T-shirts in December 2014 to protest against the police killing of Eric Garner, another black man]. They werent talking as athletes. They were talking as parents because that could have been their kid.

If the NFL appears to have actively ended Kaepernicks career, what does Abdul-Jabbar feel about the NBAs politics? The NBA has been wonderful. I came into the NBA and went to Milwaukee [where he won his first championship before winning five more with the LA Lakers]. Milwaukee had the first black general manager in professional sports [Wayne Embry in 1972]. And the NBAs outreach for coaches, general managers and women has been exemplary. The NBA has been on the edge of change. I was hoping the NFL might do the same because some of the owners were taking the knee. But theyre making an example of Colin. Its not right. Let him go out there and succeed or fail on the field like any other great athlete.

Abdul-Jabbar smiles shyly when I ask him about his first interview with Martin Luther King 53 years ago. As a journalist I started out interviewing Dr King. Whoa! By that point [1964], Dr King was a serious icon and I was thrilled he gave me a really good earnest answer. Moments like that affect your life. But my first real experience of being drawn into the civil rights movement came when I read James Baldwins The Fire Next Time.

Muhammad Ali, then Cassius Clay, with Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then Lew Alcindor. Photograph: Bettmann/Bettmann Archive

Has he seen I Am Not Your Negro Raoul Pecks 2016 documentary of Baldwin? Its wonderful. I saw it two weeks after the Trump election. It was medicine for my soul. It made me think of how bad things were for James Baldwin. But remember him speaking at Cambridge [University] and the reception he got? Oh man, amazing! I kept telling people: Trump is an asshole but go and see this film. Trump doesnt matter because weve got work to do.

In 2015, after Abdul-Jabbar wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Post, condemning Trumps attempts to bully the press, the future president sent him a scrawled note: Kareem now I know why the press always treated you so badly. They couldnt stand you. The fact is you dont have a clue about life and what has to be done to make America great again.

Abdul-Jabbar smiles when I say that schoolyard taunt is a long way from the oratory of King or Malcolm X. If you judge yourself by your enemies Im doing great. Trumps not going to change. He knows he is where he is because of his appeal to racism and xenophobia. The people that want to divide the country are in his camp. They want to go back to the 18th century.

Trump wants to move us back to 1952 but hes not Eisenhower who was the type of Republican that cared about the whole nation. Even George Bush Sr and George W Bushs idea of fellow citizens did not exclude people of colour. George Ws cabinet looked like America. It had Condoleezza Rice and the Mexican American gentleman who was the attorney general [Alberto Gonzales] and Colin Powell. Women had important positions in his administration. Even though I did not like his policies, he wasnt exclusionary.

Look whats going on with Trump in Alabama [where the president supports Roy Moore in the state senate election despite his favoured candidate being accused of multiple sexual assaults of under-age girls]. You have a guy like him but hes going to vote the way you want politically. Thats more important than what hes accused of? People with that frightening viewpoint are still fighting a civil war. They have to be contained.

Does he fear that Trump might win a second term? I dont think he can, but the rest of us had better organise and vote in 2020. I hope people stop him ruining our nation.

Abdul-Jabbar also worries that college sport remains as exploitative as ever. Its a business and the coaches, the NCAA and universities make a lot of money and the athletes get exploited. They make billions of dollars for the whole system and dont get any. Im not saying they have to be wealthy but I think they should get a share of the incredible amount they generate.

In Coach Wooden and Me, he writes of how, in the 1960s, he was famous at UCLA but dead broke. Yeah. No cash. Its ridiculous. Basketball and football fund everything. College sports do not function on the revenue from water polo or track and field or gymnastics. Its all down to basketball and football. The athletes at Northwestern tried to organise a union and thats how college athletes have to think. They need to unionise. If they can organise they can get a piece of the pie because they are the show.

The legendary Michael Jordan never showed the social conscience of Abdul-Jabbar and other rare NBA activists like Craig Hodges. But Abdul-Jabbar is conciliatory towards Jordan and his commercially-driven contemporaries. I was glad they became interested in being successful businessmen because their financial power makes a difference. I just felt they should leave a little room to help the causes they knew needed their help. But Jordan has come around. He gave some money to the NAACP for legal funds, thank goodness.

President Barack Obama awards the Medal of Freedom to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at the White House in November 2016. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Abdul-Jabbar defines himself as a writer now. As he reflects on his LA Press Club awards he says: To be honoured by other writers is incredible. Im a neophyte. Im a rookie.

He grins when I say hes not doing not too badly for a rookie who has written 13 books, including novels about Mycoft Holmes brother of Sherlock. Yeah, but I still feel new to it and to get that recognition was wonderful. I was very flattered that the BBC came to interview me about Mycroft because the British are very protective of their culture. Arthur Conan Doyle is beyond an icon. So I was like, Wow, maybe I am doing OK. When I was [an NBA] rookie somebody gave me a complete compilation of Doyles stories. I went from there.

People were amazed because I always used to be reading before a game whether it was Sherlock Holmes or Malcolm X, John Le Carr or James Baldwin. But that was one of the luxuries of being a professional athlete. You get lots of time to read. My team-mates did not read to the same extent but Im a historian and some of the guys had big holes in their knowledge of black history. So I was the librarian for the team.

I tell Abdul-Jabbar about my upcoming interview with Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics and how the 21-year-old has the same thirst for reading and knowledge. While enthusiastic about the possibility of meeting Brown when the Celtics next visit LA, Abdul-Jabbar makes a wistful observation of a young sportsmans intellectual curiosity. Hes going to be lonely. Most of the guys are like: Where are we going to party in this town? Where are the babes? So the fact that he has such broader interests is remarkable and wonderful.

Abdul-Jabbar acknowledges that his own bookish nature and self-consciousness about his height, combined with a fierce sense of injustice, made him appear surly and aloof as a player. It also meant he was never offered the head-coach job he desired. They didnt think I could communicate and they didnt take the time to get to know me. But I didnt make it easy for them so some of that falls in my lap absolutely. But its different now. People stop me in the street and want to talk about my articles. Its amazing.

Most of all, in his eighth decade, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar loves to lose myself in my imagination. Its a wonderful place to go when youre old and creaky like me. I see myself working at this pace [writing at least a book a year] but its not like I have the hounds at my heels. Since my career ended Ive been able to have friends and family. My new granddaughter will be three this month. Shes my very first [grandchild]. So my life has expanded in wonderful ways. But, still, we all have so much work to do. The work is a long way from being done.

Main photograph by Austin Hargrave/AUGUST