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mostlysignssomeportents · 9 months

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When parties fail, movements step up

This Saturday (19 Aug), I'm appearing at the San Diego Union-Tribune Festival of Books. I'm on a 2:30PM panel called "Return From Retirement," followed by a signing:

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/festivalofbooks

Does anyone like the American two party system? The parties are opaque, private organizations, weak institutions that are prone to capture and corruption, and gerrymandering's "safe seats" means that the real election often takes place in the party's smoke-filled rooms, when a sure-thing candidate is selected:

https://doctorow.medium.com/weak-institutions-a26a20927b27

But there doesn't seem to be any way to fix it. For one thing, the two parties are in charge of any reform, and they're in no hurry to put themselves out of business. It's effectively impossible for a third party to gain any serious power in the USA, and that's by design. After the leftist Populists party came within a spitting distance of power in the 1890s, the Dems and Repubs got together and cooked the system, banning fusion voting and erecting other structural barriers.

The Nader and Perot campaigns were doomed from the outset, in other words. Either candidate could have been far more popular than the D and R on the ballot, and they still would have lost. It's how the deck is stacked, and to unstack it, reformers would need to take charge of at least one – and probably both – of the parties.

But that's not cause for surrender – it's a call to action. In an interview with Seymour Hersh, Thomas Frank (Listen, Liberal) sets out another locus of power, one with the potential to deliver control over the party to its base: social movements:

https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/ordinary-people-by-the-millions

It's been done before. The parties are routinely transformed by power-shifts within their internal coalitions: since 1970, corporate Dems have consistently pushed the party to the right, making it the power of white-collar professionals and relying on working people showing up and marking their ballots with a D because they have "nowhere else to go."

Bill Clinton was the most successful of these corporate raiders, delivering the parts of the Reagan Revolution that Reagan himself could never have managed: dismantling tariffs and bank regulations, passing the crime bill and welfare "reform." He came within a whisper of (partially) privatizing Social Security.

This set in motion the forces that made Trumpism possible: when Dems told deindustrialized workers to "learn to code" and blamed them for the destruction of their communities, it opened a space for Make America Great Again, the (empty) workerist rhetoric of the GOP. The Dems' plan of putting "really smart people" in charge and letting them run things was a (predictable) disaster. "Really smart" isn't the same as "infallible" and really smart people can be spooked or bulled into doing the wrong thing – like Obama "foaming the runways" for the banks with the houses of mortgage holders, and leaving the bankers responsible for the Great Financial Crisis unscathed:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/15/mon-dieu-les-guillotines/#ceci-nes-pas-une-bailout

"Really smart people" can't get us out of this mess. Instead, we need the kind of muscular political action – the "whirlwind" – that characterized FDR's New Deal: "complete reformation of the banking industry.. just about every other industry as well. Regulation. Social Security. Public works. Antitrust. Soil conservation."

FDR got there by alienating his former classmates and refusing the go-slow entreaties of his cronies. He got there because there was a mass social movement that made him do it ("I want to do it, now make me do it"):

https://humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2014/09/16/i-agree-with-you-i-want-to-do-it-now-make-me-do-it/

Every time in US history where one of the political party duopoly listened to its base, it was because of a mass social movement: the farmers' movement (1890s), labor (1930s), civil rights and antiwar (1960s). As Frank says:

Social movements succeed. They build and they change the intellectual climate and then, when the crisis comes, they make possible things like agrarian reform or the New Deal or the Civil Rights acts of the 1960s.

Today, we see the seeds of those social movements: the new union movement. Black Lives Matter. Neobrandeisians with their "hipster antitrust." These are the movements that are creating "ideas lying around": ideas that, in time of crisis, can move from the fringe to the center in an eyeblink:

https://doctorow.medium.com/ideas-lying-around-33a28901a7ae

They are setting in motion another transformation of the Democratic Party, from its top-down, "really smart people" model to a bottom-up, people-powered one, kept in check by movements, not party bosses. As Frank says, "They require the mass participation of ordinary people. Without that, I am afraid that nothing is possible."

I'm kickstarting the audiobook for "The Internet Con: How To Seize the Means of Computation," a Big Tech disassembly manual to disenshittify the web and make a new, good internet to succeed the old, good internet. It's a DRM-free book, which means Audible won't carry it, so this crowdfunder is essential. Back now to get the audio, Verso hardcover and ebook:

http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org

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

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/17/popular-front-of-judea/#speaking-frankly

#pluralistic #sy hersh #theories of change #third parties #us politics #thomas frank #unions #labor #organized labor #civil rights movement #black lives matter #dinos #entryism #occupy democrats

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annieqattheperipheral · 10 months

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NHLPA launches a new program to help players prepare for life outside of hockey

i.e. dad yelling at u to get a real job bc ur etsy shop aint be bumpin forever

the kids are getting a high school guidance counsellor and co-op term! what colour is ur parachute nursey

no wonder sabres on the rise oko's media hits so beautifully eloquent. they got smartypants mini gm at the helm

i just find this so interesting and wonderful ...and like if a big hockey butt wants to come hit me up for improv classes i'm not complaining🫠 imma make a union actor (nate. realistic) two time emmy winner (sid. dream on u don't have that ass) outta u

full article under cut:

Early in his time in the NHL, Darnell Nurse says he did not notice a lot of players talking about what to do after hockey. Going into his ninth season, the chatter is now normal.

“People are curious as to what there is outside the game and what you can do to prepare yourself,” Nurse said.

Plenty of players have taken it upon themselves to prepare for the future, like Zdeno Chara getting his real estate license and others finishing college degrees or exploring business opportunities. The NHL Players’ Association on Thursday launched a program that gives its members the chance to do a personality analysis and delve into real estate, business or other avenues while still in the league.

The hope is to help them develop interests outside of hockey while playing and ease the transition to life afterward.

“It’s something that’s been missing a little bit,” veteran center Lars Eller told The Associated Press. “It’s kind of well known that one of the struggles for a professional athlete is the transition on to the next thing once he’s done with his professional career. And this platform helps you with that transition, and it’s something you can start even while you’re still playing so you can sort of hit the ground running once you’re done.”

New union boss Marty Walsh made helping former players one of his top priorities. His arrival in March coincided with a process two years in the making, after player feedback indicated the desire for more assistance outside of hockey.

The result is the NHLPA UNLMT program. Retired defenseman-turned-psychologist Jay Harrison is available to do an assessment, and players can get involved with companies ranging from Money Management International to The Second City comedy and improv theater and institutions like the University of Florida and Stanford’s graduate school of business.

Former goaltender Rob Zepp, who’s spearheading the program as the union’s director of strategic initiatives, said an extensive survey provided the building blocks for something that was designed to be 1-on-1 and customized for players to figure out what might interest them.

“What we’ve seen so far it really runs the gamut: anything from enhancing one’s personal brand to starting a podcast to taking these certificate-level courses in real estate, in entrepreneurship, in business, in leadership, communication skills, networking skills,” Zepp said. “We have players that are interested in or are currently pursuing commercial real estate avenues or farming ventures or construction.”

Eller, Nurse and Buffalo captain Kyle Okposo are among the players who have tried UNLMT so far. Okposo has already graduated from Stanford’s business leadership program, while Eller has spoken with Harrison and taken some of the courses offered.

“They’re not waiting until people’s careers are over,” said Nurse, who is still in his prime at 28. “It’s something that you can dip your feet into and grab a hold of while you’re still playing and giving you resources and opportunities to kind of figure out what you want to do.”

Zepp got a degree from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from the University of Liverpool the old-school way — tapes and textbooks sent by mail and tests taken in front of a proctor — while playing mostly in the minors and Europe before before 10 games with Philadelphia in 2014-15. He felt like having something to study made him a better goalie and understood there was plenty of idle time on the road.

Eller, who is a silent partner involved with helping start-up businesses, thinks the same way.

“We, as players, we have — not a lot of freedom once the season is starting — but we do have a lot of free time,” said Eller, who scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal for Washington in 2018 and is a pending free agent at 34. “It’s a huge positive if you have something else that you can take your mind off of hockey and do something productive with that time.”

Walsh got to know several Bruins alumni when he was mayor of Boston and has since talked to other former players and come away with a mandate to protect guys beyond their time on the ice.

“When they played, they gave it their all, and a lot of them didn’t really have anything after that,” Walsh said. “They didn’t make big contracts. They really didn’t have a strong pension system. A lot of them, even going back further than that, lost stuff. We can’t let that happen again.”

#nhlpa #kyle okposo #darnell nurse #lars eller #edmonton oilers #colorado avalanche #buffalo sabres #zdeno chara #boston bruins #marty walsh #annieQ hockey thoughts

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skippyv20 · 2 months

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Spotlight on Markus Anderson + SOHO House

Hi Skippy & Friends-Pilgrim here thinking it is ABOUT TIME an intense spotlight unearths the truth of what has been going on at SOHO Houses since their beginning in London. We do know their specially designed wallpaper that looked like flowers was really private body parts up close. We have read and deducted that Markle basically lived in them, having her own place to store luggage in London. Didn’t JH describe in Spare being taken thru secret hallways to get to her door? Together Markus & Markle, who act like friends with hot benefits in photos, enjoy playing gaslighting games together. It seems he can go either way as it has been written he had a fling with Edward Enniful-who did the disastrous Vogue issue with Markle and is just now retiring as the editor-in-chief of British Vogue. As for her, well, she sends wedding rings back in manila envelopes saying it’s over while having been living with the new guy and is in the process of moving onto the next victim. She changes religion with a snap of her fingers. Don’t forget all those foreign business trips to famous playgrounds on yachts in-between, proudly photographed and presented on her Tig site as if she was on her own dime- sure Jan. 6 degrees of separation with this group is more like 2.

We do know that Markus Anderson was born in Ontario, not far from a private school a 17-year-old Randy Andy attended for one semester. (Hmmmmm-dare I wonder about the older, half-brother/cousin possibility?) Anderson started impressing the bosses at Toronto’s SOHO House and is now their global membership director helping drive the company’s international expansion. He was/is? the guy rich patrons called looking for easy, classy, hook-ups. From the U.S. Sun, “He started working for the company as a waiter but quickly moved up through the ranks, turning his hand to practically every position at the company on his way up the ladder. The stylish chap is the right-hand man to company CEO Nick Jones and personally crafts the guest lists to some of the biggest celebrity parties - including an annual Oscars bash. He was named one of Toronto Life’s 50 Most Influential in 2014.”

We do know he and Markle have been in cahoots for years, (she went to Toronto for Suits in 2011) travelling together often. I have so many questions about this man it’s not funny. He was photographed at the Montecito polo fields babysitting a weird acting Markle, seemingly calming down tempers after a huge fight. He was THE one ushering Markle closer to Prince Harry, be it polo matches in the UK, parties with international magnates or the 2017 Invictus Games. He was one of 4 who was in the IG’s suite waiting for the prince to come up and say a formal GOODBYE to Meghan but instead, was met by Doria who told PH what was reeeallly going to happen. He was the one who gladly showed up at her half million-dollar, bogus baby shower in Manhattan to take her out to dinner. She told the paps what door to be at and they were photographed as she walked out NOT wearing the huge baby bump she sported when she arrived! He is the one who babysat her now orphaned dogs staying behind in Canada. He was around so much many said he was living with them starting on Vancouver Island. I even think Archie looks just like HIM! I’m referring to the child shown off with Rev. Tutu and reading the Duck/Rabbit book. This whole dang thing stinks to high heaven.

Yes, shine a big spotlight on this man and company. If short sellers discover there is not enough to sure up the value of their stocks…well then SELL!!!

Thank you Pilgrim! Great post!!!!❤️

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journeytothewestresearch · 7 months

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What "Bodhisattva" even mean? Are they like a messager or middle man?

They are an enlightened being who foregoes nirvana in order to save countless people from the suffering that keeps man trapped in samsara.

This is the official entry in the Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (2014):

Bodhisattva (P. bodhisatta; T. byang chub sems dpa’; C. pusa; J. bosatsu; K. posal 菩薩). In Sanskrit, lit. “enlightenment being.” The etymology is uncertain, but the term is typically glossed to mean a “being (SATTVA) intent on achieving enlightenment (BODHI),” viz., a being who has resolved to become a buddha. In the MAINSTREAM BUDDHIST SCHOOLS, the Buddha refers to himself in his many past lifetimes prior to his enlightenment as a bodhisattva; the word is thus generally reserved for the historical Buddha prior to his own enlightenment. In the MAHĀYĀNA traditions, by contrast, a bodhisattva can designate any being who resolves to generate BODHICITTA and follow the vehicle of the bodhisattvas (BODHISATTVAYĀNA) toward the achievement of buddhahood. The Mahāyāna denotation of the term first appears in the AS˙ T˙ ASĀHASRIKĀPRAJÑĀPĀRAMITĀ, considered one of the earliest Mahāyāna sūtras, suggesting that it was already in use in this sense by at least the first century BCE. Schools differ on the precise length and constituent stages of the bodhisattva path (MĀRGA), but generally agree that it encompasses a huge number of lifetimes—according to many presentations, three incalculable eons of time (ASAM˙ KHYEYAKALPA)—during which the bodhisattva develops specific virtues known as perfections (PĀRAMITĀ) and proceeds through a series of stages (BHŪMI). Although all traditions agree that the bodhisattva is motivated by “great compassion” (MAHĀKARUN˙ Ā) to achieve buddhahood as quickly as possible, Western literature often describes the bodhisattva as someone who postpones his enlightenment in order to save all beings from suffering. This description is primarily relevant to the mainstream schools, where an adherent is said to recognize his ability to achieve the enlightenment of an ARHAT more quickly by following the teachings of a buddha, but chooses instead to become a bodhisattva; by choosing this longer course, he perfects himself over many lifetimes in order to achieve the superior enlightenment of a buddha at a point in the far-distant future when the teachings of the preceding buddha have completely disappeared. In the Mahāyāna, the nirvān˙ a of the arhat is disparaged and is regarded as far inferior to buddhahood. Thus, the bodhisattva postpones nothing, instead striving to achieve buddhahood as quickly as possible. In both the mainstream and Mahāyana traditions, the bodhisattva, spending his penultimate lifetime in the TUS˙ ITA heaven, takes his final rebirth in order to become a buddha and restore the dharma to the world. MAITREYA is the bodhisattva who will succeed the dispensation (ŚĀSANA) of the current buddha, GAUTAMA or ŚĀKYAMUNI; he is said to be waiting in the tus˙ ita heaven, until the conditions are right for him to take his final rebirth and become the next buddha in the lineage. In the Mahāyāna tradition, many bodhisattvas are described as having powers that rival or even surpass those of the buddhas themselves, and come to symbolize specific spiritual qualities, such as AVALOKITEŚVARA (the bodhisattva of compassion), MAÑJUŚRĪ (the bodhisattva of wisdom), VAJRAPĀN˙ I (the bodhisattva of power), and SAMANTABHADRA (the bodhisattva of extensive practice). In Western literature, these figures are sometimes referred to as “celestial bodhisattvas.” In Korea, the term posal also designates laywomen residents of monasteries, who assist with the menial chores of cooking, preserving food, doing laundry, etc. These posal are often widows or divorcées, who work for the monastery in exchange for room and board for themselves and their children. The posal will often serve the monastery permanently and end up retiring there as well (Buswell & Lopez, 2014, p. 134).

Also check out the Wikipedia article:

Source:

Buswell, R. E., & Lopez, D. S. (2014). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

#Bodhisattva #Buddha #Buddhism

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vocalsynthbdays · 8 months

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happy birthday rana(vocaloid 3), natsuki karin(cevio ai and synthv studio), daisy(alter/ego), and recu(utau) !!!!!

rana(v3)

natsuki (cevio)

daisy

recu (song)

rana is a japanese synth originally developed by We've Inc. in collaboration with Internet Co., and released on 9 sep 2014. her vp is Ai Kakuma, and illustrator is Shindo Kamichi. rana was originally only available through a japanese magazine called "Vocalo-P ni Naritai!" (which translates to "i want to be a vocalo-p" i think), due to this she was only available in japan. however when her v4 released on 1 dec 2015 she became accessible to users world wide. shes also available on the mobile vocaloid editor. rana was intended to be a beginner friendly vocaloid, as the vocalo-p ni naritai magazine was designed for begginers. rana is 0yo, and 150cm tall (153cm with shoes). her character birthday is the same as the vps birthday, sep 9

Natsuki Karin is a japanese synth developed by TOKYO6 ENTERTAINMENT in collaboration with AH-Software, and released on 13 apr 2022. her vp is Miyu Takagi, illustrator is Teshima Nari, and 3d modeler is tumidango. natsuki was released for both cevio and synthv on the same day. she is also available in pitagoe. her character birthday is sep 9. she is a third year student of the ficitonal Otaru Shiokaze High School, which would make her around 17-18yo, though she doesnt have a canon age. she is 164cm tall. her plush companion is called Ekaterina

daisy is an english and japanese synth released on 9 sep 2015, as was alter/ego itself. her vp is Crusher-P, and illustrator is Pixoshiru. daisy was the first vocal released for alter/ego. she was later retired by crusher, who holds daisys copyright. the original download link for daisy has been removed, and Bones replaced her as the default vocal for alter/ego. crusher has said to be uncomfortable with users still using daisy

RECU is a japanese synth released on 7 nov 2015 (or maybe 17th, his website says this but vocadb and utaudb say 7th). he is voiced and manged by yauta. recus illustrated by yauta, G.M.kimchee, and 夜千世 (help sor idk what it is in english), but i have no idea who drew which art

i was going to write more, specifically about daisy and recu, but i hit the discord text limit and i write all my captions in there, so ples look into them all on their wikis and sites if you have time !!!

ranas companions Sacchan/Sakiko and Jasmine Kenkyuuin

ranas companions Morio Shishou and Kouhei

logo

natsuki synthv

Ekaterina

logo

daisy in chipspeech

recu talk and tachie

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haveyouseenthishorrormovie · 5 months

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SUMMARY: When deadly beasts attack from the forest, it is up to a grizzled veteran to uncover what the residents of a secluded retirement community are hiding.

The mod loves the design of this werewolf and the father-son dynamic from the synopsis on Wikipedia. If she's being honest though, she's not sure this is going on her watchlist any time soon.

Fun fact: this movie is also known as Night of the Wolf.

#late phases (2014)#werewolf #2010s #united states #north american movie #mentionable warning #animal death #horror #movies #poll #more than 50% havent heard

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remapped-soul · 1 year

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solar power

when marc can't take care of himself, valentino steps in.

a valentino rossi/marc marquez fic for beloved @carlosheinz <3 self care is hard but we're not alone and i hope you know that <3

read on ao3

(for tw check the tags)

Valentino can’t stand Marc.

It’s a constant feeling nestled between his third and fourth rib, but the intensity varies. On a good day, Valentino simply ignores Marc. On a bad day, Valentino wants to get his hands around his neck and squeeze until the tendons crack under his knuckles. He got a taste of it in 2014. He hasn’t been able to stop thinking about it since. What would have happened if there were no cameras around them?

Marc’s bad luck starts in 2020 and it doesn’t stop. A bad day for Marc means a bad day for Valentino. A bad year for Marc translates into a bad year for Valentino. It’s worse than 2015, more difficult to swallow than 2018. Valentino wants to scream until he runs out of breath and chokes to death.

2022 is the worst of it all. Marc moves to Madrid to speed up his recovery, and it leaves Valentino baffled and a little irritated. The big city won’t be able to replace the things he gets for granted in the countryside: the quiet, the nature, the clean air.

Marc moves to Madrid and Valentino follows against his better judgment. Madrid is fucking insane, but so is driving 20 hours from Tavullia. At least, when Marc doesn’t answer his phone, he is a 20-minute drive away from Valentino’s place in town, close enough to reach before Valentino’s desire to strangle him subsides.

Valentino can’t stand Marc when Marc doesn’t answer his phone. Sometimes Alex picks up when he’s around, saying that his brother is sleeping, eating, exercising. Marc is busy and he can’t come to the phone. Those are the days Valentino drops the car keys back into the glass bowl and gets back to his life. But Alex is not always with Marc, so Valentino gets in his car, he drives with fingers gripping the steering wheel until he parks a little crooked in front of Marc’s house.

When Marc doesn’t answer his phone it means he didn’t get out of bed in the morning, so Valentino has to do it for him. He is annoying like that. Valentino knows where the spare key is, hidden under a fancy pot with fancy hydrangeas around the corner. Of all the windows the house has, there is only one door. Valentino grabs the key and unlocks the door, lets himself inside.

“Sono a casa,” he yells to the empty hallway, the empty living room and the empty kitchen.

The air smells like dust and engine oil, things thrown hazardously around. Valentino stands in the middle of the living room, surrounded by the big couch and the big table, and looks around with his hands on his hips. He’s listening. The house is quiet.

“Brat,” he mutters under his breath. He gets to work. He opens the windows, lets the fresh air in. He gathers the clothes and redbull caps and puts them in one place, fluffs the pillows and loads the dishwasher with dirty plates and cups of coffee. Il dottore turned housemaid. If this is what retirement is about, he doesn’t want it.

When the place looks less like a dumpster and more like a place designed for humans, Valentino sends a prayer to whoever is listening and goes looking for Marc in his bedroom. He opens the door, steps inside. It’s dark, claustrophobic. This time, Valentino doesn’t pull the curtains apart, doesn’t open the windows. He makes his way to the bed, where the blankets sit still, a bump in the middle the only indication there is a person underneath it all. Valentino sighs.

“Sun will do you good, moccioso viziato.”

Marc’s head pops up, unruly curls and unruly smile. “Vale?” His voice sounds hoarse. It hurts Valentino’s brain just hearing it.

“Shhh,” he says as he climbs in bed, slipping under the blankets. Marc is on his good side, his injured arm placed carefully on top. Valentino settles behind him, head tucked into Marc’s shoulder, arm around Marc’s waist.

“Sono qui,” he says before he presses a kiss to Marc’s neck. Marc melts in the embrace, breath stuttering out of him in a hiccup.

“Vale.”

They will stay like this for a while. Then, Valentino will pull Marc out of bed. He will clean this room too, and take a walk with Marc in the garden, force him to a light run because only his arm is broken, not his fucking legs. Valentino will help Marc stretch his muscles, wash his hair, and at the end of the day he will ask for a hefty compensation because he is Il dottore, not a fucking maid.

Valentino hates speaking Spanish and he hates Spanish food, but when Marc refuses to eat, Valentino cooks for him. He speaks in stilted phrases to the women at the market, Tias and Tios that have no idea who he is because this country worships a different kind of God. He learns how to cook escudella and callos a la madrileña because Marc is a spoiled brat and doesn’t want to eat unless it’s his grandmother’s recipe. One phone conversation with Juliá about Marc’s favourite dishes is one conversation too many. But he makes the call anyway and he listens to Juliá’s guidance over the speaker phone as the stew bubbles on the stove. The house smells like meat and vegetables for a long time after, rich and savory that it almost makes Valentino’s mouth water. He’d eat a bowl if it wasn’t for the soft texture of the carrots he despises so much. Marc stops being annoying for a second, he eats two bowls of escudella sitting with his legs crossed on the wooden floor, Valentino next to him munching on a piece of bread. When he’s finished, his smile kicks up a notch before he lunges for Valentino and presses his sticky mouth to Valentino’s cheeks and neck and mouth, wherever he finds skin. His giggles rattle Valentino’s ribcage where they are pressed together.

“See if I ever cook for you, brat,” Valentino tells him when Marc runs out of steam, slumping against his chest on the couch.

“You will,” Marc smiles at him, chin resting on his hands, feet kicking up in the air. Marc is tolerable when his arm behaves and he forgets about the pain for a while. Valentino doesn’t want to break too many things if Marc offers him his smile constantly.

Valentino gets his hands into those curls, tugs at the roots until Marc’s eyelashes flutter. He doesn’t say anything, because they both know Valentino will break his promise the next time Marc refuses to eat. He will cook for Marc again. It doesn’t matter if he hates the process when he loves the result.

Marc is the most infuriating when he can’t stop talking. Valentino doesn’t think Marc is aware of it. It happens when he least expects it, when they’re doing the most mundane shit.

They’re running around the track in Tavullia, and between one ragged breath and another, Marc says. “Maybe if I trained harder, maybe if I worked harder, I’d get better. I’m not doing enough. It’s never enough.” It’s random and unexpected and it distracts Valentino so that he almost trips over his legs and face plants the ground.

It happens when they’re cooking when Valentino is making fresh pesto and Marc is dicing the zucchini. It goes well until Marc tries to dice his fingers too. He nips the tip of his index with the sharp blade, starts swearing up and down, “You can’t do anything right. Idiota.” Valentino almost sticks his own hand in the boiling pasta water because self-inflicted pain is easier to bear than whatever shit Marquez is saying. He doesn’t. Instead, he grabs the first-aid kit and tends to Marc’s tiny wound.

By now, Valentino learned to expect this kind of talk from Marc, but he has yet to learn how to deal with it. He either gapes like a fish as Marc smiles through his horrid words or Valentino leaves the room, fuming, because he can’t yell at a person who thinks they deserve to be yelled at. The crash in Jerez must have damaged more than Marc’s bones. There are enough doctors around Marc to take care of his injuries for him, but who’s taking care of the nasty voices inside his mind? Valentino doesn’t think he is equipped enough for it, not when he can barely stop himself from pressing his fingernail to Marc’s wound in an attempt to make him realise that maybe his way of dealing with the recovery process is not the best one.

“It’s just a scratch, Marc, not the end of the world.”

Marc shrugs, not lifting his eyes from the chopped zucchini. “Then what do you call Jerez 2020?”

Valentino raises an eyebrow at him. “An accident,” he says in English. “Un accidente. Un incidente. If they invented another word for it, I don’t know it. ”

“Only idiots make accidents.”

“Would you tell that to Jorge?”

Marc inhales sharply at that. Fabio would probably knock him over at the next race if Marc called Jorge Martin an idiot.

Valentino smiles. “That’s what I thought.”

Marc frowns. “Te odio.”

“No, you don’t.” And to drive his point home, Valentino grabs Marc’s hands and bites his knuckles until Marc’s face smooths into a laugh and he forgets how the word idiota sounds in his mouth. If Valentino still hears the echoes of that words weeks after, it’s his problem to deal with.

Everything comes to a halt when they are doing laundry and Marc looks at a pair of pants and says, “Maybe I shouldn’t be left out on the track if I keep crashing like this.”

Valentino sees red. He tries to understand most of the time, but his understanding has a limit too. Now all he wants is to scream at Marc to shut up, shut up, shut up. There must be something visible on his face because Marc takes a step back as Valentino turns toward him, hands held high in front of him as if Valentino will attack any minute.

“What?” Marc says, shoulders raised to the ears. “I haven’t seen you this angry since Sepang 2015.”

Valentino ignores him. He grabs Marc’s face in his hands and says, “Amore,” because Valentino never uses pet names unless he wants to distract Marc. It works well this time as well. Marc shuts up and blushes a pretty red, dropping his hands to rest in the crook of Valentino’s elbows. “I’m breaking up with you if you don’t win your ninth.” He says it in Spanish too to drive the point home.

Marc frowns, his brain registering the words. “In case you haven’t noticed—“

“Bodies heal, that’s what they do. Unless you’re dead, there is no reason for you to think otherwise.”

Marc’s frown deepens. “But—“

Valentino presses his lips against the wrinkle on his forehead, down at the corner of his eye, on the edge of his jaw. Marc shudders in his arms.

“You once told me you can be faster than me.”

“I am,” Marc says, eyes closed, breathing hard against Valentino.

“Faster than you, I mean.”

Valentino smiles. “Not sure I believe you.”

For the first time in months, Marc’s eyes twinkle with hunger. “I am. I’ll prove it to you.”

“Good.” Valentino kisses him hard. “You can start doing that, but after you’re done with the laundry. I’m not your maid.”

Marc does not finish the laundry. Neither does Valentino. The sunset catches them in bed, sheets draped all around them as Valentino presses his grievances into Marc’s golden skin until the room lights up with Marc’s giggles, with promises of being kinder to himself in the process of healing. Marc will probably forget come morning. He is infuriating. But Valentino knows where the spare key is and how to cook escudella and calçotada the way Marc likes them. If Marc forgets a thousand times, Valentino will remind him a thousand times.

After all, there is still a race to win.

#rosquez #valentino rossi #marc marquez #rosquez in the year of our lord 2k23 #moto gp rpf #luna.writes #my stories #tw mentions of injuries #tw food #radical self care #marc is really bad at self care and everything that comes with it #i altered the real life events so it fits my narrative #im a little nervous about it tbh. i think i stepped out my comfort zone a bit lol #thanks to lu and maina and mery for all the specific spanish/italian stuff

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cryptiam · 27 days

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Looking back over a decade of content:

You never really got to know me and this blogs around 5 years old.

I've been around online for a while but this is my most known and last active account now.

2011: A literal child - making shitty lego stopmotion videos now long lost on YT servers. I would paint mini-figures cause I couldn't get new sets at the time.

2014-2016: - Sevoss/Sevok/Sevokiam (original alias I deleted years ago): My FNAF and MLP years

Music to set the mood:

During the peaks of the MLP fandom I found out about SFM. There's a handful of more posters from back then, might post more if people are interested.

I got out of the fandom around high school starting and with the decline of the show I deleted my account. I still have some fond memories of the early community though but needed to move on.

2016-2018 (lost years): Learned some game design stuff and moved around a lot. Stopping me from posting anything for a few years, leaving most of the work in my sketchbooks.

2019: First post on Cryptiam with P5:ECv1 entirely made up of retextured TS4 outfits. Likely this was the pack many of you found me from over the years. The pack itself was first made over a few months, with later additions.

2020: The end of the world I once knew.

2023: I learned how to convert the models to TS4 and set out on finishing my 4 year goal of bringing Persona to The Sims.

2024: I soft-retired from being a Sims 4 CC Creator. I still do the odd cc project though.

Things will inevitably change content-wise, as you've already seen in this post.

Thank you for taking the time to explore my past a bit.

ᴵ'ᵛᵉ ᵗʳⁱᵉᵈ ᵈᵒⁱⁿᵍ ᵗʰⁱˢ ᵖᵒˢᵗ ᵐᵘˡᵗⁱᵖˡᵉ ᵗⁱᵐᵉˢ. ᴵ ᵃˡʷᵃʸˢ ᵉⁿᵈ ᵘᵖ ᵈᵉˡᵉᵗⁱⁿᵍ ⁱᵗ ᵇʸ ᵗʰᵉ ᵉⁿᵈ ᶜᵃᵘˢᵉ ʷʰʸ ˢʰᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵃⁿʸᵒⁿᵉ ᶜᵃʳᵉ ʳᵉᵃˡˡʸ.

#sims 4 cc creator #ts4 #cryptiam #non sims specific #my old content #here's to another decade of w/e I end up making next. Hopefully something original this time around.#persona 5

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operafantomet · 9 months

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Hi! I have a question about Sarah Brightman's Broadway Aminta dress. Did she have 2 dresses? I looked at photos on her dress at displays (one at a mall in Texas in 2001 and the other Art of the Mask 2014) and at first I thought it was the same dress but later I realized that the bodices have small differences in flower decorations and the fichus and the lace aroud the stomacher seems to have small differences. Did she wear two dresses or could the dress have been revamped during the 2000s

The deceptive thing about Sarah Brightman's Broadway Aminta costume is that they just kept decorating it! I don't know if it was just an ongoing process, or if some of the earliest photos were taken during previews and showing a not-quite-finished costume. But regardless, the dress can be seen in four different stages, and three of them happened during Sarah Brightman's 1988 Broadway run.

The first photo shows a very plain dress, and I am inclined to think of it as unfinished due to the sleeves only featuring golden lace, and with a kinda unelegant transition between pink sleeve and lace. Quite un-Bjørnson, which always blurred transitions with heaps of decorations. Here it is also clear that the only decorations on the stomacher is the pattern of the fabric - the same used in the fichu around the neck opening.

The next phase of the dress shows many of the same details, but the sleeve has now gotten a pink silk flounce over the lace, and the fichu has gotten a fringe trim. Note too the added epaulettes on the shoulders.

But wait! There is more. In the third stage of the dress bigger floral (pansy?) appliquées has been added to the stomacher, as well as lace trim around the A-shaped zone-front opening of the bodice.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is pretty close to how the dress looked when going on display both in the 1990s and in 2014. The 1990s display shows even more floral appliquées on the stomacher, as well as a new and bigger fichu with beaded fringe trim. This was probably added for those who inherited Sarah Brightman's dress on Broadway in the late 1980s and early 1990s, before it was retired. For the 1990s display it looked like this:

It may appear like another dress due to these details, but as far as I know it was only the first handful of dresses on Broadway where they used black lace for the flounce layers of the skirt. Shortly after they introduced black embroidery instead. When the dress went on display in NYC in 2014 several people were kind enough to do detailed close-up photos, and underneath the bigger floral appliquées is the original embroidered floral fabric seen in the first b/w photo of Sarah Brightman, with the exact same placement of the flowers. This tells me we're dealing with the same dress, only pimped. But as the photos above shows, it was not just pimped after Sarah Brightman left, but also during her run.

Me? I *LOVE* the current look of the dress. The best of two worlds, with a harmonious stomacher and cool attention to details, while yet featuring the grander details of later dresses. Beautiful. Massive thanks to @panarobread for the lovely closeup.

(original design by Maria Bjørnson)

#costume nerding #maria bjørnson #sarah brightman #point of no return #phantom of the opera #poto broadway #poto display

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jellycatsdaily · 8 months

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Jellycat of the Day | 24th August 2023

↳ Dinky Blue Dino | 2014 Retired Design

"Who’s that stomping down the street?"

#dinky blue dino #jellycat #jellycats #jellycat retired designs #retired designs 2014 #dinosaur plush #soft toy #stuffed animal

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usafphantom2 · 10 months

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The A-10 is retiring and the USAF has no replacement for approximate air support

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 30/06/2023 - 22:39 in Military

The U.S. Air Force plans to retire its legendary A-10 Warthogs in the next five years and it is not yet clear how the service will be able to provide ground troops with the approximate level of air support that the A-10 brings to the fight.

Although Congress has prevented the U.S. Air Force (USAF) from retiring all or part of its A-10 fleet five times since 2014, lawmakers' opposition seems to be decreasing. The House version of the National Defense Authorization Tax Act of 2024 would allow the USAF to retire 42 A-10 jets, but would stop new cuts in the A-10 fleet until the service tells Congress how it plans to keep crews proficient in approximate air support using other aircraft.

“The U.S. Air Force has other aircraft that can carry out approximate air support missions, including F-16, F-15E, B-1 bombers, AC-130 helicopters and F-35 Joint Strike Fighters,” said Ann Stefanek, a spokeswoman for the USAF.

The USAF also recently announced that it will replace the A-10s at Moody Air Base in Georgia and Gowen Field ANG Base in Idaho with F-35s and F-16s, respectively, signaling that the service is advancing at full speed with its efforts to retire the A-10.

The precisely guided weapons allow all U.S. Air Force combat aircraft, including B-52 bombers and MQ-9 Reapers, to conduct approximate air support missions to troops on the ground, said U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General David Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Air Force Association think tank.

"It is imperative to understand that approximate air support, or CAS, is a MISSION and NOT an aircraft," Deptula wrote. "If you are a friendly force being attacked by enemy ground forces and the enemy forces are put out of action, the friendly force does not care about the origin of the weapons that put enemy forces out of action."

In recent years, U.S. Air Force officials have suggested that the F-35 could provide close air support to troops on the ground, albeit in a different way than the A-10.

“The F-35 will not carry out approximate air support missions in the same way as the A-10,” Frank Kendall III, then the Pentagon's chief procurement officer, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in April 2016. "He will do it very differently. The A-10 was designed to be low, slow and close to the targets it was engaging, relatively speaking. We will not use the F-35 in the same way as the A-10".

However, the Government Supervision Project, or POGO, discovered a U.S. Air Force memo that the service does not require any active, reserve or National Guard F-35 pilot to conduct approximate air support training.

In fact, the latest Memorandum of Tasks of the USAF Open Crew Program, which tells commanders what missions pilots should be trained to do and how many training sorties they need to do to be proficient in them, describes the approximate air support as a secondary mission that F-35 pilots should only be familiar with, according to POGO, a non-partisan surveillance group.

"Just to be clear: no F-35 pilot of any level of experience in any component of the Air Force is required to carry out a single approximate air support training mission in 2023 or 2024," Dan Grazier, a senior member of POGO's defense policy, wrote in a February report.

Outside its A-10 fleet, the U.S. Air Force does not have a single squad dedicated exclusively to providing close air support to the troops, said retired Air Force Colonel Derek Oaks, who led an A-10 squadron in Afghanistan.

The A-10's 30mm cannon allows you to attack targets up to 100 meters from American troops, much closer and more efficiently than other Air Force aircraft, said Oaks, who has almost 3,000 hours of flight time on Warthog.

Although the F-15, F-16 and other multifunctional aircraft can perform various types of missions that include close air support, they are not as effective as single mission aircraft such as the A-10, he said.

"As a CAS pilot, I made some air-to-air awareness, I would never say it was an air-to-air pilot, because it wasn't," Oaks said. "I understood the basic maneuvers of the fighter, but I would not speak or act as well as an F-15 guy or an F-22 guy, because they are the experts in this. I wasn't the specialist and I didn't want to be the specialist. That was their job."

Oaks added that although a surgeon can understand the work of an anesthesiologist very well, this does not mean that the surgeon should try to be an anesthesiologist.

Despite the U.S. Air Force's concern that the A-10 is too old and slow to survive against advanced Chinese air defenses, Oaks argues that Warthog would have some advantages over other U.S. aircraft in a war against China.

Not only can A-10s carry much more weapons than other U.S. Air Force combat aircraft, but they also burn fuel much more slowly than more modern fighters, so they would be much less dependent on air refuelers than the F-15Es, F-16s, or F-35s, Oaks said. The A-10 can also take off and land from small runways, and this would become invaluable if China destroyed large U.S. Air Force facilities.

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With its large cannon, the A-10 could be used to destroy Chinese ships, he said.

“We could do the CAS in a contested environment, we would just have to approach it differently,” Oaks said. "You need to worry about e-war, you need to worry about air threats and there are experts who know how to do it. It's the same thing as Afghanistan, you're just employing different experts."

Source: Task & Purpose

Tags: A-10 Thunderbolt IIMilitary AviationCAS - Close-Air SupportF-35 Lightning IIUSAF - United States Air Force / U.S. Air Force

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Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Daytona Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work around the world of aviation.