#causes of construction disputes

[intergalacticfop]

Minoan Heanos

The distinctive open-front dresses worn by Minoan women are probably even more iconic than the multi-layered kilts. Over time, there's dispute whether the garment is one piece or a separate bodice and skirt, but currently the one-piece theory is in ascendance.

The word heanos is derived from the Linear B logogram *146, wehanos. The wes- prefix, which is the squiggle in the middle, indicates a garment. Bernice Jones believes that this logogram represents the garment worn by Minoan men and women.

Marie-Louise B. Nosch, The Textile Logograms in the Linear B Tablets, pp 133-138

More research and construction below the cut:

The theory that the garment is a full-length tunic is further supported from imagery from the time, like these figures from the c. 1400 BCE Hagia Triada Sarcophagus. This detail from the sarcophagus shows three figures in some kind of procession, 2 women and 1 man. The woman at left wears a tunic with some kind of pelt as a skirt, and the other 2 figures wear tunics without anything over them, showing that they are one continuous, ankle-length garment.

Some of the most important resources for interpreting how the heanos was constructed comes from the two women depicted in the House of the Ladies in Akrotiri, wherein the side seams of the tunic are clearly visible running along the side of the body and under the arm.

details of figures from the House of the Ladies, Akrotiri, via Wikimedia Commons

advadbsvasb

Diagrams from Bernice Jones' book Ariadne's Threads, p. 82, via Gorgeous Tangents

The heanos itself is made of 3 pieces of fabric: 1 back and 2 fronts. These diagrams show a concave hem like on the labrys-shaped kilt but I went with a straight hem, which is an equally valid option. The end of the sleeves are level with the edge of the hem at the widest point. This would probably be the width selvage-to-selvage on the fabric, being narrower than fabric widths commonly are today. There are 4 seams: the shoulder seam, the two side seams, and a front seam (optional, but recommended if you would prefer not being arrested.) It may be tempting to fold the fabric across the shoulder, so the only sewing is side seams and a neck hole, but this makes a weaker garment overall. I used this as a shortcut in my fitting muslin and it caused tears and weak points at the three points of the front opening.

my fabric was a lightweight, moderately loose-woven cotton with a supplementary weave pattern in squares and diamonds. Linen or wool would have been more accurate but also? much harder to find from online quilting stores selling fabric for affordable prices. The main fabric is dark orange and the pattern is made out of pink/lilac threads. This weaving technique resulted in a LOT of long floats (unsecured expenses of thread) on the back--you can see how the wrong side of the fabric is much pinker than the right side. These floats could snag easily if I wasn't careful, so while it made a very effective visual for this tunic, I do not think that this fabric type would be viable for everyday wear. I'll leave it to people who actually know about weaving to ponder what more accurate weaving techniques would be.

Construction

The overall pattern is basically a T-shaped tunic, and the most important measurements are shoulder circumference, shoulder width, bust circumference, and the shoulder-waist length. In addition, you need measurements for the bicep, waist, shoulder-navel length, and hip circumference. After working out the fit with a muslin, I ended up with this pattern, 1 of 4 identical quarters.

Your first impulse may be to make the tunic very close-fitting, since the depictions in frescoes are skin-tight, but since the pattern has no added gusset this is a recipe for Cannot Move Arm. So I gave a very generous curve under the arm, which also made the dress look better when my arms were down, avoiding armpit wrinkles. I continued that ease into about an extra 2 inches added on to my waist measurement and plenty of extra space around my hips so that I could do exciting things like Sit Down.

I sewed the shoulder and side seams using the machine, and felled the raw edges on each side of the seam by hand with a whipstitch. I foided back the front edges of the v-neck instead of cutting them, which was a tip I got from the Gorgeous Tangents blog. This strengthens the neckline and keeps it from stretching, and also means that everything can be readjusted if you have size fluctuations or just want to modify the tunic into something more or less modest.

I whipstitched the front edges together by hand--the contrasting selvage didn't matter because it would be covered up by trim. I ended up cutting the tunic a liiiittle shorter than I wanted, so I finished it with some leftover bias binding instead of hemming it to conserve as much length as possible.

Trim

I custom-ordered the woven tape trim from Long Creek Mercantile. Both are made of wool--the "header band" and the hem trim are 1 1/4" wide and the center-front and cuff trim are 3/8" wide. I observed that most images of the Minoan heanos show trim with two colors at most, in a simple geometric or linear pattern, so I consciously restrained myself from ordering anything more elaborate. The clothing on Minoan frescoes is characterized by strongly contrasting colors, so blue trim was the most obvious, and best-looking option. Orange tunics with blue trim appear multiple time in art like the "Dancing Lady" fresco from Knossos:

Dr. Jones suggests that the band across the shoulder would historically have been a header band--a band of threads woven at the beginning of a project in order to properly space the warp bands (see her diagram at the beginning). That may be a reason why the shoulder trim often depicted under the front or sleeve trim, as shown above. Regardless, the trim almost always coordinates.

I sewed on the shoulder trim by hand, the sleeve and hem trim by machine, and the center-front trim with a combination of both.

Tassels

Many frescoes from Akrotiri and Hagia Triada show the ends of the supposed header band turned into tassels. This embellishment is not universal among heanoi, as you can see from the "Dancing Lady" above, but it does add a fun little something!

(yes, my Lounging Pants are very fashionable)

I turned the excess ends of the shoulder "header band" trim into fringes, knotting the yellow ones into a lattice and turning the blue yarns into tassels. The lattice-tassel appears on a fresco from Hagia Triada:

Reproduction of fragmentary fresco from Room 14 at Hagia Triada, Crete

The saffron gatherers from Akrotiri shown below have clearly displayed fringes at the ends of their sleeves. The one on the left has red fringes that appear knotted or ravelled/unravelled in an undulating pattern, and the one on the right has fringes that may be either beaded with papyrus-shaped leaves or cut into short tassels.

Another option is leaving the fringes loose, as seen in the Akrotiri frescoes from Xeste, room 3:

The final garment was super comfy, actually! It's much simpler to create than I thought it would be based on the frescoes, which made it all feel pretty magical when everything came together. I did think it was a little unusual how tailored this garment is, and the potential waste of fabric that comes from a shaped garment, especially compared to how later ancient greek clothing was mainly rectangles. I don't know enough about bronze-age and earlier clothing to have any idea how typical this was, since I'm extremely Not an expert on this subject, but am always open to learning more!

#historical costuming #minoan #minoan crete #reference #clothing reconstruction #bronze age #resources

[amournoir]

Hi can u do a fic where the reader and Klaus are in a relationship and the mikaelson's hate her .

Thanks

𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭 ┄ 𝐢

pairing: niklaus mikaelson x f!reader

count: 1.4k

warning: angst

author’s note: thanks for the request hun! 💋 p.s, here's part 2

The streets of New Orleans pulsed with life, and Y/N, Klaus Mikaelson's spirited and vivacious girlfriend, seemed to embody the very essence of the city's energy. She reveled in the thrill of the night, seeking joy and adventure wherever she went. But little did she know that her vibrant spirit was causing a storm within the Mikaelson family. 

Rebekah and Elijah, Klaus's siblings, observed with disapproval as Y/N led Klaus into the wild festivities of the French Quarter. They detested her carefree nature, seeing her as a disruption to the carefully constructed order of their lives. In their eyes, Y/N was a distraction, a youthful folly that would only lead Klaus astray. The siblings had made their opinions known countless times, urging Klaus to end the relationship. They saw her as a threat to their family's stability and tried to set him up with a "more suitable" woman— a 30-year-old socialite whose poise and maturity contrasted sharply with Y/N's exuberance. 

One evening, as the Mikaelson family gathered for a somber dinner, tensions reached their breaking point. Rebekah and Elijah, fueled by their desire to protect their brother, confronted Y/N, leveling accusations of infidelity.

“You're nothing but trouble,” Rebekah hissed, her eyes flashing with disdain. “You're not right for Nik.”

Y/N's face paled, her heart pounding in her chest. “What are you talking about? I love Klaus with all my heart,” she protested, her voice trembling.

Elijah shook his head, his tone cutting like a blade. “You're young, reckless, and unreliable,” he stated coldly. “You're only going to hurt him.”

Tears welled up in Y/N's eyes as she struggled to find the right words to defend herself. She had always tried to be honest with Klaus, to give him everything he deserved, but now she felt like she was being torn apart by the very people she had hoped to call family.

“I love him,” she repeated, her voice breaking. “I would never hurt him, and I would never cheat on him.”

But her words fell on deaf ears, and the Mikaelson siblings remained adamant in their disapproval. Klaus, torn between his love for Y/N and his loyalty to his family, was caught in the crossfire of their bitter dispute. For days, the rift between Y/N and the Mikaelson siblings grew wider. Each encounter was fraught with tension, with accusations and misunderstandings that only deepened the wounds. Y/N felt isolated and alone, her heart heavy with the weight of their judgments.

One night, as the moon hung low in the sky, Klaus found Y/N sitting alone by the fireplace, tears silently streaming down her cheeks. He approached her, his heart aching at the sight of her pain.

“Love talk to me,” he pleaded, his voice soft with concern.

She looked up at him, her eyes filled with sorrow. “Your family hates me,” she whispered. “They think I'm not good enough for you.”

Klaus wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. “I don't care what they think,” he said firmly. “I love you and I won't let them come between us.”

But as the days turned into weeks, the constant pressure from his family weighed heavily on Klaus's mind. Doubts began to seep into his heart, and he found himself torn between his love for Y/N and the desire to mend the fractures in his family. In the depths of his turmoil, Klaus faced an impossible choice— to stand by the woman he loved or to appease his family by letting her go. His heart and mind waged war within him, leaving him in a state of inner turmoil that threatened to consume him.

As the darkness of uncertainty loomed over their once blissful relationship, Y/N and Klaus were left to navigate the shadows of doubt and find a way back to each other. The storm of angst and heartache showed no signs of abating, leaving them with the ultimate question…could love conquer all or would the family's disapproval be too much to bear? 

A few months had passed without another confrontation from his siblings but that silence period was over today. The Mikaelson mansion stood in silence, its opulent halls shrouded in a heavy tension that seemed to seep into the very air. Y/N, the vibrant and spirited love of Klaus Mikaelson's life, felt the weight of disapproval from his siblings bearing down on her like a storm cloud. At 23, her heart beat fiercely with a passion for life, but to Elijah and Rebekah, she was nothing more than a youthful whirlwind that threatened the delicate balance they had carefully crafted. 

It was a chilly evening, and as Y/N wandered through the dimly lit corridors, her footsteps echoing emptily, she couldn't shake the sense of unease that seemed to linger around her. The disapproving glances, the hushed conversations that ceased when she entered a room— all of it gnawed at her soul. It had been months since she had embarked on a romantic journey with Klaus, a love that burned with an intensity she had never known before. But even that powerful connection couldn't shield her from the critical eyes of his siblings.

Rebekah's icy words had sliced through the air like a blade. “You're just a child, Y/N,” she had said with a condescending tilt of her head. “My brother deserves someone who understands the dangers of our world.”

And Elijah, the embodiment of elegance and poise, had looked at her with a mixture of pity and dismissal. “Klaus is not one to be taken lightly,” he had warned. “You need to be more mature, more level headed.”

Each word had etched itself into Y/N's heart, a constant reminder of her perceived inadequacy in the eyes of those she so desperately wanted to accept her. As she entered the living room, she found Klaus standing by the grand window, nursing a tumbler of bourbon in his hand. His gaze was distant, his features etched with a mixture of frustration and weariness. She approached him, her heart aching at the distance she felt growing between them.

“Klaus,” she murmured, her voice soft and uncertain.

He turned to her, his eyes meeting hers with a mix of conflict and affection. “Y/N,” he said, his voice tinged with a hint of regret.

The silence that followed was heavy, a chasm that seemed to swallow their words before they could be spoken.

“I can't do this anymore love,” Klaus finally confessed, his voice breaking the stillness.

Y/N's heart shattered, the pain more intense than she could have ever imagined. “What do you mean?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Klaus's gaze was tortured, his emotions warring within him. “Elijah and Rebekah,” he said with a sigh. “They won't accept us. They think you're too young, too impulsive.”

Tears welled in Y/N's eyes, and she felt a lump forming in her throat. “And what do you think?” she choked out, her voice quivering.

Klaus reached for her, his hand cupping her cheek with tenderness. “I love you,” he said, his voice raw with emotion. “But I can't keep going against my family. It's tearing us apart.”

The pain in Y/N's chest was suffocating, a weight that threatened to crush her. “So, what are you saying?” she asked, her voice shaking.

“I'm saying that we need to take a step back,” Klaus admitted, his voice barely audible. “Perhaps it's best for both of us.”

Y/N's heart shattered completely, and she took a step back, her eyes welling with tears. “You're choosing them over me?” she whispered, her voice cracking.

Klaus's eyes filled with anguish, and he reached out to her, his fingers brushing against her cheek. “Y/N…” he started desperately. “I love you, but I can't keep fighting this battle. I'm sorry sweetheart.”

The room seemed to close in around her, and Y/N turned and fled, her heartache echoing in the emptiness that surrounded her. Days turned into weeks, and the absence of Klaus felt like an ache that she couldn't escape. She could feel the weight of his absence in every corner of her life, a constant reminder of what once was.

As she stared out at the moonlit night, Y/N realized that love was not always enough to conquer the obstacles that life placed in its path. She had lost the man she loved, not because he didn't care, but because the world they lived in was too complicated, too tangled with expectations. lol She whispered his name into the night, her heart heavy with sorrow, Y/N learned that sometimes love wasn't enough to mend the fractures that threatened to tear their world apart. And in that painful realization, she felt the bittersweet ache of a love that had been both beautiful and heart wrenching—a love that would forever remain etched in her soul.

🏷️ taglist:

⤷ @mrs-maximoff-kenner @thatfanficstuff @elijahmikaelsontrash @mxacegrey @thatfictionalwh0re @catmikaelson20 @loverswillowed @sweetwrathoflilith @panic-at-the-fiction @iiskittles16ii @original-siphon @hellotvshowtrash @onlyfreds @onlyfredslibrary @imgoingtofreakoutnow @slinthoex @i-love-nora @multiversediaries @decoffinated-vamps @hopester08 @aloneatpeace @hopes-wife @softcoremaybank @klaustopia @dreamingwithrafe @sweetestdesire @cottontears @cottonreads @buckyysdoll @spnandtvdudeservedbetter @impossibleheartflower @madetragic @spike-and-angels-gf

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#aurora.r fics #request 💌 #klaus mikaelson x reader #klaus mikaelson x y/n #rebekah mikaelson x reader #elijah mikaelson x reader #klaus mikaelson #rebekah mikaelson #elijah mikaelson #the originals #the originals fic #the mikaelsons #angst

[thestreamdreampony]

Me adding my two cents is probably not gonna do much, but here I go, I guess:

I want to preface this with saying that Wilbur's content and Lovejoy have been incredibly important to me and I've put a lot of time, effort and money into supporting Lovejoy especially. So finding out about this, before finding out about the details, I had originally reacted with incredulous derision of twitter stans. And then erring on the side of caution about how things developed.

At this point there's almost no question that it's Wilbur, for the simple reason that Shubble would have cleared up his name if it wasn't. There's no way she would throw someone innocent under the bus, if she knew somebody else was guilty. Additionally, not a single person in Wilbur's surroundings has disputed any claims and have only narrowed it down further towards Wilbur. At this point it is incredibly unlikely she is talking about anybody else.

I do want to take a moment to comdemn those (mostly on twitter) who used this opportunity to dig into both Shubble and Wilbur's private lives, trying to construct a narrative of her abuse and in some cases going so far as doxxing Wilbur. It is entirely possible to support Shelby and condemn her abuser, without invading their privacy and endangering people's lives. Shelby's goal was to warn people and to make them more aware of the signs of abuse. As well as make it as clear as possible, who she's talking about without saying who it is directly, for a meriad of possible reasons. It was not an invitation to write abuse fanfiction about her private life.

That being said, the way I will feel about this in the long run will depend heavily on how Wilbur deals with this situation. I will definitely distance myself either way (slowly but surely), but his reaction to this will influence how I will act moving forward.

Should he stay silent or respond with insincerity/derision/defensiveness/etc., then that's it for me. Fuck him.

But should he come forward, own up to it, apologize and prove that he is working on himself, then I might be able to find it in myself to give him a second chance over time. I just don't believe that doing bad things makes you irredeemable forever and ever and ever.

We know for a fact that Wilbur has been struggling with mental health problems for most of his teen and adult life and from his solo music we are also aware that he is incredibly aware of the fact that he is the problem in his relationships. Expressing dark thoughts in music, does not automatically mean somebody is abusive. In fact, creating dark art is an excellent way to deal with harmful thoughts and impulses. I have literally never taken his lyrics to mean that.

However, his lyrics in YCGMA and MSR have always been incredibly autobiographical and do show that he is acutely aware that he's the unhealthy element in his unhealthy relationships.

We also know directly from him, that he has distanced himself from most of his social circle and sought out therapy as recently as 2 weeks ago in an effort to improve his mental health.

This does not excuse his actions whatsoever. Mentally ill people are still responsible for the harm that they cause and Shelby is unbelievably brave to tell their story. I hope they finds peace, I hope she has all the support she could ever need and I hope she has achieved her goal of making people more aware of how people end up in situations like this. She is an inspiration for standing up for herself like this.

But I also think that, should Wilbur come forward, admit to his wrongdoings and prove over time that he is working on becoming a better person, friend and partner, that he does not have to be shunned forever and ever and ever. He has a long life in front of him and I hope both for him and all his future friends and partners that he manages to find a healthy, happy way of living. This can happen, even while he never bothers Shelby, or the other people he hurt, again.

This is a best case scenario. I do think he is allowed to take some time to formulate a response. A hasty response to situations like this have never helped anyone ever, neither the victim, nor the accused. Taking his time to come to terms with the situation, which surely came as a shock, and to really think about how he wants to deal with this situation is much better than him writing a twitlonger as soon as he finds out.

Either way, I will distance myself from him and Lovejoy, slowly but surely. I won't get rid of the merch clothing I own because it was quite expensive and throwing it away is a waste of perfectly good clothing, but I won't find the joy I once felt wearing them. (I am salty about me being gone from home for a few months and having ordered Lovejoy merch, which had been waiting for me for weeks and then finding out about this literally the day I travelled back. It definitely felt weird as hell to unpack that stupid NORMAL longsleeve with his fucking face on it, while being hurt and confused and angry.)

Listening to Lovejoy's music, likewise, will never feel as euphoric as it once did, even if I go back to it. Which really sucks cuz they genuinly hit my sweet spot in music taste. YCGMA and SISV specifically, have been so, so important to me and removing them from my listening rotation i going to Hurt.

Interestingly, I don't feel quite as terrible as last time I had to suddenly cut a content creator out of my life. So I guess practice makes perfect lmao.

I don't know if me writing and posting this had any point. I guess I just wanted to get it off my chest and maybe it resonates with somebody.

Anyway, take care of yourselves. Take it easy and try to focus on other things, if this hit you hard (ideally offline). Try to meet with friends, maybe play some boardgames (or video games), go for a walk,read a book, have a coffee with a loved one. There's joy in the world, despite it all.

#wilbur soot

[laurenscharhagwrites]

RIP Louise Gluck. Your voice will be sorely missed. This is my favorite poem by her.

Persephone the Wanderer

In the first version, Persephone

is taken from her mother

and the goddess of the earth

punishes the earth—this is

consistent with what we know of human behavior,

that human beings take profound satisfaction

in doing harm, particularly

unconscious harm:

we may call this

negative creation.

Persephone's initial

sojourn in hell continues to be

pawed over by scholars who dispute

the sensations of the virgin:

did she cooperate in her rape,

or was she drugged, violated against her will,

as happens so often now to modern girls.

As is well known, the return of the beloved

does not correct

the loss of the beloved: Persephone

returns home

stained with red juice like

a character in Hawthorne—

I am not certain I will

keep this word: is earth

"home" to Persephone? Is she at home, conceivably,

in the bed of the god? Is she

at home nowhere? Is she

a born wanderer, in other words

an existential

replica of her own mother, less

hamstrung by ideas of causality?

You are allowed to like

no one, you know. The characters

are not people.

They are aspects of a dilemma or conflict.

Three parts: just as the soul is divided,

ego, superego, id. Likewise

the three levels of the known world,

a kind of diagram that separates

heaven from earth from hell.

You must ask yourself:

where is it snowing?

White of forgetfulness,

of desecration—

It is snowing on earth; the cold wind says

Persephone is having sex in hell.

Unlike the rest of us, she doesn't know

what winter is, only that

she is what causes it.

She is lying in the bed of Hades.

What is in her mind?

Is she afraid? Has something

blotted out the idea

of mind?

She does know the earth

is run by mothers, this much

is certain. She also knows

she is not what is called

a girl any longer. Regarding

incarceration, she believes

she has been a prisoner since she has been a daughter.

The terrible reunions in store for her

will take up the rest of her life.

When the passion for expiation

is chronic, fierce, you do not choose

the way you live. You do not live;

you are not allowed to die.

You drift between earth and death

which seem, finally,

strangely alike. Scholars tell us

that there is no point in knowing what you want

when the forces contending over you

could kill you.

White of forgetfulness,

white of safety—

They say

there is a rift in the human soul

which was not constructed to belong

entirely to life. Earth

asks us to deny this rift, a threat

disguised as suggestion—

as we have seen

in the tale of Persephone

which should be read

as an argument between the mother and the lover—

the daughter is just meat.

When death confronts her, she has never seen

the meadow without the daisies.

Suddenly she is no longer

singing her maidenly songs

about her mother's

beauty and fecundity. Where

the rift is, the break is.

Song of the earth,

song of the mythic vision of eternal life—

My soul

shattered with the strain

of trying to belong to earth—

What will you do,

when it is your turn in the field with the god?

#poetry #louise glück #poem

[chloeangelic]

Line cook Joel origin story drabble

Here’s what I think line cook Joel’s origin story is, some info about him and Sarah, his general personality and interests, relationship history etc that might explain what he’s like in my series Belong to me

This is my most self indulgent series and Joel iteration, be warned lmao

Warnings: SPOILERS for ch 1-3, mentions of child abandonment

Word count: 1.2k

Joel is 40 in this AU, and I feel like it takes place in 2005ish, which doesn’t really come through in the chapters but it’s how I see the whole situation in my head.

Joel had Sarah at 24, with a sort of low commitment on and off girlfriend at the time who was somewhere in the 22-24 range. I’m not sure why she decided to go through with the pregnancy (pressure from her parents, maybe?) but she did, and Joel figured he would be involved as a typical baby daddy, having the kid live with their mom and seeing them as often as possible. However, her mom likely decided she was gonna put Sarah up for adoption, which was obviously an immediate fuck no from Joel, who basically swooped in and got custody of her. The mom moved to another city, and I don’t think Sarah or Joel ever heard from her again. 

Out of all my fics, this is the one in which Sarah’s mom has been involved the least. In my other tales (Joel is always a dad in my works haha), her mom usually is mentioned to have been involved for 1-5 years, but in this one she was not involved at all, and I think Joel’s sole responsibility for her from such a young age has made their bond very strong. I definitely see them being best friends and having a very good line of communication. 

He worked in construction for many years until his early 30s (hence why he still has a truck instead of a regular car), then when he’d gotten to a pretty high level with cooking at home, Sarah pushed him to apply for a cooking job. He was tired of the long hours working in construction and thought it would be a nice change to have some free time. He’s pretty grumpy at work because he prefers working individually and doesn’t care to get involved in anyone’s disputes in a high pressure environment like that, doesn’t like to excessively share about his life etc. He’s very observant and definitely cares about the people around him, but he likes being left alone to do his work efficiently so he doesn't have to get stressed or fall behind.

Speaking of work; Jermaine, who they stole cigs from and is also a cook at the restaurant, is one of his closest friends, and they like to hang out from time to time. If Sarah is out doing things on the weekend or at a sleepover, I can see Joel and Jermaine playing GTA San Andreas and eating at his house, maybe he also plays on his basketball team. Jermaine is like 37 or something and more outgoing than Joel. He's definitely around if Sarah needs something and Joel isn't available, sort of like an uncle next to Tommy. His relationship to Tommy is fine, though he says in an upcoming chapter that he's "done enough for that jackass" in what is, presumably, a loving way but probably has some truth behind it.

This whole basketball thing is very funny to me for some reason, but here’s the story: 

Joel played basketball in middle and high school (purely because he ended up being 6’6” and his parents put him in sports very quickly), and continued to play on different teams in his 20s/30s at a competitive level. At this point, I see him playing on a long term recreational team and DON’T @ me if this sounds insane, cause I know very little about basketball, but I think he’s a power forward on his team. 

If he wants Sarah to do him a favor, he definitely tells her that he “passed up an opportunity to play in the NBA to raise her instead” which is a massive lie. He has dragged Sarah along to many basketball games throughout the years, and she gets kinda bored but knows it means a lot to him that she’s there. She prefers watching pro/college basketball with him, though, and they do that often. 

Other than that, in his free time, he works out at the gym pretty often, and for two reasons. One is to be a better player, the second is that he wants to give Sarah some space and not have her feel like he’s breathing down her neck all the time. So he gives her the house to herself for a few hours to decompress after being around people at school all day, while he goes to work out, then he comes home and makes her dinner. 

Entertainment wise, I see him liking a lot of 90s hip hop (Radio Los Santos anyone?) and he definitely is a Sopranos enjoyer. He probably does a really shitty Tony impression.

At work, he wears black pants, black t-shirts, and black high top converse shoes. At home I see him wearing a pretty typical combo of jeans, basketball shorts (obvi haha), sweatpants, t-shirts, long sleeved shirts, hoodies etc. This is likely my only non-flannel shirt wearing Joel. He of course wears a jersey and shorts while playing ball. 

As I mentioned, he doesn’t talk much about his life at work but he sometimes talks about Sarah, I think. They went on vacation together to Jamaica or something once and, when he came back, the waitress was like oooh, you’re so tan, look at you, and he was kinda flattered by her being touchy so he showed her vacation photos on his phone hahahaha

I obviously have to address his relationship to the waitress girly, so here:

As mentioned in ch 1, he has a very long term “crush” on her that started when she began working at the restaurant. I think they started talking more when she jokingly asked him to make her dinner cause she forgot to eat and then he actually did it, and she kept “forgetting” to eat so he kept cooking for her, and then she started bugging him on his breaks and he secretly liked it so then he started waiting for her to come out and keep him company. Also I say “crush” cause he’s obviously in love with her but hasn’t wanted to admit it to himself or anyone else haha, and she’s the same way back - which is why the narration is the way it is, with her actions showing her feelings but her not really conceptualizing them for herself, if that makes sense  

I think he said yes to her request to get her pregnant because, deep down, he does have a desire to have more kids, to be in a long term relationship etc. And sure, it’s a very unconventional way of going about it, but there’s obviously something in him that knows that he and this girl have a real chance at a relationship, so that confidence made him go okay, fuck it, let’s just do this completely out of order haha 

Prior to this, though, dating wise, I think he was in some relationships here and there, had some hookups but none of them really lasted all too long. Some of that might’ve been because he had full custody of Sarah and was never really by himself, he worked a lot, and always put Sarah first. Essentially he would need someone to fit into that puzzle, he wasn’t gonna try to make someone fit, they had to know and understand his situation and want to be a part of it.  

Let me know what you think or if you have any questions about this Joel of ours hahahah

#line cook joel au #line cook joel

[tanadrin]

OK, so this post is going to probably look like I’m critcizing @jadagul quite directly, and I am, but only because he is a proximate example of something I find worth commenting on generally. This does not change the fact that I generally like and respect him, and find him pleasant to interact with.

There is a style of political thinking which seems to have an intuition that the law should work like mathematical formalism or computer programming, with a very close and literal relationship between any act of government (an executive action or an act of a legislature) and the constitutional or statutory text which enables that action. That even if the law is a messy and organic human institution, it shouldn’t be, and in ideal circumstances the whole system would be fairly mechanistic, with little room for human discretion. This line of thinking seems to work itself out in ideas like, “OK, discrimination is bad; but so is the government interfering in private actions; so anti-discrimination legislation is bad, too, in a different way.” Or “democracy is important, but part of democracy is free expression; and how you spend your money is a kind of expression, so limits on how you spend your money when it comes to politics is antithetical to democracy.” Or, in the anarcho-capitalist form I most strongly associate this line of thinking with, “OK, people seem to want a lot of freedom, low taxes, and the government not to tell them what to do; so we can (and should) construct a society where the government does very little--ideally nothing at all--and everything that can be is transferred to the private sphere, to be a matter of contract law and civil litigation. Since government power is very little or nonexistent, and all oppression comes from the government, everyone will be very free.”

This isn’t just wrong in the sense that the law is actually an irretrievably messy and organic institution because all human institutions are irretrievably messy and organic and we’re stuck with them; this is wrong because it is good that human institutions are messy and organic, and it would be bad if they were all purely mechanistic. I know this probably seems like a self-evidently silly thing to say if your intuition is toward the mechanistic and formalistic (and believe me, I share that aesthetic preference a lot of the time!) but it really is true. It is simply not possible for a legal system to reduce all potential coordination problems, political disputes, and breaches of social order to a set of general principles, and trying to would result in either monstrously cruel outcomes, like the ancient law codes that just killed everybody who broke them, or total structural collapse, like that town that got taken over by libertarians and then bears (because the libertarians didn’t understand the specific governance needs of the town, like how regular trash collection kept the bears away).

In particular, trying for this kind of metaphysical purity in your legal system often seems to cause people’s aesthetic preferences to short-circuit their moral ones; and because no legal system actually is metaphysically pure in this way, ultimately neither is satisfied. The thinking seems to go, we want a free and equal society without oppression; but government action is frequently oppressive, especially when it interferes with private business, so we don’t want to have anti-discrimination legislation. So what they get is a society without anti-discrimination legislation, that is also markedly unequal, because it turns out that bigotry just doesn’t go away by people saying “bigotry is bad, people shouldn’t do that.” Or, people want democracy; but they also want people to be able to spend their money how they want (that’s key to the liberal part of liberal democracy), so they don’t want to impose limits on spending around political campaigns. As a consequence, wealth inequalities distort politics by making the only viable candidates the ones who appeal to wealthy donors, putting a whole class of policies that poll really well outside the political pale--i.e., a profoundly undemocratic system where very popular legislation stands no chance of getting passed. Or, people want property rights and healthy markets; commensurate with that, they resist any effort to impose limits on those property rights or redistribute wealth. They get, as a result (and often hand-in-hand with the distortions of democracy that stem from the previous example), a system with a lot of rent-seeking and corruption where fair competition is almost impossible and there are a lot of monopolies that are bad for both businesses and consumers, far from the libertarian utopia of their laissez-faire dreams.

This isn’t meant to be a Chestertonian set of counterintuitive gotchas, where I try to argue that the real democracy was monarchy all along or something, just an observation that you have to look at, and argue from, actual outcomes, and not just what is conceptually appealing, even if you want to further quite lofty and abstract political ideals. Much the same way that abolishing your military does not keep you out of conflicts, if it results in you suddenly getting invaded by your neighbor, or abolishing anti-discrimination law would not result in a freer society, if you have a bunch of racists itching to discriminate against the minorities they don’t like.

I remember a post of Scott Alexander’s once expressing confusion at the idea banks would just decide not lend to black people in the midcentury US, because surely they would stand to make more money if they had more customers, and if they had more customers the banks run by non-racists would outcompete the banks run by racists, and I remember thinking, like, come on dude. There is a whole complex social ecology surrounding race and racial discrimination, which is going to drown out any possible weak effect that you are pointing to here. And he simply could not see it because it was not part of the world he knew, and he lacked the imagination to understand it.

Everything the law touches is like this. Law is not actually, nor can it be, a separate domain from politics, or economics, or private business, or religion, or any other aspect of human life. It is a loose category of thing we have drawn a fuzzy border around, like so much else. And because of the complexity inherent in the problems it presents, trying to decide which policies are best without reference to actual outcomes at best makes you prone to a kind of head-in-the-clouds idealism. But much more often, I think it means people support things actually corrosive to the principles they claim to espouse.

#of course some people are hypocrites or engaged in deeply motivated reasoning #so that's not actually a problem #but i think most people have the values they claim to have #and sure #determining actual policy outcomes can be tricky #empiricism can be difficult! #especially in domains where controlled experiments are impossible #but at least be thinking about them

[cmrosens]

Fantasy Castle Thoughts

Wandering around castle ruins on the weekend while thinking about my fantasy WIP had me thinking about more worldbuilding stuff in fantasy (the obvious ones being covered by others, such as, where does the shit go? How do they get water? How do they not poison themselves while answering Qu 1?):

That film where they erased the entire town and the castle was sat there for no reason (meant to be Rochester) - look, even if your castle is a strategic fortress in the back of beyond, it will have some kind of nearby settlement. Because: who is building it and how long does it take and where do they all live while they're constructing it? Where do they go afterwards? How do the garrison get food (easier to grow crops and raise livestock nearby than have vulnerable wagons bringing it in and being ambushed).

A lot of castles were not built by locals, because you can't trust the fucking locals, that's (usually) why the castle is THERE. If you don't need a defensive structure you build a manor or a stately home. If you're building a castle, it's usually to subdue the population or to defend against the neighbours, but either way, what often happens is that the king or whoever will round up people from his patrimony he knows he's already whipped into shape and can trust, then force-marches them across country and re-settles them in the area the castle is meant to be. They are the ones who then farm and raise livestock, and push out the locals to do so. Over time, you get some intermingling and after a few gens it's a very different demographic, but you have a story of settlement going on with tensions bubbling under the surface. See also: William Rufus wanting to subdue the North of England, forcibly uprooting his tenants in the South of England and making them build and settle in Carlisle, where he built his castle (11thC); the Earl of Lincoln dragging a load of Yorkshire and Lancashire and Lincolnshire men to re-settle his newly bestowed North Welsh lordships, pushing the Welsh into the uplands while the settlers took over the lowlands (12th-13thC).

The settlers around castles bring their own forms of folk religion, superstition, folklore, dialect, and naming patterns, which are specific to their original region. These may be very similar to the ones where they've been settled. What does that look like? Is the culture of particular villages and settlements a little bit different or maybe strikingly so the closer you get to the castles in your world because of this? What are the issues faced by settlers and by local people, how do they get resolved (or do they)? You'd imagine settlers are favoured in court disputes, but depending on the politics, they may actually be overlooked in efforts to appease the locals, leading to some lords really upsetting the very people they took for granted that they could trust. What's going on with all this local level stuff? By the way:: 21stC "my religion is better than yours" is so fucking boring and overdone imo from Western fantasy. Not every fantasy people has to have a US Evangelical approach to faith. Maybe they just don't care, or as soon as they hear something new they're like oooh this is interesting let's incorporate that! And they do. And it's fine. And that's a normal attitude to have. That might be a lot more fun, because then you get multiple variations on a theme, which create lots of little layers and nuance to your world, rather than a very one-dimensional impression of "homogeneity" with the danger of slipping into ye olde "X Bad, Y Good" dichotomy.

Technology and adapting tech: building castles requires tech, and once you know how long something took to build, you know what the tech was and can work out how it may have developed since then. Also think about how it can be adapted. If you've got a world where castles are required because fighting happens, you have a world full of disabled people. War causes disability. Even tournaments were EXCEEDINGLY dangerous. Henry VIII got permanent brain damage at one. Other knights were left paralysed, many died, some were amputees as a result. People get their legs hacked off due to gangrene from wounds. People get arrows lodged in their spines. People get sick from malnutrition and develop conditions like osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, etc. Picture this: your lord gets severely injured and may never walk again just by falling from his horse (common). Unfortunately, the castle steps are DESIGNED to be difficult to get up and down, because it's a defensive structure, and you DO NOT want to make it easy for enemies to just stroll up to the upper levels which are the most defensible. Bear in mind that the majority of a castle is empty space: the ward. The domestic quarters are built into the walls, usually the inner walls of a concentric castle. Your lord had an upper floor room. In a castle, space is at a premium. You need all the space on the ground floor and it's already occupied. What do you do? Well - you remember that pulley system for heaving big tons of dressed stone up to the top of the scaffolding when constructing the tower? Yeah. Yeah you're going to use that. And if your lord is now permanently disabled and cannot use the stairs, you can work out how to refine that. But right now, you need to get him into bed so the physician can look him over, because if he dies right now this would be terribly politically inconvenient . Even if this hasn't happened in your current story right now, if this was the case for the lord or two BEFORE, the equipment may all still be there, and still be in place.

Anyway if you like this, you might like my newsletter and podcast, and the books I write.

#world building #fantasy castle #things i think about #worldbuilding #writblr #indie writers #writeblr #creative writing

[dark-falz]

PSO Timeline of the Profound Sadness (Detailed lore timeline regarding Episodes 1&2,)

There's also stuff about Phantasy Star 0 in here too because they take place in the same universe! But I'm trash and didn't beat it and it was years ago so idr shit I'll go back to it one day ok promise anyway

LONG LORE POST completely spoiler

Inhabited planet Coral is drained of natural resources. The government, organizations called "The Alliance of Nations" (includes 10) , and "Black Paper" initiate the "Pioneer Project" to find a new planet to colonize. They are gifted from a passing asteroid with Photon energy. They use it to backtrack where it came from to find a place to inhabit. After approx. 7 years, Ragol is found. Coral mentions; Shino: RAcaseal, purchased & passed down to Zoke Dr. Calus: was working on an AI, also named Calus, who developed his personality. Calus dies before the AI is completed. Dr. Jean Montague: 11 yrs. old approx, researches D-Cells brought back from probes with Dr. Osto, create MAGs* which are the beginning of the MOTHER/Delta program 7 yearsish later (travel is heavily disputed among sources apparently but w/e) The people on Pioneer 1 included; Heathcliff Flowen: Deputy Army Commander Rico Tyrell: Pupil of Flowen, Scientist, Hunter Dr. Osto Hyle: Lead researcher Mr. & Mrs. Graves: Photon Engineer, Geneticist WORKS (Government military) AI: Olga, Calus, & Vol Opt (meant to assist with Pioneer 1 research and step 2 of MOTHER) - AI Purposes: - Vol Opt: Security - Calus: Information - Olga: Contact, nearly identical specs to Calus (unsure if these two count as AI as they aren't mentioned much) - MOTHER: evolution & control - Delta: Caretaker of MOTHER Established buildings Gal Da Val Island - Research Facility (Houses Delta/MOTHER Vortex and will house Olga) Mines - Robot building plant (+All mine enemies) - Houses Calus (EPI)& Vol Opt - Dr. Osto's first lab (mines 2) Forest - Central Dome: supplies, communication center

Exploration begins followed quickly by construction. Animals are noted as friendly and docile.

Dr. Osto & Graves create a mutant life form for unmentioned reasons, it starts off small, but has the ability to self-replicate.

Ruins are discovered by Flowen. Military WORKS sends in investigation team. Everyone becomes possessed, then dies turning into the bad guys as portrayed in the quest: From the Depths. Flowen leads a second team in. Falz is unsealed and kills everyone but Flowen, leaving him wounded. When he escapes, Falz is sealed again.

Flowen's wound is infected with both D-Cells and Parasitic Gene Flow, causing them to be alive in their own. Osto calls this a "D-Type Factor". Flowen knows his time is short, and pledges his body to Dr. Osto for research under 2 conditions. - A letter is set to his family informing them of his death. - That pioneer 2 is postponed/stopped from reaching Ragol (Spoilers: Neither request are honored)

Flowen is unaware of the Central Control Area's existance until he is brought there.

Olga is moved to the SeaBed, where Osto had been working on developing a super soldier. Construction of the Cental Dome is completed. Flowen's body is merged with Olga in hopes of controlling it. In failure Olga Flow is dumped into the Testing Subject Disposal Area.

Scientists tried moving De Rol due to his size. De Rol kills the scientists and escapes through the ducts. Its tentacles that stab you during battle is what caused the mutation of the cave's dwellings'. (Barbra Ray is a speculated open or salt-water variant)

War continues on Coral and the 10 Nation Alliance is weakening. Instead of telling the Government to stop Pioneer 2, Osto calls Ragol a "Paradise World" and gets the approval to make bioweapons.* Pioneer 2 starts route.

Animals becoming violent and infected causes Rico to begin investigating. Rico activates the pillars upon investigating them, being under the impression they were built to commemorate the landing of Pioneer 1 from the government, however concluding this was a lie. Rico investigates until her demise and leaves confirming messages that: the ruins is a spaceship from the Algo star system of the Original Phantasy Star series to seal Dark Falz, the reborn Profound Darkness every 1000 years to reborn itself from hate as the seal weakens.

On Pioneer 2, Dr. Montague is working on developing Elenor/Mother 00 and Ult/Mother 01 and Elly Person begins contact with Calus.

Pioneer 2 reaches Ragol (approx 7 years)

Explosion caused by Dark Falz in Central Dome occurs when connection is attempted, everyone from Pioneer 1 is killed with the exceptions of Mutated Rico & Mutated Flowen.

Vol Opt's security system is breached due to explosion and corrupted due to unusual Photons & D Cells causing everything in the Mines to attack.

Calus reaches out to Elly for "help" but has been corrupted and craves a human body. Elly backs up & stores his data before he shuts himself down.

Military attempts to take over Ult following Dr. Osto's plans. Eleanor & Ult fuse to become MOTHER, briefly, as due to abnormal Photon energies, its too much for Eleanor.

Calus data is used by Pioneer 2 to begin development of the "CALs system." This is part of a navigation system any Hunter can access. (Like Rico's messages, the floating things that drop you info in episode 2, is part of "Calus".)

Natasha Milarose receives a message from someone on Ragol leaving the impression that someone from Pioneer 1 is still alive on Gal Da Val Island.

Going through VR testing with Elly before permission to reach the island, Calus has form of a FOmar. (techincally there are 2 one with red eyes and one with blue eyes, one loves Elly and wants to be with her aw the other is always basically on the clock doing what its suppose to. ((Assuming this is due to abnormal photons and having 2 of the same system on top of each other which is CAL system active in VR field as well as on Elly, the operator, but no info.)))

Flowen leaves messages using Olga AI through the terminals you use to unlock the Central Control Area. (all terminals in the Seabed belong to Olga)

Calus enters the MOTHER vortex in expectation of being evolved with a true physical form to be with Elly.

Delta admits Dr. Osto abandoned her and the MOTHER system. (though the "abandonment" could have been due to a multitude of reasons with how full his hands were getting.)

I think this mostly wraps up the timeline covering entirely episodes 1&2

Extra stuff:

Flowen's full dialogue

MAG* - "A mag is a core of D-Cells surrounded by metal plating. The D-Cells are kept in control by an "Emotional AI". This means any mag is actually a cyborg of some sort, because they are a fusion of living and mechanical tissue. This is also why spraying them with various medical items causes them to change their shape so drastically.

"This is also why they can do the Photon Blast. The mag is able to absorb the energy from your photonic attacks on enemies, and also to absorb the pain from hits and turn it into photon. They had mags doing PBs on Coral, where the blasts did not take on a particular shape. The things you see in your PBs on Ragol look the way they do because the abnormal photon count, and D-cell count on Ragol is really high. The PB animals look like dark enemies, but with light color bodies. This is the influence of Ragol." - Translated from The Book of Hunters (Eleanor & Ult also carry D-cells)

Bioweapons - The bioweapons scientists of Pioneer 1 were making included using D-Cells, Parasitic Gene Flow, and living beings. This extended from animals, to plants, to even the scientists themselves in efforts of creating a "super solder". The reason behind this is because Falz is seen as an eternal entity, and that's what the scientists want to harness for themselves. Montague does a similar process, but instead using monster parts and photon energy from the mutated creatures, as oppose to mutated genes, to create weapons.

Links to information that helped me accumulate all this: phantasystardynasty PScave (I have dialogue with Flowen's text linked, if you want dialogue from another quest, just change the text between "script/" and ".html" to the quest of the dialogue you want to look out without spaces) Fandom Wiki (multiple pages from this one) This Tumblr post

#pso lore #FIXED THE READ MORE I'M NOT FIXNG ANY TYPOS tho because at first this post was too big to post and i'm not taking chances #lore #timeline

[mariacallous]

YEREVAN, ARMENIA—Driving through the dark streets of Yerevan, Aram, a local taxi driver, vented his frustration: “We will hang [Prime Minister] Nikol Pashinyan,” he declared while skillfully navigating pothole-covered roads, passing by the grim Soviet-era buildings and soulless modern constructions that dot the cityscape. “We can’t rely on anyone but ourselves—not the Russians, not anyone else,” he added.

Just a week prior, in September 2023, Azerbaijan had successfully retaken the last portions of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, which was previously under the control of ethnic Armenians, prompting a mass exodus of Armenians.

Baku seized the opportunity amid Western hesitancy, Turkish support, and Russian preoccupation in Ukraine, bringing a blazing end to what had long been a frozen conflict. After its victory at the end of the first war over the region in 1994, when it had tacit support from Moscow, Armenia is now coping with the strategic miscalculations of the past three decades. Abandoned by its principal ally, Russia, and watching the ferocious rhetoric from Baku, Yerevan fears another war is coming.

In 2020, Azerbaijan took control of a significant portion of the region in a decisive 44-day war that claimed thousands of lives. Many Armenians remained in the administrative center, Stepanakert, and its surroundings. Moscow brokered a cease-fire that left 2,000 Russian peacekeepers on the ground, but last year’s confrontation underscored their ineffectiveness—or their unwillingness to act.

Armenians are furious at the loss of a territory that had become a key part of national identity—but there is little solace in the face of unsettling circumstances. Defeat in the 24-hour war in September 2023 triggered demonstrations against the Armenian government, but they were small and had limited impact.

Following Azerbaijan’s takeover, tens of thousands of people left behind their lives in Nagorno-Karabakh, forming a procession of vehicles snaking along mountain paths.

“The reality hasn’t fully sunk in,” said Johnny Melikyan, a research fellow at the Yerevan-based Orbeli Center, in an interview with Foreign Policy. “People hoped that Russian peacekeepers would take action. There are rising anti-Russian sentiments, but people are also disappointed by the inaction of the international community,” he added.

The collapse of the Soviet Union caused a bloody war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, leaving trail of atrocities on both sides, tens of thousands of casualties, and hundreds of thousands of displaced Azerbaijanis.

Armenian authorities report that between 95 percent and 99 percent of the approximately 120,000 Armenians who remained in Karabakh have fled, raising concerns of what Yerevan sees as ethnic cleansing.

“We’ve lived on this land all my life,” said Marut Vanyan, a local activist who had to leave Karabakh. “I witnessed the first war, the 2020 conflict, and now this … life has been a journey through hell,” he shared over the phone. “It’s difficult to envision the future. I can’t comprehend what lies ahead,” he said. When asked if he would ever consider living under Azerbaijani control, he replied, “I can’t answer that right now. Right now, even living in Yerevan is a challenge.”

Azerbaijanis are settling back in the recaptured land. Shabnam Ugurlu said that she was 6 when she left Karabakh in 1992. Now she has returned to her house in Lachin, where she teaches at the local school. “We left on the back of a truck, stuck together, fearing that Armenian soldiers would attack us,” she recalled bitterly. Could she envision having Armenian neighbors? “Right now, it would be difficult,” she said, “but as time passes, and if Armenians choose to stay, it could happen.”

In the aftermath of the 2023 war, Yerevan itself seemed strangely untouched by the turmoil.   “All conflicts must end at some point,” a high level Armenian official had confided when I visited the country in mid-2023. This, however, was not the ending that Yerevan had hoped for.

The 2020 war served as a moment of clarity for many. The government in Yerevan began to ponder if relying on Moscow for security guarantees was a mistake. Armenia took measured steps to signal its readiness to get closer to the West, but it has paid its dues to Moscow nevertheless and refrained from dramatic moves, fearing a half-hearted Western welcome and understanding its own heavy dependence on Moscow.

For 30 years, the country received diplomatic and military support from Russia, adamantly refusing to compromise with Baku, which allowed Armenia to maintain its grip on Nagorno-Karabakh. Pashinyan is the first leader of the country to have no direct link with Nagorno-Karabakh. The previous governments and opposition, however, were closely connected to the Karabakh authorities, and they maintained direct links with Moscow. Yerevan never officially recognized Artsakh (the official Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh) as an independent entity, nor as part of its own state, maintaining its strange quasi-state status while providing its budget and security.

But in 2018, as the relationship with Moscow started to sour and tired of a corrupt elite that mismanaged the country, the public took to the streets. Pashinyan, a young civil society activist, came to power after a peaceful revolution. Pashinyan initially paid his respects to Moscow. But soon, the relationship soured.

“Pashinyan’s rise to power was a challenge to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, much like what happened in Georgia and Ukraine,” said Richard Giragosian, the director of Yerevan-based Regional Policy Center. Both countries were invaded by Russia after they tried to move out of Moscow’s orbit.

“Georgia and Ukraine changed their foreign policy after the [Rose and Maidan] revolutions, and they faced repercussions. We didn’t make any changes, but we were still punished,” said Armen Grigoryan, the head of Armenia’s National Security Council, during a trip I made to the country back in March 2023.

As the second war between Baku and Yerevan erupted in 2020, Moscow chose to look the other way. Armenian authorities viewed Russian reluctance as tacit approval for Baku’s actions. Russian inaction, as Grigoryan insinuated, was partly intended to punish Pashinyan.

“I can assure you that without Russia, Azerbaijan would never have undertaken such significant moves against Nagorno-Karabakh,” Grigoryan said, using blunter language than when he speaks to Russian media.. “Following the 2020 war, we had to reevaluate our security situation,” he added.

“The tail doesn’t wag the dog anymore,” Giragosian said.

Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and disastrous performance there dashed any remaining hopes that Karabakh Armenians may have harbored for Russian support.

Ahead of the September war and in the weeks after it, Pashinyan’s government desperately began seeking alternative alliances and moving away from Russia.

The government recalled its representative from the Russia-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (which issued an arrest warrant for Putin), conducted small-scale military exercises with the United States, and openly expressed doubts about Moscow’s ability to ensure its security, with Pashinyan referring to the two nations’ relationship as a “strategic mistake.”

But Armenia’s dependence on Moscow runs deep. Russia maintains a military base in Gyumri, controls two of Armenia’s four borders, supplies most of its energy, and remains its top trading partner. Armenia is part of the Moscow-run Eurasian Economic Union.

“Armenia has mortgaged its independence in exchange for security guarantees,” Giragosian told me. Yerevan kept its head down throughout the Ukraine war, remaining silent on the matter. “We are hiding in the bathrooms of the U.N. and New York traffic,” he said.

But Yerevan’s quest for new partners may merely be an attempt to make Moscow jealous. Although the government decided to miss the last gathering of the Russia-led Commonwealth of Independent States, the prime minister attended the Eurasian Economic Union summit in December in Saint Petersburg.

“What has really changed? Did we leave the Eurasian Economic Union or CSTO? No. The Eurasian Economic Union isn’t a union, and it’s not economic. Both are forms of loyalty to Russia,” said Alexander Iskandaryan, a Yerevan-based political scientist.

None of this worked. Diplomatic rhetoric and appeals from the United States and Europe did nothing to deter Azerbaijan. Baku, tired of years spent in meeting rooms at peacebuilding conferences, swapped diplomacy for drones. And Moscow, claiming that its security agreement didn’t cover the disputed territory, refused to act.

Yerevan, heavily reliant on Russian arms, had lost its military edge to Azerbaijan, which garnered support from Turkey and procured weapons from Israel. It will take decades to rebuild a military that can face Azerbaijan—and Yerevan may not have that much time.

The Armenian population, like the government, feels betrayed by the Russian leadership. In a survey conducted in 2018 by International Republican Institute (IRI), 84 percent of Armenians considered Russia a political partner, with only 6 percent seeing it as a threat. As of March 2023, those numbers stood at 50 percent and 24 percent, respectively.

Approaching two young women in their mid-20s on the street to ask for directions, I initially addressed them in Russian, only to be met with anger and silence. When I switched to English, their mood visibly lightened. It reminded me of Kyiv and Tbilisi, where speaking Russian is no longer welcome—as a reflection of changing geopolitical situations.

Many members of the newer generation of Armenians, like in Georgia and Ukraine, is Western-educated and fluent in English, whether they are part of civil society, the government, or even pro-Russian political parties. The country finds itself caught between geopolitical realities and the quest for a better life.

“There is a disparity between mental and physical geography,” Iskandaryan observed. “If you ask people on the street who they are, they will say they are Europeans. They all dream of going to the West, for holidays or education. … But when you look at the map, it is what it is.”

The exodus of Armenians from Karabakh has created a burgeoning humanitarian crisis in Armenia. The country of 2.8 million remains one of the poorest nations in the region. Poverty and desperation are pervasive. Yerevan must provide for more than 100,000 people who fled Nagorno-Karabakh when the government was already coping with an influx of around 100,000 Russians escaping Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“There are seismic shifts happening in the region and an unsettling amount of uncertainty. Many are watching to see how the status quo will evolve in the context of the Ukraine war,” said Melikyan, the researcher from the Orbeli Center.

The status quo may not hold long enough for Pashinyan, either. He won the last parliamentary elections, held in 2021, comfortably, despite military defeat in the 2020 war. But things may turn out differently this time around.

“For us, the page of Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh isn’t turned,” said Hayk Mamijanyan, a member of the opposition Republican Party. “Pashinyan brought blood and suffering to our country. … Armenia was left completely isolated because of him,” he emphasized.

But Pashinyan’s predecessors have a lot of work to do to regain public confidence. “Ultimately, people do not solely blame Pashinyan. They understand that it was 30 years of corruption and a flawed system that led to our military defeat,” said Edmond Manukyan, Armenia’s ambassador-at-large.

Armenia has still not given up its claims. “[The government] does not want to create casus belli, but of course, they know things can change. Azerbaijan waited for 30 years,” Melikyan said, when I asked if Armenian authorities are resigned to the current reality.

As the Russia-Ukraine war drags on without a clear end in sight, and with Russia and the West preoccupied with it, Armenian officials are facing a hard choice—whether or not to abandon the Russia that betrayed them without any sign of strong commitment from the Western allies.

Down the road lies another challenge—Turkey. Armenian officials are talking to Turkish colleagues to normalize relations. Ankara, however, wants Yerevan to reach an agreement with Baku before it agrees to push rapprochement ahead.

“For Armenia, much of the desire to normalize relations with Turkey isn’t about Turkey; it’s about a Western shift,” Giragosian said, maintaining that Yerevan acknowledges that closer ties with the West hinge on the restoration of diplomatic relations with Ankara.

But is the West prepared to embrace this shift?

U.S. engagement in the South Caucasus significantly weakened over the years leading up to the war in Ukraine because of shifting international priorities and the general decline of U.S. engagement abroad under the administrations of former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, a trend that has continued through the administration of President Joe Biden. The inability to deter Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has left populations in the region wary of Western promises and afraid for their security. Armenians may not trust Russia—but they don’t place much more faith in the West.

[rainbowyumy]

I JUST THOUGHT OF AN EVIL AU FOR AVIVA (Probably gonna be ignored of forgotten so just set aside when I have time)

This is inspired by littlecrittereli's "Reprogram AU".

A malfunction almost risk the life of Martin, and Chris gets super angry at Aviva. This results in a nasty dispute between the two and Aviva being scarred by Chris's harsh words. An enraged and depressed Aviva sides with her own ENEMY, Zach, for the sake of getting revenge against the team (mostly Chris.)

Aviva would use her tech building skills and her smarts to create defenses and weapons for herself and Zach. She would also use her smarts and great reflexes to physically attack her rivals, since I thought she would be the type to get her hands dirty.

Chris, already regretted what he said to Aviva in the past, and is constantly trying to apologize to Aviva and get her out of that state. But it fails to no prevail, at least during the beginning. Unsurprisingly, he's the main target whenever Aviva attacks them.

Martin is treated similarly, but not as bad as Chris. Martin didn't like how Chris yelled at her during the dispute, and therefore understand Aviva's reasons and uses that to get to her. Due to her being the cause of his injuries, Aviva is still a bit regretful of him. She's less aggressive with him during battle, but that doesn't mean she would spare him.

At one point, during her evil state, she almost kills Martin. Ironically, the second time since the malfunction. Luckily, MK is rescued before fatal consequences occur. This would be the perfect time for Aviva to question her actions. But it wouldn't fully convince her enough to redemption, yet. At least in my opinion.

Despite working with his enemy, Zach would be extremely thrilled. He always wanted to defeat the Kratt brothers and their team, and this advantage to Aviva's great inventions and strong traits would be in his favor. I'm not sure if he should concerned or even more happy of Aviva's brutal methods. (There will be no shipping involved, however. This would be more story based than shipping based.)

Koki would be as regretful as Chris, for a similar and different reason. She would think it's her fault for not being more supportive to Aviva and not standing up for her during the dispute. Just like Chris, she would try to get her to listen and convince her to stop. However, these attempts would later lead to Martin close death encounter.

Despite Jimmy's flaws of being in the side lines, that wouldn't stop him from assisting his team and getting his friend back. The whole event made a big impact on Jimmy as he willing to break his personal boundaries just to save his friends and stop Zach.

Aside Varmitech, I'm still wondering what to do with the other villains. I did have the thought of also having Paisley being involved, but due to her redemption arc in the season 7th special "Our Blue and Green World, " it wouldn't make sense. Donita would design Aviva's battle outfit, though.

I'm not sure if Aviva would be mind controlled (since that's the usual method many Wild Kratts evil aus do) or she would be mostly motivated by anger. I'm also unsure how she'll redeem herself in the end, but I'll figure both ideas out later.

This is still a draft. Any constructive criticism would be very appreciated. ^^ (I'm not good at make story by scratch, my apologies! )

#wild kratts #aviva corcovado #martin kratt #bbieal baldi #chris kratt #evil alternative universe #evil au wild kratts #wild kratts au #wild kratts fanfiction #wild kratts fandom #evil aviva #evil aviva corcovado

[twoset-updates]

[110723 tsv reddit post]

Responding to Allegations

Hi Twosetters,

Thank you for your patience in waiting for our response. We are well aware of the allegations of worker exploitation that have been circulating our subreddit in the past few weeks. We take such issues very seriously, as we believe this to be a grave matter. Therefore, we needed time to conduct an internal investigation to evaluate the validity of these claims.

It’s tricky because we need to balance the confidentiality and privacy of our existing team members with the transparency and information that we think needs to be communicated. Quite frankly, these are internal matters, and any disputes should have gone through professional and/or legal channels. However, the other party has unfortunately chosen to conduct themselves in an unprofessional way and have put us in a position where we have to respond publicly.

At TwoSet, we’ve always had the vision of spreading our love for classical music as our guiding star. Very early on, we realised that this could not be done without a solid team behind us and this vision. From the videos to apparel to touring – all of this is the hard work of our amazing staff members.

As we come from very humble beginnings, we are not perfect, and it’s not always easy – we’re not a massive media company. But we have always known the importance of having a long-term sustainable team that we can achieve our mission with.

That means sticking up for our staff. Sometimes, inevitably, we make incorrect hires who spread toxicity and negativity, gaslight and blame others, and end up causing much more burden and stress on others in the team. The OOP was one such person we had to let go after repeated incidents of them speaking in a very rude and disrespectful manner to another team member. It’s disappointing that this person is now going further by trying to tarnish TwoSet’s reputation, thus hurting the remaining team and putting at risk everything we have accomplished.

It is for them, our team, that we take this so seriously. In the past, we have taken unjust criticism and shrugged off the negativity, not because we have anything to fear or for lack of accountability, but because we understood that giving attention to negativity often just sparks more drama and room for misunderstanding. It becomes a situation where people are fighting for the sake of fighting, and nobody remembers why anymore.

In order to ground this conversation, let’s always keep in mind - why are we having this discussion? We believe at the end of the day, it’s about constructive criticism and accountability; how do we (Brett and Eddy) improve to make TwoSet an increasingly better place to work at for all members? Many of the claims have not come from an intention to instigate any real meaningful change, but instead have been an attempt to vilify us. We know we are public figures and that’s part of what it means to be on the internet these days, but please remember that if we do get cancelled, many of our amazing team members will also lose their jobs.

Now, we really appreciate the majority of TwoSet fans who understand that these things are private matters and should be dealt with internally. We don’t want this to devolve into a situation where everyone is just trying to get more receipts on each other, because at the end of the day, nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes. But we also understand that in the public sphere, unlike in court, it isn’t always innocent until proven guilty, and we feel that we have to share our side of the story in order to protect the team at TwoSet.

A summary and response to claims made against us:

Only hiring from “third world (asian) countries”:

Over 50% of our staff are NOT from third world countries. Some of our core team members are from countries such as Singapore, Canada, and Australia.

Only hiring “girls”:

While the majority (not all) of our staff are currently women, this is not by any design. Our team consists of amazingly talented people selected for their individual merit and fit for the position, not any specific characteristic.

Being expected to respond at unreasonable hours:

Due to time zones, constant travelling, and the international nature of our team, messages are often sent outside of what may be considered reasonable work hours for the person receiving it. However, we have never expected or pressured anyone to respond immediately. While we will make more effort in the future to think ahead for individual time zones, sometimes it really just means we have to get a message out before we sleep on our side of the world so that it can be read when the other person gets up for work in the morning.

Underpaying or not paying staff:

In the beginning (Kickstarter days), we admittedly had to pay on the lower end as we simply did not earn enough from YouTube - something we always made clear. However, we have been continually trying to raise the compensation of team members as we grow. We also recently implemented a yearly official salary review process and determined that two staff members deserved a raise which we proactively offered.

In other cases where staff have come to us asking for raises, we always operate from a principle of fairness and remain open to negotiation, taking factors such as industry benchmarks, experience, working hours, and contribution into consideration. Most importantly, we have always paid what was agreed upon.

It has also been alleged that we underpay staff despite them voicing their concerns to us. We wish to reiterate that we have never disregarded a staff’s concern about payment. We always welcome open and transparent conversation, and do what we believe is fair and right. One poster who claimed to have been underpaid happily agreed to the amount offered with no indication of dissatisfaction with the remuneration. We will not share any screenshots due to legal confidentiality, but many of those joining the bandwagon have made emotionally charged and factually inaccurate claims that would not hold up in court.

As to the confusion of paid volunteers, we offered a small amount of compensation to subtitlers who volunteered their time to create subtitles for videos as a ‘thank you’ for their work, but it was never a formal position offered with our team. Having recognised the confusion this has caused, we have changed our policies and will no longer have any paid volunteer positions in the future.

Being asked to take on multiple responsibilities:

This is something we are working really hard to solve. Often in a small startup, things change at a rapid pace, especially as we love to innovate and try new projects all the time. We have always asked if a team member is willing to help through these periods of growth and change, whether that’s through covering for certain roles or taking on new responsibilities and opportunities for learning. In situations where they expressed that they do not wish to do so, we have respected it.

We now know that some people may not feel comfortable saying no and to fix this, we are in the process of clearly defining every process and role in relation to how we operate.

—

So far, we have only addressed the claims that the OOP made and briefly touched on why they were let go, but it should be noted that their actions have breached the terms of their NDA and can be constituted as defamation. What they have done risks the wellbeing and hard work of everyone else on the TwoSet team, not to mention every fan who has believed in and supported us on this journey.

Ultimately, we truly want the best outcome for us and everyone we have worked with. We will be the first to admit that, as two violinists with no formal education in business or management processes, it has been a huge learning curve. We are trying to be better, and are always open to constructive feedback.

It has become clear that the amount of negativity and misinformation has been affecting the mental wellbeing of our team and the community in the past few weeks. Therefore, we will be deleting any posts or comments that we come across that contain misinformation or hateful intentions. We will of course still welcome open discourse and constructive feedback.

Finally, we want to thank our fans again for your understanding and support. We have read many of your comments, and it is clear that the majority of you understand that these are just false allegations on the internet. We understand it takes an act of trust to follow and support anyone and we take this responsibility really seriously. Thank you for having our backs.

Brett & Eddy

#twosetviolin #twoset violin #tsv official #tsv reddit post

[penny-anna]

“Sometimes it’s okay to ask for help,” said Wally. He wasn’t gonna let anything dampen his good mood. “That’s a life lesson for ya.”

Billy shrugged. “Sure.” He looked on down the alley, towards the street. The wind was picking up. “Hey, you know, I live a couple of subway stops from here.”

“Oh, yeah?” said Wally, not sure where he was going with this and not really bothered.

“You wanna come to dinner or something?” Billy said.

Wally stared  up at the cloudless sky. He looked at Billy. He said, “Like, right now?”

“You got plans?”

“Not really –” He didn’t often have plans. He wasn’t sure how to respond. What was the appopriate thing to do when your fourteen-year-old – co-worker? Were they co-workers? – asked you to dinner. “Your parents gonna be okay with that?”

Billy shrugged again. “I can ask.”

“Sure,” said Wally. “Ask away.”

“Cool.” Billy slipped his phone from his pocket and took a few steps away, up the alley towards the construction site at the far end. “Hey – it’s me,” he said. “Yeah, I’m good. No, it – it wasn’t a big deal.”

Wally would dispute that point – just cause it wasn’t a world-ending scenario didn’t mean it wasn’t a big deal – but he wasn’t about to start a fight over it.

“Listen,” Billy was saying. “Is it okay if I bring a friend home for dinner?” He was quiet for a moment. The voice on the other end tinkled. “Uh, no – I guess a work friend? Hang on.” Turning away from his phone and dropping his voice he said, “Is it okay if I tell her who you are?”

Wally gave him a thumbs up. “Go for it.”

“Yeah, it’s the Flash,” said Billy. “Uh-huh. Is that okay?” he added, sweetly innocent. The voice on the other end of the line – his foster mom, Wally guessed – talked for a solid couple of seconds. “Literally everything,” Billy answered. “Yeah. Okay. Are you sure?” He waited for her reply. “Cool. See you in a couple of minutes.” Hanging up the call, he returned Wally’s thumbs up. “We’re good.”

VERY pleased to report i finished this fic which got like WAY out of hand. 10k. calling it ‘up to no good’. will be a little while bcos i got to finish editing the current multi parter first. but soon!!!

#my dc fic

[memecucker]

I think one of the things that’s making reading the history of pro wrestling is when all of a sudden other social issues kinda pop up and yeah it’s not like that’s unique to wrestling but it’s interesting nonetheless.

For example the guy that’s considered to be the father of Japanese professional wrestling was a guy named Rikidozan whose background was in sumo. The name “Rikidozan” was actually his shikona which is basically someone’s sumo name they adopt but his government name was Mitsuhiro Momota while his birth name was Kim Sin-rak because the father of Japanese pro-wrestling was a Korean guy born in Korea. When he was young a Japanese businessman saw a lot of potential in him and sponsored his travel to Japan to attend a sumo dojo but his Korean ancestry was still known which resulted in a lot discrimination and harassment so he decided to get adopted by his sponsor so he could take his name and disguise his Korean heritage. That helped when it came to racism from common people but backstage there was still some amount of discrimination which culminated in a pay dispute when Rikidozan felt he wasn’t being properly compensated given his success and popularity because of his Korean heritage which caused him to retire in 1950.

After Rikidozan retired from sumo he worked as a supervisor for a construction company owned by a different Japanese businessman that also helped sponsor his sumo career named Shinsaku Nitta. Now during the war Shinsaku Nitta was an officer at a POW camp for Americans but he developed a reputation for being a “good guard” in that he felt compassion for the prisoners and would sneak extra rations or cigarettes to them. After the war word of mouth about this “good guard” spread and resulted in Nitta’s construction company doing very well during the occupation and reconstruction of Japan as it meant he was highly prioritized for contracts since a lot of GIs basically said that they owed their lives to this compassionate Japanese guard that would risk his own life and well being to save them from starvation. And one day some Americans in Tokyo decided it would be fun if they organized a pro wrestling tour with American wrestlers from Hawaii matched up against local guys and since Nitta was very tight with the American community he was able to go “Oh! If you guys are looking for Japanese people that would be good for this then I definitely know a guy” and got Rikidozan booked for the tour.

And so after only a month of training introducing Rikidozan to the world of American pro-wrestling he managed to wow the American organizers and he wound up being booked to be the main Japanese wrestler who would go over the visiting American opponents. Since this was post-WW2 Japan under Japanese occupation the crowds absolutely ate it up seeing this Japanese champion who was able to stand up to and defeat one American after another. He would then go on to tour heavily in the USA and would eventually found the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance the first Japanese pro wrestling promotion and direct precursor to NJPW and AJPW.

But yeah anyway I think that’s kinda interesting. A guy who spent much of his life subjected to anti-Korean racism and discrimination in Japan which wound up ending a promising sumo career early would eventually end up becoming a hugely popular hero and symbol of restored Japanese pride and dignity in the post-war era.

[scotianostra]

On January 2nd 1877 Alexander Bain, the Scottish inventor died at Kirkintilloch.

Bain was one of the most prolific inventors of the 19th century, and is one of the least remembered. His inventions are all the more remarkable given his background.

"When the lecture was over, and the audience were leaving, a few gentlemen accompanied the lecturer, and conversed with him on the subjects of the lecture. There was a humble lad walking behind them, and listening attentively to what was said … he never forgot the lecture, nor the subsequent conversation.”

After nearly seven years of clockmaking apprenticeship, he left the north of Scotland, briefly for Edinburgh, and then London.

Working in London, Bain went to evening lectures and saw some impractical clocks that used static electricity to maintain the swing of the pendulum. He thought he could do better. By the middle of 1840 he had made a clock powered by electric current, as well as a ‘printing telegraph’. He also thought “to make a common clock transmit its time to other distant clocks…” In Bain’s first electric clock, the pendulum bob was an electromagnet swinging between two permanent magnets. In his ‘printing telegraph’, the character for transmission was selected by stopping a moving pointer at the correct location on a labelled disc. In the receiver, the printing type-wheel was rotated into position by a clock escapement released by an electromagnet, one tooth at a time, by the appropriate number of received electrical pulses.

Bain displayed his electric clock at the Polytechnic Institution, and with John Barwise, a chronometer maker, and they applied for a patent in October 1840. The next month, Charles Wheatstone, professor of physics at King’s College London, demonstrated an electric clock to the Royal Society, claiming to have invented it. Bain’s patent, ‘Improvements in the Application of driving power to Clocks and Time Pieces’ was granted in January 1841, and a furious public dispute ensued.

Bain’s cause was supported by many, including John Finlaison (a Treasury civil servant, and Actuary of the National Debt.) By coincidence, Finlaison hailed from Thurso, and had been impressed by a demonstration of Bain’s printing telegraph:

It wasn't only the electric clock he is famous for, he then worked on an experimental facsimile machine in 1843 to 1846/ He used a clock to synchronise the movement of two pendulums for line-by-line scanning of a message. For transmission, Bain applied metal pins arranged on a cylinder made of insulating material. An electric probe that transmitted on-off pulses then scanned the pins. The message was reproduced at the receiving station on electrochemically sensitive paper impregnated with a chemical solution similar to that developed for his chemical telegraph. In his patent description dated 27 May 1843 for “improvements in producing and regulating electric currents and improvements in timepieces, and in electric printing, and signal telegraphs,” he claimed that “a copy of any other surface composed of conducting and non-conducting materials can be taken by these means”. This was way ahead of his time!

In 1844 Bain had married Matilda Bowie, the widowed sister-in-law of his greatest champion, John Finlaison, and moved his business to Edinburgh. He and his wife had five children to add to Matilda’s daughter from her first marriage.

Bain won a contract from the Glasgow and Edinburgh Railway to construct a telegraph line along their route, 46 miles long. The price quoted was £50 per mile; Cooke and Wheatstone were charging the Great Western Railway £250 per mile. Finlaison loaned £3,000 to the project and the finished system proved the capability of time distribution, with the master electric pendulum clock in Edinburgh transmitting to a "slave" clock in Glasgow.

It wasn't all plain sailing for the intrepid Scot, he traelled to America with his "electric telegraph" plans, but Samuel Morse had already built a telegraph between Baltimore and Washington D.C so was ahead in the game. After applying for a patent Morse challenged him in the courts, saying his patents already covered what Bain had laid out, it went all the way to the suoreme courts and Morse won, although the unimplemented patent claims of Morse were rejected, this was scant comfort to Bain, who left America and had to file for bankrupcy back home, the cost of his failed venture in the Americas cost him dearly.

Bain ended up pretty much back where he started, working for a watchmaker in Glasgow, repairing clocks for a living. One of his customers was the University’s William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) who recognised Bain’s genius and his plight. Thomson arranged a grant of £150 from the Royal Society, and successfully petitioned the Gladstone government to award Bain a Civil List pension of £80 per year.

Bain died on this day in 1877, cheated of fame and fortune by bad luck and poor choices. Aside from electric clocks and the chemical telegraph, he patented many other inventions, including a fire alarm; a marine depth sounder; a system for recording ships’ direction and speed at sea; a device for producing punched tape and a piano for playing the tape remotely; a current regulator for voltaic cells; a drinking fountain tap operated by pressing the receptacle on a lever, and perhaps too fondly, a device for drawing a measure of liquid from a container, similar to a bar optic for spirits.

Alexander Bain is buried in the Auld Aisle Cemetery, Kirkintilloch.

A Wetherspoons pub in Wick, close to where Alexander Bain served his apprenticeship, is now named after the inventor, it is also the most northerly Wetherspoons in the country. Also, as a tribute to his inventions, the main BT building in Glasgow is named Alexander Bain House.

There is also a commemorative plaque to Bain at his former workshop on Hanover Street in Edinburgh as seen in the pics.

As usual; I have slimmed this account of Bain's life down, if you want to read the full story check out this link https://www.slhf.org/sites/default/files/publications/slhf12_alexanderbain.pdf

#scotland #scottish #history #wick #thurso #ionventor #engineer #clockmaker

[zebee-nyx]

Blurb: Midcity

[Bit of a 'make up' blurb for yesterday's absence ('^.^)]

The "Midcity" is widely seen as the place dividing where the Uppercity and Undercity meet. It's close enough to the Uppercity for security firms to have patrols while still being close enough to the Undercity for the influences of gangs to bleed in. Clashing interests has given the Midcity a bit of an oddly self contradicting reputation as both a relatively safe and cozy place to live as well as a disastrous battle ground.

The Midcity, similar to parts of the Undercity, primarily has mid-rise buildings that are a mix of businesses on lower levels and apartments. However, unlike the Undercity the buildings of the Midcity are more planned and organized by land owners. Aside from the occasional bundle of wires stretching over the streets there is a clear view of the sky. A vast majority of the buildings were retrofitted and have old red or white brick walls on the first few stories, but above use newer prefabricated constructions. Simple static advertising with lights behind graphic covers are abundant.

While not entirely as clean as the Uppercity, the Midcity has dedicated trash collection services that simply collect where and what they are contracted to. Random litter and the occasional trash bags or old piece of furniture remains uncollected in the street or alleyways.

Without as many people in this area subscribing to the best security coverages available, rapid response teams like in the Uppercity are a rarity. Instead security firms have patrol cars that generally roam the more "troublesome" areas. As a result response times for those covered are sometimes slower. While being armed is not as prevalent as in the Undercity the amount of people who stay armed in the Midcity isn't insignificant. Security firms and gangs in the area often clash over disputes and a general trend towards hostility. Due to the perceived lack of security presence the people from the Uppercity generally consider the Midcity a battleground.

Even though the Midcity lacks the luxurious amenities of the Uppercity it is still a comfortable place to live and highly sought after by people from the Undercity. Apartments often afford more space, there are decent corporate owned schools that could provide life changing education, and a significant improvement in the quality of locally available foods. Although the high demand for apartments in the area as well as the lack of supply has caused prices to increase drastically. Thus living here has becoming more of a pleasant dream for most people.

[Woot woot!]

#writeblr #writing #writing community #worldbuilding #cyberpunk #digitally dead

[letters-to-rosie]

revolution-verse cast list

it occurred to me that my little fic universe has a lot of people in it. I figured it would be a good idea to make a cast list so anyone can reference it whenever they want. I'll add people as we go, too

(not including major Arcane characters because yeah)

Powder's gang

Sky Young: Jayce and Viktor's lab assistant in canon; here she's coworkers with them and Powder at Piltover South-Central University's engineering lab

Megan Young: Sky's younger sister; a medical resident at South-Central's university hospital

Scar: the bat Chirean from canon; a part-time student at South-Central, construction worker, and single dad

32nd Street Community Center gang

Marnie: the director of the community center; an old friend of Ekko and Gianna

Gianna Acardi: the Firelight who knocks Caitlyn out in canon; Ekko's friend from high school, employee at one of Piltover's big 3 mining companies, and haver of a ton of siblings, including Ajuna, Nate, and Gabby

Eve: the Firelight who reminds Jinx of Vi in canon; community organizer who is always ready for a new challenge

Mr. Kang: cooks at the community center often; during Powder's early foster care days, he was her neighbor

Gary: frenemy of Marnie's who frequently steals from the community center pantry; works at a nearby homeless shelter (so at least it's for a good cause?)

Nadir: Gary's fiance who also works to provide assistance to the homeless population

Rosmaria: friend of Marnie's who works for one of Piltover's premiere shipping companies, BOL

assorted folks

Ajuna: in Ekko's game lore, a friend he couldn't save; in this story, he's Gianna's step-brother and a large source of her and Ekko's stress (affectionate)

Kai: Scar's infant son

Taze: a friend of Scar and Eve's who is a refugee from Noxus and an expert on resisting oppressive nonsense; has a wife and kids

Amari: Megan's long-term partner; hopes to go to pharmacy school

Isah: member of Finn's gang, the Slickjaws; she and the members she leads defect due to Ekko's influence

Boone: leader of a gang having territory disputes with the Slickjaws; loyal to Silco and Ekko by proxy

Zeray Bask: a schoolteacher and local leader at the New Antima housing complex; termed "Soup Guy" by Powder

topsiders

Charleston Beaumont: youngest son of Amara Beaumont, the owner of BOL; wants to make shimmer an international product, which has led him into a bloody feud with Ekko

Amara Beaumont: in canon a woman Mel introduces to Jayce after his crackdown on corruption at the Hexgates; in this story, a wealthy shipping magnate who spoils her six children

#rosie's writing desk #revolution-verse